Thursday 2-19-26 Lunch, Olympics, Puzzle & Insurance

Laid Back Day

We had a laid back day of doing this and that. 

Larry received an e-mail from Nationwide saying our home insurance was going up. This is the third or forth year in a row where the premium has gone up. We haven't made any claims and a few weeks ago they sent us a message saying our roof was old and if it needed to be replaced they would only pay about 50%.  We have been in the house about 12 years and the roof is original. Larry spent the morning working on lowering the homeowner insurance. He received quotes from a couple of places and it looks like Farmers will be substantially less money, about half the price of Nationwide. I'm glad I have Larry to call around and get the quotes.

Home Insurance

I did the Daily Challenges of Solitaire and Mahjong before going to bed last night. Today I did the event, which was Event: Two Game Tango of  20 minutes (10 Klondike and 10 Free Cell). It took me 1 hour, 35 minutes and 6 seconds, which put me in 15th place in my group. I played Angry Birds Friends and Angry Birds 2.

Larry has peripheral neuropathy in his feet. Years ago he found some shoes that worked well with it and other than hiking boots they are all he has worn. Apparently something has changed with his feet and those same shoes now cause him pain. He doesn't believe it is related to the Neuropathy but he needs to figure something out. The only other shoes he has is a very old pair of Hush Puppies, he has been wearing them for a couple of months and they have been great. Unfortunately the ones he has are no longer made. He prefers double extra wide shoes and they are very difficult to find. 

About 10:00 we went to the Academy in Temple to see what shoes they have. On the way we stopped by Aldi to do a little grocery shopping. At Academy we didn't find any shoes for Larry. He'll probably continue doing some research on shoes and order them online.

Academy

Larry surprised me by taking me to lunch at Wes's Burger Shack in Temple. We haven't been there before. We shared a catfish filet sandwich with onion rings and for dessert we had coconut creme pie. The onion rings were homemade and very good except they didn't have a lot of flavor. The sandwich was ok. The pie we took home and it was delicious. The waitress was very friendly and service was excellent. When the meal was delivered we thought the waitress forgot the pie. Larry asked her and she said she was going to bring it to us after we finished eating. We told her that was great. When the meal was delivered they brought us an extra plate and they had cut the sandwich in half because we told them we were sharing the meal. We had a great experience at Wes's Burger Shack. 

I worked out with the Synth Riders for a half hour. I worked out with three songs, which were Empire, I Loved You Then and It Ain't Right. I worked out with Empire twice and earned two outstanding scores and one new high score. I worked out with It Ain't Right and I Loved You Then three times. While working out with I Loved You Then the second time I earned a new high score and an outstanding score. I had a great workout.

Empires

I Loved You Then

It Ain't Right

Afterwards I played one game of Asteroid Outpost with Bounce Arcade. I hadn't played this game in a month and had fun. I earned a silver trophy, mined the asteroids five times and mined them once. I earned a new ball and played one multiball.

Asteroid Outpost

We watched the Olympics. The events we watched were Women's Sprint Mountaineering, Men's 1500m Speed Skating (U.S.A. won a silver metal), Women's Slalom Skiing and Women's Free Skating (U.S.A. won a gold metal). 

While watching the Olympics I played ten games of pinball. I played five games on the mini cabinet, which were Ace of Speed, Attack From Mars, Big Buck Hunter Pro, Guardians of the Galaxy and The Goonies. While playing Guardians of the Galaxy I became high score #1. I played five games on the big cabinet, which were Big Bar Bang, Great Houdini, Iron Man, The Big LeBowski and Who Dunnit. While playing Who Dunnit, which is the weekly challenge. I earned a new high score, which put me in 54th place out of 76 participants.

Ace of Speed (mini)

Attack From Mars (mini)

Big Buck Hunter Pro (mini)

Guardians of the Galaxy (mini)

The Goonies (mini)

Big Bang Bar (big)

Great Houdini (big)

Iron Man (big)

The Big LeBowski (big)

Who Dunnit (big)

We had a home delivery from Walmart of groceries we couldn't get at Aldi. 

Grocery Shopping

  While watching television I worked on my puzzle. 

After the Free Skating event we watched some YouTube videos. When Larry went to bed I watched the last super hero movie called Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, which is the last movie in our super hero movies collection. Then I watched Sonic the Hedgehog 3. I ended up doing 4,000 steps. 

