Friday, December 30, 2016

Finally!

Dave got done painting today!!  Yay!  He's just got a teeny little bit of touch-ups to do.  I'm so glad!  He's so glad!! 

More later...

Thursday, December 29, 2016

Thursday

I had a boring day.  I worked on some paperwork and some organizing, but that's about all.  I did have to run to Lowe's for another gallon of paint for Dave.  He's painting the last awning - all 20 feet of it!  He's finally got the underside done...2 coats.

We finally had some rain tonight.  Boy, did we ever need it.  It didn't last very long, but it rained hard.  Thank you, Lord.

More later...

Wednesday, December 28, 2016

Wednesday

Coffee this morning, followed by several guys coming to help Dave take the big front awning off the front of the house so that he can paint it.  We took all of the Christmas lights and decorations down yesterday so he could do this.

I swept the floor and worked on updating my Christmas card list.  Tonight I played cards.  We taught a new lady to play.  She was my partner and caught on really, really quickly.  She said she'd played canasta years and years ago, so she had no problem getting into 7s from Hell.  We won, too!!

More later...

Tuesday, December 27, 2016

Just one B again!

We didn't bowl again today.  There were just going to be 5 of us today, so we opted to skip it again.  Next week about 6 people will be back, so we should be able to bowl then.

Sudi called and asked us to come over to see their new house today.  It is really, really nice.  There's so much room!  So many possibilities!  Loved the pool and the back yard area.  Then we went to eat at Mickey Quinn's for a late lunch.  Good food and good friends!

Tonight was Bingo.  I won $26 tonight.  Not bad for me!

More later...

Monday, December 26, 2016

Sawgrass

We actually did something fun today.  We went to Sawgrass Lake Park to see the baby alligators.  We saw itty bitty ones today.  I haven't checked our pix yet - maybe tomorrow. 

Tonight there were 9 of us to play cards, but I elected to stay home.  I'm just pooped!  I was so tired last night that I couldn't sleep well.  Hope to sleep well tonight!

More later...

Sunday, December 25, 2016

Merry Christmas!

Yesterday was a very busy day for us.  We had to pick up the food and cook the turkey.  Marv and Rich carved the 5 turkeys and the slices were perfection.  They were all evenly cut - just beautiful!  Last night we had a Christmas Eve party with a little gift exchange.  I made a meatloaf for the dinner.  It was delicious!  We had to rush to get to church, but we got there in the middle of the first song.  It was a beautiful service with a good sermon.

We started today out with church again.  Then all the work began in earnest.  We had about 80 people show up for dinner - maybe less because we had some who signed up and didn't come.  I'm glad the dinner is over.  I'm tired!  Dave just said he was going to bed and it's not even 9:00!! 

Hope everyone had a great day.  We sure did!

More later...

Friday, December 23, 2016

HoHoHo

We played  Santa today.  We got all the cards for the park sorted and delivered today, thanks in part to help from Jim & Lorraine.  Whew!  It was hot out there delivering cards! 

Tomorrow is a HUGE day = we've got to cook a turkey before noon.  Then we have to pick up all of the food for Sunday and deliver it to everyone involved in the cooking process.  Then I have to make a meatloaf and have it cooked by 5:00 for a Christmas Eve party. 

Oh, by the way, I won tonight at cards!!  We didn't even play the 4th hand we were so far ahead!

More later...

Thursday, December 22, 2016

Thursday

Dave and I both slept in this morning...well, one of us slept later than the other!  Dave actually slept until 6:15 - that's almost unheard of for him!  I slept until 8:15!  Much better!

I sorted more Christmas cards - our couch is full, but I have almost all of them sorted by lot #.  I got another stack tonight - it's about 4" tall, but that'll sort easily tomorrow.  We actually went to Scully's for lunch today.  The dolphins entertained us.  We saw what we assumed were 15 different dolphins just swimming around enjoying the day.  It was a gorgeous day on the water. 

This evening we went out to Lake Road to see the Christmas lights.  They were beautiful, but a whole bunch of people had the same idea.  It was packed with cars!

Tomorrow starts our busy days!

More later...

Tuesday, December 20, 2016

B

There's no B&B today, only a B.  We were only going to have 6 bowlers so we elected to take a day off...yay!  So instead, Dave and I washed all of our lanai windows - all 24 of them...some of them 3 times.  We used Woolite like Ann did, but ours looked pretty streaky, so we cleaned them with the spray cleaner that is made for the vinyl windows.  Now they look pretty darn good, if I do say so myself!

Since that took us most of the day, there wasn't much time for anything else.  I went to bingo tonight and won $16...much better than the $1.40 I won last week!

More later...

Monday, December 19, 2016

Monday

Dave and I delivered the turkeys to the ladies who are going to cook them on Saturday.  Since they have to thaw 4 days in the fridge, this was our day to do that task.  We also went out and finished our shopping.  We have a $400 budget and according to my rough calculations, we're almost exactly at $400!  Hope there's nothing I forgot to get!

We delivered excess books to the library for their sale and ran some other errands.  When we got home, I made crockpot peanut clusters and Dave helped me spoon them out.

Tonight was cards and I lost again.  We just couldn't get those darn 7s!!

More later...

Sunday, December 18, 2016

Sunday

I'm a little nervous about having enough food for Christmas dinner...so, guess what the sermon was about...giving it all to God and receiving the peace that passes all understanding.  Now, if I could just do it.  After doing some research and getting some opinions from Sandy who has done these dinners before,, I feel better about things.  My big concern is the turkey.  We have 81 people attending and we have about 85 pounds of turkey.  All of the websites say if you're serving 100 people, you should have 100 pounds of turkey.  So I guess I'm right on.

We had our massages this afternoon and then went out to eat.  Beautiful day here.  It was -6 in Waterloo while it was 80 here.  Brrr..........

More later...

Saturday, December 17, 2016

Saturday

What a busy day we had today!  We had our annual Christmas breakfast buffet this morning and it was wonderful.  The quiche was awesome!  Plus they had pancakes, eggs, sausage, potatoes, Danishes, pumpkin bread, and fresh fruit cups.  Great start to the day!

Then it was time to shuffle.  We only had 14 people today - not enough for all 4 courts.  It turned out to be a tie - Bluebirds won 9 and Redbirds won 9.  I only played once, but I won my game.  I played Gilles - it was fun to beat him because he's good!

This afternoon while Dave was doing touch-ups, I took a bike ride and then I sorted the hundreds of Christmas cards that were in the box for the residents.  Now it'll be easy to sort in the rest of the cards that we get.  We'll deliver them on the 23rd!

We're now at 80 people for Christmas dinner...I planned for 60.  I guess I'd better get some more food ordered.

More later...

Friday, December 16, 2016

Friday

Dave had a chiropractor treatment this morning and after that we went to Sarasota.  Roberta is flying back to Indy tomorrow because her brother passed away today.  She had hoped that he would wait for her to get there, but he was ready to go.  When we got home, we took naps and just hung out.  I didn't even go to play cards tonight.

More later...

Thursday, December 15, 2016

Thursday

We had another beautiful day today!  It is just gorgeous in our little world!!  I guess it rained hard around 2:00 AM and we had sea fog, but by 6:30 it had all dried up.  Dave went to work at church so I got to lounge around! 

Dave got the doors painted today and sealed the door knobs.  He also took down the lights outside the doors and painted them.  Since it's so humid, he's letting them dry over night.  Then he'll put them on tomorrow.  Then all that's left is touchups!!  Oh, the front awning is also not done yet because it's decorated for Christmas.  So that won't get done until January.

Tonight, Ann and I joined the "Golden Girls" for trivia night at the Fat Cat Tavern.  We got 5th, before the final question.  We should have stopped there because we missed it.  Grrr............
Oh well, there's always next week!

More later...


Wednesday, December 14, 2016

Wednesday

This morning after coffee, I was officially nominated as a candidate for the Board of Directors of the Home Owners' Association.  I am excited, but the election isn't until January so we'll see if I get one of the two positions.  There are 5 people running and one is an incumbent. 

Since I didn't sleep well (it was 3:00 before I fell asleep), when I got home from coffee and the HOA meeting, I took a nap.  I didn't wake up until about 4:30!  Sure hope I sleep tonight. 

More later...

Tuesday, December 13, 2016

Monday and Tuesday

Monday was a day that was very productive for me...and Dave, but different tasks.  Dave worked on painting the lanai floor and I worked on Christmas cards to be mailed and Christmas cards for the park residents.  I got them all done except for the kids' cards.  Dave can work on those in his spare time. 

Cards were not so good.  We were only 140 points behind going into the last hand, but Ann went out way early so we didn't even count...we got clobbered!

Today was B&B.  Bowling wasn't too bad, but we only had 11 bowlers.  We're not going to bowl next Tuesday - only about 6 people were going to be there so we're taking a day off. 

