Tuesday, December 30, 2014

B & B

Time flies when you're having fun!  I was reading a bunch of different things on the computer tonight and all of a sudden, it's 10:00 and we've turned into pumpkins!  So, this will be short because Wednesdays start early for us!

Bowling was decent.  We only had 15 bowlers today.  Chris had her gall bladder surgery today, so that took Bobbi, Alan, Chris, Wolfy, and Fred away from bowling.  Plus it was a rainy yucky day so some people must have just stayed home!  For lunch we went to Bruce's Chicago Dog Grill.  Good Chicago Hot Dogs!!  Bingo was typical...I didn't win, but came close!  I won both cribbage and poker today at bowling,, so the day wasn't a total loss!

Holiday Ranch calendars arrived today, so tomorrow we'll start distributing them.

More later...

Monday, December 29, 2014

Monday

We got lots accomplished today...except for a nap!  We started off the morning by taking down the Christmas tree and putting everything away.  Then Dave took down the lights outside while I packed them away.  So all signs of Christmas are gone for this year.  I then swept the floors and dusted the furniture.

After lunch, Tammy and I worked on the directory while Dave put up the rope lights around the carport.  They look really nice!  We took a bike ride and stopped by a couple of people's homes to visit and then it was time for supper and cards!

More later...

Sunday, December 28, 2014

Sunday

We went to 11:10 church this morning - great sermon about Wise People.  We were taken back to 250 AD to a monastic retreat.  Once you have decided to follow Jesus, you must confess, and then you must give up on the "things" that keep you from following Him in order to be transformed.  That was the subject of our retreat.  Pastor Jack did a good job!  We sneaked out during the prayer following the sermon, so that we could get to Sudi & Howard's for lunch.  There were 4 of the Girls of 66 present, as well as Dave, Rod, Howard, and Amy.  It was a good lunch with good friends!  Thank you Sudi & Howard for having us all over.

This evening we've been watching a Revenge marathon.  That girl is really relentless!

More later...


Saturday, December 27, 2014

Saturday

Busy day today!  Dave started painting the lanai floor this morning.  The first coat didn't take him long...the clean-up/prep took the longest.  After two hours he was able to paint the second coat and after another 2 hours we moved the furniture back in.  I chose a khaki color - we really like it.  It looks very good with our table, chairs, and throw rugs.  Glad that project is done!

I had to go to Lowe's during the first 2-hour break to get another gallon of paint.  So while I was out, I got my hair cut.  There sure is getting to be more and more traffic.  The wait at stop lights is quite long now.  You don't want to be in a hurry to get somewhere...or else find less popular streets to travel.

More later...

Friday, December 26, 2014

Friday

It was a Legion day today and it was beautiful sitting out by the water.  Didn't see any dolphins, though.  :(  There were bunches of people there from the park...18, I think!  Lots of fun!

We've decided to paint the floor in the lanai for now, so we picked up the paint for that.  We also went to GFS to get champagne glasses, napkins and placemats for our New Year's brunch.  The only thing on my list that we didn't get done is getting my hair cut.  It's about 5" long all over and unless it's humid, it's flat and I hate that!  Maybe I can get it cut tomorrow.  We'll see.

More later...

Thursday, December 25, 2014

Merry Christmas, Ho Ho Ho!!

What a fun day!  We just leisurely got up this morning - finally not in a hurry!  Around 11:00 we took off for the beach.  I love the whole idea of being on the beach on Christmas day!  So cool!!

 We even ate lunch at JD's.  I just had a house salad because the park Christmas dinner was coming up at 5:00.  It was wonderful...ham, stuffed chicken breasts, scalloped potatoes, green beans, sweet potatoes, etc.,  etc.  There ended up being about 70 of us at the clubhouse!  Fun evening.  Dave stayed to help clean up and when he got home, we met Della, Diane, and Gilles at Central Park to see the lights.  That was fun, too...and crowded!
Then we came home and drove around the park taking pix of the lights in our little neighborhood.  This is our little piece of Paradise!  
Merry Christmas to all, and to all a Good Night!

More later...

Wednesday, December 24, 2014

Christmas Eve

We had a Christmas bake shop here at our mobile home this afternoon.  We made 2 pecan pies and an ambrosia salad.  Our house smelled wonderful.  If you like pecan pie, I would recommend Dear Abby's recipe.  It's super easy and very, very good!  Each pie takes about 5 minutes to mix together and about 50 minutes to bake, so you're all done in 1 hour!

This afternoon we went to the clubhouse  for Christmas Eve dinner with the Martins, the LaPlantes, the Moquins, the Searcys, the Mainvilles and all their extended families - 29 in all.  We had a wonderful dinner and a fun gift exchange.  Then, about 6:30 we took off for Christmas Eve services at church.  It was a very good candlelight service and it was really fun walking out into 70 degree weather instead of cold!

More later...


Tuesday, December 23, 2014

Cool!

While I went bowling this morning, Dave stayed here to help Affordable Aluminum put in our lanai windows.  They got  done about 1:00 - it really makes a difference in both the looks of our place and the comfort level of the lanai!


Now we just have to decide what floor we're going to put out there, but that'll be another day!

More later...

Monday, December 22, 2014

Quiet

It's sure quiet in our home tonight :(.  Jami and her family took off around 2:15 or so and went back to Ft Lauderdale.  It's very quiet in here tonight!

We had a good day.  We ate breakfast and then we all went to the clubhouse to sort out the Christmas cards and deliver them.  We have a big box in the clubhouse for people to put their Christmas cards for other residents in.  Dave volunteered us to do the sorting and delivering of all of those cards.  Let me tell you, there were tons of cards!  The box was about 4' tall and about 1' square and it was full.  It took us about an hour to sort the cards and that's with 7 of us doing it.  The kids were great helpers!  After we had them sorted, we borrowed both Betty's and Laurie's golf carts and went door to door delivering the cards.  Some people have 30-40 cards and some only had 1.  We had a good time.  One of the ladies gave Kelly a Santa hat since we were acting like Santa's elves!

After all of that, we had lunch and used up our leftovers.  Then we were able to get 3 games of Sequence in before the kids had to help pack up their stuff for the ride home.  We'll miss them, definitely!



More later...

Sunday, December 21, 2014

Sunday

Jami, Tom, and the kids came on Friday evening and I've been too busy to write anything.  We've been on the run for the last 48 hours!  Friday during the day we went to the Legion.  It was such a beautiful day that we wanted to sit out in the sun by the water and enjoy the day even more!  It was fun and not crowded at all.  Then we came home and waited for the kids to get here.  I had fixed meatloaf and baked potatoes in the crock pot for supper.  It was done just a bit before they got here - everyone loved it, even the kids!

Saturday we went to the nature preserve to see if the alligator was there.  We not only saw the alligator, which is huge, but we also saw at least 3 pileated woodpeckers, several Common Gallinules, a Great White Egret, a White Ibis, as well as an Anhinga, and a Limpkin!  Oh, there was also a rather large snake.  We had a super wildlife day!!  Saturday night, Tom & Jami took the kids to the park to see the Christmas lights and to burn off some energy.

Today we went to church and then Tom & Jami took off for Ocala while we kept the kids.  Jami's grandma lives in Ocala and she's not well at all.  Jami's mom came down yesterday and Jami went over to see her today.  We haven't heard from them so we don't know if they're coming home tonight or not.  They're supposed to go back to Ft Lauderdale tomorrow, but it's going to depend on how her grandma is doing.  Around noon we took the kids to the big water and saw a small Anhinga and another bird that I haven't identified yet.  Then we came home, at lunch, played Sequence, watched Annie, and took a bike ride - all before it rained!

It is great having the kids here.  They've grown up a lot in the last year.

More later...

Thursday, December 18, 2014

Beautiful Day!

I know I sound like a broken record, but it's sure been nice here and that's why we come here!  Of course, the beauty that surrounds us and the friends we've made are also contributing factors.

Today, I almost finished the Holiday Ranch calendar for 2015.  I've still got a couple of pix to take, though.  I'll get one tomorrow and one on Saturday...then I can have it printed.  I hope people like it!

Today we got the groceries for this weekend and I actually got all of my stamping stuff put away.  I also picked all of the white fuzz off of our black rugs!  The story behind this is that Dave washed some cleaning towels with the black rugs...shouldn't have done that!  I picked most of the fuzz off by hand, but then I used duct tape to get some more.

Tomorrow we've got to do the vacuuming and dusting, clean the bathrooms and make the meatloaf.  Plus, if it's nice, we're going to the Legion for lunch!  I sure hope it's nice because I'm tired of staying here!!  Oh, I also have a picture session at 3:00!

More later...

Wednesday, December 17, 2014

Gorgeous Day

What a gorgeous day!!  It was just about perfect!  Tomorrow is supposed to be a bit cooler, but back to the 70's on Friday.

We didn't get to shuffle this morning...there weren't enough people who stayed after the cookie walk.  We tried again at 1:00 but even fewer people came back after lunch.  No shuffling next week either.  Guess they're waiting for you to return, Ann!

More later...

