Playing with Math and Fires Continue in the Mountains

For years I have worked on solving math problems in my head- addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. I've never shared this until recently when I got on this site called Math and Mind.  I find it relaxing and fun. One time my husband and I were playing a game of cards and I was keeping score. At the end of the game, I add it up with my way of doing it which is fast. Paul asked "How do you know that is the answer?"  I said "I added it up and if I'm off, it would be by one point."  He started checking me and realized it was correct.  Later, our friends Ron and Janet came over and we played a card game. I was the score keeper and did the same thing. I guess Ron was about to say something about it and Paul said "She gets it right."  Ron said "Really?"  And Paul said "Yup."  That just tickled me. I don't talk about it. I just do it. It can really throw people.  The one area I have some trouble is going into the negatives. I want to find if there are short cuts doing that. I'm sure there must be, but I didn't work on those in the past.  The reason I brought it up is that I signed up for a site that sends several math problems a day and I have really enjoyed it.   I bought a couple of books on this to play to do further games (that is how I see it).

I have two people I know Carol and Lori who's homes are threatened by the Cedar Fire. Ugh!  I know that several homes have been lost. But when you know the people involved, it makes it personal.  Precautionary evacuations started Wednesday afternoon in Kernville which is close to Carol's home.  I never thought they could be affected by the same fire.  It is quite big!  

Janet and I got together at her home to watch a couple of movies, have pizza and wine. I stayed overnight so I wouldn't worry about driving. I brought over two Disney movies I loved thinking Janet would also like them.  They were Wall-E and Alice in  Wonderland (with Johnny Depp).  Both excellent!   Great time with Janet!  That was fun!

So no art class this last week or this week. I bought a couple of young children's coloring books so I can work out doing flat coloring and also variable to give a sense of form. The reason for this type of coloring book is because the spaces are large to allow me to do this.  I bought them  at a dollar store.  I only worked on one, and it isn't very good yet.  It is a shoe skate.  The paper has a lot of tooth.  I wonder if I should have done it on smoother paper.  I really can't wait until Carol can help us in understanding what we are doing.  I know I'll appreciate it.  I know from having used graphite, that I will get the hang of it and the quality will improve.

Shoe Skate

I got my handicap license plate.  My niece Shannon changed my plates out.  I don't need a handicapped parking all the time, but when I am really hurting, I'll appreciate it.  Though, I have to say, most of these spots are taken.  I didn't notice this when I did not need them. Now that I have it and can use one, most of the time I can't get one. 

I'm heading off to the store to get a few items to make dinner.  I am using my organic fruits and vegetables.  They include a few recipes to use these.  I have most of what I need.  

Well, that is it for the week.  It has been slow, but that is okay to me.  I do feel okay.  I just need slow periods.  I hope your week went well and this next week is good for you too!                  Rachel

Bad Air

My niece Shannon contacted me about her daughter Erica who is in a mountain area where a raging fire is going on. If she heads this way, would I be able to take in her, her grandmother and daughter. Of course I would take her in until she could return. My daughter-in-law Stephanie had a situation like this as did my daughter Shelley. I can't imagine saying no in a situation like that with fire edging up the front door. It is so scary. I do worry when they stall in making the move that life is also at stake.  Then my friend Janet's daughter Lori's family were to evacuate on Thursday afternoon. Her husband's boss was expanding their home for all the extra time he has put in to the boss's business.  As far as I know,  Lori's house has not been hit yet.  These fires are not just in one location. These are all in the mountains.  There is a question that at least one of them may have been started by an arsonist.  It makes it  less stressful if they know they have a place to go to when they are in a bad place.   There is so much smoke in the air that the air quality is very bad!  I am staying inside as much as I can.  My friend Barbara has not being feeling well, which she thinks is linked to the smoke.

