Pictures From Jan-Jul 2023 - It's All About Having Fun!!

Friday, July 11, 2025

Thursday 7-10-25 Still Fighting Covid & Diamond Painting

 


Larry and I are still not feeling well. Hopefully, we'll be feeling better soon.

I finished my diamond painting of a hummingbird. It came out beautiful.

 

The hummingbird


 

I played the Daily Challenges of Solitaire and Mahjong. I'm almost caught up in the daily challenges of Mahjong I'm a day behind. I did the daily event, which was Event: Solitaire World Tour of 30 games. It took me 4 hours, 22 minutes and 31 seconds to complete, which put me in 7th place in my group. Then I played Angry Birds.  

I played four games of pinball. I did the weekly challenge of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and submitted my first high score of the week of 2,307,160, which put me in 39th out of 41 participants. I also played three other games, which were The Creature of the Black Lagoon, No Fear and X-Men. I didn't do too well but had fun.

 

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

In the evening we watched Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.1. When Larry went to bed I watched The Suicide Squad. 
   

 

 

 



 

 



   

Thursday, July 10, 2025

Wednesday 7-9-25 Still Not Feeling Well

 

Smile and have fun

 

We didn't do much today, we still are not feeling well. It will take a few days so we're just hanging around the house. I felt so bad I didn't even attend my Wednesdays virtual dances. If I moved a little I would get tired. 

I did the Daily Challenges of Solitaire and Mahjong. I got caught up with all my Solitaire games I didn't do while I was in San Francisco. Mahjong I still have to do five days of games. I did the daily event, which was Event: Two Game Tango Mini of 6 games (3 Spider and 3 Pyramid). It took me 11 minutes and 37 seconds, which put me in 4th place in my group. I played some Angry Birds.

In the afternoon I played four games of pinball. Sunday was the beginning of a new week of pinball challenge. This week the challenge is Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I got my first high score but didn't submit it because you couldn't read the score clearly. Last weeks challenge was The Walking Dead and my high score was 73,915,650, which put me in 48th place out of 67 participants. This week there are already 32 participants. 

 



My final high score for The Walking Dead



Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

 

The other three games I played were Jaws, World Cup Soccer and World Joker Poker. While playing Jaws I became high score #3. When I played World Cup Soccer I became Grand Champion. I did ok playing World Joker Poker.  

 

Jaws

 

World Cup Soccer

 

World Joker Poker

 

While we were gone Marty updated Jaws and another person made a couple of VR rooms. We picked the one where you are in a cage and the shark is swimming around you. It's very cool. 

 

Jaws VR Room

 

Jaws VR Room

 

Jaws VR Room


I watched three movies from our movies collection. First was Chitty Chitty Bang Bang starring Dick Van Dyke as an inventor and Sally Ann Howes as Truly Scrumptious (daughter of a candy factory owner). It was cute even after all these years (1968). In the evening we watched Guardians of the Galaxy. Third was Mary Poppins Returns, which I watched after Larry went to bed.

While we were hanging around the house we decided to put in a home delivery from Walmart on items we were getting low on. The order was delivered at 5:00. I wanted something easy to put together for dinner because of how we were feeling so Larry ordered a Rotisserie Chicken. 

 


 

Grocery shopping

 

I worked on my diamond painting after not be able to work on it for about 10 days. I'll be finished with it tomorrow.  

 

Wednesday, July 9, 2025

Monday 7-7 & Tuesday 7-8 We're Home & Covid

 

Home Sweet Home

 

Sorry about not having a post yesterday, but we didn't get home until 2:30 am.

Monday 7-7-25  Flying Home

Larry woke me up about 7:30 so I could finish packing. We took a shower and then had breakfast. After finishing packing we said good-bye to the Marriott Hotel. We had five fabulous days dancing at the 42nd IAGSDC Convention. 

