Celebration of Life

 

Rest In Peace

 Mage passed away from her battle with cancer on August 3, 2022.

Thank you all for being a big part of her life.

George

MORE FROM THE CON

JULY 27, 2022

Zoe heading to the Convention.

Me waiting for a ramp to get on the trolley.

This gentleman was buying his lunch from a robot.

DAY 2, 3, AND 4.

DAY TWO:

The costumes were amazing this year.  Since I watch a limited amount of TV, I didn’t understand the Japanese characters, the red hair, or many of the other things we saw.  I do understand that for the very first time there were a lot of black participants.  The queen and the princess didn’t come this year.  I missed them.  But there were a lot of new costumes that I found really fascinating.  And I had a chance to say good bye to some of the regulars.  I’ll miss going, but it was hard on me this year.

 

DAY THREE:

By the end of the third day, I was beat.  Zoe had spent much of the con reading.  She was bored.  George was himself.  When we got home Saturday, I suggested to Margot that she ask Zoe if she wanted to go home or do more con.  She wanted to go home.  She spent all her money.  Me, I was in bed by 8:30 PM when the whole family descended.

 

DAY FOUR:

We had been trying to leave by 0700, but this day we didn’t get out of the garage until 0745.  This was the day we were going to give to Zoe, instead we gave it to us.  We did get parking.  Oh, hurrah!  Every day we found handicapped parking right in front in Old Town.  Amazing.  I had repeated problems with the rail tracks…that was the worst part of the trip in the mornings.  My poor little scooter would stall out going over the tracks.  What we got there, they always let us in as we wore volunteer badges.  The first thing we did was pick up G’s scooter.  Most days he remembered his knee wrappings.  That always helps.  And because we were handicapped, we were let into the big sale hall 45 minutes early.  We window shopped a bit, took pictures a bit, and window shopped a bit more.  It was a nice leisurely day.  Bed early again.

On his steed.

The Portfolio Review area where we worked.

https://i.imgur.com/BvHOpxQ.jpg

Hair.  And I often saw green hair.

Japanese?

Mexican wrestler:  Nacho Libre. 

More Images later.

WHAT A DAY

The first day of COMIC CON.  The first day that Zoe was here all night prior to our taking her to register.  The first day that Zoli, Margot’s younger brother, was here to look at the family photos…with Esalin, his daughter.  With Milaka’s daughter, Sahara, and her new boyfriend.  And Margot and Alex, and Max.

 What a day.

BITS

It’s nine fifteen AM, and G is rushing around putting his socks on, putting his pants on, and bringing me a yogurt for lunch.  His shirt is downstairs with the 7 to 10 day delivery pile of clean clothing.  He was kind and brought my stuff up yesterday.  We have watched Sunday Morning with Jane Pauley as we always do.  We have eaten half a muffin, and we have sent out hope that G can find a parking place on his half of the park.  It’s PRIDE here in San Diego and there’s no parking in the PRIDE half of the park.

I lost last Saturday’s photos.  Somehow, I managed to drag and drop them somewhere and they vanished.  For those who don’t know, that photo at the top is of us and the Queen Mary.

https://www.longbeach.gov/economicdevelopment/real-estate-development/queen-mary-updates/?fbclid=IwAR0DQ-cSBKbEB_Dt3IswOcWM7DaA-BvySzR10DJhBl86vO7VtLdPLpRoGEI

Queen Mary Updates.

"Today we come to the happy task of sending on her way the stateliest ship now in being.” King George on the Queen Mary’s launch.

There are history’s, photos, and the story of her long journey from Liverpool to LA.  Not only was that an epic journey, it was a horror story.

Here is another link that should be amusing.  The San Diego PRIDE Parade.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Gp5wrt-fnU

  

 

FROM OUR LAST TRIP

(Just to let you know, thinking has gotten hard for me.  Typing is worse.)

It was a fun ride up to LA in Grumpy.  George ordered a scooter, and it was waiting for us at the hotel.  There were a lot of scooters to be seen, but there were even more strollers.  Disneyland was wall to wall strollers.  There were rides like this one where you had to adapt finding a way to clamber aboard no matter how hard it was.

They know those of us driving scooters need areas to sit on them.  Here is G on the flat place at the end of a railway car.  All through the parks, I found these scooter compromises but nothing for the thousands of strollers.

Radiator Springs amused me.  There was no special ride, but the details of the tires and phone lines on poles left me smiling.  The skies were filled with lines and cables when I was a kid.  They slowly disappear now. 

The scooters were parked outside the Ferris wheel, but there was parking right next to a loading area for those of us who were slow.

WITH FAMILY

Mom Chris, Max, Kensie, and Alex.

They were to be here at one.  Delayed, they arrived about four.  She had been gone for two months to the Philippines.  She took her son, Max, who was enthusiastically spoiled by every relative within shouting distance especially by her mom who also has cancer.  Yesterday we got to meet this great-grandson for the first time. 

