The sun is shining, cool breeze blowing in the afternoon, feels like we live on a different planet from just a month ago…  we have been busy helping get our tin palace painted…sure makes it look like a new home…soft grey with grey trim..I really like it….

 

We are ready so ready for a road trip, so we are heading off to Las Vegas on Tuesday morning for a couple days, its only 5 hours away so not a bad drive, in fact just far enough away…I am looking forward to getting out of dodge…I know my husband is…its been  along 2 weeks of up early and helping the painter…LOL  even though supervision was not necessary, kept him busy…LOL

Life is good….diet it okay, however I have been looking for the best chili relleno in the area, I found one in San Luis this morning, El Sol the Mexican grocery store had a little area where they sell hot food.  I started the day with a yummy chili, refried beans and  a little Spanish rice… umm mmm good….  Heading back to the chiropractor, my brother in law calls him the none crusher, lol  I forgot about that part of it  LOL  my hip just started to hurt again,  no where what it was before, but it hurts just the same…

The fire is almost out, hoping for rain tomorrow, now the hard part starts, trying to make sense of it all.  I can not even begin to understand what they are going through, 5700 houses and business gone.  Its almost to much to conceive.  I could go on and on,  but I won’t keep going down that road, it doesn’t end well for me, and my eyes are tired of being puffy and red.  I will continue to hold them all in my heart and send silent burst of love and compassion, and of course I keep dancing in the moonlight for them.

Hope everyone is getting ready for All Hallows Eve, until later….

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Saturday –  I just got back from the pool. I had a great workout, jogged for 20 minutes, that felt great and then did some other water aerobics that I used to do.  Felt great – coming in at 1200 Calories today, done eating for the day and its not even 6p.  I have had 3 visits to my new chiropractor and I have to say I have zero pain, no more dull throbbing that never goes away. I am a little sore where he worked on me Friday, but not stabbing pain, just feel bruised.  He told me to go back to normal activity on Saturday and see how I do over the weekend, so I did just that !! I think not having that constant pain has really helped me mentally.  I actually slept 7 hours and feel human today  YAY   why didn’t I go weeks ago. – hummmm perhaps its that stubborn streak I have – I will blame my parents, as they were both extremely stubborn, and yes to the point of detrimental to their health. Guess this apple didn’t fall far from those trees LOL  so that’s all positive.  I even journeyed my entire day.  I feel like I am back and living isn’t just a struggle to get through daily.

The fires are a different story – will it ever end??  My son’s business partner was evacuated for the second time this morning at 4:30a, he called my son and he drove over and helped load up everything they could both carry out.  This is on the extreme eastern side of Santa Rosa, its called the Nun Fire, at one point there were 14 separate fires up and down 4 counties that all touched on or another.  The biggest fire, which has combines with a couple other is called the Tubbs fire, it was the one that ravaged Santa Rosa on Sunday morning, however it headed east and then the Nun Fire broke out separately from it. There is another fire just north of Santa Rosa and its threatening little towns and vineyards in the Geyserville area.  It was only 1% contained at last update at 2p today.  The Nun Fire is 12%, that is the one threatening eastern Santa Rosa, and the rest are over in the Sonoma, Napa, and Petaluma area.  I have tried to take a step back, and listen to the updates and my phone is set up to receive alerts regarding evacuations and changes in the updates they have at the fairgrounds.  I heard there are 3000 boots on the ground fighting all these fires, they have come from near and very far away. So thankful for them.  The 2 big hospitals are still shut down,  I heard Kaiser will be opening as soon as they get done with all the inspections, last I hear Cal-Osha was there checking things out.  They are still in red fire danger due to high winds up on top of the hills and in the Sonoma Valley area, Santa Rosa didn’t have high winds, thank goodness….I know I am rattling on about the fire and none of you know about some of this stuff, but it feels good to get it out.   I am going to leave you with a few more pictures…..

