Saturday 10-30 5K Zombie Run and Shelf Project

Walking Nolan Creek Trail

We woke to a brisk morning with the temperature in the 40s so we decided to go for a walk.

We haven't walked Nolan Creek Trail in awhile so off to Belton we went. We parked at Yettie Polk Park. We walked for about an hour for 2.5 miles. When we got there we were surprised to see a lot of people using the trail and there were water stations setup along the trail. When we got to the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor, Larry asked what was going on. One of the volunteer said the Belton New Tech Zombie Run was starting at 9:00. It starts at Liberty Park and the finish there for a total of 5K. People either run as people or dressed up as a zombie. Awards are given to the top three male and female zombies and top three male and female human finishers. The proceeds from the run goes back into the community to help pay for flu shots as well as COVID relief. The runners and walkers are of all ages. We said hi to the participants, who were running, walking and pushing strollers. At the drink stations volunteers handed out water and cheered the runners on. Some of the volunteers were dressed up as zombies. We had a great time walking with the participants in the run.

On the way home we stopped by the Heart of Texas Goodwill Store. We hadn't been in there in a long time, Larry wanted to replace some of his heavier shirts. Larry found a couple shirts. The employees were dressed up in Halloween costumes. The girl checking us out had a knife through her head. It was great to see this.

 

Larry's new shirts

A few days ago I mentioned that Larry wanted to build shelves for some of his paper projects. We purchased the wood a week or so ago but his elbow was still bothering him so he waited until this week. He cut the shelves to size using his miter saw. Then he cut the trim. I helped by holding the the boards and trim while he cut them. He wants to hang the shelves using Command strips. In order to do this he milled grooves in the trim. Next he sanded the boards and trim. Next up will be assembling and paint.

 

Cutting the shelves

 

Sanding

I did the Solitaire and Mahjong Daily Challenges and the Event: Free Cell Mini of 5 games. It took me 18 minutes and 56 seconds, which put me in 26th place in my group. 

For awhile in the Star Club section of Microsoft Solitaire Collection the Tri Peaks games didn't work. But today I decided to see if Microsoft fixed the problem. I was pleasantly surprised they did so I played some Tri Peaks games.

 

I can play Tri Peak games again

In evening we attended the Saturday Night Fever Dance with Don Moger and Dayle Hodge. They called three A2 tips with 41 participants, 2 tips of class level C1 with 37 participants and one tip of C1 with 30 participants. I dressed up with black pants, black blouse with my Halloween vest and an orange hat. A few other dancers wore Halloween outfits. We had a super time dancing with friends.

After the dance we watched an episode of Vera. When Larry went to bed I watched a couple of movies on Amazon. I watched the original Cinderella from 1965 and the animation edition of The King And I from 1999. I ended up doing 27,000 steps, which put me in 3rd place in my group.

   

 

 

Friday 10-29 Temple Lake Park & Dancing

 

It's Friday

We had an awesome day.

We started the day out by going for an hour walk to Temple Lake Park. We started from the house and walked to Arrowhead Point boat ramp. Once there we walked through the gate, that goes to the lake's old road. We walked the road to another gate at Temple Lake Park. We walked around it and continued our walk to the entrance gate house of the park. Then we walked the main road back to our street and walked home. As we walked by the lake, it was white capping because of the wind. We were the only ones walking. When we got to the main road we had to be careful because it busy with traffic. By the time we got home we had walked a bit over 2 miles.

I did the Daily Challenges of Solitaire and Mahjong and the Event: Two Game Tango Mini of 10 games (5 Spider and 5 Tri Peaks). It took me 1 hour, 8 minutes and 51 seconds, which put me in 11th place in my group. Then I did some Sudoku games.

We attended two virtual square dances. First was Dayle Hodge's Weekly Four Couple A1/A2 at 11:00. Dayle called two tips of each with 16 participants. We had a lot of fun.

