Waning June

Hard to believe June is almost over!  It absolutely flew by in the blink of an eye!  Days just pass quickly filled with the daily stuff of living.  I think about that a lot lately - how we're all just living our lives.  Houses full of families and activities and the day-to-day stuff of life. 

Our neighbors T. & G. have the most active social lives of anyone I've ever known.  They are out and about more than not and I think about that a lot.  I suspect my reluctance to be super social and/or heading out for constant activities is having spent my early years schlepping from cabin to cabin pretty much anytime my mom wasn't working.  Sure, in my adult life of working and raising kids, those days were sharply idyllic memories of things I missed - most especially the time we spent on the beach at our cabin in Mexico.  My sister sent me a picture recently of our beach - now full of so many houses, the dunes are practically non-existent.  When we had our cabin, there were maybe 30 homes on the 18 miles stretch of white sand and beach - and now there are 100's.  It's changed a lot....and I still miss it.  But when you're a teen and school is out in late May and you are immediately heading to a beach for a month or more - leaving all your friends behind - it wasn't all that idyllic.  A two room (one room being a screened porch) full of lots of other people - always a zoo, really.  I'm an introvert - big time - and it was a constant struggle for me to be with so many people.  Way too people-y.  (As Facebook memes proclaim). 

I've always just loved being home.  Wherever home is - and at this stage in life, it's wherever J. is.  We can pass time together easily - sometimes silent with both of us piddling around doing our thing and sometimes full of chatter.  Home is where I most want to be and as I've embraced retirement and let go of all the stuff that used to fill my head when I was working, I truly barely ever want to leave.  

I wonder how many special memories we created for our kids - I know we did.  I have pictures of lots of stuff we did and we did make a lot of effort to get them out and about doing stuff.  Especially during the 'penthouse condo' years when being home meant our downstairs neighbor would be pissy about any and all noise.  Imagine - two little boys and a mean, surly neighbor who yelled expletives constantly with every foot step.  During that phase, we did pretty much do everything we could to get out of the house on weekends - and the Bay Area certainly had lots of places to explore.  

Moving to Tracy and a house was the best thing we ever did....by far.  Life changing and while the commute sucked and life felt really hectic during those long commute years, they were good years in a home.  Kudos to my hubby who had a super long commute for many years and never complained.  Giving our boys a home to grow up in like we had when we were growing up was a blessing we were grateful for - no matter how long the drive to/from work was. 

Of course, I venture out - y'all know what my hobby is these days and there's always jaunts to/from casinos.  But I'm always glad to have an excuse - or no excuse needed, really - to just hunker down at home.  Passing the time.  

Let's see - any news?  

B. finally got copies of the weight tickets from the truck driver that hauled his stuff from Tennessee to New Jersey - so he can finally submit the reimbursement request to the Army and get his finances back to normal.  He has enjoyed exploring his new 'home' and will report to work on 7/5 for the first time.  He's met his boss and some of his co-workers.  It's been really nice for him to have this time to settle in.  

J.'s phone received a call from a Houston suburb phone number - they left no message.  We both tried to call the number back - J. got a busy signal and I got a ring - but it rang a long time with no voicemail offered.  We never know....and so the heart-hurt and waiting starts anew.  H. has been on my mind and my heart so much the past week or so - I actually briefly shed tears in the Walmart parking lot earlier this week waiting for our grocery order pickup - a song on my phone reminded me of H. and the water works started before I even knew what was happening.  

Some days are hard.  I've said that before and it remains the truth. 

Double COVID

J.'s symptoms started on Wednesday - very mild stuffy nose.  Today, he's more congested but still head congestion only.  This is especially great because most colds go straight to his chest and stay there.  So far, COVID is staying in his head.  He did a COVID test on Friday night that was negative but tonight's was most definitely positive.  

We feel grateful for the science that provided vaccinations to keep our cases mild.  And I took Paxlovid which helped my symptoms abate very quickly. 

J. has golf Monday & Tuesday - tomorrow's is the Atlantis Tournament.  He said if he feels wiped out when he gets home tomorrow, he will cancel Tuesday.  He'll be sorry to miss both - Tuesday is golf with friends at his favorite course - but he'll take it easy.  

I still start each day counting the hours until I can crawl back into bed again.  Feel like napping daily but don't - would rather sleep better at night then sleep during the day.  