 


 Anita from the Fun Tour

 

We walked a few blocks to catch BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) to get to the airport. It was a challenge. We asked the assistant about the system. Larry had downloaded the application the night before. He showed the assistant what he did but it didn't work. The gentleman said we could purchase a ticket from a machine if we had cash. It was very hard to figure out how much money it cost to get to the airport and how to get the pass. A young lady was next to us and needed a couple of dollars. Larry gave her the money. Once she got her pass she assisted us and told us how the machine worked. It cost $12.00 plus another $3 for the card. Larry put the money in and got the pass. Then he did it again for my pass. We were ready to go. I made a mistake when I scanned the pass and didn't get through the gate. The agent was gone so we couldn't get help. So I put another $20.00 in the machine and got another pass. We don't live in the bay area so I have $5.00 on the pass I will never use. It cost us $50.00. BART was very loud underground but when it came above ground it was a little quieter. It made a few stops before it got to the airport. BART was very fun and fast. I had to chase my bag because I forgot to hold to it. BART is the way to get back and forth from the airport.

 

BART
 

 We were at the airport by 10:00 and our flight wasn't until 12:30 California time, which is 2:30 Texas time. We had to wait in line to go through security for awhile because it was very busy. Sometimes they had to stop the conveyor to double check an item or two. Today we had to take all our electronics out of the bag and lay them flat in a tote, but we didn't have to take off our shoes. We even had to take off our hats. Once we got through security and we put the electronics back in the bag were on the road to our gate. At the gate we relaxed for a few hours before our flight. Larry went and bought a chicken sandwich, fries and a drink. We were delayed for 40 minutes due to bad weather in Dallas. 

When we got to Dallas the agent at our gate said the flight was full. We would need to go to customer assistance. While we were waiting in line Larry checked the website and American Airlines showed the later flight was full and all the flights on Tuesday were full. If this was true we were planing to rent a car to get to Killeen Airport. The lady who helped us said she could get us on the next flight at 11:15, which was three hours away. On the way to the gate we stopped at McDonald's for dinner. It has been years since we sat down and ate at a McDonald's. Then we went to the gate and waited. This flight was delayed because of a maintenance problem. We finally left at 1:30, the flight was only a half hour flight. We arrived at the Killeen Airport and there was hardly anyone there. I think this was the last flight.

I was glad to be home I hadn't felt good all day and wore a mask because I had a cough.

 

Tuesday 7-8-25  Tested Positive for COVID

I woke up feeling bad. Larry wasn't feeling well either. I had most of the symptoms of COVID. I had a fever, chills, cough, muscle pains and sore throat. I decided to take a test. We had kits from when the government was giving them out. We had to use a few of them before we could get the right amount of liquid for the test. It didn't take five minutes before it came back and said I was positive for COVID. 

When we were going to attend the convention we knew the chances of catching Covid were high. In square dancing you are close to each other and there is lots of hugging.

We have been very lucky, this is the first time we have had COVID. We are up to date on the vaccinations. 

I did play one game of Pirate's Plunder on the Bounce Arcade. I was tired and I had only played for 20 minutes. I earned a silver Trophy and defeated my enemies once and got two Jolly Rogers.

 

Pirate's Plunder

 

I ended up playing the Daily Challenges of Solitaire and Mahjong for the day. I did played the event, which was Event: Experts Only Mini of 5 games. I only solved four of the games. It took me 1 hour, 6 minutes and 12 seconds before I gave up. I got stuck on the Free Cell. I still came in 23rd place in my group.

In the evening we watched The Martian out of our movies collection. When Larry went to bed I watched Mary Poppins starring Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke. 

      



 
           

  

 

Monday, July 7, 2025

Sunday 7-6-25 Fun Tour & Trail Out Dance

 

Awesome Day

 

We started the day out by going downstairs for a Brunch & Meeting. The brunch was from 10:00 to 12:00. There was a lot of food, mini pastries, fruit, eggs, bacon, cheese roll and more. During the brunch we shared a table with a couple from New Jersey (Louis and Jan). We use to dance with them through zoom. After everyone was fed they did some announcements for next year, it's going to be held in Montreal, Canada. They had a slide show about Montreal. After the meeting we went back upstairs to relax.