Tuesday, December 16, 2014

B & B

We had 21 bowlers this morning - great turnout!  The ladies ruled today - Donna bowled a 203!  High men's game was only a 182!  I bowled pretty well.  I started out with a 116 and followed that with a 156 and a 133, so not too bad!  Dave had a nice 139 his last game.  We all went to lunch at Acropol today - good food!

I had another picture to take today (for our park calendar).  I'm about done getting the pix, now I need to get the calendars printed.  I'll take my camera to coffee tomorrow, along with my bowling report, the shuffleboard stuff, the cookies for the cookie walk, my shuffleboard stick, our name tags, coffee cups, a splenda, and my flavored creamer!  We may need to drive!!

Bingo was fun tonight - I only won $5, but I was so close so many times!

More later...

Monday, December 15, 2014

Baking Day

This day was perfect in my book!  I love 70 degree days with abundant sunshine!!  Dave and I both had busy days.  He's always doing something and some times I don't pay attention to what he's doing.  On this day, I fired up the oven and made cookies!  I had gotten two tubs of cookie dough from Allison's fundraiser, so I made both of them - sugar cookies and chocolate chunk.  We're having a cookie walk on Weds morning, so I'll take 3 dozen of something...either peanut clusters or cookies.

We took down our icicle lights and put up some others.  After we got them up, about 4 feet of them stopped working!  NO MORE ICICLE LIGHTS FOR US!!  So we took them down and put up just a strand of lights - they're working fine!

More later...

Sunday, December 14, 2014

Sunday

Yay - it was warmer today!  Dave and I went to the 9:30 contemporary service at our new church.  We'll probably not do that again - we didn't like it nearly as well as the traditional services.  We wanted to try it, though.

After church, we went to Post Corner to eat.  They serve breakfast until 11:00, so we had eggs and bacon.  Then we were off to Home Depot.  We found us some chairs and a table for our lanai.  Since the kids are coming this next week, we needed to have places to sit outside if it's warm enough.  We also got a couple of plants - a tomato plant and a pepper plant.  Danny will help us plant them when they get here.

I made crock pot peanut clusters today and tomorrow I need to make some cookies.

Now we're watching a hokey movie - Unlikely Angel with Dolly Parton.  This movie was filmed in 1996 and Dolly can't act STILL.  She should really just stick to singing.

More later...

Saturday, December 13, 2014

Saturday

I didn't get much done today - I had a bit of an intestinal bug or something.  This morning I felt pretty good so I was able to get about half of the Christmas cards for park residents done.  Then this afternoon, I just didn't feel well so ended up taking a nap in between bathroom visits.  Sure hope this is gone tomorrow.

Today  turned out to be a very pretty day.  I went outside around noon, just to enjoy the sun.  We've got some of our Christmas lights out - the icicle lights on the awning out front have a section that isn't working.  We were going to take them down this afternoon and replace them with others that we have, but I didn't make it.  Maybe tomorrow after church and lunch.

Dave finished up painting with Ron today, so now we'll be getting ready for Jami's family to come visit.  They'll be here the 19-22...not long, but it'll be fun.  We have some final preparations to do before they get here.

More later...

Friday, December 12, 2014

I'm COLD!

I moved to Florida to get away from the cold!  It's been chilly for a week now and it's still supposed to be in the 60's thru the weekend.  I'll be ready for some warm weather!!

We got lots done today.  Dave put up new fans in both bedrooms.  Once all of the construction "stuff" got taken out of the house, I cleaned all of the floors.  I also made chili - seemed appropriate somehow!

When we took our bike ride this afternoon, I put my hood up on my hoodie.  We've got to start riding earlier - by the time we get to ride, it's usually around 5:30 and by then there's no warmth from the sun at all!

Tonight I went up to play cards and take a couple of pix of the Texas Hold'Em card players.  There were only 9 of us to play 7s, so I told them I was coming home - I wanted to watch the ISU-Iowa Men's BB Game!

More later...

Thursday, December 11, 2014

Paper-y Day

While Dave painted at Ron's and did paint repairs for both Bob & Gary, I spent my time working on paperwork!  I had a month's worth of paper to go through, sort, file, and act upon!  It took me most of the day but it's done!  The bills are paid and filed away and the throwaway pile is shredded - yay!  I even had time to read last month's Consumer Reports!  I also got our Wyndham points taken care of and got the printer working (after talking with tech support for at least 30 minutes!

When Dave came home, we went for a chilly bike ride and then I came in and made Jambalya for supper!  I told Dave that I would be watching my Cyclones the next two nights.  Both women and men are playing Iowa and the games are televised on the Big Ten Network.  Surprise - down here you have to pay $10/month to watch the BTN.  So Dave decided that was pretty cheap entertainment for me.  I'll watch tomorrow's game and then cancel the subscription because I don't watch Big 10 sports much.  I'm a Big 12 gal!!  Go Cyclones!  The women are having a hard time keeping up with Iowa.  Lisa Bluder has a good team!  She's a great coach!  See - I can be nice when it comes to the Hawks!!

More later...

Wednesday, December 10, 2014

Good Day

This morning after coffee, we had our monthly HOA meeting.  I wrote an editorial that I shared with the group.  I know the Board appreciated my thoughts and many other people also shared their appreciation.  In fact I even got an ovation when I finished.  My whole premise was to let the Board know that we were behind them and to ask people to make an effort to give suggestions on how to solve problems instead of just complaining.  I will also print it in the newsletter as an editorial!!

When the meeting finished I was able to get a couple more pictures taken for the calendar we're trying to put together.  Then it was time to shuffle!  It was cool today, but it was a great day for shuffling!  I only won 1 game today.  The first one I lost by about 5 points.  I won the second one and then got clobbered the 3rd game.  At cards tonight my partner and I couldn't get any good cards at all.  Going into the last hand, we were down by over 6,000 points!  But we won the game!  We went out with them having only 1 canasta and beat them by 575 points!!  Goes to show you shouldn't give up too early!

More later...

Tuesday, December 9, 2014

Yay

The sun came out today - it was still cold, but at least the sun was shining!  Bowling was so so.  My first game was a 146 and then I went down from there!  Bingo - no luck there either.  AND NOW I CAN'T PRINT ON THIS NEW PRINTER!

I'm reinstalling it as we speak.

More later...

Another soggy day.

This foggy, gray, drizzly weather is screwing up the advertisement that this area of Florida averages 361 days of sunshine every year!  We haven't seen the sun for 2 days now...they're saying it'll shine tomorrow.  Needless to say, since it's gray and drizzly, we also are not getting much warmth...it's sweatshirt weather this week.

Today, Dave and I hung some pictures and Dave worked out in his shed again.  Tonight we had dinner and then I played cards (not well, mind you - got beat badly!).

More later...

Sunday, December 7, 2014

Soggy day

After today, I'm guessing that our "cold front" is here!  It was foggy and misty for most of the day, so our temps didn't get very high.  Right now it's 65 - tomorrow it's to be 71 and then 60's for the rest of the week. I guess that's good, but I prefer 70's!!  It is December after all!

We went to early church this morning.  It was good.  We're hoping to become associate members of Anona UMC!  We really like it there!  After church we went to #134 and brought all of the rest of our stuff down here to #210.  Dave saw a little leak in the living room, so he'll patch that and then we're done with our "north annex"!

I heard from Sudi today - we'll be having Christmas dinner with our friends at the park, and then on Sunday we'll celebrate with Fairfield friends!  I really wanted them all to come here for Christmas dinner, but they decided not to, so that's that.

More later...


Saturday, December 6, 2014

Busy Saturday

It was pretty hot here today - in the mid 80's.  We put up our Christmas lights outside and about roasted doing it!  I had sweat running into my eyes!  I hope to get a picture of our place tomorrow night.  I just didn't want to go out tonight!

Tomorrow we're planning to go to early church - 8:15!  I hope we don't oversleep!

I got to watch some of the Cyclone vs TCU football game today - that was really ugly!  I'm sure the guys are glad that season is over.

More later...

Friday, December 5, 2014

Fantastic Friday!

It was another gorgeous day in the neighborhood!  Dave & Bob got our outlet working, so now we can put up our Christmas lights tomorrow.  I'm pretty sure this is the latest I've ever put up lights!

Today, the little guy came to wash our mobile (and Gary's, too).  He was only about 2 hours later than he said he'd be here, but he finally made it!  When he got here, it took him a while to get started because he was busy trying to get a picture of the armadillo that was across the street from us.  I ran out with my camera and snapped a few pictures, too.  I don't think I've ever seen one up close and personal, but this one didn't mind us being out there at all.


He uses his snout to dig for grubs...that's why all of our yards have holes in them!  Fascinating critters!

Tonight we played cards and my partner and I lost by 730 points - bummer!  I even got some good cards tonight!

More later...

Thursday, December 4, 2014

Thursday

What a beautiful day!  82 and abundant sunshine!  We had a great day.  We had some errands to run, and then we met Sudi & Howard at the Legion for lunch.  It was great sitting out on the water - great lunch, great friends, and even a couple of dolphins!  We always say it's a perfect day if a dolphin graces us with their presence!

