Woman in the Middle

Someone in the house (no one will fess up) found the TV show “Cat from Hell” on Netflix and added it to our queue. Eldest Daughter and I love that show! Cat, cats and more cats! It sure makes us appreciate our cat Blackie a lot more. He is such a good cat, and the only problems we have are related to things like tummy troubles and hair balls, typical cat things and certainly not Blackie’s fault.

One of the things that Jackson Galaxy, the cat behaviorist on the show,  usually recommends to tame the problem kitty is more play time to help burn off energy. After, oh, 20 episodes or so I was feeling terribly guilty that we don’t play with Blackie very much. That being said, Blackie sure doesn’t act like he has any excess energy to burn, as can be seen by the following photos.

The other night I was giving him his bedtime snack. Right there on the shelf was one of those cat toys that consists of a stick with a long string and some little something on the end to delight the cat. I picked it up and flicked it around on the floor. Blackie gave it a look. After all, it was moving around at his feet, how could he miss it? He showed no intention of grabbing or pouncing on it at all. I stepped up my efforts, and really started swirling that thing around in front of Blackie. I made the little fishes on the end of the string dance! Blackie looked at the toy and then looked at his bowl, and then the toy again. It was obvious that he was putting two and two together – the movement of this toy was somehow connected to why food was not appearing in his bowl. He wanted the food and the toy just needed to go away.

I remembered why we don’t play with Blackie a whole bunch. Blackie has never been a big one for play. If we are lucky we can get him to play for, oh, 60 seconds or so then he loses interest. Blackie would rather sit by a window and watch the world go by. He loves an open window where he can feel the breeze in his face. He loves to snooze the day away in a variety of favorite spots. The stick with the string and the toy on the end? Not so interesting.

Meanwhile, I have gone back to not feeling guilty. I don’t play with Blackie because he doesn’t want to. But I do provide food and medicine and chin scratches and lovely places to sleep and watch the world go by, just what my cat from heaven, not hell, needs and wants.

We recently took a little road trip to Victorville, located on Interstate 15 in the high desert, to visit the California Route 66 Museum. The famous Route 66 went through downtown Victorville and this small museum celebrates what John Steinbeck called the Mother Road. We have been meaning to go there for quite some time so we were glad when a free Sunday finally allowed us to hit the road!

In keeping with the route 66 theme, we wanted to eat at a diner for lunch on the way there. The Outpost Cafe, on the west side of the freeway just north of the Highway 395 off ramp looked like just the right spot!

A high Desert institution since 1961 (at least that is what the sign said, it may be older) the Outpost Cafe has a nice selection on the menu, but three of us decided to go with the pulled pork sandwich which was a special that day, not on the menu. It was served Memphis style with coleslaw on the bun with the pulled pork. We had a wide selection of sides to choose from. One of the sides was house made potato chips. That was different so we went for it. It was a good choice as they were nice and crispy and had a good flavor.    The pulled pork sandwich was excellent. The fourth person in our party went with the BLT and it was as good as expected.

My pulled pork sandwich with homemade chips

We hit the freeway again to the far side of the valley and got off on D Street. The museum is just a few minutes away at 16825 D Street. The California Route 66 Museum is located in a former commercial building and so is small. But it is packed full of things to see. Even better, entrance is free, but a donation is always welcome.

The museum has three rooms. One is devoted to Route 66, one to Transportation, and one to Victorville history. In the Transportation room is a 1917 Model T that you are allowed to climb into for photos. Of course, we couldn’t resist, as you can see below. This room had all kinds of things, including a little history of the Burma Shave signs. I know about the Burma Shave signs but the history was new to me.

The Route 66 Room has lots of information about Route 66, both in and around Victorville, and other places along the route as well. In order to get the girls int he Model T, Hubby and I had to agree to get in the VW van. Aren’t we cute?

The Victorville room had infrmation on the history of Victorville and he Victor Valley. There were panoramic photos of Downtown Victorville, a collection of old high school yearbooks dating back to 1932, and information on early businesses.

The museum includes a gift shop where you can buy postcards and Route 66 merchandise.

Altogether we spent about an hour at the museum. You could certainly spend more time there as there was lots to see including video about Route 66.

Due to the fact that there are lots of things that are within easy reach but shouldn’t be touched, this may not be a suitable place for small children.

The museum’s website is http://califrt66museum.org/

The Outpost Cafe is at  8685 U.S. Highway 395, Hesperia CA (Take the Highway  395 exit, go north a short dsitance on 395 to Joshua Street, turn right on Joshua Street and then make a quick left into the entrance)

The museum is on D Street, on the block between 5th or 6th street. However, the parking lot can not be accessed from D Street. You will need to go past the museum, turn right on 6th Street, and then turn in the ally behind the museum. There are some signs and you can see the ally I am referring to on Google maps and such.

Hours:

Monday:     10:00 AM to 4:00 PM

Thursday:  10:00 AM to 4:00 PM

Friday:        10:00 AM to 4:00 PM

Saturday:   10:00 AM to 4:00 PM

Sunday:      11:00 AM to 3:00 PM

Why does it seem like it is never just one thing breaking around the house, but lots of things have to break at the same time???