Janet, Barbara and I went to see Florence Foster Jenkins (played by Meryl Streep- an excellent actor) a true story of a woman who saw herself as an opera singer. Those close to her hide the truth from her that she was a poor singer  which caused an amazing situation where the audience saw this as comedy. It reminded me of the beginning parts of the season on American Idol, when people who have been told they were wonderful singers by family and friends, but with the feedback, especially from Simon Cowl who is so blunt and often times cruel that they need to do their singing in a basement alone so no one else has to put up with it.  I find it so painful to watch and hear the comments, that I have to leave the room.  I have a hard time seeing people make fools of themselves. 

At my art class, Carol critiqued our drawings. She gives such useful feedback that I am anxious for her to see what I do. Linda, my classmate feels similar. Linda did say I could show the picture she did of a lizard's eye. She also sent a picture of a snake that is also excellent, so it is here also.  We also discussed changing to color pencils which will start in September.    We won't have class for two weeks and Carol said we really have to get down shading with colored pencils. So I will work on that. The pictures are Linda's.  I still need to work further on my peacock and snake.  I'm ready to frame the lizard and peacock feather I did.

Linda's Lizard Eye

Linda's Snake

I had been talking with the social worker Robin at Kaiser where I get my chemotherapy telling her how I found coloring in the adult coloring books to be stress reducing and very relaxing.  I had so many coloring books, I donated them to her to use for the chemotherapy patients.  Some of them are also in a lot of pain, and this can be helpful in reducing it.  So this last Thursday at Chemotherapy, I took in the coloring books.  I had some color pencils.  They still need pencil sharpeners and perhaps even erasers.  I have several of the little pencil sharpeners and a couple of erasers I will take next time. 

Janet and I got together catching up on the week's events.  She spent several days there with a friend. I would enjoy that, especially because of the heat and smoke here. 

Here are a couple of pictures of my great grandchildren, Conner, Kason and Nylah. Two more are on the way, one in September and one in January.  They expect boys. 

Conner holding Kason.  They are about a year apart.

Nylah is a very happy baby.  She will be a year in December 

So that is my week. I have spent a lot of time drawing in adult coloring books. It is very relaxing.  I hope your week went well and this next week is good too.     Rachel

Alyssa's Baby Shower

I was pretty excited about the work I did on last week's pictures.  It was like I had a breakthrough in what I am accomplishing.   When I went to class, my teacher Carol even noticed this. I really don't know why.  I had thought why would it be when I'm drawing lizards?  No reason.  If we were working on something else, I think it would have shown with that. So this week it is snakes.  I had decided on one snake, and I liked it.  But, it was too distant to give detail, so I decided to do another that was a close up.  My classmate Linda has gotten on to working on eyes. Her pictures are amazing!  She is very detailed and top-notch n shading!  Very good!  I'll ask her sometime for permission to print one of her pictures. Such talent!   Carol mentioned at looking to move to Las Vegas.  I would sure miss her as Linda has said also.  But she said we could stay at her home if we came to Las Vegas. Then she said she might do classes that could be extended weekends to have classes and then time to gamble, or do other activities.  No immediate plans, but it is something we needed to be aware of. 

Snake

Further work on the Peacock

Further work on the Lizard

Further work on the Peacock Feather.

I had gotten an email, not specifically to me, but asking for readers to write reviews of books they want to advertise. So they listed four books and asked that one be selected. They stated it wouldn't be a guarantee that you would get one. So, I filled in the form and the book I selected, called The Vegetarian by Han Kang.

What a fascinating book! I have never read a book like this.  It is about power, the position and treatment of women. The writer is from South Korea and was translated by Deborah Smith.  She has to also be good, because it reads so well. In this story the protagonist is a housewife who is in a relationship not based on love, or anything really positive but that her husband feels he can control her. She also refuses to wear a bra because it is uncomfortable.She has a regular nightmare that show lots of blood. She decides from this to become a vegetarian though that did not stop the nightmares. She will not eat dairy or eggs too. Her husband catches her tossing all the meat in the freezer and becomes very upset with her. Her emotional tone is flat in responding to him.    All she will say is "I don't eat meat". 

