Thursday 12-15 Cold Front, Pinball & Dancing

 

We woke up with the temperature in the 30s and it only got into the the high 50s.

We started the day out by going to town. First stop was at the UPS Store to pick up our mail. Then we went across the street to Dollar Tree to pick up some bleach. While in town we finished our Christmas shopping. On the way home we stopped at Top Donuts.

We attended one virtual square dance. It was Dayle Hodge's Weekly C1 at 11:00 for an hour. He called four two couple tips and one four couple tip with 11 participants. Dayle called a little challenging and helped the dancers get in the right place by cueing. We had a great time dancing to Dayle and with friends.

Larry continued tweaking the pinball machine. Then he backed up the games and computer that they run on. When it was backed up he made sure everything worked. The backup went perfect.

I did the Daily Challenges of Solitaire and Mahjong. The event today was Event: Solitaire World Tour of 30 games. It took me 3 hours, 57 minutes and 34 seconds to complete, which put me in 10th place in my group. I did some Sudoku games. I played Angry Birds 2 and Angry Birds and Friends.

We watched YouTube videos.

In the evening we started watching a series on Amazon called A Private Affair. It was originally in Spanish but was translated into English so the audio was a little off. But it was watchable. It's a cute detective series. After Larry went to bed I watched a Christmas movie on Amazon called Angel Falls Christmas. Then I continued watching My Life Is Murder. I ended up doing 25,500 steps, which put me in 5th place in my group.

Wednesday 12-14 Dance Day & Pinball

 

Awesome Day

We had a cool day. We woke up to temperature of 54 degrees and got to 63 degrees. There was a lite breeze. I'm glad I'm in Central Texas because some of the square dancers I dance with are getting snow and blizzard warnings.

I attended four virtual square dances. First was Di Green and Terry McCann's Weekly Plus at 10:00 for an hour. They took turns calling five tips with 14 participants. Di called a few challenging calls such as: Coordinate and Track Two. She put us in positions we weren't use to being in so she cued us through them. I had a super time.

 

Di and Terry's Plus participants

Second was Dayle Hodge's Weekly A1/A2 at 11:00 for an hour. Larry danced with me. During the dance Dayle called two tips of A1 with 15 participants, two tips of A2 with 14 participants and one tip of four couple A2 with 14 participants. Like always Dayle put us in different positions, which made it challenging. He helps by cueing. We had an outstanding time dancing to Dayle and with friends.

Third was Ett McAtee's Weekly C1 at 1:00 for an hour and fifteen minutes. She called five tips and had 16 participants. When the dancers were having problems she would redo the sequence and cue. I had a great time.

Fourth was Dave Eno's Weekly C1/A2 at 6:30 for two hours. Karen Rabe and Greg Moore helped him call the A2 tips. Dave Hutchinson use to call with Dave but he has been having medical problems. Yesterday, he just had his left leg operated on and he's in the hospital for another week. Karen came up with a cool idea of giving him an electronic get well card. Dave asked us write a get well message on a piece of paper. Larry helped me with the get well message. After the first A2 tip we all showed our message and Dave took a screen shot of the messages. Everyone wrote a message to Dave. The format tonight was two tips of C1 with 9 participants, five tips of A2 with 11 participants and one tip of C1 with 8 participants. Karen and Greg called two of the A2 tips and the last A2 tip all three called together. I had a fun evening of dancing with friends.

 

Get well message for Dave 

In between the dances I played games. I did the Daily Challenges of Solitaire and Mahjong. The event today was: Pyramid Mini of 5 games. It took me 7 minutes and 36 seconds, which put me in 14th place in my group. I played Angry Birds. 

I finished reading The Poison Keeper. It was a good historic fiction novel.

Larry continued working on the wiring of the pinball machine. There are a lot of wires, he rewired all the buttons cleaning up and labeling as he went. When he finished we played pinball for a bit to make sure everything runs correctly. The machine is running great and looks super.

