Summertime!

 It hit 90 degrees on Saturday!  We gave in and turned the AC back on.  

I have a new pink sequin sheath to wear to the 3/20 wedding.  Since I, as godmother of the groom, have been asked to be a Communion Minister, I felt a dressy pink mask was in order.  At the butcher shop,  a lady behind us at checkout had a black sparkly mask on. When I pointed to it and asked where she got it, I received a mostly Spanish explanation.  I determined it was from the flea market area near the Hidalgo bridge and cost $3!  Our cashier further translated and told us the Chinese store next to the money exchange store.  

So Saturday off we went to find this place.  Ted and I both asked at the flea market.  My lady just shook her head no, which probably meant she didn’t sell them.  Ted hit pay dirt!  His lady pointed to the strip mall right behind us.  She said to walk around to the front and the store is there.  Sure enough I got a pink sparkly one and a black sparkly one for the rehearsal dinner.  I bought Ted a black silk one.  

She was right about the “Chinese” store.  Virtually everything was Made in China.  It was Dollar General on steroids.  With my mission accomplished, we headed back home. 

Church was a bit chaotic!  A wedding was just coming out.  So there were lots of people still there and their cars take all the parking spots!  Tom dropped us off to get seats while he parked the car.  Then a young girl, beautifully dressed in a red gown, and her family came in.  She was celebrating her Quincentara (15th birthday).  This is as important to an Hispanic girl as a Bar Mitzvah is to a young Jewish boy.  A reception at an event center would surely follow.

Mass started 10 minutes late.  Father kept his talk condensed but it was Blessing of the throats (St. Blasé feast day) and I wondered how this would work.  He couldn’t put the candles repeatedly against individuals’ throats.  He said it would be a blanket blessing but then he couldn’t get the second candle of the X to light.  An usher finally got it lit and he held it up while reciting the blessing.  He said Ash Wednesday will be very different in that each family will receive a small bag of ashes to take home and have a family blessing and placing of the ashes.  I sat there thinking “is this the nose of the camel under the tent” in trying to destroy our religious freedoms and tradition or simply the sign of the pandemic times.    If I knew for sure the virus wasn’t deliberately set upon the world, I would go with the latter.  

Our stop at Cheddar’s proved too long a wait so we went next door to BJ’s and got right in.  From there we went back to Mission West, hopeful this show had not been cancelled.  The show did go on and was very good.  There was probably 75-100 people, masked and socially distanced, in a hall that could hold several hundred.  From there we came home from what had been a beautiful, fun filled day.  

Our time here is a bit different this year but we are making the best of it.  In all honesty it wouldn’t be much different at home. 

I Am Surviving

Wednesday I stayed close to home.  I had a 2.5# brisket and used a recipe Ted had emailed me to fix it versus my normal one.  It was like shoe leather!  We sliced it, put it in the refrigerator and ate leftovers.  It has good flavor but you would get old trying to chew it.  On Sunday I will put it in the crockpot with some beef broth and let it cook on low for a couple of hours.  I have little to lose!  

We took a ride to check out the wall to see if they had indeed stopped working.  No one was, and all the supplies, machinery, concrete processing equipment, barracks and at least 50 trucks are just sitting there.  This has to be a $2 million campus erected just for building the wall.  It will be interesting to see what happens to minimize the financial loss, not to mention what breaking contracts will involve.  There is a campground called Chimney Rock that sits right on the river.  They rerouted a road, took down a spillway, cut a new road and have concrete poured for the wall but the steel ballards are not set.  If they don’t finish this work, I think the owner will have to sue somebody to save his park.  

Thursday I was still not feeling up to snuff and began to worry that maybe I had more than an intestinal uproar.  I hesitated going to play mahjong if there was a possibility I could have something more.  So I went for a covid test.  It was negative.  I started feeling better and determined that stress has a definite impact on my digestive system.  I felt comfortable going to mahjong but didn’t win any games.

We were going to the clubhouse to play Mexican Train so decided to go to Southern Fried for a chicken tenders basket.  There were not many people there because it was a little before 5.  We ate our food which is always good.  Our waitress asked if we wanted anything else and Ted said just the check.  She said “well the gentleman who was in the booth behind you already took care of it.”  We have never had that happen.  We gave the waitress a $5 tip and promised her we would pay it forward.  We have no idea who he was.

