“You're loved.” How I spotted this message from The Velvet Bandit just when I needed it most.

Driving home one night I was feeling sad and scared, shaken by a big change in my life.

 

Then on the highway right before my exit, something caught my eye: A rainbow on a concrete block at the end of a frontage road. 

At the time I just wanted to get home after a long drive, but something kept telling me to pull off and take a picture of the rainbow, especially since the skies behind it were so beautiful. So I did.

 

That was cool.

 

Because once I got close, I saw that written below the rainbow were the words, “You’re loved.” Which was exactly what I needed to hear, exactly when I needed to hear it. 

 

Even cooler? Afterward I got in touch with the artist (The Velvet Bandit), who said she put up that sticker, along with many others, in an effort to “bring a little love and light to someone’s day when they come across it.” And while she had put up that rainbow in the summer for Pride Month, I hadn’t noticed it until months later, when I needed it most. And I loved being able to tell her how much it helped me.

The night I saw the sticker was a great reminder that love is everywhere, we just have to find it. And that we should always strive to put back whatever amount of love we can offer to the world, just in case even that tiny dose Is exactly what at least one person needs, delivered exactly when they need it most.

My Grandmother's journals: December, 1997

In tiny notebooks, my grandmother wrote each day when she woke, where she ate breakfast, any movie she went to see, any mail and calls she received, then what she read and watched on TV before bed.

 

In 1997, she turned 82 while living alone in a mobile home park in Santa Cruz, Calif., but I wouldn't describe her as lonely. She was an extremely independent and persnickety woman whom I never knew to live with another person or even a pet. 

(I wrote more about her life in an earlier post.)
 

Close to her home was the famous surfing spot called Pleasure Point. Nearly every day she walked to the cliffs above the ocean, checking out the waves and seeing if anyone was surfing. When she died at 97 in 2013, I took her ashes to those waves with one of her friends, and we each dropped some ashes at the sand. A moment after I dropped mine, a surfer emerged from the water where I stood.  

That was cool.

 

 

November entries.

 

Monday, Dec. 1, 1997

Chores.

Longs, BP high. Got TV Guide, ant sticks.

To Gottschalk's, got socks.

Home: News, tea, toast.

Wrote letters to Justine, Prudy.

To J: Dina Ruiz quits job, heroin chic? Vitamins C & E.

Got fish at BK.

Tuesday, Dec. 2, 1997

Tea, cereal. 

Ironed.

To office, talked to "Park Helper," not asst. manager.

Walked cliff.

To library, took Sept. 13, 14, 15.

To show, "Wings of the Dove."

Albertsons, home. Dinner.

TV: Mostly reruns. 

 

Wednesday, Dec. 3, 1997

Slept poorly. Awake 7, then 9.

Tea, etc. Chores.

Walked cliff. Big tree gone.

Longs, BP better.

Home, wrote to Tin Tin market. 

Also paid garbage. No new can.

TV: News, Frasier, X-Files. 

Read papers, did crossword.

 

Thursday, Dec. 4, 1997

Awake 8 a.m. Tea, cereal.

Worked on clothes til 10:30. Walked on cliff, rough, erratic seas.

Drug Emporium, BP. Kmart, lunch. Penneys, looked around.

Gottschalk's, looked for gloves. Kmart has new type of ear muffs.

To show, "Anastasia." Color animation good, terrible historically.

Got wash ready for tomorrow.

TV: No Mystery, ABC Kennedy special, "The Dark Side of Camelot."

 

Friday, Dec. 5, 1997

Slept til 8:30. Tea, cereal.

To Longs for paper, laundromat. Two people there.

No rain, cloudy.

Gottschalk's, got London Fog, very light coat. Need to wear wool.

TV: Geraldo, Benet case. Watched Pulp Fiction. Still not sure of time sequence.

Ambulance called to #26.

Bed, news, read paper. 

Up 1 a.m. for hot milk.

Saturday, Dec. 6, 1997

Awake 7. Tea, cereal.

Called Mina, 9:30 - 10. Long.

Walked cliff. Longs, BP.

Library, got Time magazine.

To show, "Ice Storm." Kevin Kline, Sigourney Weaver. Good, but unresolved.

 

Sunday, Dec. 7, 1997

Awake 7, crossword.

Shower, hair, football.

