Friday 11-29 Black Friday

Nasty day 

What did you do for Black Friday? We drove to Ardmore Oklahoma for a weekend of square dancing at Lake Murray Lodge. We started from the house around 9:00, it was foggy and drizzling all the way to Ardmore. There were a number of slow downs caused by vehicles sliding off the road. The drizzling continued all day and into the night. 

For the last 32 year there had been a weekend for Advanced dancers at Lake Murray Lodge. Darryl Lipscomb and  Jerry Stover had put the event on for 31 years but this year Charlie Robertson and Jet Roberts took over. The event started at 7:30 with two hours of Advanced dancing and then a half our of C1. The calling was very fast and challenging. We had a blast. For the Advanced tips we had eight squares. We danced with friends from all over Texas and Oklahoma and one couple from Kansas. For the C1 Star Tip we were shy one couple to make three squares so Charlie's wife and KO Jeanes, who is a caller out of Spring Texas filled in to make the square. By the end of the night I was tired but I had fun.

Every year the City of Ardmore puts on a Festival of Lights for the Christmas season. Last year the dance was a few weeks earlier and the lights had not started but tonight it was open so after the dance we drove through. It was 1.5 miles long and had over 150 animated displays. The displays are done by the local merchants, banks and churches.  It was free but they do ask for donations at the end of the drive. It was a great drive and the displays were outstanding. We had a super time driving through the Festival of Lights.

      

Season Greeting display

Santa shooting hoops

A beautiful display

Reindeer riding on the back of a whale

Another beautiful display

Noah Art display

Thursday 11-28 Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. I'm thankful to all the super friends I have and a wonderful family.

Our friends Robert and Rene invited us to share Thanksgiving with them and some of their friends and family. They live in south Austin, on our way we stopped in Round Rock to pickup Louise. We arrived at Louise's a little early to visit. Louise called Larry yesterday and asked him to bring some tie wraps so she could fix her doll. We thought she was crazy but Larry brought along different sizes of tie wraps and a cutter. She had a doll that one of its legs fell off. The legs were connected to the body with small tie wraps. I decided to fix this. First of all I removed the old tie wrap. Then I tried a small wrap but it wouldn't go around the leg so I tried the next size up and it was perfect. I threaded the tie wrap through the leg hole then I put the leg in the hole. It was hard to pull the tie wrap smaller so I removed the leg. When I pulled the tie tight it was too small. I got another tie the same size and fed it through the hole. This time I kept the leg in the hole and tightened the tie. I had to keep the tie in a groove of the leg but once it was tight the leg was connected to the body. It didn't take that long and Louise was happy.

Larry looked at her security cameras. She was having a problem with one of the tablet/monitors shutting off. The tablet is old and it appears the battery might not be keeping charged. Larry found a bit more powerful charger and hooked it up to that. We will see if that helps or not.

Rene and Robert live about 35 miles from Louise's house. They had asked that everyone arrive somewhere between 12:45 and 1:30 so we left Louise's house around 12:15, we arrived about 1:00. Rene and Robert were happy to see us and to meet Louise. Every year Rene invites friends and family to their home to celebrate Thanksgiving. This year there were 20 people. Recently they moved into a new house and it was perfect for a large gathering, they have a huge dining room and were able to pull table together and sit everyone at one really long table. There was a lot of food. We had turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, gravy, vegetable trays with pickles, olives and other vegetables, dressing, yams, peas and corn, three different types of cranberries, bread and rolls. For dessert we had apple pie, cherry pie, pecan pie, chocolate oatmeal pie and a pecan sauce, mincemeat pie and cookies. I probably forgot something. Everything was delicious. She had a lot of food leftover and told everyone to take some food home because there was way too much for Robert and her. We had a fabulous day celebrating Thanksgiving with friends.

Enjoying Thanksgiving with family and friends

After a big Thanksgiving feast with friends and family we spent the evening watching television. We watched a movie called Ladies in Black off our new Fire TV. The movie was an Australian movie about a group of department store workers in Sidney in the 1959. It was a comedy drama. I liked it very much. Afterwards we watched some YouTube videos. I started watching the first season of Bones.

Relaxing in front of the television

       

Wednesday 11-27 Cold Windy Day

Hold on I got you

It was cold and windy all day. It didn't get out of the 50s.

Larry was going to finish up the Minnie project but it was too cold so he worked on setting up our new Amazon Fire TV streaming device. Amazon had it on sale for 50% off. He is going to use it to replace our Google Chromecast and our Roku. I did the Solitaire TriPeaks Adventure Event, which was 20 games and I worked on my annual book. 

