2-27 Trying to keep warm.

It was another cold day but we still went town to do a few errands. While running around we stopped by the Temple Public Library because one of our square dancing friends, Pam asked me to buy a few books for her one year old granddaughter. I found a few books and Larry found a few more books for us. Yesterday, Larry surprised me with a new dance program for the Wii so when we got home I worked out with it for an hour. He bought the new program because he thought maybe I would enjoy dancing to new songs. I really don't like change but I decided to give it a try. The program is a little difference in that when you do it in the sweat mode you can decided how long you want to dance and it keeps track on how many calories you burn. The music you dance to is geared towards a younger age group than me but I still had fun working out with it.

A statue in front of the Temple Public Library

My new Wii Program

Larry and I usually go square dancing on Friday nights but the dance tonight was cancelled because of the weather so we spent all night watching shows on our Roku. We watched a couple of documentaries off the Viewster channel. The first one was Hell On Hooves, which is about bull riding. The other one was Trabant Trek, which is about nine young people squeeze into three tiny plastic cars and embark on an adventure we watched six episodes of it. 

2-26 Gifts and Fun Stuff

Larry surprised me on Valentine's Day by buying me a gift. He knew I was trying to eat better so he gave me a box full of delicious snacks; there were bags of popped potato chips (instead of fried), nuts, waffles, fig bars, bags of trail mix, fruit chews and granola bars. The box of goodies lasted about a week. We were very impressed with the contents so when his mother's birthday came around last week we sent her the same box of goodies.

Box of goodies

Fruit chews, chocolate bar, trio trail mix bars and pistachios

Granola bars, fig bars and trail mix

Popped potato chips and apple chips

Popped tortilla chips

The weather is really weird this year and we're ready for winter to be gone and for spring to begin. This morning it was cold again and Larry just wanted to hang around the house but I begged him to go to town. The Friends of the Temple Public Library was having their Mid-Winter Used Book Sale, which started yesterday and goes through Saturday and I wanted to go get some books. Larry said he really didn't need any more books but he would take me. When we got there we were amazed how many books they had. The paperback books were $1 and the hardback books were $2 and all the proceeds will benefit the Temple Public Library. We ended up buying 20 books and they said if we came back Saturday we could get a paper bag full of books for $5. That would be a lot of books. In the evening we went square dancing with the Denim and Lace Club in Eddy.

Larry square dancing at Denim and Lace Dance.

Larry promenading Jan.

Finishing the tip.

2-25 What a Beautiful Day!!!!

Sunshiny Day

What a weird day, it started out with snow on the ground and a little drizzling but by noon the sun was out. It was a cool 54 degrees and Flo had been cooped up in the house for a few days so I took her for a walk. Later on I workout for an hour on the Wii.

In the evening Larry and I went square dancing with the Shirts 'n' Skirts club. This was the first dance we went to this week because of the weather.

Round Dancing with Shirts 'n' Skirts

 

2-24 I'm Back!!!!!

I thought winter was finished and all of a sudden it's back with revenge. For the last two days Larry and I have been stuck in the house trying to keep warm, the temperature didn't get out of the 30's. Yesterday it was so cold that there was ice everywhere and our square dancing class was cancelled because of weather. We couldn't do anything so we watched a couple of documentaries about art on the PBS station on the Ruko and finished up the third season of Suits. Today it started to thaw out so Larry and I took Flo to town to do a couple of errands and this was the only time we left the house.

LIFE IS GOOD!!!!

  

2-22 No Square Dancing

The weather was cold and it drizzled all day. A couple weeks ago when we were in Round Rock helping Larry's sister Louise he noticed that her back door had wood rot, he told her she needed to get it fixed. Today he got on the Internet and did a little research on doors for her. Louise wanted a double door with a doggy door Larry found a few doors and sent links to them to her. I worked on my yearly book and worked out while Flo slept.