Tampa Bay 6, Green Bay 17. Dilfer sprains ankle.

Laundromat and Kinko's.

Some TV: Siskel & Ebert, Amistad, Titanic got good reviews, Good Will Hunting, great.

Monday, Dec. 8, 1997

Up 6:30, tea, cereal.

Got paper.

To bank, post office, 3 stamps for post cards.

Packed, forgot cup and flashlight. 

Left 11:30, Soledad rest area, then Motel 6, 3:40 p.m.

To be cold here in Pismo. Nice sky, blue all the way.

Walked to Thrifty to get flashlight, cup.

Only two stars, moon. 

No football.

 

Tuesday, Dec. 9, 1997

Ate in room. Corn flakes, milk, tea.

To Ojai, arrived 11 a.m. Forgot address book.

Plumber at Dorothy's house, new toilet.

Off to "Senior Citizen Little House." 

Took trolley ride after.

"Cal" drove us home. Talked and talked. 

Cold in night. Cat slept with me.

Wednesday, Dec. 10, 1997

Dog barks a lot, cats well-behaved.

11 a.m., started out to find Bea Woods' house.

Road closed, Dot lost, never found it.

To Ventura Amtrak station, ate Mexican food.

Dot is afraid of Alzheimer's. She was 78.

Home, then left. Forgot books.

Home 10:10 p.m.,  trip 712 miles. Six hours straight home. 

Thursday, Dec. 11, 1997

Awake 8:45, tea, corn flakes.

Drug Emporium, got hair curlers for Dot, also gingko biloba.

To Longs, got soup. 

Soup for lunch.

Sent package off to Dot.

News, read, stacked up papers.

TV: Frasier, X-Files, some Diagnosis Murder.

Mail: Letter from Justine, Carole.

Friday, Dec. 12, 1997

Awake 6:30. News, tea, cereal.

Wrote two letters: Dorothy, Justine.

To post office, McDonald’s for coffee.

By Carole’s, she not home.

Bought VHS tapes, Fuji.

Mail: Visa bill, letter from Prudy. She has heart disease, Hugh has blood clot in ankle.

Bed, read, 11 p.m. news.

Called Carole, not home.

Carole called, long talk.

 

Saturday, Dec. 13, 1997

Left 10ish. By Carole's, got persimmons.

Coffee at Santa Cruz Book Shop.

To show, "Beaumarchais the Scoundrel." Beautiful.

Library, got two ballet videos.

Burger King, chicken sandwich.

Watched ballet, X-Files.

Slept good.

 

Sunday, Dec. 14, 1997

Awake 7:30, tea, etc.

To Nob Hill for groceries.

Home all day: Football, read papers, watched ballet.

Bed early.

Cold, wrote cards to five.

 

Monday, Dec. 15, 1997

Tea, chores. Mailed cards.

Ate at Kmart.

Home via 17th, stopped to see Marge. She doing fine.

49ers, Broncos, 34-17.

Called Justine, machine out.

Package from Dorothy, missing book. 

 

Tuesday, Dec. 16, 1997

Up 7:30. Tea, cereal.

Showered, hair.

To donut place, read paper, etc.

Drug Emporium, got 2 cards and candy.

To show, "Amistad." Very good.

Home 4:45 p.m. 

TV: Some Larry King, Frasier,  X-Files. 

A new Frasier at 9. Good, clever writers.

Mail: Cards from Linda, Mimi. Mina sent back the cat one.

Wednesday, Dec. 17, 1997

Usual breakfast.

Checks to girls. Wrote letter, copied at Longs.

Mailed card to Mimi.

Drug Emporium, got gifts for Marge.

Justine called, called back. She feels bad, stress. Got cold. Was praised for front page.

Mail: Card from Justine, Mina sent info on Getty Museum.

To post office, book not there.

TV: X-Files, bio of Truman Capote.

 

Thursday, Dec. 18, 1997

Up 8:20. Tea, cereal. Some wash.

To Drug Emporium, got menthol-eucalyptus cough drops for Justine.

Post Office, put in request for cat book lost in mail.

Left some things at thrift store.

 

Friday, Dec. 19, 1997

Slept deep.

Longs, got envelopes, mailed cough drops to Justine. 

Mall, read papers.

Home, Lois and Oscar stopped to talk.

Balanced checkbook, OK.

