Someone's In the Kitchen with Dinah!

Friday night was the big football game between the two local high schools.  Ted received a call from John asking if he wanted to attend so off they went for a boys' night out.  Ted can watch 5 year olds play  football and enjoy it.  I on the other hand tolerate football 5 days a week at this time of year and was content to stay home with my popcorn and complete control of the remote.

On Saturday Ted worked a political shoot at the gun club.  He had a chance to give our Congressman his two cents worth.  Well, actually, he said maybe about a penny's worth due to a lack of time.  We went to church then had a lovely dinner at Landry's overlooking the lake with Terry and Carol.  For living in the same area, we have a hard time seeing one another often enough.  

On Sunday Ted had a chance to do his own shooting after all his working at the gun club.  He enjoys meeting and helping the event shooters but he enjoys his own shooting  more so.  I stayed home and got my Christmas card list in order among other things.  My cards arrived printed and ready to go last week.  I made chicken soup from scratch for dinner, a favorite of Ted's.  I got tired of waiting for the weather to cool.

Monday I had to deliver a tray of lasagna to church for a funeral.  I made just enough extra to make an 8 x 8 pan for our dinner too.  Once I delivered it to church I went to have my nails done.  I hate when my nails get too long and it had been a month since my last appointment.  I got the new girl and she wasn't what I would call speedy.

Tuesday was a Thrift Shop work day for me.  They are building on, which has screwed up the parking in the area. I was about 5 minutes late and told them I had to walk from Nacogdoches because of the parking.  It's hard to get fired as a volunteer.

Before I left home I made a batch of my cole slaw dressing because we were going to the campground to see Tommy, Susan, Jay and Stella for dinner and a visit.   Ted was up early and put an 8# brisket in the smoker.  After my four hour shift I came home and prepared baked beans.

The roof cleaners were here from 10-2:30 and it looks terrific. Walking down the street you can see the big difference between our roof and the neighbors on either side.  There is a sign in our yard now so maybe they will get some more business around here.

We went to the campground with brisket, beans, cole slaw and drinks.  First thing I noticed was Tommy's new toy - a drone with a camera.  He was playing with it today and took this photo.  It looks like a small helicopter with a tiny camera.  That is their Allegro Bus in the middle of the photo.

 

Dinner was great with cake, pie and ice cream for dessert furnished by Stella and Susan.  No one left hungry!

Merry, my neighbor, and I started on a project that will remain a secret for awhile.  Then in the evening I went to Happy Hour and stayed until 8:30.  Ted was in Dallas so I didn't have to cook today.  There are plenty of leftovers.

I was able to join my ladies Shanghai Group that I seldom get to play with.  They keep me on the roster and I respond immediately to let them know if I can play.  And today I won!  This is the $5 group so it was a nice pot!

No big plans for the Halloween weekend other than church on Saturday and then "falling back" on the clock.

Making A Little Progress on the Economy

Well, I donated $5 to the economy via bunco.  That was followed by two hours repair time on Ted's computer.  And that was just Monday!  The roofer did his thing Tuesday and it was determined we should have the roof cleaned.  Black streaks are a common occurrence on Houston roofs but I thought power washing would remove granules.  Apparently there is a low power wash that uses a solution that removes the algae causing the streaks.  He said removing that helps the roof because the algae holds in moisture against the shingles.  So the roof cleaner is coming next Tuesday!  After he left the plumber came and replaced the float system on both toilets.  The second one was spraying out of places it shouldn't so to avoid a second service call I just had him replace both.

I have made two trips to Sherwin Williams getting paint samples.  They told me to download an app that allowed me to take a photo of the brick and my bedroom rug then the computer picks up the colors predominant in the photo.  Of course with our brick that was a lot of shades. I was off on my first set so I went back with the new numbers off the computer and have selected a color that is darker than what we have now but hopefully will look good.  I was in the right ballpark with the bedroom paint.

My packages have been arriving since I shop mostly on line.  I also had to order a wedding present in the middle of all this purchasing.  Slowly the small changes are taking place in the house.