He loved the chairs in the dining room.  Round and round he went.  He was fascinated by my watch.  He became marvelously well behaved by a ride standing at the front of my scooter.  Of such small things is bonding made. 

Of course the RAV4, Gus, was a detailed topic of discussion.  New RAV4’s are, base price, 26 thousand, but with tax-license-dealer prep-and options, the final price is around 40 thousand.  George confessed to spending 11 thousand fixing him back up.

Gus and I posing for the first official portrait. 

TOO SALTY

 

I should post a picture or two of the finished Gus. And he is done. When the new tires went on, George wanted the steering rack and tie rod ends done. They were done late yesterday. The steering rack itself was leaking. It was a safety issue, G told me.

Dinner out to celebrate. He had liver and onions. I had half a sandwich with a salad. Yes, I ate every bit of the green stuff, but I couldn’t eat the half ham and cheese….too salty. All this happened just when the latest copy of Consumer Reports arrived which told us how bad the bacteria is in chicken and ground beef.

Antibiotic resistant, it told me.)

I should post a picture or two of the finished Gus. And he is done. When the new tires went on, George wanted the steering rack and tie rod ends done. They were done late yesterday. The steering rack itself was leaking. It was a safety issue, G told me.

Dinner out to celebrate. He had liver and onions. I had half a sandwich with a salad. Yes, I ate every bit of the green stuff, but I couldn’t eat the half ham and cheese….too salty. All this happened just when the latest copy of Consumer Reports arrived which told us how bad the bacteria is in chicken and ground beef.

Antibiotic resistant, it told me.

EXTRAVAGANZA

Although I don’t have the energy I used to, I still missed going out to see the fireworks yesterday.   Instead we stayed home and watched three different fireworks on TV.  There were no local fireworks on our side of the point as OB didn’t get a permit.  San Diego Bay did, and they gave us 20 some minutes of sky color. 

We started with the National Mall show with all their red white and blue trappings.  Next was the Big Bay Boom…on FOX of all channels, and last came the MACY’S extravaganza.  And it certainly was.  They nicely didn’t overlap which gave us a good time with a variety of venues.  

This morning the Hospice nurse visited.   Cottage cheese over avocado for lunch, and out shopping afterwards.  What more could one want.

 

AN OLD TEMPLATE

<A HREF=http://geeeee-zer.blogspot.com/>Himself:</A>  He went to the Comic Con Spiderman exhibit and worked it with Zoe today.

Myself:  Margot helped get me ready to shower.  Talked with Laka.

Reading:  On my Kindle.

Watching:  Whatever we have recorded:  All the NCIS’s, Finding Your Roots, 60 Minutes, Dr. Jeff.

Photo:  Margot and Zoe, the end of June, 2022.

Gratitude’s:  That G is home.

SLOWLY

 

My O2 level measures at almost 91.  That doesn’t make the visiting nurse at all happy.  I think my ongoing slowness is due to the lack of oxygen also.  So today we put the portable bottle in the car with us when we wandered off to COSTCO.   I regret his complaining at/to me the entire stay, but we had a very strange dinner last night.  I was determined to get some boring, everyday food stuff in the house.

Easy to prepare foods too.  But every time I waved my hand toward something in a freezer case, he got really upset with me.  We brought home only three frozen entrées; bacon wrapped chicken, a case of chicken pot pies, and beer battered cod.  Yes, I really did that.

Yes, there is still room in the freezer.  The only thing I didn’t get was the exquisite, large jar of peach slices.  It would take us forever to eat those 4 jars.

SOUP

 Eating simply here.  Perhaps just soup for dinner.

Yesterday we ran around with our camera’s on our hands.  G forgot to take any pictures.  I’ve grown tired of using old and dated images.  The new pictures may be boring, but they are new and fresh.  The San Diego River above. 

After words, we went out to dinner at the Brig.  That was good but I couldn’t eat it all.  The two kids finished off what I couldn’t eat.  Down stairs in the parking lot the two RAV4’s were next to each other.  I didn’t get a picture of that, but it was cute.

Perhaps just soup for dinner.

 

Yesterday we ran around with our camera’s on our hands.  G forgot to take any pictures.  I’ve grown tired of using old and dated images.  The new pictures may be boring, but they are new and fresh.  The San Diego River above. 

 

After words, we went out to dinner at the Brig.  That was good but I couldn’t eat it all.  The two kids finished off what I couldn’t eat.  Down stairs in the parking lot the two RAV4’s were next to each other.  I didn’t get a picture of that, but it was cute.

A REALLY GOOD THING

What’s happening in my world these days.

Juan, our next door neighbor is home early today.  I napped once over my book; and once after lunch.  Yes, the ham was really good.  The really nice Hospice nurse stopped by just as I was starting to eat lunch.  I told her about my hip and about the ‘Hot Spot’ on my bum.  She overloaded my rear with some orange stuff, and suggested a moving-pillow for the bed.  She also suggested a heating pad.  Ours had died the  good death, so we were off to Target to find one.