Got card and letter from Dot.

TV: Frasier. Ran ballet tape.

Fone: Call regarding late book. To library.

TV: X-Files, no Scully or Mulder.

 

Saturday, Dec. 20, 1997

Up 8:30. Tea, etc. Chores.

To Sears, paid bill. To mall.

To show, "Titanic." Absorbing. Good special effects.

KFC, chicken san.

To Longs, food, candy!!

Rented and played Scream. Too much!

 

Sunday, Dec. 21, 1997

Party at Marge's.

Up 10. Game with Vikings.

Walked on cliff.

To Burger King, got fish san.

Party at Twilight Manor. Stopped at Carole's, not there.

Home 7 p.m. 

TV: Some 60 Minutes, football, X-Files. Taped Jeeves for Mina.

Wind. Power out.

 

Monday, Dec. 22, 1997

Not much sleep last night. Cold.

Radio, Art Bell: Ebola, AIDS virus. New alarmists!

Woke up? 8:50?

Tea, cereal. To Drug Emporium, BP.

Drove to Aptos, Beach Drive. Large amount of plants cleared.

To Kmart, lunch. Meat loaf.

To Twilight Manor, took Marge for ride.

Drug Emporium for BP, paper.

Ran tape of Jeeves.

TV: News, football: Miami vs.  New England, Frasier, X-Files, Cybil.

Message left on tape, no name on it. 

Tuesday, Dec. 23, 1997

Up 8. Tea, cereal.

Shower, hair.

To 41st Donut, mall. Looked in bookstore.

To show, "Tomorrow Never Dies." Fast, special effects.

TV: X-Files, Frasier, part of Witness (cut it).

Tomorrow San Jose for tea?

 

Wednesday, Dec. 24, 1997

Awake 7:45. Heat, tea, cereal.

Kmart, gasoline, to San Jose.

Stopped at donut, no donuts. Got butterfly.

To 2nd Street Market. Got 3 boxes (25 tea bags) of Black Tea.

Back to Santa Cruz.

Bank for $200.

Albertsons for food.

Mail: Card from Mina.

TV: Frasier, X-Files, etc.

Thursday, Dec. 25, 1997

Awake 6:50. Heat.

Out 7:30, got paper.

Finally to Lyon's for breakfast.

Home 9:45 a.m.

Worked on summary of earnings.

Dinner, news of the day.

Forgot lights, 2nd time

TV: Watched part of Vaudeville, Frasier, X-Files, Poirot.

Cold, sunny in days though.

Some yardwork.

 

Friday, Dec. 26, 1997

Awake 8. Tea, cereal.

Longs: BP, soup, battery for smoke alarm.

McDonald's, coffee.

To Ross, looked at lots of things, bought blue top. Plus poly cutting board for sink.

Looked for knit cap: Mervyn's, Sears. Nothing.

Home. News, read papers.

TV: Frasier, X-Files, Biography Dalai Lama.

Had lights on. Off 9:30 p.m.

 

Saturday, Dec. 27, 1997

Cold! Awake 7:30, heat first. Tea, etc.  

To town 10:30, library.

To Rebecca's  for muffin, coffee.

Cold, but pretty day!

To show," "Washington Square." Very well done. 

Albert Finney, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Ben Chaplin, Maggie Smith. All excellent.

Football: Vikings won over Giants 23-22, Broncos won 43-17.

No sleep til 3 a.m.

 

Sunday, Dec. 28, 1997

Awake 5, then 9.

Football, paper, balanced checkbook.

Dressed, to Drug Emporium. 

Ate Kmart, turkey sandwich.

BP high at both places, 155-80, 151-79. Had muffin yesterday and frozen food.

Home, Tampa Bay beat Lions, 20-18.

Rest of day here.

TV: 60 Minutes, Siskel & Ebert: liked Jackie Brown, not Mr. Magoo or The Postman.

Bed after X-Files, slept good.

Monday. Dec. 29, 1997

Awake 5, then slept til 8:30.

Longs, got echinacea for Justine, TV Guide.

To OSH. Got knife for cutting linoleum.

Mailed video to Mina.

To show, "As Good As It Gets." Dog wonderful. No name in credits. 

TV: News, Law & Order.

Tuesday, Dec. 30, 1997

Walked on cliff.

To Trader Joe's.

Stopped by Carole's.