We played Mexican Train at the clubhouse with Eileen, Tom and their new friends Sharon and Everett.  I did not win!  

Friday we were scheduled to have “pizza on the patio” at Sue and Niles along with Tom and Eileen for dinner.  I offered to have it in our coach house but we settled on maintaining the patio at Sue’s location.  Ted and I went to the butcher and grocery.  I also did laundry and then gathered our drinks, paper plates, napkins, forks, small plates and a lemon meringue pie to take with me to Sue’s.  Everyone orders what they want from The Pizzaria and brings their own drinks.  I just chose to also bring dessert and the utensils and things.  This is not how I normally entertain but “when in Rome, do as the Romans do.”  

Not My Favorite Week

Things got a bit stressful and disappointing this week and that was by Tuesday!  

We went to church after the gun shoot and then to a new to us Mexican restaurant.  It turned out to be a winner.  I had chalupas and Ted had beef fajitas.  He had a huge plate of meat that I thought he would be unable to finish but he did!  Tom and Eileen liked theirs too.  Then we went to Mission West for a show. We parked and waited for the hall to be opened when a lady knocked on the window to tell us there was no show (despite it being advertised two weeks in a row in the paper).  So we came home and played Mexican Train.

On Sunday I woke up with my tummy keeping me close to the bathroom.  I took my probiotics and pepto  but I didn’t feel good enough to play cards.  I don’t know exactly what happened but one lady said something that another one took personally.  They said the comment was about the game, and one we all say, so I think it was more of someone being too sensitive and reading something into an innocent comment.  I wasn’t there so I can’t comment further.  But I hate that it happened.

Monday we had to go to the post office and Walmart pharmacy.  I told Ted to drop me off because I needed to give them my prescriptions that needed to be transferred, and my new insurance.  I got Trainee 1 and Trainee 2.  It took T1 quite awhile to do whatever she was doing, then got T2 who took over.  After awhile she said they would have to wait for the transfer and the pills to be brought to the store.  They would be there after three on Tuesday.  I said OK.  She said she had everything and handed me my cards back.  I walked away and here comes T1 after me.  She had not put the new insurance in and needed my cards back.  So back I went.  It was at last 11:45 when she confirmed I did not have Humana and now had Aetna.  Yes!   

We did some grocery shopping, checked out, and drove home.  My phone had been in my purse so I took it out.  There was a text message at 12:15, my two prescriptions were ready!  

The food truck came back Monday afternoon but the crowd was smaller and the food not as good.  We sat 6 to a table and ate our food.  There were three other groups but had about a dozen people.  Someone had a birthday and the cake was shared with everyone.  I went to the kitchen for a wet paper towel and cleaned our table before we left.  I am not sure what the naysayers will say about “gathering” but we followed CDC guidelines and we were outside, socially distanced.

During this whole time my daughter, son in law and granddaughter all tested positive for covid.  They had mild cases but the disturbing thing was Pat’s mother (91) was in the hospital with a bowel blockage from a mass that has not been determined if it is malignant.  No one could be with her.  She was all alone!  She was in excellent health and lived on her own, continued to drive, takes Tai Chi, not your ordinary 91 year old.  The surgery is over but I have no more news.  

By Tuesday I decided to push myself to play mahjong.  I was feeling better.  Just before I left, I received a text that the Andre Rieu concert in Orlando was rescheduled to March 22, 2022.  Bummer!  When I read that Biden was stopping travelers from Europe I thought this was a good possibility.  The entire orchestra is from Europe!  

I had a great day at mahjong winning 3 of 5 games we played.  Ted had made BBQ so we ate dinner shortly after I got home.  Then I had to cancel my Orlando flight, I used my credit to buy tickets to Cincinnati for a March wedding.  While I was at it, I rented a car and reserved an airport Hilton for our late arrival the first night and the last night of the trip due to an early morning flight.  In between we will be in a hotel in Celina OH, about 120 miles away, where the wedding will occur.  But I do have a credit remaining so I may go to Kristin’s in FL after Easter.  

