Oh Happy Days!!!!

Today is Tuesday, and all is right with the world!  At least most things are right again, and I am happy, happy, happy!
Tony came over last Wednesday, and stayed for two days.  We always enjoy his visits, and his wonderful dog Woody.  Thursday we were preparing our traditional Thanksgiving dinner.  Here's our turkey, cooking in the NuWave Oven.
 While trying to cut a squash in half, it slipped, and the knife turned over.  Jim was pushing down on the blade and it cut into the palm of his hand.  We rushed into the bathroom to clean out the wound and then stopped the bleeding.  After several minutes I was able to pad and bandage the wound, but that was the end of Jim being able to help.  Tony pitched in and we managed to still get dinner on the table by 3 pm.......and Tony washed all the dishes after dinner.  He is a grand house guest and helper!!!!  I changed the dressings twice a day for two days and then daily until it was fully healed, which it is now.  YAY!

You remember the little fender bender incident when we were at Loma Linda Hospital???  Last Wednesday we met with the folks involved at the shop where Rueben got us a reasonable estimate for the repairs.  The guy ordered the new bumper and the paint.  He said he would paint the bumper and it would be ready to install on Monday (yesterday).  YAY again!

Saturday we played Candy Bar Bingo, and we won 7 candy bars, between is.  We didn't set up to sell that day because it was only 48 degrees out, and there was a 100% chance of rain, so we figured there weren't going to be a lot of shoppers anyway.  All good!

Sunday we went to the Wilderness Lakes Church, as usual, and then came home for the rest of the day with our dogs, and I beat Jim at a game of Mexican Train.  Jim baked two loaves of French Honey bread, and I baked a nice spice cake  All good again!

 Monday we met Charles & his wife at the repair shop and brought them back here while their car got fixed.  I had made a crockpot full of split pea soup for lunch, and we had a nice time together.  It turns out that Charles is a master wood crafter, and he has agreed to make the butcher block counter piece I wanted to put between our sink and the stove.  They are really nice people!  Later we took them back to get their car, and they were delighted with the work done well.  YAY, all is good again, and praise God.  

Have any of you watched the TV show, Tiny House Nation?  The people on this show custom build tiny houses for people.  We like to watch it and find it interesting to see how the design and decorate their tiny spaces.  In case you have not seen them, we discovered there is one here in the park, and it is sooooooo cute.  We
don't want one for us, because we love the home we have.  In the upper picture, the top window on the left is probably the loft where the people have to sleep.  In most of the tiny houses, the bedroom loft is not tall enough to stand up in.  We would NOT want to have to crawl around on our knees to make the bed.  As you can see, this one has a roof top deck too.  We just loved seeing one up close like this.  Again, all good!  
 


There are also some other cute RVs here in the park.  


We were amused by the signs on the back of this Toy Hauler.
 

Last night I got the BEST night of sleep than I've gotten in over a week, and I think it was because we were finally able to put the car incident behind us.  Unfortunately, it did cost us most of our Christmas budget, but maybe, if we eat beans for the next few weeks, we can send something to our grandkids, at least.  Again, life is good!  We don't hate beans.  LOL

Today we went to Great Clips to get haircuts...........mine was OK, but Jim's turned out badly.  At least this too will pass, but he won't need another haircut for at least three months!  LOL again.

As you can see, Jim and the kids are doing well!

And some of the locals are already decorating for Christmas!  We will do that when we come back here on December 20th.  I also agreed to bake cakes for the candle light church service here on Christmas eve.  It's what I can do, even in our tiny kitchen.  Tomorrow we are going to go to the manager's meeting in the adult center here.  Free doughnuts and coffee and an update on the park.....again, all good! 

