Went to the Los Angeles Central Library! What a Good Trip!

I had a MUGA scan this week. I started having them every 4 months  because the results were good. So I went to have it done and after the second scan he says he wants to do it over. When I ask why, he said my spleen was in the way. I asked if that was a problem and he said "no."  I told him he has never mentioned this before and he said  "I know,  I checked previous scans and it wasn't there. Your guts moved."  So odd!  Finally, at the end of it all this woman comes in to tell me we're done. In my moving, I felt I was very wet on my side. She said "0h!  You are bleeding!  Are you taking blood thinners?"  Yes, I am. Well blood was all over the sheet and on my blouse. I was glad the blouse I was wearing was black, because it would have frightened people. I had to go pick up my morphine prescription, but I didn't scare anyone. 

On the day that Janet came, on Saturday, my refrigerator started making a lot of racket. I couldn't figure out how to stop it without turning off the refrigerator. Well when I did that, it stayed quiet for a while when I turned it back on.  I called the man who replaced my ice maker. He called me Monday and came out on Tuesday.  I'd rather fix it than pay to replace it if I can.   When he came he found the ice maker fill switch was no longer working. It cost $95 to get that taken care of. I was relieved because I thought I'd have to get a new appliance.   Water had dripped over everything in the freezer and there were many ice cycles.  He cleaned out the whole freezer to boot!  What a relief!  He also told me appliances don't run problem free like they used to for years. I've noticed that too. I remember buying a new appliance for upgraded and a more modern look. I think I would aim for the plainest refrigerator next time. Less things to break down!

Wonderful art class with Carol Bradshaw!  She can look at my drawings and see what are my issues. She thought I made a break through in drawing where there are no obvious lines. So we tried different ways of showing water when doing a river, waterfall, a puddle and rain. We also used the embossing tool which was nifty in showing much of this.  I took pictures and even some videos of her so I can look at it when I'm doing this. We won't have a class next week. So I have two weeks to work on this. When we get together again, I need to have some pictures of elephants to choose from. I look forward to that.  We also discussed how color is used to identify many things such as meanings, moods, chakras and musical notes among other things. 

Close-up of the Kern River above the dam.  Water rushing
over rocks.  This one I like.  It may require more
shading, but essentially I got it.

My attempt at a waterfall again.  I definitely
will redo this.

Janet and I joined my neighbor Celeste at the Renegade Room at Bakersfield College for dinner again. Last time it was delicious!  Janet and I had a glass of wine before we left. They do not have alcoholic beverages.  We had a wonderful lamb dinner. Celeste, my neighbor is in escrow for the fourth time with this time it looking like it will go through which will be the end of the month, or a possible delay of a week, though no reason that it would not close. 

Celeste has come down regularly from Alpine Flats in the mountains to make sure all was in order. People would say how they wanted everything modern. Well, in that case, they should go buy a new home.  Irritating. They do pay less for an older home  here, so they are getting a deal. There is a pool and the pump is brand new. 

I went with my friend Barbara and her genealogy group to the Los Angeles Central Library in Downtown Los Angeles. After seeing a place like this, it makes you so aware of what you are missing. What an exciting trip!  This building was built in 1926. It had wonderful artwork everywhere we went. Four floors are underground and four floors are above ground. They also had a Cafe with a Panda Express in the library. The prices were okay and if you needed to do research, you wouldn't have to leave the library to take a break. The only floors I was on was -4, 1 and 2. So I'm sure I would see a lot more if I went to the other floors.  Genealogy and history was on -4.  I got a library card which in addition to checking books out (which is not too likely I would do because of the distance), it does allow me access to download music and much from their e-collection.  I looked at a book on the Holocaust which was from Survivors' perspectives.  I decided to order it. I understand you can check out an iPad while there. It s amazing what can be done when adequate money is given to these services. They had an 8x11 flyer on both sides with all the activities going on at at that library for the month. They even had a section dedicated to teaching people to read.   How wonderful is that!   They also helped people who were homeless to get services they were eligible to get. 

Heading south to Los Angeles

In the Mountains

The shorter building in front with the tiled
roof is the library.  Misleading, in that there are four
floors underground and four floors above.
Beautiful weather!

