It's Been A While Again

Just like the rest of the country, our weather in south TX has been unusually cold. We had 3 nights last week with temps in the mid to upper 20's, one night of freezing rain and one day the temp never got above freezing. The plants were covered and but fruit trees faired well the freezing rain seemed to have protected them. We did pick five pails of grapefruit just in

case so guess we'll have to freeze them or make a few more batches of grapefruit orange and vodka slush - I'm sure we'll have some warm days when it will taste pretty good! We just hunkered down - made some chile and finished up a couple jobs around the house.

Finally got the microwave installed above the stove - had this on hand for over a year. My initial measurements told me I had to remodel the cabinet above because the microwave was going to be too close to the stove top. Well, this years measurements didn't tell me that! Must be that the new stove is lower than the old - after all it has a smooth top.

Also put up some new lights above the table and in the hall - actually brought these from MN - had taken them out of the house there when we did some remodeling this fall. They fit in quite well down here.

Made a leasurely trip to MX on Saturday - went for a drive to check on some friends in Donna, they weren't home so since we were close to the border we headed down for a little shopping and lunch. Was pretty quiet except for the bunch from MN in Arriba's - they were well on there way to a fun birthday party by 12:30. Picked up a couple meds and a couple movies for $4, couple bottles of refreshments and headed home.

Been doing our regular dancing on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday. Sundays have been nice and sunny so we have been going out to Crazy Joe's by the river to listen and dance to Jealous Heart. The beer is usually nice and cold too!

The kids back home have been keeping the skid loader running and warmed up moving snow. They also removed the snow from the roof of the house - guess there was quite a pile up there - so sounds like they are having fun too!

Have a baked potatoes supper at 4:00, 50th wedding anniversary party at 5:00 at the Palms II and a the Harlingen bunch coming over for Prime Rib tomorrow afternoon so the fun continues.

Life is Good!

Enjoying the warmth and activities!

Guess it's time to update here - after our 1st week here in Mission.
Getting into our daily routine up between 6 and 7, we catch up on blogs and facebook then since we both work yet, from Monday thru Thursday the better part of the day is taking care of those duties - but our evenings usually involve some fun.
Monday evenings are spent at the Palms II in Mission - a lot of MN and Ohio people gather for burgers and music and a few refreshments. Usually our time to catch up from the weekend and see who's got what planned for the week. Lloyd and Gail and George and Shirley stop by the house after the Palms for a drink, snacks and visiting.
Tuesday nite is our usual stay home night. Wednesday we danced at Fiesta Village, met Barb and Roger there - had a good time.
Thursday morning was our park craft sale and breakfast so Vicky made a couple pans of cinnammon rolls to take up to the hall, we walked around and visited a bit but didn't find anything we couldn't live without.
On Thursday Ervie G stopped by, think he gets lonesome as Rosie's alzhiemers has her now in the Foley nursing home. Had picked up a new garbage disposal earlier in the week and started on that project later in the afternoon. Phone rang and it was Jerry and Dorothy inviting us over for happy hour - so put the project on hold and walked over there. Finished that project later in the evening along with putting in a new faucet in the kitchen sink. Happy hour makes those projects go better!!!
Friday we did some running and stopped by Myron and Jean's to see how their casino trip went. Had couple beers then headed to the Mission Legion for the fish fry, then back to their place to play social security.
Saturday we did a bunch or running around, cleaned the garage a bit and vacumed the van. In the evening we picked up George and Shirley and went to El Valle Del Sol for their dance. Jerry and Dorothy, Bob and Joni, and Don and Eilene joined us later - music was excellent and had a good time. Music was s'pose to be Evie, Arnie and Wee Willie but was Ervie Arnie and Ron and Judy. (Too bad you missed it Roger & Barb!!)
Sunday - picked up George and Shirley for church (they were in an accident 12/20 and still don't have their car back from the shop), took them to the grocery store, picked up lunch at St Pauls BBQ, did some running around looking for a couple of new recliners - didn't find quite what we were looking for yet. Stopped out at Crazy Joe's, Jealous heart was playing, ran into Dennis and Janine. Drove thru Larry and Cindy's park but couldn't fine their camper. Had MN potluck at 5 - lotsa good food and had a good time.
So another busy week in warm TX!

A busy Day - Warmer weather - Visiting Friends and Meeting New Friends

Our first full day in the valley was a busy one! Headed over to church at 8:30, stop by the Mayberry bakery to pick up a couple rolls for breakfast - they also have a small resturant and some of the bunch from Saturday nite was there for breakfast but we decided to head home to get some things done. Talked to Mavis and Bill was still in the hospital in Edinburg so we headed up there to see him shortly after lunch. On the way we stopped by Bob and Joni's to say hi - had a couple of goods laughs and then got on our way. They were going to a comedian show in the evening so they picked us up at 5:45 - more on that later.
Bill was doing great - he had falled a couple weeks ago and broke his hip. Is schedule to get home on Wednesday if he does his exercises. We told him we had his favorite meal waiting to be fixed for him - prime rib and mashed potatoes - but he had to do his exercises to get released on Wednesday.
On the way home we stopped on HEB for some groceries then fixed a late afternoon lunch. Weather had finally warmed up and was somewhat over 70 for most of the afternoon.
Now more on the comedian show - the comedian was Auntie Kreamsaugen - ney Darlene Rolle, who is a scandinavian granny that is a marriage counseler. Good show by the way - be ready to laugh. Anyway, she and her husband Richard live in El Valle Del Sol in the winter - the first park we were in here in Mission, and in Detroit Lakes, MN in the summer - Marci do you know them? The show was at Bentsen Grove Resort, Mmmm that sounded familiar. Yup sure nuf that's the park bloggers Larry and Cindy of Cross's Chronicles landed for their first winter in TX. We got there early hoping they would show up. Thought maybe they would since they have commented about going to some previous shows. Wasn't long and in the door they came - recognized them by their photo on their blog. Walked up to them and asked "aren't you Larry and Cindy?" - got the puzzled look for a bit and then I think they recognized us too. Pretty neat!! Exchanged cards and had a quick visit. Sure hope we can get together shortly - hey guys stop by or give us a call.
So - another good day has started. Vicky is reorganized the kitchen - again! Plan to head over to the Palms (small little joint in Mission) by 5:00 for our Monday shananigans. Probably will need to do a little work too.