This afternoon Ann and I went to see the International Champion Elvis impersonator (for the last 4 years).  He was really good.  We were there for 2.5 hours!  Good music and well worth the money.  His name is Dwight Icenhower so if you ever have a chance to see him, go!  Great tribute to the "King" of Rock 'n' Roll.

Bingo - not so good.  I won, but only won $1.40!!  Big deal, huh?!

More later...

Sunday, December 11, 2016

Sunday

We had a great service this morning at church.  Pastor Jack talked about "violent mega joy"  He was really on a roll this morning.  We laughed and laughed!  After church we stopped at Hammerhead for a couple of things so Dave could continue his projects. 

We had tickets for 'Every Christmas Story Ever Told (and then some)" this afternoon.  Bob, Ann, Dave, and I all went.  It was very funny - Ann and I laughed so much.  Unfortunately the guys didn't like it as much as we did.  We may not ask them again!  It was definitely slapstick comedy!



More later...

Saturday, December 10, 2016

Saturday

Shuffleboard this morning wasn't very good for me...I lost both of my games.  Both opponents kept putting me in the kitchen (which means -10 points).  When this happens you have to waste a puck trying to get out so you don't get to score.  Grrr.....  Oh well.  Maybe next week! 

After lunch, Ann, Sandy, Lorraine and I met at the hall to make sock snowmen.  I got things ready for the ladies.  We made 12 of them - all with their own personalities.  They are so cute!




More later...

Friday, December 9, 2016

Friday

This did not seem like a Friday.  We usually go out for lunch on Fridays, but since Dave is still painting, we didn't go anywhere.  Plus it's pretty chilly here! 

I worked on Christmas cards and got about 40 of them all done.  I've still got more to do another day.  Tonight I played cards.  Sandy and I just couldn't get our 7s.  I guess that's why they call it 7s from Hell!

More later...

Thursday, December 8, 2016

Thursday

Just more of the same around here.  Don't get to go anywhere until the works done.  Dave is still working with paint.  One of these days he'll get done.  Even Bob (Dave too) painted their trim and shutters.  We're going to have the prettiest places at The Ranch!

Tonight 4 of us ladies went to Fat Cat for trivia night.  We didn't do so well!  We ended up in 16th or so out of 20 some teams.  The beer round was 70's rock.  That category killed us!

More later...

Tuesday, December 6, 2016

B&B

Tuesdays are busy days!  We went  bowling this morning.  I had a decent day, but Dave didn't.  After bowling, we went to Fat Cat's for lunch.  Good food!  Sometimes the service isn't so good, but it wasn't bad today.  We had 15 people at lunch and only 13 who bowled.

We came home and took short naps because the phones kept ringing!  Grrr.................   

Tonight at bingo, I won $5 - not much, but at least I got to say bingo.  In fact, I think everyone but one got to bingo.  We only had 13 at bingo, so the pots weren't too big.  I don't know what happened to our crowd.

More later...

Monday, December 5, 2016

Monday

Do you ever wonder why time goes so fast when you're not looking?  My mom always said that time goes faster the older you get.  I guess she was right.  I am having a hard time believing that it is only 20 days until Christmas!  Speaking of Christmas, Dave and I went to Wild Fields to get some of the items ordered for dinner.  We are on the way to finalizing everything we need.  We're not doing this next year!  We'll sit back and let someone else do the planning.

Dave and Bob painted his trim today.  Tomorrow is bowling, so there won't be any painting done tomorrow. 

More later...


Sunday, December 4, 2016

Sunday

At church this morning, we got to sing several Christmas songs and saw the cutest little baby girl get baptized.  He name is Esther Azalea Pearl and then her last name.  What a mouthful!  Pastor Jack gave a wonderful sermon about "God is Love", followed by communion.   I am always so inspired when I get out of church. 

After worship, we met Sudi & Howard at JD's for breakfast.  We sat and gabbed for a long time - good food, good friends!!  Can't wait to see their new home.

Dave painted the shutters this afternoon and then when they dried, he and Bob put them up.  Now the house looks better!!  Love the charcoal gray color on the shutters and trim. 

I worked on our Christmas letter and various other paperwork.  I was supposed to reconcile the bank accounts, but put it off for another day...maybe tomorrow.

More later...

Saturday, December 3, 2016

Saturday

Dave got 4 of the awnings painted and put back up today.  He painted while I shuffled!  He'll soon be done with the entire house except for the big awning on the front of the house.  He can't do it until we take down the Christmas lights.

I didn't do too bad today shuffling.  I won one and gave one away.  I was up by 14 points going into the last frame.  I couldn't hit his pucks and I couldn't score...he ended up scoring 16 so beat me by 2 points.  Grrrr................

More later...

Friday, December 2, 2016

Friday

This was a different Friday for us.  Dave worked on painting the awnings and I did paperwork and cleaned.  Tonight he's asleep in his chair and I'm just hanging out now that cards are over for the night.  Speaking of cards, my team got clobbered!  Oh well, Monday is another opportunity to win!

More later...

Thursday, December 1, 2016

Thursday

I had a leisurely morning while Dave was working at church.  Then I went to lunch with Ann and Barb.  We went to Wildflower.  It's a cute little place with good food.  This afternoon I got my hair cut while Dave was painting over spots that got missed.  Now he's in bed and I'm watching Cyclone basketball.

More later...

Wednesday, November 30, 2016

Wednesday

After coffee this morning, Dave, Bob, & Gary started painting on our south wall and the back wall.  Tomorrow Dave will spot the walls to see if any spots were missed.  We had a little mist today, so the guys ate their lunch and painted between the clouds!  I can't wait to see it all done - right now it really looks pretty.

We had 14 of us play cards tonight.  That was fun...one table of 6 and two tables of 4.  Marilyn and I won big and that was fun, too.

More later...

Tuesday, November 29, 2016

Back Home

We had a wonderful four days in Ft Lauderdale, but it's good to be home.  The kids were fun - they're all growing up.  Kelly (15) just started a job.  She works at Publix on the weekends.  She said it was fun and she likes earning money!  Megan was good - her room was 80% neat, which is an 80% improvement from 6 months ago!  Danny just turned 9, so he's just a crazy boy!!  We sure enjoyed having Roberta with us! 

More later...

Friday, November 25, 2016

Black Friday

We did our black Friday shopping last night about 7:00.  We went to Bealls to buy a new lighted palm tree.  We have replaced the lights on ours more than once!  The Black Friday sale price was $29 instead of $79, plus we had a $10 off!  Pretty cheap palm tree for our lanai!

Thanksgiving dinner was wonderful.  It was good seeing Sudi & Howard.  The food was incredible!  There wasn't even a single bite of pecan pie left, darn it!

Today we decorated for Christmas and I have to say the lights are so pretty!

More later...

Wednesday, November 23, 2016

Thanksgiving Eve

Big day tomorrow.  The rec hall looks beautiful and tomorrow it will be full of happy, hungry people!  We had a good day with coffee this morning and cards tonight!  Tomorrow it's supposed to be 81 degrees - hope they get the a/c going!

More later...

Tuesday, November 22, 2016

B&B

Only 12 bowlers today - seems that several people had other things they needed to do today.  I still felt uncomfortable bowling today, so I didn't bowl very well.  Lunch was at the Clubhouse - I had breakfast and it was wonderful.  Bingo wasn't very good either.  I won $4, but I spent $9...hmmm.  Not supposed to be that way!

More later...

Monday, November 21, 2016

Monday

This was a very busy day for both of us.  While Dave supervised the guy who power washed our mobile, I worked on finishing up the newsletter.  I got it to the office a little after noon but they didn't answer me if they got it.  Tomorrow I'll call them to check.  Then I worked on the flyer for Christmas dinner and got it done.  I took it up to the clubhouse and noticed it had a mistake on it...grrr.  So tomorrow I'll reprint it.  I also talked to Epson support for over an hour...another grrrr.  We did get the printer working, though, so I guess it was worth it!

Tonight at cards we had 1 too many, so I came home voluntarily.  My throat has been a bit sore today.  I'm hoping it is just allergies or changes in the weather and not a cold.  Lots of people around here have bad colds and I DON'T WANT ONE!!

More later...

Sunday, November 20, 2016

Sunday

Great day.  It was a little cooler than normal, so we both took our jackets to church.  It was hot inside the church!  Must have been Jack's sermon...what a good one! 

After church we went to Sanding Ovations at the beach.  We were glad we had our jackets, but really in the sun it was quite nice!  The sand sculptures were beautiful.  I chose to get some close-ups since I had the big lens.  I have seen things on the pictures that I didn't see in person.  For instance, I didn't know why this was called "Ripple Effect" until I saw...

 this picture with the child putting his finger in the water and causing the ripple effect!
 This one was called "My Changing Woman".  I saw the serpent, and the cat hind quarters, along with the angel wings, but I didn't see the animal on her head until...