Called John Mark, no answer.

To post office, mailed echinacea to Justine, card to Dorothy.

 

Wednesday, Dec. 31, 1997

Laundromat, not many there.

9:10, men, Spanish couple. TV.

Walked on cliff, someone left cup on steps? Yogurt. Sample? To trash.

To library, got 2 books and video.

Home, shower/hair.

TV: News, bio of Nostradamus.

Steve Allen's' birthday, 75 years old.

 

Thursday, Jan. 1, 1998

Awake 8, tea. 9:15, Burger King and paper.

Longs, got envelopes to mail article to Mina.

Straightened rooms.

To show, "Jackie Brown." Very good. 2 1/2 hours. non-stop. 

Made tuna salad, some TV.

Channel 54, ocean film. Diagnosis Murder.

 

Saturday, Jan. 3, 1998

Awake 7. Usual.

Called credit union for interest.

To Longs, BP high.

Kmart, ate lunch. Bought hat.

To Gottschalk's. got 3 pair pants!

Home 4 p.m. Put lights in packages.

Rented video: Paris, Texas. Sad.

TV: Frasier, X-Files, news. 

Bed, read a bit.

Woke in night with gas. 

 

Sunday, Jan. 4, 1998

Awake 5 a.m., then 8:30. Stomach not happy.

Football: Green Bay 21, Tampa 7. well-played.

Finally got the gas out. Was deep.

Dressed about 11 a.m. Ginger tea.

To Safeway, got favorite frozen dinner, milk.

Ate at Kmart. 

Home. Football, news, soup and toast.

Siskel & Ebert, 10 best films: 

Siskel: Ice Storm, LA Confidential, Wag the Dog, In The Company of Men, Eve's Bayou, Full Monty, Sweet Hereafter, Jackie Brown, As Good As It Gets. 

Ebert: Eve's Bayou, Sweet Hereafter, Boogie Nights, Jackie Brown, Fast, Cheap and Out of Control, LA Confidential, In The Company of Men, Titanic, Wag the Dog, Maborosi.

TV: Started X-Files, turned off. Read.

 

My proudest moment as a kid: Finally earning my fitness badge!

I loved P.E. class as a kid, even more than recess. While both meant we could go outside and play, I liked P.E.  much more because it required everyone to play together.

That was cool.

Because recess usually left me adrift, watching the other kids swim to their islands of friends, where they played games I wasn’t invited to join. But P.E. class not only let me in on all the action, there I suddenly became popular, even a bit cool!

No longer the girl who was always saying the wrong thing and wearing the wrong clothes, I was now the girl everyone wanted on their team because I could run fast and was good at throwing, kicking and hitting balls.

But perhaps the coolest thing about P.E. is not how it made me feel like I finally belonged with the other kids, but how one teacher made me feel. My proudest moment as a kid was in P.E., and I think now it was all due to the kindness of a teacher who knew how much I wanted to earn my Presidential Physical Fitness Award badge.

Every year I tried, and every year I failed because of one darn thing, the pull-up, while everything else I completed nearly effortlessly:

Cardiovascular: You had to run a certain distance within a certain time. Done, super easy for me.

Flexibility: With your legs in a V, you had to reach your arms a certain length. Done, easy for me.

Core strength: You had to do a certain amount of sit-ups within a certain amount of time. Done, pretty easy for me.

Upper-body strength:  As a girl, I only had to complete just one pull-up, but I never could. So every year, I did everything but the pull-up. And every year, I didn't get my badge.

Until one year, my P.E. teacher told me the rules had changed: Girls could push off with their foot at the beginning, then pull themselves up the rest of the way. Done! Finally, I earned my badge.

Only now do I realize that it’s very likely the rules hadn’t changed at all. That my teacher just felt sorry for me and thought of a way that he could give me my badge, yet still have me feel like I earned it. And if that is true, that’s even cooler.

Because that never occurred to me at the time. I was just so dang happy to get my badge, and was convinced for decades that I earned it fair and square.

That was super cool.

My gratitude journal: “I’m grateful for coffee. Lust for coffee gets me out of bed every morning”

I recently found a “gratitude journal” I started keeping after I graduated college and began looking for a job. 

Yep, that was cool.