As we enter the month of December, (and Christmas is only 26 days away) I hope all of you are thinking about what you can do to make life better for someone around you.  There are many seniors living alone who might welcome a visit from a neighbor or relative.  Maybe someone who can not drive anymore would appreciate an offer to take them to a store, or post office, or church service.  Maybe you can donate food at a local food bank, or take food, blankets or dog beds to a local animal shelter......and while you are there, maybe you will see a homeless animal that needs a forever home that you could adopt.  If there is a local homeless shelter, maybe you could volunteer to help them serve a nice Christmas dinner to those less fortunate than yourself.  It saddens me that so many people think of this season, only in terms of what gifts they will receive, and forget the GREATEST gift of all that we already received.....the birth of our dear Lord Jesus Christ.  I hope you will begin this month with feelings of joy about what our pastor here in the park called The Mary Miracle.  She received the Holy Spirit and gave birth to our Lord Jesus, as had been foretold 4000 years before.  We too can allow the glorious Holy Spirit come over us, so we can share God's wondrous love with others.  Please don't just wish someone Happy Holidays, say Merry Christmas, and know in your heart, that God loves you very much. 

We Have So Much to be Thankful For

It has been eleven days since I last wrote, and much has happened in that time, not all good.  I will try to bring everyone up to date on things.

As you know, on October 18th Jim had his first cataract surgery, on his left eye, and it was very successful.  He continues to be very happy with the results of that, so we went ahead and scheduled surgery on his right eye.  We moved from Palm Desert back to Wilderness Lakes on November 16th, and his surgery was set for the next day, Thursday.  We got the call around noon time, that he had to be up there no later than 6 am, so that meant getting up at 4 am.............groan!!!!  But we said OK.  Tony arrived about that same time and helped us get set up in our site.  This was the ONLY 50 amp site available in the whole park at that time!  WOW.  We were lucky to find it.  It is a nice, big site with plenty of room to set up our screen room, which we did.  We had a nice dinner and relaxed that night, and I continued to give Jim the eye drops four times a day (for three days before surgery).  

We got up at 4 am and left by 4:30 to go up to Loma Linda.  We had to be there that early as they said there was a good chance that the first case was going to be cancelled and Jim would move up to first, but it didn't so we waited.....and waited.....and waited until they finally took him in around 8:35 am.  His surgery didn't start until about 9:35, and she said this eye really made her work for it!  He got out of surgery about 10:45 am and we got to leave that area, but he was to come back to the eye clinic at 2 pm for his follow up post op visit.  We relaxed in the car until about 1:15 pm and then checked in at the eye clinic.  We got to see the doctor about 1:45 pm and got out to the car to leave around 2:15 pm.  

After checking both ways, I began to back up, when I heard the crunch of fenders meeting.  I know I was moving, but I also KNOW that I had looked both ways, and there was no car behind me when I started backing up.  The other man adamantly denies that he was moving, and says it was my fault.  We exchanged information and we came back home to Wilderness Lakes.  The next day we went over to his house in Hemet to take pictures of the damage.  
I told him that since the damage was so minor, maybe we could get an estimate or two and settle this without using insurance.  He called me on Saturday with an estimate from one shop for $1,165.00.  I said I didn't think that was reasonable and said I would try to get another estimate.  Our dear friends, Almita and Rueben are locals, and have a place they get their car serviced.  They called their guy and he said he doesn't do body work, but the body shop next door does.  Rueben got us an estimate of $300.00 to replace the whole bumper.  I went and talked to the guy and he can do the job right away.  I called Charles, and he took his car there for the mechanic to see, and we had him order the bumper today.  It will be all fixed on Monday.......YAY!!!!! 
Charles is a professional wood crafter, and he made this guy, looking over his fence from the patio towards the street.  He calls this his "security".  We thought he was cute so I had to take a picture.

Last Friday Jim had an appointment at the VA clinic in Murrieta about a growth on his right wrist.  We saw a man named Scott, who took the history on it, and took many pictures, including one very close up shot.  It looked really gross!  Scott called yesterday to say that the doctor who looked at it wants Jim to go up to Loma Linda for a biopsy of it, meaning there is some chance that it could be cancerous.  We called and we weren't able to get him an appointment for that until December 28th.  This will be a very, very long month of waiting for us, and worrying.  