They go to a management dinner for work. She is not wearing a bra and she refuses to eat anything with meat. Her husband is embarrassed by her.   He even exerts support from her side of the family to get her to eat meat using violence by her father and  what everyone sees as her sense of duty to her husband and father. She refuses. She appears non- responsive to all attempts for her to eat meat. In the mean time she has become very thin,  This book came from Pelican Random House Books. I don't know where they got my name, but I'm pleased I got the chance to participate in this. The book is around 200 pages. The sentences are short and there are no extra words used in the whole book. I recommend it for the unique style of writing and the excellent story where the theme could fit for all countries and the issues as to treatment of women.  This country perhaps has a stronger sense of need to control women, though I see it a lot. 

My niece Shannon asked about coming up this weekend. I told her that Alyssa, Shelley's oldest daughter's baby shower would be on Saturday.  She had to make arrangements to get a car rental. They do this for out of town visits.   I'm glad Jordan and Shannon were coming here for lots of reasons but the one that comes to mind was to put the shower present (a stroller/carseat combo) into the car and then into the restaurant. 

I had never been to Agave Grill and Cantina. There are so many Mexican restaurants in town. Janet and I go to Mexicali not for the food, but for the Margaritas.  And, as I have said, for both Janet and I, each of us went there with our husbands (both of our husbands have died).  It offers a kind of comfort for both of us.  The food was very tasty and the margaritas were okay, not as good as Mexicali's, but not a bad drink.  Jordan spent the time with his cousins so this was the first time Shannon and I spent time without others.   Very pleasant!  We went to the Red Pepper for fish tacos. She made breakfast Saturday morning which was delicious. Mainly, we just lazed around.  And, on Sunday, we Christened my new waffle maker.  We made enough so I could freeze them and take them out one at a time, putting them in a toaster to get it nice and hot. The baby shower for Alyssa went well and my son Jeff and his wife Stephanie were there.  It was good to see them.  It has been several months since I last saw them.  I got wonderful reports on their two daughters, my granddaughters Cassadie and Meghan.  They are doing very well.

Shannon and Me

Alyssa holding Nylah

Shelley and Alyssa

The back room in the Agave Grill and Cantina

Heather and Shelley

The parents to be Alyssa and Issac

Nylah with her daddy Lorene

Alyssa, the mother to be!

Seeming to Get the Idea about Shading

My ex-neighbor Celeste called. The house she owned sold and the people who bought it are doing work on it before they move in.

 During our conversation, she brought up about a cat that may have been dropped off by her home.  Celeste said the cat is declawed.  She thinks it might be past youth. It is a male but he is not Neutered.  She calls him Clancy. He is white and black. He is not aggressive.  He has personality and needs to be an indoor cat and probably do better in a one cat home. She asked me to share this thinking maybe a person in Kern County might be interested. She lives near Tehachapi. 

Carol my art teacher could see how I'd grown in doing my art.  In particular, I really am doing better at shading.  She still had suggestions which were good and obvious as we looked at each one. So helpful!  I really appreciate it. Fellow student Linda also finds this so helpful.   So I worked on the pictures I posted last week. Next week I'll bring in pictures of snakes to choose my subject. 

More detail added and corrected the shading

Worked more on getting the eye on the feather corrected and
the downy feathers at the bottom, by showing some of the detail in the barbs.

Worked more on the head, the eye feathers and the shading.

I am considering cropping the picture also

Janet and I went to the Red Pepper.   She had told me of a rib eye steak that was very good. I don't eat meat the way I used to (daily or even weekly) but periodically it seems appealing. It was pretty good. Not the best, but better than I've had for a long time.  There were a couple of other choices and she thinks it may have been another way. 

