HAPPY NEW YEAR!

It is so very hard for me to believe that today is the last day of the year 2009 - I don't know if it's because I'm getting older (probably not ?!?) or that we are so busy, but time just flies by. Dan and I were talking today about what we were doing a year ago today. Actually, we were here in the Village with NO idea that we would be full time RVer's in less than six months time. We were not even thinking about this lifestyle a year ago. We had just had a great Christmas with our kids - Crystal, Melissa, and Justin along with my mom and the kid's dad had spent Christmas day at our home here. Then a couple of days later Dana, Mark and the girls came up for the day. We spent a couple of days getting all the Christmas decorations down and then settled in to watch some football and spend a quiet New Year's Eve together. Boy, how things can change in a year, but some things are still the same. We are all settled in and ready to spend a nice quiet evening together - just Dan, the girls and I - watching some football.

Dan is feeling better everyday - we actually walked around the block this evening. He did a little work outside (got the sewer hooked up) and I helped him get the outdoor carpet down and the chairs out along with the grill. His appetite is getting better also, but he is still watching what he eats - not only the fat content, but the amount as well (no second helpings). If this little episode will help him realize that he might need to lose some weight maybe there is be a silver lining to this thing. Only time will tell on that one.

I spent the day straighten up things - I rearranged some things in the kitchen and in the pantry. I hope it will make things I use frequently easier to get to. I also FINALLY made the file will all the paperwork on the new unit - those of you who have bought a RV will understand about all the paperwork you get (the manuals and warranty information). I had been talking about making a file with all the manuals and paperwork in folders so it would be easier to find IF we ever needed anything - well, I sat on the floor today and got it all put together - YEAH! I also changed around a couple of the overhead compartments - some areas just needed some tweaking - hopefully it will make things easier for us.

Tomorrow, between football games I would like to empty out the basement and get it rearranged and put back together. I'm not sure if we will be able to do this one or not - and not just because of the football games - it might be raining here (Boo!) and it is suppose to turn really cold (I'm talking about the 30's as a high). I find that hard to believe - it has happened here before, but not very often. I do know that IF it does rain and it is really cold - all we have to do is wait a couple of days and things will be in the 50 - 60's again.

If I can't work outside - I'll try and get all the bills and financial stuff caught up and get the "little black book" caught up. I really need to do better with keeping track of the finances then I have done in the last few months (actually since we left Idaho). Maybe that will be the new years resolution - stay on top of the finances better.

I also want to get the Wii set up on the TV here - I really do want to start back using it and I do have the new game to use with it. I'm not sure who I can get to help with hooking it up, but I'm sure I can find someone.

I also forgot to let you know of the other presents we received - we got a book named "Off the Beaten Path" that talks about places all over the US that are not visited very often - we have actually been to some of them. We also got a photo album, we both got clothes from my mom along with a beautiful crystal moose sculpture that just fits on one of the shelves. Everyone catered to Dan's dream of our Alaska trip with books and magazines on the state - and I also got a couple of gift certificates to Barnes and Nobles so I can purchase books for my NOOK. (Did I tell you how much I love my NOOK???)

Well, I think I've bored you all that I need to for one day - Dan and I, along with our girls (the two legged as well as the four legged ones) wish all of you a very HAPPY NEW YEAR! May all your dreams come true - as we say - SEE IT DREAM IT DO IT !!!!!

Talk to you tomorrow!

On the Mend!

Took Dan to the Doctor yesterday and while the hospital in Sebring was awful they, at least, they made the correct diagnose - our doctor here said that Dan did indeed have pancretiatis (not sure of the spelling). He wants him to take his antibiotic (actually two different ones) for the next ten days and then he will recheck his blood work and see where we are. We have to stay on a low fat diet for the next ten days (that is a little difficult for Dan, but he is really doing very well so far). He lost ten pounds while he was in the hospital, but he is getting stronger every day and his appetite is coming back slowly.

Today was trying to get everything caught up around here. I got all the laundry caught up - YEAH! - now I can keep it going with the washer/dryer unit in the 5th wheel. Dan and I also went through all our clothes and we got rid of a lot of stuff - things that we have not used in the entire time we have been traveling - another donation to the village. I also found some Christmas things that were missed in Sebring. That's okay - we'll take them down when we take the things that we left in Neil's garage - probably toward the end of January. We also have to take the pups to the vet in Lakeland and get their health certificate for our trip through Canada. We plan on doing that in later January also (maybe combining the two trips into one).

Tomorrow I plan on rearranging the kitchen - there is just some things that don't function well where they are now. I just need to move a few things around so that they are easier to get to and are more functional - like the electric fry pan and the crock pot are not where I can reach them. So, I will rearrange some things (maybe even get rid of some things in the kitchen that I haven't used) and make the kitchen more "useable". I also opened my Christmas presents yesterday - I got a wireless mouse and a program for my computer to scrapbook with from Dan. Melissa and Justin gave us a DVD player that upgrades regular DVD's to HD for our bedroom - something we were talking about getting - they also gave me a pair of pj's and Dan some cigars (he'll enjoy them when he is better). Crystal and Kim gave me a Nook (the Barnes and Nobles version of the Kindle) which I absolutely love - it is so cool! It will be the perfect solution for my book issue (giving away books that I have purchased because I don't have room to store them). Now I don't have to worry about having to purchase "real" books - I now can get Ebooks. One of the things that Dan got was a Food Saver. We think that we will really use it in the future.

I also want to go into Valdosta and get some extra shelves for the freezer. I want to make that a little more efficient also. Dan also wants to have some covers installed over the Fantastic Vents - which will be a good thing - right now, if it rains, it comes inside - not good. There is also a shelf that has a crack in it that has to be replaced. Those are things that will need to be done while we are here. Probably what we will do is go to the dealer and order the stuff - then go up and stay in the campground there while the stuff is installed. Sounds like a plan to me.

We went to a friend's house for dinner tonight. It was nice to see some of our friends again. I actually ate sweet potatoes and it they were great! I think this diet thing might actually be good for both of us.

Sorry I did not post last night - I was really tired (in fact, I'm really tired tonight also) so I didn't get on the computer at all yesterday (and my crops on Farmville actually survived!). Anyway, I'm getting ready for bed now.

I hope that you have had a good day and I will talk to you tomorrow!

"Home" Again

I checked Dan out of the hospital in Sebring this morning after packing the inside of the unit. Yesterday I would not have been able to get everything done without the help of those in the campground and my kids. I will forever be grateful to Mike and Richard for going above and beyond by dumping our tanks with the blue boy. Crystal, Kim and Melissa worked so hard to get all the other stuff packed up - including all the Christmas decorations. Kim worked on getting the "garage" taken down and packed up - as well as getting other things outside packed up. With everything they did all I had to do today was pack the inside - you know all the stuff that you have out when you are set up in one place for awhile. I had that all done by the time Dana, Mark and the girls got to Sebring this morning.

While I went to the hospital and checked Dan out they got the unit hooked to the truck and was all ready to go when I got back. We finally got back to Dowling Park around 6:30 this evening. Mark got the electricity hooked up and the water - we put the stabilizer jacks down and that's it. We didn't even bother to unhook from the truck - we can do that tomorrow. I know that we have friends here that can help if Dan isn't up to it.

I have made a doctor's appointment for Dan at 1:30 tomorrow. I was able to get a copy of Dan's labs before we left Sebring, but that's all they would give me. The hospital said for our doctor here to request the records and they would fax them or, if I wanted them, I would have to pay $1.00 a page and it would take a couple of hours. I decided to get him out of there and leave. I'll get the doctors here to request them.

I have fed Dan (a bland diet - baked chicken, yellow rice, and green beans). Then he took a shower (which he said made him feel better) and has gone to bed. He said that he was completely wiped out. I told him that I was NOT going to set the alarm clock tonight and that we both were going to sleep until we woke up. No hurry. When we get up - then I'll worry about what I'm going to feed him and then sometime tomorrow I will have to go to the store. That's okay, I know that it will all work out. Oh, and sometime in there I have to check us in to the campground (which I didn't do since the office was already closed by the time we got here). It will be fine - first things first.

Well, that's all I have to report today - except to say that Dan did open his Christmas presents today after we got here. I still haven't opened mine (will do that later - plus I already know everything I got - a pair of shoes and a Wii Fit game). I'm going to sign off for tonight and I will let you know what the doctor says tomorrow.

Talk to you then!

Hospital

I'm taking Dan out of the hospital here tomorrow morning and taking him back up to Dowling Park to our doctors. The people here don't know what they are doing (if anything!) and Dan is not happy with his treatment. After I told him we would take him out he relaxed.

I came home and with help from Melissa, Crystal, Kim and people from here in the park the 5th wheel is ready to hook up tomorrow when Mark and Dana get here. Of course, there will be last minute things - unplug the power, unhook the water, put the slides in after packing up the few things inside. BUT I am getting him out of that hospital!