Also, on Friday, Tony took Willie out to walk, and Willie got loose.  He ran at a man walking with two Dobermans.  The man stepped on Willie's leash, and Willie turned and bit the man on the leg.  Saturday that man came over to ask if Willie is current on his immunizations, which he is, of course.  I sure hope we won't end up in trouble over that.  From now on, only Jim will walk Willie, since he can be unpredictable at times. 

Still, we do feel we have so much to be thankful for.  We are thankful for our home, and furry kids who love us, and our over all good health.  I am thankful for my son Matt, who has very honorable principles that he lives by.  I admire him for being a vegan, even though we don't share his beliefs.  I am thankful that my older sister, Donna and her husband George are about to celebrate 54 years of marriage next month.  I'm thankful that I have my wonderful brother Tony, and my sister Judy, and my youngest brother Jeff and his wife Patty, that we love dearly.  I'm also thankful for dear friends, like Almita & Rueben who also celebrated 54 years of marriage this month, Steve & Diane, Joan & Jim and Allyn & Sherry.  We are heart broken over the death of Jim's brother Norm but also thankful that we have been contacted by Christine, Jeanette's wonderful daughter.  We are thankful that she has shared things about Norm with us, that otherwise we might never have known.  Thanksgiving is NOT just about the food you eat, or the football games you watch on TV.  It's about family and friends, and all the many blessings we receive every day, even when we don't ask for them.  God knows what we need, and provides it, which is not always what we ask Him for.  We are thankful for many others blessings, too numerous to mention.  I hope each of you will take time during this holiday season to reflect on all that God has blessed you with.  Take care and stay well.       

Oh What a Day

Hi Friends and Family, 

I know some of you are upset with the results of the election, but many of us believe that President-elect Donald Trump will be good for our country.  I guess, for now anyway, we will just have to agree-to-disagee.  Please pray with us that he can do good things for America.  We are saddened by the protests in several major cities, but we feel encouraged about the many  possibilities ahead.  I guess that is enough said for now.

Remember the lovely lilies that Carol & Ray gave us last week?  They blossomed into even more beautiful flowers.  Thank you again Carol and Ray.  We really enjoyed them.  I like my bouquet of yellow roses, that will never die, and the blue ones in the bathroom too, but it is a real treat to occasionally have fresh flowers that smell delightful!!!

We had a very good day of sales last Saturday, including selling my big red Kitchen Aid mixer, and many other things.  And we had fun at candy bar bingo, winning 7 candy bars between us.  Sunday afternoon Jim made us home made peanut butter cup ice cream, using the new Kitchen Aid attachment......and it was awesome!  It makes it even creamier than in the Cuisinart ice cream machine, which we had thought was the best we could ever imagine.

Monday we packed up and came out to Palm Desert Thousand Trails preserve.  We found a wonderful site on the end of a row.............which makes it even easier to find a satellite signal.  Our King Quest is the BEST satellite dish we have ever used.  Once we got all set up, I hooked up the bedroom TV using the Clear view antenna and was able to pull in almost 2 dozen stations, including all of the major networks.  Life is good!  Our site is right across the street from the recreation center where they hold church services, and other activities.  

 I had to take this picture.  It is down the row behind us.  This is a really cute little "tear drop" trailer with an added tent room.  We wouldn't want to live in anything this small, but we do think it is cute.  

Yesterday, Jim mixed up another batch of ice cream.  We took the afternoon off and played Mexican Train because it was too hot to be outside.  
 
When he took time out to run the freezer cycle of making the ice cream, I got silly and made this.  After all, he is my sweetheart!

