Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Monday August 29th 2010

This is the day!  We are packing up and leaving Dodge.  I got up way to early this morning but have a lot of things to do before we can get on the road.  It is going to be warm so maybe we can get things done before it gets to hot.  I doubt it…

We filled the camper with propane after getting it hooked up and saying our goodbyes to Debbie our next door neighbor.  Her and Miss Harley.  Harley is a Dachshund.  Very nice neighbors.

Back to the propane, it took a whopping 2.1 gallons.  Not to bad I guess for the time we spent here.  We saw Heidi and said goodbye to her and to Roger, and to Nick and Sherry, and to Daniel and Rachel and whoever else was there, can’t forget Karen (flower child).  We finally got on the road about 10:30 and figured it would take between five and six hours. We stopped at Springfield and filled up with gas.  we got about six miles per gallon.  Don’t like to drive this any further than we have to.  I had to stop about every 50 miles to get out and walk around.  We finally made it home at 4:40PM, which I didn’t think was to bad.  Our neighbor Daniel picked up our mail for us and had the refrigerator plugged in.  Thanks Daniel!

 

Unload the stuff now.  What a job.  In a week we will load some of it back up again and head to Mississippi to get the camper worked on then head to San Diego but not with the camper.  I think it will take them awhile to fix it. I hope so, we will be gone for about 6 weeks.

Our Dish Network always has problems.  It didn’t work when we got home so I called (again) and told them the problem.  Guess it goes to sleep if not used for a long period of time, kind of like me.

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Preying Mantis (stick bug) on our camper, think it wants to go to Sikeston.

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This is Brianne.  She has a loose tooth and I wanted to get a picture.  Hi Brianne!!!

OK, time to get some rest, see y’all tomorrow……

Monday, August 30, 2010

Sunday August 29th 2010

TODAY IS THE LAST DAY!!!!  Last day to work anyway.

Linda’s glucose level is doing great.  Had a really sweet supper last night, well, Linda did.  She had Nutella Crepes!! If you don’t know what Nutella is it is a really sweet hazelnut and cocoa blend.  Tastes kind of like fudge to me.  It is OK but definitely not my favorite.  Her glucose level this morning was 110 and I figure that is pretty good.

Work today was pretty light again.  Nick and Sherry shared some of their “dreams” or “plans” for the upcoming year.  There are going to be some changes next year and Nick are already getting ready for them.  The cabins are going to be outfitted with linens (more work) and there is a storage room “man cave” on the hill by the pool where they are going to store all the needed things for the eight cabins.  Sounds like a plan to me!

Linda and I finished up our work in the afternoon with no problem, also the laundry. We keep telling each other that this will be the last time we will do this room or this laundry or this folding etc…The time went by quickly.

Went to church tonight and they had a fifth Sunday sing.  It was good but after an hour they still had a lot of singers to sing yet.  I couldn’t stay and I would like to have but Daniel and Rachel are coming over to help us get rid of some leftovers.

We taught Daniel and Rachel how to plan Zilch (aka stupid game).  We had a good time and a lot of laughs.  We are going to miss everyone here at Compton Ridge.  We have made some good friends and hopefully the friendships will last.  Except for the church back in Illinois, Harvest Time Bible Church, we have met more good friends work camping than anywhere else.  Most work campers are great people, fun loving and true friends, not exactly like campers, even though most of them are nice, you will meet some real “winners”.

Got to get some sleep tonight, I know that tomorrow is going to be a really long day, 24 hours probably!!  See y’all in a little bit…..

Sunday, August 29, 2010

Saturday August 28th 2010

TWO more days!!!! Amazing how fast the time is going and then looking forward to the future at what we have to do and where we have to be kind of makes me tired, I think I need to rest a little.

Linda checked her glucose again this morning, it was a little higher, or maybe a little lower, but still in a very good range. We have been trying to be consistent about eating but sometimes it doesn’t work out well.

Our day today is pretty light. Have a turn around and a checkout. Well, we have a couple other thing to do also but looks like it will be quite easy today. As we were doing the refreshes today at the main park the people checked out of the room that was rented again so we finished that one and got all the laundry started.  We proceeded to go over to the Lodge then and finish the rooms there that we needed to do. Oh mercy, it isn’t even lunch time yet and we are done!!  What will we do, what will we do????  Enough of the dramatics, we started the laundry at the Lodge then went to lunch. Lunch consisted of a sandwich and a nap.  The radio kind of woke me up, they wanted one of the “pet friendly” rooms at the lodge ready for this afternoon.  OK. The room was set up for shampooing but it doesn’t really matter because the four pet friendly rooms are to be renovated this winter and the carpet will be replaced with tile or something.  After we got the room ready we finished the laundry at the lodge then went to the main park and finished up over there.  It is spooky, some of our laundry was already done!!  Linda was worn out so I took her home and I came back and got the leaf blower and spent about 2 hours blowing leaves and rocks. Came out to be about a tank and a half of fuel.  Time went by pretty fast.

We had made plans with Daniel and Rachel (I’ve been spelling her name wrong, Rachael) to go out tonight.  We took them to Red Lobster, but we didn’t eat there. The wait would have been about a half hour and we didn’t want to wait around that long.  We went to IHOP instead.  Now I’m not an IHOP fan but this one in Branson is excellent.  This is our third time there. Speaking of eating places, the Pizza Hut (in Branson West) is also excellent and I’m not a fan of Pizza Hut either.  Back to the story, after eating we went over to Don and LaVon’s for a visit. We wanted them to meet each other.  Don and LaVon are special friends and so are Daniel and Rachel.  We had a great time visiting, some of it at Linda’s expense!  Linda can come up with some “wild and wacky” stuff sometimes.

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We had a great visit, LaVon wants us to come to Texas this winter. Sure would like to but not real sure what is going to happen at home. If it gets real cold I may have to pack up and leave!  I’m getting used to this nice warm weather and am not looking forward to the cold weather.