This one taken on the Napa Bridge at Sunrise

Taken in Alameda, in the bay area East from where we live…sunrise

This is an intersection in eastern Santa Rosa, taken this morning, to the left out of the picture is a huge Safeway shopping center where I used to shop, I lived about a mile from here for over 10 years way back when…this area is called Rincon Valley.  The road head to the city of Sonoma, 25 minutes from here, they closed it to traffic a few days ago due to fire…

Taken from some ones deck looking East this morning at sunrise…way to scary!! And close for me…this is the fire that is only 14% contained.  The winds are supposed to slow down tonight after 11p…fingers crossed

Another looking east out over a little area called Sky Hawk, it was evacuated this morning at 4:40, not sure how many homes succumbed to the fire, they couldn’t say at the update earlier.  But they did say they were holding the fire and it hadn’t spread any further….really, will it ever stop?!?  I can’t imagine not knowing if my home is still there are not….

If any of you want to see or follow any of these fires, its easy to find, google Santa Rosa fires or Cal fire.

Until later…..

 

 

Good Morning…things still remain on the edge in Santa Rosa and surrounding areas, I see they have a 10% containment posted, that is something in the positive directions, my families remain vigil and share rotating fire watches since the alerts are sketchy depending where you live and if the cell towers are still functional.  My daughter and her husband cleared out all there most valuable assets and took them to her dads.  They are on the edge of it all, precautionary measures can pay off later.  My son’s home is fine, and our home is fine.  My cousins boss and his wife have been parked in the driveway in there RV for the last couple nights as they are under a mandatory evacuation order.  They did get word as of yesterday morning, there house is still standing, so that is good news.  My son did loose everything for one of his business, the building burnt pretty bad and nothing could be saved on top of his trailer full of equipment. They will rebuild, but not sure when all that can get started as they are all being kept away from that area as of yesterday.   Looks like the fire is shifting further north and east, but the fire captain said the fire is in charge right now and doing whatever it wants.  They are just trying to keep it at bay of homes and structures.  The big hospitals remain closed.  I am still in Yuma, it has been hard not to head that way, but in all reality there is nothing I could do.  Be there and fret and have my husband to worry about on top of it.  So that is all I can tell you about the fire.  The images are just to painful to look at and there are so many devastating stories coming out now that its heartbreaking to even go and get updates.

On a better note, my hip is almost 100%.  I should of went to the chiropractor weeks ago, stubborn as I am.  He was very surprised to see me again after I shared all my apprehension with him.  But was pleased I did come back.  I see him on Friday and that should be the end of this injury.  The dull ache in my hip went away immediately after his treatment.  I spent the next day anticipating pain every time I moved…gladly there was none… He told me I could go to the gym and start living life normally again.  Sure makes sleeping better.

My eating has been stress related.  I own it, and am moving on…..

Just wanted to share with everyone.

Life is moving forward no matter what mother nature throws at us, as along as we have our lives and health, the rest is just icing on the cake….

until later

 

Will it ever stop…..

Oh my, I woke up to the wind blowing here in the desert southwest,50’s to  60’s mph…I tried to go back to sleep, but my phone, which I silence at night was vibrating off my night stand…hummmm, so I grab my glasses, and take a peek….WTF  4 missed calls from my daughter and several text messages…I quickly sit up, shake myself awake, it was 7a….what is going on…I scan a text, it says,  “were safe and at dad’s house”, the other was my son, “don’t worry I am safe, you may not be able to reach me, phone service sketchy.”  WHAT!!!  I dial my daughter and she reassure me they are safe and have the cat with them !!  I ask why, she says you haven’t heard yet, Santa Rosa is on fire…we can’t reach Callie, my cousin who lives at our home, I shake my head again, and say, are you punking me!!  No way mom, I would never joke about something like this…..so we hung up and I get on the internet and call my son, he is safe at his dads in West County,  I call my cousin, she is at work in the next town south, its not as smoky.  She said the wind was blowing 70 to 80 last night and warm like a furnace…Santa Anna Winds, they are never good news….

