Another Morgan Story Before I Post The Week

When Kara and Allen changed planes in Atlanta on the way down, their 40 minute layover had turned into 20 minutes due to a slight delay out of Michigan. Allen sprinted off to get to the gate to make sure they held the plane. He gave the boarding passes to the gate agent as Kara and the kids caught up with him. When he tried to board, the same agent asked for his boarding pass. He told him he had given all four to him which the agent denied. A slight "disagreement" ensued until the gate agent checked and informed Allen he was "on board." Then he told Allen to just get on. Sure enough a lady who had dropped all her travel documents in front of Allen was sitting in his seat having been checked in with Allen's boarding pass. She moved and all was well.

While we were watching Home Alone and it came to the airport scene where the mother is frantically trying to get back to the U.S., Morgan, age 6, piped up with "That's how my Daddy acted when they lost his ticket."

We laughed and laughed. Out of the mouths of babes.

Let's Hear It For The Old Broads!

Just a quick update to let you know Kristin, Kara, Gerre, Lora, Mary Kay and I completed the 5K Run Thru The Woods today. However we were walking at a good clip. Gerre and I did it in 54 minutes, 6 minutes under our normal time. She is 62 and had a stroke a few years back and I have an artificial hip.

Now I just have to get dinner on the table for 15 people this afternoon. And they want to go shopping at 4 a.m. tomorrow. Did I mention I was 65 and have an artificial hip?????

So Much For Disney

We went to Wind Down Friday night. There was a good crowd and all my shrimp was eaten. I like when that happens. Nothing to bring back home. I had a long discussion with Becky, an immigration lawyer, on immigration. There are no easy solutions to this problem though I still contend if we didn't hire illegals, provide them with Hud housing, free medical, free education, food stamps, WIC, etc. there would be a lot less reason for them to come here. If I can put my SSN, birthdate and last name into the .gov site and they are unable to find me if anything I've entered is wrong, how come employers can't do the same thing and know immediately that they have been given false information. I'm just thinking out loud here.

We went to church at 5 o'clock on Saturday and then to Eden Cafe to eat. We had a Groupon coupon that we bought for $10 that was worth $20 of food. I've only bought three of these Groupon coupons but the first one worked just fine. The next two are for B1G1F indoor miniature golf and $20 worth of pizza for $10. We'll be using them this week with the kids and I'll let you know if they work as easily as the first one did.

Sunday Ted went shooting and I worked on Thanksgiving and Christmas stuff. There is so much to get out and assess. I buy things all year long and then forget what I have. I'm in pretty good shape it seems. At 6:00 we joined the Newcomers Dining Out group at a new restaurant that opened up on Sunday just for us. It is very nice, the food was very good and we had a delightful time with Michele, Stan, Alton and Sally at our table. Alton is my "boyfriend" because he always brings at least one bottle of Riesling to Wind Down and it is just for me.

Today Gerre and I once again walked the 5K/3 mile track across the highway. It is still taking us just about an hour. Since Gerre is going skiing on January 1, we have both decided we're never going to shave that 12 minutes off our time to just squeak by at Disney so we're abandoning those plans. There is another walk advertised in our packets that we might consider. We're just not into the "rank and yank" of marathons/runs/walks, etc.

This afternoon I got my hair cut and then we went to Sweet Tomatoes to meet Rick & Brenda and Jay & Stella. As a surprise, Patrice & Mike joined us. Except for Rick & Brenda, the other four are at Rayford for the Thanksgiving weekend. We have joined them in year's past but there's nothing like having your kids and grandkids over for Thanksgiving.

Kara and family arrive tonight at 10:30 and Kristin arrives tomorrow morning at 8 a.m. We're excited to see them. Morgan called me from the airport to tell me she was going to get on a plane to come see me and she wanted to sleep in the flower bed. She means the twin bed with a floral bedspread. I'm pretty sure she doesn't want to sleep outside with the pansies.

I want to wish you all a wonderful Thanksgiving. Don't forget to make that two words Giving Thanks. If you live in this country, no matter what your situation is right now, you are better off than a large percentage of the rest of the world. Many have given all for the rest of us. Never forget.

Great News

While I was stimulating the economy (shopping!) on Wednesday, Brenda called and wanted to get together. Their time here is short and ours is busy so I told her to call Ted and let him decide what to do. I could stop shopping at anytime. I had already run into Teri while I was buying two sweaters and three tops and I really didn't need to buy anything else. Ted called and said to come home because we were going to meet Rick and Brenda at Willie's. On my way out of Macy's I ran into Gail, my neighbor. That Macy's One Day Sale was attracting lots of shoppers.

We had a very nice lunch at Willie's and I checked out the party room and its proximity to the sandbox. I've reserved it for Kara and her entourage of Tour Guide Mike Disney friends from this area for the day after Thanksgiving. One of her friends, her husband and son are having dinner with us on Thanksgiving and another is joining us all in the Run Thru The Woods Thanksgiving morning. Apparently there are more lurking out there that are showing up for dinner at Willie's the day afterwards. She said 25-30 people.

The four of us came back to our house and sat on the deck until dinnertime. Their motorhome is parked on the street at his sister's but they are staying inside her house. She fixes dinner each night and they needed to get back. I'm not sure if we are going to see them again or not before they leave for Louisiana and Mississippi where they are spending the winter.

Thursday I did laundry and worked on my lists for the Christmas gatherings I am having here. Then Ted and I went to Kroger's for the turkey and some more things for the kids' visit next week.

When we came back, Ted heard from Dr. Chang's office. He told Ted he is constantly amazed at his numbers. He hadn't seen lab results like Ted's in over six months. They were like an 18 year olds, albeit an overweight 18 year old. EKG was perfect, cholesterol was 126, PSA .08, liver function normal, sugar normal. He said he knows Ted doesn't exercise or watch what he eats so he must have good genes. Ted takes one Prevacid a day. Period. Dr. Chang just shakes his head. Ted asked him to tell me all this. He was soliciting a "told you so" from the doctor but Dr. Chang wasn't biting.

Today Rebecca is cleaning and Ted went to have his aorta aneurysm ultrasound done. It is one of the tests that Medicare listed as Ted being eligible for. Since his mother died from one and his brother and cousin each had one, Dr. Chang thought it would be a good idea to have the test. In January Ted will have another surveillance endoscopy to ensure his esophagus is still OK. He hasn't had a bit of reflux and we expect a good report there.

Tonight we are going to Wind Down at Terry & Carol's. She said 40 people were coming. Kroger had their $30 shrimp tray "buy one, get one free" so I bought two of those ... AND I got a $3 senior discount. So $60 worth of shrimp cost me $27. What a bargain.

Have a good weekend and I'll "see ya down the road."

Not Accomplishing Much This Week

I had given Susan two notecards I made at Stampin' Up to use as Thank Yous for our Austin hostesses. Kathy asked if I would make some Christmas ones for her bridge group. Sunday I went to Michael's to get the supplies and spent the afternoon measuring, cutting, pasting, etc. Kathy saw this picture and was pleased but I haven't gotten them to her yet.


I went to Michele's for bunco Monday and tried to get next year all set up. The gals were in high spirits and I only partially accomplished my mission. We've been together so long now that our routines are pretty much in place so I'll fill in the blanks and send them an e-mail about what we're doing for Christmas.

When I returned home Ted suggested we go see Jay's new truck. It sure is snazzy with chrome and pinstriping on the sides. His hitch had not been put in yet nor his plug. That was going to be done one day later in the week. He's had his issues with paperwork too. Besides all that, with a new truck the bedliner has to be sprayed in, hitch moved, plug installed and in Jay's case, the auxillary gas tank moved; ours was ordering and installing a V-gate in place of the tailgate. Jay is going to try to keep his original one for now. We did that for lots of years before we finally caught it on the trailer hitch and bent it all to h*ll and had to buy a V-gate. It became an issue when we sold the truck. So now the new one is in the box the V-gate came in stored in the garage. Lots of coordinating going on. It feels good when it is all done.