Well tomorrow’s blog will be a little different because I will incorporate more than one day in it. Not sure I will have any pictures but we will see tomorrow (that will be Monday) what is on the old camera.  Time to say “aree-vwah”  How’s that for French??  Night Y’all..

Saturday, August 28, 2010

Friday August 27th 2010

Four more days…give or take…..

We have been having some gorgeous weather!!!  Opened up the camper again last night and was 66 degrees in here again this morning.  The warm humid weather is coming back though.  Well, it is still summer.

Linda’s glucose has been doing pretty decent.  It was 116 this morning, still in a good range.  I took mine just to see what it was and it was 104. Guess I don’t have to worry right now.

We have a pretty nice day.  There are two checkouts and a refresh. Things at the motel and lodge are pretty slow right now. After we finished with the rooms we went back to the lodge and got all the rooms that had been shampooed ready to rent again.  Didn’t take long.  We had some laundry to finish and by that time it was almost time to head back to the ranch.

Went over to Don and LaVons tonight. Don fixed pork chops and Navy beans! He said he even put the kitchen sink in it…it was good.  He also had Angel Food Cake with strawberries and whipped cream. Excellent meal Don!!

 

We played a couple games of Zilch (aka stupid game) and of course the scorekeeper won one and Don won the other. (stupid game!)  Had a great night.  I will have to check the blog written by Snookie, we had a really good laugh when LaVon was telling us about it. She kind of sounds like a “drama queen”.

This week has been unusual for us, we have been out every night! We are usually home bodies and don’t do a lot of running but we have enjoyed every night.

Can’t think of anything else that happened today so I am going to check the spelling and say good night…Night Y’all…

Friday, August 27, 2010

Thursday August 26th 2010

WOW what gorgeous weather!!!  Got up this morning and it was 66 degrees in the camper.  The air conditioner was off all night and it is nice and cool.  Supposed to be nice all day but the warm weather is coming back.

We had a pretty slow day today, one checkout and a refresh that didn’t want to be disturbed.  The carpet cleaners where at the Lodge this morning to clean all the rooms so I had to get a couple pictures of that.

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I think they wondered why I was taking their picture so I let them know it was for my blog.  When they came back for lunch Roger asked me to take them to the house to show them the carpet that needed cleaning there.  I didn’t get to look at it after they were done but they said the spots were gone, at least until it dried.  I also got to take a look at some of the rooms at the Lodge and they do look pretty nice. I had a rough time this afternoon finding things to do.  I washed windows, lubricated the locks and used the broom to clean cob webs.  I was glad when 5 PM rolled around.

Roger and Heidi asked us over tonight for supper. I didn’t get a picture of the chicken Roger cooked on the grill, that he marinated with a new type of marinate, Lowry’s dried tomato and basil I think is what he said it was.  We are going to have to try some of that, it was great and the chicken was cooked perfect.  Heidi made stuffed portabella mushrooms.  Excellent!  She stuffed them with a spinach quiche type of stuff.  She also made wild rice. She also made a desert. I think we need to get some recipes. The desert was a cherry stuffed pastry and I’m sure there is a name for it besides desert. I didn’t get pictures of the food……but…..100_1068

Yep, this is Snickers….loves company, loves attention.  I need to find another picture…

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Since I didn’t get a picture last night I thought I better look back through my pics and get one of them. They are excellent managers and a great couple to work for. IF, If, we came back it would be because of them, not the job.  The others working here are great also. We always have a great time with the people here.  We will miss the “mandatory” potluck next Tuesday night but we have places to go etc etc etc…

When we got back home it was about time for bed.  Time to open the camper and turn on the fan, we know it is going to get cool tonight.

Oh, I have to add this, Nick came over about 6 PM after getting back from Silver Dollar City. Their air conditioner quit working and he asked if I could take a look.  Sure I can do that.  After looking inside then on top and having him try the a/c again I came back down. My brain doesn’t work to fast but I thought one more look at the circuit breakers, so he showed me the circuit breakers and as he was showing me he happened to reset it, then turned it on and guess what???? The a/c works!!  The only thing I can think of Nick is that it is pay back for calling my car a “girlie” car.  What do you think??? Call my car what you want but be prepared for payback!! My car must have a straight line to your a/c Nick, be careful!!!

Time to go to bed….Night Y’all…

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Wednesday August 25th 2010

Six more days and we will be on the road again…

Today is another bug day..Linda saw a Preying Mantis on the chair and I had to look twice.  I thought it looked like pine needles, which we have plenty of here and she also saw a Wooly Worm which we had a hard time getting a good picture of…

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The Preying Mantis is sure a weird looking bug!!

Well, work was something else today.  We had two refreshes and one of them has had a “DO NOT DISTURB” sign on the door for at least three days now.  I think they are checking out tomorrow so we will have something to do tomorrow.  Daniel and Rachael had everything done.  We left a couple rooms from Sunday and they did them.  We finished up all the laundry, including the rags, and then cleaned windows at the Lodge. We also finished getting the rooms ready for shampooing.  I will try to get a picture of the shampooers tomorrow.  Sounds exciting huh?  Kind of like watching grass grow.

I went to church tonight.  Pastor is starting a study on Galatians. I have learned things I didn’t know.  Galatia was not just one church but a country with many churches.  They had problems, but who doesn’t?

After I got back from church we had some of Linda’s pork burritos.  Love those pork burritos. We watched some TV and went to bed, not a real exciting night but Linda was tired and so was I, wasn’t from over working though I don’t think, maybe we are getting old??

Oh, forgot about the weather.  I turned off the air conditioner this morning and opened up the camper. It was beautiful.  I went for a little walk this morning and had to come back and put on a jacket. It was only in the sixties and felt great.  It was a gorgeous day.  Hope y’all had a great day also….

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Tuesday August 24th 2010

OK we have 5 working days left counting today!!  Going fast! We aren’t working today though:-)

Got up early again this morning.  Wanted to bake bread again.  We gave most of the last batch away and we are about out. 