Second was Ett McAtee's Weekly A2 at 6:30. Ett called five tips of A2 with 25 participants, one four couples tip with 22 participants and one C1 class level tip with 20 participants. During the dance some of the dancers wore Halloween costumes. Dawn dressed up as a phantom dancer, she was completely covered up and you couldn't see her face. At the end of the dance she uncovered her face and revealed who she was. I danced by myself and had fun dancing to Ett and with friends.

 

 

While I danced with Ett Larry did a computer project. 

After the dance we watched an episode of the 6th season of Vera. Then I watched Injustice on Acorn. While I was watching television did my steps, which was 28,000. This put me in 2nd place in my group. 

  

Relaxing in front of the television

 

Thursday 10-28 Walking and Dancing

 

Hold on tight

We had a cold windy sunny day with a strong wind out of the north. It didn't get out of the mid 70s.

We started the day out by going for a walk. We were going to walk to Temple Lake Park but decided to walk around the neighborhood instead. When Flo was alive I would walk her to the lake and around the two streets behind us. Today we decided to walk the neighborhood going by the lake. We walked for about a half hour. As we walked we saw gorgeous homes and deer. We had to hold onto our hats because the wind was so strong. We were almost home when we stopped and visited with two of our neighbors who were walking their dogs. We had a great walk.

 

One of the homes in the neighborhood

Decorated for Halloween

Beautiful buck

Checking us out 

I did the Solitaire and Mahjong Daily Challenges and the Event: Hard Road Mini of 5 games. It took me 40 minutes and 52 seconds, which put me in 22nd place. I did a few Sudoku games. 

We attended two virtual square dances. First was Dayle Hodge's C1 at 11:00. Dayle called four two couples tips with 16 participants and one four couples tip with 14. Dayle was calling a little fast and more complex than normal so we broke down a lot. We didn't have as much fun as we normally do.

Second was Jeremy Butler's Weekly A2/C1 at 6:00. Jeremy called three A2 two couples tips with 12 participants, one A2 four couples tip with 10 participants and one C1 tip with 9. Jeremy put the dancers in different positions and had us replace parts of the moves with another move. We had a super time dancing to Jeremy and with friends.

After Jeremy's dance we finished watching the second season of Vera. The third, fourth and fifth seasons are not available on Acorn so we couldn't watch them but the sixth and seventh are. So we started watching the sixth season. Then I watched the second and final season of Thorn. I ended up doing 27,000 steps, which put me in 3rd place in my group with 107,207 steps for the week so far. 

 

    

Relaxing in front of the television

 

Wednesday 10-27 Dental Crown & Dancing

 

A cool front came through early in morning bringing rain and was gone by 10:00 am. The front brought a wind out of the north which made it really comfortable with the temperature in the high 70s. Once the rain left we had blue skies. We had a beautiful day.

 

Enjoying the rain 

Sunny afternoon

Larry started the day by go to the dentist at 8:00 to get a crown put on his implant. It took a bit because the dentist had problems putting it on. While he was in town he paid our property taxes and swung by Walmart.

 

Getting a crown 

I did the Solitaire and Mahjong Daily Challenges and the Event: Two Game Tango Mini of 10 games (5 Pyramid and 5 Tri Peaks). It took me 25 minutes and 36 seconds, which put me in 8th place in my group. Then I did some Sudoku games.

I vacuumed the house and cut up some vegetables for a salad.

 

Doing housework

We attended three virtual square dances. First was Di Green and Terry McCann's Weekly Plus at 10:00. They called five tips with 17 participants. We had a surprise appearance from Barbara and Joka from Germany, once Barbara went back to work she has not been able to dance as often as she use to. Today she danced with a couple of other Zoom dancer whom she had met via Zoom. We had a fun hour dancing to Di and Terry and with friends.

Second was Dayle Hodge's Weekly A1/A2 at 11:00. Dayle called two tips of A1 and two tips of A2 with 20 participants and one tip of four couples A2 with 17 participants. We had a great time dancing to Dayle and friends.

Third was Don Moger's Weekly C1 Workshop at 12:00. This was Don's last Wednesday C1 Workshop but he invited us to attend three other days to practice C1. We showed up when he was finishing up the first tip. We got up to dance just as the tip ended. Don joked saying we did a great job and didn't make any mistakes. Don is always joking around, this makes his dances a lot of fun. Today he had 21 participants. He worked on the Siamese Concept, Triangles and Magic Column Formation/Concept. We had a super time dancing to Don.

