Normalcy Returning

With the outside getting its layer of winter dirt removed, and the inside under control, I went to the salon for a manicure, pedicure and waxing.  It felt good to have it all done at once.  When I came home I made reservations for us to fly to FL in a few weeks to visit my 89 year old father who is experiencing difficulties.  Fares into Fort Myers were outrageous so I looked at Tampa and they were better.  But if we were going to have to drive for two hours we would rather fly into Orlando, visit with Larry and Kristin, and drive three hours.  We will be with the kids 3.5 days and then we will all travel to the west coast for a day and a half of visiting.  Any more wears my Dad out so we will limit our time there.  We had leftovers for dinner from our Saturday night visit to Olive Garden and Easter dinner and it was all just as yummy the second time around.

Tuesday we spent shopping at Lowe's. Isabelle was coming Thursday to clean and I needed some supplies.  Ted wanted topsoil to fill in our critter holes in the yard.  We bought a new outside light because the old one keeps burning out the bulb.  But the new one isn't working so we are having a handyman come in case there is some disconnect between the switch and the fixture.  Or ... we may have just done it wrong though I have hung lights before.  I bought 30 impatien plants and planted them out front.  We also bought a new faucet end that twists to be spray or stream but it didn't fit despite being "universal."  And our master bath toilet may need a new float.  I put on a new flapper and that didn't fix the problem and since we have a handyman coming anyway I will let him fight with the old float.  I'm missing my 38 feet of RV right about now.  We save our problems, take it to the factory and everything gets fixed at once!

I thought the light was working!  I remembered the outside electric outlets work off a GFI in the garage and hard rains will trip it.  I pushed it and the light worked.  I felt vindicated.  But by afternoon it was off again and we were no longer in business.  Guess we will have Gordon come after all.

Ted had to go to the Chronicle on Wednesday so I straightened up around the house then went shopping for some cards and gifts plus stopped at the grocery.  I made a chicken pot pie with leftover roast chicken I had in the freezer for dinner and called it a day.

I was up early on Thursday.  First up was making a fruit salad for a funeral at church and then I had to get ready to go play Shanghai.  I dropped the salad off and visited with Kathy and Betty for a bit, then went to the bank followed by a sandwich at Chik Fil A, complete with fresh flowers on each table.  Delightful!  I arrived right on time to play cards.  I had awful cards and came in dead last.  But we had a lot of fun at our table discussing snakes and Blue Whales.  Believe me, you don't want to know.  

I came home and started revising the Blue Book which is a manual for whomever is the chair this year for the Women's Shelter Gift Distribution in December.  It is due in May so I want it ready before we start all our April travel.  I told Isabelle to just leave my desktop alone and I would polish it once I had my book put back together.  We had leftover pot pie for dinner and settled in for the night.

Friday was our first lazy day since arriving home.  I finished up the Blue Book and it is ready to pass on.  I checked my hours and with the five work days I have scheduled I will have my hours in for this year.  So despite being gone all summer and winter I chaired an event, got all my hours in and am ready to pass on the info so I felt good about that.

I did clean out a few more drawers and topped off the 8 bags I have for the Paralyzed Vets coming Tuesday.  Two phone calls filled my morning, one to my friend Gerre to get caught up and one with Kara who was in Florida and was driving from Fort Myers to my Dad's for a visit.  Traffic backed up and I was able to get her off the interstate to a parallel road to get around the problem and then back on using my Google Map app.  Her GPS just kept trying to make her get back on the interstate so it was no help.  Technology can be great when it works!

We met John and Vivian for dinner at Sweet Tomatoes and had a two hour dinner doing more talking than eating.  When we came home, just for fun, I flipped the switch on the new outdoor light and it came on!  OK so maybe it works off a light/dark photo cell.  It was still on when we went to bed.  But it was still on this morning!!  I did shorten the chain on the toilet float and it has been working fine, the manufacturer is sending us a whole new faucet for free but we have to have it installed so Gordon is still scheduled to come and maybe he can figure out what is going on with this crazy light fixture.