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Made it pretty much the same as usual.  Used a plastic square pan though.  Looks good but will be kind of hard to toast a slice of it.

Our dinette is starting to come apart.  The outside front is now completely loose from the frame.  Need to fix it….

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This doesn’t look very good but the side of the seat is now solid and when we get to MS I will have them countersink the hole and put in a plug to make it look decent.

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This one is alive.  I touched it with my foot before I took the picture.  I think we have tree frogs here that croak all night.  Our air conditioner makes enough noise that it doesn’t bother us.

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Linda’s new hairdo.  Have a little better picture.  She is making her famous pork burritos!!  YES!!!  Good stuff!!

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We aren’t going to do a lot today, we are going to take in a show tonight with Daniel and Rachael.  The Mike Walker Show.  Supposed to be good.

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They were right he is very good.  He is also a Christian.  We bought a CD of his gospel music and I don’t know how to get it on my blog so I will have to have LaVon show me how to do it.  Most of the Gospel songs on his CD are his original songs and have a great message.  It was about 10PM when the show got over and is about my bed time. I am going to try to post this so will catch you tomorrow…Have a great night…..

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Monday August 23rd 2010

Let me see now….Yes, I believe it is 8 days…give or take..

I got up, yes I did…I’m thinking…getting a headache now, I think I got up early, about 4AM.  Lots of things I want to do today, but 4AM??? I went ahead and did the laundry, reading, computing, drinking coffee, I didn’t make bread, then I went over and talked to Maggie and checked the work schedule. I know, we aren’t working today but I like to see what is going on. I told Daniel and Rachael to leave the rooms for us and just do what came up today. On my walk back over to the camper I met Roger and talked to him for a little while.  He gave us a loaf of pumpkin bread.  Excellent!   Heidi told us later he made it!!  Good job Roger!!

After I got back to the camper I found some glass wipes and cleaned the windshield in the car.  It was bad, especially with the sun shining on it.  The inside of the windshield looked like it had smog on it.  Looks a lot better. Then I climbed up on top of the camper to check the air conditioner. I took it apart and the only thing I found wrong was inside there is some foam for insulation that was loose so I glued it back on.  The fins were all clean so there is plenty of air flow.  It seems to be a little quieter now and maybe cools a little better.  I know at 94 degrees it cooled enough to cycle on and off so maybe it is fixed.  I still think I would rather have a different air conditioner though.

When Linda got up we dropped off our suggestion sheets to Heidi.  We are going to miss Roger and Heidi, they are excellent to work for..

I should have gotten a picture….Linda got a perm!!  Looks pretty good only they didn’t style it very good.  I didn’t even like it but I know she will be able to do it like she likes it.  I’ll get a picture of her tomorrow.

Before we went to town I called the Branson Belle showboat thingy and was going to make reservations for us on Tuesday afternoon. Well, they are closed on Monday and Tuesday, guess we won’t do that.  Called about the show SIX and they were closed.  I think our going to shows for this season is about over.  We are going to see Mike Walker at the “God and Country” Theater tomorrow with Daniel and Rachael, but I thought the Branson Belle would be a nice way to celebrate the end of the season. Oh well, no big deal.

Guess that’s about all we did today.  Exciting huh? I watched “Back to the Future” tonight.  I didn’t remember a lot of it so I enjoyed it again. Catch Y’all tomorrow….

Monday, August 23, 2010

Sunday August 22nd 2010

Starting out to be a great day!!  I found our dish soap!!  It was in the trash!! Can’t hardly believe that I would do something like that.  I figured as long as I put it in there I might as well do the rest of the dishes.  Wasn’t a lot but the crock pot takes up most of the counter.

Linda’s glucose yesterday was 160. That is a little on the high side.  We had gone to Pizza Hut though and we ate quite a bit of pizza, which was really good.  She took it again this morning and it was down to 107.  PTL… She is going to try to watch her eating a little closer now to make sure it doesn’t get back up that high again.

We have a lot to do today, there are eight checkouts but no turnarounds. We had to start at the Lodge because no one at the motel had checked out yet. This takes a little time going back and forth between parks but that is just the way it is.  We finished one room at the Lodge then headed over to the main park to do the motel rooms. We finished three rooms plus a room that wanted clean sheets.  They said they have fleas!!  We had one room left to do after lunch at the motel.  We finished that one then two more over at the Lodge so we only have two left now and we told Daniel and Rachael we would get them Wednesday when we come back to work. About 4:45PM Missy called and said they rented the Cozy Cabin and they rented linens.  We had to go back to the main park and get the linens ready before heading home. All together today we did six checkouts and one refresh, for us that is about our maximum.

Went to church tonight at Friendly Baptist.  Linda was beat to a frazzle so she went to bed.  Bill the associate pastor had the service tonight.  I think I like him better each time I hear him.  He kind of gets “with it” now.

I’m trying to plan all the things I have to do tomorrow.  Hope I get some of them done.  Time to get some needed rest and relaxation….Nite Y’all..

Sunday, August 22, 2010

Saturday August 21st 2010

Seven more working days!!  The time is really going fast now!  There are things we would have like to have done but we are sure we won’t have enough time.  There are shows we would like to have seen and I would like to have gone on the Branson Belle.  Oh well, maybe next time.

I got up early this morning but not as early as Linda!!!  She was up around 4AM and she started some country ribs in the crock pot.  Smells good.  I got up around 5AM and made some more Jalapeno bread.  The jalapenos aren’t spicy for some reason.  I put a Serrano pepper in with it to see if it would spice it up any.  Linda found a package of Italian cheese, a blend of five different cheeses.  I’m not going to try to name them but I used all the cheese so hopefully it will taste good.  Ginny Lee kind of got on to me yesterday for not giving her any bread the last time I made it so I figured today would be the only day I could make it and give it to her.  They are leaving on vacation tomorrow.

