The Park Family Weblog

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Wehave not blogged for a long time. Maybe we ahve forgottten how.

jim park

Red Lobster Fun with Earl

A Marin Dentist Trip

On Tuesday, September 15th we went to Marin to see our favorite dentist and get our teeth cleaned. I was not going to make a blog about this because all dental appointments are much the same. We had been forewarned that our favorite Dr. Jeff Geissberger would not be there. However, as things developed, it became more interesting as you will see later.

We had lunch at Murilos in Vacaville, a favorite on Tuesdays when they have a nice senior special. And Ursi joined us which was nice.

Then to Mill Valley where we visited with Helen Jacobsen. Helen’s thought processes are getting pretty fuzzy.

Betty talked to one of the Redwoods people about Helen’s mail which she claims she never gets.

Later, Mark Jacobsen phoned us and he said he gets all her mail and reads the letters to her. Apparently she does not remember much. We leave, feeling fortunate that we can still think straight in our old age.

 Then it was off to the dentist where we got our teeth cleaned. I got a picture of Lisa, my technician, but not Betty’s.

 

We were surprised when Dr. Jeff showed up in plaid shorts and three children. He said he saw our names and the schedule and decided to come in to work on us, since we come all the way from Sacramento.

 He has two boys: Hayden 4 and Jared 2

 

And a wee girl just 11 days old.

 

His wife was there but we did not get a picture of her

 The bad news was that I have to return for two long appointments to fix my teeth helpfully arranged by the nice receptionists.

Betty had no cavities.

       We headed home, debating about getting some Starbucks decaff coffee, but I settled for some late hour real coffee at home. Didn't keep me awake.

 

We were happy to relax after a long day.

The $90 Hamburger

An Unexpected Monday or the $90 Hamburger

 Had we known what an interesting August 17 we would have, we would have brought our camera. We do have some second hand pictures to move our story along.

 The morning sounded pretty straight forward. We would get up, stick to our 12 hour fast, have a cup of hot water, and go off to the Kaiser Lab for the complete blood testing. Then we would reward ourselves with a Kaiser Breakfast Burrito filled with ham, bacon, sausage, cheese, Excellent.

 

But then we were faced with a three hour wait until the first appointment. We debated going home, or to the 99 cent store. Too early to go to COSTO. Then Betty, always the optimist, said let’s see if they can work us in early. Jim said no way would that happen. But it did and we both got in to see Dr. Angela Ananthoraj. And a pretty, petite young person, she was. Malay from Malaysia.

 

After we both had our examination, it was now ok to go to COSCO to get gas and two coupon specials.

 We skipped our usual ice cream cone at 99 Cent in favor of a giant burger and fries at the Burger Shack.

We planned to take the food home and eat at our leisure. But one of the drivers cut too short and went over the curb, something he does more than he should. Usually it merely annoying but this curb had a sharp steel grating that pretty well wiped out our right front tire.

 

Called AAA who came out in 20 minutes. The dispatcher had said 35 minutes so we decided to sit at one of the shady tables and eat there.

The good ol’ boy who came out worked his magical know-how and soon had the bad tire in the trunk and the skinny little good for 50 miles only on the wheel.

 Nothing to do but go to our favorite tire store, Les Schwab, where we could have unlimited popcorn along with the sliced apples Betty had brought. The tire was $85 and the hamburger $5, If we had not gone to get the hamburger, we would not have had to spend the $85 on the tire. Hence, the $90 hamburger.

 

Home finally. Only 12:20PM but it seemed like we had been going all day. A bit of bed rest cured that.

 

 

Wedding Shower

We skipped church on Sunday, August 2nd, so we could attend a wedding shower for our granddaughter and her husband in Woodland. Our surrogate daughter, Ursi, planned a marvelous party with all sorts of snacks, drinks, and grilled shish-ka-bobs.

 We drove Pat Shepherd

and James & Jean Chew to the party.

Church friends, Bert and Barbara Brown met us there.

Uncle Brian and wife Kim brought wine but found that Ursi had several kinds of wine as well as champagne.

Bob and Andi Saltray were there

as were the Saltray boys: Evan, Mark and Dan.