In the afternoon we went to town to pick up a package at the UPS Store, which was a new pair of shoes Larry ordered. He didn't really need a new pair yet, he has two pairs from this same manufacture that he wears but he really likes their shoes and they were offering 30% off. When we got home I did my weekly housework. Tomorrow we are going to Robert and Rene's house for Thanksgiving so I baked some Crispy Butterscotch Cookies to take with us. Rene said not to bring anything but I don't like to show up without anything.

Doing weekly housework

In the evening while I was doing laundry we watched The Rainmaker, which is a movie from John Grisham's book with the same name. It was a 1997 movie starring Matt Damon and Danny DeVito. It was a good movie. I didn't remember watching the movie until a half hour into watching it. Later I finished watching Lochness. Before going to bed I did my daily challenges. 

Doing laundry

Tuesday 11-26 Minnie Project

Smile and be happy

We had an overcast day with wind. It sprinkled on and off in the afternoon.

Larry worked on a Minnie project most of the day. He walked around the Minnie and checked out the seams to see which ones needed resealed. He removed the old caulk/sealing, cleaned the surface and resealed the seams. He worked on this project until it was time for dinner. He did taken a couple of breaks when it started to sprinkle.

Cleaning the seams before resealing them

Removing old sealant

Cleaning off extra sealant from seam

Removing old sealant

While he was doing this I worked on my annual book and started a jigsaw puzzle. The jigsaw puzzle I started was Photomosaics by Robert Silvers. It has 1,000 pieces. It's going to be a challenge because the pieces are small. The pieces have a picture them and the colors are very close to each other. But I like a challenge. 

Photomosaics Puzzle

All the pieces to assemble 1,000

In the evening we finished watching the final season of The Durrells in Corfu. It was a sad ending but the time that the series took place the ending was appropriate. Then I started another six part detective series called Lochness. Then I did my daily challenges.   

Monday 11-25 Dentist and Dancing

Have fun with friends

We had a beautiful day. The temperature set a record high today, it was in the mid 80s with no wind.

Most RV's have tinted windows that help prevent people from seeing in and provide some relief from the sun, our Minnie does not. We have been thinking about tinting the windows in the living area of the Minnie to give us a bit more privacy. When we are in a campground we don't normally have a problem but when we stay in an RV park where your neighbors are really close and people are always walking by you feel a bit on display. This morning we took the Minnie to Classic Tint where the gentleman gave us a price and we set up an appointment for Tuesday morning. We're only going to tint the large windows in the living area. 

Afterwards we stopped by the UPS Store to pick up a couple of packages. One was a new pair of glasses for Larry and the other was Christmas gifts from Larry's Aunt Barbara. Barbara also shipped cookies and chocolate candy. We snacked on the goodies all afternoon.  

After lunch we went back to town. I mentioned a week or so back Larry had a cracked tooth at the gum line. He made an appointment to see an oral surgeon to get it pulled and possibly get another implant. Today was the day for Larry to meet with the surgeon and discuss the procedure and costs. He was a little disappointed because it was a little higher than he hoped, everytime Larry gets an implant it costs a lot because our insurance doesn't cover them. Next week he will get the tooth pulled and he will have to decide what to do about getting an implant. He could get it done for less somewhere else but it would not be placed by an oral surgeon. The first one he had placed by an oral surgeon and everything went perfectly, the second one was placed by a dentist and Larry had all kinds of issues, three implants and two years later it was finally completed.

Dentist appointment

While having lunch Larry received another Alexa device called Fire TV. He spent the afternoon setting up the device and playing with it. 

In the evening we went to Sun City to attend the Sundancers weekly square dance with Brad Caldwell calling. At the Grand March we had four squares. The first tip was mainstream and the rest of the tips were plus level. The last tip was A2. The tip before the A tip we had two squares so Brad decided to have a little fun. He had us moving from one square to the other by calling plus moves. Everyone was laughing and enjoying the calls. This was the last Monday dance until January. During the month of December the Sundancers will have one dance, which will be their Holiday dance. It will be Sunday December 15th. We had a super evening of dancing with friends and to Brad.

At the Sundancers Halloween dance the club provided lots of food. Larry really liked one of the cookies, he found out Barbara Brown made them and he told her how much he liked them. Tonight she gave him a batch of the cookies along with a very nice card. So thoughtful and nice of her. Larry will enjoy the cookies and I will sneak a couple for myself. 😁

When we got home I finished watching Five Days: The Train. I liked it but you have to watch all five episodes to be able to understand the story. Afterwards I did my daily challenges.     