Spending:  Not so good at that.  On the whole, 400 a month for long term care is ok, but this only covers a four year period.  Discovered lemon ices.  Oooo.  Didn’t buy the giant muumuu I found at target today. That was a very economical thing.

Family:  Both kids seem to be doing well.  That’s a really good thing.  George found the fitting the held all my keys together.  I end up with three sets of keys that just snap together.  One is for Grumpy with a key fob attached.  The fob for the very blue Toyota will actually open the driver’s side door.  Grump’s fob will open the trunk….but  he doesn’t have a trunk. I guess, after all these years Grumpy is family.

JUNETEENTH

Today a most interesting article appeared online from NASA.  I thought I would share both the link and the video with you this important day.

https://gcaptain.com/galveston-and-the-beginning-of-juneteenth/

PRIDE

As far as I know, there is only one gay man on my side of our family.  Wringing my brain doesn’t bring forth any more.  It’s PRIDE time of year again, and I cheer on one grandson.

Near his home are:  https://www.gaypinkspots.com/event

San Diego always does things a little sideways.  In San Francisco PRIDE is today.  The PRIDE festival here will be July 9 through the 17^th. 

A job was offered to me when I was at my bottom by my friend Harry.  I found myself housesitting an old Victorian downtown…in the middle of a gay neighborhood.  I didn’t know what gay was.  Today all those gay and straight friends have died.  I find many of them on panels in the AIDS Quilt.  Those that didn’t die of AIDS, are framed forever in my memory. 

IT'S HARD

It’s really hard for me to get started quilting again.   I seem to want to nap or read instead of quilting or even drawing.  I used to wonder why my very talented mother and grandmother stopped their artwork when they reached their eighties.  And they did. 

Once mother started taking cruises in her seventies, she did make colorful sketches.  They weren’t very good sketches.  Grandma did draw a bit but only if she got a commission.  Grandma couldn’t afford to buy more pasteles when hers got to be just nubs.  She saved them in small glass tubes.  Perhaps that’s why I saved my many boxes of those colorful chalk sticks.

The top quilt is one of the first I did for Alex.  The  bottom is one for George.  

THE FAIR

My camera spent most of its time in my backpack.  Only when we got to the Firemen’s Demolition Derby did it come out.  I love a crème puff; he loves the plain old ordinary cinnamon rolls.  He loves those even more than the deep fried Oreos.  Ah, the fair.  The cinnamon Rolls looked extraordinary, but I have to confess that my puff was tired, dry, and almost tasteless.  Blech.

They moved the sewing things down to Crosby Hall, and I only got a quick drive through.  Never a good look at the quilts.  Darn.  Lunch was a long sausage topped with onions and peppers which got all over my scooter.  Then on to the Derby.  It was fun but there were no cows, sheep, birds, or anything else.  I never got to the art or photography which are my primary goals at the fair.  I guess, this year was G’s turn.

I held together pretty well for a tired old lady.  Home at flourish to the news that the RAV4 was ready to be picked up.  Margot drove him out.  He still doesn’t think I am strong enough.

Today at eleven.  The Hospice nurse and Mat to sell G a Long term health insurance.

I NAP

I nap.  Bobbie calls just when I had been wanting to talk to her, and I find myself without much of anything to say.  And I nap.  I realize that doesn’t sound very exciting, but napping seems to be just where I am these days. 

I managed to not nap through the January 6 hearings on TV while electrified by the riot video.  The Republicans are still supporting Trump.  They are still ignoring the logic of gun control.  Today is the day of the big rally for gun control here, but I am napping at home.  I even have a small pillow so my head doesn’t have to rest on the sharp edge of the desk.  This is pretty bad. 

George has all four of us tickets for the County Fair tomorrow.  The Comic Con museum is closed while they install a massive Spiderman exhibit.  We can be found at the Fireman’s Demolition Derby, the first round is at eleven and they put all the wrecked cars all together and do it again at three or so.   They have had two years to build this batch of cars.  

I nap.

TOO MANY MUUMUU'S

Somehow we are failing at the one thing a day thing.  Yesterday we took one of the three Rav4 transmissions out to the trannie man.  Only then did we stop in to the giant Target in the Valley. 

There  wasn’t a scooter for G and he had to walk the store on his very worn knees.  I bought a loose blouse to wear to the fair, and I bought a simple pair of white tennies to wear also. 
Sunscreen too.   Very functional. 

I can wear this outfit for the rest of the summer fun.  Three to six months the Oncologist gave me.  They gave mother the same time, and she lasted 42 more years.  G points out that one never knows.

Today, I am still in a much mended night shirt.  I’ll put on a muumuu till we are ready to go.  It’s good for me to be going to AA meetings again to feel a part off a community again.