And the entry below is nearly three years later, after I landed my first professional newspaper job in Vallejo, Calif. I wrote not only that I was grateful for coffee and books, but how I went on a mini-adventure to San Francisco and realized I wanted to pursue a career as a reporter, a profession I’ve since loved for more than 20 years, because I wanted to: “Meet people, to learn, see and write about life.”

Later I even used the word “cool!”

Tuesday, September 14, 1999

1. I am grateful I decided to get up and go on the ferry to SF, saw the farmers market, walked through Chinatown and Union Square, and to Starbucks, read the paper and just escaped; realized what I wanted to do, to be — To meet people, to learn, see and write about life.

2. I’m grateful for the yummy food in the house, that I treated myself to brie to put on bread for breakfast and on crackers at night.

3. I’m grateful for coffee. Lust for coffee gets me out of bed every morning, without fail. It’s a love I never tire of. It’s still the same, the excitement over the first sip!*

4. I’m grateful for books on tape, for the idea, and of books in general. For lovely walks by the ocean, listening to my stories. I don’t feel quite so lonely, and I don’t have to deal with the damn commercials.

5. I’m grateful for my car, the 3/4 of a tank, and that Chris washed it yesterday. We found the self-serve place, he told me to drive in, he hopped out and scrubbed it down. Cool.

*As of November 2022, more than 23 years later, I can report I still feel exactly the same about coffee: Lust for it STILL gets me out of bed every morning, without fail.

My Grandmother’s Journals: November, 1997

Grandma in Crete in 1997.

In tiny notebooks, my grandmother wrote each day when she woke, where she ate breakfast, any movie she went to see, any mail and calls she received, then what she read and watched on TV before bed.

 

In 1997, she turned 82 while living alone in a mobile home park in Santa Cruz, Calif., but I wouldn't describe her as lonely. She was an extremely independent and persnickety woman whom I never knew to live with another person or even a pet. 

(I wrote more about her life in an earlier post.)
 

Close to her home was the famous surfing spot called Pleasure Point. Nearly every day she walked to the cliffs above the ocean, checking out the waves and seeing if anyone was surfing. When she died at 97 in 2013, I took her ashes to those waves with one of her friends, and we each dropped some ashes at the sand. A moment after I dropped mine, a surfer emerged from the water where I stood.  

That was cool. 

 

 

In November of 1997, she was still reading and watching many things about Princess Diana, while of course keeping up with football and tennis. That year we didn't have Thanksgiving together, because I had started a newspaper job and was working on the holiday.

October entries.

Saturday, Nov. 1, 1997

Awake 7, tea, etc.

To library, got People, Time.

Got cake, coffee.

To show, “Sunday.” Man after asked, unresolved. Differed as to who will kill whom!

TV: Stargate, Sleepwalkers.

Sunday, Nov. 2, 1997

Walked on cliff. High tide, new wall awash.

To Drug Emporium, got candy. BP out of order.

TV: Football, tennis.

Hot. Slept 1 hour, no breeze.

To Kinkos, pix for Mina $1.97, envelope .21.

TV: X-Files, boring.

 

Monday, Nov. 3, 1997

Awake 5:30, up 6:30.

To Laundromat, ate McDonald’s.

Home, ironed clothes.

Cloudy, humid.

Read, wrote Mina.

Walked on cliff, waves.

Garbage picked up between 1:30 and 3:30.

Dinner: Eggs and toast.

TV: X-Files. 

 

Tuesday, Nov. 4, 1997

Awake 7. Tea, cereal.

Longs, BP, watch battery.

Bank, gave lady the online ad.

Ross, gift for Mina: salt & pepper shakers, Xmas cards, barrettes.

Got gas at Kmart.

To library, returned magazines. Cake! good.

Ate chicken at McDonald’s. Was that same person getting ticketed??

Home, called Dave. May get bathroom this week.

TV: News, Silent Witness, X-Files, Frasier, TNG.

Wednesday, Nov. 5, 1997

Up 7. Tea, cereal. Walked cliff.

To mall, looked for earrings, clips for hair.

To Ross, returned hair barrettes. Got $3.88 credit.

To coffee, that woman still there. Mrs. Motor Mouth.

Homes, news, read papers.

 

Thursday, Nov. 6, 1997

Call received 8 a.m.

To Post Office, no U.S. Savings.

To bank, U.S. Savings.

To Goodyear, oil change, wheel alignment.