I read everyday. I think I've been reading more this last week. Linda, who I have known since elementary school and is the main person planning our 50th reunion for our high school calls periodically . Linda calls me  and we talk about what we are reading. Linda recommended a series of books by C. J. Box, about a game warden Joe Pickett.  I think there are around 15 books. I'm starting book 9.  I can picture the mountains with his description. He is married and has two daughters. The females are strong. He loves his family and work and has had problems with some people especially in his work who are controlling and try to keep him out of things.  I've been enjoying it and in addition, there is some issue that you learn in each book. Fascinating. 

So that's my week. Temperatures are dropping some this week to the 90's. That may sound bad, but when it has been approaching 110, this sounds much better. I hope your week was good. I hope the next week is good for you.  I'll see you next Sunday.                   Rachel 

Good Results on Echocardiogram, Seeing Some Friends I Haven't Seen in Years, and, Dinner with my Daughter

I have a correction to make in my last blog.  I was talking about the rate of blood going through my heart and I said ejection rate. It is ejection fraction rate. My friend Janet who was a nuclear medicine technologist caught that one. So we met at Mexicali. Since I got there early, I was checking my iPhone and she pounded on the driver side window. That scared me!  So as I was telling her how that upset me as she handed me a gift bag that I threw in the car.  Then I asked if she would take a picture of me wearing this top.  When we got in the restaurant it dawned on me that she had given me a gift. She said "I couldn't believe you did that". I couldn't either!  How odd!  She had gotten me a battery operated jar opener. I have no strength anymore and I must use gadgets to open things. It was a nice and thoughtful gift. 

There is this site called  The Rainforest Site. They were selling blouses as part of their fundraising. I support such a cause, the price was right and I also liked the look.    It has a point in the middle of the front and the back.  The back does not have a design, so a picture of the back blends in with my pants.   It is very comfortable, but not good for 107 degree day.  We headed straight in after doing this.   Here is the pictures Janet took at Mexicali's. 

On the day I had chemo, I forgot about it, sitting casually having my coffee, checking my email, sitting in my pajamas. A text alert began. it was time to leave at 15 minutes before my appointment. I ran around getting what I needed, getting dressed slapping water on my hair to get it to lie down. I usually arrive 15 minutes before my appointment.  I got there 5 minutes after. Though I was anxious, they felt it was okay.   While working out when I would see my oncologist, I brought up about having the echocardiogram two weeks earlier.  The results were good.  The ejection fraction was 65 percent. Any other issues are age related. And, I really do have a normal aortic valve which is tricuspid.  That was all a relief. 

I have a cousin who had heart surgery last year. It turned out he had a bicuspid valve. His siblings went to have their hearts checked out since this could be hereditary. They were okay. 

So at my art class, I showed what I had drawn of a peacock and feathers.  I had the feathers wrong going around the eye in the feathers. The picture of my peacock was off because the head and neck of the peacock were much lighter than the eyes on the feathers.  I worked on both of these factors and the pictures improved.  I also picked out a lizard to draw and a small peacock feather. This is what I have. One more week to work on the lizard. My classmate Linda does very well on her shading.  She has also became interested in drawing eyes. Both of us feel the critiques we get from Carol are so helpful. 

My Peacock

My Lizard

A Peacock Feather.

There are many ways people get to my blog and they all work. I don't think I've written anything offensive, but if your privacy is important, note this. If you go to my blog through this, you have more privacy:

   https://racheljerdin.blogspot.com

All my posts are here.  They come out once a week, on Sundays unless for some reason I'm too sick, in the hospital or having problems with my computer.  At least those have been what has happened already. 

I met with three friends that were a part of a group with our husbands.  I stopped meeting with them after moving and then Paul dying. I just couldn't get together with couples which reminded me of my loss, though they were all special to me.  I couldn't get past my loss and, my cancer and returned than, a stage IV.  Now that it is nine years later, there is enough time and grieving that I am happy to see them.  Three of us stopped coloring out hair, and it looks very good.  We met at Little Italy in town. I had not eaten there, but I really liked it. Food was very tasty. The ambiance was comforting.  So Stephanie, I see in our Red Hat group.  Karen and Becky I haven't seen in at least eight years.  One other woman of this group couldn't make it.  Lana will join us next month.  Anyway, it was really nice to touch base with them and catch up.  It was a lost part of my life. 

