SUNDAY

. . . . . . . Last night I went to bed with the sniffles and this morning I was in no hurry to get out of bed. I had my breakfast then relaxed until almost noon at which time I left to go for a walk in the sun. I ended up at the [used to be] Blue Bay Restaurant for a small lunch and then drifted back to the house for a nap after eating what was left of my ice cream. The Blue Bay was the name of the place when I last here. It is the one Natalia’s Grandparents owned when Natalia was a little girl. They have changed the entire crew so I knew no one. Natalia had been out with family and friends all afternoon and returned about 4:30 to start her weekly cooking for her Mother. But before doing that she decided to take a nap and get up later to start her work. She agreed that I sounded like I had a chest cold coming on. Tomorrow I will go the central market and get some Nyquil and juice. I came in my room and worked on my blog while Natalia napped. Today I am posting [if all goes well] two Panorama’s that my photo program helped me put together. The picture showing the islands fail to show the fact that there are really three of them out there. I am writing this before posting the pictures so perhaps I am wrong a about that.

 

SATURDAY

.. . . . Natalia had invited friends for breakfast this morning. They are a couple she has known for several years from Canada. I remember meeting him last year and actually waved to him several days ago in the park. Natalia went all the way with a wonderful breakfast and I did what I could to help. They left about noon thirty and Natalia was out the door to check on her Mother by noon thirty-two. It was not long after that that I too left for my daily walk around town and bench warming. I may have walked 4 miles today and because I had too much breakfast I never did get anything to eat. Except my favorite ice cream on the way home. I also purchased a half gallon of milk to go with my cereal in the mornings, or like today cereal in the evening with my evening pills. Carnaval is coming to MZT on February 7^th so the city is beginning the decorations for the big parade. The pictures I have today show some of the early productions including a live camel in a trailer being delivered for the parade.

I was up at 7:30 this morning just as Natalia was leaving for work. She said she had a very busy day today and wanted to get an early start. After breakfast and after getting my email and chess games up to date I left for a day of wandering around. Today I decided to walk South on the Malicon next to the ocean. I have been calling it the 'boardwalk' but according to the locals it is the Malicon. I will have to check the correct spelling later. In my wanderings I discovered the tower I had climbed to the top of last year. Last year there had been no railings so after walking up I found the downward trip was making me dizzy so I came down on the seat of my pants, one step at a time. I made no effort to climb it this year, taking the pictures was good enough. The left side of the tower is the side the divers leap from. They have a very scary dive into the water as you can see from this picture. This walk ended at Macaws Restaurant where I spent over an hour enjoying a Chicken Salad and a coke.  This is usually a half hour walk home but since I had come the long way it took two hours. I did stop several times to listen to the ocean waves breaking nearby. After lunch I slowly worked my way home, including a stop at the ice cream store for another 20peso dessert. I thought there was room enough to place these pictures side by side but my efforts were for naught.

THURSDAY

. . . . . . I was really surprised when I got up this morning and found a cupcake Birthday cake at my place at the table. It appears someone I know sent Natalia an email reminding her that my big day had arrived. I didn’t eat the cake until I got home this afternoon from my daily wanderings. I still had some ice cream in the freezer and planned to have cake alamode this afternoon. As it happened I ate way too much lunch and did not have room for the ice cream so that will wait for another day. This cupcake is not your ever day sort of cake, this is very hefty, filling and delicious. I am sure that tomorrow I will have to let my belt out a notch to make up for it!. . .  . I enjoyed myself today, wandering around the city and stopping at all the shaded park benches to read another chapter of my book. I allowed myself to get too hungry before eating anything so I ended up ordering too much and not leaving one drop of it on the plate. I do much better if I stay away from the tourist restaurants; they serve way too much food. I much prefer the little mom and pop spots. No need to explain the picture today, it speaks for itself! Thank you, Natalia!

WEDNESDAY

………    The picture today is a beach scene I took one day last week when we were still putting up with the clouds…..Today I was up at 7am and Natalia was heading out the door to take her Mom to a doctor appointment. I took a shower, ate a bowl of cereal and walked to the Centro Market for another box of cereal and some liquid detergent for the kitchen. After getting that back to the house I again left, taking my book and camera with me. I didn’t have much left to read on my latest book and finished it while enjoying lunch. I then strolled to the library and checked out a much longer book about the history of Alexandria of Russia. That one is bound to keep me busy for a while! I was back at the house at 4:30 and thought I would read myself to sleep but that never happened so I got on the puter and brought my email up to date. Today I found myself walking on the shady side of the streets even when the sea breeze was sharing it with me. It was a nice T-shirt day around here. I also checked out Ocean fishing costs and found one guy with a nice looking 38 foot fishing boat that he charges $US350.00 for an eight hour day. I can go alone or bring three others with me, the cost is the same. He told me that yesterday he took a group out 12-15 miles and they caught twenty Bonita in the 12-14 Kilo range. I think a kilo is 2.2 pounds so that sounds like a good day of fishing. He furnishes everything except food. He will have that too for extra money. I didn’t ask the price for that.

TUESDAY

. . . .  . .I left the house at 9:45 and arrived at the library right after they opened, it didn’t take long to choose another book because I had seen it previously and knew it was the one I wanted. I then walked to the South bay and visited my little lean too restaurant for the first time this year. I was amazed when the lady waved at me even before I got there, she remembered me from last year and we found that our ability to communicate had improved because we each had learned a little more of our respective languages. I guess that is not proper grammer but you get the idea. I ordered a Pacifico beer and told her I would not be ready to eat for a while, I was going to read and enjoy the view of the bay. She delivered a quart of beer [that is the only size they have] and said she would start cooking when I asked her to. It was 12:45 before I felt hungry and asked her to deliver whatever she had as a special today. A few minutes later she arrived with three beef burritos with refried beans on the side. The food was delicious, no complaints at all! The bill came to 65Pesos and worth every centavo. I left a 20% tip when I left at 2:30. The picture today is one I took of the place this morning. The eating area is off to the right. I should have included it in the picture.  When I got back on the street there was a city bus turning around to make his return trip to wherever he was going so I got on board and stayed there for 45 minutes until he got to the end of the line. I then got on another bus going outbound for another location and I stayed on that one until I got back in the Gold Zone. I got off there and waited for a bus going to the Centro district and hopped on that one to return home. I got back to the house about 4:30 and discovered that the ‘gate’ door was locked. I had no key for that lock so I was stuck until Natalia arrived at 8PM. I sat on the sidewalk and read my book beyond the halfway point before it became too dark to read. As soon as she arrived she ate a banana and told me good night, I had a bowl of cereal to help my evening meds go down then retired to my room to post the blog and the picture. It was an interesting day, to say the least. Let’s see what tomorrow brings!

MONDAY

 . . . . .I left the house at 10:30 this morning and by Noon I was in Lety’s Café across the South Bay having lunch. This area is an adjoining peninsula that is called Stone Island. Boat taxi cost 30 Pesos round trip and lasts about ten minutes each way. It was a nice day to be walking the streets of the little town. Only two streets in the town are paved and I can only imagine what a mess it is when they suffer a heavy rain. Around noon all of the dogs are asleep in the dust and bother no one, occasionally a motor bike goes by and stirs up the dust. I wore my cheap canvas shoes because I remember what a mess my good shoes looked like after my last trip over there a year ago. I had a wonderful chicken salad and two beers for lunch. I was in Lety’s for three hours reading and relaxing. I left there at 3:10 and by four I was back at the house eating a bowl of ice cream. The temperature was a comfortable 75 and a few lazy clouds poked around as the day progressed. My toe was giving me trouble because I switched shoes today but some Hot and Icy fixed that when I got back. The picture I have today is one I took at the Central Market where I had lunch a few days ago. Those crazy birds have no fear and love to finish up the plate if not shooed away.