One Last Day in Mission

Monday was busy!  We arranged to have my car detailed and had to have it there at 9 a.m.  Lenchen wanted hers done too so we were a parade of three heading out Los Ebanos Road to the detailer.  We left both cars and came home in the truck.  I took the time to get all my things in the coach house packed up so it all could be put in my car on its return.  In the meantime we were advised the coach house was going to be sprayed for bugs and termites and it was being shown by the realtor after that!

The termite guy told me he was going to soak the concrete where all my stuff, including medicine, was sitting.  I told him he would have to wait for me to remove everything because I wasn't having all my bags sitting on whatever poison he was putting down.  Then he asked if I wanted the RV sprayed!   I just answered "nope."

Ted called and said he had traded his truck for my car but would take Lenchen up for her car if she didn't want to wait until his truck was done.  She was good so eventually we got all three vehicles home.

While I was putting icing on all four pans of brownies the realtor showed the coach house.  It was mostly empty and isn't finished so it isn't much to look at.  The couple didn't look 55 though!

I cut up the brownies and filled four platters and took them up to the clubhouse and then got ready for our End of Season Shooter's Dinner.  We had brisket from Rudy's, smashed potatoes, creamed fresh corn, beans and cole slaw plus the brownies.  A fine meal!  Afterwards there was a 20 minute video of highlights.  Ted was in it a lot.  I was featured placing second on the dartboard shoot plus random sightings here and there.  It was a lot of fun to watch.

There were lots of door prizes.  Ted won a camo Shooter's Alley shirt for me.  I won some .22 ammo and we both got Da Range T shirts as part of the group.  Guys have info on the back, women have info with a bling gun on the front.  It was a great send off and allowed us to say goodbye to many.

We were up early, emptied the coach house, finished loading my car, closed up the RV, hooked up the trailer to the truck and we were off!  We drove to Victoria, set up, went for some lunch, then returned and did three loads of laundry so I didn't have to deal with that when we got home.  We spent a quiet last evening, for awhile, in the trailer.

We left there at 9 am and except for a pit stop at Buc-ees in Waller, we drove right through arriving at the campground close to home around 1:30.  We split the time equally, 4.5 hours each day.  It could easily be done in one day but you arrive too tired to do anything.

We immediately started loading things into the truck and car, cleaning as we went.  Deciding to avoid the high school traffic we had a bite to eat in the opposite direction before returning to finish up. It was a full day and we were plenty tired when we got home.  I started on the mail and stayed up until 3 am working on our taxes.

The next morning we went back to empty the tanks, wipe out the refrigerator, pick up the few things we had forgotten and hooked up one last time for awhile.  It is a short drive to storage but the traffic!  We had not dealt with that since before Christmas!  But we got her tucked away until summer because we have lots of irons in the fire over the next three months.

Ted and I had lunch at home and he left to meet up with John on a gun matter and then saw Cindy for a haircut.  She had asked for 800 milligram ibuprofen from Mexico so he took her the two bottle pack I got for her.  I stayed home knee deep in paperwork, clean clothes to be put away, food to be put away, phone calls to make and checks to write.  Ted brought a pizza home for dinner because he knew I would be unable to create dinner out of next to nothing and he was right.  Not to mention I was too tired to think about trying.

I got up the next morning and hit the shower after coffee only to realize I left my drying brush in the trailer!  So we went to Sally's to buy me another one so I can have one in each place.  I stopped at HEB to get what I needed for the sweet potatoes and fruit salad for Sunday dinner and Ted filled my car with gas and ran it through the car wash since we drove through a lot of dust coming up from south Texas.  When we returned home I went to my office and worked on the taxes, getting them filed, and the remaining mail.  The mail has been handled.  Some clothes and toiletries are still out in our bedroom and bath but "tomorrow is another day."  

We had a very Catholic Good Friday dinner of tomato soup and grilled cheese.  After cleaning the kitchen, I hit the couch.  All that activity makes me tired!