I can't even tell you how poorly he has been treated - let us just say that they didn't even change his bed in five days - not until I raised Cain this morning did they change it. The people are very nice, but the communication stinks!

Sorry I haven't posted in the last few days - I have gotten home late and have just been wiped. By the time I spend a little time with the pups (who don't understand what is going on) and try and fix me something to eat I just want to go to bed. Hope you all understand.

I'll let you know what the doctors in Dowling Park say. Until then-----


Talk to you tomorrow (I hope!)

No Surgery!!!!

While Dan is still in the hospital the good news is the doctor has said that he does not think he will require surgery! That is something to be very thankful for. I appreciate all the concern and prayers from all our friends out there - it is very heartwarming to know that all of you are there lending support to us both.

Dan's oldest daughter came down today to see him for a little while - until Dan kicked her out. He said that she needed to be at home with her kids - He did not want them to be at the hospital. He is so afraid that he is going to be a Grinch and steal Christmas from the grandkids. He just wants everyone to be able to celebrate Christmas with their family and not be worrying about him. He doesn't even want me to be at the hospital tomorrow, but wants me to go to Melissa's down in Lake Placid since the family is going to be there for Christmas. That just "ain't gonna happen" - my place is beside him. That doesn't matter is he is at home or in the hospital I'm going to be with him. I will take him his stocking in the morning so he will have something and hopefully help him feel better.

Melissa did come up this morning and take the pups down to her house for the day so I wouldn't have to worry about them and their not being able to go out. Justin brought them home about 5 o'clock this afternoon. I left the hospital around 6:45 and came home. The pups were SO glad to see me. I knew that I had to go back to Melissa's to see her sister and have a little dinner. The pups were just having a fit when I got ready to leave again - so, I ended up taking them with me. They were really good even with all the other dogs (there were four other dogs down at Melissa's). When we sat down to eat I put them in Melissa's bedroom and they got up on the couch in her room and slept. I didn't stay long (about an hour total) before I came home. Now I'm going to go in and crash.

Dan and I wish all of you a very blessed and Merry Christmas. May the spirit of the season fill your home all year long. Please keep Dan in your thoughts and prayers - hopefully I will get him home in the next day or so. Take care and hopefully --------

I'll talk to you tomorrow!

Hospital

Dan has taken us on a new adventure - one that I wish he hadn't. Remember me talking about his stomach hurting yesterday - well, it got so bad this afternoon he finally decided that he needed to go to the Emergency Room. He was admitted around 6 this afternoon - We know that he has pancretitis (don't know about the spelling) and he might have a bowel blockage. If he does they are talking surgery. They have already done an x-ray and a CT scan they are suppose to do an Ultrasound tonight. They had given him a very strong pain medication in his IV before I left and he was out. They told me that he would be out most of the night - they would be giving him pain medication every four hours and that should keep him comfortable.

I called Dana and Melissa. Dana contacted Cara and Melissa contacted Crystal. Dana and Mark are coming down in the morning to see him and Melissa is coming up in the morning to get the pups for the day. She will bring them home tomorrow afternoon, before Crystal and her dad get to her house (I don't think our pups need to be at her house with three other dogs - I think that would just be too much for them!). Anyway, at this point I think everything is covered. I'll just have to wait and see what the doctor has to say tomorrow.

This is not exactly how I pictured this Christmas would be - but you deal with things as they are dealt. As Dan says - we don't go on trips, we go on adventures. This is definitely an adventure! I'll keep you updated.

Five Working Days Left

All the construction in the park is causing the deer in the park to move around. I have seen more deer in the last two days than I have seen the whole time we have been here. Yesterday I took this series of pictures - there were a total of four does and a yearling. They really were not in a hurry to cross the road until a car came by and sorta ran them off the road.

As you can see here - they were just looking at me while I was shooting the pictures and not afraid at all.

Then today we saw another group going the other way - but the group today was running at full speed and I did not get any pictures of them. Many of the visitors to the park have commented on the amount of deer out and about. The loop road, which has all the walking trails coming off it, is completely closed until Thursday. The construction workers are FINALLY paving the new bike path. The paver has said that he should be done before Christmas - which will be a blessing. I'm not saying that all the construction in the park will be over - they are still working on the retention ponds in the family campground and the new restroom and pavilion in the playground area. I don't think there is a snowball's chance in you know where that they will be finished by Christmas. Today the construction crew working in the family playground area hit another water main and we had to shut off the water for about 2 hours while they fixed that. It has been one thing after another with this crew - but, as I told the rangers - that's what you get for hiring the lowest bidder. (At least that's my opinion!)

Melissa brought Dan's package to me today when she had to come into Sebring. So, I will be able to get it wrapped and get it under our tree. We still plan on opening our presents to each other here Christmas morning and having breakfast here by ourselves before heading down to Melissa's and fixing dinner - We will definitely have a late meal (probably around 7 or 8 PM) but that's okay. As long as everyone has food to eat - even lite stuff like sandwiches while we are cooking and opening gifts things should be fine. It should be a busy day!

Yesterday was one of those days- between going in to town (dumb idea!) to trying to do things around here it just seemed to be a bad day! I went to bed around 7:30 without eating dinner. I didn't even know when Dan came to bed. Speaking of Dan - I came home today to Dan sitting in his chair in pain. He says that his stomach hurts - it seems like he has a lot of gas (burping a lot) - he has taken Alka Seltzer and Rolaids but it doesn't seem to help. He says he doesn't feel bad other than his stomach hurting. He says that his stomach isn't hard or anything - he just has a lot of gas. I have asked him repeatedly today if he needed to go to the hospital and he says no. He is now lying in the bed trying to get comfortable. (Dana, any ideas??? I'm a little worried.)

Tomorrow is our last day at work this week - then four days next week and we will be done with this assignment. This time has just flown by - don't know if it is because of the holidays or what but it sure doesn't seem as though we have been here two months. In one way, it will be nice to get up to Dowling Park and just chill out for a couple of months (maybe we can actually get back on budget - the holidays have played havoc on the budget!) It will also be nice to see our friends up there and spend some time with them.

Well, I don't have much else to report tonight. I hope you are having a good week and all your shopping is done. If not, get out there and shop people - time is running out!!!!! Crystal - drive carefully to your Dad's tomorrow - traffic will probably be heavy - and we will see you Thursday afternoon!

Talk to you tomorrow!

All is Well

Sorry I didn't post last night - but wanted to let you know that all is well. Will fill you in on everything later today! Take care and have a good day---------------

Talk to later today!

Almost ready for Christmas

Did you realize that a week from tonight Christmas will be over? It just seems so unreal for me and it's difficult for me to grasp that fact. Melissa and I went to the grocery store and bought all the food for Christmas dinner (except the Ham and Turkey - I'll pick them up Christmas Eve day). Dan and I will go down to her house after I pick up the meat and I'll help Melissa prep for Christmas day dinner. I want to try and show her how to do it instead of doing it all for her - when Mom was down at Thanksgiving it was just much easier to do it - three cooks in the kitchen are about two too many. But it will just be Melissa and I in the kitchen and I'll have a chance to show her how to do things.

I am still waiting for two more gifts to come in the mail - they are both Dan's so I hope they get here the first part of the week. I don't know when I'll get back down to Melissa's house before Christmas Eve day, so I don't know when I will be able to pick them up and get them wrapped. We have to work Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday - so I don't think we'll get down during the week. I'm sure I'll figure it out somehow - even if I have to wrap it when I go down to help Melissa prep for Christmas day.

I think that Dan and I will probably go to Lakeland and see the girls there on Thursday. If we go up there in the morning and come back in the middle of the afternoon I'll still have time to go down to Melissa's and get things done. It will just be a busy day, but that's okay. Crystal and her dad are suppose to be here sometime on Christmas Eve and then Kim will fly in on Christmas morning. Crystal will drive down to Fort Myers to pick Kim up while Melissa and Justin will go into Lakeland. Dan and I will have a quiet morning at home before the family gets together in the afternoon. It should be a good time for all.

For the first time since Thanksgiving we have a camper right next to us here in the campground. I guess I shouldn't be disappointed - but there are lots of other spots the ranger could have put these people - I mean - there are only about 5 or 6 other campers in the entire park other than the volunteers. They could have put them one or two spots down - but that's okay. We have been very lucky with not having very many people in the park - I really didn't expect that. We have been told that it because of the construction that is still going on in the park. In fact, we will have to close the loop road where all the walking paths are completely tomorrow. The man that is doing the paving came in today (he is camping here in the campground) and he is planning on being in the loop area tomorrow. I don't know if he can do it all in one day or not, but I know that when he is paving we certainly can't have people down on the loop walking or biking. It should be real interesting telling people that they can not use the loop road at all, but we have to do what we have to do.

I have some phone calls to make tomorrow afternoon after I get home from work - and Dan has the Dish Network service guy coming out to the park tomorrow. We are having a problem with the receiver freezing up - sometimes the picture will freeze and we will still have sound, sometimes the sound will freeze and we'll still have picture, and sometimes they all freeze. Anyway, he is going to come out and check out the receiver. For some reason the lab that does all Dan's blood work doesn't have a record of him being on Medicare all of a sudden. It's not like this is the first time they have done the blood work since he has been on Medicare but we get this bill and they say they don't have a record of his primary care insurer. So, there is another phone call I'll have to make. Fun and games.