 I saw this picture.  Very imaginative!
This afternoon and tonight I worked on the December newsletter and calendar.  I've got them about 98% done!  I should be able to send it to the office tomorrow while our home is being washed!

More later...

Saturday, November 19, 2016

Saturday

Another beautiful day before a cool-down!  We shuffled this morning.  I played 2 games and won them both...yay!  Dave continued to work on painting trim and eave spouts while I shuffled.  Then I went to have a pedicure this afternoon. 

I got home around 4:00 and checked on the ISU game.  We were ahead 42-3...say what???  I couldn't believe it, so we looked for the tv station.  Sure enough, the score was 42-3 in the 2nd quarter.  Oh my goodness!  It was a fun game - we scored at will and the final was 66-10.  The announcers were just astounded - this wasn't supposed to happen!

More later...

Friday, November 18, 2016

Fun day

We went to Sarasota to the Celery Fields this morning.  Dave needed to work on Roberta's sink faucet, so it was a perfect day to do it.  We were really surprised at the Celery Fields!  This is what we saw when we first pulled up:

Hundreds of wood storks, spoonbills, and 8 other species of birds.  It was so cool - there were also about 20 people just standing watching them. 

We also got to go to Bealls with Roberta and we took her by here so she could see these birds, too. 

More later...

Thursday, November 17, 2016

Thursday

Another great Thursday!  I love the fact that I can get up at my leisure on Thursdays!  I didn't get up until about 8 this morning.  I very leisurely ate breakfast and got my shower taken before Dave got home from church and breakfast.  Dave did some odd jobs around here and at Gary's and Doreen's.  I didn't do much.  That's another reason to like Thursdays!

Tonight we're watching Pride and Prejudice and doing laundry.

More later...

Wednesday, November 16, 2016

Fun Day

We hosted coffee hour again this morning!  We almost doubled in size from last week!  We had 41 people at coffee and had 25 last week!  We had a dozen donuts, 9 muffins, and about 15 bagels.  Thank goodness it was enough.  At the last minute we cut some of the big donuts in half so they would go around to all the people who came.  After coffee, we had our first HOA meeting of the winter.  That went very well and we were out of there in less than an hour.

We then hurried to Redington Shores to see Sudi, Howard, Chris, Nancy and Rod.  Lunch was at Mi Casa Bar & Grill.  Dave and I both had great food!  We'll go back there!  It's always fun getting together with "old" friends!

Tonight at cards we had a great time!  Then rode around the park with Betty and Doris on the golf cart!

More later...


Tuesday, November 15, 2016

B&B

Today was the beginning of B & B....bowling and bingo.  Actually bingo has been going on, but bowling started today.  I started out very well, but my bowling went to Hell in a handbasket!!  By the 3rd game, I couldn't do anything right!  I ended up having the high women's game with a 143 - that was the first game.  Dave had a 142 and he went downhill.  Bob had a nice 156 his last game. 

Bingo sucked for me tonight.  This was the first night that I didn't win...bummer!

More later...

Monday, November 14, 2016

Monday

It was cool here today.  I rode my bike two laps today just to warm up.  Dave painted the lanai today and got it put back together.  He also picked up his shed and got it put together.  Now he'll start moving "stuff" around and get things put away. 

Cards tonight sucked.  We got beat by 6,000 points!  It was good to have Lulu back!

More later...

Sunday, November 13, 2016

Sunday

Another beautiful day here!  We went to church where Pastor Jack gave a wonderful sermon about giving.  It didn't have anything to do with money, however it coincided with Stewardship Sunday.  The giving he talked about was giving everything to God...your heart, your soul, and your mind.  One of the parishioners is dying of cancer and Jack went to the hospital to pray with him.  He asked nothing for himself, he asked Jack to pray that all children everywhere would have good food.  His wife wanted him to ask Jack to pray for his family, but Bill just asked that one prayer.  He has given everything to God!  I don't think there was a dry eye in the congregation.

We had to say goodbye to our friends from church - Bill and Jan Kniesly.  They are moving back to Indiana and this was their last Sunday.  We'll miss them!  We've sat by them for about 3 years now. 

Dave painted some this afternoon - we're really going to like the gray!  It looks so clean and nice.  He got the lanai done today - just has to touch up some tomorrow. 

I don't know if I told you yet - we got a new camera.  We had two of our old cameras go down on us.  One of them had over 98,000 pictures taken on the shutter so it was just worn out.  Now we'll both have cameras again.  Dave has gotten to enjoy taking photos as much as I do.  Here's one he took with the new camera tonight of the moon.

This is hand-held just leaning on the railing.  We're going to get a heavy tripod soon.  It's too hard to take this kind of picture just holding the camera. 

More later...



Saturday, November 12, 2016

Saturday

This was a different day.  We started our fun shuffleboard today.  It was a gorgeous day for being outside!  I didn't get off to a real good start, but it was fun anyway.  I beat Bobbi by 20 or so, then Fred beat me 7 to -4!  Then Coreen really beat me.  Oh well...better luck next time!

I got to watch the Cyclone football game this afternoon.  It was a good one to watch because we won!  Then this evening we went to Post Corner for pizza and to celebrate Ann's birthday.  The Heckarts, the Allisons, the Kozaks also were there.  Fun evening, but the pizza wasn't as good as usual.  Something about the crust wasn't right.  For one thing it was too done! 

More later...

Friday, November 11, 2016

Friday

We went to Sarasota today and ended up just sitting around the pool for several hours just visiting with Roberta, Suzy and Greg.  What a great time! 

I didn't play cards tonight.  I opted to stay home and we watched a Mission Impossible movie starring Tom Cruise.  It was a good one - Rogue something or other.  Love having a smart tv and prime membership!

More later...

Thursday, November 10, 2016

Thursday

Dave went to church this morning to work on the grounds crew.  He does this most Thursday mornings, which means I get to stay in bed!  Yeah, right.  I woke up at 6:30 this morning.  I think my mind is still on daylight savings time!  The guys at church work for a couple of hours and then go for breakfast. 

Tonight we had our kickoff party - wine and cheese social.  That means the season is officially started.  Shuffleboard starts Saturday and bowling starts Tuesday.  Here we go! 

Dave's sister & husband brought Roberta down so we're heading to Sarasota in the morning.  We'll eat lunch with them and then come back mid afternoon.  It'll be good to see them again.

More later...

Wednesday, November 9, 2016

Funky Mood

I've been in a funky mood all day.  I think it's called "political disbelief".  I truly cannot believe that Trump won the presidency.  What on earth are people thinking?  I'm sure our founding fathers are rolling over in their graves!  We have to find a way to get along now and it's going to be hard.

We had coffee duty again this morning and I had cards tonight.

More later...

Sad Day

Oh my God,,,,please help us! 

More later...

Tuesday, November 8, 2016

Monday

I woke up with a purpose in mind.  I knew I wanted to accomplish several things and I got them all done!  On Saturday I started taking all my curtains down and ironing them.  Since I didn't get done, I finished that project before I even  took my shower.  Then after my shower, I dusted everything in the house.  I also ran the electric broom, sent the rugs outside for Dave to shake, and I even ran the wet Swiffer over the floors!  Dave usually does the floors for me because it just makes my back spasm, but I got it all done!  I also went with Dave to pick up paint for the outside of our home and last night at cards I finished organizing the books in the library!  I've now got to go through the books and take out the old ones, getting them ready to take to the veterans for resale.

More later...

Sunday, November 6, 2016

Gorgeous Sunday

What a wonderful day today was.  The humidity was lower, so it felt wonderful outside.  We went to the 9:30 service of church.  Our praise music today was very uplifting.  It was communion today as well as a sermon about the "begats".  Pastor Jack said that almost everyone reads over the begats in Chronicles and in Matthew.  He said to just think of them as a list of names - sort of like a family tree.  He compared our lives to hour glasses.  The begats are the ones at the top of the hour glass pouring into us - we're the neck of the hour glass.  What is below the hour glass is what we pour into others.  Great analogy.

This afternoon, we had our massages.  Tonight Dave is sound asleep in his chair and I am fighting to stay awake!

More later...

Saturday

We had such a fun day!  After breakfast we went to Fort Desoto looking for birds.  It was a gorgeous day to be at the park.  It was a little windy, but we had abundant sunshine and warm temps...and lots of birds and people!  I have to figure out what kinds of birds we saw - some I think were terns, but I'm not sure.  Anyway, some new birds for us!  Dave got to watch people fish.  Next time he'll take his fishing poles because you don't need a license to fish off the piers there.  We even had a picnic lunch!! 

More later...