Saturday I was determined to get everything back in order.  The outside needs so much attention after sitting for 3 months.  Ted swept out the courtyard and wiped off the patio table then took off on his "gun matter" that seemed to be superseding anything else.  So I colored my hair, put the remaining clothes and shoes away and finished up putting all the medicines we had bought plus our toiletries where they belong.

While waiting for Terry to come switch cars with me so he could pick up their kids from the airport, I tackled the front door.  Using my Sunwax I cleaned and waxed it and just threw the cloth away because it was black.  I shook the Welcome mat, shook and beat on the chair cushion, swept the porch and then decided to spray paint the wicker table that needed it.  We are starting to look presentable again.

When Ted returned, he cleaned the office rug because it appears some coffee had been spilt at one time and not cleaned up.  While he did that I cleaned out drawers in the guest bedroom filled with Ted's T-Shirts.  I kept a stack of shooting logo shirts, a stack of family reunion shirts and a stack of other logos he may consider important.  Last was a stack of plain colored ones that were in good condition.  The rest are ready for Paralyzed Vets.

We decided to use a Christmas gift card for Olive Garden for an early dinner.  We also had a free movie coming from Xfinity so we watched the Moby Dick movie In The Heart of the Sea on On Demand TV.  

I tackled the laundry that had been left here and what had accumulated recently and did three more loads.  I folded that during the movie and by the time it was over I was headed to bed.

We attended church at 9 a.m. and came home to have breakfast of blueberry pancakes made with blueberries we picked in Michigan last summer, bacon and juice fresh squeezed from oranges we had picked in Mission before we left.  I made a sweet potato soufflé and fruit salad and we went to Terry and Carol's for dinner.  Their daughter and her family were there along with our friend Irene.  Ted had a great time playing football with the three boys.  It was just getting dark when we came home.

To say I am dead tired is an understatement.  I will be in bed as soon as this gets posted!

I Beat Ted at Shooting Again!

Saturday was our final gun competition of the year.  We were shooting a hostage poster.  It didn't appear that there would be too many shooters so it was decided all guns would shoot in the same class.  When it got to 21 shooters they should have changed that but they didn't.  Shooting an iron rim with only the sights on your gun versus someone equipped with a red dot or laser isn't real fair.  Then to add insult to injury, there were two different posters.  One had a whole body shooting spot while the other had thin arms and top of the head only and values were different.  I don't make the rules!  However, I shot my rim fire .22 at the thin arm poster and got 24.  The lady I know who shoots a red dot had the whole body poster and only got 24, so there!  Ted got 16 shooting a rim fire at the same poster as me.  So I beat him!  

We went to church for our final time with Fr. Roy this year.  As we walked from parking the car, Happy Trails To You was playing from the bell tower and inside church.  It was Fr. Roy's farewell to all the Winter Texans leaving for home.  It made me even sadder to be leaving.  The church entrances were festooned with palms to celebrate Palm Sunday.  

Since we had no other plans, we located Ranch House for dinner.  We were told it wasn't necessary to go to Gonzales Burgers anymore with this restaurant so close.  Wrong!  While it is a big burger with all the trimmings and a nice toasted bun, the meat can't hold a candle to the fresh beef of a Gonzales Burger, IMHO.  We came home to some really awful TV shows because basketball was on the good channels.

Sunday morning we went to the gun range because I wanted to shoot at the other arm area and top of the head area on my poster.  I didn't do as well as I did Saturday!  But I shot Ted's new AR rifle and hit the metal disks at 100 yards!  Scopes are great!

Next up was making four boxes of brownies in the clubhouse kitchen for Monday's Farewell Shooter's Dinner.  When that was finished we decided to attend the Palm Sunday church picnic being held at the Lomalita Mission park for all Our Lady of Guadalupe parishioners and attendees.  This is one of the original missions built a day's travel apart in Texas by the Oblate Fathers.