Ted had his annual physical with his doctor and had some routine tests run. He has to schedule one more and then hope they are all normal. I'm good until the first of the year and then I get to do all this too.

I was going to work at Keep Pace today but it was canceled because the building has mice (!) so is unsafe for the children and volunteers. So I told Gerre I could walk. She called this morning to cancel because she has an earache and needed to get in to see the doctor. Ted was supposed to golf with Terry but Terry is fighting a kidney stone and called to beg off. Three things canceled in one day.

Macy's is having a big one day sale so I'm going to go and stimulate the economy. It's the least I can do in light of all that has been canceled for today.

It's Gearing Up to the Holidays

We didn't even put our suitcases away when we arrived home from Cincinnati. On Wednesday Ted headed to Beaumont after his men's neighborhood luncheon and that morning I headed to Austin. His was a routine business call; mine was a 10 girls getaway that had been planned since last May.

We all gathered at my house putting one car in the garage and one in the driveway so no one had to stay parked on the street. Loading up five in one car and five in the other, off we went with a stop at Starbuck's first on the agenda. A pit stop at Buckee's was the only other stop we made before making our way to the Caswell House in Austin. This mansion is owned by the Austin Junior Forum. They decorate it for Christmas with everything for sale and they serve lunch in the upstairs. After doing some browsing, and a little buying, we took our places for a very nice lunch. We were met by our two hostesses for our trip, Gail and Shirley.

We headed to Point Venture on Lake Travis about an hour NW of Austin in Leander, TX. Half of us were staying at Gail's beautiful home and the other half at Shirley's great condo. We spent the remainder of the afternoon on the porch of Gail's house overlooking the lake.


Then we all made our way to Shirley's for Happy Hour. She has deer running around in herds! They are very tame and aren't spooked by humans at all.

Then it was back to Gail's for dinner. We were served chicken and salmon that Shirley caught on vacation. I think she said it weighed 35 lbs.! Since we had all been dressed all day with the long ride, we decided to have dinner in our PJs and have a pajama party. The CMA awards were on the TV so we had music and a little dancing from some of the attendees. What a fun night it was.

Donna Marie and I took the twin bedroom on the lower level. We both slept soundly through the night. The next morning our hostesses cooked a wonderful breakfast before we departed.


One car was driving straight home, the other (mine) was stopping to shop. Since we realized we were now 1.5 hours away from the San Marcos outlets, we opted to hit the antique shops along 290 instead. We all gathered on the steps of Gail's house before saying goodbye to some great gals who were superb hostesses.


We stopped at several little towns along the way and before we knew it, we had the entire back of the Expedition loaded down with birdhouses, wind chimes, planters, decorative items, metal pumpkins, velvet pumpkins not to mention our luggage. We had a very late lunch in Carmine at the JW Steakhouse. We had the place to ourselves and it took awhile for our food to come out but it was well worth it. We had another fun time trying to sort out all the purchases when we got home in the dark.

Just to be sure I didn't get too much rest, I was up bright and early on Friday to work at the Children's Festival at the pavilion. We had to be there at 7:30 for our instructions on how to herd 4200 children from school buses to their seats. Some groups had to move to different venues but ours stayed in one spot for all three shows on the main stage so that made our job easier. We had one bloody nose and a poked eye but the group had their own nurse so we didn't have to take anyone to First Aid. Once the third show began we were able to go eat our catered luncheon. The school I was assigned to had 640 children on 12 buses and they were the last to leave. It was 2 o'clock before I headed home.

But wait ... it wasn't over yet. We were invited to a birthday party at the country club for Maria, one of the gals from Junior Forum who was on the trip. Husbands were invited so at 5 o'clock we arrived for some more festivities. It was a great get together and she got some funny gifts including a foul-mouthed talking parrot! It was over at 8 and by 10 I was in bed.

Tonight we'll go to church and then we play Canasta. I hope to put my feet up tomorrow but with shopping, baking, cleaning, wrapping, etc. staring me in the face, I doubt I'll stay in that position too long.

Did You Miss Me?

Last Monday I played Mexican Train with a new group. I was a few minutes late and they were in the middle of a practice game. When they finished we started in earnest and later two ladies wandered in and joined us in the middle of the game. Then another lady had to leave. I thought "what the heck?" We don't need to be regimented but let's all be there to start and stay until we finish. This group may go the way of the new Canasta group!

I had a dentist appointment on Tuesday and CPR training for Junior Forum on Wednesday. Then on Thursday we were off to Cincinnati. Karen & Ron picked us up at the airport and took me right to a bar where my grade school friends were meeting. It is owned by the son of a former classmate who was a police officer and died unexpectedly last year. We sent out for pizza and had a great time visiting. Ted took Karen & Ron out to eat and I got a ride home with two of my oldest best friends, the other two Donnas!

Friday we had to be at the church for rehearsal at 6 o'clock. They chose Sacred Heart in Camp Washington because they didn't care for the priest at their parish. This guy was so crabby I hate to think how bad the other one was. To make matters worse, the bride was sick and we were having rehearsal without her. He was very particular about how I read the reading and stopped me several times. Nephew Eddie said "if he stops Aunt Donna one more time she is going to come down off that altar and belt him." We finally finished up and headed to the Westin Hotel downtown for dinner. It was a very nice affair but I was certainly glad to get home and get into my jammies. My feet are used to sandals and flip-flops, not closed shoes and they were yelling the loudest.

Our daughter Kelly, along with her husband Pat and granddaughters Cassie and Ally, arrived and we took them Christmas shopping. Everyone knows you can't shop for a teenage girl and expect her to like what you picked out. We managed to get a coat and two sweaters for Cassie and a dress and two pairs of shoes for Ally. We snuck in a LaRosa's pizza for lunch before going home to get dressed.

They joined us for Mass at Karen's church and then we all headed to Sacred Heart for the wedding. Thank goodness Beth was feeling much better. When they handed me the program I noticed that I was listed as doing the Second Reading from the New Testament, not the first reading from the Old Testament. I was looking for the other reader and she was looking for me. We decided to just switch readings and she would go first reading mine and I would go second reading hers. We figured the priest couldn't say much during the ceremony if he didn't like how we were reading. Everyone said we both did fine, Scott and Beth are husband and wife, so all's well that ends well.

The reception was a noisy affair as they usually are. I have such a big family and it is only at weddings, funerals and family reunions that we get to see many of the others. It was so nice to say "I'll see you next summer at the reunion." Ally and Cassie had a ball dancing with all the other young folks. No one needs a partner anymore. They can't wait for next July when they are coming back for Amy's wedding.

Sunday morning we took everyone to IHOP for breakfast/lunch (due to the hour change) and they headed home to Michigan. We went back to Karen's, grabbed our two baby shower gifts, and were off to Nicole's shower. Ted and Ron watched football. We were able to talk to the female members of our family without screaming like at the wedding. My niece Rhonda died unexpectedly at age 47 in 2002. The shower was for her son's wife and was a melancholy time when a little girl who was 4 months old when Rhonda died, gave Nicole an outfit and rattle that Rhonda had bought for her at her mother's shower right before she died.

We flew home today without incident and are once again playing catch up. A colleague and friend of Ted's from his Abitibi days died this past Saturday from a heart attack. He was the same age as Ted and they worked together for many years. Because he is being buried in Connecticut, we were only able to send flowers and condolences to his wife Kathy.

Life is filled with joy and sorrow. We experienced some of each this past weekend. It is good to be home safely.

Happy Halloween All You Witches and Goblins

I'm sure most of the festivities are over but some places are still trick or treating on the 31st so for those little ones the fun is yet to begin. My family had a big party in Ohio and I saw on Facebook where some didn't get home until 4:30! I can remember those days but I was MUCH younger back then!

Michele and I kept our eyebrow appointment. She did just a few touch ups on mine and then was re-doing Michele's entirely since it had been five years. While it didn't hurt me at all, Michele started fussing right away and she needed more numbing cream. I felt bad because I told her it didn't hurt at all ... and on me it didn't. She was very pleased with them when it was over so that's what matters.