Last night we went square dancing with The Shooting Stars in Waco, they had a special caller Barry Hendricks and cuer Charles Crockett. Barry is Button & Bows Square & Round Dance Club in Irving Texas caller. Charles calls for the Fort Worth Squares and he calls and cues for Duncanville Dwellers. Charles and his wife Tanya cue for T-Square Gadabouts and the Button & Bows. The dance was very nice.

Charles Crockett and Barry Hendricks

Square Dancing with The Shooting Stars

   

2-21 Getting Ready

We're going on a trip for ten days at the end of week so we needed to get the Minnie ready. The first project we did was to fix a couple of items the dining table and the bathroom counter top. During one of our trips something fell out of the cabinet above it and put a hole in the middle of the table so the laminate needed to be replaced. The counter in the bathroom got wet and the board was ruined so the whole counter needed to be rebuilt. Larry was going to do this project himself so off we went to track down some laminate. We found some at The Home Depot but we had to buy a full sheet and we only needed a little bit. Next stop was Lowe's they didn't have any laminate. Then we stopped at McCoy they didn't sell any but they recommended Surface Source. So off to Surface Source we went. After talking to Alan and finding a laminate we liked Larry decided it would be easier if Surface Source did the work. While the table and counter was being worked on Larry reworked the sink covers in the kitchen. This took a couple of days because he had to put two coats of stain on them. We picked up the table and counter top yesterday and reinstalled them today. Surface Source did a great job and the color of the laminate was the same color as the old laminate.

Larry removing the bathroom sink from the counter.

Larry putting the faucet back on the sink.

The table with its new sleeve on

What the bathroom counter looks like after Larry reinstalled it.

   

2-20 Square Dancing

Square Dancing is fun!!!!!

Larry and I have square danced five out six days this week with four clubs, the clubs were Texas Independent Plus Squares (TIPS), Shirts 'n' Skirts, Central Texas Lone Stars and Killeen Kickers. On Monday our club Central Texas Lone Stars had a square dancing class so we were angels, angels  help the students get through square dancing moves. The classes are fifteen weeks long but Larry and I won't be angels the whole fifteen weeks because we'll be traveling.

Square Dancing at the Hot Potato Dance

Line Dancing with Shirts 'n' Skirts

Round Dancing at The Killeen Kickers Dance

Square Dancing with The Killeen Kickers

Line Dancing with The Killeen Kickers

I'm in the pink hat

2-19 Television Shows

Too Busy For Television

Larry and I square dance four to six times a week so we haven't had a lot of time to watch television. On Tuesdays and Sunday nights we watch a little television through our Roku. The shows we've streamed are Downton Abbey, Grantchester and Suits and a couple of movies (An Unfinished Life and Deviance). An Unfinished Life is a 2009 drama starring Jennifer Lopez, Robert Redford and Morgan Freeman. Deviance is a 2009 World War II drama starring Daniel Craig, Liev Schreiber, Jamie Bell, Alexa Davalos and Allan Corduner. While using the Roku Larry found a new channel called Viewster so we decided to try it out and watched a couple documentaries.

2-18 RV Project

Beautiful Day

What a beautiful day!!!! As I get older I complain more and more about the weather. The summertime it's too hot and the wintertime it's too cold but really it's not too bad here in Central Texas. When it gets in the high 90's or over 100 in the summer we have plenty of lakes close by to cool off in or just stay under the air conditioner. At least in the winter it doesn't get colder then in the teens and we don't have to shovel snow. Maybe once in awhile we do get an ice storm or a little snow.

This morning the temperature was in the 30's but by the afternoon it was in the 60's so Larry reworked the sink covers in the Minnie. He sanded down the tops with a hand sander and then he put a coat of pecan satin stain with polyurethane. Tomorrow he'll sand the tops down with steel wool and put another coat of stain on them. While he was doing this project Flo and I kept him company.

One of the sink covers

Sanding the sink covers

Larry mixing the stain

Larry applying the stain on the cover.

The sink cover after the first coat of stain was applied.

 

2-17 Home Improvement????

Merriam Websters defines improvement as: the act of improving something : the act or process of making something better: the quality of being better than before: an addition or change that makes something better or more valuable.