After lunch, Sudi & Howard came to our place to visit - even Bob & Ann came over to say hi!  After they all left, we got the Christmas tree up and put some fiber optic angels around the living room.  We've also got some Santas out and, of course, the nativity scene.  Now I'm watching my Cyclones play basketball and Dave is sleeping in his chair!

Hopefully we'll get some electricity run to the outside of our mobile home tomorrow and then we can decorate outside tomorrow night!

More later...

BAD night at cards!

Ann and I were partners tonight at cards and we had a really, really bad night.  Neither one of us could get any good cards!  We didn't get our 7s two different hands and didn't get our wild cards in the last hand!  That was unusual - we usually get pretty good cards, both of us.  Oh well, Friday is another night!

This morning we played two games of shuffleboard.  I won my first game and lost my second.  This afternoon, I sat out the first game and lost the second...but it was a good game.  It was a beautiful day here - especially nice for shuffling!

Dave didn't shuffle - he finished up the cupboards and then worked on the doors inside our home.  They all shut now - yay!  Then we worked together to clean up around here.  Tomorrow we're going to get Christmas decorations out and see what we can do.

More later...

Tuesday, December 2, 2014

Fair and Better!

Since today was B&B day, I did both bowling and bingo.  I did fair at bowling and better at bingo!  So far I'm ahead for the year and that's a first!!  Dave stayed home and worked on putting new hinges and knobs on all of the cabinet doors.  He's got about 8 doors left to hang - yay!  I'd like to get done with this construction so we can clean up the house and enjoy our new home!

Hopefully we'll get done with this stage of construction tomorrow and then we can get out the Christmas decorations and put away the turkeys!

More later...

Monday, December 1, 2014

Monday

As I sit here writing tonight, my hubby is fast asleep in his chair.  He worked really, really hard today, so he deserves to sleep in his chair!  He put up new blinds on each window while I went shopping for curtains.  I hate to shop!  Regardless, the blinds AND the curtains are now up!  Tomorrow he's not bowling - he's going to start replacing hinges and knobs on our cabinets.  Unfortunately, he's also got to wash the cabinets while he has the hardware off.  I'll be bowling!

I swept the house today and generally cleaned up around here.  When he's working, he tends to be a wee bit messy!  Our house is starting to look like a home!

More later...

Sunday, November 30, 2014

Beautiful Sunday!

We went to 11:10 service at church today.  Had the 2nd pastor today..  I really liked the sermon, but his voice is so quiet that he's hard to hear.  After church we went to Jimmy Guana's for lunch.  We sat right by the railing, so we were able to enjoy the intercoastal!

We ran some errands after lunch and then we came home.  This evening 12 ladies played 7s from Hell while the men watched their New England Patriots get beat on the big screen!  Fun evening!

More later...

Saturday, November 29, 2014

We're home!

We got in tonight about 9:30 and are we ever glad to be here.  It's been a long week!  It all started two weeks ago tomorrow when we took Dave's dad to the ER and found out that he had pneumonia.  On Friday he passed away with all of his children and their spouses, as well as his wife, by his side.  By Sunday, we were all back in Indiana to plan a funeral.  Visitation was Tuesday night, and the funeral was Wednesday.  Then the will was read yesterday and we flew out today!  What a whirlwind of a week!  We're exhausted and so glad to be back in warm Florida.   We about froze up there!  It was about 28 degrees most of the time and we had 7 full days of gray skies.  There was a bit of sunshine today, but by mid-afternoon, it was gray again.

Thank you all for your prayers and condolences.  We appreciate them all.

More later...

Saturday, November 22, 2014

Saturday

Today, Dave, Don & Bev, plus Jami went to Roberta's to help her clean and clean out Maury's clothes.  They didn't get back until around 7:00.  I stayed here and cleaned our house.  I swept all of the floors, mopped Dave's bathroom, cleaned his sink, and even washed the windows on the inside of the house in the living room and kitchen.

I didn't hear a thing from Liz after Nancy showed our house today.  I wonder what the people thought  about it.  Wouldn't that be a kick in the seat if the house would sell while we're in Indiana?!  I'm ready to be here for a while!

It was a lovely day today.  They had Sanding Ovations at Treasure Island, but I didn't get to go.  We'll go next year, hopefully.  I sure hope someone posts pictures so I can see what was new this year!

More later...

Friday, November 21, 2014

Friday

Today we lost a man who was the head of the Frushour family.  Maury (Dave's dad) passed today with all 4 of his children and their spouses, and his wife, around him.  He passed peacefully, but will be missed by all of us.  Now we are heading to Indiana for a funeral.  We'll not be back in sunny Florida until after Thanksgiving.

That's all I've got to say tonight - sorry.

More later...

Thursday, November 20, 2014

Wacky Wednesday and Thursday

This day started out pretty normally, but it went downhill pretty quickly.  Yesterday we found out that Dad's kidneys are not working properly, so today was more about the kidneys than it was about the lungs.  We sat in on a kidney ultrasound today.  That was interesting!  I enjoyed watching that gal work!  I learned lots.  I learned that adult kidneys are about 13 centimeters long or about 4".  I also learned that Maury's nurse is an extremely knowledgeable and extremely helpful young lady!  She is from Indiana just about an hour away from where Maury lives - it's such a small world.  Dad still needs our prayers - big time!

More later...

Tuesday, November 18, 2014

B & B Day

Dave went to Sarasota this morning to sit with his dad.  Maury was doing pretty well, then in Dave's words, "he just crashed."  He started breathing really fast and had a hard time getting a breath.  He's now in the ICU and resting comfortably.  Dave is staying there with him and if all is well, will come home in the morning.  The doctors think he should improve.  His blood work is good now.  Say a prayer for him.

I went to bowling - there were only 15 of us today.  I bowled awful, as did just about everyone else.  Lunch was good, though.  We went to Acropol - there were actually 20 of us there!  I think everyone enjoyed their lunch.

This afternoon, I attended a budget meeting with the Board of Directors and other committee chairpersons.  Then this evening, it was bingo as usual.  I actually won tonight.  I won one of the special games all by myself, so I got $36.50!!  I've been going for 3 weeks - I've spent $8.50/week which is $25.50 and I've won $36.50 + $5.00!  So I'm $16 to the good!  I can play again next week!!

It's pretty cold here this evening - right now it's 50.  Our house got down to 63 before I turned on the furnace.  I've got the furnace set on 69 and the little heater set on 78.  It's a whole lot warmer in here now.  Hope I sleep warm!

More later...

Monday, November 17, 2014

Wet Day

It absolutely poured here today!  Several bands of heavy rain came through with a cold front, unfortunately.  It's supposed to be cold for the next couple of days!  Dave went to Sarasota to stay with his dad at the hospital.  He said he was breathing a little better today.  He walked a little bit, but not much...he got too tired.  He was also really, really confused.  I suppose that's the IV antibiotics and the lack of oxygen.  Hopefully he'll be more improved tomorrow.

I stayed here and sorted through some paperwork, etc.  I got that all done, plus the Brighthouse tech came and gave us a new modem.  My computer is working fine, but Dave deleted a Wajam virus off of his and now he can't get hooked up to the wireless network. I don't know how to fix it, but I'll fiddle with it tomorrow afternoon.

Best news of the day - my brother got out of  the hospital this afternoon.  He is still dizzy and they don't know what is causing that.  I guess we'll be dizzy together!!

We played cards tonight and my team won big.  We didn't even have to count the last hand.  Now I'm watching my Cyclones play basketball on ESPNU.  So I won't be going to bed very early tonight!  The game just started at 9:00!

More later...

Sunday, November 16, 2014

Sunday

We went to Sarasota today.  Thought we'd go down after church, have lunch with Dad & Roberta, visit a while, and then come home.  We went to church at a different church today.  We tried Anona UMC on Indian Rocks Road.  It was a great service.  Made us feel right at home!  The minister was good - not as good as Pastor David, but good.  We'll be going back there.  After church we went to see Dad & Roberta.  Well, Dad didn't feel well - couldn't breathe.  So we ate a quick bite of lunch and then took him to the ER.  He has a large pneumonia in his left lung and his blood oxygen is low, so they admitted him and started giving him IV antibiotics and oxygen right away.  We were in the ER for about 4 hours before they admitted him, but they did chest xrays and numerous blood tests, etc.  We're sure glad we went there today!  He told Roberta he felt better tonight!

My brother is still in the hospital here.  They will be running an MRA tomorrow.  They still can't figure out what's going on with him.

More later...

Saturday, November 15, 2014

Saturday

This was a very nerve wracking day.  My brother had a dizzy spell and Ann took him to the ER.  They treated him as if he had a stroke, but the neurologist said he didn't.  His CT scan was negative, but he's still being dizzy.  The doctor wants to run an MRI, but told Bob he was puzzled with what was going on with him.  So keep him in your prayers.  He was dizzy several times when we were there visiting with him tonight.