We had a pretty light workload again today.  I think that may change tomorrow but that is OK, hopefully we will get everything done tomorrow before our days off so Daniel and Rachael won’t have to do it.  They are having a pretty easy time of it also.  Not to many people are camping here now and that means the rest rooms aren’t used nearly as much.

Linda and I had a cabin to do and some refreshes.  There were linens to do from the cabin so we left them for the afternoon.  I spent time going through some of the cabinets seeing what was not doing us any good and getting rid of a few things.  Cleared our a pretty good space.  We also finished the laundry.  Found an ice cream pail with damp rags in it.  Didn’t smell good at all.  I washed them up and hopefully they won’t smell now.

After work we were going over to Don and LaVon’s for a cookout.  Well, Don was done cooking when we got there and they were waiting for us.  Dennis and Sally were also there, they are also in the CRM Ministry and camp at the same campground with Don and LaVon.  We had a great meal and three great games of Zilch (aka stupid game).  Sally brought a fruit salad that was delicious and the pork chops were delicious, well, everything was delicious….

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Had an excellent evening but I think Don wasn’t feeling to chipper, headache again I think.  Had a lot of good laughs and a good memories of a fun evening..

When we got home Linda was going to do up the dishes.  Couldn’t find the dish soap.  I looked all over for it and I came to the conclusion I threw it away….HMMMMM wonder why I would do a thing like that?  Oh well, to the $100 store tomorrow I guess.  Until then we have to contend with the dishes on the counter.  Not fun but I guess we will manage.  Time to go to bed and have sweet dreams about another day at Compton Ridge.  Night Y’all…..

Saturday, August 21, 2010

Friday August 20th 2010

It’s PAYDAY!!  Whoopee!!  Today should be a pretty easy day, I’m not sure what all is going to happen at work but shouldn’t be to bad.

Linda took her glucose again this morning, I think it was 107 or maybe 98, well one day was 98 and the next, or other, was 107, still in a good range.

The heat and humidity are back again.  I think it is supposed to get into the mid 90s today.  It sure doesn’t take much to start sweating.

Linda and I went to the main park and did a refresh and a turn around.  The rooms weren’t to bad but gave us quite a bit of laundry.  Had four loads which we left for after lunch.  We found something under our folding table that had been there since we started working so I dug it out and it was a little sleeper or something for a small child.  It had an air mattress with it and I filled it up with air and checked it in the pool.  It has a leak so Roger had said that if the air mattress leaked to throw it away.  I did. It was really cute though and would have been for a child about three feet tall or shorter. The air mattress looked like a bed when it was inflated.  I hadn’t ever seen anything like it before. We took the leaf blower over to the Lodge and I blew off the decks and the parking lot while Nick did some weed eating.  I’m not particularly fond of finding work to do after our job is done.  Oh well, 7 more working days after today!!!  YES!!!

Daniel and Rachael took us out for pizza tonight at the Pizza Hut.  This Pizza Hut is probably the best one I’ve ever been to.  They have excellent food and the wait staff is very good…

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The pizza was excellent!!!  Had a great time, went to Wal Mart after the pizza and I picked up some jalapenos and cheese and Linda got a pork roast at County Market, they didn’t have any at Wal Mart.  This Wal Mart, for a super Wal Mart sure doesn’t have a lot of stuff, well, they have a lot of stuff but not the stuff we are looking for:-)

Couldn’t believe it, when we got back home and in the house it was almost 10PM!!  Already time for bed!!!  Where does the time go????

Roger asked me this morning if I already had one foot out the door!  Yep! Getting almost close enough now that I could just fall out!!  Nite Y’all…

Friday, August 20, 2010

Thursday August 19th 2010

Just a shade over 12 days to go!!!  The weather is getting warm again, they say it isn’t humid but it sure feels like it is.

We have a light work load today four turnarounds, three refreshes, two arrivals and a partridge in a pear tree!!!  Thought you might like that Nick:-) We actually only had a couple checkouts and refreshes.  We got to finish up the laundry at both parks and got the closets filled up again. I got a picture of Linda working this afternoon!!

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It takes awhile to fold sheets but the towels are pretty easy and a lot faster. We had to transfer some product from one park to another and then some of it back again.  Roger said that the Lodge will close the third and first floor pretty soon and just use the second floor, which actually is the ground floor. I think towards the last of November they will close it down completely, the North Park campground and the Lodge.

On the way home we stopped at Daniel and Rachael’s new “home”. We got to go inside and it was “COLD”!!!  I had to leave and get warmed up again.

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I don’t know how big the air conditioner is but it sure works good.  They set the camper up this afternoon and we are anxious to hear how comfortable it is.  I know it is going to be “cool” for sure.  The air conditioner works a lot better than ours does and is a lot quieter. I think they will be happy with it.

Now for our gourmet supper!!  I went to a lot of work to fix this!!!

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This is another picture that could probably go on the cover of a gourmet magazine!!  Hot dogs with fried cabbage slaw.  They were good!  I can’t think of to much though that I don’t like.  Linda wouldn’t eat the stuff that is good for you though, can’t hardly believe that she wouldn’t eat the slaw!

We had a pretty good night tonight, I watched three hours of AFV!!  That is one of my favorite shows.

I have a picture of another moth.  This one is kind of blurry but it is another one of the “different” moths we have seen here in Branson.

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This moth isn’t very big but it is unique. Different shaped wings and a different color.  They must thrive here, back in Sikeston where they grow a lot of cotton and spray for Boll Weevils the spray probably kills most of them but the bugs are still there especially the mosquitoes!

 

OK guess I have gone on long enough, time to get some sleep because tomorrow is going to be a really hard day!!  We have all kinds of work to do tomorrow, are you getting ready Nick???  See you in the morning!!! Night Y’all….

Thursday, August 19, 2010

Wednesday August 18th 2010

Oh Boy, I’m not going to say it is down to 13 days tomorrow, that would possibly be unlucky so today we have 14 days to go, 10 more working days including today.

