Friday December 31st 2010

Last day of the year!  I think I have it right this time. 

We don’t have a lot planned for today, well, maybe we do.  We are going to go to Don and LaVon’s to play some zilch.  I went to the “coffee” this morning at the club house.  Had a good time.  There wasn’t a plan or anything so we just had coffee and a donut.  I signed up for the coffee and found out that it was for hosting the “coffee” on Jan 14th!!  Guess I should put my glasses on and read before doing something like this.  Oh well, should be fun.

We made it to Don and LaVon’s about 2PM and we took Sparky.  He likes to go and when we played cards we kept Sparky in his cage and he went to sleep even during all the laughing etc…

The pot luck tonight starts at 5PM so when we got back  to the camper I made a quick attempt at a dish to take.  I just cut up some smoked sausage (and 2 hot dogs) then put in some onion and green pepper.  Guess it was OK, it was gone when we left. I thought about putting a jalapeno pepper in it then decided against that.  Had a good time, lots of visiting.  The people here are really nice, very friendly and helpful.

After we got back home we sat outside for awhile because it was pretty WARM inside!!!  Love it!!  It was beautiful outside with a little breeze.  Sparky was hyper and he really liked biting my shoes and pants. We finally went in and I took off my shoes and Sparky loved it…

He had a lot of fun, not sure if it was a novelty or maybe the smell was intoxicating!!

Here is a nice picture of the Texas sunset on New Year’s Eve!!

Fireworks!!  Lot of fireworks tonight!!  Going to be a noisy night and there is a house at the entrance to the park that is having a party tonight and the music can be heard for about a mile!!  OK that is alright, hopefully it will only be for one night.

We aren’t going to stay up for the festivities.  Will go to bed pretty early. Sparky is already asleep and he really doesn’t like the fireworks, hope he sleeps tonight….Night Y’all….

Thursday December 30th 2010

Last day of 2010!!  Is this a good deal?  God is in charge, doesn’t matter what we think.  In my opinion I had a very good year. We met a lot of nice people and did things and went places and especially good was visiting family even if it wasn’t for a real long period of time.

Now for the day, well, we pretty much stayed home and took it easy.  There were things that I had to do to finish setting up the camper even though I’m sure I’m not going to be in a big hurry to get it done.  I want to wash the camper but probably not today.  I usually do my reading first but seeing as how I can’t get online during the day today will be different.

Had a pretty rough afternoon…

Sparky and I spent a lot of the afternoon out in the warm Texas air, dozing and just enjoying.

This is a picture of the camper in our parking spot at Seldom Rest RV Park..

The park may not be the greatest but the people are really nice and the place is clean and really laid back.  I think we are going to like it here.  I think one problem with South Texas is the humidity.  We can get around the humidity though.

Tomorrow there is going to be  coffee and donut time at the club house at 8AM so Linda thinks she wants to go with me.  OK we will see if she can get up or not.

We went to H.E.B. to get groceries.  I like HEB, it is a large store and they have quite a variety of things.  It was really crowded tonight and the drivers here, well, they are different.  Sure don’t like to be out after dark.

I got online tonight….YES…. I got to post three days of blogs, of course I will post this one tomorrow.  I am really getting my days mixed up.  Had to change the title and now I will probably have two for Friday, maybe not,  but maybe starting the new year I will be able to get back onto the right date…  I sure don’t like the Windows Live Writer I am using, it sure isn’t user friendly.   As I was saying, I got online tonight and I ordered foam for our cushions.  It was a little over $100 but my cushion is almost non existent!  The back is even getting worn out so I ordered four new ones.  Now I can sign off and try to post this one…Night Y’all….

Thursday December 30th 2010

OK I’m missing some things on these blogs.  We made it into Mission yesterday afternoon about 2:30PM after driving in a strong head wind most of the way.  Took awhile to find “Seldom Rest RV Park”  Tom Tom wasn’t much help.  Finally turned it off and drove to the park.  We got unhooked and the camper pretty well set up  We went over to Tip O Texas RV Park and  got in a visit with Don and LaVon.  The took us out to eat at Carino’s, an Italian restaurant. Got a pretty nice picture…

I took some pictures of the food but won’t put them on here because the internet, wifi, is so slow.  We got to talk for awhile and Linda and I were both tired so we decided to go back to the camper, let Sparky out, and then go to bed.  Not going to talk any more….Night Y’all…

Wednesday December 29th 2010

I hate to say this but today is Friday and I finally got online but it is really slow.  It took almost a half hour to post yesterday’s blog.  If I put a lot of pictures in it I think it will take a long time.

We made it To Mathis TX today. We stopped at a campground here that has to be the worst campground I have ever stayed it!!