Jay called on Thursday to see what we were up to but Ted had not arrived home from Dallas so we made arrangements to go to Mel's with him, Stella, Tommy and Susan on Friday night. We timed it right because we got the last table for six and by the time we left, the porch was full of people waiting. Mel's is a hole in the wall you would never stop at on a bet. It is where Barbara Walters interviewed the Enron whistleblower Sherron Watkins. But their biggest claim to fame is their food. None of it is any good for you but it tastes really good going down. Afterwards we went back to Rayford and had a campfire. It was a NICE fire in that it didn't smoke much and the little bit it did went straight up instead of heading towards me. Rita, Jim and Ed came to sit and we ended up with a big circle around the fire.

Friday morning I met Gerre at the walking trail and we did 5K in just about an hour. We need to shave 12 minutes off that to do the Disney 5K in February. For practice, she and I along with Kara, Kristin and two of Kara's girlfriends are going to do the 5K Family Walk in the Run Thru The Woods on Thanksgiving Day. While the Family Walk will let you take as much time as you need, Disney yanks you if you get off the pace. We are both going to do the trail by ourselves with no talking to see how well we do. I'm not sure she and I could walk together for 48 minutes without talking but if that's what it takes, we'll do it.

Saturday I met four gals at Black Walnut for lunch. We have known each other since I first moved here and we have all gone in different directions. We picked this date awhile back and put it on the calendar so we would make it happen. Of course we did more talking than eating and we decided to meet again in January after the holidays are over. Friends and family are too important to let the busy part of life keep you apart. You need to make it happen.

We went to church and out to eat with Terry and Carol afterwards. It is getting dark so much earlier now and the heat and humidity are pretty much gone. It was so cool in the morning that our heat came on. We have a nifty thermostat that keeps the house between 74 and 65. If it gets hotter than 74, the AC comes on; if it gets below 65 the heat comes on. It didn't stay on long because once the sun comes up it warms up quickly. It got to 80 degrees by afternoon.

If you get any Butterfingers or popcorn balls while you're out there trick or treating, send some my way. My kids used to beg people to give them something else because they knew I would steal these two items out of their bag. Bad Mommy!!

Now THAT Was A Long Day

The weather has been delightful here though now it is getting really dry and we could use some rain. But I'll take these cooler (by our standards) temperatures. We are allowed to vote early in Texas so we went on Friday since Rebecca didn't come and afterwards went to Culver's to grab a burger.

We ended up meeting Jay and Stella for dinner Saturday night at El Chaparral Mexican restaurant, a new one close by. This venue has been several things but never made a go of it until now. The food was great and the guitar player was even better. I think we may have found a new favorite.

We went to church early on Sunday and stayed around the house the rest of the day. Rebecca had changed her day from Friday to Monday so Ted ran a lot of errands while she was here. I worked in my office getting things done.

I was up at 5 a.m. on Tuesday. I picked Jacque up at 6:15 and we proceeded to Starbucks to pick up Susan, Janeen, Pat and Donna Marie. We had to be at the Junior Forum office at 7 a.m. to leave for Orange, TX.

As soon as the bus pulled out we were given ham and cheese burritos and juice for breakfast. We played a game a good part of the way. Everyone had to write something no one knew about them and others had to guess who it was. I was guessed as having graduated over 50 years ago and being the shortest girl in my class. Those clues weren't me. But I won a bottle of wine when no one knew I sold my name to a company I worked for to use in promotions and advertising. To this day I don't know if they ever used it.

Our first stop was the Stark House, a distinctive three-story 1894 Victorian mansion. The owners, W. H. and Miriam Lutcher Stark, owned the Lutcher and Moore Lumber Co. They both died in 1936. The house stood empty until 1976 when it was restored and entered in the National Register of Historic Places. The house had never been damaged nor vandalized. The furnishings had been stored in warehouses. Thanks to a former nurse and housekeeper, much information was available as to the appearance and placement of the belongings. It was a wonderful way to start our day.

Next we went to the Stark Museum of Art. Many Remington and Russells were on exhibit along with a couple Georgia O'Keeffe paintings. The docent gave pairs of us a word and we had to identify a picture that depicted that. Jacque and my word was LONELY. We chose an Indian standing on a snowy mountain holding his dead son. The docent said there are no wrong or right answers. She praised us for noticing the child in his arms because many people miss that.

We moved on to Shangri La Botanical Gardens & Nature Center, 252 acres in the heart of Orange, TX. It features over 300 species of plants in nine formal gardens. It also includes a Nature Discovery Center, a laboratory and three outdoor classrooms. We were told our admission helped pay for 75 school children to visit the Nature Center and includes their transporation there.


We were given box lunches of chicken salad croissants, chips, cookie, raisins and drink. We ate outside in the garden in very pleasant sunshine.


There were 126 scarecrows decorated by businesses, schools, organizations, etc. scattered throughout and we were asked to vote on our favorite. There were so many great ones it was hard to choose.

No day is complete without shopping so our next to last stop was at Paragon's Gift Shop. All Halloween items were 50% off and I found a metal magpie, dressed as a farmer for my front porch. I put him out there this morning and he looks nifty.

Dinner was at the Sunset Grove Country Club. It was served buffet style and was very good. You have no idea how much loud chatter 48 women can make!

It was about 9:15 when I finally got home but it had been a delightful day and worth the small sacrifices I made. I would like to go back to Orange to revisit these venues and take a bit more time to see them more thoroughly.

Ted left this morning for Dallas and I played Canasta. We still have several new people playing and it is a bit trying when several people don't know the rules just yet. But they'll learn in time, we just have to be patient.

With Ted out of town I stopped by the country club for Happy Hour with the girls. I forgot about Survivor and didn't set my DVR. It was half over when I got home! I've not been into this season for some reason. I can't get enthused about any of the contestants.

I have to be at Michele's at 8:15 tomorrow morning. It's her turn to get her eyebrows touched up and we're going together again. Emily will take a look at mine to see if they need any touching up. No one has mentioned them so I'm confident they look very natural.

I've not planned a big weekend so we'll just see what develops.

Home Again and Paperwork on Truck and Trailer - DONE!

I promised you some pictures once I got home. Here is Ted trying to perfect his delivery on the Wii bowling game.


Here's a panorama of the Red Hat luncheon. I'm practicing with my panorama feature on my new camera.


Here are the HitchHikers all in a row. Ours is the first one on the right with our new truck parked in front of it. We had almost 80 rigs but that's really down from the 20o+ that attended in Missouri and Oklahoma the times we attended. The 2008 was cancelled because it was to be held here and Ike messed that up. We chose not to go to Illinois last year but we are going next year to Tennessee.


This is a shot of the potluck we had in the pavilion next to our site. My pork loin and yeast rolls were all gone so I guess everyone liked them.


We didn't have to be at the rec hall until 11 o'clock on Thursday for a talk by Sherry and Kevin, her son, on where the HitchHiker International Group is going. When Don and Dolores finished their contract with NuWa, no new wagonmasters were hired. This put a tremendous burden on Sherry & Larry's company who worked so closely with them. With Larry's passing, it became an even bigger job for Sherry and Kevin. They did a great job pulling it all together. Granted, different chapters of HitchHikers jumped in to help but I think that's a good thing. So for now we are scheduled into Lebanon, TN (outside Nashville) next September.

Ted and I went to the bank and out to lunch. When we returned it was time for the ice cream social and the Wii bowling roll off. Ted made it into the finals but came in third. The winning man bowled 202, the winning lady 208. We enjoyed the Wii so much we are considering getting one for ourselves. We just received our American Express Rewards Christmas catalogue. We may just treat ourselves to a Wii, Bose Sound Deck IPod player, a Flip video recorder and a Nook or Kindle for me. I don't think we've used any AE points since the late 90s when we used them for our Alaskan cruise. Maybe it's time.