Linda’s glucose has been doing very well, just over 100 most of the time. I think it was 107 this morning up from 101 yesterday but still in the optimum range.

We got ready and went to work, took a couple of comforters back over to the main park, Nick and Sherry washed them.  We got our work sheet for the day and wasn’t to bad at all.  Had three checkouts a couple arrivals and some refreshes.  Had a bunch of laundry to do at the main park but should have plenty of time to get all the laundry done.  We had to go back and forth between parks a few times to get the priority ones done first. We had a pretty decent day, no surprises like the other day.  Linda found some stuff in the refrigerator in one of the cabins.  Can’t believe people buy all this stuff and leave it.

We stopped for lunch a little early so we wouldn’t have to make an extra trip to the main park, then come back for lunch.

After we finished the rooms and laundry at the main park we came back to the Lodge to finish folding towels there and I got a call from Ginny Lee that the Cozy Cabin was rented and they needed linens.  No problem.  I packed up linens and took them down to them.  Very nice couple.  They were going to be here for 3 days and I had a really nice talk with him. I still marvel at the people we meet.  There was a honeymoon couple at the motel and I think the lady, I’m not sure, was at the office and it seemed every time I saw her she had less on!!  The last time I saw her she was wearing “short” shorts, a halter top and cowboy boots.  Linda said she thought she was pregnant. Oh well, to each his (or her) own.

On the way back from the Cozy Cabin I noticed a “new” camper!!  Look here….

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I had to stop and talk to them for a little bit.  They said the truck did fine pulling the camper back.  It is only a four cylinder truck but they said it went up the hills at 50 MPH!!   I’m surprised!!  Look at the top…It has an air conditioner!!!  Whoopee!!  They said they wouldn’t set it up until tomorrow. Today is their day off.  I will have to get another picture when they get it set up.

Went to church tonight and the Pastor finished up with Nehemiah which we had studied in Sunday School this Spring.  It is very interesting except for all the names that are unpronounceable.

 

I didn’t sleep to good last night, I think it was the coffee.  I should learn that drinking before bed is not a good idea.  Had to get up way to  many times.  I am really tired tonight, but that isn’t unusual I guess.  I have no trouble getting up in the morning but staying awake at night or during the day sometimes is hard for me.  If I keep busy I am fine.

Enough already….time for bed…..Night Y’all….

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Tuesday August 17th 2010

Fourteen more days!!  The time is really going fast.  Linda doesn’t think so, she thinks it is going slow.  We have 10 working days left now, well, I may help next week on Monday and Tuesday since no one is scheduled to clean.  I don’t mind helping out, Daniel and Rachael will be the only cleaners on for those two days.  Nick and Sherry will be taking their vacation next week and we sure hope they enjoy there time off.  I know we have enjoyed our couple of days off.

Let me see, I got the laundry done and took a shower before Linda got up this morning.  I’ve been busy!  We had to go to the bank and to Wal-Mart this morning to get a few things.  When we got back I went over and talked to Nick and Sherry.  They were cleaning a cabin a couple of doors away from us. I always get a kick out of talking to them and discussing some of the things that have been happening, things I can’t write down here, well, I could but that wouldn’t be kosher.

We went over to Don and LaVon’s tonight for a great meal. Don made a pot roast that was excellent and had mashed potatoes, carrots, celery and peanut butter!!!  Couldn’t taste the peanut butter but everything was delicious.  Also had string beans.  I ate to much…Oh, the mashed potatoes weren’t in with the pot roast, but the rest of it was.

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Don carving the pot roast, of course we all had to watch.  Don also made desert, well, pound cake was from the store but he fixed up blueberries and strawberries with a yogurt and lemon curd sauce, excellent.  Linda also made a desert, a cherry cobbler type of thing…

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It looks different but it tasted good.  We will try a blueberry type of cobbler next time.

We played a couple of games of Zilch after supper and Don won the first game and I’m not sure who won the second one, was it the scorekeeper???

We came home kind of early. Don had a headache and we have to work in the morning so we decided to make an early night of it.

Linda got to talk to her cousin in Picayune.  They are doing well and her Aunt Virgie is back in the Assisted Living home again and happy to be there.  It is sad though that they had to sell her house that they built and lived in for probably forty years or more or less.  I don’t really know.  That is the only place I remember seeing them.

Well it is time to go to bed, I know tomorrow will be another work day and I would like to feel good anyway.. Sigha narra….

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Monday August 16th 2010

Got the day off today, Wahoo. Beautiful morning this morning, it is sunny and actually cool, well, it is in the 60s and a little breeze, I turned off the air conditioner and opened up the camper, well, I baked some bread also…

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I wanted to take a picture of this.  This is also another experiment.  I used three large jalapenos in this and used 2 stems but I put cheese in two of them.  I marked the top with cheese so I could tell the difference. We had a container of a three cheese mixture, parmesan, asiago and romano. I thought that would be kind of good at least to try it.  I liked the cheese in it and could have used more but I wasn’t sure.  I think it needed more, next time I will….

Not a lot going on today, went over to see Don and LaVon because she requested jalapeno bread.  We always have a good time when we are with them.  We have a lot of the same interests.  I feel like we are on vacation for some reason, maybe it was because we had two days off and then worked a day and we are off for another two days, I love it!! Sorry about getting off track but we are enjoying our time off.

Took another ride today with Daniel and Rachael and they made the plunge to get a camper.  It’s a pop up and it looks really nice.  It has an air conditioner, got to put in a picture…

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They seem to be quite excited about this.  I think maybe the air conditioner is a big thing to be excited about and also not having to sleep in a tent on the ground.  Linda and I have done it, not a lot of fun especially when it is over one hundred degrees and humid!!

We stopped at McDonald’s and we got a little lunch.  The Angus Wrap or whatever it is tastes pretty good.  When we got home Linda and I both took a nap.  Good day for sure…. Didn’t do a lot tonight, just relaxed.  Well, I’m sure tomorrow will be another day… Now that is some silly fossilizing fore shore….Have a great day…..