Fr. Roy having lunch and a Lone Star beer!

Ted waiting in line for Confession. Ted talking to Fr. Roy in Confession.  

One of the dogs in their Palm Sunday "vestments."

The smokers for the burgers, hot dogs, ribs and chicken that was served.  And a very special bumper sticker.

I was so impressed with the folks in attendance.  There was an estimate of 1500 attending for free dinners, pop and beer with no problems whatsoever.  I expected total chaos and was I wrong!  People waited in line for their food, got themselves a drink from the coolers and threw every piece of paper and cans away.  Everyone talked to those close by and we "all got along."  I think it is the respect everyone receives from Fr. Roy, no matter who they are or their circumstance.  It was a great afternoon!

Feeling Sad

I can't believe how quickly three months have passed.  We stay so busy down here the days just fly by. It will be with heavy hearts that we leave our friends but will turn our sights to the next adventures we have planned and continue on.

Ted went shooting with only Dave on Sunday.  Don and Trudy left on Friday.  Karen called while Dave was here and we made arrangements to go to their park for the fish fry on Friday and then play shuffleboard.  They were our best friends at Bentsen Palms but have moved to Victoria Palms and we do miss them.  This will only be the third time I have seen them this season and they are leaving next week the day before us.

Monday was our last trip to Mexico.  When we were there and met our neighbors, I learned there is a stronger version of the analgesic cream we have been using for aches and pains.  I bought one tube and felt it worked better so we wanted to get a couple more.  It was early so we stopped for a coffee and pastry at Renee's, then proceeded to Diva's where Ted had a pedicure and I had a manicure.  Last stop was Jessica's where we bought my two tubes of cream and four Z Paks for Kathy and Bob across the street.  We were informed that if we went inside to the restaurant and showed our receipt we would be served free margaritas.  What a deal!  And there was entertainment.  A couple dressed in three different beautiful, colorful outfits danced three different dances.  The first was the wedding dance where they tie a red sash on the floor into a bow using their feet, then a folk dance and last the Mexican hat dance.  

We drank our free margaritas during the entertainment and then headed back across the bridge.

Tuesday Ted was busy reloading bullets and I took my make-up yoga class.  It was much harder than my Beginner's class!  Thursday will be my last class before leaving.  Ted was taking Sue down to the range for more shotgun lessons and encouraged me to come along.  I had not shot my Remington since leaving Florida in 2001.  To my surprise I did great.  Bam!  Another clay bird bit the dust time after time. I surprised myself.  At one point I turned around and Bonnie and Jack were behind us videotaping us for the Range Blog.  Both said something along the lines of Wow!  Great shooting.  I think I made Ted proud.

When we arrived here we were having trouble with our refrigerator.  Every 3-4 days when it went into defrost mode it would pour water out the front, maybe 4-5 ozs.  I knew right where to keep a glass to catch it.  We called for service and it was $478 for him to take it apart to "look" at it.  Our extended warranty would only cover it if a part had failed.  I felt it was a kink in the drain hose, or a clog or perhaps it had slipped off or something and the Warranty Company said that was not a part failure!  So we paid the $95 service fee and sent the guy on his way.  I asked Ginger who worked on hers and she said Ed so I called Ruth.  Before she and I hung up he was at our door.  He took the bottom freezer apart, flushed the line with hot water and put it back together for FREE!!  It has worked fine since.

When we store the RV, I can keep the right door of the refrigerator open but not the freezer.  So when we get home I am going to empty the refrigerator first so it can sit empty and open overnight at the campground.  Hopefully that plus newspaper inside to absorb any residual moisture will keep algae, mold or whatever from clogging the tube again.

 

So we took Ruth and Ed to dinner Tuesday night as a thank you and had a great time.  We ate dinner and sat for a long time talking.  Then we stopped at Dairy Queen because it was free cone day!   Ruth and I had the free cones but Ed and Ted had blizzards.  What a fun night.