Till later.

Back in Texas!!!

Back in TX as of 3:00 Saturday! Left MN Friday morning about 5:00, stayed in Ardmore OK Friday night. Hit Oklahoma City right at rush hour - should have known better - so waisted a good 45 minutes in stop and go traffic. From there traffic moved around 75 to 80 so made up some time pulling into Ardmore around 7. Had some supper at IHOP and hit the bed. Drove in rain all day Saturday but looks like we need it here so that was good. Grapefruit and oranges are nice and orange and not green like they were in November so will have to get them a try for breakfast.

Barb and Roger stopped by shortly after we arrived - we chatted a bit, decided to go dancing at Tropical Valley at 7 so we had to hustle a bit - finish unloading the van, get something to eat, shower and get there by 6:30 to get a table. We made it and had a great time catching up with a lot of the bunch we had not seen since last March. Got home about 10:30 and the bed felt pretty good.

So guess to day will be more settling in - called dish shortly after we got here and by the time we got home from the dance we had TV. Since we were here in November most everything else was pretty much ready to go so just a bunch of unpacking and deciding where things will go. Since the house in MN is on the market we brought more stuff down here. So either find a place for it or get it on a garage sale. Wish we could have brought the 5er down - taking more time but with the house on the market we may need to make a quick trip back. Hopefully by this time next year we will be leasurely moving around the country.

Buy the way we have a showing on the house today at 1:00!!! Who knows - maybe we will heading back MN to pack up soon! Keep your fingers crossed!

Well best get on with the day - take care.

Time is getting short!

Well, just a week before we head for TX! Boy are we ready! Will go see Bob's mom at the nursing home today, babysit the grandsons tomorrow night, a few more days of work, a day long meeting in St Paul and we're outa here!
A very quiet New Years Eve for us - went uptown for a drink in the afternoon, home for diner by 5:30 to babysat our granddaughter. Continues to be cold with snow showers about every other day so just feels good to stay inside. Finished up all the paperwork to get the house listed - realtors have been thru and just waiting for some showings. There have been some sales in the area but no high expectations that this will happen quickly.
Got started packing up the van - in between trips to the garage! Put new tires on about 2 weeks ago and immediately noticed a very definite pull to the left when it should be a slight pull to the right. So dropped it off last Monday - they said it had to be the allignment. Mmmmm last tires went 70,000 with no unusual wear from being out of allignment. To make a long 3 day story short - the allignment was fine and 3 sets of tires later all is well. It seems Chrysler vans and a certain B F Goodrich tire don't like each other so we are driving on Bridgestones! Pretty frustrating week for the us and the dealership.
That's about it for now - TX here we come!

Christmas 2010

 

We hope everyone had a nice Christmas - we sure did. All the kids and grandkids got here by 4:00 Christmas eve and we proceeded to have a good time - eating, drinking and opening gifts. Santa Claus even showed up right after Caleb (3) called him on granpa's old cell phone to see when he was going to get to grandpa house, so was extra special watching their reactions.

Of course we had to plow snow again before they all got here - had another 6" Thursday afternoon and evening - got another inch or two last night. We broke the record for the most snow ever in December early last week and we still have 5 days of December left.

Kari's and Kelly's heading home later that evening as they live just a few miles away, Kristin and Darin's stayed over. Darin, Bee and the boys headed to Bee's mom's in the morning, we headed to church and spent all of Christmas day just laying around watching movies and napping.

Having several the neighbors over for supper Tuesday evening and then get Christmas put away so the MLS pictures can be taken and hopefully some showings start. Have 3 short weeks of work then off to TX and away from the cold and snow.

Getting the house listed and ready for Christmas Rya and her babies!

Our grandaughter Rya loves her babies - and has lots of them!!

We had new carpet installed a week ago and finally got the house put back together. Realtor wanted us to get that done before the house got "officially" listed. Looks nice - hopefully a selling point! Vicky has been busy getting decorations up and now getting presents wrapped and under the tree. Have a busy week of meetings for work and soon the weekend of Christmas will be upon us. Kids will be here christmas Eve, just hangin out on Christmas Day and then Christmas with Bob's sisters and their familiers on the 26th. Bob's niece Jen is trying to get home from England but according to her facebook entries, she snowed in at the London airport.
As you can see we have lotsa snow - another 4-6" is forecasted for Monday - I think we have enuf! More of our friends are heading south to TX right after the holidays so hopefully the weather cooperates.
Well not much else new - just counting the days till we are back in the warm country.