Well, Dan has seen Faith Hill sing the Sunday Night Football song and I'm watching "my boy" play - hopefully he will do well. So, I'm going to sign off for tonight. Hope you all have a great week - all you school board people start enjoying your two weeks off work.

Talk to you tomorrow!

Shopping with Melissa

Well, if I haven't bought it, it just isn't going to be bought. Melissa and I went shopping today in Davenport. We went to the "mall" there - not really a mall but not a strip mall either. I really don't know what to call it, but it had a some nice stores in it including Target. I did pick up a few things for Dan for his stocking (I had not bought anything for his stocking before - and it all really practical things). Melissa had to pick up a few things and I think she got everything she was looking for. The only thing that we did not do is go to the grocery store. I think I will just send Melissa a grocery list of things we need and she said she would go to the store next week - since she doesn't have to work.

Speaking of work - we will go back to work tomorrow. This will be our next to the last week - which is so hard for me to think about. It seems like we just got here and now we need to start thinking about packing up and getting ready to move up to Dowling Park. This has been a very fast two months - I don't know if the next two will go by as quickly. I imagine that next Saturday Dan will take the "garage" down (the cover we have over the picnic table) and I'll be taking the Christmas decorations down and packing them up. That will leave just a small amount of things we will need to pack up for the last week here. Especially since our last day at work will be next Wednesday and we have to leave next Thursday. A little quick packing up. Oh well, it's fine.

When we leave here we will go up to Lakeland for Thursday and Friday night and then go into Dowling Park on Saturday the 2nd. We have some friends that will be meeting us up there for the night - they will be leaving for their home in Texas on Sunday. It will be nice to get up to the "old homeplace". Hopefully, we can settle down some and save some money - we sure haven't done such a good job the last few months. It seems like since we left Idaho we have not done very well in the saving department. We need to get back into that frame of mind though.

Also, Dan is going to leave his motorcycle here at the place that is trying to sell it. We figure it will be better to leave it here and have Melissa and Justin handle it for us then to have it sit for a year. I just hope we can sell it. I told Dan that IF we can sell it we can look into getting the extra fuel tank for the truck (he wants one of those that fits behind his tool box in the bed of the truck, just in case). I'm just hoping it will sell soon.

Well, I feel like I have just been jabbering tonight without much direction, maybe it's because it's so late. Anyway, I need to go to bed - I have to go to work tomorrow!

Talk to you tomorrow!

Rainy Day in Sebring

Today was one of those days that you just wanted to stay inside and snuggle in a comfy chair and just read. It rained and rained and rained - the leading edge of a cold front. It is actually suppose to get cold around here. Now, when I say cold it is all relative - although the weatherman did say that it was going to be down to 32 degrees on Monday morning (oh goody! just in time for me to go to work!). I will be very surprised if it does get that cold here, but it is possible. In 1983 - on Christmas Eve Day the weather was in the 80's; however, Christmas Eve night a cold front came in and it was 19 degrees when we woke up Christmas morning - and NO electricity. How do I remember this - my youngest daughter was only three months old. That was not a good time - but it was memorable.

Dan went shopping today- he informed me last night that he can not find the Kindle anywhere, so I guess that wish just won't work out. Oh well, guess it is not to be. I don't have any idea what he is buying me instead - but I'm sure there will be something under the tree - I did order myself the Wii Fit 2 game for my Wii gaming system. I just haven't gotten the game set up in the unit yet. Dan keeps saying that he will hook it up, but he hasn't done it yet. Hopefully, he will do that in the next few days - or at least by the time we get back up to Dowling Park.

I stayed home and got the house clean - I also wrapped the presents we bought last night. After Dan got home we had to go back into town and pick up a couple of things - like ribbon for the presents and the presents for all the dogs - we had to buy for a total of six dogs - Melissa's dog Brady, Crystal dog Madison, their dad's dogs Jasper and Jadey, and our two dogs Samantha and Jessie. We can't forget the pups - that's for sure! We were also looking for a lampshade for a lamp that we have on our dining table. We like to have soft light in the house and this was a nice small lamp - however, we can't find the right lampshade for it. So, we will probably have to look for something else. But, for now, this will work.

Dan says that he is done with his shopping and I'm just waiting for about four more things to come in the mail - good ole on line shopping. Once those come in and I get them wrapped I'll be done also! Unless, of course, my girls expect me to do the stockings. I haven't done anything for them at all, so that would require some shopping next week. I'm sure I will find that out this weekend.

I think that Melissa and I will go grocery shopping this weekend - I have already bought some things, but we still need to pick up the majority of the things we need. I expect to hear from Melissa in the morning.

Well, I really don't have much to report - Donna, I hope your eye is better and that you don't have any problems with your surgery. Dana, don't worry about the unknown - although it is always a little scary it is the only way to go forward. Remember - this is what you went to school for and you are going to do GREAT! Crystal, can't wait to see you next week - just be careful on the roads! Have a great weekend everyone and -------------------

I'll talk to you tomorrow!

Wrapping Time!

Christmas has arrived at our house! Today I wrapped presents for about two hours and I had everything wrapped until we went into town - but, the good thing is, I am FINISHED!!!!! I'll have to wrap what I bought tonight tomorrow and I have a couple of things that still need to come in that I ordered on line. After that, I'm DONE!!! I can't believe it! I started late, but I finished strong. Now, I just hope everyone likes what they are getting. I don't think that I have that one "WOW!" gift this year - sorry girls. Crystal always says that I have one gift each year that I sit back with a Cheshire cat grin on my face - but I don't think I have one of those this year. Oh well, maybe next year!

We went into Outback tonight - first time we have been since we got down here. Outback is Dan's absolute FAVORITE restaurant. He had his usual Outback Special (I had my Alice Springs Chicken). Half of my dinner is in the refrigerator for us to eat tomorrow - but Dan ate all of his. Of course, he is a big guy so he always finishes his dinner. It was a good dinner and we enjoyed ourselves.

We talked to the people sitting behind us because they were talking about just getting home from a cruise. They were on the same cruise line that we will be going on in January - but not the same ship. We are looking forward to the cruise. It will be nice to spend some time with Carol and Neil and just having some "us" time without the pups. It's almost like when parents need a break from their children - we need a break from the pups. I wouldn't take a million dollars for the girls, but there are times that I look forward to being away from them for a little while. I'm sure you will understand.

When we left the restaurant we saw a kitty cat running across the parking lot and hiding under cars. Well Dan, with his big heart, couldn't stand that. He believed that the cat had been thrown out and it just hurts him. So, we stopped and got some food out of the back of the truck (yes, we keep spare animal food in the truck - canned). He put the food out and then we pulled away in the truck and watched for a few minutes to see if the kitty would come up and eat. After we pulled quite a distance away, the cat did head toward the food. We just don't understand how people can just dump an animal - if you can't take care of the animal anymore at least take it to the animal shelter where it will at least have a chance of being adopted. Well, at least that is our opinion.

We're watching the Colts and the Jags play - has been a really fast first half. Both teams are playing really well - Payton is great - he hasn't missed a pass yet - something like 12 for 12. Of course, I'm for the Colts and Payton - this is really funny in a way - I didn't like Payton Manning when he played college ball - I'm not a real fan of the Tennessee Volunteers but Payton is a great player and I have come to respect his ability.

Well, I don't have much else to report - all you guys that work for the school system - one more day to go until you are on Winter Break - I'm sure you are all saying YEAH! Just take it one day at a time and enjoy your time off. For all of us that are retired I hope you are having a wonderful week. Those of you that are still working, one more day and then it's the weekend - enjoy! To everyone - take it easy and ----------------------------------------

I'll talk to you tomorrow!

A Small World

We hear all the time that "it's a small world" but I am amazed at how small the world really is. For example, I have become Face Book friends with a very nice lady. We met through a friend of hers this summer while we were out in Idaho (Rick and Brenda - the friend - came into the cabin and we had a great conversation which lead us to share "business cards and we have followed each others blogs this summer). Anyway, in the my blog yesterday I mentioned that Dan and I used to live in Franklin, North Carolina. Well, Donna emailed me to tell me she had relatives that lived in Franklin - not only did we know them, we lived in the same development. Small, small world!

I have received most of the stuff that I have ordered on line for Christmas - I still have a couple of things that haven't come in yet - but I am happy that so many have gotten here already. I know what I will be doing this evening - wrapping presents! I'll probably just wait and take all the presents down to Melissa's Christmas morning instead of trying to take them down early. I only have one more person to buy for - and I'm not sure what to get this person, but I'm sure I'll figure it out. (I have to, don't I?)