Checking out the pinball machine

 

Playing pinball (James Bond)

 

Playfield monitor displaying the pinball game

After the last dance we watched an episode of Death In Paradise. Then I watched a Christmas movie called Your Christmas or Mine? on Prime. Afterwards I watched a couple of episodes of My Life Is Murder. I ended up doing 28,000 steps, which put me in 3rd place in my group.          

Tuesday 12-13 Dancing, Dining Room Table & More

We had a wonderful day. The forecast was similar as yesterday, overcast and a lite rain.

We started the day by attending Di Green and Terry McCann's Weekly A2 dance at 10:00. Di and Terry were back in town.They took turns calling five tips with 14 participants. We had a great time dancing to Di and Terry and with friends.

Get a partner and dance

When Larry started his pinball project he commandeered the dining room table, for the past two months it has been pushed up against the wall and covered with computers, monitors, speakers, buttons, amplifier, wiring and various other items. Over the past week items have slowly been leaving the table and disappearing inside the playfield cabinet. Well today Larry removed the last of the items and we moved the table back to the middle of the room. Of course before all this started it was his paper crafting area so it remains to be seen how long it will actually be available for dining.

I played games. I did the Daily Challenges of Solitaire and Mahjong. The Event today was Event: Tri Peaks Adventure of 20 games. It took me 51 minutes and 44 seconds, which put me in 6th place in my group. I played Angry Birds 2 and Angry Birds and Friends.

I did some housework and laundry. I continued reading The Poison Keeper.

Doing chores

In the evening Larry's sister called, she was having a few problems with her new phone. It took a couple of hours but hopefully everything will now work correctly. 

When Larry went to bed I watched a Christmas movie called A Lot Like Christmas on Prime. It was a movie about a big box store coming to a small town and competing with a local business. It was a cute movie. Afterwards I started watching season 3 of My Life Is Murder on Acorn. I ended up doing 28,000 steps, which put me in 6th place in my group.  

Monday 12-12 Christmas Cards, Dance & Pinball

 

Dreary Day

It was a dreary day. It sprinkled on and off all day.

I started the day by attending Di Green and Terry McCann's Weekly C1 dance. This week Di and Terry were traveling so Di asked Ett McAtee to cover the dance. Ett got her computer problem solved and it worked great through out the dance. Ett called 4 tips with 17 participants. We just danced. When the dancers had problems Ett walked us through the move. Ett did a great job of covering the dance. I had a super time.

Larry spent the day working on the pinball machine. After wiring the buttons he assembled the machine. It is the first time we have seen it all together with everything working. We were able to play pinball just like you would in an arcade. It looks and plays great. While it appears to be finished there are still things that need to be done. Larry will still be working on it for some time but he is excited to be at this point.

Usually Larry does our Christmas cards but this year he has been focused on the pinball machine so I did them. I wrote our yearly letter and got the cards ready to mail. They were done before the mail carrier came by so I gave the cards to him. This saved us a trip to the post office.

Doing Christmas cards

 While waiting to mail the cards I saw a beautiful woodpecker on the power pole. 

Woodpecker on the pole

I played my games. I did the Daily Challenges of Solitaire and Mahjong. The event today was Event: Easy Street Mini of 15 games. It took me 44 minutes and 25 seconds, which put me in 31st place in my group.

In the evening we relaxed in front of the television. The new season of Midsomer Murders is available so we started watching it. Then I watched a Christmas movie on Amazon called A Christmas in Vermont. It was a cute movie starring Abigail Hawk, Chevy Chase and David O'Donnell. Then I finished watching the 15th season of Murdock Mysteries. I ended up doing 28,000 steps, which put me in 5th place in my group.

 

Sunday 12-11 Grocery Shopping, Pinball Project & Games

 

Happy Sunday

We had a great day.

We started the day out going to town. First stop was HEB to do our weekly grocery shopping. Larry has been busy and hasn't had time to make Christmas cards so we went to Walmart to pick up cards and finish our grocery shopping.

Shopping with H-E-Buddy

Larry spent the day working on the pinball machine. He continued working on the electronics and wiring up the button lights. They look great.