There was a Texas BBQ for dinner followed by a 3 piece group entertaining. We stayed until 9 but I was tired because I got up so early and Ted wanted to watch The Mentalist so we left. This is the line for our BBQ dinner.


We buttoned up this morning, bid our farewells and were home in the house before 10:30. So of course laundry and mail took center stage. I am happy to report that the check from Goodyear arrived. They reimbursed us for the RV damage repair, the G tire so we could move the RV back into storage, the two nights at Rayford campground and the four H tires we had put on the trailer. We had to pay for the new rims. That took care of the trailer. In the mail also was our truck title. We had received a letter from Ford saying our truck was paid in full but we hadn't yet received the title. Now that's all done. Next on the agenda is inspection of my car and we should be done for a year. The EZ tag and insurance were all taken care of previously. I dislike getting mired in paperwork like that.

We have no weekend plans other than getting everything back where it belongs. Ted is going to Austin next week and I have a trip to Orange, TX scheduled. Another busy week ahead.

The Week Is Winding Down

We had our Red Hat Luncheon on Tuesday followed by the owner of an Herb Farm here in Montgomery speaking on the ease of growing herbs and how to use them in cooking. Right! Two of my favorite things to do. But she was cute as a button and I enjoyed listening to her. The men's luncheon was going on at the same time but Ted was on the lookout for the 2011 trucks coming in. The sales manager at Anderson Ford had a death in the family and didn't make arrangements so only GMC and Dodge showed. Ted was aggravated because at that time it looked like a "no show."

Our entertainment that evening was a fellow and two girls doing 50s music. They used a lot of audience participation and were a hoot! People were in gales of laughter. There was some nice dancing music too so we and others danced a bit. In between, we were all trying to get a better score on Wii bowling. So far my highest is 178 but that's nowhere near high enough to be in the bowl off.

Wednesday we had a catered breakfast followed by some seminars. Ted had a conference call so I listened to the Mor-Ryde independent suspension talk since Ted is considering adding that to the trailer. Then a lady from the Montgomery Extension Office talked to us about portion sizes in managing our eating. She told us to read the labels carefully using muffins as an example. The numbers they have listed are for one serving ... but the muffin itself may be three servings so you need to multiply those numbers by three! So 200 calories per serving becomes 600 for the whole muffin. Sneaky.

We were all waiting for Mike Mitchell, owner of Nu-Way, to arrive with two trailers for people to check out. He had not arrived when Sherry came to Ted saying the trailers were here. Ted called the factory and got authorization to sign for them. He and Stan then proceeded to set them up. Ted called Gullo Ford and they brought two dually trucks over so all four vehicles were lined up for inspection. Anderson Ford called and apologized profusely. They offered Ted a free detail on his truck as an apology.

In the meantime Debbie from Stampin' Up arrived and we got her set up for her class. Most of the ladies had never stamped so I was kept busy helping people while I tried to make mine. They seemed to enjoy it and had lots of laughs as they tried their hand at being creative.

Mike arrived and spoke to us about the direction of the company and where the HitchHiker International Group is headed. They always had paid wagonmasters for these rallies but they aren't doing that anymore. He hopes Sherry and her son will be able to continue on without them. With Larry dying this past year, Sherry and her son are still feeling their way. Lots of changes.

The Haulin' HitchHikers invited Mike to a happy hour at the pavilion next to our trailer. He came and had a beer with all of us. He calls us the Outlaws for some reason. Since bingo was going to be at 8 o'clock, about a dozen of us left about 6:30 for Fajita Jacks. A margarita and too much food later, we all came back (I had already missed Survivor!), but had a headache so came home. Ted went down to the bingo. I was in bed by the time he came back a big winner. He won a year's membership in the HitchHiker International Club ($25 value), 25% off next year's rally (about a $65 value) and $224 in cash. I'm glad he went.

I'm up early this morning since I went to bed so early last night. Today will be busy as we do all the activities and prepare for tomorrow's departure. We have such a long trip home.

Hanging Out in Montgomery

Last Friday Ted drove the trailer to the park and I stayed behind getting my things together and drove up in my car. I needed it for my trips back home this week.

Ted had great fun Friday through Monday driving the golf cart and parking people. I told him I could get him a workamping position doing that but he said he wasn't looking for another career. It gave him lots of time to sit and BS with all the guys from the Owner's Forum while they waited for arrivals.

Twenty of us went to dinner Friday night at Vernon's Catfish. They did a great job with such a big group. Some had never had chicken fried steak or chicken fried chicken let alone fried okra! I had grilled catfish.

On Saturday night we took over 60 people to the Opry. We sent them in three different waves so it wouldn't overwhelm the little cafe. We heard many compliments and no complaints about the home cooking. Everyone loved the show. Of course Joel told them this was the most fun they were going to have in a metal building in the middle of a cow field. We were recognized twice from the stage and everyone joined in the whooping and hollering.

We drove to Plantersville to St. Mary's on Sunday to a little wooden church built 100 years ago by German immigrants. It is painted so beautifully inside and reminded us of The Painted Church near Kona, Hawaii. I've never been to the Painted Churches out near Schulenberg and it's really something we should take the time to do.

We ordered pizza for the Haulin' HitchHikers for Sunday night and everyone gathered in a pavilion next to our site. It's a good group and a nice size that allows you to meet everyone. We know many of them from other rallies.

Monday I drove in to play bunco with my group. It was afternoon before I returned. That evening we had our Haulin' HitchHiker meeting and potluck, again in the pavilion next to us.

Afterwards there was a welcome meeting for the entire rally group but I snuck out and watched Dancing With The Stars. I figured no one would miss me but Ted said several people asked where I was. I'll go to tonight's entertainment but I probably will miss Wednesday. It's Survivor night you know!

Today is the men's Greasy Hat Luncheon and the ladies Red Hat luncheon. I've borrowed a hat from Wanda my neighbor and will wear that with a red shirt. Ted checked in with the dealers and they are all still on board to bring their 2011 dually pick ups for the men to check out. They will also speak at the luncheon about the new urea tanks required on the trucks and all their features.

I've taken a few pictures but the download is too slow here so I'll publish them after I get home. I still think there's a country western song to be written about rallies. Sort of "you can't get drunk on Saturday night 'cause all the rigs look alike."

Until later.

80 HitchHikers and Counting

We had a fun time playing Canasta on Monday. Kathy came laden down with all sorts of appetizers, nuts, desserts and drinks. I went ahead and took care of the coffee and cups so she didn't have to mess with that. I didn't win but that's OK, I played well.

Ted headed to Austin before everyone arrived so I was alone for the rest of the day and evening. That's nice every once in awhile. It gave me all Tuesday morning to lollygag around also.

In the afternoon Ann came by to pick up the coffeepot for Continental Breakfast since I won't be attending in November and while she was here, Irene stopped by. She is a floral designer and is going to rework the big shell dish I have in my master bath. In the midst of all of that, Ted came home. He was here long enough to say hello and goodbye as he left to shoot in his skeet league.

Everyone finally left and I had a half hour to pull myself together and get to the country club for dinner and an Austin Girls' Trip meeting. There are 10 of us going on a package that Susan bought at the gala last year. Janeen and I are going to be drivers. I'll tell you all about it after the fact.

Wednesday I was back at the grocery and into the kitchen. For the Trinity Episcopal Seniors bingo and luncheon, I was to make a goulash casserole. They provide the recipe so it's not too hard to do. I also bought stuff to make Taco Soup for our dinner. Once I got the casserole together I started right in on the soup. Tasted darn good too.

I had to be up bright and early this morning because I had to bake the casserole before I left here at 8 am. There was another BIG CROWD at the church. We had a lot of bingo prizes (that we ladies all donate), an accordian player entertained since the theme was Oktoberfest and lunch was the goulash, green beans, rye bread and German chocolate cake.

I didn't eat there because it is my neighborhood ladies' luncheon date and I met up with them at Eden Cafe about a half hour after they all arrived. They all had birthday cards for me and an old neighbor who moved away had come and brought all five of the October birthday ladies a dozen roses each. What a beautiful gesture!