Monday, August 16, 2010

Sunday August 15th 2010

August is almost half way over!!  16 more days, give or take, and we will be on our way again!!

The weather is supposed to be a little cooler today, not much, but a little cooler. The Lodge Office is closed now and I can’t walk down to see what the work schedule is going to be like so I have to wait until Nick and I make the trek to the main park.  Shouldn’t be to bad but you never know. Nick and I went over while the coffee was brewing and got our sheets to check out the schedule.  Didn’t look to bad for us.  Nick and Sherry have a lot more over at the Lodge and cabins.  We have the house and the two cabins over here.  Could be worse, actually got worse after we started looking at them.  Makes you wonder how people live at home. The house and one cabin gave us enough laundry to do the rest of the day.  Linda stayed in the laundry the rest of the afternoon and tried to get caught up. The one washing machine was replaced. They both needed replacing but only had one spare I guess.  Linda got a workout in the laundry while I cleaned the 2 cabins.  I got a workout on the second cabin.  A ton of dirty laundry and dirty dishes in the sink and oven. I spent at least 2 hours on that cabin, with all the laundry. They were in the cabin three days!!  What a mess!! Guess as long as the owner makes money we shouldn’t complain.

When we got off work at 5PM Linda took a nap. She couldn’t get up to go to church so I went alone.  Met Don and LaVon there.  The service was pretty good.  Would have been better if I could have stayed awake. There was a presentation by John Wain, or narration by him, that had to do with Walter Brennen. I think the problem was, they turned down the lights and had music and singing which isn’t helpful in staying awake, for me!  I didn’t fall on the floor but was worried about that.

No pictures today.  We are tired and need to get to bed.  Didn’t even watch much TV tonight!!!  See Y’all tomorrow……

Sunday, August 15, 2010

Saturday August 14th 2010

Sometimes I think of different things.  For example 100 years ago, 1910 my father was 2 years old, there was no TV, I don’t think homes had telephones, airplanes were just starting to fly and cars were, well, not very many!  One of the big things was (or is to us) air conditioning.  I’m sure it hadn’t been invented yet and I was talking to Bobby yesterday and he said that they had gotten air conditioning for his grandmother and after she had it for awhile she couldn’t go back outside because it was just to hot! Are we being ruined? I know that some of the things that we have today, if they were suddenly taken away, we would be in a world of hurt!  Electricity, what did people do without electricity? What would we do now without it?  We sure would suffer.  It could happen that all these things could be taken away from us in an instant and that would be worse than the Wall Street crash back a long time ago, I’m bad, I don’t even know when it was.  I don’t think I was around or at least to young to remember it. So much for my soap box.

We had a pretty good day today, I baked some bread this morning, nothing special, we finished the last of ours off yesterday.  We have been making an egg sandwich for breakfast and is quite good on homemade bread that is toasted.

This afternoon we took off with Daniel and Rachael and rode up through the countryside looking for Highlandville.  We found it but had to stop and ask directions.  The highways here in the mountains (or hills) really twist and turn.  It took us an hour to get there and there really wasn’t much there. We went on into Springfield then on to Strafford.  We stopped at Camping World to look around for awhile then back home because Daniel and Rachael had to go to work.

We had a sandwich then off to see Don and LaVon over at Branson View Campground.  That is a nice campground.  The view is really nice too. The lights of the city kind of sparkle at night.  I tried to get a picture but they didn’t turn out very well..

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This picture turned out better than I thought it would..

We had played a couple of games of Zilch before we left, the score keeper didn’t win!!!

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We met Don and LaVon at Coffeyville KS when I was working at Amazon.com.  Don was the chaplain there and LaVon got to lead the singing!!  I tried to help her with the singing but after working 10 hours on Saturday night it wasn’t easy.  She said towards the last we had help but I can’t remember anyone singing with us, I may have been asleep???

We stopped at Wal Mart on the way home to pick up some jalapeno peppers. Going to make some jalapeno bread Monday I think. 

It is getting late, especially for me, and I think I need to go to bed…Night Y’all……

Saturday, August 14, 2010

Friday August 13th 2010

18 days to go, more or less…. The time is going by quickly, good thing, today it broke the record by one degree - 101.  We went to Springfield and the temp on the car at one point on the way home reached 105. That is really warm, still better than 30 with wind and sleet.  I’ll take this anytime over cold, damp, windy cloudy weather.

This is our day off and I let Linda sleep in.  I wanted to add this because when she got up and took her glucose reading it was down to 97 which is pretty normal. Yesterday it was 126 I think so it does fluctuate somewhat. Guess it depends on what she eats.

We stopped at Braum’s on the way back from Springfield and had a burger and a cherry lemon slush or something like that.  It was good, wasn’t sure about the slush but it was cold, even had big pieces of cherries in it.

We took it easy tonight, may take a ride with Daniel and Rachael tomorrow to Republic. That will be different, we have never been there before.  We went through Reed Springs yesterday.  The little town may have been a thriving little city at one time.  Looked like most everything was closed now.

The air conditioner at the camper keeps us cool but it sure is noisy and it really works hard.  Checked at Camping World for a new one and they run close to $900.  Will keep this one for awhile I guess.

Going to take it easy tonight, watch some TV and play a few games on the computer and then hit the sack…..Good night Y’all….

Wanted to add a picture of Charles Z from New York City.  Today is Charlie’s birthday….. Wonder if he was born on Friday the 13th???

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Charles and Pat are very good friends and we have been keeping in touch since we worked at Lake Pointe together, well, we didn’t work together but we were there at the same time.  They did security and we did cleaning. We love to listen to them talk because of the accent, very pronounced I might add.  We had a lot of good time together and look forward to seeing them again.  They sold, or are selling their house in New York and will be going full time after that.  Happy Birthday Charlie!!!!  After reading this I should add that we like talking to them because they are funny and have many very interesting stories, not just because of the New York accent!!

