We haven’t had beach weather, but I can’t complain. The daytime high is in the mid to upper 60s and overnight the low is in the upper 50s. In the afternoon, the wind blows 10-15 mph from the west/southwest. The wind makes it feel cooler than the thermometer shows. That will change over the next few days as the temperature will climb to the upper 70s and maybe hit 80 degrees.

I scootered over to the Pacific Beach Recreation Center on Thursday for more pickleball. Donna stayed home and worked on final preparations for her booth at the upcoming annual conference of the National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO). She and her friend Ramona Creel are setting up a bookstore to sell books written by NAPO members.

Our plans diverged again yesterday. I had a doctor appointment in the morning. It was a follow-up visit after being diagnosed with high blood pressure late last year. I’ve been checking my blood pressure periodically. It seems to be erratic. I see variances of as much as 30mm Hg on the systolic (high) reading. Doctor Ryan thought I needed another medication to control my blood pressure better. He said it’s most likely a hereditary condition. Although regular exercise and proper nutrition can help (I already do this), I need medication. So now I take lisinopril every morning and atenolol at bedtime.

When I returned from the doctor, Donna was working on responding to a bid for speakers. Before I went to the doctor, I unpacked our Sea Eagle kayak and pumped it up. Donna’s sister, Sheila, and Sheila’s son Connor came over around 11:30am. The three of them went out on the bay in the Sea Eagle. I went to get my prescription filled at CVS. Then I rode to Chase Bank to deposit a check. From there I went to Costco. I bought a few 22-ounce bottles of craft beers and a bottle of wine. I also bought a case of bottled water which I strapped on the back seat of the scooter. When I got home it was after 1pm and Donna had left for a late lunch with Sheila and Connor.

I spent the afternoon reading a book in a chair outside in the sun. My daughter, Jamie, called from Texas. She’s having issues with her heart – something about a valve not operating properly. She wanted to know family history of heart disease. Unfortunately, I wasn’t much help. I haven’t talked to my biological father in more than thirty years and haven’t had contact with his family either. I know my paternal grandfather died of a heart attack, but he was in his 80s at the time. My mother is Japanese. She came to the USA after she married my dad. I never met her mother or father although I did meet her brother and sisters when I was a kid. It’s a long story, but I don’t know anything of the medical history on my mother’s side either.

While I was reading, I saw our neighbors across the way come out of their Lazy Daze class C motor home. I recognized them from their blog. It was Jim and Gayle (their blog is Life’s Little Adventures). They’ve been full-time RVers since 2008. We chatted briefly before they had to dash off to meet up with friends. Turned out they knew all about our trailer being stolen last year from my blog and I knew about their mountain bikes being stolen in Salinas last year from their blog.

Donna’s lunch with Sheila stretched out all afternoon. By 5pm, I was ready for liquid refreshment. I opened a bottle of Belching Beaver Peanut Butter Milk Stout. It is a tasty concoction – sort of a liquid peanut butter cup.

Liquid peanut butter cup

I didn’t think I would have any issues with milk stout. I’m lactose intolerant and milk stout has lactose in it, but not that much. I was wrong. The last two times I had milk stout, my stomach was rumbling soon after. I need to cross it off my list of beers.

Donna, Sheila and Connor returned around 6pm. We sat outside and chatted. Their late lunch had turned into an afternoon margarita fest for the adults. I ordered a pizza for delivery from Woodstock Pizza in Pacific Beach. While we were waiting for the pizza, Connor took up a hula-hoop challenge. The challenge was to spin the hoop around his body and drop to his knees without stopping the hoop. It took a few attempts, but he got it. The next step was to drop to his knees and continue hooping while he stood up. It took several attempts, but he stayed with it and finally got it.

Dropping to his knees while hooping

Now stand up without losing the hoop

By then the pizza arrived and we ate at the table outside.

I have a couple of projects to attend to today. Donna is going with our friend, Sini, to a yoga class by the beach at the foot of Law Street in Pacific Beach this morning. Another friend we met at the PB rec center, Laurie Beth Jones, is coming over to visit this afternoon. Like Donna, Laurie is an author – she writes about spirituality and leadership and has published 14 books, the same number as Donna.