SUNDAY

.. . . . . Natalia fed me another great breakfast this morning, before leaving about 10:30 to take her Mother shopping. I left shortly after for a nice long walk North through the Gold Zone and beyond. I stopped for lunch about 1:30 and read for almost an hour before continuing on toward the Marina where all of the rich people park their boats. I made no effort to walk home; I sat on a bus bench for about ten minutes waiting for a Cento bus to come along. The bus ride was twenty minutes and I had him drop me off at the same convenience store I was at yesterday when I bought my favorite Popsicle for only 18 pesos. I chose the same goodie today but I was charged 20 pesos. So much for finding a good deal! I was back at the house by 4pm and Natalia arrived shortly after. I was pretty much pooped and laid down to read. I thought I would fall asleep but never did. The picture today is of my room. The router I am taking advantage of is through that far window and across the street. This computer location is one of the hot spots where I get a fair signal. Since I have taken this picture I have removed the TV that is sitting the shelf to the left and placed my puter in its place. The signal there is fine as long as I don’t attempt to use it during the day when so much traffic is going by. The pipe coming out of the floor to the right of the puter is something that the city put in for their own needs, Natalia told me last year what it was all about but I don’t recall. It looks like a small gas line to me.

 

SATURDAY

. . . . . . . Natalia was up and outside walking before sunup this morning. She had returned and was busy in the kitchen when I finally began my day. Today was the day of the family gathering and she was cooking up a storm, preparing to feed an army. I walked to the Library, arriving about 10am, the hour they open on Saturday. I traded in my finished Balzac and found a book about radical Islam, a memoir. I returned by 10:30 and did what I could to help Natalia prepare for the crowd. She is very well organized and seldom requires much aid. The first family members arrived close to two and folks were drifting in and out all afternoon. The meal was delicious and plentiful. The laughter was ‘catching’. Natalia 4 was entertaining, it was a good day. Enjoyed by all.  I helped Natalia the best I could during the day and cleanup was not difficult after the last guest left. She disappeared into her room with her laptop and I came to my room to bring my email and blog up to date.. . . . . . The picture today shows a fisherman gathering many hundreds yards of yellow fish line, attaching a fish hook and length of clear leader about every 20 feet and dropping the line into the hold at his feet.  I am supposing the plan is to attach bait to each of the hooks and slowly feed the entire length of line out into the ocean. After a time and with any luck he will be able to retrieve the line and find many fish attached. The line is actually coming off a very large spool that appears to hold thousands of feet of line, perhaps several thousand feet.

FRIDAY

………I worked on my laundry this morning and did not get out of the house until after 11am. I walked to the central market stopping along the way to sit in the nearby city park to read and people watch. Natalia fed me another nice breakfast this morning but by 12:30 I was feeling hunger pangs again. That seems to be the story of my life! I went upstairs in the market where all of the good food is and sat outside overlooking the busy street below. The waitress gave me a menu and I threw a dart at it and received a very nice shrimp dinner and Pepsi. I am not a great lover of shrimp so next time I will throw the dart in a slightly different direction. After eating and reading for more than an hour I left the little restaurant and stopped by a Super Market across the street and stocked us up on T-paper and napkins. I then dropped them off at the house and continued my walk North on the boardwalk overlooking the ocean. I found a quiet spot overlooking the incoming waves and enjoyed the solitude for a long time. I then walked across the street and found my favorite 20 peso ice cream bar selling for 18 peso’s. After completely enjoying that I returned to the house and finished my Balzac book. The name of the book is ‘Pere Goriot and Eugenie Grandet’, actually two completely different stories. By the time I finished that, is was now, and I turned on the puter to post my daily doings. . . .The picture today is a pic of the local Taxi of which there are many that prowl the streets looking for tired pedestrians who might appreciate a ride. For a price of course. The vehicle is named Pulmona after the man who many years ago built the first one and used it so successfully that others wanted to buy in. Someone told me last year that they are used only in Mazatlan but they are so successful here I find it hard to imagine they are not used in other Cities around the Globe. They are not allowed to compete with regular taxi's in that they can not drive a fare to the Airport. The city has built a monument to Palmona that can be seen while walking the 'boardwalk'.

THURSDAY

……….Natalia fixed a nice breakfast for us this morning before leaving for work.  That was after she washed her car. That lady never stops! . . . . . .The wind has subsided to a great extent and the clouds were not as thick, so warmer weather prevailed this afternoon. I never got too far today, I was too lazy, I guess. I ended up at Macaws for lunch and spent almost two hours there reading and relaxing. I strolled toward the house stopping at a couple of shady spots to read and people watch. I also purchased another 20 peso ice cream on a stick. I noticed a different one in the fridge but I waited until next time to buy it. The one I had today and yesterday was good enough! I was home around 4:30 and worked on my email for over an hour, it would have gone a lot faster but the router I am tuned into is on a telephone hookup and with a week signal too it is slow as the dickens. Chris, at R&R Motors wrote me a nice email today explaining that he feels the transmission is now working fine. He did not have an easy time finding the problem but thinks he solved it. I am very excited about driving it again come spring. He is going to continue driving it off and on during the winter just to make sure it is a permanent repair……… I have found a strange way to post pictures on this blog but it works so I will attempt to post another one this evening. It’s a pictured I took from the ‘boardwalk’ a couple of days ago. A hammock hanging from two palm trees in a setting between two thatch covered restaurants right on the beach.

WEDNESDAY

………….Natalia and I had breakfast together before she left for work at 8:30. I poked around the kitchen a bit and read a while before leaving for my daily walk to wherever I decide to go each day. Today I decided to walk north on the wide ‘boardwalk’ between the ocean waves and the traffic of the city. I will attempt again to post a picture of it so with luck you will see it up there. The picture is looking South after I had walked North for about an hour. The  four lane street goes as far as the eye can see and beyond the curveture of the land to the right. It then proceeds to the Southern end of the penisula. I left the house at 9:45 without expecting I would ever get as far as the Gold Zone but that is where I was by noon. I stopped in at McDonalds for lunch and an hour of reading before I felt the urge to get moving again. I arrived back at the house at 3PM and decided to lie down and read. I woke up at 4:30 and had a couple of scoops of ice cream before sitting down at the puter to get caught up with my blog and email.

TUESDAY

…….I left the house about 10:30 wearing my light sweat shirt over a t-shirt. A light jacket would not have been a bad idea though. My first stop was the post office to mail a post card and I almost did not go in because there was a closed sign in the window. After getting closer than across the street I saw people inside so I entered and found business to be moving right along. In Mexico you must put US postage as well as Mexican postage on stuff going to the US so that meant 44 cents for US and an added 88.5 cents Mexican. I mailed the card to Terri on this date and I am interested to see how soon she gets it. Packages I have sent to Natalia [the ones she received] from Castle Rock took 30 days to arrive. Natalia once ordered a pair of reading glasses from the US and after a month she contacted the dealer via email and complained that they never arrived. She was told no problem; they would ship out another pair to her. Natalia asked them to send them to Canada because her sister would get them and bring them with her when she came to visit in a few weeks. They did that and her sister brought them with her. Two months after the sister went back to Canada the original glasses arrived at Natalia’s house. I sent a Christmas card to Natalia from Kelso on Thanksgiving and it did arrive just in time for Christmas. … . . After leaving the Post Office I began my several block walk to the library [walking on the sunny side of the street] for another book and found Nancy Morgan at the park where she volunteers as an aid to tourists. She has a daughter who graduated from Castle Rock High school many years ago and I had first met her last year when I was here. She is a friend of one of the lady’s in my bowling league. Nancy was talking with another couple and introduced me to them as Arthur and Lottie. Nancy went on to explain to them that I was staying with Natalia and asked them if they knew Natalia and Arthur said Natalia was his Aunt. It was discovered that Daniel, who met me at the airport was his uncle.  This evening after  Natalia arrived I asked her about it but she said no such person exists.. . . . . The library was next on my list so I went another 6 blocks or so and traded in my Hemingway book for a Balzac [I have always wanted to try reading his work. The little park right in front of Macaw’s is just across the street from the library so I found a sunny bench and sat down to read. It was getting time to eat something about the time Nancy came by on her way home so I walked with her to her new abode, she had moved since last year and she showed me the  building she rented in. She pointed out the second floor apartment on the left where she lives and the second floor apartment where her daughter lives. She then pointed to the top floor and told me that is where her other daughter lives. I didn’t go in because by this time I was hungry and wanted to get some lunch at Macaws again. I spent an hour eating and reading then I got cold enough to pay my bill and move across the street to another sunny bench to continue my reading. I stayed there as long as I could. The wind was blowing in off the ocean and it was getting cold so I moved inland a few more blocks and bought another of those ice-cream bars I had yesterday. The Twenty Peso one. I found another park bench in the City Square out of the wind and ate that and read Balzac until I was almost shivering. I was home by 4PM. It took me twenty minutes to get warm. I almost put my jacket on in the house! During the course of the day I stopped by the beach and took a picture of the wild waves coming in. I am going to spend the rest of the evening attempting to post it on this blog. With luck I will learn again how to do it sometime before I go to bed. There is a tiny surfer in the picture, just to the left of center.