Tomorrow we head to Montgomery TX for the International HitchHiker Rally. I have this afternoon to get my clothes and food together for an early morning departure. Since we're close to home I'll be back and forth taking care of some commitments I have around here. I may even be staying over night a time or two. It just depends on how things work out.

I know there's a lot of Indian summer around so enjoy it while you can and I'll talk to you later.

Tea Party, Canasta and Cooking

Friday night we went to the Tea Party. I printed tickets out on my printer. They were free instead of $10 because we are "seniors." I'm liking this free stuff. Ted dropped me off with our two chairs while he parked the car. No problems at all. We ran into friends and sat right in front of them where a tree was casting a bit of shade. There was presentation of the colors, Pledge of Allegiance, patriotic music and singing plus speakers. The ones we came to hear were Michael Berry, Laura Ingraham and Andrew Breitbart. The message was basically "Scr*w you, Obama Administration. We don't like your socialistic agenda and we, the people, aren't going to be silent and polite anymore." To prove his point, Andrew asked everyone who was politically involved in 2008 to raise their hands. No one. Then he said "and there are 5,000 of you here tonight." If nothing else, voter apathy is not a problem now. That's good for both sides I guess.

It was a beautiful night and I shook hands with Laura. She raved about where we live and I told her not to mention it on the radio because we have enough people here already. It was later than we anticipated so we stopped at Culver's for a burger before heading home.

Saturday Ted went shooting. We went to Mass, Chik Fil A and then Canasta. Our normal Saturday procedure when we are going "gaming" on Saturday night. We had to come back towards our own neighborhood to play at the home of the Martins. I won 2nd prize, missing 1st by 30 points ... out of over 25,000! Bummer. Even though we only sub in this group, I offered to do November for them since they didn't have a hostess. The problem is they need for someone not to play so we can sub in our own home. Susan will let me know.

With no big plans for Sunday I got the cooking bug. I made goetta and toast for breakfast (no big deal) then proceeded to make beef stew, cornbread and strawberry shortcake, all from scratch, for our dinner Sunday night. This doesn't happen often but Ted enjoys it when it does.

Tomorrow I'm hosting Canasta here for a gal who lives in an apartment and doesn't have room. I only have to get three tables ready. She will bring all the food and drinks. Rebecca cleaned Friday so it's not a big deal.

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. I've read on Facebook about beautiful weather over most of the U.S. Maybe you had a chance to go leaf peeking where you live.

First Week as an Official Senior Citizen

Well, this isn't so bad. I don't look or feel any different. So far, so good.

We came home Tuesday from San Antonio without incident. Instead of going to Rayford to unload and clean, I put everything in the truck and cleaned before we left. The only thing to get out at the storage place were the refrigerator/freezer items. The truck backseat was filled. I always try to leave our arrival day and the next day free so I can get through the laundry, mail and put things away. This is exactly what I did the rest of Tuesday and all day Wednesday.

Thursday morning I attended the Continental Coffee Club. I'm a chairperson but miss so many gatherings because of being gone. The gal who hosted had the most beautiful yard and lovely Halloween decorations up. Her food and drink selections were extraordinary. I don't know where some of these gals get all their energy. Maybe if I stayed home more .....

I left there and headed to the dry cleaner where I took a pair of slacks to be hemmed that I am going to wear to the wedding in Cincinnati. They are very full and it is hard to tell whether I'm wearing slacks or a long skirt. I feel the outfit is dressy enough for a wedding. I'm doing a reading so I have to walk to the altar while everyone watches. Argghhh!

Last night I was invited to the country club by Susan for a Pearl Party. It sure was classy. The whole dining room was done up in white and black as if for a banquet. The chairs were covered in white with big black bows on the back. There were candles and white fresh flowers as centerpieces on mirrored tiles. Each place had a small white box tied with a black ribbon. Inside was a pair of 8.5mm pearl earrings for each person.

There was an open bar, beef tenderloin and rolls, wrapped asparagus, spinach triangle pies and luscious fig and pear wraps. The fellow gave a 10 minute talk on growing and harvesting pearls, how they are made into jewelry and how to take care of them. Then they gave away five nice prizes and you were free to shop ... or get up and leave. A great evening at no cost.

I did buy a gift for my sister-in-law but I didn't need anything. Mary told me at our age need has nothing to do with it. If we wait until we "need" something we won't spend another dime in this lifetime. That's probably true but I still didn't buy myself anything.

Today Rebecca is cleaning and we plan to attend the Tea Party at the Town Center Park tonight. It will probably be a mob scene so I'm not sure if we'll be successful in finding a parking spot and a place to stand. I'll let you know next time.

Fall Weather is Here in San Antonio

We bid goodbye to our friends in Mission and then continued to enjoy our private Garden of Eden for two more days. I never realized how spring-like fall was in the valley.

We went to the grocery and did laundry on Friday but on Saturday we went to Palmfest at the McAllen Convention Center. What a beautiful building and grounds. We didn't know what to expect but it was free with free parking so we thought we would check it out.

There were many booths and we found a few more places to visit next time we're down there. We also won a visor, two water bottles, a bag clip, etc. at different company booths. We saw a magician, a guitarist and sat on bales of hay eating a sandwich while a Tejano band played.

There were things for sale and I bought a necklace. Ted looked at the Dodge Ram 3500 but didn't tell the salesperson he just bought a Ford F-350! It was sort of a fair, fiesta, carnival, home & garden show all in one.

We left at 3:30 to go to church at 4:00. Fr. Roy made it down the aisle with his walker to a great round of applause. Of course three dogs circling him didn't make his trip any easier. He told us Auggie (his main dog) has cancer. Then he pointed to another black lab who is Auggie's brother and said "Chunkly hasn't been to Mass in 9 years but he's been coming ever since my surgery. So if a dog can figure out in times of need you should turn to God, don't give up on your kids!" Instead of a cowboy song at the collection we heard Jimmy Stewart reading "A Dog Named Beau" that he read on Johnny Carson's show in the 80s. We're going to miss Fr. Roy next Sunday.

We left Mission Sunday morning and drove 281 north into San Antonio. Once we got set up Ted went to register at the World 75th Skeet Shoot. We cooked hamburgers on the grill and watched Amazing Race.

I cleaned the RV Monday (my 65th birthday!) while Ted shot in the morning. He came home for lunch and then we went back late afternoon for him to shoot his second round. Unfortunately he didn't do so well and we were able to leave for dinner right away. No shoot off. After a nice dinner at the JB Brewhouse we came home to watch Dancing With The Stars (and the football game during commercials!).

It doesn't sound like much of a birthday but it was great. Thanks to Facebook I heard from over 50 friends and relatives. Three girls I started kindergarten with in 1950 sent me wishes, friends from OH, MI, FL and TX did too. Nieces, nephews, godchildren, all sorts of relatives chimed in. I loved every minute of it.

Today we head for home. We'll put the RV away for about 10 days and then head to Montgomery, TX for the HitchHiker International rally. Since we're part of the Haulin' HitchHikers group, we have work to do at the rally so we'll be there a full week. We have over 30 attending the Opry Saturday night and a nice number for the Stampin' Up class. The golf cart rentals are in place so we can lead people to their site when they arrive.

Fall is in the air here in San Antonio and by the temperature at home, it's probably the same.

October's Party
Author: George Cooper
October gave a party;
The leaves by hundreds came-
The Chestnuts, Oaks, and Maples,
And leaves of every name.
The Sunshine spread a carpet,
And everything was grand,
Miss Weather led the dancing,
Professor Wind the band.

The Chestnuts came in yellow,
The Oaks in crimson dressed;
The lovely Misses Maple
In scarlet looked their best;
All balanced to their partners,
And gaily fluttered by;
The sight was like a rainbow
New fallen from the sky.

Then, in the rustic hollow,
At hide-and-seek they played,
The party closed at sundown,
And everybody stayed.
Professor Wind played louder;
They flew along the ground;
And then the party ended
In jolly "hands around."

