Wednesday 12-6 Dreary Day

Last night when we left the dance it was drizzling, the further north we went the harder the rain came down and the temperature was dropping.

Today it rained on and off all day and the temperature didn't get out of the 40s. We spent the day hanging around the house and reading. While we were eating lunch we received an e-mail from the UPS Store that said we had a package waiting for us. Larry really didn't want to go to town because it was nasty outside so he read instead.

For Thanksgiving we had a spiral ham, we still had the bone and a bit of ham left. The other day we picked up a bag of navy beans so today I made ham hock and beans. It took over three hours to make.


Late in the afternoon we went to town, we mailed out our Christmas cards and picked up the mail.

On the way home it was drizzling and there was a bit of sleet but it didn't stick considering it was 42 degrees out.

By the time we got home we decided that we weren't going to Georgetown to go square dancing with the Shirts 'n' Shirts club tonight, I35 is dangerous enough in good weather and with today's weather is simply seemed better to stay home and read.   

Tuesday 12-5 Dancing with Waterloo Squares

Relaxing Day

We spent most of the day at the house. 

Yesterday, I wrapped Christmas gifts. Larry tried to purchase the postage online but the post office site was down. Today the site was up but you could only ship via Priority Mail which is more expensive than first class. He ended up purchasing the postage from a different site and when the mailman came he mailed the packages.

Every year we send holiday cards out with an annual letter about our adventures. Today we worked on the letter. We also designed some cards via the Walmart site and had them printed via their one hour service.

In the afternoon we went to pickup the cards. Afterwards we walked over to The UPS Store and got our mail and bought stamps. We're going to go to the Rio Grande Valley in a few weeks and Larry wanted to get his hair cut before going. Great Cuts is located right next door to The UPS Store and no one was there so he got his haircut.

I worked out when we got home and read.

In the evening we went to Austin to dance with the Waterloo Squares. Every week they have a different caller and this week they invited Noah Siegmann and his brothers, Lincoln and Jed. We danced to them last year and had a great time so we decided to go again. It took us almost two hours to get there. There were 10 squares and an extra couple. Noah, Lincoln and Jed did a super job. They called eight tips and in between the tips there was line dancing or round dancing. We danced all the tips and I danced the three line dances. We danced with friends who we only dance with a couple times a year. We had a great time.

Left to right Noah, Jed and Lincoln Siegmann

Outfits we wore to the dance

Getting ready to line dance

Line dancing with friends

Monday 12-4 Having Fun!!!

There was nothing on our agenda so spent the day just having fun.

We have a lot of electronic devices to charge up now and again. We have a kitchen counter setup just to do the job. Larry has been thinking about organizing the area. He did some research on different changing stations and found one he liked. We received the device last week. It's a station where you can charge up to four devices at a time. While the devices are charging the slot has a blue light and once the device is charge the light turns off. The counter now looks cleaner and more organized. The charging station works perfect for us.

New charging station

We have two Amazon Echo Dots, they are perfectly setup for what we want them to do. Larry has been reading about the Google Home devices, specifically the Google Home Mini. They are fairly new and most folks really like them, even some folks who already own an Echo Dot. Yesterday Larry found Walmart had a deal where you can buy the device for $29 and they will give you $25 via a online credit. He ordered it online and we picked it up this morning. It took a bit to setup considering he had to program different commands for the mini. Some commands that work with the Dot's he can't do with the Mini. The speaker in the Mini is clear and works better than the Dot. Supposedly the Mini answers more questions than the Dot but so far we haven't found that to be true. When you talk to the mini you have to say "Hey, Google" or "OK Google" and the light lights up on top of the Mini, sometimes you can't see them. When you talk to the Dot you say "Alexa" and there is a light ring around the top rim of the dot that is easy to see. The Mini is cool but over all we like the Dot better.

Google Mini

Amazon Dot

In the afternoon I worked out with Gold's Gym and Just Dance and read.

During the evening we watched YouTube videos. We watched a couple episodes of The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency. Afterwards I read and did my daily challenges.

This time of year is tough on me when it comes to weight considering I have no willpower when it comes to sweets. Saturday, we swung by the UPS Store and picked up a package from Larry's Aunt Barbara. When we got home I opened the package and it had Christmas gifts and some goodies. We spent today munching on the goodies. She sent us a big can of assorted cookies (oatmeal icing, soft chocolate chips, thin chocolate chips and pecan) and couple of Christmas boxes full of candy. One box had Hershey kisses and the other one had a mixture of miniature Hershey candies.

Assorted Cookies

Assorted Hershey candies

Hershey kisses

We had a great day having fun.      

Sunday 12-3 DBD Holiday Dance

Holiday DBD Dance

A couple whom we square dance with, Jeannette and Bill, know that we love wearing hats when we dance, on Monday they gave us two red hats that light up. We tried to dance with them Friday night but they were difficult to keep on, the controllers and batteries for the lights are mounted inside the top of the hat preventing the hat from sitting on our heads correctly. This morning we moved the controller so it was on top of the hats, this allows the hat to fit a lot better. We will also modify the hat bands so they will fit even better.