New neighbors continue to move in.  They have made multiple trips back to Morgan Hill (4.5 hours each way at least depending on traffic) to get stuff out of storage.  We're remembering those days too and patting ourselves on the back for getting storage here in Carson and making multiple trips from California to here with our stuff - so when we made the move from the rental to the house, it was easy to have the movers make two trips to storage to bring all of it here.  Our entire 3 car garage was completely full of 'stuff'  - but having it all here made us tackle it very quickly.  HOA requirements don't allow cars in the driveway for days on end - so it motivated us to get things sorted.  

Like us, our neighbors think most of the stuff in storage will be donated - we did the same.  So much stuff we just didn't want or need here.  

Our backyard is full of creatures.  SO MANY LIZARDS!  And tons of finches - finally starting to use the water trays we set up.  And the finches are landing on the cat mint plants and pecking away at the blossoms.  Think they are eating small bugs which is great!  Lots of bees back this year, too.  We've enjoyed being outside in the evenings - sometimes with the cats in their gazebo.  The other night, we saw tons of glide plans being towed - watched at least five head south.  We knew there was a glider airport not too far from us but it was the first time we've ever noticed the tow planes overhead.  

I did a Walmart shop finally - it's been two months since our last one.  I waffle back and forth on shopping there.  They have absolutely nailed the pickup order process - it's so easy.  Earlier this week, J. made a quick trip to SaveMart.  A box of cereal was $6.19 at SaveMart.  The exact same cereal - same brand, same size - is $3.48 at Walmart - everyday.  It's those kinds of price variances that make me keep shopping at Walmart.  If we had a Winco here in Carson, we'd shop there over anywhere else.  And we could trek to Winco in South Reno but...for now, we'll stick with Walmart and try to do better getting what we need more often to avoid stops at SaveMart.  

Our hair stylist said she heard a Winco was going to be moving into the shopping center where her salon is.  That would be absolutely incredible!  And most especially for the businesses in the nearly vacant shopping center that are struggling to stay open.  Fingers crossed she's right - we haven't heard anything about a possible Winco but we'll see.  It would be closer to our house than (even) Savemart is - and way closer than Walmart. 

Recovery Mode

Yesterday was day 7 post symptoms and I felt good enough to venture out of the house.  J. trekked with me to Reno for our weekly free play at Atlantis - I left there up $600!  We came home for a bit and then he quickly took me to the local Carson Casino for my free play there and came home up from there $150!  It was a good day of quick play.  I told J. I wanted to do both on the same day because then I would have three straight days of doing not much of anything - and I'm glad I did that because I don't feel all that energized today.  Coughing a bit more than yesterday.  I slept close to 10 hours last night, too, which is amazing.  Helped by overcast skies which kept the bright morning sun at bay for an extra hour this morning. 

Next free play day will be in Carson on Sunday and I'll be looking forward to it.  Then we wind down June with one more free play trip to Atlantis next Wednesday or Thursday and then July will be here and we'll start earning the tier points we need to stay at our current level.  Truly think there is zero chance we won't make the requirement but I always wonder.  Will likely do some Thursday visits more than Wednesdays since Thursday is a double tier point day every week.  

In a moment of desperation and madness last week, I ordered this:  

Yes, it is exactly what you think - a pet grooming set that includes a vacuum with brush and trim attachments.  I was skeptical.  I Googled 'pet grooming vacuum' and found it - read the reviews and decided it was worth a try.  It was also on sale for Father's Day (LOL - what every Dad wants, right?).  I bought it on the company website vs. Amazon and was worried it might be a scam.  But it arrived and I unboxed it.  

We have a video of me using it on Nala - I am shocked skittish sweet Nala is OK with it but SHE LOVES IT.  Got so much hair off of her - and she had no issue.  It's not very noisy.  Muf is so far not impressed.  I was able to do a few swipes on her with it but she seems skittish.  The total opposite reaction from each of them vs. what I expected.  

So far, though - it's worth the expense.  I think using it daily will get them familiar with the sound and I think it will really help.  Muf needs some fur trimmed in places if I can get her used to the sound of the clippers.  I'll keep working on easing her into it using the brush attachment only to start.  

We've purchased about 20 plants from the nursery we love in Reno and J. has been planting up a storm.  Still surprised that we find ourselves having to replace so many but also learning that perennials aren't forever - especially not in this climate.  The weird patterns we've had of some seriously late cold fronts (snow on Mother's Day!) seems to have left some plants permanently dormant.  The yard is starting to color-up which is always so beautiful and all the new additions in full bloom are really adding the wow factor.  My hubs is amazing - he is the energizer bunny of gardening.  