Dan and I were going to work in the storage room today - trying to go through some things and get them packed, but there was a mix up and we didn't have the key to get in. We'll go down tomorrow and work instead - that might be better anyway, it's suppose to be cooler. I want to make sure I have been through all the Christmas and Fall decorations before Crystal comes down - they will need to go through and decided what they want to keep and what they don't want. That way we can donate everything they decide they don't want to keep.

We are really trying to get rid of things that we don't need - we are serious about not having a lot of "stuff". This lifestyle has really proven to us that you don't need the "stuff" to be happy. We don't have a lot of space in the unit but the space that we do have I think we use efficiently. I will be really pleased when we are able to use the washer/dryer in the unit instead of having to use a laundry mat.

I know what I want for Christmas, but I'm not sure I will get it - I would love to get a Kindle (you know the electronic book), but those are kinda expensive. It would be really nice and it wouldn't take up room in the unit and I could download the books that I want to read and not have to buy and give them away. Oh well, I guess I'll just have to wait and see what Santa brings. Then we come to Dan - I thought I knew what I was going to buy him all summer - but now he doesn't want what I was going to get - so, I have had to go to plan B. I think I have figured out why people are so hard to buy for now - if someone wants something they go out and buy it for themselves instead of waiting until they get the money or until their birthday, anniversary, Christmas, or some other gift giving time. That sure does make it hard on gift givers.

I don't know if it is this lifestyle or just getting older but I would much rather have the money in the bank then things I don't need or won't use. Yes, there are times I miss my craft room and the big house, but I love being able to see the country and the wildlife. There is no way we could travel the way we are AND have a "sticks and bricks" house. (Retired educators just don't have that much income!) Sometimes, I will admit, I still look at some real estate and think "maybe we could do that", but I know we can't, and that's okay. This is what we wanted to do and I'm satisfied with our decision.

Well, I think I have bored you enough for one night. Tomorrow we will work in the store room and then I'm not sure what else we will do - I know that Melissa and I will have to do our grocery shopping this weekend. Hope you have a great rest of the week (all you school people- you only have TWO more days!)

Talk to you tomorrow!

Warm Weather STILL!

It has been so unseasonably warm here - today the high was in the lower 80's - about 83 degrees. I know that this is Florida, but come on - it's the middle of December. I have lived in Florida for most of my life - I was born and raised in central Florida. It is true that I have lived in many different places from Los Angeles, California to Kansas City, Missouri, from Franklin, North Carolina to Chattanooga, Tennessee and I have seen a lot of different types of weather on Christmas. Even while living in Lakeland I saw weather from the teens to the high 80's on Christmas day - I even went swimming on Christmas day the year my parents put in our pool. I will even admit that I have turned on the air conditioner so I could have a fire in the fireplace when my children were little in Lakeland, Florida (of course, I don't know if that was for them or for me). However, I would rather it be a little chilly in December - I used to love it when Dan would build a fire in the fireplace in our log cabin when we lived in Franklin, North Carolina. It was so nice and cozy - a pot of soup in the crockpot and hot chocolate.

Now, the weathermen here are predicting a cooling in the temperatures here - the high is suppose to be around 68 on Friday - I guess that is better than the 80's. I am sure that there are many people who would love to have our 80's, so I guess I shouldn't complain. Plus, with our new lifestyle, if we really don't like it we can go anywhere we want in January. Maybe I'm just in a complaining mood - if so, I apologize to you all.

Today was another very slow day at work today - I don't even have anything to fold and stuff. I have folded everything I can find in the ranger station so now I just sit when I don't have cars coming in to the park. Tomorrow might be even worse - I think the rangers are going to have to close the loop road completely. For the last two weeks we have had one side of the loop closed while they were cutting trees down - they moved to the the other side Monday and they are suppose to start the paving tomorrow - the word is suppose to. We will see - I don't know if they will be ready since they spent two weeks on the right side of the loop road and they have only been on the left side for two days - I just don't see it happening. Of course the construction was suppose to be finished in October - do you notice the words that keeps showing up - 'suppose to be'. We will see what is suppose to happen tomorrow.

I want to say thanks to those that sent good wishes when I had my headaches - I have been better the last couple of days - just a mild throb today. It will get better and better - I have faith.

Well, I don't have much else to report so -----------------------------------

I'll talk to you tomorrow!

No more headache!

Yahoo - I woke up this morning with no headache and I haven't had one all day. For those of you that suffer from migraines will understand this next statement - my head has been sore all day but no headache. I'm so glad - I have too much to do to keep suffering with these things. Not only are they a pain in the head, but also a pain somewhere else (if you know what I mean).

After work I came home and Dan had fixed lunch - a nice black ham sandwich with some Doritos. This was nice not having to fix lunch after working - of course, he works also, but he gets off a half hour before I do - so he can have lunch ready when I get home. After lunch he took a nap and I spent a little time online checking emails and "farmed" a little. When Dan woke up we did the laundry that we didn't get done yesterday - actually we did two loads instead of just the one load of towels. Anyway, we have all the laundry caught up and put away.

When coming back from the laundry mat here in the park we found our little friend pictured above. Dan tried to feed it some lettuce, but as far as we know, he didn't eat any. We did see him go back out into the palmetto prairie. So he has gone back home and I have a couple of cool pictures.

Late this afternoon Dan remembered that his new "Milepost" was suppose to be at the local Books A Million and he wanted to go pick it up. So, we go into town and guess what - it wasn't there. It had not even left the warehouse - they said it should be here this coming Saturday - Yeah right! We'll see.

Just as a side note - I just watched the ABC Nightly News with Charlie Gibson - I really like Charlie and I'm going to miss his presence on TV. Now, I know that not everyone will agree with me and that's okay - I'm just speaking for myself. As I always say to Dan "I like Charlie" and I will even after he retires.

Okay- now, back to my day. After we left BAM we went on down to Wal Mart to pick up a few groceries - cereal and lunch meat that kind of things. I also needed name tags for the presents. Anyway, we picked up everything we need and now we are home and hopefully we will not need to go into town again for the next few days.

Well, I really don't have anything else to report so ---------------------------------

I'll talk to you tomorrow!

Another Headache!

I am so sick and tired of having headaches - I woke up this morning feeling fine and then about 10:30 I could feel it coming on. By the time I got home from work it was "a raging" - Well, I took a pill then sat in my chair for awhile. Finally, I went in and laid down with my heated eye patch. After about two hours I took another pill and it has backed off some - I can now function. Dan wants me to talk to the doctor and go back on the preventive medicine that I used to take. I just don't remember what it was called, but I guess I'll talk to him when I see him the next time.

Well, because of the headache I really didn't get anything done. I have supper in the convection oven (which BTW, I don't like the one in this unit as well as the one in the last unit - it just doesn't seem to cook as quickly as the other one) but that's okay at least it cooks. Well, dinner should be ready and I don't really have anything to talk about tonight.

I hope you all have a good work week and ---------------------

I'll talk to you tomorrow!

Laundry Day again

Today I had to get the laundry done whether I wanted to or not. So, not to wait until the last minute I asked Dan to help me take the loads of clothes over to the laundry mat here in the park (the laundry mat consists of two washing machines and two dryers). I only did the two loads of knits that I had - no jeans and no towels. I thought that when I went over to Melissa's I would do the rest.

Dan left to go up to Lakeland around 12:30 and I did a little more Christmas shopping on line. Then I called Melissa and asked if they could come pick me up (sometimes it sucks to only have one vehicle). She was wrapping presents so Justin came up and got me - I loaded all the presents that needed to be wrapped along with my paper and ribbon - and I grabbed the load of jeans. (Okay, I forgot the towels - my fault.) After putting the jeans in the wash Melissa put on a movie (more about the movie later) and I wrapped presents. I got everything wrapped and the jeans done with no problems at all. I had even received one of the packages that I had ordered on line. Hopefully, many more will show up next week. We decided NOT to go to the Christmas parade - I was just too tired and Justin doesn't like big crowds - Melissa just didn't want to go. So, we just stayed at the house and watched TV. Melissa did go and pick up dinner - but other than that we just chilled at the house. It was a nice quiet evening.

Dan came in just before the Heisman announcement. Everyone knows who I wanted to win - I knew that he wouldn't but that doesn't stop me from wishing and wanting. In fact, I even said that if Tim couldn't win I hoped Toby (the player from Stanford) would win. Well, I wanted Tim, and I hoped for Toby, but we all knew who was going to win - even though it was very close - congratulations to Mark Ingram from Alabama - he is a very good player and was very deserving. Actually all five of the finalists were very deserving. I have no hard feelings - Tim has his Heisman that no one can take away from him (I just wanted him to be the second person to ever win two). However it was not to be.