 

 

In the evening we watched two episode of the second season of Vera. Then I started another detective series on Acorn called Thorne, I ended up watching the first season. I ended up doing 27,000 steps, which kept me in 2nd place in my group.       

Tuesday 10-26 Last Tuesday Night A2 Dance

 

Smile and have fun

We had a nice day with sunshine. 

We attended three virtual dances. First was Di green and Terry McCann's Weekly A1/A2 Workshop at 10:00. They took turns calling six tips, two A1 and 4 A2 with 16 participants. We had a super time dancing to Di and Terry and with friends.

Second was Dayle Hodge's Weekly Plus/ DBD at 11:00. Dayle called 4 Plus tips with a little DBD with 14 participants, 1 full DBD tip with 14 participants and 1 four couples tip with 12 participants. Dayle is making it more challenging every week and fun. 

Third was Don Moger's Weekly A2 at 6:00. Tonight was his last Tuesady night dance, he needed to change his schedule because he's going back to calling in person and in a couple of weeks he's going to Arizona for the winter. Don is from Quebec, Canada. Tonight he called 4 tips with 22 participants. Don is a very good caller and puts us in challenging positions. We spent an hour laughing and having fun.

 

Grab a partner and swing

I did my Solitaire and Mahjong Daily Challenges and the Event: Tri Peaks Mini of 5 games. It took me 11 minutes and 8 seconds to complete, which put me in 20th place in my group. I also did some Sudoku games. I took a nap.

While I played my games Larry worked on a paper project.

After Don's dance we finished watching the first season of Vera and started the second season. Then I watched the second and final season of Kidnap and Ransom. I ended up doing 27,000 steps, which put me in 2nd place in my group with 53,000 steps.

 

Monday 10-25 Last Day of Boating & Dancing

 Last day of boating

This morning we had fog. Once the fog lifted the sun came out and it was a gorgeous day.

We attended one virtual square dance at 9:00 am, Di Green's Weekly C1 Workshop. Di called five tips with 25 participants. She worked on Triple Boxes/Lines/Waves, Three By Two Acey Deucey, Modifiers (Replace and Interrupt), Plenty, Left Swing The Fractions and what moves the dancers were having problem with. We had a great time dancing with Di and Terry.

It's time to get the boat ready for winter. Larry added fuel additive and wanted to mix it up and run it through the engine. After lunch we went to the lake. On the way we filled the boat with fuel. When we launched the boat, it started right up. Larry parked the trailer and I picked him up at the dock. We drove to Temple Park and back to the ramp. The water temperature was still 76 but we didn't get in. We drove around about a half hour and it was a very nice ride.

 

Lake Belton at Rogers Park

When we got home we removed the platform, Air Chair foil, wake board, surfboard and towels, then we backed it into the garage. Larry hooked up the battery charger and we covered the boat. Now the boat is ready for the winter.

While we were relaxing in the house a young buck came through our backyard.

 

Deer under our oak tree

I did the Solitaire and Mahjong Daily Challenges and the Event: Easy Street of 30 games. It took me 1 hour, 21 minutes and 21 seconds, which put me in 27th place in my group.

Larry started his new paper project on his Cameo.

In the evening we watched two episodes of Vera first season. Then I started watching a new series on Acorn called Kidnap And Ransom. I watched the first season. I ended up doing 26,000 steps, which put me in 1st place in my group.

 

   

Sunday 10-24 Dancing with Loren and Relaxing

 

Laugh and have fun

We had another hot humid day with the temperature in the high 80s. 

I did the Solitaire and Mahjong Daily Challenges and the Event: World Tour Mini of 7 games. It took me 15 minutes and 5 seconds, which put me in 10th place in my group. I also played a few Sudoku games. I worked on my annual book until I couldn't keep my eyes open and then I took a nap. 

 

Relaxing

Larry continued playing with the Magic Mirror.