This is what it looks like when you enter.  Painting of the
murals are on linen.  The painting on the ceilings were painted directly
on the ceiling.

This is the front of the library.

Ceiling Art

From a different angle

Help for People in Need

View from the first floor to the east

Another hand painted mural

There was a fascinating display called "State of Deception - The Power of Nazi Propaganda. Do Words Kill?  "Learning what propaganda is and how to counter it is essential in today's information-saturated world."  This exhibition was produced by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.  "Nazis used propaganda to win broad voter support in Germany, implement radical programs, and justify war and mass murder."  This can happen anywhere and we need to be aware of it so we can take action to keep it from happening. 

There was also a nice display of Hollywood advertisement of movies over the years. In one glass display case, there was a fantastic display of 3-Dimensional origami.  I'm positive there was much more on floors we did not visit. 

Beautiful 3D Origami!

Across the street from the library, 1 Bunker Hill.
That is a waterfall between the steps.  Does anyone
know if this is where Angel Flight was?

We decided we will be going back there regularly.  It was a wonderful place to be.  Lots of tours, Lots of reading, Lectures and a variety of resources available.

I am continuing to feel quite tired.  I am again taking more breaks. As long as I take these breaks I can do these activities.  So that is it for the week.  I still saw some wonderful things;  though, I want to see more at the library.  I hope your week went well.  I'll see you next Sunday.                      Rachel

Seeing Old Friends

The traffic was clear going to Seal Beach to meet my friends from high school whom I haven't seen in almost half a century!  I drove fast also so the combination got me there a half hour before I said I'd be there.  My friend Barbara lives in Leisure World of Seal Beach. (I have many friends named Barbara and Linda-  I know who they all are. You just think "friend").  They have guards at the gate and they checked a board for my name and who I was visiting. They had letters for each apartment/house and I didn't have this. I called her and we met on the walkway. Though we have a lot of years on us, we recognized each other.  We ran into each other's arms. I felt there should have been a swelling of music.   Barbara has a caregiver, Debbie who lives with her. I was very relieved because Barbara is having memory issues.  It is a big problem. I brought up about our 50 year class reunion in 2017, but she does not believe she will be alive then. She is very open about the dementia and went to see a doctor, when after years of being a hospice nurse and driving all over the county, she had this experience of not having a clue as to where she was. She knew something was wrong.  I was just aware of her asking multiple times where we were going and about my nephew who was murdered, she could not remember this.  She remembered well when we talked about what we did when we were young.   In fact, her memory of that time was much better than mine.  When we made light of her statement about dying soon, she said "I don't fear death. I've had a full life."  I feel a sad, because now that I find her and I might not have her much longer.  I want to hold her and not let her go.  She was an important part of my life and I've been looking for her for a long time.  I hope we get more visits together. 

We met our friend Linda at the Crema Cafe. I spotted her husband and daughters because we connected on Facebook and she had many pictures of them. They didn't have a clue as to who I was and I explained.  Though I saw Linda on Facebook too and I knew how she looked.  She looked a lot like I remembered her.   Our other friend Toni did't make it because driving back home the day before from a Christmas gathering with family was a grueling eight hours because of many detours - the result of fires.  We had a group phone call as we waited for our food. I suggested that Barbara and I could plan a trip to see Toni with my picking up Barbara and then to Hesperia if we could stay over night with Toni.  I can't see heading home the same day. For me it will be at least four hours each way. I have to take breaks or my back starts really hurting.  I sent a message to Toni.  We will put it off until the weather is milder and she can put us up at her home when we come. Linda invited us to stay with her family in Honolulu on Oahu.  I haven't been to Hawaii for a while. That would be nice. I'm concerned that we may have to arrange these trips soon if Barbara is declining as fast as she thinks she is. It would be wonderful if we could do this.  We would have our own foursome reunion.

I can't believe we forgot to get a group shot of us!  I did get a picture of Barbara before we left her home and I got a picture of Linda on her Facebook site and I took a recent picture of me edited out of a group shot.  I have no current picture of Toni.   I think we look pretty youthful for 66 years old.

