My Sunday

I love my three-day weekends!  Usually on one of the days I get things done inside - clean house, laundry, strip the bed, vacuum, etc.  One of the days I do outside things like grocery shop, Costco shopping and any yard work (my yard is so small it usually takes all of five minutes).  The third day I do nothing.  Read blogs, play computer games, read magazines that have piled up, maybe read a book, maybe cook a great meal, with enough for leftovers for a night or two.  Just whatever I want.  What a life, huh?

So, Sunday I slept in until after 10:00 AM - I almost never do that!  I must have been really tired.  The weird thing is, I woke up before Katie did.  Even stranger. 

I did some cleanup in the patio/yard of  my condo.  Our spring and summer here in San Diego this year hasn't been very warm and sunny, like it usually is.  I always toss the old plants that are dead or dying and buy some more to replace them when the weather warms up.  I like flowering plants around the patio, it looks so nice from the living room.  But this year, I didn't do anything, I think I was waiting for the warm days to come, and they never really did.  So, tired of looking at dead plants, I finally went out and cleaned the patio area, trimmed the plants that needed it, tossed the dead ones, moved some around, and hosed off the patio.

Better already.

Then, armed with a list for plants, grocery shopping and Costco, Katie and I jumped in the car.

First stop was Home Depot.  I have a bunch of gift cards, and found lots of small plants that will work around the patio. Loaded them up in the back of the Escape.  (That's funny...  I just realized the name of my car is the same as the name of my big plan - The Great Escape.  No wonder I love that car!)

Next stop, Costco.  We all know about Costco. : )   I always go armed with a list, most of the items are fruits and vegetables.  Lately it's also included Jelly Bellies.  I'm still eating them, but they weren't on today's list.  BUT, this is the reason we shouldn't go shopping, especially to Costco, on an empty stomach:

 I LOVE really good chocolate covered marshmallows - and these have to be the best!  I ate two on the way home and they were so rich I almost felt sick.  I'm going to go back and get another box - JIC (just in case) - before they run out.  I think they are a seasonal thing with Christmas coming.  Each marshmallow is individually wrapped, and they are about half the size of a big marshmallow.

I also got these chocolate covered macadamia nuts.  They come two boxes packaged together.  These are perfection!

I have to say I try to make candies like these last as long as I can.  I try to be good.   I've always been a sucker for good chocolate, like See's Candies, and I have to be careful or they'll be gone in no time! 

Then on to Albertson's to do a little grocery shopping and we were done.

After putting everything away it was after 4:00 and I hadn't eaten all day.  I was so hungry that, after buying all this great food, I fixed myself a bowl of cereal with cut up fresh strawberries.  Sometimes you just can't beat cereal for a quick meal, any time of the day.

I like Sunday night television, so I was happy as a clam till bedtime.

From me and Katie, have a great Monday, everyone!   : )

Saturday with the Grandkids

WELCOME to our two new followers, Kimberly and Froggi!  Thank you for joining our family of followers, and I hope you enjoy reading about our adventures.  I'm not an RV owner yet, but that's the plan - the great escape in 2012.  Neither of you show a blog listed, but if you become a Blogger or already have one you want to share, let us know!

I picked up two of my grandkids at 8:00 AM Saturday morning.  I brought them to my house and we had breakfast together - Kennedy had scrambled eggs, bacon, a bagel with cream cheese and hot chocolate, and Gavin had HoneyNut Cheerios with blueberries (we ended up taking out the blueberries before we added the milk.  He wanted them separate. : ) ), bacon and hot chocolate.  I had a bacon sandwich and coffee.

Kennedy said I make the best breakfasts she's ever had.  She said that last time, too.  I was very flattered, but I think it has something to do with the hot chocolate.  : )

Next we loaded up on old bread and took Katie to the lake to feed the ducks.  This is a 1/5 mile walk that we've been doing for the last five years almost every time the grandkids come over.

We started out with just a couple of ducks, then a few more would swim in, a few more would fly in, and we ended up with quite a paddling of ducks.

 

 These two were my favorites.

 Kennedy (7)  and Gavin (5)

I wasn't sure what to call a bunch of ducks, so I looked it up and this is what I found:

Several general collective nouns for ducks:
A team, brace, bed, flight, flock, raft.
A paddling of ducks refers to ducks on water.
A dopping of ducks refers to diving ducks.
A nadger of ducks refers to flying ducks.

So I guess we had a paddling of ducks.

Here's a very patient Katie waiting--her leash is hooked on a metal hook so she wouldn't scare the ducks.

When we ran out of bread, we continued walking around the lake buildings. There are tennis courts, and when we first walked near them, you could see lots of birds through the chain link fence standing in front of the painted concrete blocks - pecking away at the paint.  There must have been 20 of them all lined up, pecking.   I hope they weren't eating it!?!  I've taken this walk hundreds of times, and never seen this before.

 You can see I used a different setting on my camera on this one.

