Jan 26, 2012

Once again, we’ve been too busy living life to write much on a blog, so an update is in order J 
We had a couple of days of getting the MH ready to roll, and on Wed, the 25^th we headed down to Rockport, TX.  Rockport is a lovely little town on the gulf coast of TX that we really enjoyed when we spent 4 months here in 2009/10. 

But, before we left, we went out to dinner with Bob and Jan Wheaton, and Armando Vasquez, who will have left the park by the time we get back on Feb 8^th!   I got to pick the place, so we went to Napoli’s in Castroville.  Oh my, what a good choice!  A couple of us had pasta combo’s, David had a Stromboli that he said was fantastic, Jan and Bob had fettuccine alfredo, 1 with and 1 without chicken ;)  A great dinner with wonderful friends – what more can you ask for!

Once we arrived here in Rockport, we called our friends, Janet and Dave and we all went to China A for a wonderful dinner.  I didn’t get any pictures last night, but I’m sure to tomorrow!

This morning we had quite a shock – I turned on the hot water heater and we were just having our coffee when we heard a ‘pop’ and then water running – we found that under the refrigerator there was hot water running – outside in a bay…so we turned off the hot water, and then all the water…called a mobile RV and tomorrow they will come and let us know if it can be fixed or have to be replaced :(  I SO hope it can be fixed!  Of course I didn’t get a shower this morning, this campground doesn’t have a ‘shower house’, so it was a cold wash and heated a pot of water on the stove to wash my hair.  After all this mess, we went for a drive, had breakfast at Alice Fay on the Bay restaurant, continued to drive around town, did some shopping at the historic district, stopped at Stevie Lew’s BBQ and picked up some ribs and pulled pork to bring home for dinner.  And that’s what we did – came home, played ball with Cinder, and I made baked sweet potatoes and salad to go with the BBQ – it was very very good and we are now snuggled in for the night.

Abigail

Abigail is the one all in pink...please say a prayer for her and her family..thank you!

Jan 21, 2012 Updates

So…update since Jan 5^th  We’ve been so busy, but not doing really exciting things.  I’ve found it is very hard to keep up a blog when you are just ‘livin’ life’! 
We have social hour at the clubhouse Mon, Wed and Friday at 4 – we go to the Nutrition Center for lunch most days when it is not chicken (David is allergic), and really, the meals are great, can’t beat the price at $3.00 each, but we go even more for the social aspect of it.  You arrive by 11:15, sit with a group of people that you may or may not know, chat for about 15 minutes and then get a really good lunch – then chat for another half an hour or so and then go about your business :)  We really enjoy it!

We’ve also remodeled our shed and repaired the driveway here at LSC.  Here are some before and after pics – it was a very busy couple of weeks!  David already has two computers on his new ‘bench’ working on them!  IF there is enough wifi mojo I’ll put some pictures up!

One of the other things we have been doing is seeing doctors – David has seen the ENT specialist at Audie Murphy, and Feb 9^th he has surgery to permanently implant ear tubes – he met with the GI specialist last week, and this past week he met with the pulmonary folks, the Optical folks for new glasses, the purple team Dr who put him on metformin – it’s official, he’s listed as a diabetic, and the pharmacy specialist to order all his new drugs!!!  We now have more appointments the week we had slated for Big Bend :(  Dang it!

Today at the clubhouse LSC hosted the ‘fiddler’s’, a great group of musicians that come here twice a year and jam – we have a wonderful pot luck lunch (I made a terrific taco casserole) and spent a couple hours listening to some pretty good music! 

Monday nights a group of us ‘gals’ go for an early dinner and then play bingo at the local church – have a great time and make a donation every week!  David and Bob usually go to a Mexican restaurant for dinner – he won’t have as much fun now – he’ll have to eat healthy!  Friday night it is bingo at the clubhouse, and Sunday is ice cream social followed by card bingo…all great fun!