I may have shared this with you all in the past but it's worth repeating. I hope you enjoyed it.

Adios Amigos

I don't have a lot of news but I have some pictures to share. So I thought I'd "blog" again.

Jay took his truck to the dealership and now has a new water pump. Ted went to lunch with the McAllen newspaper folks and I stayed behind while everyone was gone. I'm so enjoying the butterflies and hummingbirds. In the afternoon we took a walk across the bridge into Mexico. We didn't go far or stay long but had no problems.

This morning Ted, Susan and I went to the Butterfly Farm where we saw more butterflies and enjoyed the birds at the feeding station. Then we made plans to stay here until Sunday before heading to San Antonio for two nights. Ted will shoot on Monday. We tossed around many different plans and finally decided on that. Mike and Patrice stopped by this morning. They arrived last night and are taking delivery of a new Bighorn trailer today.

Our friends are taking off tomorrow. Susan and Tommy are heading home instead of Rayford to handle a family situation. Jay and Stella are going to Palacios to attend her high school reunion this weekend and will move on to Rayford at the beginning of the week. We'll see them all again soon.

Here are a few pictures that Tommy cropped and worked with the color and sharpness. I wish I had his knowledge and equipment! He was fussing because some pictures were not as crisp as they should be. I told him trying to catch a butterfly or bird sitting still isn't easy.

If you look closely you can see the grackle has the green jay by the tail.


Here is a nice picture of a green jay. They are very common in this area.


This is a better picture of one of the hummingbirds that are frequenting our feeder.


And this is my favorite. The butterfly is looking right at me. You can see his/her antennae and legs.



We'll be here alone after tomorrow morning. A handful of RVs have arrived since it is 10/1 so we're not all alone. We have spent lots of time in San Antonio, most recently over Labor Day, so I'd rather stay here for the weekend.

Maybe the frost is on the pumpkin where you are!

How Green Is My Valley

Since we are three of only four rigs in the park we've taken over the thatched pavilion in the center of the sites which form a big circle. We just leave our chairs out there. We've also taken over a site between us for our table for eating. There's also a spot to park the truck. In a few weeks this whole park will be filled but for right now it is all ours.



A cool front came through and the weather has been glorious. It's such a pretty time of year here. The butterflies and hummingbirds are flitting all over the place. I spent two days trying to get a good picture of a butterfly and this is the one I chose to keep. Tommy is helping me with my camera, resolution, size, etc.


We learned that Tommy played the photographer at the wedding in Urban Cowboy. He was called as an extra but since he spoke some lines he had to join the Actor's Guild and still receives residuals though they keep getting smaller he said. Now I have to rent it to just watch for him!

The hummingbirds are constantly around the feeder but between the glass, the sun and their speed, getting a good picture is hard. Here is one of the lovely flowers growing on a bush outside.




Sunday we enjoyed cinnamon rolls I made with our coffee out in the pavilion. At noon everyone went to watch Dallas vs. Houston and Susan and I took a ride along the levy. We passed the Border Patrol several times, saw the damage at Pepe's from the flood and viewed the river from several spots. During the night we hear helicopters patrolling the Rio Grande River that runs right behind the levy that protects this area. There has been no trouble around here but the border is porous and Mexicans continue to come anyway they can.

At 7:30 on Monday Nick arrived to start washing and waxing the rigs. It took him and two helpers over 10 hours to do all three. Nick has done ours each year since we've had one. Since we were hanging around the park anyway and it was Ted's birthday, I cooked dinner for all of us. It turned out pretty good and they especially liked my yeast rolls. I said I would make them again on the night Stella cooks dinner.

Yesterday we went to the ropa usada and ropa nuevo stores. The usada stores are used clothing in a heap. People climb all over it looking for good items, mostly for resale. Items are sold for 30 cents a pound. The nuevo stores are new clothes from overruns, distressed jobbers, clearances, etc. and are on racks on hangers. We all found something to buy but just seeing the usada stores is quite an experience.

This morning Jay is taking his truck in because something was leaking last night. Ted has lunch with the McAllen newspaper guys so we won't be doing much until this afternoon.

He has also decided to take me and the RV home on Friday and then drive to San Antonio on Sunday. He isn't shooting until Monday and doesn't want me to sit around for days waiting for him when I have so much to do at home. Either way is OK by me since he does the driving and I'm just along for the ride.

I'm watching the butterflies and hummingbirds out my window. It is all so beautiful right now in this park. Good weather is forecast for the rest of our time here.

One Easy Travel Day, Not So Good The Next

We left on time Thursday morning, making our way to Victoria. We talked to Tommy and they were about an hour in front of us. As we passed the exit where Buckee's Truck Stop is, I spotted their motorhome and tow car and voila we were traveling together. We pulled into Lazy Longhorn together, got set up and then went out for dinner.

Friday morning Ted got up first and as soon as he hit the carpet outside the bathroom door he was standing on very wet carpet. Apparently the water kept trickling into the toilet, filled the bowl and very slowly overflowed all night. I immediately threw the throw rug into the shower and used about a dozen bath towels to soak up as much as I could. In the process I jammed my little toe and you know how that hurts!

There wasn't much else to do so we closed up and got on the road. We made a stop so Tommy and Susan's dogs could go out. I knocked on their door and because their motor was running, when he opened the door the steps came out and scraped the top of my foot before I could jump out of the way. We arrived at Bentsen Palms and learned we were going to be the only people in the park. How neat! We got set up and within the hour Jay and Stella arrived.

We have a built in surge protector on our trailer and the electric would not come on - it said low voltage. So Ted had to find Don who came to put in a new breaker. Then he trimmed some branches so they wouldn't hit our slides and he lent us a Shop Vac that we used on the carpet between the bathroom door and my closet door. I set our tower fan on the first step to blow across the carpet to finish off the drying.

As soon as we had all that under control we headed to the laundry to wash the rugs and towels I had used on the floor. I have to put A&D ointment on my eyebrows for a few days. With all the perspiration waiting for the A/C, it got into my eye and burned like the dickens. I had to wash my eye repeatedly in the laundry room sink. While there it rained so hard the connections of the tin roof started leaking. We were using a rag we found to keep wiping up the floor in the laundry room. We got drenched making our way back with the clean laundry.

Susan was going to cook but asked if we minded going out because she was tired. So we went to Furr's Buffet one of the restaurants we frequent down here. My only problem is that every time I go they never have coconut cream pie! While I was still eating my salad, Jay put down a piece of coconut cream pie and told me to remember My Daddy loves me. I so appreciated that little ray of sunshine in a rather trying day!

I slept really good, my toe and foot are OK, my eye stopped burning, the toilet has been fine ever since so today started out much better. We went to Gonzales Burgers for the best $3.95 burger you'll ever find. Stella and I split one because they are so big. Then we went to the Don-Wes flea market. Things are just gearing up so there wasn't much going on but Stella found a lady with three dogs for sale. One looks much like their departed Ralphie and in no time we had another passenger in our truck. We had to stop to buy a collar, leash and bed before coming home. He is doing real well and their female dog is doing well with her new little brother.

Ted and I went to church at 4:00. This is the church we always attend and there were a couple dogs present. Fr. Roy had his knees replaced and has to sit throughout Mass. He moved through the prayers rather quickly and we were out well before 5:00. When we got back, Tommy grilled steaks and Susan made potatoes, beans and garlic bread. We had birthday cake and ice cream for dessert since Ted, Susan and I are all celebrating our birthdays over the next week.

Once it got dark we all headed to our own rigs. I'm not sure what we're doing tomorrow. So many of the things we wanted to show Tommy & Susan are under water due to 20 inches of rain recently. No Pepe's on the River (it is now IN the river), no Riverside Club boat ride, no visit to the state park. I bet the hand pulled ferry isn't running either. We'll figure out other things to do and if not, we'll sit and visit with our very good friends.