  

    

     

Wednesday 2-18-26 Virtual Dancing Day & Olympics

 

Virtual Square Dancing Day

We had a very nice day. The weather was very pleasant with cloud covering. The morning temperature was 60 degrees and the high was 83 degrees. 

I attended three virtual dances. First was Di Green and Terry McCann's Weekly Plus at 10:00 am for an hour. Di called five tips to 11 dancers. The dancers were from the U.K., Canada, France and the U.S.A. Terry danced with her through out the dance. She continued working on the moves, that were moved to the Plus moves. They were Quarter Thru, Left Quarter Thru, Clover and, Scoot and Dodge, Partner Tag, Pass the Sea, Partner Hinge and Triple Scoot. I had a great time dancing to Di and with friends.

Second was Ett McAtee's Weekly C1 at 1:00 pm for an hour. Loren Smith covered for her. He called four tips of C1 to 11 dancers and one tip of C2 to nine dancers. The dancers were from Canada, Netherlands', France and U.S.A. I had a fun hour of dancing to Loren and with friends.

Third was Dave Eno's Weekly C1/A2 at 6:00 pm for an hour and a half. Karin Rabe helped Dave call the dance. The format was three tips of C1, three tips of A2 and two Trivia questions in between the A2 tips. During the C1 tips we had 9 dancers and during the A2 tips we has 10 dancers. Ross contribute one of the Trivia question. It was about cities in South Australia. She did a super job of explaining the cities and what they are known for. I had a super time dancing to Karin and Dave and with friends from Canada, Australia and the U.S.A.   

After Di Green and Terry McCann's dance I worked out with the Synth Riders for a half hour. I worked out with four songs two times apiece. The songs were Delight, Imperfections, Light Up The Night and Nightmare Cure. While working out with Delight I got a new high score and Imperfections I got two outstanding scores and one new high score. I had a good workout.

Delight

Imperfection

Light Up The Night

Nightmare Cure

In between Loren's dance and and Dave's dance I played games. I played five pinball games on the mini cabinet and five on the big cabinet. The games I played on the mini cabinet were 60th Anniversary, Creature From the Black Lagoon, Fun House, No Good Goffers! and Pirate's Life. I didn't enter my initials today but I had fun. The games I played on the big cabinet were Elvira House of Horrors Blood Red Kiss, Star Wars, The Godfather, Who Dunnit and Willow. While playing The Godfather I became high score #3. While playing Who Dunnit I didn't get a new high score for the challenge but I did become high score #3.  I had a good day of playing pinball.

60th Anniversary (mini)

Creature From the Black Lagoon (mini)

Fun House (mini)

No Good Goffers! (mini)

Pirate's Life (mini)

Elvira House of Horrors Blood Red Kiss (big)

Star Wars (big)

The Godfather (big)

Who Dunnit (big)

Willow (big)

I played the Daily Challenges of Solitaire and Mahjong. The event was Event: Easy Street Mini of 15 games. It took me 31 minutes and 29 seconds, which put me in 19th place in my group. I played Angry Birds Friends and Angry Birds 2.

Before Dave's dance and after Dave's dance we watched the Olympics. The events we watched were Men's Slopestyle Snowboard Final (U.S. got a bronze metal), Women's Slopestyle Snowboard Final (U.S. got a silver metal), Men's 500M Speed Skating and Women's Short Track 3000M Relay Final.

Before Larry went to bed we watched a few YouTube videos. 

I worked on my jigsaw puzzle.

After Larry went to bed I watched the next super hero movie, which was Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. I ended up doing 4,000 steps.  

Tuesday 2-17-26 Liberty Hill Dance, Olympics & Having Fun

 

Smile and be happy

We had a great day. The weather was overcast most of the day with a wind. The morning temperature was 59 degrees and the high was 81 degrees. 

We spent most of the day in Liberty Hill dancing to John Kephart. We left the house at 10:15 to go to our weekly C1/A2 dance in Liberty Hill. When we got to Liberty Hill we parked the car in a parking lot and had lunch. After lunch we went to the Ski's house. We had a pleasant surprise, Lynn from Temple showed up to dance. She usually goes to Corsicana to dance A2 to Dale Smith. She said she was boycotting them because she was tired of being cold. Henry and Susan were also there. We danced C1 to Ross Howell and Johnny Preston for an hour via tapes. Susan, Lynn and I rotated in and out during the session. We had a great time dancing C1.