After my nap we went to Walmart to pick up fuel additive for the boat.

Yesterday we did our weekly grocery shopping at Walmart and picked up Betty Crocker's cookie dough bites. This afternoon I made them up.

 

Cookie dough bites

In the evening we attended Loren Smith's Weekly A2/C1 dance at 6:30. He called three A2 tips with 24 participants, one C1 Teach tip with 23 participants and two C1 tips with 15. Loren worked on C1 moves he taught and introduced Dixie Sasha and Spin Chain The Top. Last week during the dance some of us had problems doing Linear Action so he worked shopped it. We had a super night of dancing to Loren and with friends.

After the dance we watched the last half of the Indianapolis Colts and San Francisco 49ers game. We haven't watched a football game in years. It was fun to do something different. Afterwards I finished watching the fourth season of Republic Of Doyle. Then I watched the 10th episode of the 2nd season of Murder Is My Life. While I watching television I did 25,000 steps, which put me in 5th place in my group for the week with 189,189 steps.

 

 Relaxing in front of the television

Saturday 10-23 Visiting Louise & Saturday Night Live Dance Returns

 

Have a great day

We had a hot humid day with a high of 85 degrees. 

We started the day going to Round Rock to visit Louise and her dog Alice. We just wanted to go and visit. Before leaving Larry loaded a small tool box in the back of the car. I loaded up stuff for lunch. On the way we stopped by Jack N Jill Donuts. We called Louise to let her know we were coming. When we got to her house Alice came running out of the house to say hi. While visiting Louise said that her Alexa device was having problems. Her device light was on and wouldn't turn off. Searching on the web Larry found others who had the same problem and using advice given to them he was able to fix her device. It was a security thing. She also asked Larry to rearrange the security cameras on her monitor. I played with Alice. For lunch we had chicken fajitas, for dessert we had oatmeal cookies. We had a great visit.

 

Louise

Alice

On the way home we stopped by the Lazy Boy store in Georgetown and looked at the chairs. They had the same chairs in stock as the Waco store. If we wanted a lighter color we had to order and wait 4 to 6 months.

When we got home Larry played with Magic Mirror program. I did the Solitaire and Mahjong Daily Challenges and the Event: Pyramid Mini of 10 games. It took me 21 minutes and 42 seconds, which put me in 8th place in my group.

Don Moger decided to restart his Saturday Night Fever Dance. He invited Dayle Hodge to help him call the dance. Don and Dayle called one A2 tip a piece and two tips together with 47 participants. Then they called a C1 class level tip a piece and another one together with 44 participants. We had a great evening of dancing to Dayle and Don and with friends.

 

After the dance we started watching the first season of Vera on Amazon. It is a detective series, we had watched this season years ago but we enjoyed starting it over again. Then I continued watching the fourth season of Republic Of Doyle. I ended up doing 26,000 steps, which kept me in 4th place in my group.

Friday 10-22 Going Shopping

Awesome Day

We had an awesome day.

Last year when we were shutdown due to Covid Larry was looking for a hobby, he ended up purchasing a craft cutting machine and soon discovered paper crafting. Many of his paper projects are given away but many more are spread around our house, he decided he's going to make shelves to organize a few of them. He needed a piece of trim and thin plywood so first thing this morning we went to Lowe's. On the way we stopped and bought donuts at Top Donuts. We found exactly what we wanted and got the plywood cut to a manageable size. Not exactly sure when he will start this, he still has to be careful of his elbow.

Larry has an old Lazy Boy chair that he loves. We bought the chair after moving into our first house in Tucson about 36 years ago. It is actually still in pretty good shape but the seat cushion and arm padding is getting soft. Years ago we had the seat cushion replaced and while we could do that again the arm padding is not an easy fix. He's thinking out buying a new chair. After putting the plywood away we drove up to Waco to visit the Lazy Boy Store. He found a chair he liked, it is very similar to his current chair. The store had a blue and brown in stock but he really wanted a lighter color. The gentleman, who took care of us said that if he wanted another color it would take 4 to 6 months. We're going to try another location just in case they happen to have the lighter color. Our current chair came with fitted arm covers and a matching head rest cover. The new chairs no longer come with these and while you can order them the arm covers are no longer fitted, they are simply square pieces of material. That is disappointing since these have probably added many years of use to the chair. Larry also tipped the chair over to look at the construction, he discovered some of the base in now constructed out of OSB (chip board), while there is nothing wrong with this it is also disappointing since our current chair is constructed from solid hard woods.