Friday, November 4, 2016

Friday

We had another beautiful day today.  We met Sudi & Howard at the Legion at lunchtime.  It's always good to see them!  It was beautiful there today.  Perfect temperature and very little wind.  Someone said there were 22 of us from the park there today!  That's a bunch!  After we got home, we took naps and a bike ride and then it was time for cards.  We had 10 playing cards and our team won.  Fun evening.

More later...

Thursday, November 3, 2016

Thursday

I got up around 8:00 this morning - sleep eluded me last night after that Cubs win!  Dave had gone to church to work on the grounds crew, which he does every Thursday.  Later in the morning, I had an appointment for a follow-up x-ray with the surgeon who did my knee last year.  He said it looked good - the other knee has quite a bit of arthritis in it, though.  I just need to call him if I start to have problems.

We went to 5 Guys for lunch - that was Dave's choice, but I really like their burgers!  Then it was nap-30!  Bike rides and watching Cyclone football were on the agenda for the evening.  Sorry, Cyclones, I'm going to bed!!

More later...

Wednesday, November 2, 2016

Tuesday

I have to tell you that I've been watching the World Series and have forgotten to blog!  What a Series this has  been.  These two clubs are really well matched.  Right now I'm very nervous.  Grandpa Ross just got a home run in what may very well be his last at-bat in his career.  I liked it better when it was 5-0...now it is 6-3.  I'm never going to be able to sleep tonight...I'm way too keyed up.

More later...

Sunday, October 30, 2016

Sunday

I love Sundays!  Great sermon today!  Plus two little babies (cousins) were baptized.  They were both so good! 

We ate at home today and Dave worked outside most of the day.  It was a hot and humid one here.  This evening we went to Gilley's for a welcome home party.  We sat outside - there were lots of gnats and heat!  We came home early because I was so hot and I wanted to watch the baseball game.  This game is making my stomach hurt.

More later...

Saturday, October 29, 2016

Saturday

We had a fun day today.  After breakfast, we went to Sarasota to the Celery Fields in search of roseate spoonbills.  We didn't find any spoonies, but we saw a pie billed grebe, a red shouldered hawk, a glossy ibis, and several herons, etc.  When we'd had our fill of birds, we stopped at Bealls, and then had lunch at Woody's in Ellenton.  It was a gorgeous day to be out in nature.

More later...

Thursday, October 27, 2016

Thursday

I got so excited that the Cubs won, I forgot to blog.  Dave had a dental appointment to get prep done for a crown.  When he got back, we took a bike ride.  Then we got settled in to watch the ballgame.  Loved watching the Cubs when Arrieta was pitching well.  It's a thing of beauty.

Today, Dave had an appointment at his urologist's office.  I cleaned up the master bath and vacuumed.  We went to Largo Nature Park for the first time this season.  We didn't see the alligator, but there were cormorants, a little blue heron, several moorhens including some juveniles, a pair of yellow crowned night herons, and a pair of limpkins. 

Came home for lunch and then we both took naps this afternoon and a bike ride before supper.  Love Thursdays - Thursdays are off days at the Ranch. 

More later...

Tuesday, October 25, 2016

Good day!

We started our day off at the dentist's office for cleanings.  The Dr examined my teeth and I had no cavities!!  That's always wonderful!  Since we had good checkups, Dave decided we needed to go to the water to eat.  So we went to Seabreeze where Sudi & Howard joined us.  After lunch we went to the condo where they're living on the beach - what a view!! 

On the way home, we stopped at Wild Fields to pick up some meat and some chicken salad...sorry, Sudi, I didn't see any liver.  Got home in time for Dave to take a nap.  I also went to bingo tonight and it was a very good night for me! 

Now, if the Cubs could just rally for a win, the day would be about perfect.

More later...

Monday, October 24, 2016

Monday

Woohoo - we voted today!  Easy process - we stood in line for about 1 minute, got our ballots, voted, and were back in the car within 10 minutes.  The thing that took the longest was walking from the parking lot.  After lunch we went to Walmart to pick up some things.  Then Dave took down the big chandelier from over our table and put up our new light fixture.  Much better! 

Bob, Ann, Gary & Barb got here this afternoon.  It's nice having them next door.  I went to play cards.  We got beat tonight - just couldn't come up with wild cards!

More later...

Sunday, October 23, 2016

Sunday

Another beautiful day here.  We went to 9:30 church - glad to be back listening to Pastor Jack's sermons and the wonderful praise music.  It was good!  After church we went to Lowe's for some things Dave needed.  Then we came home, changed clothes and were off doing what we do best.  Dave fixed Bob & Ann's toilet and I took a nap.  When he got home around 2:00 we ate lunch.  The rest of the day was spent just relaxing -Dave took his nap after lunch and when he woke up, we went for a bike ride.  I'm enjoying riding my bike this year!!

More later...

Saturday, October 22, 2016

Friday, October 21, 2016

Friday

Hip, hip, hooray!  I got my hair cut today and it's finally even on both sides!  I also got the newsletter up to the office for printing so I was busy this morning.  We went to the Legion for lunch...they've got a whole bunch of new rules.  It was pretty busy today...there were about 17 of us from the Ranch there.  Fun times on a beautiful day!

Tonight I played cards.  We had 10 ladies and there were 9-10 poker players too.  Betty and I won, but just barely. 

More later...

Thursday, October 20, 2016

Thursday

I stayed up pretty late last night watching the Cubs.  It was a good night - the Cubs got their bats going, finally!  Now if they can just do it again tonight.  I sure hope they can win.  Before watching the game, I watched the final debate.  I just can't imagine how anyone could vote for that bully!  Yet, probably the nicest lady down here told me last night that she voted for Trump.  Another lady said she did too, because she didn't like the fact that Hillary didn't divorce Bill for his indiscretions.  Hmmm...

I went for two bike rides today - one around 4:00 (about the hottest part of the day).  My muscles are a little lax - I can sure tell that I didn't ride much this summer. 

We got the curtains up today and I finally got all the cupboards in the kitchen washed.  Tomorrow we're going to the Legion.  They have some new rules, so hope we can get served. 

More later...

Tuesday, October 18, 2016

Tuesday

We finally got back home today.  On Sunday we got through Iowa and Missouri and ended up staying in Dyersburg, TN.  Monday was a longer day - we drove thru Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, and stayed in Perry, FL.  This morning, we only had about 4 hours of driving.  Our home is good - it weathered the summer well.  All of our flowers made it except for one.  We've got most everything put away.  We even took a bike ride!!

More later...

Saturday, October 15, 2016

Saturday

The car is loaded.  All we have to do in the morning is pack our computers and Kindles and we're off for day one of our trip to Florida.  Now we're watching the Cubs...Cubs win!  Woohee, that was a playoff game!

Beautiful wedding today!  Icky drizzly day, though. 

More later...

Friday, October 14, 2016

Aidan's birthday party

Today was another day of cleaning and finishing up last minute things before Sunday.  Tonight, however, was for Aidan.  He loved us singing to him and he loved his pizza and his birthday cupcake!  He and I played with his farm stickers and he even let me read to him a little.  When we got ready to leave, he even gave me a real kiss and an Eskimo kiss! 

I miss him already!!

More later...

Thursday, October 13, 2016

Happy birthday to Aidan!

Our little Aidan is 2 years old today.   He's a cutie, with such a good personality.  We're going for pizza at their house tomorrow night.  They have foster kids this weekend so Aidan can't open his gifts so again we won't get to see him open his birthday presents.

We're making good progress on packing for our trip.  I think I've got everything done except for calling Mediacom, cleaning the refrigerator and cleaning the house.  Yay!

More later...

Wednesday, October 12, 2016

Cubs win!!!

You snooze you lose.  That's not always true.  I gave up  last night in the 8th inning of the Cubs game.  I thought with it 2-5 with us behind, there was no way the Cubs could win.  But they proved the old adage wrong.  I snoozed, but they didn't lose!!  Earlier in the evening, we went to Kyle's.  He's letting us store the camper for the winter in his big barn.  So we took pizza out and ate with them.  That was fun.  Blaise is feeling better and he really likes pizza.  Both of us got to play with his farm animals and I even got to read two books to him.

Today I got most of my clothes ready to go.  I also made ham balls for lunch and this afternoon, I went thru all of our CDs so we could take some with us.  We love southern gospel, so we have a bunch of those to listen to while we drive.  Then tonight, we went to the Cattle Congress to hear a wonderful speaker:


Great speaker...the  only problem is we stood the whole time - 3 hours total!  He was worth the pain, though.  Unfortunately we had several protesters who were escorted out and then got back in somehow.  He handled it very well.

More later...

Monday, October 10, 2016

Back home...