MONDAY

……….Natalia left for work about 8:30. She served me breakfast again, she is a wonderful lady and great friend, not to mention fantastic cook!  I cleaned up in the kitchen best I could, I’m not much good in someone else’s kitchen. I then spent some time with the laptop. I have not had it out for almost a year. I am still learning how to and not to use it. I did experiment with the blog a bit and put those pictures where I wanted them, more or less, but I wonder how well I will be able to do it a second time. If the whole thing disappears you will know I pushed a wrong button somewhere. I left the house shortly before 11am stopped by a bank to break up a couple of 500 peso bills; it is difficult for some of the smaller businesses to accept those things. I find the hundreds move along at a smart pace though. I walked south toward the end of the peninsula where the university annex is. I was looking for that little shack restaurant that I had frequented several times last year but it was closed. Or out of business, it would be hard to tell with that place. I will stop by again one day and if it is open I will take a picture for you. Natalia had told me of a new place close to her work so I went there and ordered something delicious but I have no idea what it was. It tasted very good and looked a lot like three rather flat tacos filled with cheese and many other tasty ingredients. I ordered a beer and that arrived in a 210 ml bottle. It was a tiny thing but tasty and I certainly don’t need more beer than that anyway. I was in there eating and reading for about an hour but the wind was blowing through the place and it was very cool right on the water like that. I was wearing only a T-shirt and that was not enough. While walking home I remembered that I wore my lightweight London Fog jacket quit often last year. I should have had my sweatshirt on today at least. I stopped twice while walking home to sit in the sun and read. At one point I even got brave and purchased an ice cream bar. I don’t know what it was made of but I am going to be buying more of those before the winter is over! They cost 20 pesos and are worth every Centavo. I have 40 pages to go on my book so tomorrow I will stop by the Library again, I find I like Hemingway but will probably switch to another author just for the heck of it….I was home by 3pm pooped out and cold. I laid down to read and woke up at 4:20 just long enough to check the time then woke up at about 5:30 just in time to start the evening.....First I wrote the above blog of the day and attempted to add pictures with it. You can tell how well that went. Natalia arrived home late, well after 7pm and in possession of the smoked salmon I had brought as far as the airport. She told me that the man who took it from me did not take it home but put it with the other confiscated items of the day that were to be burned. The man she phoned after I told her about the fish phoned the department that destroys such things and told them that the salmon belonged to Natalia. Those people, who are all friends of Natalia. got all excited and rescued the salmon for her. She was so busy over the weekend that she didn't have time to go get it until this evening. I took a picture of her holding the bag of salmon but as I said earlier I am unable to repeat whatever I did before to post pictures on this site. I have not yet given up and will continue to try and if it does appear you will know the story about that. Natalia was in her room getting ready for bed less than half an hour after she got home. I was tired earlier but that long nap helped so I will be up a while longer trying to post pictures, wish me luck!

SUNDAY

                                        Turkey Buzzard

…..Natalia fixed breakfast today and I helped a bit around the kitchen [mostly doing dishes] as she cooked for her mother for the coming week. I also found the time to read more Hemmingway and to generally do nothing until about 11:30 {Natalia had left for her mother’s place} when I left with my book and water bottle. Today  was cool enough to wear long sleeves but I decided to brave the elements without going back to the house. I did bring a light jacket but it would have been too warm for that. I made a stop at a market and purchased two boxes of cereal for 115Pesos and carried them with me the rest of the day. I had a soup dish and rice for lunch, it was good but the very thin soup had two pieces of unboned chicken and trying to remove the meat from the bone made things difficult with only a fork and spoon. After splashing soup all over me I dove into the soup and lifted the chicken out with my fingers and tore away at it with my teeth. That worked. The dish was called Caldo de Pollo and rice on the side. Natalia told me later it is a favorite local dinner. The taste was fine I only had trouble with eating it without splashing all over myself… . . .After lunch I stopped in the central square and sat on a bench for some time reading and relaxing. I arrived back at the house at 3:30 just as Natalia was driving off; she saw me and waved as she quickly zipped around a corner. I walked to the corner market, Oxxo, and got a quart of milk and a pint of ice cream. I had developed a sweet tooth since lunch. Natalia stopped by later for a short time and had her mother in the car so I went out to say hello. They were on their way to Wal-Mart and we did not visit long. It was nice to see Natalia One again; she has been sick but is making a comeback. Jessica, the nine year old from upstairs stopped by to let Natalia know she was moving away, Jessica was the violin player I mentioned last year when I was here. She told us she no longer plays the violin…..

SATURDAY

…….. . . .I went shopping with Natalia this morning while she stocked up on groceries for the weekend. We looked further for Kellogg’s All Bran Plus that I learned to like last year. I was unable to find it at home and was looking forward to it again but it is not to be found. I had emailed Kellogg last year after arriving home to ask where in Longview I could find it but they wrote back telling me it is not available in the US. I am getting the idea it is also no longer available here…….After getting back to the house I gathered my camera, book and water bottle and went walking. I had lunch at Macaw Café; I took a picture but still have not found how to paste pictures on the face page of this blog. Perhaps I will try to relearn how to put them to the side like the present ones are. Lunch at Macaw was about 40 pesos including a coke lite. That was fine until I decided to order a 60 peso dessert. I could hardly waddle home after all of that…..I also took a picture of the Library that is fifty yards away from Macaw and will post that one day soon…….Natalia was still running in and out this afternoon but left for the evening about 3PM leaving me in charge of the delivery of a tank of Propane that she had run out of. She uses that for cooking and the water heater. The propane guy was here and gone by 4:30 so I read for a while then started this blog. I will have to wait till later in the evening to post it though because the connection from the router across the street will be stronger after the sun goes down and the cars stop whizzing by.  The locals are bundled up to a certain extent but I was comfortable in my T-shirt and an unbuttoned over shirt. I am sure that should I go walking this evening I will wish for my light jacket…….

I decided to stay inside and play with this picture problem I have been having and it seems to have paid off. I was able to post the Picture I was writing about yesterday then unloaded the camera and posted more from today. They have titles but it appears the titles don’t post with the picture. I will see what I can do about that.

FRIDAY

… . . .  . Today I left the house about 10am with my book and a bottle of water in a plastic sack. My first stop was the ‘library’ where I paid 150 Pesos for the right to check out one book at a time for the next year. The store does not offer a large selection but I will not have to read them all to keep me aptly supplied for the time I will be here. I then walked to the beach and strolled the Wide Avenue enjoying the cool breeze and the sights. By noon I was a few hundred yards from the house and stepped in to a very small restaurant for a couple of Tacos. I then stopped at the house for a couple of hours of relaxing before starting out again for a longer stroll around the city. I was not in any hurry and I could tell by the amount of ground I was covering that that was true. I may pick up the pace later but rather doubt it… . . I took a picture of a Turkey buzzard on the beach today but it is a distant shot and I doubt it will be very good. I have to experiment with downloading pictures to this blog before I can post it. I have posted pictures to the body of the blog before but for some reason I am unable to figure out how to do it on the laptop. This machine is very sensitive and just resting my finger on the left or right key causes the machine to respond. For that reason I am constantly doing something wrong, losing patience and chucking the whole thing. I am not using a mouse and find this finger slider just too difficult to get along with. Life sure can be a problem sometimes. Natalia has not yet arrived but I am going to post this now that I’m on line and bring things up to date tomorrow.