The porta potty outside the office window (on our neighbors property line) that has been there for two years during both of the neighbors builds is finally gone!  Woot woot!  There is still a final house on our street being worked on daily but that builder apparently isn't putting up a porta potty for his workers.  We'll see how long that lasts.  I'm just thrilled to look out my office window and not see it.  Though I can't complain about any issues - the company was vigilant about maintaining (emptying, cleaning) and even when winds blew it over onto it's side, nothing leaked out.  Modern engineering!  

Time to move my down comforter into the dryer and do another load of laundry.  I'm glad J.'s home - though he just left for a haircut and pedicure - he played golf two days in a row (Monday and Tuesday) and I miss him when he's gone.  It's nice having at home time piddling around the homestead.   

Positive for COVID

After an afternoon of coughing, I did some Googling and read that it's possible for the home tests to show a false negative when symptoms are just starting.  So I used the 2nd test in the box I opened and BOOM - the fastest positive line ever.  So....now we know.  

All things considered, it's going OK.  I emailed my doctor right away to ask for an inhaler and some cough syrup.  She emailed back early this morning saying she sent Rx's to Costco and also added the COVID version of Tamiflu called Paxlovid.  Hopefully that will help.  

J. is playing golf.  He researched requirements since he has most definitely been exposed to COVID and because he is symptom free and fully vaccinated, he was OK to play.  We will do a COVID test for him in a few days.  I hope he will skip the getting sick part. 

I'm really surprised to be vaccinated and double boosted and to still have gotten sick.  My reading leads me to think this might be the Omicron variant.  

No idea when I was exposed but likely it was in a casino.  Right?  I mean of course it was.  

 

Just in Case

I ordered the third round of free COVID tests today - and used one of the ones we have for the first time since the pandemic.  

I had a horrible night last night with a super glitchy sore throat that had me awake for hours.  Finally got up and found Mentholatum, used it on my nose and lips and that calmed down the constant 'choking' feeling I had from 10PM to 1:30AM.  Woke up exhausted and considered cancelling our appointment at the bank to finalize one more trust document that required a notary.  I trudged through - got showered and dressed and we made it to the bank.  While we were that far south, we also went to Costco to gas up my car.  

I felt pretty rotten most of the day and as I walked to the kitchen in late afternoon to get some water, my legs felt like 2000 pounds of weight to carry around.  

I decided I'd rather know now vs. not knowing.  I didn't have a fever and I read that is one of the earliest symptoms - but I feel pretty rotten.  Thankfully, the COVID test was a very clear negative.  Must be just a nasty summer cold.  

Our neighbors are moving in today - they arrived in two SUVs and a UHaul truck.  So excited to have them here and I'm sure they are ecstatic.  They sold their California home over a year ago and traveled to Minnesota and stayed with family there for a few months - then stayed with their daughter.  They will finally be back in their own home and I remember how happy we felt to be finally in the house! 

Now that I know I'm not going to risk infecting anyone with COVID, we will proceed with our trek to Reno tomorrow for swipe and win free play.  

J. has golf Monday and Tuesday this week and I have a mammogram on Wednesday.  Thursday will be Atlantis for weekly free play.  

We have a lot of plants to put in the ground and will get more tomorrow.  J. found some Guara's - we love them and they are hard to find.  We'll go back to the nursery not too far from Atlantis to get a few more and then spend the rest of the weekend getting things planted.  

B. is getting settled in his new neighborhood.  He is having some issues with the moving company providing the weight ticket he needs to file for reimbursement from the Army for his move.  I tried to remind him that it's been only a few business days from when his stuff was delivered - and weight tickets from a trip that very likely included more than just his stuff can take awhile.  It might take awhile but they are a reputable company and I feel confident he will get what he needs. Patience, son.  Patience.

What a Weekend!

J. and I trekked to Atlantis on Saturday - picking up a cruise certificate.  Our plan was to arrive around 11, head to brunch and then a little play.  Pick up the certificate upstairs and then head home.  

Plans changed.  I got on a Dragonlink machine and was 'feeling it'....machine was keeping me playing and I was enjoying the play a lot.  Oddly not too crowded for a Saturday.  Plenty of machines available.  

Our casino host came by to say hello - I asked her about the previous weekend and found out that it wasn't the shooting at the casino that was crazy for her - it was her cat!  Jax had gotten into her sewing stuff and eaten a bunch of thread.  He was pretty sick and she had to take him to multiple vets - all who said they couldn't help her because of lack of staff.  She ended up walking into a vet 'cold' and they agreed to check the cat out - and then called the emergency vet surgical center so she could take him there.  He is doing better and she is so relieved he is going to be OK.  I apologized profusely - for my assumption her comment in a text had been about the shooting.  