At 1:00 we danced A2 to John Kephart for two hours. Halfway through the dance  John Carlson called a tip. During the dance John Kephart worked shopped moves we were having problems with. He worked on All Eight Square Chain Thru and Motivate. We had enough people for a square with three dancers sitting out. In between the tips of A2 Baily (the Ski's dog) entertained us by chasing after her ball when a dancer through it. I baked a dessert to take with us, which was Krusteaz Meyer Lemon Bars. I wore my Mardi Gras hat and beads for Mardi Gras. We had fun dancing with friends.

Lemon Bars

Before going to the dance I worked on my jigsaw puzzle.

When we got home it was 4:30 pm. We watched the Olympics. The events we watched were the Men's Big Air Finals and the Women's Short Program in Ice Skating.

I did the Daily Challenges of Solitaire and Mahjong. The event was Event: Solitaire World Tour of 30 games. I only did 29 of the games. I played them for 2 hours and 35 minutes, which put me in 15th place in my group. I played Angry Birds Friends and Angry Birds 2.

When Larry went to bed I watched the next super hero movie, which was Thor: Love and Thunder. I ended up doing 3,000 steps.

  

    

Relaxing in front of the television

Monday 2-16-26 Valentine's Dance, Olympics & Games

 

Foggy Morning

We woke up to a foggy morning but by 10:00 the fog had lifted. The temperature in the morning was 40 degrees  with a little breeze. It got up to 73 degrees. The breeze kept it cool all day.

We started our day off by attending Di Green and Terry McCann's Weekly C1 dance at 9:00 for an hour and fifteen minutes. It was their Valentine's Dance so a lot of the dancers were dressed in pink and red. Monica from Germany was dressed up in a colorful outfit for their Carnival celebration in Germany. Our celebrate is called Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday), which takes place the Tuesday before Lent (a Christian fasting season). Di called five tips to nineteen dancers. The dancers were from Canada, U.K., Germany, France and the U.S.A. Di called moves from direct positions we're not use to be in, which made it challenging. At times we lost our phantoms. You can find your place because Di and Terry dance with us and call at the same time. We had a great time dancing with friends. 

     

Monica from Berlin all dressed up of Carnival

Dancers at the dance

After the dance we went to town to do a few errands. First stop was Dollar Tree to buy some cookies to bake. Then we stopped by Shoe Carnival to look at shoes. Larry needs a new pair of shoes. The store is very nice and well organized and bright. The employee was very friendly. He greeted us as we entered and told us to have a great day as we left. We didn't find any shoes for Larry but it was a nice experience. Next stop was for lunch at Firehouse Subs. Last stop was Walmart to do a little grocery shopping on items we were getting low on. Then we went home.

 

Running Errands

I played the Daily Challenges of Solitaire and Mahjong before I went to bed last night. The event today was Event: Two Game Tango Mini of 6 games (3 Free Cell and 3 Tri Peaks). It took me 1 hour, 6 minutes and 33 seconds, which put me in 13th place in my group. I played Angry Birds Friends and Angry Birds 2.

I played ten games of pinball. I played five games of pinball on the mini cabinet. The games were Batman Forever, Cirqus Voltaire, Great Houdini, No Fear and Three Angels. While playing Great Houdini I became high score number #1 and No Fear I became high score #4. I played five games of pinball on the big cabinet. They were Dr. No, Jaws, Mission Impossible, Transformers and Who Dunnit. While playing Transformers I became high score #4. I didn't get a new high score on the weekly challenge of Who Dunnit. I had fun playing pinball.

Batman Forever (mini)

Cirqus Voltaire (mini)

Great Houdini (mini)

No Fear (mini)

Three Angels (mini)

  

Who Dunnit (big)

Transformers (big)

Mission Impossible (big)

Jaws (big)

Dr. No (big)

We watched the Olympics. The events we watched were Short Track Race Women's 1000m, Short Track Race Men's Semi 500m, Short Track Men's 500m Relay Semi, Men's Slalom Skiing, Women's Team Curling U.S. vs Italy and Women's Freestyle Aerials.

I worked on my jigsaw puzzle.

Jigsaw puzzle so far

After Larry went to bed I watched the next super hero movie, which was Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Then I watched Sonic the Hedgehog 2. I ended up doing 5,500 steps.