Tomorrow is Wednesday.  I can hardly wait!!

Some Photos Didn’t Post

Apparently these photos did not post in my blog that contained Ted and Tom’s not excellent adventure to see President Trump when he came to the RGV to dedicate part of the wall.  They were unable to park so could not get close to the festivities.  This is Sally, my neighbor, in the second photo.

We have had lots of rain so we don’t know if that has stopped work on the wall near us or if they just stopped because frankly, no one knows what to do.  A whole campus complex was built and staffed on Conway, the exit we take off I-2 to come home.  Between the breach of contract payments and removal of abandonment of these types of sites, lots of money will be lost.  With an average of 580 individuals being caught PER DAY right now along the 100 mile stretch from Brownsville to Rio Grande City, I can only imagine what is coming.  When we went to the gun range yesterday, Border Patrol had 3 young men in handcuffs.  

My oil business friend said the oil companies are in a similar mode.  They don’t know what they can and cannot do.  She handled leasing and placing wells in the gulf but now they sit and wait at millions of dollars a day in non production.  She said the only thing they know for sure, $5 a gallon will be back.  

Only time will tell.  The only thing I personally know for sure is I am glad to be as old as I am!

A New Administration

I had plans for Monday that didn’t happen.  We had an emergency.  Tom and Ted could not find Turtle Wax Hard Shell Liquid.  They use it in a special recipe for a cleaner for the cars and motorhome.  There is none to be found anywhere!  So we went on a road trip and finally found 3 bottles at an auto parts store.  Amazon had some at about 5 times the old cost but they refused to spend that. Turned out they really didn’t have it either.  There was Turtle Wax Everything Else at Walmart but not the one they needed.  I can’t believe we spent a whole day hunting.

Tuesday I finally got my nails done and played mahjong in the afternoon.  Peg won every game!  Kathy and I were shut out.  I saw one joker all day.  

We had a meeting afterwards about preparing signs for the Food Truck next Monday.  We need to tell people to Social Distance 6 feet apart while ordering and there would be no music or tables cleaned and spaced as it was before.

Apparently some complained last time that the Village was sponsoring a group gathering so now they are on their own.  It is a community patio and people can choose to take their food home or sit on the patio.  I think we will come back to our coach house and eat there.   

Then we had “bring your own pizza to the patio” for dinner at Niles’ and Sue’s.  Ted stopped by for me when he and Niles returned with the pizza.

Wednesday I chose to be gone all day away from all electronics.  I picked up Patty, Eileen, and Mimi and headed to Texas Thrift and Thrift Town to shop.  It is a favorite thing for us to do.  We were disappointed at Texas Thrift when the fitting rooms had been shut down.  I did find a new Christmas scarf and a new curling iron.  I forgot to bring mine so now I have one I can just leave in here. 

We  moved to the next store and it was organized even better.  Slacks, capris, jeans, etc. all by rack, by size, by color.  I found a Tommy Hilfiger knit top and a few things for CeCe.  By summer she will need size 24 months and I bought three cute rompers and a bathing suit.  Then I found a turquoise crocheted swimsuit cover up for me.  We may get to go to Cancun at some point!  

We went to lunch and it took forever!  We spent two hours waiting to give our order, get our food, then pay our check.  But it gave us lots of times for chatting and laughing.  It was a miserably cold and rainy day so we decided the time was better spent than sitting inside reading a book like we have done so many days already this year.   

Ted decided to go to Golden Chicken and bring dinner home.  I was all for that.  Baked chicken and green beans for me and tenders and fries for Ted.  

Thursday was cool and dreary.  I had a carful for our bi-weekly breakfast picking up Cathy, Jo, Coco and Eileen.  There were over a dozen ladies and many new ones I met for the first time.  I intended to go to the post office but just never got around to it, they have a long lunch period and I can never remember when it starts.  Ted went to Edinburg to shoot sporting clays and I eventually went to play mahjong.  And I won the first three games with Gayle and Kathy each winning one.  