THURSDAY

If I did it correctly you will see above a picture of the sidewalk café where I enjoyed lunch today. I spent a quiet hour there reading Pearl Bucks, The Good Earth.  There is traffic on the narrow street but thankfully it is one way to the right. I am developing an interest in the classics and find this one to be very good, it is fiction but I am convinced this sort of thing happened in china many times throughout history, and not only in China. After lunch I wandered around and found some breakfast cereal for about 37 Pesos. On the way home I also purchased a Baseball cap [80 Pesos] with the local team’s logo on it. I thought the locals might appreciate that. This way I look more like a local than I do with the English driving hat I usually wear…..Natalia arrived home late tonight. She told me she knows where the Salmon is but she had to go help her mother after work. All is not lost, she is determined to rescue her smoked salmon! No pix..sorry.

WEDNESDAY

…..I was awake ten minutes before Ron phoned. He arrived 20 minutes later and by 3:30 we were on our way to the airport. The plane left at 5:30. Security took my little pocket knife away from me so I will have to find a replacement in the next few days. It was nice to see the sunshine in Phoenix but I was told it was cold outside, something like 43 degrees. We left 30 minutes late but still landed on time so the flight only lasted 90 minutes. I had to declare my Tillamook Cheese but they accepted that because it was in its original packaging. I had also brought along a half pound of smoked salmon that Mel had given me because I knew Natalia loved smoked salmon. The man at the counter told me he would have to relieve me of that tasty morsel because it was not wrapped properly. It was in a Ziploc bag. I became upset and told him to go ahead and take it, take it home with him and enjoy it. I told him it was the best smoked salmon he would ever eat. I was not happy and I am sure he realized that. I proceeded through customs and complained at the next stop for all the good it did me. Natalia’s Nephew was waiting for me as I exited the area and after I purchased $270.00 worth of Pesos we were on our way. Natalia was not home so I put my stuff away as soon as Daniel drove off. I then locked the place up after me and went for a stroll around town. I was looking for All Bran Plus breakfast cereal but was unable to find any. I will find some tomorrow. It is not available in the States and I have grown a fondness for it since my last trip down here. Natalia arrived about 6:30 and we had a happy reunion while she cooked for her mother and us. During our conversation I told her about the surprise smoked salmon she almost got. She asked me who the man was behind the counter and I described him as best as I could. She picked up her cell phone and told me she would find it. After a couple of minutes she hung up the phone and told me they would call her back. She left about 7PM to take her Mother her evening meal and got home before 8. I told her she had forgotten her cell phone and it had rung once while she was gone. She checked the number and called back, two minutes later she hung up and said she had found the smoked salmon and would pick it up the next day. Needless to say I was beyond belief! All of that happened yesterday and I am posting this after she left for work. I am going to be waiting to hear the end of the story today. That was yesterday, I am warm, healthy and happy and plan on making another tour of the beach this afternoon. I will take my book along with a bottle of water and find a shady palm to sit under while I read and relax.

TUESDAY

. . . . . My Protime check turned out fine this morning. After leaving the lab I stopped by the restaurant to meet the ‘52’ gang for lunch. There were only seven of us there. We missed Bob Vetious, Dewey said he was not feeling well and even Dewey was just getting over a spot of flu. I wished them all a nice winter and told them I would see them in the spring. I then went home to finish my last minute packing and prepare doggy for his change of home. I arrived at Teigen’s before 4PM and unloaded the doggy stuff before delivering the car to R&R Motors. Ron then drove me back to their place for a nice steak dinner. After dinner we watched TV for a while then I said bye bye to the little dog and Ron drove me home. He will pick me up at 3:30 am and the great adventure will begin! It rained most of the day but the temperature is at record highs so there is not any fear of snow in the morning. http://celford52.wordpress.com/ http://www.youtube.com/celford52 http://cliffordaelford.blogspot.com/

MONDAY

. . . . .With my errand running completed by 11:30 I stopped by the bowling alley for the last time before leaving town. My average for the first five lines was the same as my second five. 135.6. I hope I am able to improve on that during the summer league that will start a week after I get back. Light rain most of the day, as expected. The temperature was an acceptable 49. Acceptable only because it is too warm to snow. http://celford52.wordpress.com/ http://www.youtube.com/celford52 http://cliffordaelford.blogspot.com/

SUNDAY

. . . . . Lots of football today and I did again force myself onto the stepper for forty minutes. Other than that it was a most quiet day. Rain arrived this evening; I have no idea what it will be like tomorrow but I am sure I will stop by the bowling alley after taking care of some business at the bank. No rain would be nice….. http://celford52.wordpress.com/ http://www.youtube.com/celford52 http://cliffordaelford.blogspot.com/

SATURDAY

. . . . . . .Right after having lunch I drove to the bowling alley. The idea of exercising does not sit well with me but the bowling thing I find very satisfying; when I do well. And, I do find it is exercise! Today was a good day, I averaged 146.8 over ten lines and one of those was a 200 game. This is the first time in months that I have reached 200. It is also the fourth time I have been at or above that number. After bowling I stopped by the house and picked up the dog and we visited Ron and Caren for a short time. Doggy is getting used to seeing them so dropping him off next Tuesday evening for the winter will not be a big surprise. I am now in the process of packing my trunk with all of my junk and getting ready to fly away until the snow melts. Natalia needs a reading lamp in my room so Caren gave me an extra one to take to her. It will fit in my suitcase just fine and I will still be under my 50 pound limit. I will leave it with Natalia and use it again next winter if Natalia decides to invite me again. I have not heard from her for a couple of weeks so I will send a short note tomorrow reminding her that I am on my way. Snow is expected a few hours after my plane leaves, looks like I will get away just in time! http://celford52.wordpress.com/ http://www.youtube.com/celford52 http://cliffordaelford.blogspot.com/

FRIDAY

. . . . .Two of yesterdays four deer returned this morning. I was eating breakfast and one of the deer walked up to the living room window and looked in to spy on me. She jumped away as I got out of the chair to get my camera. I was able to get a couple of not so good pics of the two of them as they glided across the grass and disappeared into the bushes. A couple of hours later I went outside to intercept Roy as he was delivering my mail. Naturally ChiChi followed and as we talked the dog ran over to the deer poop and started rolling in it. Yuk! As soon as he left the spot Roy’s dog, Lexie, started to do the same. We said goodbye and I herded my dog inside and Roy did his best to save his dog from such fate. I have been putting off bathing ChiChi but that all changed as soon as I got him inside. He made an attempt to hide but I had my leather gloves on and him by the collar before he could escape. I did get one bite on the left wrist but it was not too bad, never did bleed like so many times in the past. Crazy dog.. . . My plan for the day was to go for another walk down to the river but since the dog was wet and shivering after the bath I decided to spend thirty minutes on the stepper and call that my daily exercise. The dog is still hiding under the bed. He will forget all about it before long and come out looking for me. I will scratch behind his ears and all will be forgiven. He is pretty good. . .. for a dog. http://celford52.wordpress.com/ http://www.youtube.com/celford52 http://cliffordaelford.blogspot.com/

THURSDAY

. . . . The thermometer read 27 this morning, no wind and no clouds. The sunshine is great! Roy told me he checked his thermometer at 5am and it read 21. The sun was bright and shining when I left at 9:45 to drive up the hill to see Bernita about a haircut. After leaving there I stopped by R&R Motors to remind them that I would be by about 5PM next Tuesday to drop off the car for the winter. Chris is going to spend his free time during the cold months to find out what is needed to get that transmission working correctly. I am sure it will be in excellent shape when I get back. After leaving R&R I drove home for lunch then continued on to the bowling alley. I was happy to have bowled a 437 series which is very close to a 146 average for the day. I met Sharon, who will be taking my place for the balance of the year and told my other team members to expect me back in the spring. I then went to Safeway for some milk and bananas and while checking out received a twenty cent per gallon discount on gasoline so I filled up the tank at $3.11 per gallon. It was a good day, I should mention that the clouds are rolling in quickly and it is getting cold. Snow is on the way, I wish not, however. As I was typing the above I noticed three deer outside my window. I ran for the camera and as I was snapping away I realized that there were actually four deer in attendance. They were all small but if the people with the hunting rifles don’t see them they may grow up to be nice looking animals. I saw no sign of horns on the deer. http://celford52.wordpress.com/ http://www.youtube.com/celford52 http://cliffordaelford.blogspot.com/