We had our monthly breakfast at the rec hall this morning.  Good as usual, Marv and the guys at the Ranch!  After that Dave and I went to the old house and brought back some of the little things we'd not gotten yet.  We went thru every drawer and cupboard in the master bedroom, the bathroom, the kitchen and the living room.  All we have left down there is the add-on room, so hopefully we're about done moving things.  Then we'll clean up #134 and be finished with it.  We've still got a few things to put away here, but we've still got room to put things so all is well!

More later...

Friday, November 14, 2014

Friday

It's a chilly Friday.  Even though the sun was shining brightly, it was still a bit chilly.  I sat outside to read, but had to come back in and put on a jacket!  Dave and I worked hard today.  I took some clothes out of my closet - clothes I don't want to wear any more.  I figure if I don't get rid of some of my clothes, Dave won't want me to buy any new ones!  (Method to my madness!!)

I also worked sorting through all of the yard decorations that were left here.  I combined our decorations from home with our decorations from #134.  They're all put away until Thanksgiving when we'll start putting up Christmas decorations around our mobile.  Dave worked outside condensing his tools down to a manageable quantity!  He's pretty organized out there now.

Tonight I played cards.  Ann and I were partners again, only this time we lost - by only 435 points :(.  We had three tables of 4 and there were 12 people playing Texas Hold 'Em, too.  Lots of fun at The Ranch!

More later...

Thursday, November 13, 2014

Thursday

Dave and I got lots done this morning, and then we took the afternoon off.  We went to the water!  We have only been there once so far, so we needed a break!  We've got everything pretty well put away now.  Today we cleaned out all of the drawers and put dishes in the hutch.  That was a huge accomplishment in itself!

We went to Hooters for lunch today and saw 4 dolphins go by in a group.  The Hubbard fishing boat also came in while we were sitting there - they sure caught a bunch of fish!  It was a gorgeous day here today - hope it is again tomorrow!

More later...

Wednesday, November 12, 2014

Oh my!

Our house sure looks good!  I wish you all could see it...oh, maybe you can if I just take pictures!!  I'll get that done soon, I promise!  I should have an open house for our friends, but that means I'd have to make cookies or something!

I shuffled this morning after coffee AND after our November home owners' meeting.  I lost my first game, but I won my second game.

This evening at cards I didn't have such a good night.  I got terrible cards tonight!  My partners and the ladies we played were all wound up tonight.  So it was really chaotic - loud and boisterous!  After cards, Ann & I got on the back seat of Betty's golf cart and we drove all of the streets of the park, telling everyone hello...and it's 9:00!  I hope we don't get complaints!!  Oh well!

More later...


Tuesday, November 11, 2014

We've got a home!

We got our furniture today - thanks to some of the guys in the park!  Fred, Roger & Ron came over and helped Dave load up most of our furniture and bring it back here.  While I was at bingo, Dave put the house together.  I helped him do the bed before I went.  That was the most important!  We actually get to sleep in the same room tonight!!  The couch and end tables look really good in our living room.  The bedroom looks good, too.

I didn't bowl today.  Only Bob & Dave did.  I won $5 at bingo tonight - whoopee!  Tomorrow we shuffle and then we can maybe go see Dave's dad on either Thursday or Friday!  I'm ready to stop working and just enjoy the winter!!

More later...


Monday, November 10, 2014

Finished!

We got all of the floor down and everything is trimmed out except for the two bathrooms...and that's another day!  The floor is beautiful!  Bob & Dave put on all of the doors while Ann & I played cards tonight.  Tomorrow after bowling, we're going to get our furniture from the other place.  Finally then it will feel like home!  I'm so tired tonight - I know that Dave, Bob & Ron are exhausted.  My sciatic nerve hurts so bad, I'm afraid I won't be able to bowl tomorrow!

More later...

Sunday, November 9, 2014

Sunday

Sorry I didn't blog last night.  Dave unhooked our internet and tv so that the guys could work putting the floor down in the living room today.  So I had no computer access until this evening.  We now have floors in the master bedroom, the spare bedroom, both closets, and the living room.  We've even got trim in the spare bedroom and over half of the living room!  Tomorrow they're going to start with the trim in the master bedroom and finish the rest of the floors!  It is really, really pretty.  I can hardly wait to see the furniture in here, but that's another day!

In order for me to stay out of the way, and to have a place to sit, I went to the clubhouse and worked on the library.  We had gotten 3 huge totes full of books, so they all needed marked with the date and alphabetized.  I put an equal number of old books back in the totes to donate to the library for their book sale!  I got that project done - it took me several hours, but I'm done until someone brings me more books.

More later...

Friday, November 7, 2014

Friday

Fridays at The Ranch mean going to the Legion and today was no exception.  It was a beautiful day today so being at the Legion was a great thing to do today!  We took Marilyn and Barb with us.  That was fun because we don't often get to visit with either one of those ladies.  I always say a day at the Legion is successful if we see any dolphins.  Today was successful!  There were 2 or 3 that went by shortly before we were ready to leave for the day.  I think there were 18 of us from The Ranch there for lunch.  It was a fun time!

This morning I worked on sorting out library books up at the hall.  I got all of the books sorted and most of them put away before Zumba.  Zumba about killed me.  I have never sweat so much!!  I sure hope I'm able to get out of bed in the morning.

More later...c

Thursday, November 6, 2014

Off Day

Thursday is an off day here at The Ranch.  There are no activities on Thursdays except for water aerobics at 2:00...and I was sleeping when 2:00 came!  I took a nap and didn't wake up until about 3:00!  Dave did several little projects today, but nothing major.  We were both tired and just needed to chill out.

Now he's asleep in his chair and has been for about 1.5 hours!  He left the tv on a channel that has "Wild Alaska" on it.  At least it's about animals and not people!  It's actually been very entertaining!

More later...

Wednesday, November 5, 2014

I hurt!!

Boy, do I hurt!  My buns and my right shoulder hurt from bowling!  Today was not a rest day either!  We played shuffleboard today, which uses a totally different set of muscles, so I can hardly wait to wake up tomorrow!  I probably won't be able to move at all!  Good thing tomorrow is an off day!

Speaking of shuffling, we played 3 games today - two this morning and 1 this afternoon.  We had about 26 people there for the morning sessions, but by afternoon we only had 13!  So we elected to only play 1 game this afternoon.  I played twice and won twice.  I shuffled pretty well!

This afternoon, after shuffleboard, Dave & Laurie got the vinyl in both bathrooms.  All that's left in them is to put down the trim.  So we're 1/3 of the way through with our flooring!!  Unfortunately, the two rooms were itty-bitty rooms compared with the rest of the rooms here!

Tonight at 7s, I finally was on a losing team.  We were 6,000+ points ahead of our opponents going into the last hand.  They skunked us in that hand.  We didn't even get on the board!  So we ended up losing by over 2,000 points!  That was really mean of them!

More later...


Tuesday, November 4, 2014

B & B

Gee, this year started out much the same as last year ended!  I didn't bowl so well, and I didn't win at bingo.  I don't know why I expect any different results!  It was still a fun day.  We had 22 bowlers - 9 women and 13 men.  Unfortunately the men ruled today!  Roger had high series and a 233 game.  The high woman was Donna, but her high game was only a 170!

At bingo, there were maybe 25 people.  Donna won 3x, Connie won 4x, Maggie won 3x, Nettie won 2x, Phyllis won 2x - same old, same old!  Again, it was still fun!

More later...

Monday, November 3, 2014

Monday!

We had a beautiful day here today!  We finally got to take our first bicycle ride...it's been too cold up until now.  Then we finished all of the kitchen cabinets and drawers.  We also went shopping and got the vinyl for the bathrooms as well as the rest of the laminate.  Ron came over and told us how we were going to tackle this project!  I can hardly wait - we should be started before the weekend - yay!

This evening we played cards and my team won again!  So far, I'm 2 for 2.  Tomorrow all of the fun starts for real.  It'll be the first B & B - bowling and bingo and Wednesday we start shuffling.  Should be a fun week!

More later...

Sunday, November 2, 2014

Sunday

We didn't go to church today.  We actually slept a little later than usual this morning, then we got up and started working on cleaning out the cupboards in the kitchen.  When you clean them out, you also wash all the dishes in them, wash the inside of the cupboards as well as the outside, put in new shelf liner, and then re-load the cupboards with all the dishes you've washed.  I think we have all the cupboards done now, but we haven't cleaned out the drawers, so that's next.  I'll be glad when the kitchen is done!  I'd really like to paint the cabinets, but that's another hill to climb!

We watched the end of the NASCAR race.  When we were watching, it looked pretty obvious that Jeff was going to win it because his car was really good.  Then Jeff got wrecked by Brad Keselowski who seems to wreck everyone.  Needless to say, there was an all-out brawl at the end of the race - Jeff and his crew against Brad and his crew.  Both drivers were sporting bloody mouths!  Brad was on probation, so it'll be interesting to see what Nascar does about him this time.

We had a late lunch with Sudi and Howard at JB's.  It was great to see them!  It was pretty cold down here last night and tonight, but then it's to be back in the 70-80 degree range!  Yay!

More later...