New hats

Today was the day we dance DBD with Jimmy Johnson in Briarcliff. The dance starts at 2:00 but it takes us over two hours to get there so we left the house at 11:15. We were a bit early so we decided to drive by Camp Pedernales where we use to launch our boat when we lived in Austin. The last few years the place has been for sale and looked abandoned but it has been sold. The new owners are making it into a place to hold weddings. The dance had two squares and an extra couple and a lot of food. The cinnamon rolls and apple fritter rolls I made were a success and half of the Reese's bars were gone. We had a super time dancing and visiting with friends.

Jimmy Johnson calling the dance

Friends having fun dancing to Jimmy

Finishing up the move Jimmy called

On the way home when we were driving through Marble Falls we saw that they had their Christmas lights up by the lake. We stopped and walked through the trail of lights. There were a lot of people there. Marble Falls did a great job of decorating for Christmas. We had fun walking around.

Entrance to Marble Falls Trail of Lights

Ice Skating display

Getting ready for Christmas display

A penguin ice fishing display

We had an outstanding day of dancing.      

Saturday 12-2 Baking

Baking desserts

We decided to start the day out by going for a walk to Temple Lake Park. We walked the opposite direction then we normally do. This time of year the Corps of Engineers closes the park for day use except for the boat ramp. You can't drive your vehicle in the park but you can walk in the park. When we got to the park we decided walk down to the point where people swim. By walking to the point we walked 3.25 miles. We had a very pleasant walk.

Larry had read in the newspaper that there was a Christmas Arts and Crafts Fair at the Frank Mayborn Center. After our walk we went to the show, it was very small so it didn't take long to walk through. The last time there was an Art Fair at the Frank Mayborn Center it had more paintings, prints and other art works. Today, there wasn't any, the vendor had more of the arts and crafts items. We didn't find anything we needed. On the way home we stopped by the Temple Library to donate some books and we checked out the first season of The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency.

When we got back to the house Larry did a couple of small project before lunch. It's the beginning of the month and Larry puts bleach in the septic system. This time of the year Larry makes sure that the boat battery is fully charged so he connected the battery to the charger. When he finished we had lunch.

Tomorrow, we going to our monthly DBD Dance in Baircliff, it's their holiday dance and they have a potluck. We signed up to bring dessert so I spent the afternoon baking. The other day when we went grocery shopping we picked up a few desserts. One was Krusteaz Cinnamon Roll Mix, they give you a couple different ideas for using the mix. Larry thought it would be nice to have something different so I baked Apple Fritter Rolls and Cinnamon Roll Muffins. I also made Betty Crocker Reese's Peanut Butter & Chocolate Bars. Larry was my guinea pig to make sure they tasted ok. I also tested them. We gave them two thumbs up. 

Cinnamon Roll Muffins

Reese's Peanut Butter Chocolate Bars

Apple Fritter Rolls

While the desserts were baking we finally got caught up with the GizWiz. We were still behind due to our fall trip.

In the evening we watched YouTube videos. Afterwards we started watching the series we checked out from the library. It's taken from the novel by Alexander McCall Smith. It's a cute series about a lady opening her own detective agency. We had a super day. 

Watching Television

    

Friday 12-1 Dancing to Tim and Marilyn

Just having fun

We had another gorgeous day. We started the day off by taking the Minnie back to storage. The other day we had bought a replacement part for our pantry door and it was the wrong one. So after we put the Minnie away we swung by Lowe's and returned the part. The last stop was Walmart. 

We have a couple of heaters in the Minnie, one of them is big and the other one is the perfect size. Larry has been wanting to buy another one to replace the bigger heater. When we stopped at Walmart we found a heater that was the exact heater that was the perfect size one. After buying the heater we went back to the house.

During the afternoon Larry and I read. In the evening we went to Killeen to dance with the Kickers. Every year in December they invite Tim Tyl and Marilyn Wagsuespack to come and do their Christmas Dance. Tim Tyl is a square dance caller from White Oak Texas, he is very energetic and fun to dance to. Marilyn is a round dance cuer from Freeport Texas, she's an excellent cuer. There were six squares and a few round dancers. We had a super time dance to Tim.

The outfits we wore to the Killeen Kickers Christmas Dance

Friends having fun with Marilyn and Tim while round dancing

Christina and Marilyn round dancing while Marilyn cues

Thursday 11-30 Finishing Up

Saying good-bye to November

Today is the last day of November. We had a super month.

This morning we walked to Temple Lake Park, which was about three miles round trip. The walk was warmer then yesterday but it was still a great walk.

When we got home Larry cleaned the wheels on the Minnie. After lunch we went outside to finish up with the waxing of the Minnie. Yesterday we waxed the front and back so today we waxed the sides. Larry applied the wax and I wiped it off. It took us about three hours but the temperature was 70 degrees so it was very pleasant.

Waxing the side of the overhead

Waxing around a storage area

 In the evening Larry and Patricia showed up and we went to Sun City to do our A dancing. We had enough people for two squares and an extra couple. We had a fun time.

When we got home Larry read his e-mails and I finished reading The Secret Supper. The book takes place in 1497 and is wrapped around Leonardo da Vinci's masterpiece, The Last Supper. It was very well written and I learned a lot about the era. I liked the book. Then I started reading The Founding, which is the first book of The Morland Dynasty Series. It was written by Cynthia Harrod Eagles and takes place in the 1400s.