I won’t put any more pictures on.  This is the laundry that is open to the public and it gets a lot of use!  The shower is also in here but I didn’t even want to look at the showers, the rest of the park is bad I can’t see the showers being nice.

The cable did work real nice here and there was water.  Enough said.  We went to bed at the usual time and didn’t have a long drive tomorrow so good night Y’all….

Tuesday December 28th 2010

We had a good night here at the Gulf Coast RV Park.  I took a couple pictures as we were leaving..

Like I said this park is a five star resort!!  Very nice, very clean….Now to the other side of the track where we stopped tonight…

I am not particularly fond of this campground.  In fact I think this is the worst campground we have ever stayed in and would not recommend it to anyone or come back again.  The lots are not level but the cable works good and the park last night we couldn’t get it to work at all.  The bottom picture is the laundry and shower, it is open to the public.  I think they make a lot of money there. Seems to be popular.

We had a pretty good trip today except for the wind. Wow it was blowing hard out of the south and we were heading south west and we were all over the road.  Glad I wasn’t pulling a trailer, I think that would have been worse. Our Tom Tom was a pain today.  I’m not sure where it wanted us to go but I knew that I wanted to go South on Rt 59 and then to Rt 77.  Changed my mind later when I found out it would be a little closer to go over to Rt 281. This is how we ended up here in the “ghetto” and I don’t mean black or brown just a low life campground.  When I walked Sparky around I met a couple from Poplar Bluff MO.  Very interesting.  They stopped me because they saw our license plate.  Even in Illinois they knew Sterling, Rock Falls and Dixon!! 

Well, so much for our adventures, we, or I was getting hungry and Linda said we had some left over stuff so that will be our supper.  Well, it was my supper.  I also fixed some instant mashed potatoes and they weren’t the greatest.  They are in the trash but I had enough to eat.  Guess I could have gone without and probably wouldn’t have starved.

Going to watch some TV tonight and go to bed.  Night Y’all….

Monday December 27th 2010

OK it is Monday, Sparky got me up at 5:30AM!  A little earlier than I wanted to get up.  It is another cold morning but the sun will shine today, hopefully it will warm up some.  I unhooked the water last night and glad I did.  The water faucet froze.  I had to take a glass of hot water out to thaw it out.  It took awhile but finally it broke loose.  Today will be a big day, packing up to leave is a long process.  Hooking up the car and putting everything in its place is a pretty long process.  I took Sparky in to wake Linda up and he was tired!!

Doesn’t he look energetic?  He was a real “dud” this morning.  All he wanted to do is lay down.  He got pretty cold outside.

We finally got on the road about 10:40AM.  There was a guy walking around that seemed to want to talk so that took a little while.  On the way I wanted Linda to take a picture of the big bridge..

OH NO!!!!  My camera is broke!!  The cover won’t open except for a little crack.  Hope that I still have the receipt for it and the warranty card.

We had a pretty good day traveling, the price of gas is ridiculous.  Now I know that I have spelled ridiculous before but this is wrong.  Re is re not ri!! Oh well, I figure this isn’t the first mistake I’ve made!!

We are stopping for the night in Beaumont Texas at the Gulf Coast RV Park just off the interstate.  It is a PA park and under $20 it is really quite a fancy park.  The roads are twice as good as the interstate we just got off of.  The roads are all cement, the sites are all cement and the yards are all mowed and the even look kind of manicured!  I checked out the rest room/shower and they are really nice.  I will have to take a couple pictures in the morning of the park.

I took Sparky for a walk tonight and he is really hyper.  I walked all over the park with him and he just wanted to run and jump.  He finally settled down after about a half hour in the camper jumping around like a retard.  Guess being caged up all day did something to him.

We will watch a little TV tonight and then hit the hay!  Tomorrow will be another day and I’m pretty sure we won’t make it to our destination but you never know….Have a great night Y’all….

Sunday December 26th 2010

Sunday morning and it is COLD, COLD, COLD!!!  I guess it didn’t get as cold as it could have but it seems to go right through me.  Sparky runs around for awhile and then it’s time for him to go in.  I really didn’t want to go out.

I went to the Chapel today for church.  What makes you happy???  That was his sermon and it was pretty good, toys, sorry that wasn’t the answer.

Being happy with where you are and what you are doing is part of the answer.  I think the rest of the answer is knowing where you will spend eternity!! Helping others is another way to be happy.

We went to church at West Union again today. Pastor Bud asked what we received for Christmas.  The point was out of second Corinthians 9:15 about the “indescribable” gift!  He had some very good points.