About to Hit the Road Again

Chris is in his glory, because we're taking off again for two weeks. I hope he doesn't ever decide to get his own place due to enjoying his time here while we're gone!

Last Saturday after church we went to Chili's with Terry & Carol then spent Sunday doing nothing. I cleaned out all my files (where do people who full time in an RV put their paperwork?) and Ted watched football. I made a roast for dinner and we didn't leave the house all day.

Monday was our CWJF Provisional Project Day. Jacque picked me up, then we picked up Marika and made our way to the Junior Forum office. We had a meeting, packed up the bags for the Women's Shelter then we all went to lunch. I hadn't had Mexican since our Yucatan trip so it tasted darn good.

Dancing with the Stars AND Survivor are now on, soon to be joined by Amazing Race. For me it doesn't get any better than this. I can't explain why I enjoy most of the reality shows but with the Amazing Race it is seeing all the wonderful places in the world they travel to. I would have to stop to take pictures. I'd never win!

Yesterday Michele and I met Ann for breakfast then Michele and I went to a salon where I had my eyebrows done permanently. They look good and will be always ready so I'll save time and they'll be even!! That was not an easy feat for me. I found out one of the muscles in my forehead is stronger than the other so depending on how much that relaxed, my eyebrows would move. Oh brother. Anyway I'm pleased with them and will go back in a month to see if I need a touch up. They should be good to go for 5 years or more. I can hear my grandkids now "My Grandma got a tattoo ... two of 'em." LOL

Another Canasta group is starting and we met for the first time today. We had lots of beginners so we played more in a teaching mode. I knew about half the ladies and met several new ones. I love expanding the group of people I socialize with. Junior Forum is doing just that for me too and I'm enjoying it immensely.

We have the food out in the RV and most of our clothes. We want to be on the road between 9 and 10. We're stopping in Victoria where we'll meet Susan and Tommy. I'm sure we'll go out for dinner. Then Friday we all roll into Mission meeting up with Jay and Stella. We're staying a week. Next Friday we're all going in different directions. We head to San Antonio for the World Shoot.

It's officially fall and I hope your pumpkins, witches and ghosts are all ready for the season. Talk to you in October if not before.

A Four Legged Visitor

We picked up the RV Monday morning. The new 16 foot wheel fender is a shade darker than the rest due to sun fading. That probably explains the tire failure since the trailer was in CA, NV and AZ before we bought it. I'm sure they weren't taken care of by covering while sitting or being properly inflated at all travel times. But we have the new H tires and I hope and pray that takes care of this problem. We sent all the bills off to Goodyear.

I made it to Canasta with time to spare since Gerry got lost. I was smack dab in the middle on score so I didn't win. It's only $1 to play so you don't win much.

Tuesday Ted left for Florida. He flew to Orlando, spent the night with Kristin and took her to dinner, then traveled to The Villages the next day. I was taking care of my new medical and drug insurance to go with my Medicare and it takes some wading through stuff to get it all in place.

Before Ted returned I kept a beauty shop appointment (it didn't work!) and then met Teri for lunch. It was her thank you for bringing the goetta from Cincinnati. I introduced her to a nice restaurant out by us that she had never been to. It's nice to go somewhere besides a chain on occasion. I bought some new shoes and a scarecrow for my front porch planter. All my fall outdoor decorations are in place. It was Girls' Happy Hour at the country club so I went and had a glass of wine before coming home to see the start of "Survivor." I'm so excited all my reality shows are starting up. When Ted ordered the DVR on cable I fussed about the added monthly expense but now I love it.

While at Boerne I invited LeAnne and Jim to stay the night with us before a 6 a.m. flight since they live hours from the airport. I told them we would care for their dog Zoe too. So Thursday we were expecting them. I had a CWJF dinner and meeting to attend so they said they would come about 7:30. Ted was home and I arrived about 5 minutes after them.

The night was a riot. They went to bed early and we kept Zoe by us. I had set my alarm for 3:15 a.m. and put it in their room. At 12:30 Jim jumped up and said it was 6 o'clock because he read the hands wrong. They went back to sleep and at 2 am the airlines called to tell them their plane was on time. At 4:30 I shot out of bed fearing I had done something wrong with the clock and raced to their room. They were gone and the beds were made. I never did go back to sleep. Zoe slept cuddled next to Ted this whole time.

Zoe is a great dog. No barking, no chewing, I hardly know she is here. I took her for a walk through the neighborhood in the morning and she sleeps in her bed most of the day. Last night was Wind Down. Usually September is a really big crowd but numbers were down this year for some reason. It was a nice time but we came home a bit earlier than usual because of my early rising.

Ted is shooting today and Zoe is waiting for her walk. We have no plans other than church tonight at 5:00. I have a busy M-T-W before our Thursday departure so I have plenty I can do to prepare. Now Gloria is asking when Chris (her son) is coming back to stay. I'm not sure who enjoys this arrangement more - us, him or her.

Fun Weekend After All

With no plans in place, our weekend still turned out pretty nice. Rebecca came as scheduled on Friday and the house is in good shape. I did all the laundry and ironing. The yard men did their thing outside. I even put the fall wreath on the door despite the 97 degrees. We are poised to be "caught up" at home.

Ted went shooting Friday and Saturday in Conroe to practice for the Best of Texas tournament at the Houston Gun Club on Sunday. I had written SueAnne about attending the Stampin' Up open house that we try to attend every year but I had not heard from her. I was delighted to find an e-mail Saturday morning saying she was free after all and could go. I needed to meet Linda who has agreed to do the class at the HitchHiker rally so we made plans to meet up. SueAnne was stopping by her mother's close to where I needed to run an errand so we met and rode together in her car.

I asked Chris to point out Linda and I introduced myself. She told me of her plans for the class during the rally and I'm confident it will be a big hit. SueAnne and I inspected the new techniques and supplies before sitting down to make our two greeting cards. We were wondering about Mary who we normally see here and she walked in! She does social work and was not in the greatest mood but by the time we closed up the place, she was all smiles. I won a door prize again this year. SueAnne and I went to lunch afterwards and continued to catch up. By 4:00 o'clock I told her I had to get home because we were going to church at 5:00.

We were scheduled to play Canasta on Saturday so after church we stopped at Chick Filet before heading to Wayne and Pam's. She had so much food we didn't need to stop to eat beforehand. I remembered to take the goetta I had purchased in Cincinnati for Susan and Teri. They were both so excited and everyone else just didn't understand it. It's a Cincinnati German breakfast food not available anywhere else but Cincinnati that we can find ... not even in Germany!

It was a fun night and I won our $10 back by losing. I had the lowest score. We play four games, all with different partners. Two of the games my partner and I failed to complete a wild card Canasta so we lost 1000 points. Doing that two out of four times will kill your score. It was almost midnight when we got home. That's a late night for us anymore.

Ted left early Sunday for his shooting tournament and I straightened up, got dressed, had a nice long chat with my friend Jody and then went to get a necklace to go with my new blouse. I also bought supplies for my Junior Forum Project - toiletry bags for the Women's Shelter. I bought four each of toothpaste, deodorant, tampons, combs and shampoo. I already had toothbrushes at home. Each thing I do with Junior Forum is new to me so I follow their instructions to a T. They tell me I'm doing great and I've enjoyed every minute of it so far.

Ted didn't get home until very late because he had to wait for a shoot off. He came in third place. Congratulations Ted!

We are waiting on a call from Thornton's that the RV is ready. I'm playing Canasta at 1 o'clock and Ted leaves on a business trip tomorrow. If we don't get it this morning, it will have to wait until Thursday when he returns. We aren't leaving again until 9/23 and then we'll once again be back playing catch up when we return.

And Hermine Came To Call

We got lots of rain Monday afternoon and evening and on into Tuesday. However, it was nothing out of the ordinary and we did not experience the flooding and tornadoes that hit other parts of Texas. In fact, my yard looks great! Last year we had lots of dead stuff and this year everything is green. Of course we had the front planter redone so it looks extra special to me. Thanks to all of you who contacted us to be sure we were OK.