We just found out that they have found a tumor on my cousin’s kidney, it is cancer, and they will remove her kidney at Children’s Hospital in Pittsburgh on Monday.  She will then have to endure 21 to 22 weeks of chemo…She is 6 years old, so if you could, please say a prayer for her.  Back at the beginning of October, we had a picnic and the kids went on a hayride – Abigail is the one dressed all in pink. 

Jan 5, 2012 Appts and 'stuff'

We've been quite busy, and I'll post pics when the 'shed' is done, but we have a contractor here doing some deferred maintenance, and making our shed our home! There was a piece of siding that was cracked, and we lucked out on that, as they had stored several pieces they didn't use up in the ceiling - which we found when we removed the ceiling tiles that were stained. I'm so glad we don't have to try to match the faded siding! We are having the building sealed, painted and new flooring put down. Now, our shed is just 12 X 24, so although it sounds like a ton of work and money, it is just a modest amount :) We should never have to have this done again, considering we only spend 5 months or so a year here! We also are having some driveway maintenance done - which in this case meant cutting off the cement cap at the end, removing the crumbled stuff and then tomorrow we get new concrete! Yaay!

I've had two days of training on our Membership Committee here in the park, and it is very interesting. Don't know when they want me to go back, but I'm sure they'll let me know!

Today was 2 appointments at the VA in San Antonio for David, a blood draw at 10 am, then an appt to see the ENT specialist at 3:30...he goes back in 5 weeks and they will put permanent tubes in his ears - YAY! He should never have to go through another 5 months of agony with his ears!

Between the two appointments we went to the golf cart store in and got a mirror for the golf cart - it is hard to see behind ya without one! Then we went to Sam's and got some much needed supplies - I'm planning on making Chili for a group of us for dinner on Sat evening - looking forward to that!

Thought you might want to know what our plans are for the next year...our plans are always set in jello, but here goes:

Last week of Jan we are going to try to get to Rockport to spend a couple days with our friends, Dave & Janet, then Feb 1 - 7 we will be in Mission TX with Ron and Kathy (yippee), then back here to LSC and a possible trip to Big Bend with some folks from the park...then mid March we will head toward New Orleans, spend a week or so down there, then make our way leisurely up the Natchez Trace, and on into PA, arriving there around the beginning of May. We will be spending the summer there, clearing out the house, having yard sales, and making the house 'ours', and if all goes well, we will be spending lots of time with our grandkids that have been in Japan for 3 years...Yaaay! It's possible we may have the with us for 5 - 6 weeks!

We plan to be in Myrtle Beach for the USS Tolovana reunion, which is the ship that David served on in Vietnam. From there we will mosey on down to Pensacola for the Blue Angels 'Welcome Home' show...then make our way back here to TX by Thanksgiving. That's the plan...and it can change at a moments notice...follow along and see how we are doing with it!

We love this RVing life :)

Jan 1, 2012 Happy New Year

I started out the New Year by forgetting my camera for the NY Eve party...not good!  I also started out the year by making 3 commercial pans of yummy cornbread, to go with black eyed peas, corned beef & cabbage, and too many finger foods to name!  All this with about 80 of our friends at the clubhouse here in Hondo, TX.  We had a very nice time, eating and chatting with friends!  We were home by 9:15, David was asleep in his chair by 9:45, and I was playing solitaire and watching the ball drop in San Antonio on TV...then the fireworks started here - whew, they went until about 1:15am.  Happy New Year!

I thought about the past year - Last Jan 1 I flew to Pittsburgh because my Mom was ill - and after one thing led to another she passed away March 8.  I love you mom and miss you everyday - but then you know that!

I flew back to San Antonio on April 11th, and on April 25th we started our 'summer' trip, which took us through NM, AZ, UT, CO, WY, NE, IA,WI, MI, IN, OH and back to PA.  It was a simply marvelous trip, where we were blessed by the birth of our first 'great' grandson, with few problems and was very healing.