When I arrived home, Tom and Eileen were here and stayed for a visit.  I had got nothing out for dinner and neither had Ted.  There was a knock at the door and Steve, our next door neighbor, brought a big chunk of a freshly smoked meatloaf he made in his new pellet smoker.  A lifesaver!  With a loaf of bread and bottle of ketchup, dinner was served!

Friday we needed to be at the gun range at 10 to do a scoring dry run for Saturday’s Rimfire competition.  There are 25 targets per shooter and unlike last time, this is the lowest of the score.  Hit a line between 100 and 50, you get 50.  So 4 shooters shot and we scored them.  We did okay!  I have to be there Saturday at 1:00 for the real competition.  Ted is not shooting this time.  He is a shotgun shooter and doesn’t have one of these huge rifles with scopes and doesn’t like borrowing one.  They are highly sensitive in their settings.

We had to go right to the self car wash to get two inches of mud off our tires and undercarriage.  What a mess.  Thankfully it has stopped raining and maybe it will be less messy tomorrow.  Then we went to Bunz for protein donuts.  These were described to me by a WW friend.  The “naked” donuts are full of protein from using almond flour, low carbs and sugar.  We bought blueberry, strawberry and two chocolate.  Oh my!  Are they good!  Like wonderful wedding cake!  You can up the points with glaze, icing, sprinkles, etc. but naked at one point works for me!  

I had taken the last of the Christmas ham bean soup out of the freezer for dinner.  So I made corn bread, made Ted a sandwich with the last piece of meatloaf, served up two bowls of soup and once again, dinner was served.

Work on the border walls has stopped. We don’t know if it is the weather or the new administration.  Our oil company friends say they are in limbo about what they are and are not allowed to do.  I guess we’ll all find out together at some point.   

Sad Week for Our Country

 It has been a sad, sad week for our country.  I wish we could wipe out the whole sordid mess and start over with all new people.  I am glad I am as old as I am.  The future of the USA looks so rocky and heading in a direction that doesn’t suit me.  I admit I cling to my gun and my Bible.  Enough on that.

It has been cold here so the little we can do isn’t being done except for mahjong.  Somehow the residents we play with received permission for us to play in the clubhouse, no more than 5 to a room.  Only four players can play so we just use two rooms!  We can play with 3 or 4, but not 5.  It is working out.

We visited in Eileen’s motorhome one afternoon when it was warm enough to walk down.  I fixed smoked sausage and sauerkraut one night for dinner and lasagna another.  Other than people stopping to chat while taking walks, not much else goes on.  

Many are getting their first vaccine shots.  We are in no hurry.  I will wait patiently to see if any side effects crop up.  I remember too well the thalidomide babies and see the commercials on lawsuits for so many prescription meds.  Ted could have so easily been prescribed Zantac for his Barrett’s but thank God he was not.  We also still think we had the virus early last February and just happened to take Z PAC, zinc and Vitamin D for two weeks.  After Ted’s two weeks, I started and had it for two weeks.  Our thoughts were reinforced when donated blood November a year ago has shown antibodies.  One of the states where this was found was Michigan where we spent Thanksgiving that year.  So who knows?  All of life is a crap shoot.  

Our weather is finally returning to normal.  They are washing and waxing our MH and Ted’s Expedition.  It needs it whereas my Jeep Summit has hardly been out of the drive since I haven’t gone hardly anywhere without Ted.  

Our vehicles are all nice and clean and shiny.  Tom had his done on Friday while we all went to Mexico.  With the caravans heading this way, we wanted to be sure to not face the border shutting down before we had all the meds we need for this year.  Ted needed some more eyedrops and the analgesic cream he puts on his back and hands.  We haven’t spent anytime drinking or dancing so if things go well, we will try to get a few fun trips in.

Saturday we went to church as usual, visited a food truck venue but ended up at Ranch Burgers for dinner.  We finished off the evening playing Mexican Train and I lost!  

Ted went to Mission Skeet Club Sunday and I played mahjong where I won two games.  Ted had the grill going when I got home so he put the steaks from Aguilar Meats on while I baked potatoes, Texas Toast and sliced cucumbers.  Tom and Eileen brought pork chops and salad down and we all ate out in the coach house.  The steaks were very good.  We have been pleased with the meat market buys.  