Hubby had tried twice to repair a dripping bathroom faucet. So far, the drip has slowed down but not stopped.

Now the kitchen faucet is dripping so badly I am keeping a bowl under it so I can use the water to water the plants. The plants are happy. I am not.

Then on Sunday the transmission on Hubby’s car went kaput. We will be taking it to the dealership on Thursday (oh goodie!) to see what they say. The car has 180,000 miles on it, so there is only so much money we want to put into it.

Now, and most tragically, the TiVo has broken. I really don’t watch that much TV. Maybe a little as I eat my breakfast or lunch and then an hour or so before bed. But just knowing I can’t…..is really annoying. And we still have a few episodes of this season’s Mentalist to watch. And don’t anyone tell me to read a book. I read, really I do.

So, I am just waiting to see what else is going to break, if we are going to have to buy a new car, and if I will ever see the end of that two-part Mentalist about the human trafficking ring. Sigh.

Several weeks ago I left my home to visit Youngest Daughter at her school for lunch (because I am such a good and supportive mom) and when I tried to flip the sun visor up and out-of-the-way it flopped back down. Hum…it had been getting looser, but that isn’t surprising given the work out I give it every day…but this was almost total failure. Sigh.

Over the last few weeks almost total failure progressed to total failure and I began to get really good at driving in a hunched over position in order to see out from under the dangling sun visor. Hubby went on-line and found out that Toyota was replacing the sunvisors on Camrys like mine because of the visors breaking.

I know I should have gotten this fixed sooner, but I equate going to get something repaired at a car dealership with going to the dentist. Actually I would prefer going to the dentist. At least they have a nice selection of magazines.

I finally put my big girl panties on and went to get the deed done. I couldn’t stand the idea of spending another weekend with Hubby trying to drive my car while holding up the dangling sun visor with his head. Since he is about 4 inches taller than me the hunched over and looking under method didn’t really work for him. It tended to make him cranky. We can always drive his car but it is nice to have choices on the weekend. Usually it is based on whose car actually has gas, but choices are still nice.

The funny thing is the dealership asked if I had ever been there before. Uh, not that I know of, since otherwise the Camry has been a tried and true car with no problems, well except at the very beginning when I had to get the gas pedal fixed, You remember the infamous Toyota gas pedal problem? Yeah, that came up about two days after I bought the car.

Anyway, I survived the hour and a half I had to wait at the dealership. They even washed the car. But I still don’t want to go back any time soon.

The Summer Solstice arrived yesterday. That is always cause for a little celebration in our house, for one person, anyway. Hubby has always preferred the heat over the cold. I am the exact opposite. As I always tell him, I can put more clothes on, but there is only so much I can take off….

If I was married to someone else, I would probably never know when summer solstice (first day of summer) and winter solstice (first day of winter) were. But with Hubby, I know about both, every year when they arrive. Of course, as a heat lover he celebrates the first day of summer. But he also celebrates the first day of winter. That day is the darkest day of the year, but after that every day gets a bit lighter until spring and summer arrive. He knows the depths have been reached and it is all up from there until his beloved heat appears again.

Meanwhile, we had a very warm spring and so I am not really looking forward to summer. I have already had a big percentage of my heat tolerance used up  and it isn’t even July! Our summer lasts around here until the middle of October, so I fell it is going to be a long four months until fall weather arrives.

Blackie the Cat loves anything to do with cheese, especially string cheese. We blame Eldest Daughter, because she slipped him a few bites at one time and Blackie has never forgotten its cheesy deliciousness. He knows the special noise the wrapper makes when a new stick of cheese is being unwrapped, he knows the smell…Unfortunately, due to the special diet he is on for his high thyroid problem, he can not have even one little taste of the magical food known as string cheese. That doesn’t mean he can’t try, now does it?

Last night Youngest Daughter needed a little after dinner snack. She decided, innocently enough, that a stick of string cheese would be just the thing. She may not make that mistake again!

She had no more sat down with her snack when a big black cat jumped up in her lap to remind her he LOVED string cheese!

After dealing with Youngest Daughter keeping the cheese away from him,  while at the same time having the nerve to actually eat the cheese in front of him,  Blackie finally gave up the chase, but he wasn’t happy about it. He returned to his perch on the back of our other couch, but his tail showed his displeasure.

Note how blurry the end of his tail is in this photo. That is because it was flicking away, letting us all know he was mad because he didn’t get any cheese. Sorry Blackie.

The funny thing was we were watching the Animal Planet show, “Cat from Hell” while this was going on. We had a cat show in real life and a cat show on TV, all at the same time. How funny is that?

A month ago I participated in a Goodwill Fundraiser for a nonprofit I belong to. It involved six weeks of hauling donated itmes to a storage uniit and then about two hours of hefting and toting huge bags of clothes and tons of boxes to the Goodwill truck on the final day. On that final day I got a little twinge in my back in one muscle. My friend Rachel and my Hubby both rubbed it for me and all was well.

