Day 3 - Los Angeles lifts its vaccine mandate. A vax card is no longer required.

Birdwatching today…I saw a Wrentit

4/2/22. Saturday

6:10-My alarm goes off, but I lay in bed for transition time.

6:30-6:45 -I go downstairs to say good morning to the animal, but she’s still asleep so I put my coffee in the microwave. As soon as the microwave starts running, she jumps off the couch and walks over to me to say hello. We go outside and I note that the dog pooped in two places on the patio (sigh). Return inside and cheese for her; coffee for me. I pick up the dog poop and go upstairs.

6:45-7:45. Shower. I sit in the shower, drink my coffee, and ice my eyes while listening to Be Wealthy and Smart. Lotion. Hiking uniform and just mascara today.

7:45-8:05-Damn! I can’t find my keys for 5 minutes and it puts me behind. Also, I had originally planned to heat up a packet of instant oat meal, but I weigh 97 today so I don’t think so.

8:05-9:30-I’m a tad late to birdwatching, but everyone is still in the parking lot so it doesn’t matter. Almost immediately, we see a Wrentit right in front of us. Ken is today’s docent and he keeps playing the Wrentit’s bird call from an app on his phone and the Wrentit is transfixed. Gary - hard core birdwatcher and photographer - says mimicking bird calls, while effective, is a cheat. I’m inclined to agree. This isn’t the first time Ken has used his phone app to imitate bird calls…I find it irritating.

Awshook returns and tells me all about the Sepulveda Basin Water Reserve, where tons of water birds frequent. He and Ruth Ann (his wife) were there on Sunday.

Rosemary and Don, the docent, husband/wife team, are also here today and we start our march through the canyon. At one point, me, Awshook, and Don lose the group. Don, who is probably in his late 60s/early 70s shares with Awshook and I that he used to camp in Big Sur. Although Don didn’t hunt or fish, he was still living off the grid and hiked into town every 2 weeks for supplies. Don relays a story where he trekked 80 miles into the forest, while serving as a trail guide on a camping trip for newbies, with rangers, horses, and pack mules loaded with supplies. While on trail, a mule and horse fell to their death right after a ranger happened to dismount. OMG! Don eventually left Big Sur when it got too cold.

The group is really lagging so Awshook serves as a scout and backtracks. Don takes this moment to tell me about the partial knee replacement he underwent, which didn’t take and was followed by a full knee replacement involving horrible, painful recovery time. I sympathize, adding that the whole experience sounds incredibly painful. Don agrees and then says he’s seen me at birdwatching a couple of times and that I’m really nice...”not to mention extremely attractive.” Uh, thanks Don. His WIFE (Rosemary) appears around the bend. Apparently, the group was never missing, but merely lagged behind to look at a Spotted Towhee in a tree…this particular bird is a dime a dozen in this neck of the woods.

Birdwatching ends.

9:30-11:00-I drive to Starbucks and update my bullet journal. Then, I go through the drive-thru and get a coffee and egg-sausage (Impossible Meat) sandwich. I don’t eat the bread.

11:00-12:00-Home and I eat the egg sandwich, drink my coffee, and read Invisible Corset.

12:00-1:00-I continue reading Corset, but I’m exhausted and have to lie down. Long Covid?

1:00-2:30-I read a little more than take a nap.

2:45-4:00-bullet journal and still drinking my coffee.

4:00-5:00-I download a few podcasts from Happier and eat a salad.

5:10-5:50-I take the dog for a walk.

6:00-6:45-My stomach is bothering me so I lay down and listen to By the Book.

7:00-9:30- Gardening and I pot two plants. I also have to re-set the breaker because some of the lights in L.’s studio shorted out so I take care of it. I listen to By the Book and eat 2 vanilla wafers and 3 malt balls.

9:30-9:45-I put away my gardening supplies and change into my workout clothes.

9:45-11:00-I do a 10-min Insanity Max -Ab workout and a 30 min Insanity Max -Strength. Then I change into my pajamas.

11:00-11:45- Nighttime routine.

12:00-12:30-I ready my coffee, make overnight oats, and cut up a pear for my lunch bag. While I’m doing that I eat pieces of pepper jack cheese, 4 potato chips, and 1 cracker. I listen to By the Book. I wonder how my weight will be affected eating the pepper jack cheese? The potato chips (4)? The one cracker?

12:45-Bed