 

Larry's chair

Cabela's was across the parking lot so we decided to check out their hiking boots. Larry found a pair he liked and the clerk was able to find the correct size in wide so we bought them.

 

Back home I did my Solitaire and Mahjong Daily Challenges and the Event: World Tour Mini of 10 games. It took me 1 hour, 5 minutes and 33 seconds, which put me in 19th place in my group.

Larry continued playing with the Magic Mirror software. I made apple empanadas to finish up the empanada shells and apple pie filling I had. They came out delicious. 

 

Apple empanada

I attended Ett McAtee's Weekly A2 dance at 6:30. She called four two couples tips with 24 participants and one four couples with 22 participants. I had a great time.

Afterwards we finished watching the second season of Baptiste. Then I started the fourth season of Republic of Doyle. I ended up doing 27,000 steps, which put me in 4th place in my group.

 

    

Thursday 10-21 New Tires for Equinox & Dancing to Jeremy Butler

 

Visiting Discount Tires

We started the day by going to town to get new tires put on the Equinox. Our appointment was at 9:00 but we got there a little early. Because of COVID the procedure was a little different. We drove up to a sign and an assistant came out to fill out the paperwork. Some of the workers were wearing masks. When it was our turn Larry pulled the car into the bay. We got out and waited outside. It took about a 45 minutes. The service was excellent and the employees were friendly and courteous. Can you believe we got 105766 miles out of the original Michelin tires, replaced them with the exact same tire

 

Mileage

 

Removing tires

Tires removed

New tires and ready to go

 Larry wants to replace his hiking boots so on the way home we swung by Academy. He found a pair he liked but they didn't have his size. An employee asked if we needed any help. Larry asked her to check the stock. She was very helpful and suggested other hiking shoes but they did not have anything with the correct size. Larry wears wide shoes and some of the styles didn't come in wide, some offered wide but not in 11.5. We also looked at Academy online and still could not find anything. He will have to find somewhere else to purchase his hiking boots.

 

Looking for hiking shoes

 We were suppose to be on our fall trip so we have a mowing service taking care of the mowing, today is our mowing day so I had to take down my Halloween decorations and when the mowing was done I had to put them back up. Glad I don't have to do that all the time.

 

On freshly mowed grass

 

We attended two virtual square dances. First was Dayle Hodge's Weekly C1 at 11:00. Dayle asked Jeremy Butler to cover for him because he wasn't available. Jeremy had a doctor appointment so Ett McAtee was asked to call instead. When the dance started Jeremy showed up so both of them called the dance. Jeremy and Ett both called two two couples tips with 16 participants and Jeremy called the four couples tip with 15 participants. Larry danced with me and we had a super time.

Second was Jeremy Butler's Weekly A2/C1 at 6:00. He called three two couples A2 tips with 10 participants, one four couples A2 tip with 8 participants and one C1 tip with four couples calls thrown in now and than with 7 participants. We had a small group but had a fantastic time dancing with friends.

 

I did the Daily Challenges of Solitaire and Mahjong and the Event: Two Game Tango of 20 games (10 Klondike and 10 10 Free Cell). It took me 1 hour, 33 minutes and 22 seconds, which put me in 9th place in my group.

Larry started working on a computer project called Magic Mirror.

In the evening we watched two episodes of Baptiste on PBS. Then I finished up the 3rd season of Republic Of Doyle. I ended up doing 27,000 steps, which put me in 4th place in my group.  

 

Wednesday 10-20 Dance Day & Butterflies

Butterflies

Every year up to 500,000 Monarch butterflies migrate to Central Mexico from September to October. They start in southern Canada and the U.S. They arrive at their roosting sites in November and stay throughout the winter. The females lay their eggs and start their migration back in March. No one individual butterfly complete the full cycle. Four generations complete the annual cycle. 