At 12:30 we went downstairs to line up for a bus. They had about 275 people signed up for the tour. It took five huge buses to hold all of us. Each bus had a name: Neptune, Mars, Saturn, Jupiter and Venus, this was to help ensure everyone got back on the correct bus. The bus tour was escorted by motorcycle police officers, they stopped traffic and got us through most of San Francisco without stopping for lights. Lots of people on the streets were taking pictures of the procession. The buses were all exactly the same, black with blacked out windows.To the people watching it probably appeared to be buses loaded with dignitaries or some group of importance. 

Each bus had two tour guides. We were on Neptune and our guides were Anita and Okra. During the tour we stopped at four different sites and danced to Dayle Hodge and Eric Henetlau. The stops were Chase building on the bay, Port of San Francisco, St. Francis Yacht Club and The Golden Gate Bridge Vista. As we drove around the San Francisco the tour guides talked about the history of San Francisco and played trivia. The tour guides were very good. At each stop everyone unloaded the buses and we danced a tip to Dayle and Eric. At the Golden Gate Bridge we did a group photo. We left the hotel at 1:00 and got back a bit after 5:00. It was a really fun time.

 

Chase Building with cool mirror spears

 

Dancing to Dayle and Eric

 

 

 Port of San Francisco

Landscape of downtown San Francisco

 

Dancing at the Port of San Francisco

 

On the beach at the yacht club

 

Three of the tour buses

 

Another view of the bay

 

Golden Gate Bridge

 

   

Dancers dressed up for the fun tour

 


Okra, one of our tour guides





Eric and Dayle getting ready to call
 
 
When we got back to the hotel we went across the street to the food court and had dinner at a hamburger place. 
 
At 7:00 we went downstairs and danced the Trail Out dance for two hours. The format was SSD, Plus, A2 and last tip was SSD. The had 15 squares and all the callers called together. We had a great time dancing with friends.   
 


 


 

 

   

 

 

 

 



Sunday, July 6, 2025

Saturday 7-5-25 Dance Day, Banquet & Having Fun

Awesome Day of Dancing

 

We had an awesome day of dancing. We danced three sessions to seven amazing callers. The morning session was from 9:00 to 12:00. We danced to two callers in both the A2, and C1 halls. We danced to Eric Henerlau from Corte Madera, California, he called from 9:00 to 10:00. He was very good and he cued moves we were having problems with. At 10:00 we went to the A2 hall to dance to Sandra Bryant from Chicago, Illinois. She a lot of fun dancing to and jokes around with the dancers. After Sandra, Karin Rabe and Greg Moore called a tip. They were part of the callers school and to get more experience on the things they learned the convention let them call. 

 

Eric calling C1 to seven squares

 

Our friend Michael from Washington DC and Claude and Regina from Canada

 

Sandra Bryant from Chicago

 

 

Dancing to Sandra

 

Karin and Greg calling A2

 

 

Afternoon dancing from 1:00 to 5:00. We danced C1 to Kris Jenson from Albuquerque, Plus to Bill Eyler from Palm Springs, California and A2 to Vic Cedar from Los Olivos, California. We left a little early to rest. We had a great afternoon.

 

Dancing A2 to Vic Cedar

 

Having fun

 

Vic's Grand puppy

 

Kris Jenson 

 

The dinner banquet was from 6:00 to 8:00. We both had beef, dinner salad, dinner roll, green beans, potatoes and chocolate cake for dessert. They service and food were excellent. The servers were in formal attire. After everyone ate they did announcements and had raffles.. One person won the 50/50 pot, over 3,000 dollars.

After the banquet we went back to the room. Then we did the evening dancing. It was from 8:00 to 10:00. We danced Plus to Bill Eyler from Palm Springs, California and Vic Cedar from Los Olivos, California. We had fun. There was another caller from caller lab but I forgot his name, he called one tip.

 

Bill Eyler

 

Vic Cedar

 

Larry dancing to Vic

I started the Solitaire event, which was Event: Two Game Tango mini of 10 games (5 5 Free Cell and 5 Pyramid). I only did three of the Free Cell and it took me 2 hours, 52 minutes and 7 seconds, which put me in 22rd place in my group. 