My daughter Shelley and I celebrated both of our birthdays late. We had dinner at Mama Roomba. It is a wonderful Caribbean restaurant.  I think it was initially noted to be a Cuban restaurant. It is the same food. Excellent!   I hadn't seen Shelley in about a month. It feels too long to me but I know she has a lot on her own late. Her oldest daughter will have a baby shower this next month. So she is actively involved in doing this.  In addition, she is waiting to hear when the exam for her realty license will be held. 

It was a full week for me.  I continue to make sure I have time to sleep in between these activities, otherwise, I really fade.  So I hope your week was good.  I look forward to seeing you next week.                Rachel

Seeing Friends in Visalia! Great Time as Always!

I had an echocardiogram. Most of the tests I have had are invasive, requiring radioactive material be put in my blood. This just required gel on a pad that she moved around to look at my heart. What I found out while I was there is that I don't have a bicuspid valve. It is a normal tricuspid.  I think it was over 30 years ago that a cardiologist did tests and told me it was bicuspid.  I could actually see the valve and I told Lori, the Sonographer that It looked tricuspid to me and she affirmed that I was correct. I have to wait for a doctor to read it and, if something else needs to be done or all is okay that Dr. Tun will inform me.  This test was done to see if my heart is leaking because my refraction rate is 80% and normal is 60%  Dr. Tun has never seen anyone with the results I have had.  Hopefully, all is okay.  We will see.

Hart Park has an area that peacocks like to hang out.  I went looking for peacock feathers for my teacher Carol Bradshaw. We have been working on peacocks for two weeks now. Well, it was easier said than done. There were several cars there when I arrived around 11 am. So people could have already picked up feathers. I did go to the opposite side of where people were and I found a couple of feathers.  Then I saw two within the gate where the peacocks tend to stay. It was too far to reach. I used the umbrella handle but I seemed to be pushing it further. Then I started looking for a long thin branch to reach it. I eventually did get two more feathers.  It turned into a bigger deal than I expected. I do have some peacock feathers from a stay at Martha's home, but I didn't find the bag I put it in.   

Peacock in Hart Park.  I don't think anyone lives in this house which has a gate around it.
That is where the Peacocks like to hang out.

Linda has joined us in class. Carol noted things I didn't get in the drawing of the peacock, so below is another stab at it. Carol also asked us to find a picture of a lizard to draw.  Below also is a picture taken from the feathers I collected, that Carol laid out and that I took the picture.  She said the focus of these recent drawings - peacock, lizard and snake are on patterns. I am not done with the peacock, but I will get it done tomorrow

Three Peacock Feathers.

Peacock - Still being worked on

Last summer I had lots of plumbing work done. It is not finished. My shower and bath are leaking and it has become ridiculous. So I had the same guy Trevor for part of the work then. Shower is fixed but the bathtub needs a lot more done. We settled on $650 for all of it.   Ugh!   But I really don't have a choice. I'm not doing work to make it prettier (though I would like to). I am focused on keeping it whole. If you wait too long, problems can get worse and you put out a lot more money at one time.   I am relieved though to have the repairs I had done completed.  He thinks it is time to replace the galvanized pipes in the house, but he did give me a guesstimate of $7,500 to replace those in the house. Way too overwhelming!  I don't have that sort of money. 

I gave a form to my doctor to get a handicap placard for parking. I do fine for most parking, but big events with hug parking lots are very difficult for me to handle because of the distance to get in. My doctor signed this and I will mail it to the Department of Motor Vehicles.   I have stalled on this a long time, but I really don't want to lessen my activities as much as I can. 

I told my friend Janet when we were at Mexicali’s about the results of the echocardiogram.  She was an nuclear medicine technician.  She said that the work when I had it done then, like at least 30 years ago is like comparing caveman times to now.  Pictures are much clear now.  I’m glad I have friends in the know to check with.