It was easy to stay in and get caught up with the bad weather and that's just what we did. We are helping the organizers of the HitchHiker Rally get some local information together. The man who has done this for years died recently and his wife and sons are trying to carry on in his absence. When we received our packet it was light on things to do and places to go. So we contacted Sherry and she graciously accepted our offer to help. I've put together a packet of local attractions along with maps on how to get there from the campground. Ted is getting a group together through the Nuwa Owner's Forum to attend the Texas Opry on Saturday night before the rally officially begins on Monday. He also has arranged for Chevy, Ford and Dodge 2011 pick ups to be brought to the campground for viewing on the day of the men's luncheon. I'm trying to get a Stampin' Up distributor to do a class for the ladies too. I don't know how this will all turn out but at least we will have tried as hard as we could.

Today I had to work a Senior Bingo and Luncheon held at Trinity Church. Junior Forum is the most organized group I've ever worked with. Everyone has a job to do and as long as they do it, it runs like clockwork. We had to set up the tables with the things that went on them - decorations, silverware, napkins, name tags, sheets to be filled out, etc. We then offered coffee or orange juice as they arrived, all 114 of them. Then we played bingo and I had to help a lady who didn't hear too well ... and she won the first game! I'm a lucky charm I guess.

After bingo they were entertained by a group of trombone players. They started off with 76 Trombones and then the fight songs of UT, Texas A&M and LSU. I think that covered 99% of the football fans in the room. When they concluded their concert we served lunch of BBQ chicken, cole slaw, chips and a brownie. I've never seen food come out, get distributed and then cleaned up so quickly. They have it down to a fine science.

I left there and went to Pappadeaux's Seafood Restaurant because my neighborhood ladies were having our monthly luncheon there. I told them I was coming but would not be eating. They had ordered but not gotten their food yet so I just had an iced tea and talked to everyone at the one end of the table. Afterwards I did some grocery shopping before coming home.

Tomorrow Rebecca is coming to clean. She is going to earn her keep because it's been a long time since the house has had a thorough cleaning like she gives it. Ted is going to the Visitor's Bureau for brochures to send along with the other stuff for the rally. After we get it all together, he'll take the packet to the post office and send it to HitchHiker International so they can get packets together to bring.

We're playing Canasta Saturday night but have nothing else on the agenda for the weekend. Ted is making a trip to Florida for work next week and we're going to dog sit for Zoe while her Mommy & Daddy are gone. Never a dull moment in our neck of the woods. I wouldn't have it any other way.

Our Inaugural Adventure

Our Labor Day trip to Boerne was the first time we pulled the new trailer with the new truck. I'm happy to report it all went well. We left early Thursday and headed the back way to pick up I-10 at Brookshire. We learned Jim and LeAnne were about an hour in front of us but scheduled to make a stop and Tom and Susan were about a half hour in front of us. They said they would hold up at the next rest area where they needed to walk the dogs. So at the Guadalupe Rest Area we all met up and sat around a picnic table for a short while. Then Leo and Shirley pulled in. We were having our own little mini-pre-rally!

We all arrived together at the Alamo Fiesta Park so there was a short back up in the office but eventually everyone made it to their site. For dinner about a dozen of us went to the Hungry Horse. It rained so hard while we were in there that we had to take our shoes off and wade across the street to our vehicles. Other than a storm in the middle of the night, that was all the rain we got. The weather was superb. No oppressive heat during the day and cool, comfortable nights for sitting outside.

On Friday LeAnne, Susan and I were driven by Jim to the PX at Fort Sam Houston. I only bought a few staple things as did Susan. But LeAnne bought a new Coach purse and shoes. We stopped at HEB to order a meat tray for that evenings "Sandwich and Snack" dinner. Most everyone had arrived by dinner and there was a big crowd. I think we had close to 70 rigs with over 150 people. We were able to visit with friends we hadn't seen in some time. The evening's entertainment was Boomer Bingo.


Saturday morning there was a potluck breakfast that we all enjoyed. All the tables were decorated for various rallies we've had in the past. Sandy (Madame Boomer) asked me to decorate for Christmas and Easter which I did. Then my job was to make sure the two tables were cleared and cleaned. I also put all the chairs back properly. With many pitching in, it made the workload less for everyone.

Unfortunately my Canon camera just wasn't working. I had been having trouble and bought a new battery but that didn't fix the problem. So in the afternoon we went to Sam's with Tommy, Bob and Dana. They bought some things but I bought only a new Sony camera that Tommy (the photographer) helped me pick out.

Our dinner Saturday evening was catered with brisket, sausage, beans, potato salad and cole slaw. Dessert was the 10th anniversary cake for all to share.



Our entertainment was a guitar player and a singer. They did lots of nice music that you could dance to but still talk to the people at your table without screaming or going deaf. Ted and I danced several times. I asked him if he remembered his waltz steps but he said he didn't think so. I don't recall a waltz being played so he was safe. I'll have to refresh his memory for our trip to Pepe's On The River in Mission at the end of the month. I can't let Waltz Across Texas go by without dancing to it.

Sunday morning was our zippy omelet breakfast. This sounds weird but it works. We were all given a quart size good quality freezer zip bag and you wrote your name on it. You broke two eggs into that bag and squished them all up. Then you added a tablespoon each of "fixins" to the egg mixture. I just put ham and cheese in mine. Press out the air, zip it up and hand it off to be cooked. Fifteen bags at a time were cooked in boiling water for 15 minutes. When your batch number was called you got your bag with a perfect omelet cooked inside. Eight batches were cooked that morning.

We left to attend church in town. When we returned we rode toward San Antonio to a pewter place that had sent coupons out to the campground. I finally found a soup tureen. I have been looking for two years. They are hard to find and the few I did find were made in China. I refused to buy them. So the trip was productive for me.

Sunday night was our potluck and dessert was a 20 foot banana split. It was actually two ten-foot gutters side by side.


It was all going great until it was time for the whipped cream and things got a little crazy. I just filled my bowl and ran for cover.


Cody was sitting next to me and coaxed Madame Boomer into giving him the whipped cream directly.



We enjoyed one last night sitting outside with everyone. Monday morning dawned very cloudy and people were leaving in droves. We got off about 10 am after making our rounds to say goodbye to those that were staying over or had not left yet. We ran into Ron and Ellen at a rest area and then made it back to the storage area just fine. We stopped to get fuel before coming home and the heavens opened. Even though Ted was under a canopy the wind was blowing so hard he got soaked. We eventually had What A Burgers for dinner to end Summer 2010.

Heading Out Again

The weather has been very hot and humid since we returned so we're spending most time indoors. I unpacked and did laundry on Saturday. Sunday after Mass we had a big breakfast and then late in the afternoon I went to the country club to attend the Newcomers Welcome Tea Social. Being an Activity Chair for bunco and the Continental Breakfast Club, I had to man two different stations. Bunco got about 8 interested members and CBC had a sheet and a half filled. Great turn out! Afterwards Ted came over and we had dinner with Vince and Susan. It was nice to have the time to get caught up. Usually we're in a crowd and it's difficult to have a conversation of any length.

I started getting things together to take to the RV on Monday and stayed close to home. Tuesday I worked a 4-hour shift at Interfaith's Hand Me Up Shop as part of my service hours for Junior Forum. Bending over for four straight hours pulling clothes from bags is hard on the back. It also gave me a headache. Near the end we stopped doing that and started tagging clothes which was a lot easier. Next time I'm signing up for a 2-hour stint.

We took most of our things out to the RV today. The fridge is on so tomorrow we'll put things in before we take off. There will be two catered meals and three group meals so I only need to take the ingredients for my dishes and not a lot else. That eliminates dragging food out and bringing it all back which happens a lot of times. Especially if you end up eating out a lot.

Chris just left his room as is and I shut the door. He'll be back down here tomorrow morning to see us off. I think Gloria and Al are enjoying him being gone but don't tell him that!

Talk to you all next week.