Saturday, November 1, 2014

Saturday??

This sure doesn't feel like Saturday, but then I'm just confused.  Dave and I went out and got some groceries today and then came home to start working on kitchen cabinets.  So Dave washed dishes and I dried.  That's a fun part of moving into a place!  We're putting in shelf liner after we take out what she had in there.  It'll look nicer when we're done!

I also played cards tonight, so now I'll really be confused!  We usually play on M, W, and F...not Saturday!

More later...

Friday, October 31, 2014

Safe & Sound

We made it and we made it safely!  Since it rained on us for quite a while both days. we were glad to be safe.  Yesterday we made it to Brentwood, TN, just on the south side of Nashville.  Nashville was a breeze getting through last night - yay!  We've had terrible traffic tie-ups in that city before so yesterday's ease was wonderful.  We even made it to Corky's for some BBQ and some live music!

We left Brentwood at 5:00 this morning and got in here about 6:40 tonight...just in time to have pizza at the Ranch's annual Halloween party.  It was so good to see everyone.  We went as weary travelers!!  We came home a bit ago and are just enjoying sitting in our home NOT MOVING in a car!!  Dave brought in only essentials - we'll unload everything else tomorrow.  I love the paint.  but these plywood floors leave a lot to be desired!

We're so glad to be here!

More later...

Wednesday, October 29, 2014

Wednesday

I think we're pretty much ready to take off.  The car is mostly packed so we'll finish up in the morning and get going.  We're not in a hurry and not going to push to get there in 2 days this time.  We're tired now, so we'll take a leisurely trip down.  I'm anxious to get there because I can hardly wait to see the place now that it's painted.

I may not be able to post for a couple of days, so don't expect much.

More later...

Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Tuesday

God is good!  Just thought I'd tell you all that!  We just got home from Waverly and Waterloo, and Minnesota.  Had a great trip.  We sure enjoyed seeing Bryan, Erin, and baby Aidan!  Hope to get some pix on here tomorrow.  We also got to see Linda and Al.  I had a senior moment yesterday.  I had clothes on hangers to take on the trip - long pants (because it's cold up there) and a jacket.  Last night about 10:00, I realized that I didn't have my clothes with me - they were still back in O-town on the back of the kitchen chair where I put them!  I'm sure glad I had clean undies with me!!  So today, in 39 degree temps, I wore shorts and a sweatshirt that I borrowed from my great nephew!!   Pretty funny looks I got along the way today!  Let's just say I'm ready to be back in the sunny South!

On our way home tonight, we came within a few feet of hitting a deer.  I saw her and yelled, Dave saw her and slammed on the brakes.  It's a good thing, too, because we were awfully close to her!  I'll bet she about had a coronary, too!

Don't forget to thank God for all your blessings tonight!

More later...

Sunday, October 26, 2014

Sunday

Dave's home!!!  I'm so glad!  Thank you, Lord, for keeping him safe in his travels.  Now we're planning to go north for a couple of days and hopefully leave here on Thursday for points south.  Right now I'm too tired to think about any of this.  We're hoping to stay with Linda and Al tomorrow night and also see Aidan sometime.  Bob called today from up that direction and said that gas was $2.75 at Pilot on 21 up by I-80.  I'm hoping it's still that tomorrow when we go by there.  That would be a nice treat!

Now I've got to get busy and get things organized to go.  I don't think it will take me long, but I need to download some files, get our tax papers together, etc.

More later...

Saturday, October 25, 2014

It's Saturday

I was beginning to wonder if Saturday would ever get here.  I'm getting tired of being alone - can you tell?  I'm even reading Les Miserables!  I thought the title was appropriate!  I did have a good day, though.  I mowed the leaves AGAIN!  There were at least twice as many today as there were 2 days ago and our trees are still packed with leaves.  Where are all of these leaves coming from????  It was a great day to mow - I even had to shed my jacket.  So I was in shorts and a t-shirt mowing on October 25th!!  Not bad for Iowa on this date!  The house stayed at 70 all day - I didn't have to turn the furnace up at all today!  We're supposed to have a couple more 70 degree days and then the temps are to drop.

Dave gets home early in the morning - Lord willing and the creek don't rise!  His flight gets into DSM at 8:30 so he's hoping to be at church for fellowship time.  Can't wait to see him!

More later...

Friday, October 24, 2014

Friday

I looked out my window this morning and it was snowing!!  Leaves, that is.  Honestly, they were falling so quickly that it looked like snow.  Guess what I get to do tomorrow!  I guess I'll be mowing leaves again.  Unfortunately our leaves aren't even 50% on the ground, so there'll be more mowing in our future.  At least it's supposed to be sunny and 72 or so tomorrow.  It'll be nice to be on the mower with those conditions!

This mornings card club got cancelled because of the fog.  I didn't think it looked bad, but we've got ladies who come from Fairfield and from Oskaloosa and they wouldn't have wanted to drive in the fog.  So I got ready for my afternoon of playing 7s from Hell.  I made 4 poppers of popcorn and got out some apples for snacks.  Sheryl and I won today.  I think everyone's catching onto the game very well.  They should be able to play once I'm in Florida.

Tonight I've been working on cleaning up more pictures.

More later...

Thursday, October 23, 2014

Thursday

I got a lot of my to-do list done today!  I paid bills, got most everything on my desk dealt with, and got ready for tomorrow!  I even got my autumn tree pictures loaded on the computer and I remembered to take the trash out!  I didn't get my bank accounts reconciled, but that usually doesn't take me long, so I can do it in between events tomorrow!

As for fall trees, here's just one of the pictures I took in Fairfield.;  I should have had my camera with me today here in O-town because they are beautiful here - the cemetery is extremely beautiful today!


Maybe I'll take my camera with me tomorrow!  I put some others on Facebook for your enjoyment!

More later...

Wednesday, October 22, 2014

Wednesday

It was another beautiful fall day today.  I went outside this morning, looked at all the leaves on the lawn, and decided I'd better mulch some of them before it rained and there were thousands more leaves on the ground!  When I finished the lawn looked pretty good.  I'm almost positive that I'll need to mulch again later in the week, though, because the leaves are falling quickly now.  Also, our neighbors' leaves seem to all be coming into our yard.  What's up with that?

I've been waiting up watching the baseball game, but I think I'm going to go to bed before it's over.  Hopefully Kansas City has a big enough lead to win game 2!  I'm really not an American League fan, but I've been hoping KC wins just because of the proximity to us.

More later...

Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Beautiful Day

All day today, I kept singing, "This is the day, this is the day, this is the day that the Lord has made..."  It was about 65 and sunny and the trees are beautiful - at least a bunch of them are.  Others are still green, but the oranges and yellows and maroons are spectacular!  I went to Fairfield today to meet up with Al (I needed to pick up some Tupperware from Vicki before leaving for Florida!)  While I was there, I shot some pictures, but I didn't get them uploaded yet.  Maybe tomorrow!

I got several things done today - I got Brighthouse taken care of as well as Pest Bear!  Tomorrow I've got to mow leaves if it doesn't rain too much.  The wind today did a number on our leaves.  I told Dave there weren't enough to mow, but by 5:00 or so, there seemed to be double what there had been earlier!

Tonight I had a sorority meeting - there were only 12 of us there.  It was short and sweet, though.  Bev gave a very interesting program about breast cancer.

More later...

Monday, October 20, 2014

Monday

Great BRT this morning!  We actually made it through a whole chapter today!  I love the 3rd chapter of James.  I think if we could all live by this chapter's lessons, the world would be a better place!

I called Mediacom today and they actually got someone here this afternoon.  He told me he was getting different readings on our modem, so he replaced it.  Lo and behold, I haven't had one disconnect this evening!  I hardly know what to do!!

Dave was able to find the laminate for our house today, but he didn't find any rolls of luxury vinyl.  He made a bunch of phone calls this afternoon, though, and found one place that had 20+ rolls of it and great rates.  So he's going there tomorrow.  Unfortunately neither Suzy nor Roberta will be with him.  I hope he picks out something I like!

Sudi, I hope you all have a fun time - be sure to tell everyone hello from me!!  Tonight after DWTS I have been going through pictures on my laptop.  I literally take thousands of pix (and so does Dave) and I don't always have time when I download them to my computer to go through and delete the so-so pix.  That's what I've been doing tonight.  What wonderful memories we've made in the last few years!

More later...

Sunday, October 19, 2014

Sunday

I got a little bored this evening.  I finished a book and then ate my lunch.  After lunch I turned on the race.  I remembered why I don't like to watch those races where they draft all the time.  Plus #2 won and I don't like him much!  He did sort of apologize for his antics last week, but he's apologized before and then came right back out and did something stupid the next race.  He must be a slow learner!  It wasn't a good day for the Hendricks' team...3 of the 4 drivers are out of the Chase.  Jeff is still in, but he's number 8 out of 8.  He's got to get a win next week to get back in the thick of things.

Dave says I'm going to love the paint in our home at The Ranch.  He and his family are going shopping tomorrow for the flooring.  I'll be anxious to see what they pick out! Mainly I want something that looks good with the paint and doesn't show dirt!