I hung around all day Wednesday while they installed the new doors on the coach house.  Ted was in and out messing with reloading bullets at Bobbie's.  He eventually went to Shooter's Alley and I watched Survivor.

Once again I had a carload for Thursday morning breakfast, six of us in all.  I changed my clothes as soon as we returned because it was so humid.  Coco stopped by to reimburse me for the money I spent on the Tapa Hoppa desserts.  My last yoga class was in the afternoon and afterwards I finished up the pot roast for dinner making gravy and noodles to go with it.  There just isn't a whole lot going on as the exodus continues.

Rick and his crew arrived around noon on Friday to wash and wax the trailer.  It was overcast so that was good.  It doesn't work well to have the sun beating down while they work.  We sat at Niles' spot while Bonnie looked at a new competition gun and then everyone scattered for lunch.  At 4:00 we left to meet Dave and Karen at the restaurant in their park for the fish fry.  Afterwards we played three games of shuffleboard.  I couldn't score for anything!  However, I did knock the fellow's out many times but we lost two out of three!  We hit the DQ for an ice cream before heading home.  Storm clouds were gathering and rain was coming.

Two Weeks To Go

Monday was Ladies Offsite Lunch that was held at the Second Street Bistro located in the Doubletree Hotel.  I rode with Mimi and Trudy and joined another 16 ladies for a nice lunch in a beautiful setting.  By the time I got home it was time to get redressed to attend the Yoga Going Away Party.  It was fun and I met Sue from across the street there since neither of us knew the other was going.  She was one of four winners in the "name that pose" contest.

When I returned, Ted got leftovers out for his dinner since I had been eating from noon on.  But it was a cup of vegetable soup and a salad for lunch and healthy snacks at the party.  Hopefully it wasn't too bad overall.

We watched the Town Hall meetings of Bernie and Hillary.  They sure are after the top 1% for more taxes but never mention the huge percentage of all taxes that group pays versus the 43% of folks that pay no Federal income tax.  Once they were done The Bachelor came on and Ted stuck his nose in my I Pad! Next week is the Finale and then we move on to Dancing With The Stars.  I think they announce the contestants on Tuesday this week.  Usually I only know one or two.

Trudy called and asked if I would help her take a lady shopping who has Parkinson's (I believe).  It took from 10 am to almost 6 pm to shop at two stores and have lunch (at almost dinner time).  My 6 oz. of yogurt eaten at 8 am was long gone by the time I was finally able to eat again.  Despite my thoughts that I was done shopping, I bought a skirt and top, a dress and blouse.  I am going to have to bag up a lot at home for the Paralyzed Veterans to make room!

Ted texted me at 5 pm to ask if we were lost.  I texted back "slow, very slow!"  However, it was an enjoyable day in that I like helping people, it was just a very long day.  Sherry bought lots of things and said it was her first shopping trip since arriving a couple months ago.  She can't drive and not everyone will take the time to allow her to spend as much time as she needs.  I hope she had a good time.

For the life of me I can't remember what I did Wednesday other than Ted went to Shooters Alley and I watched Survivor.  This episode upset me in that three contestants needed medical care from heat stroke and one of them had to be evacuated and removed from the game.  This is a show folks and shouldn't be pushed into a life or death situation!

I had a carload on Thursday for Ladies Breakfast.  My two normal riders, Lenchen and JoAnne, joined Mimi and a new lady Lori for a total of 5.  Lori is on a rental spot and just contracted the spot we are on for OND of this year.  I let Eileen know the owner said she would do a JF '17 rental with them under the circumstances.  Most want three months so this is a good opportunity for them but it is up to them to follow through.

When I returned home I prepared the laundry and went next door.  The change machine worked, I found two washers but when it came time for a dryer only one was available.  They have several Out of Order.  I had to dry one load, then the next.  That made me too late for my yoga class so I will have to make it up.  I am REALLY looking forward to using the washer and dryer in the coach house next season.