Sunday 11-24 Home Again

We're home

After two fabulous days of dancing in Tool Texas with friends to Randy Dougherty we are home. Larry woke me up at 7:00 and asked if I was ready to go home. I crawled out of bed and got dressed. Then we put things away and made a small cooler. On the way out of Tool we stopped at Tool Donuts to get a couple of donuts for breakfast. The drive home was a mixture of state highways and the interstate, it was early and the drive was nice. Even Waco wasn't bad at around 10:00 on a Sunday. We were home before 11:00. Once we were home we unloaded the Minnie.

For lunch I made soft tacos.

In the afternoon we did a little maintenance on the Minnie. When we had gotten home from our fall trip the Minnie was not shifting into the correct gear as it should, it was difficult to find drive and reverse. Larry replaced a sensor on the transmission and it appeared that the problem was fixed. Right before we got home today we stopped to fill the Minnie up and the problem was back. This afternoon Larry found the real problem, something holding the gear shifter under the dash had come loose, it was really difficult to get to so while Larry laid under the dash I handed him tools and tried to hold the flash light. It took a bit but the Minnie now goes into each gear correctly.

Later in the afternoon Larry read a couple of newspapers and I worked on my annual book.

In the evening we relaxed in front of the television. We streamed three episodes of the fourth and final season of The Durrells in Corfu on PBS. Then I started watching a five part mini serious on Acorn called Five Days: Train. It starred Penelope Wilton, Suranne Jones and Lee Massey. It good so far. Then I did my daily challenges. We had a relaxing day. 

Watching television

Saturday 11-23 Saturday Dancing

Awesome day

We had an awesome day of square dancing. The schedule today was three two hour sessions: 10:00, 2:00  and 7:00. Each session was outstanding and very challenging. We spent a lot of time laughing and dancing. Randy always makes his dances challenging by putting you positions that other callers don't. Most of the time you have to think about what he calls but you can't think too hard otherwise you fall behind. Randy's dog Abbey was at each session to say hi to everyone. We had three and a half squares of dancers in all sessions.

Fourteen of us joined up to go to dinner. Our friends from Marble Falls (Shannon and Gary) invited us to ride with them. The restaurant we went to was Vernon's Lakeside, it is located in Seven Points on Cedar Creek Lake. The food was delicious and the prices were very responsible and the servings was huge. Larry and I shared a Hawaiian Chicken sandwich and an order of fries at the cost of $9.00 plus tax. It was the perfect size for the two of us.

Vernon's Lakeside

After dinner and a bit of rest we went back to dance the closing dance. We had three and a half squares of A dancers and a square of C1 dancers. We had an outstanding evening of dancing to Randy and friends.

Get a partner and dance

   

Friday 11-22 Dance Begins

Having fun with friends

Before leaving the house I finished loading a few things in the Minnie. The drive to tool takes about 3 hours and the dance didn't start until 3:00 but we don't mind being early so we left the house around 9:00. The distance was 132 miles. The drive was interstate and two lane highways through small towns. When we got to Corsicana, which was about 30 miles from Tool we stopped and had lunch. When we arrived at Tool there were already a few RVs there. After setting up the Minnie we had two and a half hours to relax before the dance.

The Log Cabin Swingers invited Randy Dougherty to call a two day event of A2 dancing and C1 Star Tips. Today's schedule was 3:00 to 5:00 A2, followed by a C1 Star Tip and A2 from 7:00 to 9:00 followed by C1 Star Tip. For the afternoon A2 dance we had two squares and two couples sitting out. The C1 tip had six couples so Randy called a six couple tip which was a lot of fun. Randy put us in a lot different positions which made it very challenging. In the evening we had enough people to have three and a half squares for A2 and six couples for C1. Randy kept the evening as challenging as the afternoon. We had a super day of dancing to Randy and friends.

Our friend Becky out of the Houston Area

Our friends Yasuko and Jan out of Houston area

Friends having fun in between tips

Joe, Gary, Shannon and Coleta 

Friends enjoying the dance

Randy Dougherty and his dog Abbey

More friends from the Houston area

   

Friends having fun dancing to Randy calling

Grace and Dan enjoying dancing with friends

Thursady 11-21 Getting Ready

Have a great day

Yesterday, I cut up some pork ribs and marinaded them overnight. For lunch I made Sweet Teriyaki Pork Skewers on the grill. They came out delicious.

Sweet Teriyaki Pork Skewers

This weekend we're going to Tool Texas to attended a two day A2 dance at Promenade Hall. They have a big grass field behind the hall with RV sites with power. We like to take the Minnie because it's convenient to rest in between dances and have meals. This morning we went to the storage center and got the Minnie. When we got home we started getting it ready for the weekend. We loaded it up with food and clothes. It didn't take long because we're only going to be gone a couple of days. 