After church we went to Steve and Pam’s for Steve’s Birthday get together. Had a great time…

Linda baked a German Chocolate Cake and it really looked weird.  It doesn’t show up well but it looks like a couple of “boobs”. Linda says they are “bug eyes”!  It was good anyway.  Destiny brought a Sopapilla desert that was to die for!!  We had sent her the recipe on a recipe exchange.  We hadn’t tried it but Lisa from back in Missouri brought it to church one night and it was excellent.  The whole meal was a Mexican theme.  Linda made “pork burritos”, Connie brought “Taco Salad” and Pam made “Tortilla Soup”.  Everything was excellent.

Have a few other pictures of the group….

This is a picture of the group and I took it with my camera!!  Love my little camera, not as sharp as Linda’s but does a great job for me.

The have a WII that I had to get a couple pictures of…

We had a great time watching the kids play, eating and taking pictures and talking etc….

We finally went home about 5:30PM to let Sparky out and relax and get ready for the big move tomorrow to somewhere warmer.  Hopefully the next couple of parks will have better wifi.  It is either really slow here or my computer is getting plugged up.  Hopefully not the latter…

Going to take it easy tonight will have to unhook the water, supposed to have a hard freeze tonight, not looking forward to that but the wind isn’t blowing and it seems about twenty degrees warmer…Night Y’all…

Guess what, I can’t post my blog today because my wifi ran out.  It expired this morning at 8:47AM  what a bummer!

December 25th 2010

Christmas Day.  Day to remember Jesus. Maybe reflect what He has done in our lives, maybe what He could do in our lives if we let Him in!

Well, it is raining out and I had to put the awning down so Sparky could do his job.  He didn’t want to go under the camper where it was dry.  We both got wet.  It isn’t cold out yet but very cool and the rain doesn’t help a bit. I will leave the awning down until the wind starts blowing and it is supposed to blow.  I guess it was about 9 or 10 when I put it up.  The rain has stopped and the wind has started.

Sparky is doing a great job of sitting up…

He is waiting for his treat.  He looks pretty big in this picture.  He has grown a lot even though we can’t see it.  I watched a video of him the first day we had him and his ears still flopped but I still can’t see the difference in size.  I bet Daniel and Kiley would be able to tell.  He is bigger than Chloe now, maybe not as tall but I bet he weighs more.  Kind of wish he would stay this size.  If he gets to much bigger we will have a problem sitting together on the seat!

Linda made “one” of my favorite meals today!!  Hamburger gravy!  I made biscuits and that was our supper!!  Loved it.  We also made a cake in the convection oven.  Weird!  a 9x13 pan won’t fit in the oven.  We made two cakes out of it in an 8x8 pan and she cut them so they would fit into a 9x13!  Not real pretty but should taste OK!!

I went to see Virgie this evening and Rick and Connie were there and so was Angela.  We had a nice little visit.  Virgie seems to be doing well. 

We are all getting together at Steve and Pam’s tomorrow after church for a Mexican dinner.  Linda is fixing “pork burritos”.  Smells so good here in the camper.

Tomorrow will be our last day here in Picayune.  We will leave Monday morning to head for Mission.  If everything goes right we may make it to Houston.  Looking forward to warm weather, Sparky really doesn’t like going out in this kind of weather.  He shivers most of the day!

Time to get some sleep, Merry Christmas Y’all….

December 24th 2010

This is the day before Christmas.  Beautiful day, sunny, cool and the wind isn’t blowing very hard.  I know this afternoon will be warm (kind of).

We aren’t going to do anything today, probably stay in and enjoy. 

I decided to make some more of the “holiday bread” and Linda fixed the stuff that goes inside.  They turned out pretty good.  I pressed the fruit into the dough again.

Linda came out this afternoon with the little tennis ball and played with Sparky…

It was nice and warm and Sparky and Linda were having a really good time.

Connie called and brought over a big chocolate pie for us.  I think that she thinks we are to thin!!  That was really nice of her, thanks Connie!!

Well, TV again tonight and some computer games I think.  Catch you in the morning, or sometime…Night Y’all…

Thursday December 23rd 2010

This is the last day of the month that we paid for here in Picayune.  We stayed a couple days at Paw Paw’s and we paid for another three days here so we wouldn’t have to be on the road Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.  We will leave Monday if everything goes right.  If we are snowed in I may decide to stay another day, just never know what will happen here.

This morning is pretty cool.  Sparky and I went for a walk and came back inside to get warmed up.

We aren’t going to do to much today I don’t think, I know we have to go to the store again for a couple of things but that will be this afternoon. 

Sparky and I like playing outside…..

He gets pretty dirty.  He has a small hole he likes to flop in and I like to “kick” him out of it.  He runs almost full blast and slides back into the hole and I kick him out again.  He really likes to roll but he is usually on his back when I kick him out of the hole and he slides for awhile on his back.  I think I will give him a bath Sunday night before we leave on Monday. Linda has some waterless shampoo that she uses on him and makes him smell decent.  Usually he smells like “dawg”.