Then we walked back home and Kennedy did some crafts things.  She finished up the picture she started last time she visited, and made another one for Halloween that's hanging on my fridge.

Meanwhile, Gavin was playing baseball with the Wii.  Gavin is the baseball player I had pictures of in a previous blog post.  When Kennedy was done with her pictures, she joined Gavin and they played Wii tennis.  All the baseball Gavin has been playing has really improved his hand/eye coordination and he actually beat Kennedy in tennis, and when they played the Wii bowling game, he almost beat her.  Sports are so good for kids to participate in.  All my grandkids are doing one kind of sport or another, and it is so good for them, physically, mentally, and socially.

Next, we drove to the cafe by the lake where the kids love the chocolate milkshakes.  We had a nice lunch, and I drove the kids home around 2:00.  We had a GREAT visit! 

I don't know why having the grandkids over tires me out so much, but I got home and collapsed!  How in the world did Margie ever take such good care of her Grands for so long?  It's hard on us old folks!  At least this one.

That was it for Saturday.

From Me and My Dog, have a great Sunday evening, everyone!  : )

AdSense - a rant...

WELCOME to three new followers! Wow!   Ellie and Jim, and Sue and Jeana. I've been following Ellie's blog for a while and enjoy reading about their adventures, but am a new Follower of Sue's blog and look forward to reading more.  Jeana is a brand new blogger and future full-timer - good luck, Jeana, with your Blog and welcome to downsizing. Thank you all for becoming Followers of Me and My Dog.  I hope you enjoy reading along as we plan our escape to full-timing.

And...Judy, I think you are right about my hummingbird.  I looked up all the hummers that are in San Diego, and the only one that looks close is Anna's.  Good for you!  I wish I had a prize for you. : )

 This is a bit blurry, but you can see the 

fluorescent color of his throat if you click on it.

OKAY, WARNING, WARNING...  RANT AHEAD!

Today I am going to write a post about AdSense, the Monetize tab on your Blogger Dashboard.  I hesitated to write about this, but decided I would, because it's really bothering me and I think it's information bloggers should have.

When I first started this blog, it was suggested I use Google AdSense to make a little money from the blog.  I had never heard of this, and did some research, and decided to try it.

For those of you (if there are any) who don't know what it is, this is what it says on the Monetize tab:  "AdSense enables you to earn money by placing targeted text and image ads on your blog."  That sounded like a good idea to me, and so I signed up and spent some time arranging where I wanted to ads to be, etc.

When readers click on the ads, somehow it's calculated and you earn money.  If a reader makes a purchase, you earn more.  I don't know how many clicks you need to make some money, or what percentage of the purchase you earn, but that's generally how I understand it to work.  The Blogger is not allowed to click on his or her own ads, for obvious reasons.  It think I mentioned this in one of  my previous posts.

Caaw, Caaw, Caaw

I'd check from time to time to see how much money I was making.  It was very little, sometimes nothing, sometimes cents a day, two days I had five or six dollars (must have been purchases).  You are paid once you have earned $100, after they verify it.  I was FAR from $100, but I felt if I got a check in 6 months or even a year, it was still money that I'd put in my RV fund, and I didn't have to do anything to earn it except provide the space on my Blog.

Suddenly one day last week, my ads were gone, and I received an e-mail that my account was suspended due to "invalid activity."  I had the option to appeal it, and I did, answering all their questions about my blog, it's activity, individual and page hits, my audience status, if I knew of anyone would use multiple clicks to enable me to earn money, etc.  I answered their questions honestly and waited for their reply.

I have no idea why my account was closed, the answer to my appeal was that "we're unable to reinstate your AdSense account."  No explanation except that if I had questions I should go to http://www.google.com/adsense/support/bin/answer.py?answer=57153.

The information provided by following that link says,"Google treats invalid click activity very seriously, analyzing all clicks and impressions to determine whether they fit a pattern of use that may artificially drive up an advertiser's costs or a publisher's earnings. If we determine that an AdSense account may pose a risk to our AdWords advertisers, we may disable that account to protect our advertisers' interests."  So apparently someone was clicking a lot on my ads, and that caused me to be disqualified from the program.

Now, honestly, any of you using AdSense have to know it's not a big deal as far as the money goes.  But, my gosh!  I felt awful after receiving their e-mail, especially since they won't give me any information.  And I certainly didn't click even once on any of my ads!

After receiving the denial to my appeal, I sent AdSense an e-mail asking what happened.  Did I do something, did a reader of my blog do something?  I've not received an answer and I guess the link provided was all they will say.

So, be warned:  it happened to me, it could happen to you.  In fact, has this happened to anyone else?

Usually ranting makes me feel better.  This time it didn't.  I guess because I understand their position, but I'm the one penalized when I did nothing.  Kind of a lose-lose.

Last night's sunset.