Now, let me talk about the movie Melissa and I watched tonight - I really didn't think that this was going to be a movie that I would like. Boy, was I wrong! I love this movie - I might have to buy this movie it was so good - I want Dan to watch this movie - I think that he will really like it too. What movie am I talking about, you are asking? Star Trek! Yes, Star Trek - I thought this couldn't be good because they didn't have the original cast (that would be a little hard to do - they are a little old to play the parts of themselves young - I know they can do wonders with special affects - but no one is THAT good. Plus some of them have passed away - Bones and Scotty). I was all ready to hate this movie - but it was really very good. Not Academy Award winning good - but probably one of the best movies I have seen in a while when you are talking about pure entertainment. I can see them making more with this cast - they could certainly do all kinds of things - playing off some of the TV shows. It will be interesting to see what they do next.

Tomorrow we will be back at work - I will get some change down at the ranger station and do the towels here in the park after work. It will give me something to do since all the presents are wrapped that I have. We will need to run into town at some point and pick up Dan's new "Milepost" for Alaska - that will give him something to read and plan with for quite a long time - it might even take him up to our actual departure date.

I really don't have much else to report tonight - I hope that you all have a good Sunday.

I'll talk to you tomorrow!

Migraine

Well, I had decided yesterday that I was going to spend today cleaning house and doing laundry - but Mother Nature had a different idea. I woke up this morning with a migraine headache and no medicine for it. So, we had to go back into Wal Mart and get my prescription filled. There must have been a hundred people there wanting to get prescriptions filled - well, maybe not a hundred, but there were a lot - it took about two hours to get the prescription filled. While we were waiting we went to the post office and stood in line again to make sure that the cards didn't weigh too much and were not oversized (they weren't). They are now in the mail (YEAH!) After I finally got my prescription I came home and took a couple of pills (yes, it was that bad) and put my heated eye patch over my eyes and laid down for awhile - it is much better now, but not completely. It is gone enough that I did straighten up the house this afternoon - but I still haven't done the laundry. I will HAVE to do that tomorrow or I won't have a clean uniform for work on Sunday.

I think that Dan might go into Lakeland tomorrow afternoon - I'll try and get that laundry done in the morning before he leaves so he can help take the laundry over to the laundry mat. Then I'll try and get the holiday shopping finished up tomorrow also - I still don't have the slightest idea what I'm going to get Dan - he keeps saying there is nothing he wants - he certainly doesn't make it easy. Of course, when you live in a 5th wheel it does make it a little more difficult - you have to make sure it is something that he will really use because there just isn't any place to keep stuff you don't use. You can't do things like magazines and all because there is no address to send it to (I know, we do still have a snail mail address, but magazines aren't forwarded and it's just easier to buy them at the store than trying to have them forwarded - changing addresses every couple of months - no, just not a good idea.) It doesn't help either that if there is something he wants he just goes and gets it - he is not one to wait for later (example is the motorcycle we are now trying to sell!) Oh, BTW, I haven't told you, I found the title for the motorcycle (YEAH!), but I still haven't found the one for the truck. Oh well!

Tonight, being Friday night, was all you can eat fish down at the Hammock Inn - so Dan wanted to go down there and eat - which we did. When we got there there was a raccoon on the dumpster eating something. After dinner we rode around a little looking for deer - we didn't see any deer, but we did see a rabbit. Oh well - I guess they are all hunkered down for the night.

I really don't have much else to report - I don't know what is on TV tonight - so if it isn't something I want to watch I may hit the sack early - it would probably help with the headache. I did want to say to my new Farmville neighbor, my Facebook friend, and follower of the blog that I sincerely hope your eye surgery goes well - take care Donna and I hope you have a speedy recovery. Hope everyone has a great weekend and ----------------------------------

I'll talk to you tomorrow!

Getting it together - finally!

I think today was a productive day. I started this morning by ordering the calendar for my mom - I only had to do it twice before it would go through! Then Dan and I went into town. First we went by Office Depot and had the Christmas letter printed - I may have to create a "blog" version of the letter just so all my blog friends that I don't have mailing addresses for will be included. After we left there we went to a new restaurant to eat lunch - we were told about this Cuban place and it was GREAT!!!! We actually each brought home about half of each sandwich - well, Dan's was not quite half, but pretty close.

After lunch we had to go to Wal Mart (again). Dan needed to pick up some windshield wiper fluid and some replacement bulbs for the running lights on the truck. I also picked up some more ribbon for gift wrapping. We also bought a couple of shirts for one of the volunteers here at Highlands Hammock who doesn't have any family. Neither Dan nor I could imagine not having something to open on Christmas morning soooooo, we just picked up a couple of shirts for him and some Dingo's for his little dog.

Once we got back home I paid the bills online and started to balance the checkbook. However, in the middle of that Melissa called and I ended up going back into town with her. We went to Pier One (Melissa's, new favorite store - sorry Target), Books A Million (her second favorite store), Bed, Bath, and Beyond, then Lowe's. She bought some Christmas presents and a picked up a couple of things. Actually I found a couple of really cute candle holders at Pier One, a present at Books A Million, a couple of Yankee Candles at BB&B (I know, I have Christmas candles in Dowling Park, but there is no way we will get up there again before Christmas, so I had to buy a couple just for the holidays), and then a little something for Dan at Lowe's. On the way home we went by Sonny's and ordered a turkey to go along with the ham for Christmas dinner - we'll pick those up on Christmas eve day and warm them up just like we did on Thanksgiving.

When we got home I finally finished balancing the checkbook - then I addressed all the Christmas cards. They will be able to go in the mail tomorrow - YEAH! Tomorrow I plan on getting the laundry done, and the house cleaned up (you know the REAL cleaning). Dan and I talked about how we are going to buy each other's presents and we have decided that each of us will take the truck separately and do our shopping - it's the only way. I mean, we don't have a mall to go to and separate, so this is really the only way we can figure out how to do it. I don't know if he is going to go tomorrow or not - but he is talking about maybe going into Lakeland either Saturday or Sunday afternoon to see his girls.

We were suppose to go to the Christmas parade here in Sebring tonight, but we both forgot about it when I went to town with Melissa - we didn't get back until after the parade had already started. So we missed it. Melissa wants us to go down to Lake Placid on Saturday night for the Christmas parade there. She says it is better than the one here in Sebring - so I guess if we go to any Christmas parade we will have to go to the one in Lake Placid. If Dan goes into Lakeland on Saturday maybe I can call Melissa and see if she can take me back to town so I can do my "Dan" shopping. (I did order him something on line today, but it was really just a little something) Plus, I have to do all the stocking stuffer shopping.

I'm pretty proud of myself - I think I got a lot done that was on my list of things to do. I should be able to finish everything up, maybe, this weekend if I can get into town on Saturday (although at this point I have NO idea what I am going to buy Dan for Christmas). I'm sure I'll figure something out in the next couple of days.

Well, I guess that is all I have to report for today - Hope your week has been a good one and that you are all ready for the weekend. Take care and ------------------------------

I'll talk to you tomorrow!

Harry Potter

Well another week of work is over - I spent today folding more brochures and flyers. I got all of the brochures and flyers folded all nice and straight - I just can't stand things not be straight - I guess I'm just a little peculiar that way. At least I left things where all the other volunteers have to do is stuff the brochures - surely they can't mess that up.

After work today I came home and wrote the Christmas letter - tomorrow we will go up to Office Depot and have them printed and then I can address the envelopes and get them in the mail either tomorrow afternoon or Friday at the latest. I also worked on getting a calendar made for my mom as part of her Christmas present - she enjoyed some of the pictures I took this summer so we thought we would do a calendar for her with some of those pictures. I'll finish that up in the morning also - we might be able to pick it up at the store tomorrow also - I'm not sure.

Last night, after I wrote the blog, I went on line and started my Christmas shopping. I am having my packages sent to Melissa's house - but my name will be on them so she doesn't open any of the packages. I'll work on that some more this weekend. Hopefully I can get everything that I'm going to purchase on line done by the end of this weekend.

Tonight we went over to Melissa and Justin's and had dinner (Melissa cooked) and then we watched Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. I usually like the Harry Potter movies, but they seem to be getting darker and darker with the plot line - and no, I have not read any since the third one, but I have seen all the movies that have been released now - this one was just not my favorite. It was okay - but it just seemed like they were setting everything up for the last book - which I understand is going to be divided into two movies. I'll be glad to see how things end up, but I hope the next ones are more entertaining.

Dan and I also went into town last night - went by Tractor Supply to look for one of those extra fuel tanks that fits behind the tool box in the bed of the truck - I'm not sure what Dan has decided he wants to do - but I'm sure we will do something before heading out next summer. While we were there I tried on some shoes - they are sorta like moccasins - but not really. Anyway, they are some shoes that I could wear when we are just around the house but I could wear them out also - just something casual instead of always wearing my sneakers. I certainly needed something, but they will be wrapped and put under the tree.

We ate at Sonny's last night and I ordered our Christmas Ham - I found out tonight that Melissa also wants to have a turkey (her dad's request) so I will go back into Sonny's tomorrow and order a turkey to go along with the ham. I guess we will fix a smaller version of our Thanksgiving dinner for Christmas dinner. It will give me something to do while everyone else is visiting other family members - Melissa and Justin will go into Lakeland for the morning, Crystal will be going down to Ft. Myers to the airport to pick up Kim, Dan is thinking about going into Lakeland to see his girls and their families - so I guess I will stay at Melissa's and cook. That's okay - it'll all work out in the end.