Craig and Renee Saltray Sanborn came from Roseville. Renee brought a large tray of her specialty chocolate truffles.

And, of course, Grandma Betty and Grandpa Jim had to be there.

Granddaughter's long time girl friends from Marin County came to celebrate with her.

And everyone enjoyed the patio

Ursi put potted plants on each table. The guests couild take them home.

Four Saltrays

while Ursi was grilling the good meat. Brian took over this task so Ursi could do other necessary stuff.

Then we went inside where the wedding couple opened lots of great presents.

For dessert, we had a grand white cake furnished by Andi.

Then we went home, stuffed with goodies and had tea and toast for supper.

 

Krazy Kar Key Kaper

The Krazy Kar Key Kaper

We had a bit of senior moment excitement Monday, July 27. Betty had lost or mislaid her key ring with the Toyota key that has a magic chip inside so it will only start our Toyota.

I tried various keys that we keep in a small dresser drawer. Went to ACE Hardware and had keys made but they could not make a Toyota key that would start the car. This key would open the door but not start the car. ( I found it really hard to get a good key picture)

I was concerned because if something happened to my chip key, we would be without wheels.

I phoned the Elk Grove Toyota agency and found that it would cost $275.00 to duplicate the key. Wow! But I was ready to set off and pay the price because if something happened to my one key, we would have a real problem.

But bargain-hunting Betty was galvanized into action when she heard the price and promptly found her key ring under the passenger seat of the Camry.

So our excitement was over.

Our 2009 Garden

Our garden in July 2009 is a lush green with highly productive string beans, squash (four kinds) cucumbers (three kinds) and Japanese Eggplant.

 

Betty can pick baskets of tomatoes.

 

You can see the harvest and the now ripening green tomatoes.

 

While Jim doesn’t actually pick squash, it seemed right to picture him with his favorite pattipans.In the background you can see the spaghetti squash vines that have given lots of good eating although they have stopped producing at the end of July. To the left is our seven foot tall tomatoes and our birdbath that is a watering spot for numerous small birds and a bath for the occasional big bird.

 

The pomegranate bush, a present from Ursi, is also thick with blooms and maturing pomegranates. The humming birds like to sip from the bright red blossoms when they get tired of sugar water from our three feeders. Unfortunately, the fruit doesn't get big enough to eat.

What is not pictured is our pole beans reach up 8 feet and screen our deck from the sun. We have enjoyed lots of beans.

We were given two okra plants and we will wait until long in the summer for some nice okra to fry.

We regret that we do not have a fig tree or an avocado tree, both of which would be nice.

Belated Father's Day

Son Brian offered to take me to lunch at any place I chose for Father’s Day.  I said the JR’s Texas BBQ was fine with me, knowing that Brian had announced it as his favorite eating place in Sacramento.  Turns out that he could not celebrate Father’s Day until July 11 due to his and Kim’s docent duties and other problems relating to their house remodeling.  Betty said she would make the side dishes of coleslaw and stuffed potatoes since she could make these tastier than JR’s.

 Brian and Kim arrived at noon on Saturday with foam boxes full of big beef ribs, small pork ribs, sliced brisket of beef, and short ribs.

 

We enjoyed eating the tasty BBQ meat.

 

 

Their dog, Suesse, settled down to wait patiently while we ate. (Suesse is German for Sweet)

 

Betty sent them home with lots of squash from our garden. And at their insistence we have left over ribs and brisket good for several meals.

 

Suesse waited for the trip home to start.

 

It was a very successful day and many thanks go to Brian and Kim for arranging it.

July 4, 2009

Church friend Jackie Rule invited us to a July 4th BBQ at her home on Saturday. She has a big back yard with a pool

and tables with umbrellas.

We got a close-up of Mary Nabers, with Jackie Rule in the same picture, Never did get her to stand up for a close-up picture.

There were hot dogs and a good selection of other items like watermelon chunks, beans, cheeses, salads, olives and fixings for the hot dogs.

We enjoyed the food and the ambience.

Jim did some piping at the request of Jackie. I forgot to play Amzing Grace so Jackie said it will be a must  for 2010 Assuming I can still play next year.

We went home stuffed.