Old Door Knob

New Door Knobs

What is home improvement? Hmm, would simply changing the style of something or paint color be considered a home improvement? According to the above you would need to make the home better or more valuable. We recently replaced all the door knobs on my sister in-laws house, did this make her house better? I will say that I really like the new levers, just before we sold our old house we installed the same levers and when we built the new house we installed the exact same levers. Were they better than the old ones or did they add value? In the strictest sense I don't believe they did either, the old knobs worked perfectly well, they allowed you to open and close the doors, the new knobs are a different color and are not actually knobs they are the new lever type, as to adding value I am sure when the time comes to sell the house these new ones will look worn and there may even be some newer style. However, aesthetically I believe they made a huge difference, so maybe a new paint color or a new door knob is not really an improvement but they make us feel a bit more proud of the place we call home and that might be even more important than an actual improvement.

2-16 Computer Games / Puzzle Books

Do you play computer games or work on puzzle books? I do, I love doing both. The other day Larry installed a ssd drive in our new computer which required him to reload all of the software. When he was convinced everything was done he toddled off to bed, the moment he was gone I got on the computer, everything looked exactly like it had before, I couldn't tell that anything had changed but the very first thing I went to do was play Mahjong and it was not there, none of the computer games were, the games folder was there but it was empty, now this was not really a big deal since we have two computers I could simply use the other computer but I prefer to use the computer on the desk. You can bet when I went to bed I told him that the games were missing. The next morning he had forgotten but after a gentle reminder he got my games installed.

There are all kinds or articles telling us how playing games are good for us, supposedly they help keep us mentally sharp and help prevent the onset of Alzheimer's. I would love to tell you that is the reason I play but in actuality I just like to play games. I could be reading, baking, cleaning, exercising or writing my book but I prefer to play games. Now don't get me wrong, I do make time for those other things but playing games is a really fun way to pass the time.


2-14 Busy Busy Week

Larry and I have been busy for the last week doing things around the house and square dancing. The things we did around the house were fertilized the yard, changed the water filter, put Clorox in the septic tank and fixed the front door threshold plate. Larry replaced the truck speakers and.took out the kitchen table and bathroom counter top out the Minnie so they could be worked on. The laminate on the table needed to be replace because there was a hole in the middle and the counter top needed to be rebuilt because it got wet. Larry was going to do these projects himself but decided it would be easier if he had a cabinet company do the rework so we dropped them both off at Surface Source. I took Flo for a couple of walks around the neighborhood and a walk to the lake so she could go swimming. 

Working on Threshold

Removing sink from Counter Top.

Flo swimming.

Larry and I went square dancing five times this week. On Monday our club started square dancing lessons so Larry and I helped out by being angels. The other four were Valentine Dances with Shirts ‘n’ Skirts on Wednesday, Coryell County Squares on Thursday, Double C’s on Friday and Denim and Lace today. 

Larry Square Dancing with the Coryell County Squares.

Line Dancing with the Double C's.

Denim and Lace Valentine Dance

Larry enjoying watching people Square Dancing.

We were busy all week but we had fun!!!!

2-13 Criticism, Can You Handle It?

I will admit that I do not like to be criticized. I would guess that most of us don't but sometimes it is important to slow down, take a breath and give what you just heard a bit of thought, maybe it really wasn't criticism or possibly what you heard isn't really what was said. For me this is easier said than done, there are times when someone will say something and I think they are criticizing me but if I give it a bit of thought they might really be trying to help by giving me an idea or they simply may be offering a suggestion that I can choose to use or not. There have been times when someone has said something to me (I won't mention names) and what I heard was not really what they said or I misinterpreted what they meant, this can prove to be really bad since sometimes I will snap and react in a not so nice manner. Once I calm down and they explain what they really said or meant I now feel guilty of some terrible crime. So before you get upset and rip someones head off, slow down and give it a bit of thought, they probably were only trying to help and if after thinking about it they were being snarky and truly criticizing you can always remove their head a few moments later.