Us, December 25, 2021: Leo, Roy, Ondine, John, Shadow
OK, let's get to the news! Ondine had a short story selected for publication in a local literary anthology! Woo hoo! She's still working on other short stories as well as her novel reboot. And, she's pulled together all the relevant information to take to Barbara's tax person to do her taxes.
She's been working on getting physically ready for the Coast-to-Coast, which has meant getting her knee looked at by an orthopedic specialist and a physical therapist. She had a hyaluronic acid injection in her knee, which is a gel-like biomaterial that essentially acts to lubricate and cushion the joint, like cartilage. It takes three weeks to stabilize, and should be good for about six months, so perfect timing! She's also got various braces to use, and the PT has taught her several techniques as warm-ups and cool-downs to keep the knee working well. She even tried acupuncture! And, she's started doing pilates as well as Jazzercise.
This weekend, she got together with an old friend from elementary school, who reached out to her on Facebook. She's actually had an active social schedule, what with the writing group and various get-togethers, including going to Cafe Sevilla to watch her friend Carol dance the flamenco! Our friend Lucy joined her on one of her weekly lunchtime visits with her Mom. Ondine visits her Mom every week.
John has kept up with his morning exercise bike workout, sometimes adding rowing after work. Last weekend, he took the dog up Pyles Peak, which makes for about an 8-mile round trip with two peaks to bag. Work-wise, he feels very lucky to have archaeological monitoring work every day, and also that the work is close to home in Lakeside and Santee! He's been on this project since last August, his longest project yet. That, he feels, is enough social time, lol.
In other John news, his cataract surgery is scheduled for early April; he'll have to take two days off work for that. And, he's been slowly working on our taxes.
Coast to Coast Walk update: We made the final payment to Mickeldore! They'll be sending us a packet of information, including the Harvey maps for our entire route. Many people prefer Harvey maps to Ordnance Survey maps, which are the British equivalent to USGS topo maps.
We took a hike in the rain a couple weeks ago up Cowles Mountain to test our rain gear and boot systems. The mountain was a little less crowded than usual, but we were surprised how many people were out in the rain! In fact, there were about as many runners as usual, some in rain gear and others in shorts and running shirts. John was telling Ondine about the backpacking rain ponchos his Mom made for him and his Dad based off a pattern in Boys Life magazine, which covered both backpack and backpacker, when we saw a couple plodding by wearing very similar ponchos! Ondine talked to them, and found out the ponchos were Snugpaks, and the people really loved them. So, we ordered two Snugpak Enhanced Patrol rain ponchos, one in Olive and one in Coyote Tan, and those arrived in time to model them for the amusement of the Kints.
Last weekend, we saw a play at Lamplighter's Community Theatre: Five Women Wearing the Same Dress, by Alan Ball. It was great! And, after the play, we walked over to a Round Table Pizza and treated ourselves to pizza and wings! It was the first time either of us had been to a Round Table Pizza in 20 or 30 years or more; it was excellent! We're thinking of making it a regular post-play stop.
Today we went for a short walk on the mountain, not all the way up though, then returned home and took Shadow on a walk. And, later, we may go to REI (sale!) to look at rain pants.
Leo has been staying on top of his classwork and classes! So far, he has the top score in his Calculus class, partly the result of his preparation over winter break. He rides his scooter to school most days, unless it rains; then one of us takes him. Last Thursday, though, we had a sudden, completely unpredicted rain and hailstorm, a real gevitter, that had him completely drenched, racing for home in an ice-covered electric scooter! Fortunately, it's a sturdy scooter.
Roy is busy living his life, working and hanging out with his friends and with Danielle. He's gotten back into judo, and a few months ago tricked Leo into going too!
Together, Roy and Leo have pretty much gotten Barbara's house cleared of everything that doesn't need to be looked at before getting rid of. The solar energy system next door seems to have been knocked offline by either the air conditioning work or the tenting, so we're having to have someone come look at that. The company that installed it (and the roof), Secure Roofing and Solar, is no longer in business, but we found a local company, Aloha Solar, through its support of the San Carlos Community Garden, and they've already been very helpful. Plus, there's some work on the upstairs bathrooms to do before those rooms are ready to rent out.
We forgot to mention last time that the boys joined John for a trip to L.A. to visit his Mom! His sister Elaine met them at the new Kabuki restaurant, always a treat! And, Saturday morning, we had them both over for bagels.
Shadow has a new semi-friend next door, as the neighbors got a dog. They sniff each other through the fence and bark at each other occasionally, and once Ondine spotted the other dog's snout and paws sticking out under our side of the fence, like a prisoner reaching through the bars. We've seen the other dog around; it's a husky-like adolescent, but we haven't learned its name.
Neighborhood gas prices are about $4.99 per gallon.
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