For the last few days we have seeing Monarchs on the wildflowers next door but today there were hundreds of them. We enjoy watching them. I don't think we have ever seen this many at one time.

We attended four virtual square dances. First was Di Green and Terry McCann's Weekly Plus at 10:00. I attended this dance by myself. We had 13 participants. Di and Terry called 5 tips. Everyone had a great time.

Second was Dayle Hodge's Weekly A1/A2 at 11:00, where Jeremy Butler called for him. Jeremy called 2 tips of A1 and A2 two couples with 16 participants and one four couples tips with 14 participants. Larry danced with me. Jeremy did a great job and we had a lot of fun.

Third was Don Moger's Weekly C1 Workshop at 12:00. Don made an announcement saying next week will be the last Wednesday workshop because he's calling live four times a week. He is still going to keep his other two C1 teach dances. Don had 22 participants. He worked on Concentric Concepts and other moves the dancers were having problems with. We spent the hour laughing and having fun dancing with friends and to Don.

Fourth was Dave Eno's Weekly C1/A2 at 6:30. The format was a half hour of C1, one hour and fifteen minutes of A2 and close with one tip of C1. This week Et McAtee and Dave Hutchson covered for him but he was at the dance. The C1 tips had 20 participants and the A2 tips had 24. Dave Hutchson and Ett called the C1 tips. When the A2 tips were called Ett called a tip and both Daves shared a tip with a total of 5 A2 tips and three C1 tips. Larry danced the C1 tips with me and I danced the A2 tips by myself. This was the first time we danced to Dave Hutchson and he is a good caller. It was a fun night.  

 

When we weren't dancing I did the Daily Challenges of Solitaire and Mahjong. I also did the Event: Two Game Tango Mini of 6 (3 Klondike and 3 Tri Peaks). It took me 11 minutes and 34 seconds, which put me in 27th place in my group. I did a couple of Sudoku games. I couldn't keep my eyes open so I took an hour nap. We watched YouTube videos.

After the last dance we watched an episode of Midsomer Murders. Then I continued watching the second season of Republic of Doyle. I ended up doing 27,500 steps, which put me in 5th place in my group.    

Tuesday 10-19 Allergies and Having Fun

Allergies

I woke up not feeling well. I had a headache and my stomach was upset. I knew it was allergies because when allergies hit me these are the symptoms. I had breakfast and then went back to bed. I slept another two hours. I still had a headache but at least it wasn't pounding. My stomach had calmed down. Larry said his eyes were bugging him. 

We didn't go to Di Green and Terry McCann's Weekly A2 dance at 10:00 am because I wasn't feeling well. 

We attended two virtual dances. First was Dayle Hodge's Plus/DBD at 11:00. He is at a music festival in Maine so he asked Di Green to call his weekly dance. She called three Plus tips with 19 participants, one DBD tip with 19 participants and one Four Couples tip with 16 participants. We had a super time dancing with friends.

Second was Don Moger's A2 at 6:00. Don announced that next week will be the last Tuesday A2 dance due to him going back to calling in person. He also announced that he's going to start up Saturday Night Live starting Saturday. Today Don called four tips with 23 participants. Everyone laughed and had fun.

I did the Daily Challenges of Solitaire and Mahjong and the Event: Free Cell Mini of 10 games. It took me 46 minutes and 35 seconds, which put me in 9th place in my group. Then I finished reading A Brazen Curiosity.

I barbecued some sausage links for dinner. While I was cooking I saw the hawk in our neighbor's oak tree and a lot of butterflies on the wildflowers next door. I continue watching the birds, squirrels, fox and deer throughout the day and into the night.

 

 Butterflies 

 

 

The hawk

After Don's dance we started watching the second season of Baptiste on PBS. We watched two episodes. Then I watched the ninth episode of the second season of Murder Is My Life. Next I started watching the third season of Republic Of Doyle. While watching television I did 28,000 steps, which put me in 6th place in my group. LIFE IS GOOD!!!