 



 

      

 

 

 

 

Saturday, July 5, 2025

Friday 7-4-25 Happy 4th of Jully, Cable Car Ride & Dancing

 

 

Happy 4th of July. We had a super day.

We started the day out by going on a cable car ride. We didn't have anything scheduled until 1:00. Larry decided it would be fun to go for a ride on the cable car. He went on their website and bought an all day pass to all the transit vehicles for $15.00, if you want it one way it's $9.00. We walked a few blocks to catch the cable car. It was very busy. The lady, who helped us said if we had come later the line would be much longer. We had to wait for the third cable car to get on. It was cool watching how they turn the cable car around. They have to manually push it around the circle platform. Along the way the cable car made multiple stops to let people off and to let people on. The stops were sites to see. The cable car took us up and down the hills of San Francisco, it ended a few blocks from Fisherman's Wharf.  At the last stop everyone has to get off in order for them to turn the car around. We walked around Fisherman's Wharf looking at some of the scenery. I'm not a shopper so we didn't by anything. Today because it's the 4th of July the cable car was going to stop at 2:00. We had a very nice ride on the cable car.

 

Turning the cable car around

 

Pushing the cable car around

 

Ready to load up

 

Fisherman's Wharf sign

 

Cute sign for Chowder Hut

 

Alcatraz Island

 

Ferris Wheel on the wharf


When we got home it was 11:15 and time for lunch. About 1:00 we went downstairs to where the dancing was taking place. We danced C1 for 2.5 hours. Ett McAtee (Maryland) called for an hour, Geo Jedlicka (Jersey City, NJ) for an hour and Dayle Hodge (Maryland) for about a half hour. Ett was very hard to dance to because she has everything written down and doesn't call to the floor. She can be very frustrating because you break down a lot. Geo was a super caller and called long tips (15 minutes). We sat out a tip and watched a very enthusiastic square dance group. I forgot to take any pictures of Geo. We only danced a half hour to Dayle because we were tired. We had a great time dancing to him because he is a site caller and calls to the floor. 

 

Ett McAtee

 

Dancing to Ett

 


 Dayle Hodge

 

Gayle from LA, a friend from Zoom dancing to Dayle

 

Karin and Greg in the far square dancing to Dayle

 

At 5:00 we met up with some Zoom dancers at an Italian restaurant. About fourteen of us were there. We had a great time visiting with people we have been dancing with for over five years. Larry and I shared a couple of small pizzas (pepperoni and cheese). After getting them we should have only got one because we only ate half of each pizza. The service was excellent and the food was good. 

 

Get together with friends

 

 At 7:00 we went downstairs to dance. We danced for three hours, C1 to Michael Kellogg (California) for an hour, A2/C1 Betsy Gotta (New Jersey) for an hour and Plus Ett McAtee for an hour. Michael is a fantastic caller and cues you through problem moves. While Betsy was calling the lights went out, down the hall in the SSD hall they were having a glow dance where they were dancing in the dark, something went wrong and the lights were also turned off in our hall. But the hotel got the lights on and Betsy continued calling the dance 1 tip of A2 and 1 tip of C1. She did a good job calling. Ett had a Zoom reunion during hour of Plus. She called a couple of tips. Then she called a tip to demonstrate how Zoom works. During the dance I loaned Michael my belly dancer belt. He had a lot of fun wearing it and plans to buy one for himself. We danced with Di, Gail, Karin, Greg, Jan, Louis, Doona, Ann and Michael (our zoom friends). Larry sat out a couple of tips and I danced with Ann as my partner. We sign Michael's square dancing shirt. We had a great time dancing with friends.

 

Dancing to Michael

 

Michael Kellogg C1 dance



Di Green dancing to Ett

 

Ann from Canada from Zoom


I did the daily event of Solitaire, which was Event: Klondike Adventure of 20 games. It took me 1 hour, 21 minutes and 10 seconds to complete, which put me in 17th place in my group. Then I played Angry Birds. I ended up doing 12,000 steps.