Today they had the weekly arts and crafts sale at the rec center.  I didn't take over my magnetic jewelry this time, because I had a lot of other things I wanted to try to sell.  There is another woman who is usually here selling magnetics who is not very nice to others selling magnetic jewelry.  As it was, she wasn't here today, but we did fairly well with what we sold.  I thought the Cuisinart ice cream machine would be the first thing to go, but I was wrong.  The Oreck mixer and the food processor sold, as did the extra Clear view antenna, and a lot of my other jewelry.  I have a ton of bracelets, earrings and several necklaces that I just don't wear anymore, so I sold some of them.  One lady we talked to was saying she needed a cell phone booster for her AT&T phone, so Jim came home to get the one we have.  We bought it back when we had an AT&T phone, but don't need it with our Verizon phones.  She had left before he got back, but she knows where we are, if she decided she wants it.    Two other ladies asked about my magnetic jewelry that I was wearing.  They both said they have pain from arthritis, so they said they might come over to see the jewelry before we leave.  Also, a lady who works here was interested in the Cuisinart, so she said she MIGHT come over too.  Either way, it has been a nice day today. 

I plan to do a couple loads of laundry tomorrow, and enjoy relaxing here at home with our furry kids.  I felt bad that we had to leave them alone while we went on errands yesterday.  We have not yet gotten the probiotic product I mentioned in the last blog, so I can't report anything about it yet, but I will let you know when we try it.

I came up with a free solution to a small problem I have been trying to figure out.  Our computer friend Robert advised me that my laptop should not be allowed to overheat by sitting directly on the place mat on the table.  Despite calling them "laptops" they are definitely NOT meant to be used by placing on one's lap!  Last month I tried using a stand for it, but that made it too high for me to use comfortably.  I decided to put it on a set of stone coasters that hold it about 1/4 inch off the table.  I was amazed to find that it has solved the problem.  When I finished working, the bottom of the computer is NOT hot anymore.  YAY!!!!

I can't think of anything more I should share, so I will close for now.  Stay well, and keep the rubber side down when you're on the roads..............because we are out there too.  Have a great day and enjoy all of God's awesome gifts. 
    

All the news that's fit to print! LOL

Hello dear friends and family,
This has been a busy, but very good week, so now I'll bring you up to speed, so to speak.  Monday we had a service here to shampoo the carpets, and clean our upholstered chair.  It looks like a new chair.  In fact, when our friend Mary arrived on Tuesday, she thought we had new carpet put in here!  WOW!  It cost more than we wanted it to, but we are very happy with the results.

Tuesday I made a beef stew dinner in our Ninja cooker for Almita & Rueben.  She brought a delicious salad and I had baked a spice cake for dessert.  We played Mexican train, and had a grand time with these wonderful friends.

Wednesday Jim had an appointment with the eye doctor at the VA.  His left eye now has 20/20 vision.  YAY!  And that WAS the worst of the two eyes, so we are hoping for the results on the right eye to be wonderful too.  He had his pre-op EKG done and picked up the eye drops for the right eye for before and after surgery, which will be done on November 17th.  

Thursday, our friends Carol & Ray came to visit us here.  I made spaghetti with meatballs & sausage, and a salad.  Jim baked home made Italian bread.  I can't remember how long it has been since we have seen them, but it was toooo long. 
Carol brought us these beautiful lilies, so I got a chance to use my flat, plastic flower vase.  When it's not in use, it is flat, but when you add water, the bottom widens out to form a nice little vase.
 Ray & Carol are wonderful people, but they keep busy and it's not easy getting together sometimes.  They went to the Albuquerque, NM Hot Air Balloon Fiesta last month with their FMCA group.  That stands for Family Motor Coach Association.  This is one of many clubs RVers can belong to.  We are members of FMCA, the Good Sam Club, and Escapees.  Each hosts rallies and get togethers that we like to attend.  Ray told us about a new product he is using that we looked up online and will be ordering very soon.  It is a probiotic product for cleaning out the gray water and black water tanks.  It sounds very good, so I will report on it for the benefit of other RVers once we try it.