Friday I baked my peanut butter bars for Saturday and got a few things together for the Ropa (clothes in Spanish).  You take what you are giving away to the clubhouse and then can pick up anything you want.  No money involved.  All that is left over is donated somewhere.  There is also a place to take your food from your pantry and freezer if you are closing up your RV, coach house or home and heading out for an extended period.  We have a glass full of tabs to put in the box for Ronald McDonald house.  Something is always going on down here to help someone else.  Nice folks!

At 3:30 my Tapa Hoppa Dessert Team met at the clubhouse to get the plates ready for dessert.  We had 7 varieties and over 400 pieces - and it was all eaten by the end of the evening!  We put plates and napkins on one table and covered and refrigerated the plates before putting them out when we returned at 6:00.  We refilled as needed.

We started "hopping" right away so we could be back before 6:00 to be ready.  Our first stop was at the potato bar.  Toppings were butter, sour cream, salsa, chili and cheese.  I took the smallest one they had.

We walked way to the back for stop #2 where we ran into our neighbors.  There we had two mini chicken tacos.  The best thing was Niles put all six of us on his borrowed golf cart for the ride to stop #3.

Here we had shrimp and crusty Mac and cheese.  I gave Ted my shrimp and ate his Mac and cheese.  I was getting pretty full.

Last stop was pulled pork sliders with Cole slaw and fruit kabobs.   I ate the fruit and gave Ted my sandwich.  We walked to the clubhouse from there.  Despite our early start and not lingering, there was a couple on the patio waiting for dessert.  We were kept busy refilling the plates, washing dishes as we were finished with things and directing folks to where they needed to go next.  A roving dice game was played at each stop but we weren't involved and the game hosts were still "hopping."

I can't thank my helpers enough for their baking and help at the clubhouse.  We did such a good job that Bonnie asked us to bake brownies and serve them at the Shooter's Going Away Dinner next Monday!  Marion said she will help too so it is back to HEB!

Getting Ready for Tapa Hoppa!

It was one week until the Progressive Appetizer Afternoon Event (Tapa Hoppa) next Saturday.   I needed to finalize my help and line up of desserts.  I have Ginger making chocolate chip cookies, Marian making brownies, Linda making lemon squares, I am making chocolate peanut butter bars and I purchased frozen mini eclairs, mini cheesecake bites and chocolate covered brownie bites at Sam's.  I have paper doilies to cover plates and cocktail napkins and clear plastic plates.  Everyone is to end "hopping" between 6:00 and 8:00 pm and gather at the clubhouse for dessert.  There are 130 people coming so it should be a great "end of season" party.  I am close to being ready.

The morning started out with the Village wide garage sale.  It was misting just as it started and I think that kept the numbers down.  But I walked around a bit buying a laundry basket filled with a dozen plastic hangers and 7 plastic collapsable bowls with lids that are made for RV storage.  Trudy has some and I intended to check them out at Camping World.  All of that cost $5!  And I bought a pair of Izod Capris that the owner had bought but outgrew before wearing, also for $5.  I felt I did okay.  We then sat at Niles' spot and visited until noon before coming home for lunch and leaving for Sam's.

We went to church, then out to eat and ended up next door for Card Bingo.  I stood up several times with one card and won one game.  Ted stood a few times but did not win.  It was our best night of the season but was only half the crowd since there was a mass exodus on 3/1.  I didn't win much!

I spent most of Sunday morning watching the tributes to Nancy Reagan.  She was an elegant lady and a marvelous wife who loved her husband dearly.  I hope they are together again.  May she rest in peace.

I cleaned while Ted went skeet shooting and when he returned we went to the gun range and shot a few magazines worth of bullets.  

After dinner we drove to Dairy Queen and enjoyed a blizzard then kept a date with Sunday night TV.  

I have a Public Service Announcement.  Ted wanted me to share these photos.  The first ones are Border Patrol agents on horseback.  They were traveling on the levee we use to get to the gun range which is close to the Rio Grande banks.  He didn't know if they were training horses or agents or just exercising the horses!  We have seen them rounding up illegals as they come across the river and attempt to get across the levy.