Linda decided today would be a good day to take Virgie her gift.  She is funny…really looks relaxed…

I may be a little different but that just doesn’t look comfortable.  She really doesn’t look very happy and I asked her if she was tired and she said “yes” that she had had a lot of company today, so we stayed longer than usual.  Is that bad???  Santa Claus came that afternoon and Rick also came over so I imagine she didn’t get her nap.

We stopped at Wal Mart on the way back and the traffic was terrible.  We tried to spend a little extra time in the store but the traffic was still backed up outside.  I commented to Linda that it seemed like the shoppers were in the Christmas spirit today.  Smiling and talking etc.  Didn’t see anyone really get upset and it was crowded in there.

Well there isn’t much more to talk about today.  It did warm up this afternoon.  We opened up the camper.  It was only about 55 but inside it was about 75.  The sun really heats up this little camper!

Going to play on the computer for awhile and watch some TV and go to work…no…bed…..Night Y’all…

Wednesday December 22nd 2010

Nice and warm out this morning, cloudy but nice.  The sun breaks through once in awhile and that is nice.  Not much going on today.  We are going over to Steve and Pam’s tonight and play some Mexican Train.

I decided a little later on today that I would try the Holiday Bread again. It is a little warm to bake but what the heck!!  After the last batch I thought that if I rolled the fruit into the dough it might make it a little better.  Linda mixed up the fruit, a lot less than last time and I rolled it into the dough and guess what….

It worked, no big open spaces in the loaves!!  I had enough that I had to use a square pan for the last loaf which I cut in half so it would fit into the pan.   What you see in the picture is what we took over to the home where Virgie is.  Sure hope they like it.  We had to try it and it was pretty good, not nearly as sweet as the last batch.

We went to the store to pick up a couple things and forgot a couple things so we will have to go back tomorrow.  I like Wal Mart so I guess it is OK.

Went to Steve and Pam’s about 6:30PM and went through town thinking maybe there was a gas station that was less than $2.80 a gallon.  No such luck. Guess I will have to pay the price.  We had a great time playing Mexican Train and had a little snack of chips and veggies that really hit the spot.  That’s what we went to the store for…veggies!  Got some green onions that were really powerful!  Guess I should have taken a picture of the tray.  Linda did a good job on it.

We finished the game and headed home, way past my bed time!  Finally got to bed about midnight, been a long time since I’ve been up that late. Night Y’all…

Tuesday December 21st 2010

First day of Winter!!!  Going to be a pretty nice day here I think. It is kind of warm out today and the sun is shining.   Love this kind of weather.

We aren’t going to do much today.  I know we will have to go to the store to get water and a few odds and ends but we will mainly stick around here and take it easy again today.

We met Bob and Kay at the laundry a few days ago and saw them in Church.  They are from Leroy IL..

Sparky likes Maggie May their Corgi!   Maggie is a pretty nice gentle dog.  Bob and Kay will be leaving Thursday going to Alabama.  They found a place near their relatives that is a lot cheaper and also  has a lot of activities, which they don’t have here.  The owner here doesn’t want to open the club house because it costs to much to heat it!  I would be tempted to try to be the activity director but I’m sure that the owner wouldn’t let a lot of things go on unless he was assured he would make money on it.  I’ve never seen the inside of the club house but it looks pretty big from the outside.  Another lady we met said they can’t have “bingo” because of the casinos on the coast.  I’m not sure if there are any “snow birds” here or not.  I think most of them work in LA somewhere.  Oil rigs or some thing like that.  I’m sure that “snow birds” like to play cards, have pot lucks, music jams etc.  If they all work at jobs I don’t think there would be any attendance.  So….this park is going to be for workers and over night campers.

I ate some more of the lentils for lunch.  They weren’t to bad, then had a peanut butter and honey sandwich.  Very good.

We went over to see Virgie this afternoon after a nap and we woke her from her nap.  She is doing pretty good but still won’t call for help when she needs to move from the bed to chair or chair to wheel chair.  She fell this morning trying to get into the wheel chair.  Even when she has help she is kind of scary, she likes to flop into the chair before getting to it and it the brake isn’t on, the chair moves.  We had a nice visit though with her, she seems to be happy and doing well.

I paid for three more days so we could leave on Monday after Christmas.  Didn’t want to take a chance of being on the road on Christmas Eve or Christmas day.