I met Gerre today to shop and have lunch.  I bought a new waste can and tissue holder for the bathroom, some candles that are not a good color and need to go back, some red wine glasses, a few Christmas gifts and a couple blouses.  When I arrived home Ted had his truck hood up. Two dead batteries!  Loving this trickle down stuff!

The painter will start once I give him my color choices and the roof cleaning is done.  Now I don't know who to have power wash the house - the roof cleaner or the painter whose bid includes it.  But will the painter power wash the walks and drive or do I need to have the window washer do that like he normally does when the painting is done?

The cabinet stainer is coming a week from Saturday.  Since he speaks a little English and I speak even less Spanish I am not exactly sure where this is going!  

Before we moved here we averaged 3.8 years per house.  Any decorating I did was to an empty house, most of them new.   I had no idea what to do about our bedroom furniture when we ordered carpeting.  No one ever told me they moved the furniture!  Same with the painter.  Who knew?

Nothing much going on this weekend but next week sure looks busy.  Eventually this will all get done and I will stop thinking about it.  However, I do feel a need to start throwing some stuff away!

Reagan's Trickle Down Economics

Here is how it works. You call the following small business owners to get things done around the house and you single handedly restore the economy!

Cleaning Crew to clean house

Roofer to repair, replace, paint flashings around vents, pipes, etc. as maintenance on the roof

Painter to paint house trim, fence, bedroom, bathroom

Cabinet stainer to work in master bath

Plumber to fix "innards" of the master bath toilet that is leaking 

Order new picture, sconces and chair to spruce some rooms up a bit

Order new towels and rugs for the master bath

Order replacement flowers for master bath arrangement

Buy new pillows for family room

Buy mums for outside wheelbarrow

Have sleeves hemmed on the NCL robe Ted bought me for my birthday on the cruise ship.  I swear an orangutan would find them too long.  The material is too thick for me to cut the six inches off before hemming so off they go to the seamstress.

Now doesn't everyone feel better about the economy?   I'm not sure Ted does.

Our constant coming and going makes it difficult to get jobs around the house done either by ourselves or someone we hire.  The house is 11.5 years old and just needs some TLC.  We only have about 10 weeks before we leave again and both Thanksgiving and Christmas are in that timeframe so I don't expect things to settle down anytime soon.

I spent most of the week at home coordinating our undertakings but I did play Canasta on Monday afternoon.  I came in last and got my $1 back!  We met Jay and Stella for dinner on Wednesday when they arrived back in Texas.  Friday night was dinner and our season ticket play night.  We saw Crimes of the Heart and it was very good.  Neither of us knew the storyline so it was totally new to us.

While I was busy stimulating the economy Ted worked two fund raiser shoots at the gun club.  The Pregnancy Center was on Thursday and 4H on Saturday.  We went to church Saturday evening and Ted will do his own shooting on Sunday.

I will carry on in his absence.  The stores will be open!

A Few More Photos From Others

I have taken some photos from Facebook to share with you.  Also, Ted used my I-Pad a bit too.  I still  have not downloaded my camera.

Our stop at the icon of Puerto Vallarta.  This was one of the most fun days.  What a swell group of people.

Our trip on the Tarcoles River in Puerteranes, Costa Rica.  I am still starstruck at our driver and his fearlessness at coaxing these animals right up next to our boat which only sat a few feet out of the water.  We could pet them if we were so inclined.  We weren't!

Ted with the monkeys.

Ted and John (waving) at the Miraflores Locks of the Panama Canal.  This was taken by the ship's photographer.

The monkey in our cabin.  Our room steward was great.

A square in Carteghena.

The altar at St. Peter Claver, SJ church.  Our tour guide who wasn't really well versed in facts said SJ was for St. Jesus.  On the way out I quietly told her SJ stands for Society of Jesus and indicates Peter Claver was a Jesuit priest.  Her response?  "Really?  I learned something new."  So much for being correctly informed.

A wall in the courtyard of the museum.

The pool and slide on the ship.

A cargo ship passing us on Gatun Lake as we proceeded to the second set of locks.

One of the tugboats that holds ships against the wall while water is released from a lock so the current doesn't move them around in the lock.

It was a great trip.  Columbia and South America were a new country and continent for us.  That leaves lots more to see.  My To Do List still exceeds my Been There, Done That List.