Next are two photos of Sunday night's sunset.  They certainly are spectacular down here.

I will start a new blog tomorrow!

Hello March!

We called on Monday to make dental appointments and were given Tuesday at 10 a.m.  So in the morning I put ribs in the crockpot and off we went to Mexico for probably the last time this trip.  After both of us had our teeth cleaned, we stopped at the pharmacy for the last of the meds we may need over the next year and then proceeded to the nail salon.  I stopped at the Central Market store to use the ladies room (nicest one I know of) and ran into some Retama neighbors.  They said to meet them at Jessica's pharmacy/ceramics/bar/restaurant/dance hall at 1 pm.

We have never ventured off the main drag so didn't know about this place.  It is one block west of the pharmacy we use.  After Ted's pedicure and my manicure, we headed in that direction and met up on the street with Vicki and Merisa, both who live on Lark Drive by us.  A whole group gathered and we had some margaritas, danced and ordered lunch.  I ordered the longches that I have been wanting to try since Jan recommended them last year.  They aren't on the menu around us.  They are really good!  Ted had chicken fajitas and rice.  It was one of those serindipity happenings where you have a great time when nothing had been planned.  Funniest moment was Merisa, from Spain, trying to copy us doing the chicken dance.  She caught on pretty quickly!

We arrived home just as the crockpot was going off.  Next step was to pour off the liquid, add BBQ sauce and cook on High for one hour.  But we didn't want to eat so I put the ribs in the refrigerator and will finish them up when we want to have them.

Between the heat (92), early start, eating a big lunch, the walking (we park in the US and walk across the bridge over and back), not to mention the margaritas and dancing, I needed a nap.  I slept for about an hour.  We just whiled away the evening, never eating dinner.  Things will be less rushed with our Bentsen Palm folks gone.  At least I think so.

Wednesday was a quiet day for me.  Before Ted went to shoot skeet we finished the ribs and had them for lunch.  I went next door to the laundry and did a load of whites.  It was Ted's night to go to Tactical Shooting and I stayed behind to watch Survivor.  

Ladies breakfast on Thursday was at Lemons and Grass, a Mediterranean restaurant with a Mexican flare!  It had a "different" breakfast menu.  I chose Green Migas which is scrambled eggs with pieces of toasted tortillas, green salsa, covered in cheese then is browned.  Accompanying them were nopalantos which are pieces of cactus sans thorns cooked in red salsa, and puréed black beans.  It was all good but it is hard to eat puréed food with a fork!  I was proud of myself for being adventuresome.

Ted and I went to Walmart to get a few groceries. I had yoga in the afternoon and when I came out It was very hot (went to 102) so I headed for home where it was cool.  The pool looked very inviting but we wanted to get through dinner to be ready for the debate.

I hardly call that shouting match a debate.  I am disgusted by the antics of Trump.  His insults, name calling, talking in circles, trying to justify questionable actions as if we are too stupid to know why he has his clothes line made in China, what a snake oil sale Trump University is, etc. just turned my stomach.  I wanted to take that finger of his and poke it in his eye!  I really don't want to change one narcissistic egomaniac for another.

Friday morning was Muffins and Coffee at the clubhouse for the ladies.  I had promised Mimi that I would come early to help but she was pretty well set up when I arrived.  We had a nice crowd which included the quilting ladies who were meeting in the craft room.  When it was over, Ann and I stayed to help clean up.  Since my afternoon was free I chose to go to water aerobics.  It is the first time I have ever been in the Retama pool.  Pat told me to stay by her and she would help me understand the CD that is played.  I enjoyed it and plan to continue over the next 2.5 weeks we have left.

While I was gone, Ted and Niles put up new backboards for the gun targets.  It is a special material that is supposed to withstand 10,000 shots.  Time will tell.  

We had French Toast for dinner since it was Friday and settled in for the night.