WEDNESDAY

. . . . The sun was out in all of its glory today, not a cloud in the sky but with snow in the forecast. Darn it! ChiChi and I walked down the hill to the river bottom right after lunch. We were gone an hour and I really felt better about the world when we got back. It is amazing what a bit of exercise will do for one. The temperature was above freezing but the little bit of snow still around in patches was not in any hurry to disappear. There was no wind so the sunshine did a good job of keeping us warm as we strolled along. I am looking forward to bowling tomorrow. I hope I don’t fall on my face. http://celford52.wordpress.com/ http://www.youtube.com/celford52 http://cliffordaelford.blogspot.com/

TUESDAY

. . . . .The snow melted away as the day progressed, by night fall most of it was gone and there was no hint of it returning anytime soon. I spent the day inside watching TV and reading. Accomplished nothing and feel fat and lazy because of it. I did get all of my laundry caught up though. I wish I could say I got some exercise but that never happened. I will try again tomorrow. . . . . http://celford52.wordpress.com/ http://www.youtube.com/celford52 http://cliffordaelford.blogspot.com/

MONDAY

. . . .The weather report promised several days with no precipitation but it was snowing here at 10:30. It did not look like it was going to amount to much so I drove into town for some practice bowling. I discovered they were full up until after 2PM so I turned around and drove back home. It was still snowing but I was convinced it could not last long. Of course I was wrong, it continued until after 4PM but I am happy to say that the total on the ground when I went to bed was only about an inch deep. http://celford52.wordpress.com/ http://www.youtube.com/celford52 http://cliffordaelford.blogspot.com/

SUNDAY

. . . . This turned out to be a lazy football day. I did talk myself into washing the car. I needed the exercise and the car was beginning to look rather old and worn out. It looked much nicer after the bath and now I have to find the nerve to do the same to the little doggy. He hates bathing and I have to use leather gloves to hold him in place while doing the nasty job. Perhaps tomorrow, or never. Today it was very cool but the sun did come out this afternoon and that made the car washing a bit more acceptable. That is the last time for this year and I would guess the last time until Spring. I am talking as much about washing the car as seeing the sunshine. http://celford52.wordpress.com/ http://www.youtube.com/celford52 http://cliffordaelford.blogspot.com/

SATURDAY

. . . . .I was pleased enough with today’s bowling results. The first three lines averaged out at 157. I didn’t do as well during the next seven but did end up with a 137.6 for the day. There were a few sprinkles during the day and the temperature was nothing to argue about so I found it sort of acceptable. I enjoyed watching the Syracuse football game today, a lot of snow and cold wind blowing. It sure is nice to be inside and warm while watching those folks suffering the cold. I have been told some people really like the winter weather. It is beyond me to understand such a strange idea. To each his own, I guess. http://celford52.wordpress.com/ http://www.youtube.com/celford52 http://cliffordaelford.blogspot.com/

FRIDAY

. . . . I was on the phone for about an hour this afternoon attempting to get my bedside heart monitor to operate properly. I think it is now OK. It sent a progress report to the Longview clinic and I will get a ‘results’ report on January 2nd. I almost had myself talked into washing the car today but that never happened, I took a nap instead. Tomorrow I plan on visiting the bowling alley for some more practice/exercise. http://celford52.wordpress.com/ http://www.youtube.com/celford52 http://cliffordaelford.blogspot.com/

THURSDAY

. . . . .My bowling went better than usual today. 133-149-146 which turned out to be a not bad [for me] 142 average. We have dropped to 7th place but I think we won today so perhaps we can hang on to that for another week. I have one more week of bowling before I leave for the winter. http://celford52.wordpress.com/ http://www.youtube.com/celford52 http://cliffordaelford.blogspot.com/

WEDNESDAY

. . . . . .ChiChi and I went on a forty minute walk before lunch today. We walked the country road down toward the river. Poor dog got all dirty from the belly hairs down so I am afraid it is about time for his winter bath. We were lucky not to get rained on but the wind was cool enough without it. It certainly was not a slow, leisurely stroll, we moved along at a good clip the whole time. I was pleased to note that I was doing well enough to not stop and catch my breath on the last grade coming back. That is rare for me. In warmer weather I am not so lucky. More sprinkles this afternoon, winter, it is arriving. http://celford52.wordpress.com/ http://www.youtube.com/celford52 http://cliffordaelford.blogspot.com/

MERRY CHRISTMAS

. . . . This was another one of those very lazy days! I accomplished nothing but it did not seem to bother me a lot. I think that is not a good sign. http://celford52.wordpress.com/ http://www.youtube.com/celford52 http://cliffordaelford.blogspot.com/

MONDAY

. . . . I happened to look out the bedroom window when I got out of bed this morning and spotted two deer about 25 feet away enjoying the tasty, wet grass mother nature has so amply supplied around the property. I decided to drive into Longview for another session at the bowling alley. That kind of exercise is more fun than 30 minutes on my stepper machine. I averaged 142 for ten lines, nothing spectacular but it beats my league average. I was home by I:30 and had a light lunch prior to making the short drive to Teigen’s house; I arrived there about 3PM. We had Pizza for dinner then following family tradition we opened Christmas gifts. Of course little Colt, age four plus, had a great time and once the gifts under the tree were all opened we heard a noise on the porch and jumped up to discover that Santa had arrived and left the front porch loaded with more gifts. Mostly for Colt of course. Ron missed the arrival of Santa because he happened to be in the bathroom at the time. Strangely the same thing had happened last year. ChiChi fell asleep next to me on the couch and was snoring loud enough for all to hear. I woke him up about 7PM and we made a rain free drive home. It was another good Christmas. Merry Christmas to all of you! http://celford52.wordpress.com/ http://www.youtube.com/celford52 http://cliffordaelford.blogspot.com/

SUNDAY

. . . .Today it was rainfall and football. There is a rhyme in there someplace. Perhaps I should take up poetry. http://celford52.wordpress.com/ http://www.youtube.com/celford52 http://cliffordaelford.blogspot.com/

SATURDAY

. . . . .I bowled ten lines today and averaged 142.3, out of the ten games I came up with a couple of good ones. I may get down there again on Monday. There is no doubt I need a lot more practice. After bowling I stopped by Safeway and stocked up on a few more essentials to last me until the plane leaves for warmer climes. I also bought a pizza at the bowling alley to add to the freezer, it will be gone long before I take off. http://celford52.wordpress.com/ http://www.youtube.com/celford52 http://cliffordaelford.blogspot.com/

FRIDAY

. . . . I was outside long enough to get the mail out of the mailbox, distance about eight feet. Spent the day reading and relaxing and being careful about my calorie intake. I was bad, never did get on the stepper. http://celford52.wordpress.com/ http://www.youtube.com/celford52 http://cliffordaelford.blogspot.com/

THURSDAY

. . . .Bowling was really pretty bad today, I averaged 135 and that is one pin below my league average. We are still tied for third place though. It is strange that a team that performs as poorly as we do is that high in the ratings two weeks into the second half of the season. I am glad I will not be here when the ship hits the sand and we start our fall to the lower spot that we truly deserve. However, my replacement in January just might fire the team up enough to improve our present position. Lets hope so! http://celford52.wordpress.com/ http://www.youtube.com/celford52 http://cliffordaelford.blogspot.com/

WEDNESDAY

. . . . . .This was a windy, stormy day, I stayed inside and did nothing worth mentioning. Tomorrow I will go bowling and get some exercise. http://celford52.wordpress.com/ http://www.youtube.com/celford52 http://cliffordaelford.blogspot.com/