Well, I don't have much else to report for tonight - Donna, thanks for being my neighbor on Farmville - I was able to expand my farm and buy a cottage. Now my farm is all covered in snow and ready for Christmas - although I still need presents for my tree! Everyone have a good day at work and -------------------------

I'll talk to you tomorrow!

We're almost done for another week!

Well, we have one more day at work this week and I am so glad! This week has just been the slowest ever - today was as bad as yesterday. No one is coming into the park - I really don't know what it is for sure. As I said yesterday, I am sure part of it has to do with the construction in the park but I think another issue is the season. I have been told that things will pick up after Christmas - the thing about that is we leave on the 31st - actually our last day at work will be on the 30th so that will give us a little time to get things packed up and ready to go. Now, usually when we were in our 'sticks and bricks' I wanted to leave the decorations up until the 1st of January - but Dan always wanted to take everything down on the 26th of December - his thing is - "Christmas is over - take everything down" - well, I think he will get his way this year. If we are going to be leaving on the 31st we have to get the tree down, decorations packed away and into the store room down in Lake Placid PLUS get everything packed up and ready to go by the 31st. Some of those days we will be working - so that will also cut down on our time to get ready. So that is some of the things that we have to keep in mind. Christmas is on Friday and we will have Saturday, but then we have to be back to work on Sunday. Oh well, I'm sure we will work it out somehow.

I have so much to do and just don't seem to have the time to do it - I still have not sat down and balanced the checkbook and paid the bills on line (I HAVE to do that tomorrow) - I also need to buy Christmas - IF I'm going to do stuff on line I need to get it done in the next couple of days or the presents won't be here in time for Christmas - so that is on the MUST list. I also need to sit down and write my Christmas letter and address the Christmas cards so they can get in the mail. See, I told you that I have a lot to do! Now, I just have to make myself to do all this stuff.

As I said at the beginning of the blog today - work was slow again - I have folded all the brochures and flyers that have been put in the ranger station and I have stuffed ALL of them. I'm not sure what I will do tomorrow, but I'm sure we will find me something to do.

I think we will go down to Melissa's house tomorrow afternoon/night - she got the new Harry Potter movie (which I have not seen yet) from Net Flix and so we'll go down and watch that. (See something else that will take away from my list of chores, but I don't mind - I want to see Harry!) Oh, the pain of choices! No, really - I will work it all out - Dan says IF I would stay off the computer I could get everything done, but how can I stay off the computer when I have to buy things on line and pay bills on line. That's okay, I'll figure it all out - I have faith!

Well, I hope everyone is having a good week so far, and ------------------------

I'll talk to you tomorrow!

Work, Work, Work

Today was another slow day at work - I spent the entire five hours folding brochures and flyers - I'll stuff them tomorrow. Seriously, it was so slow that when Mike, the early gate ranger, changed cash drawers with the late gate ranger we had a total of $6.00 for our deposit - and admission to the park is $6.00 a car. (Now we did have a few people that came in that had permits). I'm sure that part of the reason we are not having that much traffic in the park has many reasons - starting with it being Monday (the tram does not run on Monday and the Hammock Inn is not open on Mondays - the little snack bar/restaurant), half the loop road (where all the walking trails are) is closed due to cutting of trees, the campground does not have many people due to the construction that is still going on (the roads are paved but they are still working on the retention ponds). In one way it is really pretty nice not having a lot of people in the park - the campground is really pretty quiet - but the flip side is I really don't have that much to do at work. Oh well, the problems of working!

When I got home from work Dan was already here - he had taken some chicken breasts out of the freezer for dinner, but he wanted to go into town and check on some things. We ended up going to the Verizon store and asking some questions. I HATE my phone - I have NO service here in the park but I have service for my air card. The guy at the store called someone and they talked about my phone - I have to call them tomorrow from the ranger station and they are going to talk me through some steps and see if it is my phone or just no service (I really don't think it is the service - like I said - my air card works fine and two of the other volunteers have Verizon and they don't have any problems with service). I'll just have to wait and see what happens when I call them tomorrow.

Let me back up a minute - while I was at work today I made a call to the tag and title agency here in Sebring. Why? Well, I've misplaced the title to the truck and the motorcycle. I have absolutely NO idea what happened to them - I know where they were before we moved into the new unit but I can't find them now. Sooooooo, we will have to get a duplicate title for the truck and I've asked Dale to get us a duplicate title for the motorcycle. I was somewhat surprised to find out that we can go to the office and walk out with a new title - of course it's going to cost an arm and a leg (over $85.00), if we want to save a couple of bucks - and I do mean a couple- we can wait for Tallahassee to mail us a new title - which will take 10 business days and only cost $78.00. Of course, I can't really say too much - it is my fault - I'm the one that is suppose to keep up with this stuff. I have torn the house up looking for those titles and I just can NOT find them. I don't know what happened. At this point, I just need to bite the bullet and get duplicate titles and let it go. Of course, Dan says that now is the time to sell the motorcycle (which is probably right) but he says he can't because I LOST THE TITLE - so he is going to blame me for not selling the motor. Oh well, I have big shoulders and I'll take the blame (and I guess it really is my fault). When we get the new titles I know where I will be putting them and they will stay there.

While we were in town today we went down to Wal Mart and picked up a few things (but NO frozen food! LOL). I wanted to get a black belt to wear with my uniform (I had been wearing a brown belt with black pants - NO! NO! NO!) and Dan wanted a few things. We also picked up a poinsettia plant for the picnic table outside - we have to decorate some outside other than just the lights. I bought some things like lunch meat, broccoli salad, banana pudding (desert), cokes, milk, butter - you know the basics). Anyway, we left with only spending about $120.00 - not too bad for not needing anything major. HA! HA!

I fixed the chicken breasts today with some of the noodles that we had purchased in Shipshewana and some salsa mixed together - we also had some sugar snap peas. It was pretty good - just took a lot of dishes to cook dinner in which meant there were a lot of dishes to wash - UGH! I guess that I haven't gotten used to this new kitchen yet - I just seems like I don't have any room to do anything - but I'm sure I'll get used to it soon. Oh while we were at Wal Mart we looked at things like powdered milk and evaporated milk - trying to figure out what we are going to take to Alaska with us - we know that we will not be able to get to fresh milk that often - we have looked on the map and the closest Wal Mart is in Anchorage which is about 150 miles away - ONE WAY. Not a trip we will take every week. We will really have to plan our grocery buying trips. It will be somewhat interesting to say the least - I'll keep you posted on our plans.

I have got to get it together and get some Christmas presents bought - I haven't gotten anything yet for anyone and IF I order things on line I better get it together - I only have about 10 days to make sure I get things in time for Christmas. I just don't want to go into the big city (whether that is Lakeland or Fort Myers) to go shopping. I guess the older I get the more I don't want to fight with other people at the malls. Anyway, I think I'll get on line tomorrow when I get home and see how much I can get done. (One of the other advantages - I can shop for Dan without him knowing - which is the only way I will ever be able to buy him anything without his knowledge since the only time we are apart is when we are at work!) Such is life as full time RVer's.

That is about all I have to report today - Donna, if you read this, I would love to be your neighbor in FarmVille. I sent you a message on your blog so you will know how to get in touch with me. I'll look forward to hearing from you. Crystal, I'm glad your open house went well - you just stress too much! Joyce and Jewel, I loved the pictures from the Christmas parade in Live Oak - you couldn't have found a prettier Angel! Take care all and -----------------

I'll talk to you tomorrow!

Things don't always go the way you want them to

Football has a way of not going the way you would hope that it would - sometimes you win and sometimes you lose. I guess it's the same in life - but people seem to get more pleasure in putting a losing team down -not because they played hard and tried, but because they lost, or because someone doesn't like a certain player, or coach. I have to admit there have been times I have done the same thing (can anyone say Steve Spurrier), but, with age, comes some wisdom and I realize that it's not the best option. I now know that you can celebrate the victory of your team without putting the losing team and that teams players down. I think that is called sportmanship. That is the same in college ball as well as pro. I will strive to practice what I preach - so if you hear me falling into that "put down" trap, please correct me. Now, let's move on.

Today was slow at work - only about ten people checked out today and only four people checked in while I was at work. But my OCD definitely kicked in. We have these brochures that have to be folded in thirds and then we stuff them with flyers that we also fold in thirds. Well, when I went into work today someone had folded the flyers and brochures and they were not straight. Well, that just won't work - so I spent all morning refolding all the brochures and all the flyers and then restuffing them. The rangers laughed at me, but they appreciate that I am particular with what we hand out to the public. (At least I think they appreciate it -LOL.)