We're back home for a little while!  It is good to be back and on the internet.  We were in O-town and the park has internet, but the park was full so there were too many people trying to get the weak signal.  We chose instead to just use our phone data and just check email, etc.  We got about 10 tv stations so we watched the debate last night.

Thanksgiving at Bob's was fun.  We Skyped with Kaylee and Clayton and were entertained by Blaise. He has a bad cold with a fever, so he was a little more subdued.  He's quite the kid.  At one time,  he ran over to Papa Bob and his foot was under Bob's rocker...you guessed it.  Bob leaned forward and Blaise screamed.  I told Bob I thought his foot was under the chair, so Bob leaned back.  Blaise went to his mommy and she hugged him and said, "You're all right."  Blaise replied, "No I'm not!"  Pretty quick reply for a 2 1/2 year old.

More later...

Friday, October 7, 2016

Friday

We both had very productive days today.  I worked all day on paperwork and I have at least 1 more full day to go.  Dave went to Bryan's to mow, and Bryan took the afternoon off.  They didn't get the mowing done, but they did get 7 trailer loads of brush hauled to the dump.

Now we're watching the Giants-Cubs playoff game.  Let's go, Cubs!!  We leave tomorrow for Ottumwa, so I may not have wifi for a couple of days again....grrrr.

More later...

Thursday, October 6, 2016

Thursday

When I got up this morning, I consciously put on something nice because I told myself I was going to talk Dave into going out for one meal.  Then  I remembered it was Thursday and that means $3 jumbo margaritas at Carlos O'Kelley's!  That's where we went this evening!

Other than that I didn't do much.  Dave did his usual work around the condo!  We've been keeping a close eye on Hurricane Matthew and praying that our family and friends will be okay.  Scary situation.
More later...

Wednesday, October 5, 2016

Wednesday

I had a doctor's appointment this morning.  My dexascan showed that my osteopena is getting worse, so Dr P wanted to see me to discuss treatment options.  We decided we'd wait until I get back in the spring to start a new "stronger" medicine...that way, if I have any contraindications, I'll be near the doctor so she can change the meds.

I didn't sleep well again last night.  That's two nights in a row.  Sure hope I sleep well tonight.

More later...

Tuesday, October 4, 2016

Tuesday

Yesterday was Bryan's birthday.  We took Bryan, Erin, and Aidan out for dinner tonight.  Then back to their place for cake.  Meanwhile, Jami and family are in a hurricane watch.  Hurricane Matthew is headed toward SE Florida.  Great!  Hope they keep watch and move out before it hits.

More later...

Monday, October 3, 2016

Monday

I worked on the computer today, trying to get pix so I could post them on Facebook.  I also got some addresses changed in anticipation of our trip south.  We're getting anxious now.  We've already got some things ready to pack in the car!!

Here's a group  pix from Saturday night's Class of 66 high school reunion.  What a fun time!!

More later...

Sunday

What a fun weekend!  We went to Fairfield on Thursday and after we got the camper set up we took off for Cantril.  We got 4 big bags of popcorn and 2 small bags.  Hope that's enough for the winter!  We eat a lot of popcorn!!  Of course, we also got some chocolate and some noodles!  Then we went back to Fairfield in time to have dinner with Sudi, Howard, Melanie and Tom.  Friday found us having lunch at the Pizza Ranch with about 20 high school friends (maybe more).  Friday night was wonderful.  The FHS class of '66 got together at the Elks for a social.  It was packed!  I think there were about 60 classmates and significant others.

Saturday was a volleyball tournament where Allison played.  She and McKenna (our cousin 3 times removed) are now on the same team so in the crowd were lots of relatives!  That was fun - plus Fairfield HS won the tournament!  I was even able to get in on part of the school tour.  Wow, has the high school ever changed!  After lunch at Taco John's (my choice) we had our showers and waited for Bob & Ann to get there to change clothes.  We played some dominoes with Ann and then got ready for the reunion.  50 years out of high school - so hard to believe.  It was sure fun seeing everyone.  I think I got to actually visit with everyone in attendance at some time during the weekend.  The entertainment was a hoot!!  Pictures are still in the camera!

We left the camper in Fairfield because we go down again next weekend for Thanksgiving at Bob's.  Since we're all gone for the REAL Thanksgiving, they're having it this next Sunday.  We'll pick up the camper and move it to O-town next weekend!

More later...

Wednesday, September 28, 2016

Getting Ready

We're doing laundry and getting ready for our camping trip this weekend.  I have my 50th class reunion in Fairfield so we're going to stay in our camper while we're there.  We've got the food pretty much packed and our clothes gathered.  Tomorrow we'll shower, eat breakfast, and head for Fairfield.  We probably won't have wifi, so this will most likely be my last post until Sunday.

More later...

Tuesday, September 27, 2016

Goody, goody!

I'm so excited...not.  I get to go back to the  doctor next week.  Seems my osteopena is getting worse so I have to go in to discuss treatment options.  After I got that news I went down to the garage and walked for a while.  I think that's one of the things that helps osteopena and I know I don't do enough weightbearing exercises.  I'll try to do that every day now before we go back south.

I also got my cards all organized and now I'm ready to take those to Florida.  I also need to do some filing and get my paperwork ready to go.  Maybe I'll work on that tomorrow.

More later...

Monday, September 26, 2016

Monday

Did anyone else watch the debate tonight?  I thought it was interesting...I believe that Hillary won that debate.  He doesn't answer questions that are asked.  She talks about what she wants to do and gives ways to achieve her goals.  He doesn't.  He talks about himself and how great he is, how much money he's made.  He's angry.  Oh, Lord, please don't let him be POTUS.  (This is my blog - you may not agree with me which is your right.)

More later...

Sunday, September 25, 2016

Sunday

We didn't go to church this morning because the tv news last night asked people to stay out of downtown unless we were sandbagging.  So we did, but this afternoon we went for a drive and to eat and ended up downtown.  The water has gone down about a foot but it's still covering some streets.  George Wyeth Park is still under water big time.  At least Kyle and Cassie have finally gotten out and were able to restock groceries!!  No rain forecast for the next 6 days!!

More later...

Saturday, September 24, 2016

Saturday

We didn't have any rain today!!  Yay!!  However, there's rain coming thru the way the radar looks.  I sure hope it doesn't amount to much since the water is finally going down.  The sun actually was shining here this afternoon so that was a nice change.

Speaking of changes, my Cyclones played really well today and won big.  That was definitely  fun for a change!  I'm now watching Baylor vs Okie State.  We have to play both of them shortly.  I don't think I'm going to want to watch either of those games!  These two teams are really, really fast and explosive.

More later...

Friday, September 23, 2016

Quick Trip South

We took a quick trip South to Hedrick today.  One of Dave's co-workers is retiring and today was his retirement party.  We left Waterloo in rain and flooding and when we got to Hedrick they were in the fields picking corn!  What a difference in weather.  It was sunny and in the upper 80's down there and up here it was gray, rainy, and around 70!

It's depressing around here.  Tonight it's very foggy and there's water everywhere.  We're lucky - our part of town is on high ground.  Sunday we're not sure we'll be able to get to church..  Kyle, Cassie, and Blaise are flooded in - they have 2 ways out of their place and they were both under water.  The water is receding, but it's taking the road with it.  I don't know when they'll be able to "drive" out.  This is the road in one direction.  The other way is still under water.



What a challenge!

More later...

Thursday, September 22, 2016

Thursday

Another round of doctors today.  Not really doctors, just diagnostic tests.  I had a mammogram and a dexa-scan whereas Dave had a lung xray.  While we were there the electricity blinked 3 times - the third time was when they switched to generator power.  I was sure glad I wasn't in the mammogram machine when the electricity went off...or the elevator since I was on the 4th floor!  Anyway, that's done for a while.  Now I've still got to have a shingles shot and a colonoscopy but I'm going to wait until next spring for the latter.  I'll probably get the shingles shot in Florida.

More later...

Wednesday, September 21, 2016

Grrr...........

I didn't sleep well last night.  In fact I didn't evewn go to sleep until about 3:00 AM.  My arms hurt really bad so I couldn't get comfortable.  My flu shot arm is still swollen and red and hot.

Today I made an appointment for tomorrow to have a mammogram and a dexascan both.  What fun!  My project for today was to get some of my pictures off of my computer onto dvds.  I removed over 10,000 pictures from 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015.  That's a bunch of pictures!!  Hope that makes my computer a little faster.

More later...

Tuesday, September 20, 2016

Doctor's Ofc

We had to visit the doctor today just to make sure everything is in order before we head South.  So of course they asked if we wanted our 2nd pneumonia shots and our flu shots.  Now tonight my left arm has a goose-egg on it.  I absolutely HATE flu shots!  The arm with the pneumonia shot hurts a bit, but it's not swollen up in a bump like the flu shot arm.  Grrr...........

More later...

