It's November and the Nights are Getting Cooler

We left Palm Springs last week on Sunday, and spent three days at the Elks in Yucaipa.  The folks were very friendly and it's a pretty lodge, with a cool picture of an elk in the bar area.  We came in for their Monday Night Tacos, but I must admit, not as good as Taco Night at Garden Grove lodge.  Somebody should teach them how it gets done right!  The next day George and Donna took us to their favorite restaurant for lunch.  I tried their Philly Cheese Steak sandwich.  The best Philly sandwich I've ever had was at the A & B Drive-in we went to in T or C, New Mexico, and their reputation is still intact!  I can't wait to get back there in February to enjoy them again!

We got to Wilderness Lakes last Wednesday, and our new gel foam mattress was here to pick up.  We got a great pull-through site and hurried to get all set up.  When we were done, we pulled the sheets and old mattress off the bed and set up the new one.  They said it might take up to 48 hours for it to fully expand, so we expected to have to sleep out on the couch, but that was not the case.  It expanded right away and we were able to sleep on it that same night.  We had to get Millie a taller set of steps so she can get up onto the bed, but both dogs love it!  I can't tell you how great it is to sleep on this new mattress.  Our friend Greg hauled away the old one, and we gave him the 2 inch thick memory foam topper we had used for about a year.  So everybody wins!
Tony came over the next day, for a three day stay.  He installed the new white sink and taller faucet in our bathroom.  Jim had installed the new polished oak toilet seat and chrome towel ring.  All good.

I have ordered a new chrome soap dish for bars of soap, and a beautiful sea shell style dispenser for liquid soap.  Also ordered new hand towels and a new rug for in the bathroom.  It's going to look really amazing when it all gets here.

On Monday Brad came to install the new stove/oven and refrigerator in our kitchen.  I guess nothing ever goes exactly as planned.  First he got here three hours late, and the stove was too big for the opening from the old stove, so he had to cut down 5 inches to make it fit in.  This also required moving the fuse box farther away, which required extending each of the wires about 8 extra inches!  He couldn't bring the refrigerator in through the door, so he said he would come back with a helper to bring it in through the front door on Tuesday.  They ended up taking the house door off completely to get it inside.  Then the doors on the fridge opened on the wrong side, so they both had to be relocated on the other side, beside the stove.  They couldn't get the fridge door to close, so they ended up taking it off again, before finding the problem and fixing it.  We discovered the stove sat 3/4 inch farther out than the old one had, so he said he would put a wood strip in on each side....... to make it look better, and he left.  I called our buddy Greg who came over and looked at it.  He said all that needed to be done was to remove the stove, cut 3/4 inch out of the counter behind the stove and push it in so it fits flush with the front of the counter!  Today he did just that and it is wonderful.  Now my kitchen is perfect.  I have a bigger oven and could even roast a 10 pound turkey in it, maybe even a 12 pounder!  Finally I will be able to bake angel food cake again!  It even has a broiler in it.  I am so delighted with what Greg has done.  And when we do get the new convection/microwave oven, he will build us a shelf for it above the stove.

It's so pleasing to finally have a kitchen as workable as we had in our house.  
And it's great to have friends like Greg who help us out when things don't go as well as we had hoped.  We will be mostly eating hot dogs and beans until the new kitchen stuff is paid for, but we will be cooking them in style!  
Now we have to get caught up on the more mundane tasks, like laundry and house cleaning, but all is well.  Our dear friends Almeta and Rueben left today to spend a few days with their daughter and son-in-law here in Menifee before leaving to go spend six weeks with the other daughter and her family up in West Hills.  We will miss them terribly, but we wish them a safe and wonderful trip and a marvelous and blessed Thanksgiving and Christmas with their loved ones.  

We have so very much to be thankful for this year, as usual.  First, our health is pretty good, and Jim is doing well after his first surgery.  The second operation will be on December 15th, so he will be well and recovering before Christmas.  Tony will be here with the dogs when we go up to Loma Linda VA hospital that day, and for a couple days after.  I was hoping he would join us for Thanksgiving, but he is spending it with his lady, Jan.  Second, our pets are in good health and as playful and loving as ever.  Third, our home is in good shape and we still love living and traveling in it.  And most of all, we are so very, very thankful because we know and love our savior Jesus Christ, who loves us and watches over us each and every day.  When things don't go the way we had hoped they would, we KNOW our Heavenly Father is in control, and all is well.  We know we are where we are supposed to be, and we take great comfort in His love and protection.  I hope each of you has asked Jesus to be your personal Lord and Savior, and will know the true joy that brings, a joy nothing else can offer to you.  Have a wonderful day and a very joyous Thanksgiving and Christmas ahead, but I will write again before that.  Bye for now.