After getting the Minnie ready I did some housework.

Doing housework

In the evening we went to Sun City to dance with the Sundancers. We arrived at 5:00 for the C1 session. Then we danced A2 from 6:30 to 8:00. Afterwards we did another C1 tip. For the A2 dancing we had two squares plus an extra couple. A couple of the couples are brand new A2 dancers and they did very well. The C1 dancing had one square. The dancing was very challenging and fun. 

When we got home I finished my 13,000 steps. I finished watching The Heart Man. We had a super day.

Wednesday 11-20 Just Another Day

Smile be happy

It was just another day hanging around the house. I finished reading my book and worked on writing my annual book. Larry did a little home maintenance, he changed out the prefilters on all of our air purifiers and replaced the filter on the house air conditioner. 

In the evening we finished watching the third season of Durrells in Corfu on PBS. Then I watched a few episode of the third season of The Heart Guy.

Tuesday 11-19 Terrific Tuesday

We woke up to a warmer morning, it was in the 50s. It was sunshine all day and no wind. The temperature got to the low 70s.

I spent the morning reading and Larry continued working on electronic stuff. After lunch we went to town to pick up a couple of packages waiting for us at The UPS Store. They were electronic stuff. We swung by HEB to pick up a few things I forgot yesterday. When we went to Walmart yesterday we bought a spiral ham. The ham comes with a glaze to put on it, we don't use the glaze and the ham taste delicious. Today I split the ham up in different containers and froze a couple of the containers. We ate some of the ham as a snack and in our dinner salad. It tastes good but we felt it tasted a little salty.

In the evening we started watching the third season of Durrells in Corfu on PBS. We also watched an episode of Boston Legal. I finished watching the second season of The Heart Guy. 

Monday 11-18 Weekly Sundancers Dance

Sun Shiney Day

We had another sunny day. In the morning we went to the UPS Store to pickup our mail and while we were there we walked over to Walmart and bought a few grocery items. By the time went got home it was time for lunch.

Last year some friends of ours who live in South Austin invited us and other friends and family to their house for Thanksgiving, we went and had a great time. Amazingly they invited us back, last year I broke one of their dishes and then I fell and cut my head open on their window sill. Louise will be going with us.

Grocery shopping

I spent the afternoon reading while Larry messed around with some electronic stuff.

In the evening we went to Sun City and danced with the Sundancers. The first tip was at class level and we had six squares. The students left and we only had enough folks left for three squares. The dance started at 7:30 and finished by 9:30. The first half hour was mainstream and plus and then the rest was plus because the mainstream dancers had left. One of the plus tips was challenging because Brad called an easy pattern and then a more complex pattern. Another tip we had two squares and Brad had the dancers go from one square to another. Everyone had a lot of fun. At 9:00 we had an A2 tip with five couples. In between each square dancing tip Lucy Pate cued a round dance. We had a great evening dancing with friends and to Brad Caldwell. 

Having fun square dancing with friends

When we got home Larry read his e-mail and then he went to bed. I stayed up and watched three episodes of The Heart Man. We had a great day.

Sunday 11-17 Doing This and That

Doing this and that

We had a beautiful day. 

It was another chilly morning. While I worked on my annual book Larry read the paper and we watched an episode of the GizWiz.

After lunch it had warmed up so Larry went outside and treated for bugs and weeds. While he did this I continued working on my book, I also did laundry and a little housekeeping.

Doing housework and laundry

In the evening we finished watching the third season of Good Karma Hospital and the second season of Durrells in Corfu on PBS. Then I started watching the second season of The Heart Guy.  

Saturday 11-16 Another Trip to Round Rock

Awesome Day

We had an awesome day. We started it out by going to Round Rock. Larry had completed rebuilding Louise's computer and he wanted to return it, he also wanted to undate Louise's router with a newer one. We arrived around 9:00. Larry setup her computer and then went to work on replacing the router. Some things hooked to it perfectly and others gave him troubles. One of her security cameras logged into the new router without him doing anything, another one which was a different brand he worked on for more than an hour, he discovered he had hooked up something incorrectly and once he fixed that he was able to get the other camera to work. Around 11:00 Louise had to leave to attend a get together with some friends. While Larry worked on the router I worked on a jigsaw puzzle and played with Alice. We left Louise's house around 2:00.

Doing brother dos

On the way home we stopped at Fuddruckers for lunch. We shared a burger and an order of onion rings. 

In the evening we watched two episodes of Doc Martin and two episodes of Good Karma Hospital. When Larry went to bed I finished up the first season of The Heart Man. We had a relaxing evening.

Relaxing in front of the television