TUESDAY

. . . . .We had some snow showers today but none of it stuck. They were very large snowflakes and hit with an almost audible ‘plop’. The temperatures were not low enough to keep them happy. I was inside all day, napping, reading and even getting in another 2,000 steps on my little stepper machine. It was a lazy day and I think the same thing is in store for tomorrow. http://celford52.wordpress.com/ http://www.youtube.com/celford52 http://cliffordaelford.blogspot.com/

MONDAY

. . . .This turned out to be a pretty good day. At the bowling alley I experimented the first five lines and averaged a 124. Then when I settled down and used what I think I have learned my average for the second set of five came to 149.6. I will discover Thursday if any of this will still work for me under the pressure of league play. I left the bowling alley at about 2:30 and arrived at Safeway ten minutes later. The clouds were dark and scary looking but I made it inside without getting wet. Twenty minutes later as I left the store I was surprised to see dark blue sky and a quarter inch of snow on everything in sight! Such a surprise. There was no sign of the stuff by the time I got home. http://celford52.wordpress.com/ http://www.youtube.com/celford52 http://cliffordaelford.blogspot.com/

SUNDAY

. . . . I watched the Seattle game today. Lots of fun but again very one sided. We had plenty of rain and I stayed home all day trying not to overeat. I did put another two thousand steps on my stepper. As near as I can figure that amounts to about one mile on a slight upgrade. Nothing spectacular but it sure beats no exercise at all and that is what I would be doing without the stepper. I will try the bowling alley again tomorrow, I am supposed to meet Rick there at noon. http://celford52.wordpress.com/ http://www.youtube.com/celford52 http://cliffordaelford.blogspot.com/

SATURDAY

. . . . .More rain again, I got to the bowling alley for ten lines and averaged 137. The first line was my best at 188 and the last line was my next best at 166. The others were all over the place. I think I am learning the game but it is not a quick process, not for me at least! http://celford52.wordpress.com/ http://www.youtube.com/celford52 http://cliffordaelford.blogspot.com/

FRIDAY

. . . . .ChiChi and I visited with the Teigen’s for a while this afternoon, he is getting more acquainted with them with each visit. There was a huge patch of clear sky today and the sun beamed down spectacularly for a while. It was nice to make the short drive without needing wiper blades on the windshield. http://celford52.wordpress.com/ http://www.youtube.com/celford52 http://cliffordaelford.blogspot.com/

THURSDAY

. . . .Thursday was another bad day at the bowling alley. My score sucked canal water and we last again. We were fourth going into today’s game and I am afraid we will be further down than that next week. Such is life in the rainy Northwest! http://celford52.wordpress.com/ http://www.youtube.com/celford52 http://cliffordaelford.blogspot.com/

WEDNESDAY

. . . . . . Not a whole lot going on today, I did go by the Post Office and since I was so close I stopped by City Hall to say hello to the ladies and wish them a merry Christmas. ChiChi and I drove by the Teigen’s but no one was home. It was only 11:30 by the time we got back to the house and after lunch I did some reading and fell asleep until 3:30. No need to mention that all of this was done with light rain falling. I was able to spot a patch of blue sky at one time this afternoon, that is always nice to see. Rare, but still nice. http://celford52.wordpress.com/ http://www.youtube.com/celford52 http://cliffordaelford.blogspot.com/

TUESDAY

. . . . This turned out to be a good day, if it did rain. I had lunch with the ‘52’ gang. There were 12 of us there today, not a bad crowd since so many go to warmer climes this time of year. After lunch I found myself in the bowling alley again. My first five gave me an average of 148 and the second set only delivered a 134. The average for the day was 143.5 and that is getting closer to the 150.0 that I want as a permanent average. On the way home I stopped by the Pharmacy for more meds to take with me in January. The time is fleeting by! I find that to be a pleasant thought. The rains are helping maintain a temperature that is almost bearable during the day. http://celford52.wordpress.com/ http://www.youtube.com/celford52

MONDAY

. . . . .I left the house at 8:30 to keep my cardiologist appointment at 9AM. She said that according to my records for the past three years my heart has shown no change in its performance. It was functioning at 35-40 percent then and is still doing the same today. I still have two leaking valves and that will not improve but with luck it won’t get a lot worse for a few more years. I have been complaining for months about a bloating condition and she checked me for fluid retention and feels that is not a problem. She scheduled an echo-gram of my abdomen for 2:00 and asked me to return then. I had that taken care of after I went bowling for three hours but the results will not be known until after the person who knows about such things reads the results. The bowling results were not too bad, I experimented for the first 5 lines and got a 120 average. I then applied what I thought I had learned from the experimenting and made a 148 average for the next 5 lines. Since I still had time before returning to the doctors office I bowled two more lines and got a 188 and a 140. My total average for the day was 140 but I feel I am on the right track. I must talk myself into throwing a slower ball with more accuracy, putting muscle into the ball throws off my ability to hit my spot on the floor. The more times I hit that spot the more times the ball goes where I intend it to go. Tomorrow I will meet the gang of ‘52’ for lunch and then return to the bowling alley just to see if I am really just kidding myself. In any event I got a lot of good exercise, that is worth a lot to me! http://celford52.wordpress.com/ http://www.youtube.com/celford52

SUNDAY

. . . . . Dallas pulled off a great win from behind today, the Bengal’s helped a lot with too many mistakes but that is football. I had phoned the bowling alley earlier to ask about open lanes today and was told again that they would not be available until after 3:30. I spent the day watching football until half time of the Seattle game then I decided they would not need my help in the second half so I drove to the bowling alley. I experimented with a new delivery but it did not show a lot of improvement. My first five games gave me an average of 126 and the second five showed a 132. The average for the day was 121. Not so hot, I must say. I have a Cardiologist appointment in the morning so I may stop by the bowling alley again. Such a glutton for punishment! http://celford52.wordpress.com/ http://www.youtube.com/celford52

SATURDAY

. . . . .I phoned the bowling alley around noon to ask about the availability of practice lanes today and they said it would be after 3:30. By the time 3:30 rolled around I was too laid back to bother. Perhaps tomorrow. I did get in 2,000 steps on the stepper machine though, I feel good about having done at least that little bit of exercise. http://celford52.wordpress.com/ http://www.youtube.com/celford52

FRIDAY

. . . .This was another lazy day, I considered going to the bowling alley to experiment with a new delivery but changed my mind when I notice the rain. Maybe I’ll feel better about it tomorrow. http://celford52.wordpress.com/ http://www.youtube.com/celford52

THURSDAY

. . . I am sorry I even attempted to bowl today. My scores were 95-116-123. Yikes! I was glad to crawl out of the building and sneak away. I will show up again next week and pretend nothing happened. At least I got the exercise, such as it was. Our team was in second place before the day started, I have no idea where we stand now. This is our fourth loss so far. http://celford52.wordpress.com/ http://www.youtube.com/celford52

WEDNESDAY

. . . . ChiChi and I walked to the river today, the first time since last April when his leg started giving him so much trouble. We had a nice, cool day for a short hike and he seemed to have no trouble with the leg. I think we were gone less than an hour. We did not stay at the river too long because there is not a lot of beauty down there this time of year with the high, dirty water and no leaves on the trees. While walking back to the house I was able to climb the last steep grade with less trouble than I remember having before, that is a good thing. I did not have to stop and catch my breath half way up. http://celford52.wordpress.com/ http://www.youtube.com/celford52

TUESDAY

. . . . .I had my soup in the pot and cooking by 11AM. It turned out to be pretty good, I have to admit that salt would be a really tasty addition but I refrained. I bet I will get a dozen meals out of the amount I made…… More rain off and on again today but that can be expected….. Got a note from Natalia a few minutes ago, it seems the bowling alley in Mazatlan has gone out of business so that solves my packing problem. No bowling ball this year. And no practice, darn it. However, that will not stop me from sitting on the beach with a good book and with my feet in the ocean. http://celford52.wordpress.com/ http://www.youtube.com/celford52