To show, “The Fairy Tale.” O’Toole is Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

Bit of rain.

Got Chicken san at BK.

Home 5:15.

TV: Frasier, X-Files, Lewis & Clark  

 

Friday, Nov. 7, 1997

Awake 5, back to sleep. Up 7:30.

To Toyota, clutch parts not there, tomorrow. Cost over $600.

Ate Burger King. 

Walked on cliff.

Home 10:30, Gerry Spence on Ronn’s program, wrote “O.J., the last word.”

Stimson called, left word.

TV: X-Files, ran tapes.

Saturday, Nov. 8, 1997

Longs BP, high. Got asparagus.

To show, “Fast, Cheap and Out of Control.” Only six women.

To library, got another Time magazine.

To Kmart, got chicken sandwich, etc.

Called Stimson.

Walked on cliff. Got donut.

TV: Ran Diana’s funeral, X-Files, “Henry's Problem?” with Harrison Ford.

[I think she’s referring to “Regarding Henry”]

 

Sunday, Nov. 9, 1997 

To Toyota. Bearing is back ordered. Nuts.

Home, washed some. Cleaned kitchen.

Read papers, some football.

3 p.m. skating, M. Kwan 1, Tara L. 3rd.

60 Mins, X-Files.

Monday, Nov. 10, 1997

Awake 5:45 a.m. Tea, cereal.

Walked on cliff.

Dentist. Claudia, X-ray on #20. Paid $101.

Home, Larry helped me fix drain.

To Live Oak for dinner.

Football, 49ers over Eagles, 24-12.

X-Files, Cybill.

 

Tuesday, Nov. 11, 1997

Forgot holiday.

Awake 5, then 8.

Tea, orange, cereal.

Assistant manager talking to Freda a long time.

Dave called, just missed him.

Longs BP, McDonald’s coffee.

Home, walked cliff. No work, wet from rain.

Dave came by, 9:30 if no rain.

 

Wednesday, Nov. 12, 1997

Awake 3, up 6. Tea, cereal, some work.

Home same time TLC arriving with 3 men: Scott, Joe (no English) and Dave.

Worked til 12:30, paid $11.50.

Joe fixed floor at toilet, said shower OK.

Scott fell off ladder around 11:45, hurt wrist.

To BK, chicken sandwich.

To Toyota, bearing in.

Some TV, bed 9 p.m. Slept good.

 

Thursday, Nov. 13, 1997

Awake 1 a.m., then 6.

Shower/hair. Walked cliff.

High surf, no surfers.

Longs, BP.

Kmart, turkey sandwich. BP.

Called Lou at Toyota.

No movie,  slept til 4.

4 p.m. news, Hwy 80 sinking?

TV: Frasier, X-Files, Mystery

Friday, Nov. 14, 1997

Up 7, Toyota 8 a.m.

To Lyon’s for breakfast. Senior discount 10% but gave me 20%! Mistake?

To show, “Jackal.” Crowded, not great! Talked to man.

Home, tuna salad.

TV: Frasier, X-Files, Homicide: Life on the Street.

 

Sunday, Nov. 16, 1997

Up 7, tea cereal.

Raining, high tide. Surf!

Trader Joe’s, Kinkos, gasoline, post office.

Walked cliff. Fire dept, ambulances, ranger patrol, lifeguards: surfers hurt on rocks.

Home 11:15, changed wet clothes. Tea, heat.

Football: Denver vs. KC, exciting close. 1 point then FG by Denver, 10 seconds left. KC gets field goal.

TV: Siskel & Ebert, 60 Mins (Eastwood), ST Voyager, X-Files.

 

Tuesday, Nov. 18, 1997

Awake 7. Tea, cereal.

Longs, BP, paper. Laundromat.

Mall: Radio Shack, Mervyn’s, Palace Office Supply, Thrifty.

Tired, home.

No show again!

Worked on words from Tribute to Diana by Charlie Spencer, taped “The Princess and the Press,” and English documentary.

Bed, couldn’t sleep. Got clothes ready for thrift shop.

 

Wednesday, Nov. 19, 1997

Tea, etc.

Longs, BP. Home, forgot purse!!

To town, Rebecca’s Muffins, thrift store.

Library, read about Heart, also mutual funds.

Left in time to make 1:20 film, but near home, decided no again.