Friday I got an email that our new Kitchen Aid mixer and the ice cream maker attachment had come in at J C Penney's, so we drove down to Temecula to pick them up.  Also, our new spin dryer had arrived here at the park, so we picked that up too.  Since we don't enjoy hauling our dirty clothes to the laundromat, and sometimes waiting for machines to be available, I was very excited about the possibility of doing small loads here, at our convenience. 

 This is the cute new washer.  It can wash about 4 1/2 pounds of clothes at a time.  It sits in the shower, and I fill it using the shower head.  The wash cycle can be set between 3 and 15 minutes, but I found about 6 to 9 minutes was enough.  Then you drain the water out, and refill for the rinse cycle, which I ran for about 3 to 5 minutes.  It has a spin cycle, but it will only handle about 2.2 pounds, and it doesn't spin things as dry as we would want. 

This is the spin dryer we got from Wal-Mart.  It sits on the bathroom counter and drains into the sink.  What we found works quite well is to wash the load, then divide it in half, putting half in the spin dryer, and set it for 3-5 minutes.  We put the rest of the load into the spin basket of the washer, and spin those for 3-5 minutes.  Then we hang up the clothes from the dryer, and run the clothes from the washer through the spin dryer for a few more minutes.  Then we can hang them up too.  This may seem like a big bother, but in less than 25 minutes I have a small load of clothes washed and hung up to dry, and I can do a second load.  In a couple hours of hanging, everything was ready to put away, and we didn't have to leave the house.  The little spin dryer is small enough to store in my closet when not in use.  The washer stores in the shower, but is lightweight enough to just lift out when we take showers.  It might not suit everyone, but I am delighted with it, and I can't thank Diane & Steve enough for sharing this idea with us.  We will still have to go to the laundromat to wash big blankets, and such, but this will be such a blessing much of the time.  I washed & dried three small loads in under two hours yesterday, while watching TV and emailing friends!!!!  I LOVE it!

The freezer bowl of the Kitchen Aid had to be frozen for at least 15 hours before making ice cream, so Jim put it in the outside freezer yesterday afternoon.  This morning we went down to the park for a VERY successful day of sales.  I sold the red Kitchen Aid mixer, our extra Himalayan Salt Lamp and many of the magnetic bracelets and necklaces.  We didn't offer the Cuisinart Ice cream maker for sale yet, as we want to see if we like using the mixer attachment for making ice cream before we sell the one we KNOW works well.  After candy bar bingo.....and we each won four candy bars today!!!  we came back here and Jim set up the mixer and made a batch of peanut butter ice cream with peanut butter chips in it.  It's in the freezer now getting firmer, but I think this is a winner too.  YAY.  If the results are good, we will offer the Cuisinart for sale next week.  One less thing to carry around.  
Here's one more picture of something we saw in the park today.  Back when we had our house, Jim had some birds.  We had a Yellow Nape Amazon Parrot and a Blue and Gold Macaw.  Both were a joy to have..........but, birds can be messy, and we really couldn't imagine traveling with their bird cages and the mess in a motorhome.  We sold them to the man who owned the Arrow Bird Farm, and he found them good homes.  This is not the same Blue and Gold, but it brought back fond memories to see this lady walking around with him on her shoulder.  She also was walking a full size white poodle!  All in all, it has been a nice day.

That's all the news for today, so I will close for now.  I wish you all a wonderful, warm weekend.  Don't forget to turn your clocks back before you go to bed tonight, unless you live in a state that doesn't "spring forward and fall back".  Please pray that the election next Tuesday goes well, and peacefully.  May God bless us, and America.  Please remember those less fortunate than yourselves and do whatever you can for them.  Next Friday is Veteran's Day.  Please pray for our military men and women that they will return home safely, and remember to thank a veteran for their sacrifices.