After work I came home and we decided to spend the afternoon in - so Dan cooked some hamburgers on the grill for lunch and I fixed beef and bean burritos and Spanish rice for dinner. We just spent the day watching football and I did some 'farming' (Farmville is certainly addictive). At least the weather has cleared up - no rain today - we had over four inches of rain on Friday night and about six inches on Saturday - lots of rain! However, we needed it - it had been really dry. I'm trying to figure out what we are going to do for Christmas - I should have spent the day balancing the books, but I can say "should have, could have, would have" all day - the point is I didn't. I'll just have to force myself to do it tomorrow because I'm sure I have bills to pay.

Well, I don't have much else to report - I didn't mean to "preach" at the beginning of the blog - but I needed to get it off my chest. I won't talk about it again. I hope you all had a good weekend and that your upcoming work week will go well. Crystal and Kim, I hope your party went well - I'm sure it did.

I'll talk to you tomorrow!

Back to work tomorrow

Today was another semi wash out - it did finally stop raining about 3 this afternoon - we were suppose to have a concert here in the park tonight, but that was cancelled because of all the rain. Oh well, it would have been a mess. I don't know if they have rescheduled the concert or not - probably not.

We pretty much stayed inside today - I made some chili in the crock pot and just sorta stayed close to home - after we got home from Lake Placid. I did leave my phone at Melissa and Justin's last night and we went down to pick it up - but Melissa and Justin weren't home - they had come to Sebring to get some stuff and then buy their Christmas tree. The only good thing was we did beat them back to our 'house' and so I did get my phone back. Dan is determined to get him a phone this coming week. That's okay - I just hope we can figure out what is wrong with my phone. I HATE my phone - if anybody out there is in the market for a new phone DO NOT GET A CHOCOLATE! It is awful!!!!! I would love to get another phone, but I just got this one in April so I have another year with this piece of - well you get the picture. We'll just have to go with the flow and suck it up and let it be. (Maybe we'll just use Dan's phone when we get him a new one - yeah! that's what I can do.)

Well, it looks like congratulations are in order for the Alabama Crimson Tide - they certainly had the Gators number tonight. That's okay - I really was routing for Tim Tebow - he is a good kid and I really just wanted him to get another Heisman, but I guess that was not to be. That's okay - he'll be fine (he'll be upset and disappointed in himself) but Alabama certainly was the better team tonight. It's been a good run for Tim and the Gators. However, there is some good that came out of this game. Now I can route for Texas and not feel bad. Hook em horns!!!!!!

I want to say thanks to all of you that keep the comments coming - it certainly makes it easier for me to keep writing every day. Linda and Darrell - sorry you won't be able to make it down this way, but we certainly understand how things can get in the way. Ted and Donna - thanks for coming along on this ride - it is nice to know that others are out there. If you talk to Rick and Brenda tell them we said 'hello'. Hope you keep reading and staying with us along the road.

Well, I don't have anything else to report tonight. We go back to work tomorrow - thank goodness it's not raining any more - but look out it's gonna get COLD! Take care all and

I'll talk to you tomorrow!

Rain, Rain and More Rain!

Today was a total wash out - it has rained all day long - and it is suppose to rain all day tomorrow. Now, we have heard that this area really needs to rain - and Dan says that he would much rather have it rain on our days off then on the days we have to work. Why, you might ask - well, Dan has to be outside all day when we are at work and he doesn't want to work in the rain. Makes sense to me. It is suppose to clear up by late tomorrow afternoon and be nice on Sunday - our first day back at work -who would guess that we would like the rain on our "week end". Such is life.

We went over to Melissa and Justin's tonight to watch a movie - "Angels and Demons" with Tom Hanks. I had read the book and let me just say that the movie takes great liberties with the plot line of the book - oh well, I guess that is just Hollywood. I will say that it was a pretty good movie (especially if you had not read the book), but I thought the book was actually the better of the two. However, it was nice to spend a quiet evening with the kids with nothing to do but sit and watch a movie. We took over some frozen individual pizzas and everyone had one of their own. It worked out well.

Tomorrow I am going to fix chili in the crock pot - not only is it suppose to rain all day it is suppose to be pretty cool so I think chili will taste pretty good. Of course, we have to big game tomorrow (although I don't know what time it comes on). I'm sure we find out and sit right here and watch it. It should be a good game.

I think I left my phone at Melissa's - at least I can't find it and I know that I put it in my pocket before we left to go over to their house. I don't know if it fell out of my pocket while I was sitting on the couch or if I took it out and laid it down somewhere that I don't remember. Anyway, I guess I'll have to drive down there tomorrow and look for it.

Well, I don't have much else to report - oh, Dan and I did go into town today as we needed dog food - we also went to Books-A-Million and ordered a copy of the new Milepost (which is the book about the Alaska highway) and I also bought a copy of "Going Rouge". Then we stopped at the music store and we bought a copy of Susan Boyle's CD "I Dreamed A Dream" and it is excellent. It is a very unique mix of music, but each song is done beautifully - she certainly has a wonderful voice and I wish her much success,

That's all for tonight ----

Talk to you tomorrow!!!

Back to School

Today I went into Lake Placid to Melissa's Middle School and did a presentation to all her classes. I think it went really well - I hope Melissa liked what I did. I enjoyed doing the presentation but I had forgotten how talkative sixth graders are - when I taught middle school before my daughter was in Middle school (when I taught kindergarten Melissa was in kindergarten) I really think it makes a difference when your own children are the age that you teach. Plus most of the time that I taught (even when I did substitute teaching in Live Oak, Florida) I taught fourth grade. There is a definite difference between fourth graders and sixth graders. However, for the most part, the kids were good (I only had to use my "teacher voice" a couple of times and only had to move one boy in sixth period). I hope the kids enjoyed the presentation.

Melissa and I ran to Wal Mart after school and then came home and got Dan then we went to Sonny's for dinner. After dinner, when Dan and I got back home, I realized that he had done the laundry for me while he was at home today. That was a very nice surprise and I really did appreciate it. That means I don't have to worry about doing it on Friday or Saturday. Yeah! I can actually just relax the next couple of days - Tomorrow it is suppose to rain all day - it poured last night, plus there was a lot of thunder last night - it work the girls up which means it woke me up - Jessie was a little scared until I covered her up with the quilt and scooted her up next to me - then she went right back to sleep.

I am really tired tonight - I guess the teaching thing tired me out more than I thought - so I'm going to sign off for tonight.

Talk to you tomorrow!

Last Work day this week

Today was b-o -r -i -n -g at work - nothing happening - since the walking loop is closed due to cutting trees to enlarge the bike path - a lot of our "regulars" did not come to the park today - it really made for a long, long, long day. The only good thing to say is - No more work this week (yeah!).

Tomorrow I'm going in to Lake Placid and visit Melissa's classes. She told them about our travels this past summer and they asked her if I could come in and show them pictures and talk about what we did this past summer - so, tomorrow that's what I'm going to do. I was going to do this one day right after we first got here, but that was when I got that flu bug that was going through the park. Anyway, it should be interesting tomorrow - I know I have plenty of pictures to show them. The biggest thing will be deciding which pictures NOT to show and staying within the time frame that Melissa gives me. I'll let you know how it goes tomorrow.

I came in tonight fixed dinner - lo mien chicken - it was pretty good. Like I said last night - we really need to eat at home for quite a while - we keep talking about what we are going to take with us to Alaska - we are really worried about what will be available to us and the price of food in Alaska. I want to take as much with us as we can. Which means that we need to look at storage items that will keep things fresh - I mean things like rice, dry beans, etc. We'll see - it will definately be something to work on.

Did I tell you that we decided that part or our problem is the grocery stores (as well as other stores and restaurant's) are just too close to us. When we were in Idaho the grocery store was 60 miles away - so we made the trips count and we ate at home almost all the time. Now, the stores are 10 minutes away and it's so easy to just say "Let's run up to ---------- for dinner (you fill in the blank)". We are going to try and get away from that this month - and then when we get to Dowling Park for two months we will have to remember NOT to go to "The Gopher" every night. Of course, we won't be working in Dowling Park, so it should be easier to stay in (at least I hope it will be). That is something we will have to see.

Well, that's about all I have to report tonight. Hope your week is going well and

I'll talk to you tomorrow!

Too much frozen food!!!!

After work today Dan decided we needed to go in to Wal Mart and pick up a few things. We were out of some of our vitamins and supplements that we take and I knew we needed things like bread, milk, even cereal and eggs. Anyway, we went in and walked out with over $250.00 worth of groceries (well, we also bought some large crates to try and consolidate some of our storage issues). We did pick up some frozen stuff - individual pizza's, some frozen dinners, ice cream (Dan's Butter Pecan), some skinless, boneless chicken breasts, ground beef, and smoked sausage. Didn't seem like that much in the store - until we got home and I remembered how small our freezer compartment is (and this one is twice the size of the one we used to have). I was somehow able to get everything in - only had to take out the ice trays and the "blue ice" package. Not too bad! I told Dan, after we got home, that we needed to eat out of the freezer for the next few weeks - we probably don't need to buy anything except fresh stuff - you know, bread, milk, eggs, butter - you know, that kind of stuff. We'll see how that goes.