Well, guess that is about all for today, I think we will just take it easy tonight and watch TV, HUMMMM that sounds familiar.  Oh, the price of gas just took another fifteen cent a gallon jump!!  Back up to $2.79 a gallon.  Night Y’all…

Monday December 20th 2010

Going to be a beautiful day today, sunny and a little warmer, I hope.  We have no plans for today, will probably vegetate!  Sparky and I spend a lot of time outside, it is a little cool this morning and the wind makes it a little worse but we manage.

I bought some lentils and thought that I would try them.  I don’t remember ever making lentils before.  Linda bought some ham hocks so I thought that they may be good together.  The directions for the lentils was very simple, clean them and cook for about 20 minutes.  I got the water hot with the ham hock and some onions and then inserted the lentils. Cooked them in the microwave on half power for about 20 minutes.  I tasted them and guess what, they weren’t done!!  I have had lentils before and they aren’t supposed to be crunchy.  I mixed up some corn bread and while that was cooking (baking) I put the lentils on the stove and cooked them for another 20 minutes.  They still weren’t done but we ate them anyway.  They were getting softer.  I bet the will be soft tomorrow!!!

Doesn’t that look terrible?  After the first bowl, when they got a little softer, they tasted pretty good.  We will have a lot of left overs for tomorrow!  I don’t think Linda will eat any more but I will.  I think we should have taken some “Beano”!  Linda got kind of cramped up so I’m pretty sure she won’t eat any more.  So much for lentils… Linda really liked the cornbread!

It got warm enough out this afternoon I could sit out in the chair.  When the sun was shining it was hot when there was a cloud it got a little chilly. Tomorrow is supposed to be in the 70s.  Sure would be nice as long as it doesn’t rain!

Nothing more to say, it was a really quiet day. Tomorrow Sparky gets his shot again with a “BIG, DULL needle” which he has taken quite well except for the last one which didn’t go well, hope tomorrow’s will be better.  Lets sleep on it….Night Y’all…

Sunday December 19th 2010

Sunday morning and it is really going to be a beautiful day.  No clouds in the sky and the sun will be coming up shortly.  Sparky can’t wait to get out in the morning and do his “job” and it doesn’t take long for him to do his duty!

We went to the little chapel here in the park and they had a real nice Christmas program. The people in the program more than likely weren’t from the campground, they were way to young for campers.  They were very talented though.  There were a couple of young girls that sang a song and it reminded me of the girls that sang the song “What’s up my Brother” and that probably isn’t the name of it but I really liked the song

After that I went to West Union and I got a picture of Scott and his son. I think it is unusual and very good that a father and son sing together..

I’m not sure how old his son is but he isn’t to old but is a great singer.  Pastor’s sermon was on the three kings, which weren’t kings but Magi. He had a lot of things about this that was very interesting and I sure didn’t know.  I guess our interpretation of Magi is magician!  That isn’t a good interpretation but there were a lot of things like, they didn’t actually ride in on camels but Persian Horses!  Were there three?  Don’t know but however many there were they were escorted by a thousand soldiers.  Very interesting!  Much more about the Magi but not for here.  I even took notes!!  That is unusual.

When I got home we were trying to figure out what to have for lunch. I figured Nachos would hit the spot and it did!!  After taking Sparky for a walk and playing for awhile Sparky and I took a nap, together. He was very quiet and didn’t disturb me at all.  What a trained little dog!!  We will take it easy tonight, we are watching the Hallmark channel and Christmas stories. We will have a nice quiet night (I hope)…Night Y’all..

Saturday December 18th 2010

Cloudy and cool today.  Kind of rainy and windy.  Not a real nice day. Sparky doesn’t mind after he eats, it is a good day for him to run around.

This isn’t a real good picture but as fast as he runs it is hard to get him in a non blurry picture and my camera isn’t made for fast things, well, it probably is but I don’t know how to set it.  He really enjoys the outdoors though..

He plays with anything he can find.  Here he has a piece of wood that he tries to keep me from getting away from him.

We went to the Farmer’s Market this morning and took a look at their “stuff”.  Linda liked it.  She bought a lot of “stuff”.  This actually  wasn’t a farmers market, that was just the name of it.  They did have a lot of veggies and things like that.

We took it easy this afternoon and then went over to Rick and Connie’s for a game of Mexican Train.  Anna Grace wasn’t there, she didn’t come with Steve, so we played Zilch. Had a good time and left about 9PM. 

We left actually about 9:30PM because we didn’t get home until 10PM. We took Sparky with us and he was really good.  He didn’t get out of his cage until we got home. I let him run for awhile then played with him inside then put him to bed.  Nice doggy!!!  He is good though.  Time for bed 6AM comes really early….Night Y’all….