I've got a  big to-do list for this week.  First thing tomorrow, I'm calling Mediacom again.  There is just no excuse for this!!

More later...

Saturday, October 18, 2014

Thanksgiving Day

Wait a minute...what's wrong with you, Peg?  It's not Thanksgiving.  Thanksgiving is in November and this is only October!  I guess it doesn't matter what the calendar says, we had our family Thanksgiving tonight.  We were missing Kaylee & Clayton, Al, and Rhonda's family.  Little Blaise was funny tonight.  He was doing belly laughs until he got the hiccups and then he got a little miffed!  He just kept rolling over and over and he loves to watch TV!  He just turned 5 months old this past week!  We had turkey and ham and all the trimmings except pumpkin pie.  I/We cooked the ham and made apple salad.  I forgot to put the marshmallows in my salad, so we put them on top and that worked just fine!

I'm listening to my Cyclones play, but Dave is sound asleep in his chair.  We're tied, but Texas is threatening again.  This is a really high scoring game 38-38 with 3+ minutes left.  Where's the defense?

More later...

Friday, October 17, 2014

Friday

This was a good day.  It was a little cold, so it couldn't be called a great day - ha!  It only got up to 54 so I kept wishing I was some place warmer!  I know I'll be there soon, I'm just getting anxious!  I worked on the November newsletter for The Ranch today.  I am about done with it.  I just need to find out about the monthly breakfast and then I can send it to get printed.  Everything starts in November - bowling starts on the 4th, shuffleboard on the 5th, the first pancake breakfast on the 15th.  It made me realize how much fun we have with our Ranch friends.

I was also able to get my studio cleaned up and my cards put away.  I still am looking for all of my Christmas cards.  Dave thinks I may have sent them to Florida already, but I don't remember doing that.  If I don't find them here, they've got to be there.  There are over 50 of them, so I hope I didn't hide them really well!

Dave went to Q's house to hang her curtains for her.  Three of the 4 curtains we bought had major flaws in them, so he had to return them for others.  Hope she likes them.  Again, thank you to our church family!

This evening we went to the Heartland Humane Society's fall supper - pulled pork sandwiches, cole slaw, baked beans and homemade desserts.  Very good food and a good cause!  Then we dropped by Bob & Ann's.  Tomorrow is our family's Thanksgiving dinner so I'll have a busy day getting my salad made and cooking the ham.  Should be fun!

More later...

Wednesday, October 15, 2014

Heavenly

I loved today - the sun was shining and it got up to around 60, so I got my shorts out again.  I didn't do much today.  I had a massage and then a 2 hour nap.  I also got caught up on my games and did the laundry.  Plus, you can almost see my desk again!!

I'm glad Sudi & Howard made it to Florida safely.  Dave will be going again next week and then he'll come home and get me.  We'll be there before you know it, but not soon enough for me!

More later...

Tuesday, October 14, 2014

Two Little Boys

All of the rain we've had for the last few days has made me depressed, but the arrival of our newest grandson is a bright spot among the raindrops!  Let me introduce you to Aidan William Cornelius Frushour....big name for a little guy.  He was 20" long and weighed 7 lbs 4 oz.  Aidan was born on Monday, Oct 13th at 12:28 PM.  He is just precious!  





As you can see, Grandpa and Grandma both think he's pretty special!

While we were in the Waterloo area, we went to Linda & Al's for pizza and to spend the night.  So, we got to see Blaise, too.  He looks pretty big after seeing Aidan!  Blaise is 5 months old today and weighs about 19 lbs!  He was having fun with his grandma and great, great aunt Peg!!

We are glad to be home for a few days.  We'll decide what we are doing about Florida soon!  After these last 3 days of cold, windy, rainy days, I hope we get to go soon.

More later...

Sunday, October 12, 2014

Mostly great weekend!

What a fun weekend!!  We picked up our new vehicle on Friday morning and took off for Ames.  It had 5 miles on it when we picked it up.  It now has considerably more than that.  We're discovering more and more things as we get familiar with it - some of which are pretty cool!  It's keyless, so all we have to do is have the fob in our pocket - everything works that way.  Even the lights go to bright and dim without you initiating it and I can talk and tell the radio what station to play!

Friday night we had our little reunion in honor of Kevin Hart.  The guys who came back had a great time reminiscing, laughing, and we even had a few serious moments with our toasts to Kevin.  Coach Bruce even showed up, which made it even more fun!  He's pretty sharp for being 83 years old.  He would remind guys about things they did (or didn't do)!  Some of those guys I hadn't seen since 1975 or 76.   Dave took lots of pictures and just let me mingle, so I had a blast!  Then Saturday we went to the Gridiron tent and the game.  Most of us sat in the same section, so I got to experience the awe and wonder through the guys' eyes.  It was a packed stadium and the sun was shining brightly so it was beautiful.  All of that cardinal and gold made for beautiful sights!  Linda and Al joined us too, so it was like old times!  After the game, we tailgated in the parking lot until about 8:00 and then headed home.  Even that late there were still lines of traffic on I-35!  Fun, fun weekend!

We went to church this morning and when we got home there was a message waiting for us that Cindy & Joel wanted to stop by on their way back to Ames.  They'd been in Mt Pleasant all weekend, so that was the icing on the cake!  We love being with them.  They stayed only a couple of hours, but we gabbed as fast as we could so we didn't miss anything!

Tomorrow morning we head off to Waterloo because Erin goes in for a C-section around noon.  So hopefully everything will go all right and we'll get to meet our new grandson tomorrow afternoon.  We can hardly wait!  We'll probably spend the night up there and maybe even get to see Kyle, Cassie and Blaise.

More later...

Thursday, October 9, 2014

Thursday

Dave and I got our papers in order today because tomorrow we're picking up our new vehicle and heading to Ames.  I've got to pack yet, but that won't be a problem.  I was hoping we would get to see Cindy and Joel, but that's not going to work.  Cindy works tomorrow and only has a half hour for lunch.  Darn.

We'll be coming home on Saturday after the ball game and then on Monday we'll be going to Waterloo for the new baby's birth.  We're excited to meet him!

Sounds like a very busy few days.  Add to that packing the car for the trip South and we'll need a vacation soon!

More later...

Wednesday, October 8, 2014

Beautiful fall day!

This was an absolutely beautiful fall day.  I packed up my stamping stuff for Florida and made sure that everything was ready for tonight's stamp class.  Then we went to Fairfield to have lunch with our friends, Sudi & Howard.  We went to a place called Doc's Inn - pretty good food.  It's always good to get with Sudi & HB!  Next time we see them will be on the beach!

On the way home from Fairfield, we got a call that our new vehicle had arrived at Vaughn's.  Unfortunately our salesman has tomorrow off and we couldn't get it tonight because of my stamp class.  We'll be picking it up on Friday.  We've waited this long for it, what's another couple of days?  I guess it's inaugural voyage will be to Ames!

Tonight's class was a little frustrating.  We had 12 people in class...we ended up $1 short and this was the messiest class we've ever done.  Several stamp pads may be ruined because of not cleaning the stamps before inking them, therefore we may have purple ink on a blue stamp pad.  We also ended up short on paper at one station.  It's enough to make you pull your hair out...these are adult women!  Oh, well.  Hopefully the sun will come out tomorrow!

More later...

Tuesday, October 7, 2014

Fun day

Dave went to What Cheer to pick up a used clothes washer for a lady in our church who has been washing all of their clothes by hand!  When Dave told the guy who it was for, he gave it to Dave and also gave him some curtains and blankets for the family.  This is fun - doing things for those who don't have!  This family is from Cameroon and have been going to our church for a couple of years.  They have two little ones who are just darling, and now his sister is here too.  Glad we can help them!

After Dave got home from picking up the washer and installing it, we ate a quick lunch and went to Cantril for popcorn!  We love the ladyfinger popcorn we get there - it's so tender and hull-less.  So we got two big bags of it - we'll take it with us when we leave.

I just finished a great book today, by Lisa Gardner, Touch & Go.  If you like whodunits, this is a very good one.  I told Dave that he just had to read it - he'll love it, too.  I've read a bunch of her books!

More later...

Monday, October 6, 2014

Pretty but chilly

It was sure a pretty day today - beautiful, sunny day.  I had to get a sweatshirt out today, though!  It was a bit chilly this morning and much better this afternoon when the wind died down.

Today was a typical Monday - BRT in the morning, followed by whatever this afternoon.  Dave took most all of the stuff that we were going to sell in our garage sale to Goodwill.  Yay!  

I didn't sleep well last night, so I took a nap this afternoon.  I think I'll get me some Tylenol PM - I know several people who take it and swear by it.  

More later...


Sunday, October 5, 2014

Super Sunday

It was a beautiful day today...a great one to be alive and to worship our Creator.  Church was good as usual and 201 class was great.  It was about tithing and fellowship.  Gave us lots to think about.  Next Sunday we go back to 101 in depth.  It was good seeing everyone today!