MONDAY

. . . . I bowled ten lines today and only averaged 137.2. One of these days I will bowl a score I will like advertising, this was not that day. I stopped by Safeway on the way home and stocked up on some soup ingredients. Tomorrow I will create a pot of that for the fun of it. This is slowly becoming soup weather, so I might as well bow to the powers that be and join in. http://celford52.wordpress.com/ http://www.youtube.com/celford52

SUNDAY

. . . . .This was a great day to stay inside and watch Seattle Football. That was really a great game and then a bit later Pittsburgh came through with another come from behind win. I also was able to talk myself into spending thirty minutes on the stepper so it turned out to be a good day for me. I hope all of you are doing as well! http://celford52.wordpress.com/ http://www.youtube.com/celford52

SATURDAY

. . . . .The barometer has climbed a notch since yesterday evening and the weather cleared enough for me to work up the energy to drive myself and the doggy over to the Teigen’s for a short visit. Ron felt the need for a short walk; his cows have found a shortcut into the neighbors front yard so we walked down the road looking for the problem. It appears a small tree has fallen over the fence so they have no problem getting out. Cows do that every chance they get. He said he will get at it one day before the snow flies and repair it. ChiChi and I were home by 1PM and I turned on the TV to find an interesting football game. Nebraska came on at 5PM but at half time it looks like it is all over for them. I may watch a bit more of the mess before going to bed to catch up on my reading. http://celford52.wordpress.com/ http://www.youtube.com/celford52

FRIDAY

. . . . . . I knew after breakfast that if I did not hop on the stepper and get my thirty minutes of exercise right away I would not get at it later in the day. I felt much better after having kept that promise to myself. We had several rain clouds deliver us some Oregon Mist in the course of this afternoon, I got caught up on my reading and also had a nice long winter nap. The Taco I built for lunch was especially good and very filling. It was another good day but perhaps I should find some way to get more exercise. http://celford52.wordpress.com/ http://www.youtube.com/celford52

THURSDAY

. . . . . .I stopped by the lab for my Pro-time blood check before arriving at the bowling alley today. The blood check was a perfect 2.4 and I am to return in 6 weeks, one day before catching the big bird to Mazatlan. My bowling results were awful but that is nothing new, the surprising thing is that out of 22 teams we are in third place. After today I am sure we will be a solid third place. Now I have to begin doing a better job of bowling so we don’t fall behind. I am 18 spots above the bottom in the league but the team likes my high handicap. http://celford52.wordpress.com/ http://www.youtube.com/celford52

WEDNESDAY

. . . .I did spend half an hour on the stepper today. Hate to say it but that was about all that I did. I did try not to eat too much, that could be considered an accomplishment for the day also. It rained for a while this afternoon but I missed it because it happened during my nap time. The temperature was 34 when I got up this morning, winter is getting too close for me! http://celford52.wordpress.com/ http://www.youtube.com/celford52

TUESDAY

. . . . I never got out of the house today, Roy even delivered my mail to the door. The first thing I did this morning was glance at the thermometer outside my living room window and when I saw the 33 reading I decided inside was best for me. Once during the day I started walking on my stepper but something interrupted me and I never got back to that. I have no idea what tomorrow may bring but I do hope I can at least use the stepper for thirty minutes! http://celford52.wordpress.com/ http://www.youtube.com/celford52

MONDAY

. . . . I left the house at 9:15 to make it to my doctor appointment in Vancouver. All is well with my urology report and my next appointment will be a year from now. On the way home I stopped at Burger King in Longview for lunch before stopping by the bowling alley for ten lines. It turned out to be a good day but the first five lines only averaged 130. I buckled down and paid attention the second hour and made a 153 average for five lines. My average for the day was a couple of pins better than my league average so I left feeling pretty good about life. I was home by 3pm and settled in for the evening. http://celford52.wordpress.com/ http://www.youtube.com/celford52

SUNDAY

. . . . .. I never did accomplish a lot today but when half time rolled around during Seattle’s football game I ran out and washed the car. The weather is supposed to be nice tomorrow and I have a doctors appointment in Beaverton in the morning so at least I will have the pleasure of driving a clean car. Washing the car was my exercise for the day except for being in the kitchen fixing stuff to eat. I don’t imagine that would count as exercise though. It was a good day and I really did try not to eat too much.

SATURDAY

. . . . .I pigged out in front of the TV today. I talked myself into putting 2,000 steps on the stepper, I felt overdue for some exercise of some kind. I watched the Oregon game but turned it off in the third quarter, the excitement was out of the game by that time. http://celford52.wordpress.com/ http://www.youtube.com/celford52

FRIDAY

. . . . . I spent a couple of hours bowling today. I averaged 138 for ten lines. On the way home I bought a Tracfone airtime card [actually I bought four 90 day cards] and installed them on my Tracfone. The remarkable thing is that I could have purchased a one year card for $109.00 and gotten the same thing. I purchased four because the price was only $19.99 each. I have discovered that doing it that way lowered my cost for a cell phone to $7.21 per month. Had I purchased the one year card it would be $9.08 per month. I was not too happy with my bowling results but the shopping results made up for it. It was a good day. http://celford52.wordpress.com/ http://www.youtube.com/celford52

THANKSGIVING

. . . . .I had a nice dinner with the Teigen’s today. I was home by 2:30 and had planned on watching football but got on the puter and forgot all about it. I have not decided which is worse for one, TV or the Internet. Happy Thanksgiving, all. http://celford52.wordpress.com/ http://www.youtube.com/celford52

WEDNESDAY

. . . . . . More rain today. Melvin phoned me this morning to let me know he had driven into town for a doctors appointment and had taken Tippy, his dog along. The doctor wanted to run some tests that required him to stay the night in hospital so my job was to go get Tippy and take her home. She is now at the house with a full bowl of water and a two days supply of dog food. Roy, Mel’s neighbor, will look in on her tomorrow morning and Mel expects to be home early afternoon. I was back home by 10:30 and spent the day reading and generally doing nothing. I even forgot to get on my stepper today, that makes two days in a row. I really have trouble exercising! http://celford52.wordpress.com/ http://www.youtube.com/celford52

TUESDAY

. . . .. Doggy and I visited with Ron and Caren today. They introduced us to Hanna, a young lady who is visiting them from Holland, she seems very nice. They had been visiting Sol yesterday, his health is good too. The entire family is getting ready for the Big Season! . . . There is a big rain just south of Portland as I type this, nothing headed in our direction though. I hope. http://celford52.wordpress.com/ http://www.youtube.com/celford52

MONDAY

. . . . . .The power has been out four times in the past 24 hours. The storm turned out to be a serious gully washer. The poor old Cowlitz River is straining at the load all along its banks but seems to be holding well. I went bowling today and averaged only 135 for ten lines. I also stocked up on more groceries so I am set for a while. Let it storm, it is fine with me as long as the temperature stays above freezing. http://celford52.wordpress.com/ http://www.youtube.com/celford52

SUNDAY

. . . . . . . . I pigged out all day today, watched TV, took a nap, all of the important stuff. The rains returned later this afternoon, nothing new there. Doggy and I are doing fine! http://celford52.wordpress.com/ http://www.youtube.com/celford52

SATURDAY

. . . . .I drove into town in the rain today. I stopped at the Post Office and found it closed. I thought the Post Office was open at least half a day on Saturday. I then drove in the rain to the bowling alley and bowled ten lines, averaging my league 139. I then drove in the rain to the dollar store to buy five more books. I then drove home in the rain. Needless to say it rained today. http://celford52.wordpress.com/ http://www.youtube.com/celford52

FRIDAY

. . . . I took care of some paper work that has needed attention for some time and ate some more of my delicious spaghetti sauce for lunch. It threatened rain all day but it never happened. That didn’t bother me a lot since I never got out of the house anyway. http://celford52.wordpress.com/ http://www.youtube.com/celford52