Now, a month later, I lifted a couple of bags, a few boxes, and moved a few things around i the garage I became incapacitated from the stiffness and pain. If someone could explain what is going on I would really appreciate it….

On Monday evening I noticed my back was getting very tight, stiff and painful. I have had this before. If I take one little muscle relaxer before bed just once I am usually good to go. However, I ran out of those little guys over a year ago and this is the first time in a long time that my back has acted up. Oh well, I took an Aleeve and went to bed. After a less than stellar night I finally had to admit that this problem wasn’t going away on its own. It hurt to sit, it hurt to stand, it hurt to walk, well, it just HURT!

I went to the doctor on Tuesday and once again got some muscle relaxers. I couldn’t take one until 7:30 last night as I needed to be able to drive. I took one and got loopy within half an hour. Thank goodness that wore off soon and I could feel my back get a little looser. But by the time I got out of bed the next morning I was back to a stiff painful back again (not that the pain ever went away completely.) Sigh.

It is now Thursday. I am having to acknowledge that this is not a problem that is going away quickly. I keep telling myself to think of it as a sprained ankle. I will just have to wait it out until it is better. Meanwhile, not much is going to get done around the house. Can you hear the sound of my teeth gritting?

Unfortunately, animals sometimes accidentally fall into the cement pond out back. We have had to fish out bunnies, gophers, and lizards over the last four years. On Saturday Hubby happened to notice this little guy in the pool.

It is a teeny tiny Western Fence Lizard. I put my hand in the photo so you could see just how small he was. I don’t know how Hubby even saw him in the pool but he did and thought the little guy was a goner. But once the baby lizard was fished out he perked right up. Always a good day when you save a life, even if it is a very little lizard!

My father passed away when I was 19, a victim of skin cancer.  But he lives on in my heart, in my rapidly greying hair (just like his), and the way the hair waves across the tops of my daughter’s heads (just like thier grandfather’s always did). Here are  a few memories of my dear Daddy.

He loved the Matterhorn ride at Disneyland. I can still hear him hooting and hollering as only a man from Texas could, as we whipped around the curves of that ride while I sat secure between his strong legs.

My dad was 6 feet tall and most of that was leg. As a little girl I always made it my goal to keep up with those long strides of his. It made me feel so successful to be able to keep up. I am sure if  my family read this they would wonder why I walk so slowly now. I guess it is because I am not trying to keep up with my dad!

Dad had a unique way of walking with one foot pointed straight ahead and one turned a little out to the side. Imagine my surprise and delight when I looked at Eldest Daughter one day and realized she walks the same exact way.

When he was happy about something he would say it was “fan-tas-tic!”

He loved Tanquerey gin, on the rocks. Dad made sure we always had a bottle of cheaper gin on hand for people who wanted their gin mixed with something. The Tanquery was only for the purists!

Dad was not a slipper kind of guy. He always had shoes and socks on, except for very warm summer mornings and then he might come to the breakfast table in his bare feet. I finally learned not to complain of cold feet in the winter became he would always tell me to go get some shoes and socks on, then my feet wouldn’t be cold. Every time I am hanging out at home int he winter and my feet get cold, I remember Dad’s advice. Sometimes I even put shoes and socks on!

This photo was taken in about 1968. Dad, Mom, Brother Dear and me. I have no idea why Dad and Brother Dear look so grim. Mom makes up for it with her great smile. I always thought I looked a little ill in this photo, although I wasn’t….

My Dad saw something in me that he thought would carry me far. So when I was in junior high and high school we would have, about once a year, a very long serious talk about goals and what it took to reach them. Even during that last year of his life when he was so sick I remember having one of our talks. I like to think he would be proud of how my life has tunred out. Two adorable granddaughters, a great husband, nice house, secure life. I think he would be pleased.

I was going through the Jan 3, 1893 edition of my local paper, doing research, when I came across an article about what to serve your child when they come home for lunch on a school day. I think it is fun to see these little windows into the “good old days.”

The first dish the author suggested was boiled rice with beef consomme. This didn’t seem like a very hearty lunch to me. They were just having the reader make a teacup full of rice and saving the leftovers for the next day. Hum, I may be hitting on the key as to why people were thinner back then….

The next lunch suggestion was to serve the left over rice in little mounds on a plate and pour stewed prunes around it or put a spoonful of jam on each little pile of rice, with milk to drink on the side. Again, is this really enough for lunch?

The third lunch suggestion was to cook spaghetti or macaroni and serve it with gravy, leftover clear soup,  or the beef consomme. I was surprised to see that spaghetti noodles were common enough back then to be mentioned, but otherwise was not really impressed with this lunch suggestion either.

The most appealing thing they suggested for a school child’s lunch was tomato toast. That was stewed tomatoes poured over small squares of toast. When I was a kid I loved anything with tomatoes and my mother would buy cans of stewed tomatoes for me to eat when I was home in the summer and getting my own lunch.

Of course, especially back then, just because it was in the newspaper doesn’t mean it reflected what the regular folks were eating. It was certainly an article intended for city folks, as children who lived in the country wouldn’t be coming home for lunch.   I think I will just have a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.