After Sunday School, I came home to Dave mowing the yard.  He then had to go to church this afternoon to pick up in the ditches along our portion of highway (highway cleanup).  It was a good day for it - not too hot and not too cold.  I ran some errands and then came home to do the laundry and get our pills ready for the next month.  Does that make us sound old??

I got done with all of my "chores" about the time Dave got home from highway cleanup, followed by a visit to the grocery store.  Guess what he's doing now?  Yep, he's sound asleep in his chair.  It's no wonder he gets up at 5:30 or so every morning!

More later...

Saturday, October 4, 2014

Home again

Dave is home again - yay!!  He got home about 1:15 - earlier than I thought he'd be here, but I'm sure glad!  We both took naps as soon as he got here - neither of us sleeps well when one of us has been away.  In fact, Dave has taken 2 naps and now he's asleep in his chair and has been for a long time.  When he falls asleep in his chair, he usually leaves some dumb COPs show on the tv.  That means I'm stuck listening to these wonderful murder cases that they're solving.  Yuck!

I sure hope it's warmer tomorrow!  I finally had to turn up the furnace this morning.  When I went to bed last night, I had it set on 62.  When I got up, it was 63 in the house!  Needless to say it got turned up!  Our friends used to keep their house on 58 all the time - I don't think I could do that.

More later...

Friday, October 3, 2014

Furnace is on

I wouldn't let Dave turn on the furnace until after October 1st.   I used to say November 1st, but I'm getting soft in my old age!  It's down to 69 in our house tonight and the furnace is set on 62.  Shall we make a bet whether or not it kicks on?  I'm pretty sure that the house will continue to drop in temperature, so I'm guessing it'll come on in the night.  Yuck.  I want to go south.

We had 24 people at our PEO meeting today and we had a wonderful program.  Molly Nauman portrays Isabelle Hoffman from one of the prominent families in O-town.  She did a wonderful job telling us about Isabelle and her family's love for Ottumwa.  Then this afternoon I had three ladies over to play cards.  An otherwise icky, cold, damp day became a lot of fun.  This evening I have not done a thing.

Hopefully Dave is coming home tomorrow.  We've been apart 10 days and now 3 days in the last 3 weeks.  That's the most we've been apart in 24 years!

More later...

Thursday, October 2, 2014

A day for the ducks!

Yes, it was WET today!  It just rained and rained, and when it wasn't raining, it was dark and gloomy.  I've had to use my inhaler twice today and I hardly ever have to use it!  I didn't want to leave the house today, but Bob & I went to Washington late this afternoon to watch Allison play volleyball.  I drove because Ann met us there.  Driving in the rain isn't fun at all.  My ankle had a crink in it - I'm not used to driving without using cruise control.  I could feel my car fishtailing in some of the tracks on the road as it was.

Allison's team made way too many mistakes tonight.  They lost the first game 22-20, then came back to win the second game 20-22, and then lost the 3rd game 15-6 or so.  I don't really know what the score of the 3rd game was, I just know they lost it.  It was still fun to watch her!



She's #13.  Their opponent tonight was Ottumwa and I knew several of those girls so that was fun getting to see them play!

More later...

Wednesday, October 1, 2014

Wednesday

A drizzly day is a day where I want to stay home, curled up with a good book.  I didn't get to do that today, however.  I had a mammogram at 8:45 this morning at ORHC.  We enter the hospital check-in area at the ER entrance and there are never any parking places close.  They have at least 20 spaces reserved for rehab patients and everyone else just had to make do.  I don't mind walking, but I didn't like getting wet this morning.  That was a cold rain!  I guess fall is here!!

I had a massage at 1:00 and I got in as soon as I arrived there.  Gerrii gives such good massages!  Sometimes we get to talking and the time goes by so fast - like today!  But I sure know she worked on me - all of my muscles were tight and now they are really, really sore.  I guess I'll be using BioFreeze tonight!

More later...


Tuesday, September 30, 2014

Tuesday

Day two of my business!  This morning, I picked up Queen (a lady who has been coming to our church the last few months).  I brought her here so she could go through the kitchen stuff we have ready for a garage sale.  I let her have whatever she wants.  Dave bought a small couch/loveseat so he and Queen's son took it over to her apartment.  After sending out an SOS for "stuff" to our church members, she now has 2 twin beds, bedding, a table and chairs, lamps, an easy chair and a dresser.  Way to go, my fellow FPCers!!  We're also going to have a shower for her - things like tin foil, plastic bags, shower curtains, etc.  Any excess funds we get, I just want to give it to her to buy groceries, but I guess we'll make that decision later.

This afternoon, I gave blood and then I came home and crashed!  I was so tired, I went upstairs, read for a few minutes, and then slept for almost 2 hours!!  That felt good!!

More later...


Monday, September 29, 2014

Start of a busy week!

This is really going to be a busy week for me.  I have at least one thing every day and on some days I've got two things!  Today I had an 8:45 doctor's appointment for my last pap test - hooray!!  I guess once you're 65 you don't have to have those any more and that doesn't hurt my feelings at all!  Dr H also had my blood drawn for a blood panel.  When that was done, I hurried back to O-town because I needed to pick up Mary and take her to Bible Reading Time with me.  Her normal ride is out of town this week.  We had 8 at BRT, with 3 missing!!  We sure didn't get far.  We'll start Chapter 2 of James next Monday.

Tomorrow I've got two things, Wednesday I also have two and Thursday, too.  One will have to go on Thursday, though, because I'm taking Bob to Washington to watch Allison play VB.

More later...

Sunday, September 28, 2014

Busy week

Sundays are usually wonderful days for me, and today was no exception.  Today's sermon was very enlightening, as was class 201 after worship.  We had a good group in class - fun to visit with them and hear about their faith journeys.

After church, Dave mowed the yard and around 2, Judy came over to go through all of our Christmas decorations.  She took everything for the Festival of Trees, which gives all of their profits to Habitat for Humanity.  So instead of selling them at a garage sale, we made a donation to Habitat!  Now if I could just find someone who would like my witches and/or my rabbits.  I'd love to get rid of them so I wouldn't have to have a garage sale at all.

More later...

Saturday, September 27, 2014

They are home!!

Yay!  Dave and the guys got home this afternoon and I'm so glad!  They had a good trip - found a couple of problems, but got them fixed.  It's nice having "experts" in the park!  Bob said they still had some things they were going to work on when we get down there in October.  I'm starting to get excited about getting there!  The paint colors look good - hope I like it as well when I get to see it in person.

I'm watching my Cyclones and I feel so badly for them.  Baylor is so good - I'll probably not stay up for the second half.  This is getting out of hand quickly.  I sure don't understand why the Baylor QB is playing.  He broke bones in his back and he's got extra padding on.  He'll wonder why he did this if he gets hit and gets paralyzed or something.

We've sure had some gorgeous weather this week, haven't we?!!  It's beautiful for another couple of days or so they say.

More later...

Friday, September 26, 2014

Fabulous Friday

Fridays are always good days and today was no exception.  It was beautiful outside.  It feels more like summer than fall today!  It's finally down to 67 right now!  Ottumwa's homecoming was tonight.  If they won the football game, it must have been a low scoring game because I haven't heard the cannon much.  Last night's fireworks were much louder!

I had card club this morning and I demo'd two different cards.  I think everyone liked them.  I know I sure do.  That'll probably be my last card club until next spring.  This afternoon 4 of us got together to play 7s from Hell.  In between I ate a quick lunch and tried to get my studio cleaned back up with everything put away.  I've still got some work to do in that area.

The guys made it to Paducah.  It must have been a very long day if they got that far!

More later...

Thursday, September 25, 2014

Busy day

Today was not a boring day for me.  I picked up around the house and I did the laundry.  That in itself is quite an accomplishment!  In fact, I even went to the chiropractor and finished my card prep for tomorrow.  I'm all ready for that AND I'm ready to play cards tomorrow afternoon!  Why, I even got my desk cleaned off!  Dave can come home now and think I've done all kinds of things!!

Speaking of Dave, he was busy, busy in Florida in our new home.  He had some repairs to do today, and it's a good thing Bob & Gary were there to help.  Dave's been on prednisone for a week and he gets frustrated very easily!  I guess he'd about had it this afternoon.

This afternoon and evening, I went to Indian Hills for a Trailblazers meeting, followed by the annual retirees' dinner.  Wonderful dinner and good conversations!  Fun night!

More later...

Wednesday, September 24, 2014

Boring Day

I must admit, I got a little bored today.  I guess I really miss Dave!  I worked on my cards and I think I'm about ready for that project.  I also delivered some SU to Juliene, went to the credit union, and went to Fareway.  How about that for a busy day!  I almost gave in and took a nap!\

More later...

Tuesday, September 23, 2014

Team Time

I slept in this morning and it sure did feel good!  I was still able to get my card stuff ready for Friday morning's demo.  Hopefully there aren't more than 7 there!  This afternoon I went to Mt Pleasant to watch Allison play volleyball.  That was different - I hadn't seen one of her VB games before.  She's on the A team so her team played first.  They won the first 2 games, so her time on the court was over for the evening.  She did very well.  She served 7 straight points to start the first game  and didn't have a service error until later in the second game.  I took my camera, but didn't grab the memory card out of the computer, so can't share any pix.  :(

More later...