Monday, September 19, 2016

Monday

Another beautiful day here.  Pretty warm for the last half of September, but warm is better than cold!  We'll take it.

Dave went out to Bryan's where he worked at picking up sticks, etc., so he would be able to mow another day.  He was out there about 5 hours.  I worked on my Holiday Ranch October newsletter and calendar.  Tomorrow I'll send it out.

More later...

Sunday, September 18, 2016

Sunday

I love Sundays!  I love going to church and hearing great sermons like today's.  Pastor Amy does a great sermon!

We went to Bryan's this evening, just to see them.  They had two  foster children all weekend and we got to meet them, too.  Aidan just cried when they left!  I don't know if it was because he didn't want them to go or if he was just tired.  He wouldn't have anything to do with us tonight so I'm thinking he was just tired.

More later...

Saturday, September 17, 2016

Saturday

What a gorgeous day we had here today!!  We even sat outside to eat lunch and a little hummingbird joined us.  We also had tons of bees.  It's a typical fall day.  Those honeybees just love to pester you in the fall.  Dave sat some water out on the table and the bees went away...don't know the science behind that, but it worked.  I asked him to do it thinking that the bees would drink the water and leave us alone.  They didn't drink, but they did leave us alone...hmmm?

It was a bad day for sports in my mind.  My Cyclones got clobbered again and so did the Cubs.  Even Iowa got beat and we just finished watching UNI get beat when they had led most of the game.  Bad day.

More later...

Friday, September 16, 2016

Friday

Didn't do much today, but enjoyed my day.  I read a bunch and didn't even take a nap!  Dave did and when he woke up he told me the Cubs were on and were behind.  So I came out and watched the rest of the game.  We came back in the 9th inning and won it in the 10th!  Fun game to watch.  Then I watched the celebration in and out of the lockerroom.  What a fun time the team had.  It's a good thing they have a day off tomorrow!!

More later...

Thursday, September 15, 2016

Sleepy Day

I got up about 8:15 this morning and after breakfast, Dave went to take the camper back to the storage area and then to mow.  I told him that I'd either take my shower or go back to bed...I went back to bed.  When he came home about 1:00 he woke me up and then I took my shower!  I've just been sleepy all day!

I did get my Backbone pictures uploaded as well as the pictures a high school friend sent me.  But that's about all I accomplished today!  Maybe I'll be more productive tomorrow.






More later...

Wednesday, September 14, 2016

Back in Civilization

We've been camping since Sunday and we were in a place that had no signals at all...no phone, no internet.  We went to Backbone State Park near Dundee, Iowa!  Lots of camping spots, but we felt like we were on an island because there was no one near us! Bryan, Erin & Aidan, along with Erin's parents had a cabin there, so we all had meals together.  It was fun!  Aidan loves the outdoors!!  He really, really wanted to get close to the fire.

I've not loaded my pictures yet, but I will.

Glad to be home!  Today was chocolate milk shake day.  Did you have yours?  We did!!

More later...

Saturday, September 10, 2016

Sucky game day!

At least it was a gorgeous weather day today!  Perfect fall game day - high of about 70 and plentiful sunshine.  The Cubs got beat, the White Sox got beat, and the Cyclones are getting clobbered.  Tomorrow's another day and we're going to Backbone State Park for a few days of camping....and I still love our teams!!

More later...

Friday, September 9, 2016

Rain, rain...go away!

It rained and rained and rained today.  I'm feeling rather water-logged!  The poor little hummingbirds didn't seem to mind it, though.  They just kept flying around with frequent stops for food.  One little guy (less than 2" long) sat for about 6 minutes on the feeder...kind of like he was hiding from all the others flitting around.  I can't get a good picture of them because the balcony furniture is in the way.    Darn it!

More later...

Thursday, September 8, 2016

Thursday

Today started out gray and drizzly again, but before too long the sun was out and the humidity is down!  We've still got the door wide open letting in God's air.  It's beautiful out there.  I bet I had over 100 hummingbird sightings today.  I have no idea how many actual birds there were, but our feeders were busy all day long!  Good thing we've got 2 of them!

Dave got to mow after it cleared up.  The place looks so nice!  We're both getting anxious to head out now.  Must be that we smell a  chill in the air!  We've still got a camping trip this next week and 3 trips to SE Iowa, plus a 2nd birthday party and a wedding before we can go, though.

More later...

Wednesday, September 7, 2016

Dreary Day

Oh man, was it ever dreary here today.  Actually it either rained or drizzled all day and most of the evening.  .  About dark it finally cleared up and we had a pretty pink and gray sky.  Maybe it'll dry up tomorrow so that Dave can mow again.

I walked a while today.  Obviously I didn't go outside.  It was so humid in the garage that I had a hard time breathing.  I feel like I've got some congestion in my lungs anyway.

I read this afternoon while Dave napped.  Pretty boring right now!

More later...

Tuesday, September 6, 2016

Tuesday

I cleaned house today and when I do that, I don't do much of anything else!  I was excited to sit down tonight and watch the Cubs game, but it's not on in our area anyway.  I think that's really weird.  The White Sox are on almost every game, but the Cubs are making history and they're only on about every 2 out of 3 games.  Grrrrr............  At least the Sox are winning tonight!

More later...

Monday, September 5, 2016

Happy Laborless Day

Hope everyone had a great day doing nothing!  I think Labor Day is the best because when I was working, I got the day off and who doesn't enjoy a day off!

Dave worked on the camper tanks today because we leave again Sunday for a camping trip.  I feel like we've done nothing but go, go, go this summer.  I'll be glad to get back to The Ranch to rest - haha!!

More later...

Sunday, September 4, 2016

Sunday

We had a wonderful weekend!  I just uploaded a ton of pix to facebook.  I don't know how many guys were back, but it seemed as if we almost were too many for the room on Friday night and the tent on Saturday!  I had laryngitis after Friday night, plus my body hurt all over - too much standing around!!  One of the most fun parts for me was having several assistant coaches in attendance.  Three of the coaches who worked for Earle have passed and there's one I can't find.

Great times were had by all!!

More later...

Thursday, September 1, 2016

Thursday

I got my chores all done this morning so that I could play today!  This evening we met Bryan, Erin, and Aidan for dinner at Carlos O'Kelleys where it was $3 margarita night!!  Yay!  Love their frozen margaritas!  Aidan was a hoot!

More later...

Wednesday, August 31, 2016

Better day

Even after sleeping all day yesterday, I slept well last night.  I felt much better today.  I went out and got my nails done (both sets) and bought an outfit for this weekend's ISU reunion.  My nails are so cool.  I don't think I can get a picture that will do justice to them, but I'm going to try!  For some reason I can't get my phone to communicate tonight.  I've sent myself 3 emails with pix, but they aren't coming in....hmmmmm.  Anyway, they're red sparkly except for my ring fingers which are gold sparkly!!  Pretty wild for this old broad!  Finally got it:



More later...


Tuesday, August 30, 2016

Dizzy

Today was a total bust.  I woke up late because I stayed up late to watch the Cubs.  When I got out of bed, I was dizzy.  So I took a mecclizine and went back to bed.  When I woke up, I felt better but still wobbly, so after a teeny bit of lunch, I went to bed again and woke up at 6:30!  I'm going to take another mecclizine before going to bed - hopefully I'll be able to sleep and will not be dizzy when I wake up.

More later...

Monday, August 29, 2016

Pondering

Tonight I'm pondering...why can't the Cubs get any runs in the late innings?  And why do they keep making errors?  And why can't they win them all???  I just think they've got such a good team and I don't understand why they lose when they should be winning!

Dave got up this morning and went to the dr's office.  He's been having some chest pains when he tries to take a deep breath.  They're pretty sure it's just his asthma acting up - it's been such a humid/wet summer up here.  They did an EKG just to be sure.  But now he's on prednisone and an antibiotic, as well as a Zyrtec.  Hope this works quickly.

When we went to get his meds, we also ate at a new place for us - the Noodle Company.  It was pretty darn good!  We'll eat there again.

More later...

Sunday, August 28, 2016

Sunday

It has gotten hot here again - and humid!  It was already humid when we left for church.  Church was great.  Pastor Amy's sermon was about Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well.  Good music today too.

After church we went to Morg's for lunch/breakfast.  It takes a while to get your food because they are so busy, but it is definitely worth it.  The pancakes are a good 12" across...you only get 1 but it is huge and it melts in your mouth!!  I brought home half of mine!

Dave went out to help Bryan this afternoon.  I stayed home and watched the Cubs lose!  I also finally have all the '66 pix in one folder and I figured out how to do a slideshow in Windows 10!!

More later...

Saturday, August 27, 2016

Gray Day

We had a little rain this morning, but mostly today was just gray.  I couldn't get my eyes to stay open!  They felt like it was night all day long.  So after lunch I fell asleep.  Dave took a nap too and we're still a little groggy...I sure hope the sun shines tomorrow!