She hung out for a bit - and I often have pretty good luck when she's nearby.  J. had gone to the buffet for brunch but I skipped it because I was doing OK on the slot I was on and I sure didn't want to do a meal hold and let it go cold.  You can hold a slot machine for two hours for a meal break - but my experience is the machine cools off when you let it sit for a bit unplayed.  

J. came over - he enjoyed brunch - and he said 'I guess I'll go upstairs and pick up the certificate - I think they will let me'.  Our host said 'come on J. - we'll go up together and I know they will give it to you with me there.  (The certificate had my name on it).  

A very few minutes after they left, this happened:  

I was chasing the topped out $1000 Major and hit the Grand instead!!  It was so amazing!  I texted J. and M. (our host) and they both came down quickly to see it!  

Yesterday morning, I spent time with neighbor G. and we headed to the local Carson casino Gold Dust West.  Both of us had some pretty generous free play.  It's rare that the stars and planets align and she's up here with free time to play together.  We played a lot - and while I had some good hits that kept me going, there was nothing really spectacular.  I moved machines a couple times - and then headed back to the machine I started on.  I put in some money and decided to bet big - $10 on $1 denom.  It dropped six orbs - including a $150 and a $250 mini - and I was THRILLED to have those orbs - anything to keep me playing.  

Fourteen orbs dropped and only the top right space wasn't filled.  When I started the 3 spins, there were LOTS of yellow orbs showing up - my friend G. said 'it's GOING TO HIT!'.  I said 'no way.  No way two days in a row!'.  

First spin finished - lots of orbs showing up but didn't hit.  Second spin started - lots of orbs and BOOM! This happened:  

Holy Cow!  G. was so, so happy for me and so excited!  She said 'I will NEVER FORGET THIS' - she was so happy to be there to witness it.  G. has won Grands before with the 15th orb dropping - so she knew what she was seeing were truly very 'frequent' orbs trying to land - she knew it would!  I've only had one other time (and it was actually my birthday weekend) where the 15th orb was showing orbs as the three spins were played - but it didn't land.  I was so sure - even with seeing so many orbs - that it wouldn't land - but wow!  It did! 

The local casino offers 'Jackpot Witness' t-shirts - anytime someone wins a hand pay, anyone playing on the same bank of machines as the winner gets a t-shirt. 

G. was also super excited about the souvenir of the epic day.   

I'm still a bit in shock - joy-filled shock for sure!  Back to back Grand jackpots. 

In other news - the movers FINALLY arrived in New Jersey with B.'s stuff so he's getting settled.  

J. headed to California this morning with a group of friends for a three day golf binge.  Weather is good and I know they will have a great time.  

I'm home alone until late Wednesday and while I have a huge list of things I should be doing, I'm sort of taking it low key and easy today - at least so far.

Suite Birthday

Having decided to spend three nights at Atlantis for my birthday, I asked our host to please reserve a suite for us if at all possible.  She delivered.  Called the Paradise Suite, it was two bedrooms with a living room/dining room/small kitchen in between.  And three full bathrooms including impressive showers with all sorts of water sprays.  Newly remodeled and it was really spectacular.  

Except a host of things.  Three rooms means three rooms of 'where did I leave my phone?'.  It actually felt disorienting at times.  

Friday night we ate dinner at Napa Bistro.  "Small plates" (hors d'oeuvres) and cocktails which are 1/2 off from 4-6.  The BEST fried calamari and lavender lemon drop martinis.  Two!  It was delicious and fun - played slots a bit after and was in bed by 8.  Full disclosure:  I had beers that day, too....and perhaps too many?  'cuz I woke up at 1AM 'not well'.  It was a long few hours but I made it to my slot tournament at 10AM and while I didn't feel 'great', I was OK.  

Sidenote:  When I shared the above with B. - describing how I was feeling - he said 'Mom, you got drunk!'.  Yes, I guess I have to admit that I apparently did.  62 years old and can still enjoy over-indulging now and then - well, didn't enjoy the being sick in the middle of the night - but it was a fun-filled day with a delicious dinner.  

Sidenote 2:  I was pretty sure that I heard gunshots between when I went to bed (8PM) and when I was up not feeling great (1AM).  I sort of brushed it off because it was Sweet Vibrations (motorcycle event) so it could have been a motorcycle backfiring.  But it turned out there was a shooting in the parking lot at 11PM or so that night - and the victim died.  I had no idea - never heard a word from anyone on Saturday - not from guests, waitresses, staff.  My host called me today and left a voicemail apologizing for not checking in with the 2nd half of our stay - but she said 'things got really crazy'.  I bet.  I can't imagine how hard the event was for all the people who work there. 