Soooooo….my heart is so heavy with sadness today, our home town of Santa Rosa, California has been stricken with fire, our house is okay at this time, and so are my kids homes. My kids were woken up in the very early hours of the morning of shouts to get up and get out.  65,000 thousand acres have burned in Sonoma, Napa and Mendocino counties, 11 lives at this time have been lost to fire, several in the ICU burn units in critical condition, some were not able to get out as the fire was moving so fast.  The winds were 80mph last night and that just blew fire embers all over the counties, it started on the other side of the mountain northeast of town.  There were not enough fire fighters to not only fight fires, but first to save lives in the fires path,  1600+ homes and business burnt to the ground, the largest 2 hospitals in the northern part of the city evacuated in the early morning in the dark with fires burning all around them.  Several friends were in the evacuation areas that made it out, a few of our friend have lost their homes and everything they owned but the clothes on there backs.  I read where a horse ranch was on fire and they could not get the 57 horses out fast enough so they just opened the gates and drove out with them running besides there vehicle…several long term care facilities were evacuated….not 10 or 20 but 50+ elderly people at each facility, woken up and put on school busses, city busses, and whatever else people could find to drive them in…my frustration of being here and not there to help is overwhelming…..one of the places my son works was in the fire area and they lost the entire bridal shop along with his trailer full of equipment for weddings.  He is extremely depressed.  Giant landmarks burned to the ground around the town, The Hilton up on a hill, beautiful grapes all around it, wedding destination for many, burnt; the Fountain Grove Inn, another landmark, 1880, nothing but ash; The Round Barn on the property of the Fountaingrove Inn, est. 1891, gone; The old K-Mart, one of the first big stores in Santa Rosa, opened 40 years ago, near my son’s place of business – burnt to the ground, it was a land mark for many; Paradise Ridge Winery, 1965, I have set on there balcony drinking good wine and watching the sun set in the west more times than I can count, burned to the ground; a very wealthy neighborhood in the Fountaingrove area of northern part of town, gone, ashes; Willis Wine Bar, 1886, used to be an excellent German dinner haus at one time, changed every so many years, gone; Now I just heard that they are re-evacuating people who were let back into there homes hours ago from the first evacuation, my niece and her daughter….so nerve wracking…

 My nieces place this morning before dawn, before the first evacuation call came in….

I also just read they have had an earthquake, 3.9, not huge, but makes you wonder if its a precursor to something bigger to come, after all this entire town is on multiple fault lines….I will stop rambling and leave you with some pictures….

Paradise Ridge Winery, before and after…one of my favorite places to watch sunsets

Fire continues to rage at the Hilton hotel on Monday, Oct. 9, 2017, in Santa Rosa, Calif. Wildfires whipped by powerful winds swept through Northern California early Monday, sending residents on a headlong flight to safety through smoke and flames as homes burned. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)

The Hilton after the fire….above,  The Round Barn (1891-built) below….

Beautiful Fountain Grove area of north east area in Santa Rosa,  beautiful, huge homes, winding up and over the hills…on top of each other…..below

 Home after Home, burnt to ashes…..

Below is on the west side of Santa Rosa, home after home gone,  we have friends who lost there homes here….very devastating…the fire was just to fast to get under control.. not enough fire fighters to go around…with winds blowing at 60  to 80 in all directions…doesn’t take long to burn…we live about 6 miles south from here…

Fountaingrove Inn, before and its on fire in second picture (below)

The Fountain Grove Inn burns in the distance as the devastated Journey’s End mobile home park smolders in Santa Rosa, California, Monday morning Oct. 9, 2017. Firefighters were able to save the last row of mobile homes next to Kaiser Permanente Santa Rosa Medical Center. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)

Willi’s Wine Bar, 1886, before and after

Below is all that is left from Journey’s End Mobile home park, established 1957, I am hoping that all the seniors that lived there got out….

The Journey’s End mobile home park in Santa Rosa, California, is a scene of devastation, Monday morning Oct. 9, 2017. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)

The Journey’s End mobile home park in Santa Rosa, California, is a scene of devastation, Monday morning Oct. 9, 2017. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)

A huge apartment complex on Fountaingrove, before and after…

A guest runs from a fire destroying the Hilton Wine Country Inn, Monday morning Oct. 9, 2017, in Santa Rosa, California, . (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)

K-Mart….after….several other structure’s in the same shopping center were damaged too.

Another one of the Fountaingrove area on fire..

Below is one of the north part of Santa Rosa as dawn breaks…apocalyptic and extremely life shattering and changing for sure…I am 11 hours away and have been extremely… not sure what, traumatized, saddened, grief stricken, I am not sure what, but my life has been changed forever, and I am not even there…..

you see it happening somewhere else and feel so sick to your stomach, but let me tell you, when its happening in your own back yard, well there is no words for it…I resist the urge to jump in the car and head home if for nothing else but to hold my kids close….please stop and take a moment and say a quick “Be Safe” for my town and people…

 

 

Welcome to the weekend…life is good in the Sonoran desert…a bit windy and warm, but if that’s all we have to complain about then I say life’s good…Can’t believe how much better the house looks with just primer, lol really cleans it up.