Today at work things were okay - we weren't too busy and I was able to fold and stuff about 300 brochures to give out to people who come into the park. It is amazing how different the rangers are - and what they expect me to do as the volunteer - some want me to do everything except check campers in and out (that's because it's on a state run computer and you have to have a password) and other don't want me to do anything but greet people coming into the park and take admission fees. It's crazy - actually I like it much better to work with the rangers who let me do whatever needs to be done at the time instead of having to wait for them to do something. I understand not getting on the state computer (I really don't want to do that) but the other stuff can get kinda silly. Oh well, I've learned what to do with certain rangers and what not to do with others. Plus, we only have about four more weeks to work - that is amazing to me.

We need to figure out what we are going to do about Christmas this year - I don't know what the kids want and I haven't figured out the budget yet (Dan needs to sell the motorcycle!) so I know what we will have to spend. I'm sure we will figure it all out in the next couple of days.

Well, I really don't have much else to report - Oh, Dana, Congratulations - which position did you accept???? You guys take care and

I'll talk to you tomorrow!

Are you ready for some Football??

Well, it's Monday night and there is no more DWTS - so here we are at 8:00 watching the Monday Night Countdown to Football - the Saints and the Pats (sorry Melissa - go Saints - don't tell Justin, but I can't stand the Pats.) I probably won't watch that much of the game - I'll probably go in and crawl in the bed and read for awhile. Speaking of football - this Saturday will be a football day - I'm not going to say who I will be routing for because I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings - but I definitely know who I want to win. That's all I'm going to say about the subject.

Work was SLOW today - it was awful - nothing to do - I ended up folding brochures all morning long. Not that many people came into the park - I don't know if that had to do with it being the Monday after Thanksgiving or because the restaurant is not open on Monday's and the tram doesn't run either. Doesn't really matter what caused it - there weren't any people in the park.

After work Dan and I did go down to Lake Placid and get the rest of the Christmas crates to go through - then I couldn't find the mail that Melissa brought to me (Melissa, Dan found it in the truck). Anyway, I did get some decorating done in the 'house' - the table is now fixed and Dan finished putting up the lights outside. Tomorrow we will probably run into Wal Mart and pick up some bigger crates and see if we can consolidate everything we are going to keep into a couple of crates instead of five. We'll see.

We also need to order our medicine and I need to call the dog sitter in Dowling Park - if I don't do it soon I won't have anyone to keep the pups in January when we go on our cruise. I need to make a list of all the phone calls I need to make. I also need to balance the "black book" - I don't think I ever posted the figures for the month of October so in the next couple of days I'll post both months figures (it might be a good way to compare and contrast where we spend and were we don't). Anyway, looks like it will be a busy time after work for the next couple of days.

Well, it's time for some football, so I will sign off for tonight - oh, before I go, I just want to say thanks to those of you that continue to post comments - it does help me to keep going knowing that you guys are still out there reading. Okay, I gotta run so ---------------------

Talk to you tomorrow!!

Another Sunday at Work

Well, I promised a picture of our Christmas tree today - and here it is. Also, if you notice the TV in the background you will see that I was watching the Viking kick some Jay Cutler butt (how's that Crystal??) I bet that some of you that play on the fantasy football league wish they had picked up Brett Farve as your quarterback don't you - HA! Oh you of little faith - thinking the boy can't play anymore - guess he is showing you huh???? I do love to see that boy play! I know- some of you are saying that today wasn't much of a test - but he has played well all year (the best quarterback rating in the NFL - thank you very much!)

Work was very busy today - so much so I looked up and it was 20 minutes after 1 - and time for me to go home - Dan worked until almost 3 today - we had so many people leaving that they had to clean the bathhouses twice. Anyway, we did get some things done at the 'house' today, but not everything we were thinking we would get done. Dan did get his decorations done outside - lights on the awning over the picnic table - now he wants to go buy some bigger crates so we can put all our stuff in just a couple of crates instead of having three or four crates. So, I guess we will do that tomorrow after work - we might even go over to the storage building and get some other crates to go through. (Crystal, if you want anything else in particular, you better let me know.)

I'm hoping to get everything gone through in the next couple of days and then get the outside of the unit cleaned up and straightened up - I don't like things to be in disarray, whether that is inside or outside. We should have everything done in the next couple of days - I know that we still have a lot of crates to go through - but it shouldn't take me long to go through them- I really don't think I want anything else here - so it will just be making the decision if I want to keep the stuff or give it away. I'm in the mood to get rid of stuff instead of keeping stuff and people who know me know that when I decide to go through stuff I get rid of it. I don't keep a lot. Too bad I couldn't have another garage sale - bet I could make some more money. Oh well.

Speaking of making money - Dan has decided to sell the 'big' bike - I got home from work today and he had put a sign on it - "For Sale - $2,200.00" - YEAH!!!!!! Now, if we can just to sell it - I might put an ad on Ebay or Craigs List - I think Craigs List is free. We'll see what Dan wants to do.

Well, I don't have much else to report - if any of you know someone who wants a nice bike just let me know and I'll give you more information and I'll even post a picture or two. Until then ----

Talk to you tomorrow!

Saturday 11-28-09

Our cousins, Faye and Woody, came and visited with us today - it was nice having a chance to catch up and spend time with each other. We ran up to Panera Bread and had lunch - GREAT Black Bean Soup. While we weren't able to spend a lot of time together it was really nice to be together. We will get back together before the holidays and before we go back up to Dowling Park.

This afternoon I decorated our Christmas tree - I'll have to post a picture of it tomorrow - Dan is still working on putting lights up on the awning over the picnic table - he should finish them up tomorrow afternoon after work. (Yes, we have to go back to work tomorrow. Oh well, we all have to work at some time or the other.) We bought a new tablecloth for the picnic table and we went through some of the decorations - Crystal now has a box and Melissa has a box and then there is some boxes that they will have to go through together and pick which decorations they want. There are still boxes over at the storage room that we haven't been through yet, but that is something I am determined to get done. We have talked about it for years and now is the best time - I have decided that what the girls don't want and we don't have any use for is going away - far, far away. I am not going to keep things that won't be used.

I've tried with the ace bandage on my ribs the last couple of days - it's fine while I'm sleeping, but by now - after wearing it all day - I'm tired and my back hurts. I'm not sure if I will be able to wear this all night tonight or not - we'll see.

I also got the laundry done today (except the towels which I will do tomorrow after work). I think we got a lot done in the last couple of days. Now, we just have to find out what everyone wants for Christmas and see how we are going to handle that. Don't know how that will work out yet, but we'll do something.

Well, I don't have much else to report so I'll sign off for tonight - I'll post pictures tomorrow of our Christmas decorations. Until then - have a great Sunday and ...................................

I'll talk to you tomorrow!!!

Day after Thanksgiving

Dana, Mark and the girls came down to see us today - we took them for a ride on the big golf cart and saw some turtles and the momma alligator with just one of her babies - that picture is below. We fixed some hot dogs on the grill and had some macaroni salad along with potato salad and potato chips. It was a little cool on the ride, but I hope everyone had a good time.

Here is momma again - see if you can find the baby.

After Dana, Mark and the girls left we took all the fall stuff down to the storage building in Lake Placid - saw Melissa and Justin for a few minutes - picked up some of the Christmas boxes to start going through. If it were up to Dan we would have put the tree up today - as it is, we will probably do that tomorrow IF I can find the right box of decorations. That will be the question - I mean, I only have about 20 crates of Christmas decorations to go through.

I think that Dan's cousin is going to come down and see us tomorrow - and I do need to do laundry as some point so I will have my uniform clean for my new work week. Dan has gone into town to get me an ace bandage (we'll see if this will help with my pain issue) and some Tylenol.

I'm going to sign off for tonight - enjoy the pictures.

Talk to you tomorrow!

Happy Thanksgiving to All!

Hello everyone - I hope that you all have had a fantastic Thanksgiving - Dan and I sure did - we spent the day at our youngest daughter's first home - with her husband's family and my mother. It was a GREAT day - This is a picture of her dog Brady - who is a really good dog - even with 18 people in the house and two other dogs (and four of the people were little ones) she did great - and she didn't even get any food off the table (no pumpkin pie leaves this year!)

This is Melissa and Justin's dining area in their new home - this was taken before all the craziness of all the food hit - we set up four tables down the open area behind the couches and put all the food on the table and served things buffet style------------------------------

This is a quick picture of Melissa and Justin as we were trying to get everyone together to bless the food - Justin did a great job of saying the blessing (we all have so much to be thankful for!).

This shows the tables and the food - lots and lots of food - ham, turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, gravy, candied yams, green beans, carrots, cream corn, broccoli casserole, cranberry sauce, not counting all the desserts! Good food!

After dinner and dessert Dan and I came home and I'm going to take a couple of pills and probably go to bed and rest for a while. Once again - I hope that you all have had an absolutely fantastic day - tomorrow we start getting ready for Christmas!

Talk to you tomorrow!!!!!