Friday, August 13, 2010

Thursday August 12th 2010

Nineteen days to go!!!  Well, that’s about all for today, good news for us. We figured out our working days including today are twelve.  Next week Nick and Sherry will still be here and the week after they will be on vacation.  That should be interesting. I think we will work a day or two with them when they return then they will be on their own but Johnny Mac will be here to help for awhile.  Our workday wasn’t to bad, had a couple turnarounds, one being the house.  The laundry from the house is the big thing. We usually have to look all over the house for sheets and towels. When they are all together the golf cart is loaded and the clean linens coming back, even folded, is a load. People pay good money for the house though and I guess that is just part of the deal.

We had the Cozy cabin to do which they had rented out and we got that done plus some arrivals in the morning.  In the afternoon we refreshed a couple rooms in the motel and finished up the laundry. Johnny Mac did a couple refreshes in the Lodge and a check out. We didn’t have to do anything at the Lodge.  We were ready to take it easy after work.

I fixed some turkey tacos for supper.  I wanted to try something that might be good for Linda.  We were surprised that they tasted pretty good. I bought some whole grain tortillas and they weren’t to bad either.

Our friends, Don and LaVon are supposed to be in tomorrow.  Looking forward to seeing them. I think they will be here for a month but not sure.

Anyway, it was a good day and now we will take it easy.  Not a lot to write about. Oh, Roger took Heidi to Fayetteville to the Doctor for her back. I really feel bad for her, must be really painful.  Roger said she had to lay on the table for over an hour with a needle in her back so they could find exactly the right spot, now I am sure I am missing part of this but hopefully they found the right spot, he said she was in a lot of pain. I think she needs prayer……

Thursday, August 12, 2010

Wednesday August 11th 2010

Good morning everyone, it is going to be a great day I can tell already. Before I start I want to wish our oldest daughter, Kimberly, a very happy birthday a day early!!!  Happy Birthday Kim!!

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This is Kim and our grandson Jacob, a student at UCSB. This was taken last year on parents day at the college.  He is striving to become a marine biologist and Kim has done a great job raising him, she should be very proud. OK, to explain, Kim’s birthday isn’t until tomorrow but this won’t be printed until tomorrow….

Back to today, Linda took her glucose reading again this morning and it was 117 which made us both happy.  Going to be a good day..

Our workload today should be light, there aren’t many people staying anywhere here, maybe camping but the Lodge and motel are about empty. We had time to finish the rooms and laundry and had time left over. I figured the ceiling fans needed to be dusted and the coffee pots needed to be cleaned. I also defrosted all the small refrigerators and turned them off. The coffee pots were the worst and they are stained (plastic filters) to the point where they won’t come clean.  We tried vinegar, and it doesn’t clean them, then I tried bleach and it didn’t work either, so we washed all the filters in soapy water and rinsed them so they wouldn’t taste like chlorine and put them back in the coffee pots.  That was the extent of our workday.

Went to church tonight and then to Wally World for a few things and back home.  Not a real exciting day but, but, to the very end it is only twenty more days  YES!!!!  Time is actually going very fast. Take off time will be here before we realize it.  Summer is almost over.. Going to go to  bed, see y’all tomorrow….

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Tuesday August 10th 2010

Tuesday already!!  Linda got up this morning and after getting ready she checked her blood sugar.  Last night it was 160 and this morning 136. Thought that was pretty good. She is still getting used to the machine. She uses a couple strips to get a good reading.  When she gets the machine down pat she will only have to use one.

Today at work, we finish up the load from Sunday.  I figured it would take about three days to finish.  Nick and Sherry and Linda and I kind of split up the load.  Nick and Sherry got the biggest part but still finished before we did. I did get to shampoo the last room at the motel.  Really dirty.  Linda and I went over to the Lodge in the morning or maybe it was in the afternoon, it was sometime!!  I had to get a picture of the dumbwaiter that carries the clean linens up stairs and the dirty linens down to the laundry room…

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Not a very pretty sight is it??  I know that from the first floor to the second there are nineteen steps. from the second to the third I think there are fourteen steps.  Good exercise unless you have bad knees. After lunch we went over to the main park and finished the only room there and shampooed it. We had enough time to finish the laundry and get everything back in order again.  Nick and Sherry finished the North park except for a little laundry that we will get in the morning.

Daniel and Rachael asked us to go the the Liverpool Legends tonight.  They say they are really good.  Got a few pictures…

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Daniel, Rachael and Linda at the Mansion.

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Not a bad picture is it?  This is a cardboard cut out but looks good…

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They actually are good singers and do a good job on the Beatle’s songs.

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This is George Harrison’s sister, she told a few things about the Beatles and answered questions.  She made it sound like she got the group together. They are excellent musicians.

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This is the Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Heartsclub Band segment. Not sure but I think this is when they got into drugs pretty heavy. This part of the show was OK but really not my cup of tea.

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Liverpool Legends.  All in all it was a good night. We like Daniel and Rachael and had a really good time with them.  We will probably do it again sometime. I have come to the conclusion though that all the acts, or almost all the acts here are imitators of the real thing.  I’m not complaining and in fact this Fall some of the well know acts will be back in Branson. We won’t be here.  There was an advertisement for an act coming in September or October that the tickets started at $62. Can’t remember what act it was, maybe the Gatlin Brothers, I’m not sure. I’m sure that I won’t be going to it though.

We got home about 10:45PM and decided it was going to be a short night. We’ll go right to bed and will not pass “go” and will not collect $200.  Good night Y’all…..

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Monday August 9th 2010

21 days to go!!! Actually the time is going pretty fast. Glad we only committed to August 30th.  I tried to talk Nick and Sherry into letting us have their week off without pay. Guess they didn’t want to trade since we don’t get a week off.  BUMMER, thought we could get out a week early!!

