Last year at this time we were all about watermelon. We were doing 1-2 week easy. Cold crisp and sweet. I was ready to pick up where I left off. But you know what? It never came to that.

I found a new cold crisp and sweet substitute.

Spent the first part of the year trying to get my act together health wise. Quit alcohol. Started a better eating routine that evolved as I progressed. Started to exercise.

Somewhere along the way I was looking for a good snack that I could move into the rotation. And along came apple and peanut butter. So when I first shopped for apples went for Cosmic Crisp straight away. Why? Because they were HUGE! Bright and shiny. Firm with good color, and did I mention HUGE!

When it came to the peanut butter I did my research. The experts on the Peanut Butter subreddit said the two two were Teddie and Laura Scudder. Another that got thrown into the mix is One Trick Pony crazy crunchy that I saw at target and bought on a whim. Turned out to be my Favorite!

Watermelon ? What watermelon? I’m an apple a day guy now.

Between that first Cosmic Crisp and now I’ve tried a many other varieties. Honeycrisp, Gala, Pink Lady, Fugi.

They don’t come close and now I just stick with the Cosmic Crisp

This trip to Betty sit while Kelly traveled was a good one. I already mentioned how good Betty is to watch and how we were in our groove this week.

Kelly’s place is a little gem. It’s 500 feet to Granada beach. It’s two blocks to 2nd Street where the restaurants, the gym, the weed store, hardware store and coffee shops are. Her Neighborhood is Belmont shores. The neighborhood started in the 1920s. There is a good mix of original small beach houses and modern marvels. You can tell the neighborhood is established by the landscaping. They have the biggest and tallest palm trees I’ve ever seen. They have succulents and plants and trees that have been growing for decades. It’s beautiful just walking around and checking out all the cool houses and their front yards. What I like about Kelly’s place is the natural light. She has. Big front window that faces the street. A big bird of paradise grows in front of the window gives her both privacy and a nice nature vibe.

Could not ask for better weather! Socal had been going through a heat wave for the last month. These guys don’t know what a heat wave is. I come from the land of “feels like 113.” Either way it started to cool down some once I got here. 62 degrees one morning walking Betty. The low-to-no humidity was what I noticed and appreciated the most. Really noticed it on the evening walks, just how fresh the air was lol.

The stay was very relaxing. Listened to a lot of music. Jim’s Hot 100 on Spotify was my go to. There are 425 songs on the hot 100 now. Stayed on my eating routine. Drank my water, had my tea. Went on some nice walks to the beach or around the hood. Worked out at the gym a couple of times. Walked to the grocery store a few times to get food for dinner. Cooked dinner for my self, with some treats for Betty.

Did a couple chores for Kelly while she was gone. Installed a new keyless deadbolt on the front door. New door knob on the garage door. Watered plants. Unclogged the shower drain. Repotted some plants.

I told Kelly this was like a retreat for me. I leave relaxed, refreshed and revived. Kelly could make some big bucks if she wanted to air b&b her place for the upcoming summer olympics. Location location location !

Day 2 of the Jim gym experience. The best thing about it is it’s walking distance from Kelly’s. This time I just brought a water bottle, key and phone.

Not many people there but I already noticed two “regulars” from last time. Mr ponytail on the treadmill and old guy reading the morning paper on a recumbent bike. I tried the other type of bike they had. Again a very nice bike but I think I like my echelon better.

Thanks to the Belmont Athletic Club for the guest passes and thanks Kelly for being a member.

FUN FACT – this was my first time ever working out in a gym.

EVER!

I’m May I did something that had been on my “when I have time I’m going to……” List.

Took all of our photo albums and boxes of loose photos out from the closet and began to scan. And scan. And scan.

Now when I say I had a lot of pictures to scan I’m not kidding. In the closet in “Kelly’s” room are 4 huge bins of nothing but photo albums. PLUS 2 more photo boxes with I don’t know how many in each. But they were .full. So the point here is that it’s a lot of fricken photos.

A good thing about doing this is that not every single photo in the photo albums needed be be scanned. Most all of the scenery shots were excluded. Duplicate pics like 4 of baby Kelly in an outfit. Only one of those makes the cut. Soccer pics where it’s just a bunch of kids. I’m looking for faceS and faces at places.

Another great thing about this whole process is to be able to digitally enhance some of the photos. I scanned a lot of older pics from both Smith and Flaherty families. Pictures that were faded and blurry really did well with an enhancement.

so I was looking for a good pic to put up here as just one example of all the hard work. So many good ones to choose from but I always came back to this.

Air Force Barbie. I scanned Barb’s Air Force photos and fell in love with this one. Just Airman Smith on her bunk. The look. The pose. She’s happy. Young Barb with her whole life ahead of her and the world is her oyster.

And she ended up with us! Love you bab

e

I’ve really got into a nice groove of riding the stationary bike. Nothing crazy. Just a self paced 30 minute ride of various degrees of resistance and cadence.  It’s always a good workout.  I’m sweating (thanks Florida!) and sucking wind at the end so it feels good. Getting some of those bike riding muscles back again.

So I’m here in Long Beach watching Betty for 5 days while Kelly travels (to Florida no less) for business. My first night here and before Kelly left, we walked down to 2nd street to get a gyro bowl. We walked by the Belmont athletic club with an exercise bike in the window. Told Kelly it would be nice to get a week long membership. She said that she was a member and to call them and see.

Unfortunately they only offer  month long guest memberships for $145.

BUT!

Since Kelly is a member they would put me on the guest list for 2 free uses!

I’ll take it!

So today I went to the gym.  After a short time trying to figure out the new bike I was on my way. Same type of ride so it felt good. Going back tomorrow to try the other kind of bike they have.

The pic is after the ride

Barb is the bird Nerd. I’m just the enabler. We have a video birdhouse and bird feeder. We just saw our first brood of 4 baby blue birds hatch and fly the coop.

We use the Merlin bird app to identify bird songs.

We’ve already adopted a small murder of crows.

So yes. Bird nerd all around.

We love it when the Lee fam comes to town. They roll in on a Friday after work and stay until Sunday afternoon, and sometimes stay over and leave super early on Monday. Toby never disappoints

Really getting into and enjoying retirement mode. I like slowed down life. I like the low stress life. Good day for me is nothing on the calendar. Starts with morning coffee and wordle. Dog walk then some morning chores. Mow the lawn or water plants and kill ants.  It’s a good day when I can get in a 30 minute ride on the echelon stationary bike or a couple mile walk, which usually includes a stop at the beach. Shower and get ready for the day. Figure out what’s for dinner and head to the store. If it’s a simple grocery list I walk to Whole Foods. Come home and have a cup of tea.  Afternoons can be continued work on the honey do list. Always something to be done as a home owner. We’ve been trying to eat dinner a little later but at some point it’s prep, cook, eat, and clean. Since we got the new kitchen we like to keep it looking nice all the time. After that it’s chill til bedtime.

Retired life!