Barbara

Linda

Me

Kate offered that I stay at her home instead of driving home (a 2 1/2 hour drive).  That was a 40 minute drive. There was a possibility of rain the next day, so weather would be a factor to determine the time I would leave. I ended up looking at my calendar on my iPhone when I was at my stepmom Kate's home around 8:30 pm and I read "if you left right now, it will take you two hours and six minutes to get home."  How does it know I haven't left yet? 

Kate picked up chicken and salad for the evening and we watched Holmes, which was a somewhat sad movie.  Kate gave me a record album I had given my father.  I have a copy somewhere, but I don't know where somewhere is.  Here is a picture of the album. We were called the dance band in high school The Naturals.  The band leader was Mr. Eugene Szilagyi.  I have fond memories of him. I used to babysit his son who had become brain damaged from having measles. 

In 10th grade, they made an album of our playing.   I remember they played it on a local radio show and said it sounded like Tommy Dorsey's band.  That would be our parent's generation.  I need to take it somewhere to get it changed into a CD. I no longer have a record player and I would like to listen to this.   I remember this one riff in one of the pieces. I wish they had chosen the other attempt at playing this, because I did the other one better. The problem was that the rest of the band felt they played better on this try. When I get this copied, I will put one of the pieces in my blog. I played the bass in high school and in college until I changed my major to social work from music.   When I finished my junior year of college majoring in music, I changed my major to social work so I did six full years of college before getting my Bachelors degree  and then continued to get a Masters in Social Work. 

After a continental breakfast and a shower the next morning I was up to the drive home.  I am so appreciative of breaking up the drive.  There were some sprinkles and it looked like it would snow in the mountains. And, it did start snowing in the mountains about three hours after I got home. I was fortunate in my timing. 

When I went for my chemotherapy, my nurse told me the results of my MUGA scan which checks the pressure of blood flow through the heart. It was 67.1 and the one before that was 74.1. No one here understands why it was up to 74.1 which is good. I had the same activity, diet and rest. That was a good number, but so is 67.1. I believe he decided to make the baseline 60.  If it drops below that, it probably means stopping the Perception.

I worked some on drawing this week.  I know the last picture was off on proportions.  I did a close up of a horse, so this is what I did:

Here is a Flirtatious Mare

I gave my grandson Billy a Life Straw, that filters bad things from the water.  For every filter bought, they supply one child safe water for a year in Africa.  I was thinking the drought here could lead them to getting water from an unsafe source.  So what does he do?!  He tests it on a mud puddle!  Ugh! 

https://www.facebook.com/rachel.jerdin/posts/10153862313144036

My daughter Ronda made several jams which got redirected in the mail to the east coast. I finally got it and have been trying her apple butter. Very tasty!

After meeting Janet at Mexicali's, we decided to get together New Years Eve and I was going to stay the night, but she slept bad and was not feeling well. I said I would call her the following day. I had already planned to have eggnog and rum and was set for the evening. My plan as always was to read when I'm home and that is what I did. 

My cat Daisy loves to sit next to me when I'm in my arm chair. She usually leans into me.  Here is a picture of her. Pepper also does this but she falls on her back leaning over the seat trying to hold on. 

Daisy who wants body contact.  She really loves to
pin down my left arm by sitting on the arm of the chair and
pushing into me.  This is her second favorite position.

Crystal is getting wonderful pictures of her daughter Nylah with the help of her cousin Heather.  She loves looking at her. 

One Week Old!

One Week Old!

This article was reflective of what I noted with others when I was grieving over losses in my life.  I also decided that these were not hurtful people. They just could not give me the support I needed. It helps to understand what is happening.  This is by Paula Stephens. 

http://www.positivelypositive.com/2016/01/02/why-we-lose-friends-when-a-loved-one-dies-and-what-to-do-about-it/

8 Simple Words to Say When Someone You Love is Grieving,  also a very good article by Tim Lawrence. 

http://www.upworthy.com/8-simple-words-to-say-when-when-someone-you-love-is-grieving?c=reccon1

I did get a fair amount of rest.  I'm glad.  It made for an easier.  So, that is about it this week.  I hope your week went well and I will see you next week.              Rachel