Friday December 17th 2010

Well it’s Friday and it is cloudy and still warm at 6AM.  I think it is supposed to cool off today and be cloudy. About 7AM Sparky and I went outside to play and the wind is picking up from the North and it is cooling off quite a bit but the sun tries to peak through.  Sparky is getting to the point he really doesn’t mind the cold.

We decided we needed to go to Wal Mart again and do a little shopping. I wanted to pick up a printer, $32, not to bad, when the ink runs out I can get a new one about a cheap as the two ink cartridges it takes. I got the one with the scanner on it.  I have the same one at home and the scanner comes in handy for emailing documents that need to be filled out.

We were invited over to Rick and Connie’s for Rick’s birthday.. Happy Birthday Rick…62 and looking good!

Rick is recovering from his knee surgery quite well.  Looking forward to playing golf again.

Destiny, Matt, Emma Kate and Ethan surprised them with a visit. Those two kids really have the energy.  They supplied us with a fashion show and skits and whatever else they could think of.  We had some really good laughs, guess that is what kept them going…

This was Rick’s birthday cake(s)

Matt says the owner bought this shop for his wife so she could keep busy while he went to the casinos.  I didn’t try one, I was just to full. Connie had a great supper, roast beef, meat balls, shell macaroni salad, mashed potatoes, etc.  Excellent supper!

We took Sparky along with us and when we went in the house, both Ethan and Emma Kate asked if we brought Sparky.  Glad we did, he got a lot of exercise even though their dog Zoë, doesn’t like Sparky things went quite well until I put him back in his cage.  Wasn’t real happy.  He would like to have had the run of the house but his cage is where he belonged, he is way to young and immature to be running loose.

We got home about 9:30PM and watched some TV before going to bed.  Had to let the dinner settle a little.

I want to go to the farmer’s market in the morning.  Linda says she wants to go to so that means Sparky will have to get her up early I know she will like that….Night Y’all…

Thursday December 16th 2010

Nice and warm this morning.  It is damp out but I can handle that.

We don’t have a lot planned for today, I think we may go into town.  Fred’s is supposed to have jeans on sale for a good price so we will probably go in there.

Sparky and I spent a lot of time outside today, to nice to stay inside. We did go into town and to Fred’s.  I wasn’t impressed.  Linda bought a couple things but I looked at everything  and didn’t see anything that I wanted.  It only took me about 20 minutes!

I was kind of hungry for Chinese and wouldn’t you know it there was a Chinese restaurant right across the parking lot and the lunch buffet was only $4.99.  We tried it and liked it!!  It was good.

Linda wanted to stop at a dress place called Stage.  OK, I figured I could go look through “Dirt Cheap” while she did that.  Took me about 22 minutes to look through here.  Did look at a bolt that I could have used and a coffee server but it was to expensive so I didn’t buy anything.

Linda found a blouse or two for Virgie.  She was going to wait though until she talked to Connie to get her opinion on them.  We did stop to see Virgie for a little while.  She is doing well, she was sleeping when we got there and the TV was so loud you couldn’t talk or hear.  I had to turn it down. We took her out into the main room and visited for a little while then they came to take her to lunch.

We came on home and tried to get comfortable after the Chinese lunch. We watched some TV and I played with Sparky for awhile, until he bit my toe and got his tooth stuck in my sock.  I kind of lost it and got a little angry with him.  I didn’t hit him though, wasn’t really his fault, I just wasn’t in the mood for playing I guess.

No pictures today so I am going to get ready for bed.  Night Y’all…

Wednesday December 15th 2010

This morning was a bunch warmer!!!  I think it was 60 degrees this morning at 6AM.  I could be wrong but it was pretty nice. Sparky and I did our morning thing (exercise, eat, etc.).  I got to work on the computer after he went to sleep….

He does get comfortable after all that exercise!!

We went over to Rick and Connie’s this afternoon to make some “Holiday Bread”.  We don’t have a recipe so we are going to wing it.  After we got it mixed up Rick got his truck and hooked up to my tow dolly, which he had stored in back of his shed and we brought it back to the campground.  When we got back to their place we mixed up, well, not mixed but added the fruit to the bread and rolled it up.  After we were all done Connie thought that maybe we added to much of the fruit. After baking it we were positive we added to much fruit.  The inside was kind of moist but it tasted good.  On the way home I thought that maybe I should (we should) have used the rolling pin and rolled the fruit into the dough, may have helped… This is what it looks like…

Actually this loaf looks better than the other two we cut open.  I may try this again to see what happens.

I went to church at West Union tonight.  Pastor Bud usually brings a pretty good sermon, or bible study.  Tonight was on the “exaltation of Jesus” in the Scripture at His birth and just before His birth and after His death.  Very interesting.