I had ordered a runner to put in front of the couch to pull the LR together. My biggest hang up with finding a motorhome was the blending of areas. I wanted a LR, kitchen, BR plus bath and a half.  So many have table and chairs in the LR and an L couch where you have to sit next to each other vs. facing each other enough to look at people while visiting.  I think it looks good.

We have the captain chairs turned around so we have comfortable seating for 6.  The two kitchen chairs can be set at the other end to seat 2 more. Our big TV is behind the couch and stores down behind it on a televator.  We both can sit in our Barco Loungers and watch it.  But if I want to lay on the couch and watch I can turn on the TV above the captain chairs.  Some evenings we both watch the same thing on different TVs!  

I hope everyone is staying warm and well.  If you are anxious to get the vaccine, I hope you are successful.  People over 65 are getting it down here with a fair amount of ease.  I have read of others at home who have gotten the first one also!  Good luck!  

Things Are Opening Up A Bit

Tuesday I was a little busy having received an email from one of our credit card banks saying a purchase was made without our card present for some Ninja Juicer or some such thing and to accept or reject.  It was midnight!  This card is used for recurring charges - EZ Tag, internet, water bill, etc.  I don’t carry this card, it has never been used for anything else and never on the computer.  I couldn’t even tell the bank people the number.  They said they had to cancel that card and send me a new one but they could only send it home.  I needed to get these accounts set back up so I told them just to cancel the card and not renew it.  So Tuesday I was on line and on the phone getting all that straightened out!  

I had to take Sandy’s meds to the post office and on my way home stopped by Dollar General for butter, bread and cards.  By then it was time to play mahjong.  I won a game and the 5-6 of us are having fun all by ourselves in the clubhouse. Ted grilled steaks, I made baked potatoes and used the Instant Pot to cook asparagus.  It was all great after a rather aggravating start to the day.

I stayed in all day Wednesday.  There was no particular reason, there was just no reason to go out.  I am reading books, something I enjoy but don’t do too much at home.  The Border Patrol helicopter landed in the field across from our gate but we don’t know who they were after.  It is such a common occurrence.

Thursday was Ladies Breakfast so I picked up Mimi and Marilyn and met another group at Danny’s for breakfast.  It was a good group and I got to see a few people I had not seen yet.  

I laundered the bedclothes and remade the bed and eventually left for mahjong.  When I came home I took this photo of our sunset.  They are just spectacular down here and we take them for granted. 

Friday was a regular day but we did go to Mission West for their fish fry that we would normally attend inside.  It was a bit of a wait in line but the good part was the fish and fries were crispy and hot, right out of the fryers.  We took our dinners home and ate in our kitchen.

Our outing Saturday was to a meat market we had heard a lot about.  It was fantastic and we hope what we bought is as good as everyone says and how it looked.  The rest of the day always revolves around being ready to leave for church before 4 pm.  Crowds are still distanced and staying about the same in number.  We tried Cracker Barrel to eat afterwards but it was a 40 minute wait.  Since we intended to go to a 7 pm show we didn’t have that much time.  Every restaurant was crowded so we ended up back home eating leftovers.  Then we attended the show at the park next door.  They really had seats far apart. Mostly sets of two, a few fours for those attending with friends, but certainly socially distanced.  It was just an ok show, certainly not something I would see again but entertainment is in short supply this year.  Afterwards we took advantage of a BOGOF shake coupon at Stars (like Sonic) to make up for our leftover dinner!

Sunday Ted did not go shooting because it was rainy and cold.  I cleaned and then went to play mahjong.  When I arrived home, Tom and Eileen had arrived and we ordered pizza for dinner. We ate inside our rig because it was so cold out that even our tower heater could not get the coach house up past 60.

On Monday we all went to a couple different stores looking for some refrigerator storage things for Eileen.  We struck out but of course found a few things to buy along the way.  We agreed to go back to Mission West for their hamburger night and this time it was warm enough to eat at the table in the coach house.  When we finished we played several games of Horse Race.  

Tomorrow will bring what tomorrow brings! I will leave one statement I think speaks volumes.