I worked on copying class of  66 pictures onto a thumb drive.  I've already got 551 pix on there, but I've got lots more room!!

More later...

Friday, August 26, 2016

Friday

Dave and I had early appointments to have our eyes checked for glasses.  Then we both ordered new glasses.  Then we had to go to Walmart,  so I got my hair cut and my eyebrows done!  Now I just need to get my nails done and I'm about ready to go to Ames this weekend!!

I had a margarita at Carlos O'Kelley's so I ended up taking a nap this afternoon.  Hopefully I can sleep - I'm not staying up to watch the Cubs.  I'll be glad when they get off the West coast!  This starting at 9:10 is for thebirds - night owls!!

More later...

Thursday, August 25, 2016

Thursday

I don't know why the weeks are going so fast, but they sure are!  It's already Thursday again!!  We'll be heading South before you know it.

Dave mowed here at the condo today while I finished scanning more pictures.  Now tomorrow I will start trying to get them organized!  I've got to get the Cyclone ones done first because that reunion is tnext weekend.  Then I'll work on the class of 66.

More later...

Wednesday, August 24, 2016

Wednesday

We had a beautiful day here but it wasn't so nice where Dave's family lives in Indiana.  The Kokomo area got hit with tornadoes this afternoon.  The family is all okay as are their homes, but other places didn't fare so well.

As for us, we didn't do much today.  I worked on getting more pictures and things scanned into my computer.  I've still got a bunch to go, but tomorrow's another day.

More later...

Monday, August 22, 2016

Monday

I had a good day!  First of all we got to have the doors and windows open all day - it was a gorgeous day!  I got my September newsletter and calendar done and sent.  I also got a bunch of '66 pictures found and scanned into the computer.  Then this evening I got a wonderful massage!!

More later...

Sunday, August 21, 2016

Sunday

We went to church this morning and when we got home, I took a nap.  Dave worked on a couple of things around here and then he went to Bryan's "to play".  I went up to Linda's to meet her new puppy and to say goodbye to Kaylee and Clayton.  They leave Wednesday for the Netherlands for several months.  They are excited.  Clayton will play in Zwolle for a good team and he's the starting center!

Then this evening we went to Bryan's for supper.  We furnished the hamburger, buns, and a pasta salad.  Erin's mom brought corn and a green salad.  Erin fixed tomatoes and onions, and the ice cream for dessert.  Aidan furnished the fun!

More later...

Saturday, August 20, 2016

Saturday

It was beautiful here today - about 70 with a great breeze out of the NE.  I loved it!  I should have opened the doors and windows, but I didn't.  Dave went out to Bryan's to use some of his tools this morning while I tried to get my newsletter and calendar done for Sept.  It's not done because I haven't heard from anyone at The Ranch.  Patience, Grasshopper!

This evening/late afternoon, we went to Kayla's to spend the evening with the Kruckenberg family.  That was a lot of fun.  Good food and great people!

More later...

Friday, August 19, 2016

LONG Week!!

It's been so long since I've posted...

Sunday we went to Gilbert for 9:30 AM church with Cindy & Joel.  Then we had lunch with the entire family (except for Kayla and her family who were at the Fair).  Fun times!  After a tour around Gilbert and a look at all the new housing developments around there, we took off for Adventureland campground.  We got all set up and had a good night's rest.  Monday we spent the day at the State Fair.  Then Monday night Dave's brother and wife (Don & Bev) drove over from Indiana.  We had a great supper at Jethro's BBQ.  The rest of the evening we played Farkle and Dominoes!

Tuesday the four of us spent the day at the Fair.  Lunch was a pork chop on a stick eaten while sitting on the wall outside the first aid station.  Saw Pat Burch and after talking with her for a while, we continued exploring the Fair.  We even went in to rest for a few minutes and watch whatever horse show we could see.  The class that was in the arena was the pony roadster class - my dad's/brother's  class - I shed a couple of tears.  Supper was very light - we played dominoes.

Wednesday we loaded up and drove to Main Amana for a day there.  Are you tired yet?  I am!  We had a late lunch at the Ox Yoke Inn and after several hours of shopping we came home.  We were all too tired to play games, so we watched the Olympics!!!

Thursday was spent shopping at consignment stores and we bought a glider for our living room.  I've wanted one for quite a while and the davenport was hurting Don's back, so it was the impetus I needed to go get one.  That night we went to Bryan's for supper.  Aidan was so tired he fell asleep in his high chair.

Today we spent a few hours showing Don & Bev around Waterloo and Cedar Falls.  Then we shopped on Main Street in CF and ate lunch at Loss Cabos.  Got home around 1:45 and Don/Bev packed up and left.  I fell asleep in my chair and Dave took the camper back to the storage area.  Popcorn for supper and now bedtime.  We're not even going to watch the Cubs because they are just now starting (rain delay).  Whew!!

More later...

Saturday, August 13, 2016

SATURDAY

Today was cleaning day here.  I cleaned while Dave worked on the camper hitch and loaded the camper.  We take off at 7:15 in the morning.  We're going to Gilbert first for church with the Kruckenbergs and then to Adventureland to camp for a couple of nights.  We're going to the State Fair Monday and Tuesday.  Dave's brother & his wife, Don & Bev, will be joining us Monday night.  They'll go to the Fair on Tuesday and then on Wednesday we're all going to Amana.  We'll come back here Weds and Thursday.  They'll leave on Friday.  Should be a fun week!

More later...


Thursday, August 11, 2016

Yes, it's Thursday!

I didn't sleep very well last night so I didn't get up until 9:00.  Therefore, breakfast was later.  Dave needed to mow here at the condos so we didn't eat lunch.  Good thing we were going out for supper tonight.  We were both very hungry!  Aidan ate a bunch tonight.  He had fallen asleep in the car so he was a little grumpy when we first got there.  But that changed.  He's such a cutie!

More later...

Wednesday, August 10, 2016

Wednesday

Poor Dave - he just doesn't know how to say "no".  Of course, it doesn't help that he gets bored if he has nothing to do.  Today he worked on two different condos' eaves on 3rd floor.  They get leaves in them and then they leak down onto the balconies on 2nd floor and on down to 1st.  So Dave cleans them out and puts this "stuff" in them to keep the leaves from building up in there.  Yay!

Me, I didn't do much.  I did go through the rest of my picture CDs looking for class of 66 pix.  Now I've got to look for pictures of past reunions in my photo albums.  If I find some I can scan them into the computer for my slide show!

More later...

Tuesday, August 9, 2016

Boring

I have decided that I am boring...  I have also figured out why I just sit around here so much.  When we lived in Ottumwa, when I got tired of sitting I went outside to check out the "back 40."  I'd check on my flowers, pull some weeds, take a picture of a flower, etc.  I can't do that here.  Well, I suppose I could, but there aren't any flowers around our condo except some iris and they're done for the year.  I suppose I could help Dave sweep the garage floor (which holds about 50 cars)...huge!  Maybe I'll see if he'll let me mow in the back yard this week.

More later...

Monday, August 8, 2016

Monday

This was a resting day for me.  I was so tired after the weekend.  Dave is, too, but we have different methods of how we cope.  I rest...Dave goes to Bryan's and mows!

Tonight we're watching the Olympics, but other than that we haven't done much!

More later...

Sunday, August 7, 2016

Sunday

It's been so long since I blogged, I'm not sure if I remember how!  We left for our little anniversary weekend away on Friday morning.  We went to a place called Harvest Farm Campground near the Minnesota-Iowa border.  It was a beautiful campground and had dozens of campers.  I'd say they were pretty full.  They even had probably 20 tents in another area.  HFC is a non-working dairy farm, although there were cows within 50' of us.  I woke up both Sat & Sun thinking there was a cow out and walking in between the campers!  This one cow was quite vocal!

On Saturday we went exploring into Minnesota.  We drove to Harmony, then  on to a scenic bluffs road along the Root River.  We ended up about 15 miles from the Mississippi River, but we turned around and headed back to Harmony to have dinner at a local restaurant that specialized in homemade pies.  We've been watching the 7 episodes of Star Wars when we're camping.  We're ready for the 6th one!  We're camping again next week at Adventureland.  Hopefully we'll get to watch the last two next week.  George Lucas is a very creative, strange man.  So fun!

It's good to be home!

More later...

Thursday, August 4, 2016

Thursday

We spent today doing things around here and packing to take off in the morning.  I don't have a clue if we'll have wifi at this campground so don't expect any blogging by me until Sunday.   If there's wifi, I'll be sure to write something about our surroundings.