Aug 9th we were in Cortland OH when my Dad called, said he wasn't feeling well, could I come - of course I did and within a few hours the diagnosis came back that he had pancreatic cancer.  The docs said 3 months at best, we called in Hospice and we had two and one-half marvelous months!  Dad had no pain, and we did everything he wanted to do.  He was at peace and ready to go be with mom.  We did a lot of serious porch sitting, which was what he wanted.  Dad passed away Oct 23rd.  I love you dad and miss you everyday - but then you know that!

On Nov 15th we started our journey back to TX - via Tampa to visit with our precious daughter, Dawn.  She came through the fire of a year in Afghanistan, and the loss of both her grandparents.  She is a strong, compassionate and amazing woman - I'm so very proud of her!  We got to see her 6 nights, and each one was wonderful!  I love you Dawn..but then you know that!

We went through MD, WV, VA, NC, SC, GA, FL, MS, LA, and finally back into TX. 

Throughout the entire year, the love of my life, David and I stood hip to hip and shoulder to shoulder, enjoying every vista, every experience, every sorrow.  Darling, I love being with you every day - but then you know that!

Dec 28, 2011 A day in the life!

A typical day in the life of a full time RVer!

We got moving around 9 this morning - had our coffee and banana, talked about our day. Did a little paperwork (today this was getting the paperwork done for the lot improvement committee), showered, took Cinder for a walk, chatted with a couple of neighbors (the whole park is considered 'neighbors'), stopped at the office and got copies made, dropped them in the correct boxes, drove to the Nutrition Center and had lunch.

That is one thing that we do take advantage of being seniors - the lunches are very good, today was pork chop w/gravy, sauteed squash, peas, fresh baked wheat biscuit, cupcake and ice tea/coffee, all for the incredible price of $3 each! It also is a very social gathering - you go in around 11, choose a table and chat until 11:30 when the food is served, then you chat and eat, and chat some more! What a deal!

We then drove to Castroville (about 15 miles) and ordered a windshield for our golf cart. Believe me, when it is cold and rainy, you really need a windshield! We will be picking it up tomorrow afternoon I hope!

We will be going to social hour - today is Wacky Wednesday, and I don't know what that means, but it is sure to be fun! After social hour we will come home and have leftovers - after we take Cinder for her run.

It is very funny to see her running ahead like she is pulling the golf cart! Here is the only place she really can run and stretch her legs - she doesn't like to run in dog parks (too busy sniffing), and I certainly don't go fast enough for her to really run, but here where we can run the cart, she goes over 17 mph!!! It is very good for her to stretch those legs like that!

We'll settle in tonight and watch a movie maybe - or whatever we can pick up on our antenna...we don't pay for dish/satellite etc., and the park does not offer cable, so we are at the mercy of our antenna, which actually is pretty good!

There ya have it - a day in the life of...and we wouldn't have it any other way!

Merry Christmas 2011

Yesterday at 6:30ish am, I headed to Walmart to pick up a few groceries...stopped at Mickey D's and picked up breakfast muffins and I was home by 8:15 am.  We ate and then went and visited a couple of friends, then I made my dish for Christmas Eve - made the burger/rotel/velveeta slow cooker dish - yum! 

We all met at the clubhouse for caroling at 6:00, ate wonderful finger foods at 7, and then about 8 ish we had a round robin gift exchange...oh yea!  We scored a tin of 3 kinds of popcorn an LED candle and a box of wonderful chocolates! 

This morning we greeted each other with 'Merry Christmas, love you' and just relaxed in front of the computers with our coffee.  I called Nancy in PA to tell her Merry Christmas and after we hung up I just cried, because I so badly wanted to call Mom & Dad and tell them the same thing.  David just held me while I cried - I love that about him :)

We got ready and went over to the clubhouse for dinner at 2 pm.  They served ham, scalloped potatoes, peas with pearl onions, coleslaw, pineapple chutney,  and desserts.  It was all very good! 

Somehow or other I got 'volunteered' to make cornbread for the New Year's Eve party...so, on the 31st I will be elbow deep in cornbread fixin's...Someone will make black eyed peas, so that will be that!  Looking forward to it!

Now it's time for a nap...and then go play card bingo at 6:30...

To all my friends, family and followers - I wish you a Merry Christmas!