Today should be a pretty good day. There isn’t a lot that HAS to be done, but quite a bit to do. We refreshed a room at the “motel” and it was quite strange. One bed hadn’t been used and had some “stuff” on it and all the towels etc were piled on the floor and you could tell some hadn’t been used because they were still folded.  I had to take a picture of this because I figure we will get a complaint here for some  reason, not sure why, just a gut feeling…

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This is a picture of the room and we are almost finished, just have to take the trash out but the far bed has a book and some clothes on it which we aren’t supposed to touch.

Back to breakfast.  I fixed Linda and I an egg sandwich of sorts. The plating isn’t looking to good but it sure tasted good.

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The cheese on mine is processed cheddar and doesn’t taste like much of anything.  Doesn’t taste bad, just doesn’t taste.

After doing the room at the motel we came back over to the Lodge and did a couple rooms on the 3rd floor then went to lunch.  Linda doesn’t feel good today but she is hanging in there.  When we stopped for lunch she laid down for a half hour and when I woke her to go back to work she still didn’t feel good so I let her sleep on.  I started cleaning cabins and Linda came over a few minutes later feeling a little better.  We cleaned two cabins then went back over to the main park to try to finish laundry.  Got most of it done, just had a couple loads in the dryer which we will get tomorrow.

Linda couldn’t get the glucose meter to work (different meter and supplies) so we went to Wal Mart and picked her up another one.  The Pharmacist was very helpful since we know nothing about the meters. We got the Wally World brand (Reli-On) which was very cheap.  The meter, lances and test strips were about half the price of the test strips for a “brand” name meter.  She got it together and decided to wait until bed time to take her blood.  It turned out to be 160 which may be high but it wasn’t 300!  She will take it again in the morning.

I fixed supper tonight.  To hot to fix anything really big.  We had some “veggie burgers” so I fried them up and we had them on  multi grain sandwich thins…

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Doesn’t that look appetizing? Could probably use that on the cover of a Home and Garden Magazine!!  Right!  They tasted quite good though. We were surprised.

Back to Linda’s testing.  She spent about an hour trying to figure out how to use the “machine”.  She found that she has to insert the strip after getting the blood flowing.  Took about 3 or 4 tries to get the lance to prick her finger and when it finally did she said she didn’t feel it.  Not like the when the nurse did it at the clinic. I think after a few times she will have it down pat and if I ever need it she can teach me.

After looking at these pictures of our meals, hope no one is getting ready to eat.  Might spoil your appetite.  Happy trails Y’all till we meet again..

Monday, August 9, 2010

Sunday August 8th 2010

Back to work today!  Since Nick came over last night we know what we are looking at today.  The good thing is, we don’t have to hurry to get a lot of things done.  I think only two are turnarounds. They have closed the Lodge office for the month on August, well, starting today.

Linda was going to take her glucose level today but the meter and the lances are two different styles.  We will have to go to Wally World and get the right one I think.  She is trying to eat better and the exercise part is at work right now.

The days go by pretty fast. We finished the work at the main park, except for the laundry.  Will get it tomorrow.  Looks like it will be very easy at the main park tomorrow so we will help at the Lodge and cabins.

Went to church tonight and they had special music.  Lewis and Lewis from Nashville.  They were pretty good.  Almost all of their music was written by them and I think they said they had been doing this for forty years.  They weren’t young but they were very good singers. All Gospel music!  The little lady that plays the banjo (92 years old) kind of played a special at the beginning, “Alabama Jubilee”.  She had performed for years at Silver Dollar City with her husband.  She is quite an artist.  Everyone enjoyed the song.

Not much going on tonight, will go to bed pretty early. Take care Y’all and have a great one…..

Sunday, August 8, 2010

Saturday August 7th 2010

This is going to be another early day.  Had to get Linda up before 7AM!! I didn’t get up any to early. She didn’t want to get up because she knows the rest of the week I will wake her up early.

We went over to Table Rock Lake where James and Janice work and visited with them for awhile and met Jeremy a Park Ranger.

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Jeremy was a very nice young fellow and answered a lot of questions for us. We may try to work for the Corps of Engineers next year, not sure yet. Hopefully James and Janice will have one day off while we are still here to take a ride around to some of their campgrounds. James and Janice say they are really beautiful. They have been revamping them one at a time. I may have said this before but James and Janice got the job they wanted and are really glad they got it. The one they have isn’t to bad except for the boss who isn’t a people person and he is having a hard time keeping people working there (volunteers).  Got a picture of a Bald Eagle, they sure are majestic!!

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I didn’t ask the story of this one, probably died in captivity or something.

We stopped at the Chateau on the Lake for a look around….

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After looking around inside we decided this wasn’t quite our cup of tea.  I think this was meant for high class people with lots of money, definitely not us.  The place was beautiful and the views were really great but I think we will stick to the Super 8!!

We didn’t do much the rest of the day. Took it easy this afternoon.  Want to know how cheap I am??  I wanted to see a movie at the IMAX theater and we went over and the movie wasn’t free!!  Would have cost about $12. Now for a 45 minute movie, that is just a little high for me, but the fact that it cost anything for an employee in Branson, well, that turned me off.  We then thought, maybe we could stop at the Butterfly Palace and take a look around there.  The time was 4:45PM and it closed at 5PM and reopened at 8PM!!  Guess we will do that some other time.  So much for the shows for today.  Linda and I have still only seen about 6 or 7 shows since we’ve been here.  Not the show going type of people I guess.

Not much else to say, we have to go back to work tomorrow.  Nick stopped over tonight to fill us in on the workload tomorrow, lots of checkouts but only a couple of turnarounds.  We won’t have the pressure tomorrow to get it all done, we can spread it out over a couple of days.

We are tired and going to go to bed early tonight. Still have 22 days to go but I’m sure they will go fast.  Tried to talk Nick into trading their week off. We don’t have one but wouldn’t complain about leaving early.  Since we are here for 3 months we don’t get a weeks unpaid vacation. Going to miss Nick and Sherry when they go on vacation. We only have one week alone they will have 2 months alone.  I know they can handle it though. Will write more tomorrow…….