Pinball electronics and button lignts

 

Front buttons

 

Launch ball button

While Larry worked on the pinball machine I played my games. I did the Daily Challenges of Solitaire and Mahjong. The event today was Event: Two Game Tango of 20 games (10 Free Cell and 10 Tri Peaks). It took me 2 hours, 48 minutes and 14 seconds, which put me in 18th place in my group. I played Angry Birds.

After playing my games I read.

For dinner I made a dish I hadn't made in a long time, Creamy Chilaquiles. It's a Mexican dish with chicken, cheese, salsa and tortillas chips ( I used tostada shells instead). It came out delicious.

In the evening we watched Catch Me If You Can on Freevee. It was an old movie but it was good. It was based on a real story. Then I watched a movie on Prime called Miss Meadows. It was a weird movie. Then I watched a couple of episodes of Murdock Mysteries. I ended up doing 27,000 steps, which put me in 2nd place in my group for the with a total of 193,247 steps.

Saturday 12-10 Visiting Louise & Pinball Project

 

Smile and have a great day

We started the day out by going to Round Rock to visit Louise and Alice. 

On the way we stopped at Jack 'n' Jill Donuts for breakfast. Next we stopped at The Home Depot in Georgetown. The Home Depot in Temple is small and sometimes doesn't have something we need. On The Home Depot website Larry will find something he wants that is not stocked in Temple but lots of times it will be available in Georgetown. Larry wanted a couple of small items that were not in the Temple store but we found them in Georgetown. 

When we got to Louise's house she and Alice greeted us at the front door. We said our hellos and then went inside. Louise had been having problems with her cell phone so Larry decided to buy her a replacement for Christmas. It came in the other day so today he decided to set it up for her today. For lunch we had sandwiches, potato chips and peanut butter cookies. During our stay I played with Alice and worked on Louise's jigsaw puzzle. We had another nice visit.

When we got home Larry continued working on the pinball machine.

I played my games. I did the Daily Challenges of Solitaire and Mahjong. The event today was Event: World Tour Mini of 10 games. It took me 37 minutes and 41 seconds, which put me in 10th place in my group. I played Angry Birds 2 and Angry Birds and Friends. 

After playing games for a bit I read.

Reading is fun

We watched YouTube videos.

In the evening we watched Hook on Freevee. We hadn't watched this movie in a long time and I still enjoyed it. Then I watched a couple of episodes of Murdock Mysteries 15th season. I also watched a Christmas movie on Freevee called Hotel for the Holiday. I ended up doing 28,000 steps, which put me in 3rd place in my group.

Relaxing in front of the television

 

 

Friday 12-9 Happy Friday

 

We had an awesome day.

Larry spent the day working on the pinball machine. He continued doing the electronics and finishing touches. He did some woodwork and painting. Then he moved onto the playfield. He used aluminum to make the side rails and the top plate of the lock down bar. After installing the speakers and two monitors in the upper cabinet he bolted it to the bottom cabinet. The upper and lower cabinets are finished, only the playfield cabinet is left and most of it is done.

The upper cabinet with speakers and monitors

I played my games. I did Daily Challenges of Solitaire and Mahjong. The event to day was Event: Two Game Tango Mini of 10 games (5 Pyramid and 5 Tri Peaks). It took me 42 minutes and 50 seconds, which put me in 20th place in my group. I played Angry Birds. 

I continued reading The Poison Keeper.

We watched YouTube videos.

I attended Ett McAtee's Weekly A2/C1 dance at 6:30 for an hour. Ett was having internet problems so she called three tips of A2 with 17 participants and one tip of C1 with 16 participants. I had a great time.

After the dance we watched two episodes for Three Pines on Amazon. Afterwards I watched Something From Tiffany's on Amazon. It was a Christmas movie. It was a good movie. After the movie I was deciding what to watch and came across the 15th season of Murdock Mysteries. I had started to watch the season and didn't finish it. I watched a couple of the episodes. I ended up doing 27,000 steps, which put me in 4th place in my group.