Home, typed Diana’s tribute til 4 p.m.

TV: Frasier, Law &  Order.

Took chocolate.

Thursday, Nov. 20, 1997

Sun out.

To mall, looked, no buy.

Walked cliff, home.

Woman in Larry’s place? His lawyer, cleaning out place. He in hospital with heart problems. 

To show, "Starship Troopers." Many special effects, but makes war glamorous.

Ate Erik’s Deli. Soup, pie!

Home, wrote Justine, Mina.

TV: Frasier, X-Files, Mystery.

 

Friday, Nov. 21, 1997

Awake 7:30. Finished letter to Mina.

To Longs, BP. Got food.

To Gottschalk’s got 3 sweaters.

PO, mailed letter to Mina, Justine.

To Kmart, ate turkey dinner. $4.21

Home, ladies still working here.

To see Larry, room 2232. He wanted hug.

TV: Watched Rosie O’Donnell w/ Barbra Streisand, X-Files.

Saturday, Nov. 22, 1997

Awake 5 a.m. Up after tea, cereal.

Finished crossword puzzle.

Walked on cliff, nice day.

To Albertsons for fruit, veg.

To mall, Lily there, talked some. 

Sears, got 2 ribbons for typewriter. Gottschalk's, got black top, 10% off.

To Toyota, checked clutch. OK, matter of learning.

TV: News; “Backdraft,” 3 hours; X-Files.

 

Sunday, Nov. 23, 1997 

Tea, cereal.

Cleaned kitchen, bathroom.

Walked.

Swept, cleaned brown closet, took out bread from oven. 

Watched part of Dallas vs. Packers. Dallas lost, Sanders intercepted, touchdown.

To Longs, got envelopes, trail mix.

To show, “Seven Years in Tibet,” some good.

TV: Siskel &Ebert, 60 Mins.

Taped “Legends of the Fall.” Not “great.”

Monday, Nov. 24, 1997

Up 8:30. Clock set wrong. Up 6:30.

Breakfast Burger King.

Got paper, wrote Sally and Joan.

NFL: Denver 31, Raiders 3.

TV: Poirot, Frasier, X-Files.

Larry home, saw him walking.

 

Tuesday, Nov. 25, 1997 

Up after tea, cereal.

Some yard work.

To show, “Garden of Good and Evil.” Enjoyed. Music good, as all Eastwood.

Drug Emporium, candy.

TV: News, Frost, X-Files, Frasier (taped).

Heavy rain, thunder, lightning.

Drank hot milk.

Wednesday, Nov. 26, 1997

Electricity off in night.

Awake 6ish, then 9.

To senior center, got persimmon.

Walked on cliff.

BP high, ate Hershey last night.

Ran Frasier tape.

Reconciled girls’ money, made new recap to send.

Taped PBS program of Vaudeville

Rained hard in night.

Slept good.

 

Thursday, Nov. 27, 1997

Awake 7, dozed til 9.

Got clothes ready for washing, etc.

Looked for paper, out at Longs, Kmart, got one at Taco Bell.

Got coffee at McDonald’s.

Boston Market for dinner.

Laundromat til 5:05 p.m.

TV: X-Files, Tennessee over Dallas, Detroit 55, Bears 20.

 

Friday, Nov. 28, 1997

Balanced checkbook, statement off by Visa payment. Called Visa, “Nicole.” Deducted OK, verified with bank by fone.

Awake 7:30. Sun out.

To San Jose, no hiway problems.

To Tin Tin Market, no black Tuocha tea.

To Wendy’s, chicken san.

Accident on 17 after summit, slow from Los Gatos.

Tennis: Sampras defaulted, pulled a muscle.

Sewed bra.

TV: Frasier, X-Files, Mystery (saw). 

 

Saturday, Nov. 29, 1997

Tea, cereal. 

Wore red pants, rain forecast.

To show at 12:15, “Kiss The Girls.” Morgan Freeman, good.

To library, got two books on tea.

Home, ate salad, pie. 

Sewed curtains, bra.

Letter from Prudy. Almost same as previous.

 

Sunday, Nov. 30, 1997

Read papers, football.

To Kmart, lunch/dinner.

Crossword, read tea book.

Justine here, going to see “Alien.”

Must write Prudy tomorrow.

Ants in bathroom, rain sends them in.