We're going to leave early in the morning so we can get there around 10:30 or so.  Dave already has told me that I can't sleep until 9:00 like I do many mornings.  :)

Big old thunderstorms are around Iowa tonight.  I sure hope everyone is okay.  We didn't get hit very hard here, but it poured for a bit.

More later...

Wednesday, August 3, 2016

Wednesday

Dave mowed here at the condo today...it was hot and muggy!  I stayed inside today.  I sewed a pillowcase for Dave's wedge in the camper.  It turned out pretty good!

Speaking of camping, we're going camping this week.  We're going up by Riceville at the Minnesota/Iowa border.  We wanted someplace less than 2 hours away and most of the campgrounds over by the river were full already.

More later...

Tuesday, August 2, 2016

Tuesday

We went back to the Grout Museum today.  We went thru the 2nd World War, the Korean War, and Vietnam.  Wow!  Lots of very interesting information.  I also walked my laps in the garage so now my hips are really tired.  Dave went to his committee (condo) meeting tonight only to find out that it's not until Thursday night!  Too funny!

More later...

Monday, August 1, 2016

Monday

I only got 5 hours of sleep last night.  I stayed up to watch the Cubs extra innings and I was so excited so I couldn't calm down enough to sleep.  Plus, I'd taken a nap yesterday afternoon so that didn't help any.

I got up, took my shower and got busy finishing my cushion cover.  This is what it looked like before:
 And this is what it looks like now!  It finally matches the color of our bedroom!  Yay!
Dave was out mowing at Bryan's so I had the house all to myself this morning.  I even went to the garage to walk a couple of laps!  I also filed paperwork and cleaned up my desk.  Hmmm...maybe 5 hours of sleep is enough!

More later...

Sunday, July 31, 2016

Sunday

We had a beautiful summer day here.  Church was good.  We came home from church and ate an early lunch so Dave could go out to Bryan's to mow.  This is Erin's birthday so they are in Des Moines for a couple of days.  Since he was gone, I took the opportunity to take a Sunday afternoon nap.  I really wanted to finish my cushion cover, but my grandma always said (according to Mom) that if you took stitches on Sunday, you'd remove them 9 times over in your afterlife. So I decided I didn't want to chance that!

Now I'm watching the Cubs get beat while Dave sleeps in his chair.  I'll have to wake him up so he can go to bed!!

More later...

Saturday, July 30, 2016

Saturday at Regency North

Dave did some things outside today like spraying a couple of trees for Japanese beatles.  They were just decimating a big flowering crab and a Bradford pear.  They're kind of neat bugs - almost iridescent!

Meanwhile I was in here covering a window seat cushion.  I didn't know how I was going to do it, but I ended up making an envelope cover for it.  I'm not quite done with it...I need to put some velcro on the flaps and pink a couple of seams.  I finally found my pinking shears!

This afternoon we watched the Cubs get beat and I cooked pork chops with rice tonight for supper.  Yum, yum, yum!

More later...

Friday, July 29, 2016

friday

Dave and I went on a date tonight.  We went out to eat at a restaurant in downtown Waterloo called Galleria de Paco. Paco is a young man from Croatia who is a graffiti artist.  He painted the entire ceiling and walls of the restaurant as a representation of what he saw at the Sistine Chapel.  The difference is, he did it entirely with spray paint!  It is beautiful.  The food is wonderful!  Dave had tiger shrimp alfredo and I had a grilled, roasted pork chop with a banana-ketchup sauce...yummy!  Then we shared a lava cake for dessert.  You can't tell by the picture, but it was flaming!  Delicious!




More later...

Thursday, July 28, 2016

Thursday

I didn't sleep much last night, so I took aboout a 30 minute nap today.  Hopefully I'll be able to sleep tonight!  Dave went out to Bryan's tonight to help him.  Today we went to the chiropractor and we made another vegetable pasta salad.  Other that, we didn't do much.

Tonight I gave up the Cubs game for the convention.  Great speakers tonight!  I'm listening to Hillary now and I'm hoping that she delivers a blockbuster speech!

More later...

Wednesday, July 27, 2016

Hate

There is so much hate in our world right now.  Politically speaking, it seems to me that at least 90% of the hate is from the conservative side against the liberal side.  Why is that?  By definition, conservatives don't like change.  I understand that.  It's hard to change...but that doesn't mean you have to hate the person(s) who want to change things.  I'm so sick and tired of biting my tongue - I so want to tell some of these people who are spewing hate to check the accuracy of the hate that they're spouting.  So many of the posts I'm referring to are purely fiction!!  I see all this hate being leveled at Hillary, Bill, and especially Chelsea.  What has Chelsea ever done to deserve such hate?  OK, enough of that!

Yesterday, Dave and I actually made it to the museum.  We got through the Civil War, World War I, and the Spanish-American War.  Then we went to a program about the planetarium.  The show was good - they helped identify several constellations and stars.  Then they also told legends/myths about the stars/constellations.  It was good!

Last night Dave worked with Bryan while I watched the Cubs get beat.  Then I watched Bill Clinton speak.  He's a good speaker!  I wish I had heard Michelle Obama today, but I didn't.

Today Dave mowed here at the condo and went shopping for Bryan's flooring project.  I went downstairs to walk around the garage and then took a short nap.  Tonight we're watching the Cubs...so far we're ahead!

More later...

Monday, July 25, 2016

Monday

Today was a vacuuming day.  I did some and Dave did some.  So we have a clean house for a day or so.  Then about 11:00 we decided to go to the Grout Museum for an hour or two.  We got there, parked, walked around the building to go in the front door...it isn't open on Mondays!  So we came back home, ate lunch, and just enjoyed our clean house!!

We laughed about having the shortest museum visit in history!!  Maybe tomorrow we'll try again!

More later...

Sunday, July 24, 2016

Sunday

Great church service today.  The sermon was about Jesus walking on the water and Peter being afraid.  Pastor Amy had just been in the Holy Land in May and had been in a boat on the Sea of Galilee...so it was an extra special sermon to her.

After church we came home and forgot to eat lunch!  Instead we made a pasta salad and got the meat ready for tonight.  That pasta salad is wonderful and so easy!!  We went to Bryan's about 5:00 and had dinner with him, Erin, Aidan, and Erin's parents.  Aidan gave me a kiss goodbye when we left and  he's starting to be more vocal.  He's not really saying words, but he is vocalizing more!  We bought him some wooden blocks and he played with them a bunch.

More later...

Saturday, July 23, 2016

Saturday

Wowser, it was another hot one here today.  I didn't pay attention to how hot it got...it was so humid we couldn't get the steam off the windows in the car.  When we got out of the car, our glasses would steam over.  It was even hard to breathe!  

This afternoon some BIG thunderstorms came thru, cooling things down a bit!  The cloud formations were something to watch.  I just watched out our double doors.  Lots of lightning and thunder, too!  Tornadoes east and north of us.  

After it cleared off, we decided to go to LJ's for some supper.  Then came back here to watch the Cubs.get beat again.  Grrrrr...........

More later...

Friday, July 22, 2016

Friday

I've been pretty bored the last couple of days.  Dave mowed here at the condos yesterday and then today he went  out to Bryan's to work.  I guess I was getting tired of being here alone with nothing that has to be done.  Anyway, I got through it without snacking or sleeping!

It is really, really hot here.  We've been in a heat advisory - feel like temperatures over 102!  Right now it's 8:30 and it still feels like 98 outside.  The heat is supposed to break tonight, but I sure don't see any clouds in the sky for a thunderstorm.

Tomorrow we're going to the war museum here in Waterloo.  I think it looks very interesting, plus they have a Victorian home that is open on Saturdays, too.  We'll at least be in a/c.

More later...

Wednesday, July 20, 2016

Wednesday

All I did today was dust and lend my expertise to a lady upstairs.  She wanted my opinion on what pictures she should hang, etc.  When I got up there, we ended up talking for about 2 hours!  She's been all over the world and is very interesting to talk to.  The only problem is that she's hard to get away from!

More later...

Tuesday, July 19, 2016

Paperwork day

I worked hard today - right here from my chair.  I am pretty bad about reconciling our checking accounts, so today I got caught up from the last time I did them which was in January.  It's a good think they always balance!  That's why I don't get too excited.

I also got the newsletter done except that I'm waiting for one article...and the August calendar is done too.  Not too bad!

Tomorrow I'll have to find something else to do - oh, I guess I could file....yuck!

More later...

Monday, July 18, 2016

Good Monday!

I slept until 9:30 this morning again...this is becoming a pattern!  I like it, but it's 10:30 in Florida and that means I miss a whole bunch of things if I sleep that late down there!

I worked on paperwork today and then this evening I had a massage...and it was wonderful!  Finally found someone who is as good as Gerrii!

Tonight the Cubs won, so now we're 1-8 against the Mets this season!  At least now the guys know they CAN beat them!

More later...

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