Oh, well...  It's the weekend, and I'm gonna have some fun!  From me and Katie, have a great Saturday, everyone! : )

Applied for Social Security on Wednesday

So...I went down to the Social Security office on Wednesday and applied for Social Security, which is effective in January.

If you are still very young, or already collecting Social Security, this might not interest you, but...  If you are in my position as a divorced, single person approaching 66 years old, this might be something you would be interested in.  And this is a good way for me to document what I'm doing so I'll remember if I need to refer back to it.

I don't have any photos today, so I'm throwing in some odd-ball pictures that didn't fit into any recent posts.  Like this one that I liked:

I took this on my way to work a few weeks ago - it was early and the moon was still going down.  The Pacific Ocean is just beyond the trees, a block or two.  The red light turned green just as I snapped it.  I wasn't looking at the surrounding area, just the full moon.  It could have been a beautiful photo, but if I'm counting right, there are 5 poles with 11 signs on them including the green lights.  Just in this tiny area.  Must by why RVers take the roads less traveled.

As a divorced woman who is not currently remarried I am entitled to collect on my SS account, or I can apply for one-half of my ex-husband's "full retirement" monthly benefit.  The marriage has to have lasted for at least ten years, and it had to end in a legal divorce.  I re-confirmed that this is what I can do and want to do.

The only problem is I have to bring in a Certified copy of both my marriage certificate and divorce decree, neither of which I have.  And maybe never did have.  It makes sense that they would want this proof, though.  I need to prove we were married more than ten years, and it's so easy to forge documents nowadays.  I could probably change a document and make good copies if I wanted to and was dishonest.  I wouldn't and I'm not, but I could.

So, today I am printing out the necessary forms for Monterey County for the marriage certificate and Santa Clara County for the divorce decree.  I have to complete them, go to a Notary Public to have them notarized, then mail them in with a check to the counties.  When I receive the Certified copies, I'll bring them in for the Social Security office to make copies for their file.  Then they can enter my claim for Social Security benefits.

Two new things I learned in my visit Wednesday.  Even though I am eligible as of January 1, I won't receive my Social Security check (actually it will be an automatic deposit into my checking account) until the third week of February.  What you are eligible for in one month, you get the next month.  And depending on your birth date (or in my case my ex-husband's birth date) you might get it in the first, second, third or fourth week of that month.  In my case, the third week.

I thought I'd have the deposit in my checking account the first week of January, but instead it will be the third week of February.  Bummer!

The other thing I learned is that since our marriage lasted more than ten years, if my ex-spouse dies first and has a larger benefit than mine, I can collect widow's benefits.  In the same amount he was receiving.  Even though we are divorced.  Interesting...  the only problem is that I cannot know what he is receiving if he started collecting before full retirement age.  Which apparently he did.  They also cannot tell me what he is eligible for at full retirement age, only that I will receive one-half of it.  Go figure, literally.  One-half times two equals full retirement benefit.  Duh.

So I won't know what my income could be in the future until he dies.  Assuming he predeceases me. 

But for now, since I'm still working full time, I'll collect on his benefit and let mine continue to grow until I retire and/or need the additional income each month. I might be able to retire on his alone and let mine grow until I'm 70.  That would be nice! 

I'll end with this photo taken from my patio - also a few weeks ago.  The moon coming up over the hills.  I love my view:

From Me and My Dog, Katie, have a wonderful Friday, everyone!  We are! : )

Hummingbirds

I finally got a few pretty good hummingbird photos.   My feeder is right outside my sliding door, so it's easy to keep an eye on.  There's one bird, the one in these photos, who has taken over this feeder and won't let any other birds near it.  I guess it's pretty common for these birds to be territorial.

Ruby-throated Hummingbird, I think

 

 Standing Guard

I have a camellia tree right nearby that's just starting to bloom.  When it's in full bloom I'll take a picture of it and show you, it's so pretty.  This bird perches in the tree and watches the feeder.  As soon as another hummingbird comes near, I hear this loud humming, and it's dueling hummers.  He always wins.  He takes a drink of the nectar, and goes back to his observation perch in the tree.  I didn't get any photos of the duels, they are way too fast for me and my camera!

 

I like this one - it shows his tail feathers.

Here's a photo of him hovering in the air with all his feathers spread, unfortunately it's blurry.   But still a keeper for me at this point.

I'm still working with this camera and sometimes I guess right, and sometimes I guess wrong.  I'm getting more and more photos I like, but it's an uphill battle.  This camera is an Olympus Stylus with 10X Optical Zoom.  It got it at Costco, and it's not fancy or expensive, but I've never had a camera with different settings.  This one has a few different settings, and then some settings within settings.  I've seen already how different the settings can make the photo look.  So, my photos are a work in progress.  By the time I'm on the road and have some great places to photograph, I should be ready.

This photo, if you click on it, shows his amazing red fluorescent throat feathers.

From me and Katie, have an amazing Thursday everyone!  : )