Thursday and Friday were not great days on the play front.  Fun-filled for sure but not 'winning' in any way. Thankfully, that all changed on my birthday.  I headed upstairs to two Dragonlink machines I had epic luck on last year on my birthday - and they didn't disappoint.  In between slot tournament time slots, these two hand pays happened - 3 spins apart.  In fact, the slot attendant came back up after resetting my machine after the first hand pay and I'd hit the second one before they came back with the cash from the first win.  It was EPIC.  

The second hand pay is a video - I asked the slot attendant to replay it for me so I could record it.  It was 6 free games and I don't record the bonus round 'cuz who knows if it will be epic or not.  This one definitely was - wait for spins 4 and 5.  Only 5 lines ($2 denomination) but when things line up, the wins can be epic.  And they certainly were.  (Unfortunately, the video is too large a file to send to myself via email and while it's offering options to use 'the cloud', I don't know how to do that so...I am posting two still photos of the winning spins).  

Handpay #1:  

Handpay # 2 - 4th spin of 6.  This screen was a $2900 win! The group of monks is the highest paying symbol for this game.  In the free games, it the wild symbol (the single monk) lands, it fills the entire column - which can really lead to some huge wins!

Handpay #2 - 5th spin of 6.  This screen was a $1200 win! 

Grand total was $4180!  EPIC!!  

More full disclosure:  I had those two great wins and was very grateful for them - 'cuz it had been a long weekend of play and I was way WAY down.  The hand-pays helped the bottom line significantly so that was a great thing! 

In other news - B. is enroute to his new post in New Jersey.  He had an epic week - finished his private pilot's license with his FAA check flight on my birthday.  There was a moment during the flight where he thought he'd blown it - but when the FAA person debriefed with B. after the flight, he told him that his irritation towards B. was staged - designed to see how B. would handle being somewhat chewed out for something the FAA pilot didn't approve of.  B. passed with flying colors by maintaining his composure - and the FAA pilot acknowledged he'd been as steady as a rock which is what they look for.  Being under pressure happens a lot when flying - so it's critically important to just stay in the zone.  

B.'s week had been pretty stress-filled.  Somehow, the Army messed up and cancelled his movers - having said it was a 'local' move - which B. was told would be corrected.  It wasn't - and then the people setting up the move didn't re-do it in time.  So B. had to hire movers on very short notice - and had to pay for the expense himself.  I will be completely reimbursed by the Army - but it was a lot of last minute stress in a week that was already pretty full.  

This morning, he said goodbye to his girlfriend - the longest relationship he's been in - and headed east.  He's in Arlington, VA tonight - and I wish we'd known because my nephew and his new wife live in Arlington - and maybe B. could have had dinner with them.  But it's OK.  He's about 4 hours away and will finish the rest of the drive tomorrow and arrive in New Jersey in plenty of time to go to the apartment management and pick up keys.  He may be 'camping' in his place for a couple days - his furniture won't arrive until the weekend (or later) - or he may find an inexpensive hotel for a couple nights.  He reports to the base on Friday and possibly again on Monday (to confirm he has shown up by the date his orders state - June 10th) - and then will have 10 days of leave to give him time to get settled.  He's exhausted and ready for some down time.  

It's hard to believe it's approaching end of day on Wednesday and we're halfway through the week already!  Being at the casino for the long weekend stay had me returning home ready to conquer the world - or at least conquer stuff at home - so I've made a long list and tackle something everyday.  Yesterday, J. and I replanted about 13 plants in the backyard and did some tidying up of the location of the drip emitters.  We lost a lot of plants again this year - I researched some this morning and found out that many perennials do die after a year or two - since it's been two years, maybe we were due for a dying out.  Many of the plants we removed (that were clearly dead) had zero roots - they just lifted easily from the ground with zero effort required.  

Tomorrow is blood work for me first thing in the morning, a notary appointment at 11AM to finalize our revised trust documents and Atlantis for free play and free vodka.  Friday is a catch up call with a friend of 30+ years.  Saturday will be back at Atlantis to pick up a cruise certificate - and Sunday will be free play at our local Carson casino with our neighbor G. .  We both had our freeplay upped extraordinarily this month so we're going to go play together - time with her is so fun and I'm always feeling lucky to spend time with her!  

Monday will have J. heading to California for three non-stop days of golf.  I will piddle around the homestead and work on wiping out drawers, tidying up the pantry, tidying up the garage and an assortment of projects I've got on the list.