To top off the week, I met with friends I worked with in Corcoran. There were seven of us- Marc, Lynette and her husband Simon,  Bill and his wife Jana, Jody and me. We met at The Vintage Press which was delicious.  

Some of us talked about another restaurant called Craw Daddy's. When Paul and I lived in Visalia, we went there several times. It had just been built and opened.  Simon had heard a lot of ads on it recently.  We were wondering if it was a new owner and wondered if they had changed the menu some. Anyway, we thought it might be worth checking it out.   I did speak with Lynette after this and we are going to see if the restaurants in Visalia have been reviewed and perhaps go by that.  

We stayed at the Marriott which is being remodeled. Lynette and Simon were on the seventh floor (it has eight floors).  Jody and I each had a room on the second floor. There was nothing obviously changed on the second floor, but I did see my friends' room on the seventh floor. I liked it.  It had what looked like a very dark wood-slatted floor,  a sophisticated sofa, special lighting in the mirror, wide screen oversized television, and a wonderful large picture of the sequoias. The entire hotel is being redecorated.   I like to stay at that hotel when I visit, however,  prices are getting a lot higher and depending on if I can get a deal or not,  i would stay there less frequently.  There are less expensive hotels in the area and I could stay there.  

 Bill looked good as did Jana. Jana is more of a Facebook friend, but I have met her at several gatherings. Of course Lynette and Simon looked great. Simon gave me a jar of canned lemons he brined.  He asked "Do you like Middle Eastern food?"  I do, but I had to order a couple of books so I could make some dishes. I'm really hoping there is a big section on vegetables. I've been to Turkey twice and I fell in love with the vegetables!  If we had it like that in the United States, I would easily eat all my veggies.  Marc looked very good. I believe that he really enjoys not working (like me).   I have not had a problem of thinking I had nothing to do. His life runs a little slower (as mine does). And he really takes his time having his coffee in the morning, then walking his dog (in the foothills of Sequoia) before driving to Visalia to work out at the gym.  I think it is over two years ago since I have seen Jody.  I can’t be sure, but it was great seeing her.  It is such a long drive for her to come and she can hit very heavy traffic, so she left for home early in the morning. We will look at getting together in the Fall.  I realized after I got home that I had not taken any pictures!  And, I don't think anyone else did either!  

Below is from another blog about a funeral procession on its way to the cemetery.  We need to think beyond ourselves when other people are hurting.  This is worth reading. 

https://pastorcindym.wordpress.com/2016/07/11/stopping-traffic/?utm_source=email&utm_medium=email

So that was a loaded week.  I got lots of sleep in-between events, so I did okay.  I really hope your week went well and I will see you next Sunday.                   Rachel

My Birthday - Good Medical Bills and Violence - Bad

It is really unnerving to get bills for medical services that are way beyond what you expect. I got two separate bills, one from a hospital and another from an outpatient radiology program for different services. I have coverage by Kaiser, an HMO so I would have a clearer idea of what I owe.  So I called Kaiser which worked on one and I called the hospital on the other. The woman I spoke with at the hospital said there should have been an allowance for the pharmacy which was $910.41 and is passing it up to a higher level to review. She thought it would be resolved in about a month.  So hopefully this all gets resolved.  The other bill Kaiser dealt with them and I don't owe anything.  That was a good birthday present!

The Erskine Fire was 100% contained on July 11. It burned 48,019 acres. We have had other fired around us, but not as bad as this one.  These fires are very frightening and it is still early in the fire season, so there is still a possibility of it destroying more here. 