Monday, September 22, 2014

Wasted Days and Wasted Nights!

After Bible Reading Time today, I pretty much wasted the rest of my day and night...and it felt good!  I did figure out what I'm demonstrating at Friday's PMS get together, and even cut some of the paper.  I'll work on the rest of it tomorrow!

The guys got to Florida safely.  Dave is sleeping in our MH down there tonight.  He said the trailer pulled very well.  I'm sure they're all tired, but they are safe and that's the important thing.

More later...

Sunday, September 21, 2014

Fun, Fun, Fun

I just got back this afternoon from our annual Girls of 66 trip.  This year we went to Lake Geneva, WI and had a wonderful time!  Twenty-seven of us were there!  The first night we went to Nan's new home there, right on the lake.  We had the most scrumptious dinner and lots of fun touring their beautiful 1926 home.  On Friday, we toured the Yerkes Observatory and had dinner at the Cafe Calimari.  Then Saturday, we took a tour of the lake on Our Lady of the Lake and only got a little bit damp when it started raining!  This morning, we had brunch and then headed for home.  I think it's pretty wonderful how we have so much fun and get to catch up on everyone's lives!  The trip encompassed 730 miles from O-town to O-town and the sights in between!

I got home about 5:15 and my house feels awfully good.  I plan to go to bed early and read intil I crash.  I'll get pictures on here tomorrow!

More later...


Wednesday, September 17, 2014

I'm ready!

I think that we are both ready for our trips.  We're just two ships passing in the night!  I wish I could be both places, but that just doesn't work.  I feel better knowing that Dave will have company on his trip.  Plus, he's now on prednisone for poison ivy, so he won't be falling asleep!

I picked up the cards that I'd left at my dentist's office.  They bought 21 cards, so that thinned out my stock a bit.  Plus I had a PEO sister call today and say that she was going to buy a bunch of my cards for her daughter and friends for Christmas gifts.  Maybe I'd better make some more!  I also heard today that we're having our first ever Craft Bazaar this January, so I hope I have cards left for that!

I won't be blogging for a few days as I'm not taking my computer with me.

More later...

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

Woohoo again!!

We did it!!  We got all the way everything up in the attic.  Are we going to have a great garage sale!!  We've got Santas, snowmen, witches, rabbits, Easter egg stuff, turkeys, pilgrims, Christmas trees, and on and on and on!!  One spare bedroom is full of totes that somehow I've got to figure out how to price between now and Oct. 4th.  I've told a couple of ladies and they're coming over next week to pre-shop.  Maybe they'll buy it all!  (It's okay to be a wishful thinker, isn't it?)

Tonight I had sorority and I had the Master's Degree ritual given to me.  Most of the other ladies already had the Master's degree a few years ago and now I've caught up with them.  Basically what that means is I'm old and have been in Beta Sigma Phi forever!  I joined in 1974, and this degree didn't even exist when I first joined!  Now there's even one after Master's!  I guess Betas are living longer these days!

More later...


Monday, September 15, 2014

Woohoo!

Woohoo!  We got all the way through the kitchen cabinets and drawers -purging!  I didn't think we'd ever get through all of them, but we did!  There probably isn't 40% in them of what used to be in them.  Tomorrow we hit the attic!  Now that's going to be a challenge!

Tonight we watched Dancing with the Stars.  Pretty interesting show tonight.  A couple of the stars are going to be pretty good, but several of them were really bad.  I was really disappointed in Lolo Jones.  She was almost as bad as Kate Gosslin was a few years ago.  I hope she gets another chance.

More later...


Sunday, September 14, 2014

Sunday

We took a day off today!  Of course, we went to church and to lunch with the group.  Today's lunch was at Appanoose Rapids.  They have a buffet on Sundays - very good, different selections than you get elsewhere.

When we came home from lunch, I took a nap and Dave went out to mow.  He's going to mow again Weds. and maybe again before he leaves on Sunday.  Then it will be up to me!  Thank goodness it's getting warmer outside.  I wasn't in to that cold stuff.  I'm about ready to go south!

That's about all there is to say today.  We watched the end of the race...or rather I did.  Dave was checking his eyelids for holes!

More later...

Saturday, September 13, 2014

Calgon take me away!!

This morning early, we went to Hedrick for breakfast at the Loren Sylvester Memorial Breakfast for the Christian Church.  Mainly we went to Craig & Sue!  The food was very good...Sylvester eggs (scrambled), hash browns, biscuits and Sylvester sausage gravy, plus cinnamon rolls that were wonderful.

Since this was the Cyclone-Hawkeye game day, I wore my Cyclone clothes.  I got a few people who said that I would look better in black and gold, but several said they hoped we won today!  I told some friends that I thought we could win it, because the Hawks really struggled last week against a not-so-good opponent, whereas we played really well against the #20th ranked team in the nation, and should have won. Needless to say, now that the game is over, I'm a pretty happy camper!!


I was begging for Calgon to take me away before the game started!  Dave and  I emptied every cupboard in the kitchen and put things into 4 stacks - stay, sell, take to Florida, or throw away.  If anyone looks in our cupboards, they would think that we don't have much...because they are clean and empty!!  We'll be having a garage sale about Oct. 4th.  Between now and Wednesday, we're going through all of my Christmas decorations, as well as my Halloween decorations, Easter decorations, etc.  If and when our house sells, we won't have to downsize quite as much!

More later...

Friday, September 12, 2014

God's not dead!

We just watched the movie, God's Not Dead.  What an uplifting movie.  If only everyone would watch this movie and feel good about believing in God - what a wonderful proposition!!  We both really liked the movie!

Today was a quiet day.  Dave worked at the Habitat House because they had a whole crew there to side the place.  They worked in the rain and got about 2 1/2 sides about done and they also worked on mudding and taping inside.  He says he's not going tomorrow.  We're planning to go through cupboards and get things ready for a garage sale.  I've got tons of decorations for various holidays that we'll be selling.  We don't decorate like we used to, so someone else should be enjoying my "stuff"!!

More later...

Thursday, September 11, 2014

Cool Thursday!!

It sure didn't get very warm today, did it?  I think it maybe got up to the upper 60's, but that's pretty cool compared to what we've had!  Definitely feels like fall.  I still wore my shorts all day because Dave and I worked in the house emptying drawers and packing boxes with things he's going to take down to Clearwater later.  Our dining room is full of stuff that's going down there, and we're not quite ready to load the trailer yet.  I'm hoping he's got some hairy-legged friends who'll help with that part!!

I finally got a picture of two hummingbirds sitting on the feeder without one of them bullying the other away.  They're ornery little birds.  Usually when one is feeding, they are on constant alert like the one on the right...waiting for the bully to come around!


As I was going through pictures this evening, I realized that I hadn't shown you the view from our favorite pizza place in Clearwater.  Actually there is NO view - for about 2 years they're saying.  To the left of this picture is where the new condo/hotel/whatever is going up and these are all of their work trailers.  You can no longer walk across the street to the beach, either.  Grrrr!
And speaking of views, Ryan Howard's new home is progressing quite nicely...and he's going to have a wonderful view!!
More later...

Wednesday, September 10, 2014

Wacky Wednesday

Someone forgot to close the freezer door from Canada into the US, I think.  It feels more like a late October evening than an early September evening out there tonight.  Juliene and I came out of card class tonight to be hit with a cold, cold wind.  Since we were very hot from our class, it felt good to us.

Dave worked in the gardens today.  He cut back irises and peonies and even a couple of bushes.  They had gotten a little unruly!

Our card class was good tonight.  We had a full house - 14 people.  One of our "students" was only 10 but she was very creative!

More later...

Tuesday, September 9, 2014

Rumble Rumble

I woke up to rumbles and I have a feeling I'll be going to bed with rumbles.  Rumbles of thunder!  It's been a soggy day.  It rained this morning, then cleared off for a while, rained again, and so on...all day and all evening so far.  I guess this is the start of that cold front coming in.  Yuck!

I got a pedicure today.  That was much needed.  I stubbed my big toe about 3 months ago, cracked my nail straight down, and it's still not grown out...or maybe I just keep cracking it deeper.  It's still about 1/4 of an inch in length.

This evening, I had a Personnel meeting at church.  They always last about an hour and a half and tonight was the same.  I kept hearing the office's storm radio going off and I wanted to get home.

More later...


Monday, September 8, 2014

Monday

We got through with Revelation Chapter 20 today.  Even though we got all the way through the chapter, we might be more confused now than we were early on in Revelation!  Very interesting chapter.  It talks about Jesus' return on a white horse with a sword coming out of his mouth.  Here's one artist's depiction of these verses: (Pat Marvenko Smith)



It's always interesting to see how artists "see" these verses!

The rest of the day, I got my card "stuff" ready for Wednesday night.  I think I've even got everything packed up!

More later...

 My blog has been hacked so I am suspending blogging for the immediate future.  Sorry!  More later...