Linda and I watched some TV tonight (as usual) and I played with Sparky. He wasn’t in his usual place on the seat beside me, he was on the floor and I laughed so hard at him I almost choked.  He is one weird little dog. I think he should sleep tonight, me too!  Guess I will sign off for now and pick this up again in the morning….Night Y’all…

Tuesday December 14th 2010

When I went outside this morning it wasn’t nearly as cold as I thought it would be.  The wind wasn’t blowing so I checked the temp in the car and it was 28 so it did get below freezing but I don’t think it made it to the 22 they were predicting.

Sparky and I took a walk and I took a picture of the little Chinese electric car that the lady in the laundry was telling me about yesterday…

I’m not sure what color this is but my guess would be green. It is kind of cute but I sure wouldn’t want to get in a wreck with it.  I don’t know where they put the batteries!  I guess it is good for about forty miles on a charge.

I had to take a picture of Sparky waking Linda…

You can’t see Linda but Sparky is on her head going wild.  He loves to wake her up in the morning!

The Christmas party at Virgie’s place is this afternoon at 5PM so we will go over to Rick and Connie’s and I am going to make some cinnamon rolls to take over.  We actually got there about 2:30PM, I wanted to get there about 2PM.  Still had enough time.  I didn’t take a picture of the rolls but got them in the oven about 4PM and they actually turned out pretty good except some of the sugar burnt and that wasn’t very good.

Well, I just erased a paragraph, what a bummer, now I am going to have to try and write it again… We arrived at the party in plenty of time and I thought it was just going to be finger food but WOW they had a great dinner!!  I think that it was better than Ryan’s especially taste wise!  There wasn’t any salad bar though just good food.  I think one of my favorite things was the potato salad.  It was actually mashed potato salad I think. Very good and very tasty!

Santa Claus came tonight also….

There were a few kids there and I think everyone had a good time. I think I have a picture of Virgie here somewhere..

I think she had a good time.  All of her children were there except for one from Florida.  I think he is coming for Christmas though.

We left about 7:30PM and went back to Rick and Connie’s to pick up Sparky.  We were going to take him but thought it best to leave him there in his cage. He was good.

We got home about 8PM and took it easy the rest of the night.  Watched a little TV or course and went to bed about 1030PM.   I unhooked the water again just to be sure.  Don’t want it to freeze even though it isn’t supposed to get below 32.  Just want to be sure.

One more thing, if there are a lot of mistakes in this, I am having trouble with Live Writer.  I can’t get back to the top to check it for errors.  Sorry Y’all…

Monday December 13th 2010

Since this is Tuesday I can’t remember how cold it was yesterday.  I don’t think it got as cold as they said it was supposed to.  I don’t think the water froze but to be sure it was a good thing I disconnected the water as I will do again tonight.  Supposed to be colder tonight than last night.

Linda made some banana bread today.  I didn’t take a picture of it but it tasted good but I think maybe there were to many bananas in it so it was kind of moist.  I am sure it will get eaten.

As the morning rolled on, it got windier and it seemed like it got colder. I would take Sparky out but the wind was almost to much for me.

I decided to do a load of wash and change the sheets.  There were a couple of ladies down there doing their wash, they didn’t make fun of me for doing it but they sure had a weird conversation going on. It was about their ex husbands.  Funny what people will talk about.  They had their clothes in the dryer when I started my washing and I finished washing and drying mine before they were done.  I won’t go into what I heard.  The one lady though had a car that I thought was a Smart Car.  It was a Chinese electric car.  Wish I had taken a picture of it.  She says they like it but haven’t gotten it licensed yet. They are also leasing their camper with option to buy.

Linda tried to get a picture of Sparky sitting up but he doesn’t sit very long  but he sits longer than any of our other dogs did.  Our other dogs didn’t do it at all..

Some people think I may be spoiling him but in the morning I take him out and when he comes in he will take a couple bites of food then want up on the seat so I feed him up on the seat, he doesn’t want to eat out of the bowl, I take it and set it on the seat for him and then when he starts getting full I feed him by hand a bite at a time.  Don’t tell me I’m spoiling him!  His place now is right where he is in the above picture.  He spends most of the day there except when we are outside playing.

Linda fixed some goulash tonight. Very good but she put cayenne pepper in it and while it was cooking it was choking me and Sparky. That cayenne must be potent.  After a couple of bites it was pretty good but pretty spicy..

Oh, I almost forgot, she got the hamburger out and let it thaw and then when she started supper she found out that it was ground pork and not hamburger, “go for it” I told her, we like our pork patties this should be good too.  It was.  Pork is a little solider than hamburger but I think I like it just as well.