Had a good day, we went to the local Thai Restaurant, yum…I only ate half for lunch and brought the rest home for dinner. More than enough food.  I am being good and journaling my food.  Feels great to be focusing again on health, its always one my mind, but to actually be putting in the effort, makes the difference for sure.  I have been trying to stay below 2000 calories, closer to 1500 if I can, tonight I am at 1200calories.  I am back at no eating after 6p.  I just tell myself the kitchen is closed at 6p…I try to have all the dishes done and coffee ready for the morning so I don’t have to visit that area of the house.  I even pull all the shades and close the curtains and lock the kitchen door, just so I don’t have to go near the kitchen and give the rebel a change to talk me into trouble.  lol

I am going to hit the gym this weekend.  I am not sure if I ever mentioned I hurt my right hip in California.  (not an excuse for not exercising, but I could use it if I need to, lol )  I am just sharing – I sat wrong on a metal chair for a few hours, (In a bar visiting with a gaggle of gals drinking margaritas, probably didn’t help me make the right decision and get a different chair) I knew then I should of demanded a different chair, but I kept scooting to the edge and letting my right hip hang over the edge, kinda just barley sitting on the edge, my fault completely.  The next morning I could barley walk, and I knew then what I had done, it wasn’t the first time, but hopefully the last.  I loaded up on lots of Ibuprofen and got the swelling down and it popped back in when I turned over in the night, the sharp stabbing pain was gone instantly.  However I didn’t get it in all the way, its still just not right yet, its like a bad tooth ache, I have done every hip exercise I know (in and out of the pool) and cannot get it to slip all the way back in, so I am going to see a chiropractor on Monday.  I am hoping that he will be able to do it in one visit. Its just enough pain to keep my body on edge, I have terrible fever blister happening on my lip and I know its from the constant, nagging pain in the arse I am dealing with.  So I decided to not try to be brave and keep smiling while I am miserable…possible a little stubborn too!!  lol  – so looking forward to dealing with this.

I leave you with a few items from Facebook – have a great weekend….

 

 

Good Morning

My entries are logged into my journal, my weight has been brought up to date, less than last time I entered it, YAY, my fridge an freezer are stocked with fresh vegies and lots of fruit.   A couple days ago I spent the morning peeling, cutting and roasting root vegies, one of the reasons I love fall !  Root vegies!!

Just a little of what I roasted, I bag them and keep them in the freezer to add to rice with pesto, an omelet, or curried sauce !!  I can never get enough of them.  One of my favorite ways of eating them is just heated up with fresh herbs on them….Yummm   We also had a huge sale on strawberries again, so I cleaned and cut up 4#’s and froze them in individual baggies.  I love them in my smoothies or, on my oatmeal.  My husband is a huge fan of them and loves them in his fruit salads. So I feel I am back in control of my eating again, and hope to keep it under control!!  I have told my rebel to stay out of it and I will control what and when I want to eat, not her!!  LOL  Nice to have an alternative personality to blame life on!!

We have hired out handyman neighbor to paint the house, really big YAY…he is out cleaning the sides right now and it already looks a thousand times better.  We are painting it the same color as the shed, a very light gray hue.  We haven’t decided what color we are going to offset it with, if we do.  I kinda like the idea of all one color, monochromatic, works for me.  You can’t use dark colors in the desert sun, as they just fade away after a couple hot summers.  So that should all be done in the next week or two.  Very exciting!!

Life is better for me, I am still grief stricken for those in Las Vegas and all the other parts of the world where disasters have hit !

So until later….Welcome to October…and the season changing to fall…..

Sunset yesterday starting from my back deck….it was a beautiful day!

 

 

Woke  up to the sad news about Las Vegas, can’t seem to stop crying, my heart hurts so much for those innocent people who lost there lives.  What a sad, sad day.

I can not bring myself to be jolly and happy for anything at this time… I can not wrap my head around why someone would do this.  I sit hear shaking my head tryin to understand it all.

To all those who have been affected by this horrific act, know your in my heart….