THURSDAY

. . . . . I bowled so poorly today that I didn’t even write down the score. I think I bowled 145-126-112= a 126 average. My team is in 4th place though and that is a good thing. Of course it is still early in the season but we have two bowlers who are very good and two with very large handicaps. If the two of us who are not doing so well can improve as the season progresses we can as a team make a pretty good showing. I went looking for a battery for my cell phone today and found none are available. After getting home and working with the darn thing I found I had forgotten that in order to turn the animal on the ‘on’ button must be held down for at least 3 seconds. Anyway, I still have a cell phone. No rain today, some sunshine but it is getting cool as fall moves, in pushing summer aside. I noticed on the weather report that it is about 80 degrees in Mazatlan. Happy Day! http://celford52.wordpress.com/ http://www.youtube.com/celford52

WEDNESDAY

. . . . Bill, Melvin and Had a Kentucky Fried Chicken Birthday party this afternoon. Melvin and Bill both had birthdays this month so I supplied the food and drinks for a celebration in Melvin’s garage. It was a nice afternoon-the doors were open during the festivities and the sun was shining brightly. Mel had driven into town earlier to pickup the food and Bill, I delivered Bill back home about 4:30 and returned home myself. I took ChiChi along, he had a good time too, Bill fed him a lot of chicken. http://celford52.wordpress.com/ http://www.youtube.com/celford52

TUESDAY

.. . . . .I met the ‘52’ gang for lunch, only eight of us showed up but the conversation was lively enough to be entertaining. Only Bob and I were left after the tables cleared so we visited for almost an hour before we both decided it was time to get on with our day. I was only a couple hundred yards away from the bowling alley so I stopped in to bowl ten lines. The first five lines created a 126 average and the second five gave me a 142, I was 133.7 for the day. The nice part is that the second five lines were better than the first. I also noticed that the first three games gave me a 153. I sure hope I can repeat that on Thursday. It was cool today but little rain, it sprinkled a little on the way home. http://celford52.wordpress.com/ http://www.youtube.com/celford52

MONDAY

……….I returned to the bowling alley again today for another ten line session. I averaged 145.2 which put me really close to the 150 that I hope to eventually end up with. Colder weather is slowly sitting in, it might have gotten to 50 degrees today and felt a lot cooler than that. Rain is forecast for the next couple of days then perhaps we can get a break so I can wash my car again. http://celford52.wordpress.com/ http://www.youtube.com/celford52

SUNDAY

. . . .I had a nice day today, I drove to Canby to visit Jean and Ben for an hour or so. Jean just got back from a couple of weeks in Costa Rica and the sunshine seemed to help her completion, she looks healthy as heck. She is looking forward to starting her chemo therapy Tuesday, mainly to get it over with as soon as possible. On the way I stopped at the Cemetery and left flowers for Ron and Pat, Terrie’s parents. I also stopped by Art Huntington’s marker and paused for a moment in honor of his life. There was plenty of rain during the drive home but that just added to the romance of the road. It was nice being on the highway for a few hours, short as they were. My plan now is to catch the end of the Seattle game and pop some popcorn for dinner! http://celford52.wordpress.com/ http://www.youtube.com/celford52

SATURDAY

. . . .I bowled 15 lines today and felt like I could have continued. My average during the first 5 lines was 136, the second 5 was 137 and the third set of five was a 147 average. That came out to 142 for the day and that is above my league average so I feel pretty good about it all. I also did a bit of shopping and got home before 4:30. The temperature was about 45 degrees, OK for a light jacket but just barely. . . . I noticed later in the evening that my muscles were beginning to feel like I had had a work out today, that’s a good thing. http://celford52.wordpress.com/ http://www.youtube.com/celford52

FRIDAY

. . . .. We had nice weather today and I got in a twenty minute walk to go with my usual 2,000 steps on my stepper machine. I built myself a very nice hamburger for lunch, had a nap and did lots of reading. I still feel the need for more activity so I believe I will return to the bowling alley tomorrow and try my luck. http://celford52.wordpress.com/ http://www.youtube.com/celford52

THURSDAY

. . . . . Few clouds today, mostly clear skies but it was not warm. I only wore a light jacket into town and I am happy to have had it along. My bowling was one pin above my average for the day so I will not complain about that. All is fine. ChiChi and I are feeling fine and trying to cut back on our eating. Wish us luck. http://celford52.wordpress.com/ http://www.youtube.com/celford52

WEDNESDAY

. . . . .My guy didn’t win, a lot of people will be glad to hear that, I suppose. I caught up on my sleep this afternoon, cut out one meal because I am putting on too much weight and can not blame it on water retention. Earlier in the day I gave some thought to going to the river but the rains came before I could get in the car so I stayed home. Tomorrow is bowling day and today I did get in my 2,000 steps on the stepper. http://celford52.wordpress.com/ http://www.youtube.com/celford52

ELECTION DAY

. . . . .I got a call at 8AM to help take the boat out of the river. ChiChi and I drove the pickup and trailer to the Camelot riverside park and backed it into the water. Five minutes later the boat was loaded and after getting it strapped down Mel drove us back to his place where my car was parked. We ran into a light rain but that was expected because storm clouds were on the horizon. The balance of the day was spent reading and eating. This evening I will be watching Romney win? the election. http://celford52.wordpress.com/ http://www.youtube.com/celford52

MONDAY

. . . . .I left the house at 10:40 to do a little shopping before meeting Rick at the bowling alley for lunch. Rick is a member of my team and our scores are about the same so we tried to help each other. That is sort of like a blond leading a blond. We bowled a bunch of practice games and neither one of us did much good. My average for eight lines came out to 129. A poor showing on Monday usually means I will do well on League day so I am waiting for Thursday. Ron and Caren invited me over to their place for dinner so I got there in time to watch O’Reilly with them. Ron and I talked politics, he is a real Democrat and I am definitely not so we had a lot of laughs and a good time. I think neither of us knew what the devil we were talking about most of the time. But that is just fine, we enjoyed it. I got home at 7:30 and now I will post the blog and call it a day. Mel called, he wants me to help him move his boat tomorrow, it is fall again and time to take the boat out of the river until next spring. http://celford52.wordpress.com/ http://www.youtube.com/celford52

SUNDAY

. . . . . . I got out of the house long enough to hand Roy the rent check and check the weather. The rest of the day was spent pigging out in front of the TV and napping. I did use my stepper for 28 minutes today, worked up some perspiration in the process, I felt good about that. http://celford52.wordpress.com/ http://www.youtube.com/celford52

SATURDAY

. . . . . Another lazy day at home. I took a nap so I will be able to get up at 2AM to turn the clocks back. http://celford52.wordpress.com/ http://www.youtube.com/celford52

FRIDAY

. . . . . .I have no idea where all of the energy came from but I had two loads of laundry done by 9AM. While all of that was going on I cleaned and polished my bowling shoes. The laces are looking worn and I will replace them sometime this weekend. The weather report didn’t say much about rain so I considered washing the car too. I was able to force myself to stay away from that duty for a couple of hours but finally I gave in. The sprinkles started just as I finished putting the hose back on the rack. At 3PM I stopped by Charlotte’s house to take her out to dinner. Charlotte is the lady who introduced me to the local senior bowling club. She has just gotten back from India and I wanted to pick her brain about her trip. She was very happy about the three weeks and now seems to have a ‘travel bug’. It was nice visiting with her after so many months of nothing more than ‘Hi’ at the bowling alley. She had some pictures she shared with me but they were purchased in India, she was sorry she failed to take a camera although her daughter was along so there are pictures available eventually. I was home at 7PM and doggy was happy to see me because I had failed to feed him before I left. Missing a meal didn’t hurt him a bit! It might be good for both of us to miss one once in a while. http://celford52.wordpress.com/ http://www.youtube.com/celford52

THURSDAY

. . . .My bowling results ended up being four points below my 140 average today. I have to get in to do more practicing I suppose. I was happy with my third game today when I scored a 171 but I am not pleased with the fact that I did so poorly in the first two games. Never say die! http://celford52.wordpress.com/ http://www.youtube.com/celford52

WEDNESDAY

. . . .I guess you can read yesterdays entry and get the general idea for today’s. The only difference would be more rain and the wind is picking up. The barometer is reading as low as it has in a long time. http://celford52.wordpress.com/ http://www.youtube.com/celford52