Not much going on tonight again.  Think I will play some games on the computer and then go to bed.  Tomorrow I will make cinnamon rolls over at Rick and Connie’s to take to Virgie’s place for their Christmas get together. That should be fun.  I think on Wednesday Connie wants to make holiday bread. I made it a couple years ago and it turned out pretty good so I will try it again.  I don’t have a recipe and Virgie, for some reason can’t find hers.  I make it my way anyway, hope it turns out!!

Going to get some sleep tonight, I am tired for some reason, sure isn’t from working to hard…..Night Y’alll…

Sunday December 12th 2010

OK it’s Sunday and I decided to check out the little chapel here in the park..

The little chapel was very nice!  The pastor, Dave Claybaugh, had a good sermon on Christmas and what it means.  The people seemed very nice also.

I also went to church at West Union.  I like the way Pastor Bud is doing his Christmas sermons.  Today his sermon was “Herod is Dead”  nice title for a Christmas sermon right?  When Joseph and Mary took Jesus to Egypt to escape the wrath of Herod.  He also had some points about Herod that I didn’t know like he kind of liked to kill people if they did anything to jeopardize his position as king.  Guess he killed a couple of his kids because they were going to be heirs to his thrown.

We went over to Rick and Connie’s this afternoon.  Had a nice visit then we stopped at Virgie’s for a visit.  We took Sparky.  They really like Sparky there.  He is a little frisky for most of them but he is still cute.

Went to West Union for their Christmas Cantata tonight.  It was good, got a few pictures….

This is Landon, not a good picture but he is a good looking kid and does a great job acting and he has made two movies that were great especially for a high school guy without much money to put into a movie,

This is the choir and they did a good job on the cantata!  Pastor Bud did a good job directing it.

There was a fellowship after the cantata but I decided not to stay. Now is a good time to do a couple phone calls and this blog!  Now after this it will be bed time.  Well, I will unhook the water hose first then go to bed.  Night Y’all….

Saturday December 11th 2010

This is Saturday and I didn’t unhook the water last night I don’t think??? I think it stayed warm last night, don’t think it was to bad out this morning.  I remember I got up!!  It was 6:15AM and Sparky heard me and it was time for him to get up too.  He is really doing good but then he sleeps in his cage and I really like it that way.

I got Linda up, well, actually she got up on her own at 7:30AM  I was surprised!!  We need to get ready and head over to Rick and Connie’s.  We are going to Biloxi or some where in that vicinity.  After we got to Rick and Connie’s we found out that Steve is having trouble with his car so we went and picked them up.  We took Sparky over to Rick and Connie’s and they took him to Biloxi and we picked up Steve, Pam and Anna Grace. We had a  good trip down there and really didn’t get lost.  We didn’t get to see a parade either.  We thought about stopping at Menge Flea Market for a couple of things but decided we didn’t have time.

We went to a BBQ place for lunch.  It was called “The Shed”  Guess it had been on different shows…

One thing about this place is we didn’t have to dress up to go there. The food was good (not like home cooked).  I guess it wasn’t real expensive either.

I had a hard time finding the entrance!  Good thing there were other people going in, we just followed.  The accessories for the place was something else!!  The owner was a dumpster diver and he collected junk.  The place looks like it was made from used “stuff”.  The place where we ate was adorned with forks stuck in the wall with things from paper towels to dollar bills stuck to the wall.  The wall was foil covered pieces of insulation that forks would stick into very well.  Steve put a couple of things up, Linda and I didn’t even though I think Lind would have.

We walked around the place and I took a few pictures….

Above is a couple of ducks preening and doing their jobs on the tables.

The guy in the kayak had paddled 9.5 miles getting ready for a big meet.

This must be the wood pile for the smoker.  Kids loved climbing all over it.

Steve liked the Jeep in the background.  I think he would liked to have had it.  We are about ready to take off back to Destiny’s place.  We went to a thrift store to look around.  I saw a recliner I would liked to have had but no way to carry it and I would like to have a new one.

We finally got on the road about 3:45PM and I wanted to stop and get gas at Wal Mart’s Murphy Oil but this was Murphy Express and they didn’t take the Wal Mart card so I had to pay full price which is the cheapest we have seen. $2.72 per gallon.  Getting back to Steve and Pam’s takes over an hour and we decided to take Sparky with us.  This will  be a first.  He usually rides in his cage and we didn’t have room for him so Linda got to hold him.  He was really pretty good as long as no one looked at him. 

Tonight we will take it easy, it’s supposed to rain, storm, blow, and get cold.  Not looking forward to tomorrow but by Wednesday it’s supposed to be in the middle seventies.  I can handle that but the 50 degree temps are really hard…

Taking it easy tonight and I am going to post this tonight instead of tomorrow.  Have different things to do tomorrow so guess I will say good night Y’all….