I had my birthday this week with several celebrations. What a good week.  I've enjoyed celebrating it multiple days. Well one of my friends sent me this fabulously birthday song. I think it is so good that I thought many of you might want to send it to special people in your life. Here it is!

https://youtu.be/L4kFFMdVjl0

My step-mom Kate came here.  We went out for lunch at Chef's Choice Noodle Bar and then had dessert back at the house. We went to the Bakersfield Art Center where I take art classes and where I have three pictures on the wall. Kate, my step-mom and my teacher Carol know each other from taking art classes in the Los Angeles area way before I met Carol.  So I thought it was nice for them to see each other.  Even though it was warm, it wasn't as hot as it usually gets. Kate is not comfortable driving the distance she did to visit with her eyesight not doing as well as it used to.  I do understand that and I really like going to her home because there is much more to do there.  Kate was telling me about a man in a white pickup offering to paint her car where the scratches were when she was in a parking lot.   Well, I had the same thing happen. It was not a professional job, but I no longer have to look at the scrapes on my car. I had to go to an ATM machine to pay him. Kate did too. We wondered if it was the same man,but we live 125 miles apart. It was such a parallel on experiences that we were both laughing. 

I had my art class in the morning  on the day that Kate came. Another student, Linda was also there. We worked on doing the feathers of a peacock.  I did several pictures at home.  We have another week doing peacocks, so I will try another picture.This is what I came up with finally:

My Peacock would be much better in color!

I finally got together with Cathy, a fellow social worker I worked with.  It had been several months.  We met at Mama Roomba.  Very tasty food. She retired a year ago and does not miss work (neither do I!). Her oldest daughter is marrying later this year.  Her father had died since I last saw her, so she has been through a lot.  We did lots of catch up.  She found out she was pre diabetic. My step-mom also found out as well as me this year. It is hard to believe Kate is because she eats very well. Cathy was given a tip for controlling her blood sugar level.  She said she eats 2 tablespoons of ground flaxseed and chases it with water. She actually checks her blood sugar level and takes this just before she goes to sleep at night. When she checks her blood sugar in the morning, it is in the normal range. She believed that of all the things she does to control her blood sugar, this is the most effective. I keep thinking we will meet sooner, but each of us has a lot going on which makes seeing each other more often, may not be possible.  Cathy said she was talking to someone where we used to work saying she would meet with me.  This person said, "I thought she was dead."  Cathy assured this person I was still around.  So that is a first of hearing someone thinking I was already dead.

I went to get my hair cut and when I was walking in, this man was washing people's cars and asked if I was interested. I agreed to have mine done. Wow!  It looked great!  I don't think it has been this clean since soon after I bought this car.  I might do this every time I get my hair cut. That way he could get more business and at least every five weeks, my car will look great. 

I met Janet at Sandrini's for dinner on my birthday.  That was a lovely evening. Though we were talking about the terrorist attack in Nice, France. From a very young age, my mother would tell me "All of France is celebrating your birthday. I took this for granted until I was 7 or 8 years old.  Then I asked my mother, "how do they know me?  How come I don't know them?"  Then she explained the holiday Bastille Day falling on my birthday. I feel a connection to the French people because of this. Much later, my husband Paul and I went to Paris. My brother Ben met us there. I have wonderful memories of that time. I feel for the French people with the losses they are now experiencing. They hardly have a chance to recover from one terrorist attack before they are dealing with another. I stand with the French people!   The other thing we discussed was as there are more and more killings, people are becoming more and more desensitized which is not good to us.  It is the norm!  This is becoming a part of life so that people don't become as horrified as they did. But I also think it is a way people cope with this so they aren't falling apart with each incident. Then the following day was an attempted coup in Turkey.  I have been there twice.  I thought the people were very nice and the setting is unbelievable.  Then the food is so fantastic - Especially the vegetables.  Why don't we do it like they do it?!  I want this violence to stop.  I think most people do.  Life is hard enough without having events like these!

My friend Barbara and I went to the Vietnamese restaurant called Saigon. I don't go here very often, but they have very tasty food at a reasonable price. Then we went to see The Secret Life of Pets.  Cute and lots of fun. 

So I had a full week celebrating my birthday several times. Shelley and I will do our birthdays together at the end of the  month. I look forward to that. 

I have several things going on this next week. I hope this last week was good for you and that your next week will go well.   I will see you next Sunday. 

Rachel