This and That

Our cold front went through during the night and a northerly wind slammed our trailer. Don't think we've had that much rock and rolling in a long time. The wind kept up all day and there were a few times I wondered about the awning but it stayed in place. At least we were able to turn the air off and open the windows.

Had some running around to do this morning and this afternoon we went over to David and Linda's place. They've had company for the last month so they've been pretty busy entertaining. They also were busy buying a house in a Golf Resort about a half hour north of here. Not happy about them moving so far away but can't blame them. It's really a cute two bedroom home and I'm sure they will enjoy it. I know Linda's excited about a walk in closet and having a big stove to cook on. It's amazing what things a person gets excited about when moving into a house after living in a trailer. I'm trying to convince them that they could keep their lot and trailer here and come down on weekends but David's not seeing this wonderful idea like Linda is.

The first resident (Billie and Larry Oth) pulled out today heading home to MO. Unfortunately they only got about a hour north and had a tire blow out on the trailer. Larry O. called tonight and said it took him a hour and a half to get the tire changed. They are still a couple of hours south of San Antonio where they planned on staying tonight. Now they will need to find a tire there. Sure hope things go better for them.

We recently found out we could get the DIY Home Improvement station on our Direct TV. So the last few days we've been watching these programs called Renovation Realities. This is a program of couples doing their own remodeling and all the problems they had. I'm beginning to wonder about this new house we bought and all the work we'll need to do. There was this one program that I need to keep in mind. The couple had been having some words between them. Mrs had a drill in her hand and every time Mr opened his month she'd turn the drill on. Now that may be worth the trip to Lowes for my very own tool.

That's it for tonight. Oh FYI - the fudge bar was really good last night. Signed off so fast I forgot to do my Welcome. So Welcome Friends from
San Antonio TX, Morristown NJ, Foley AL, Centerburg OH, Langley BC Canada,
Whitter CA, and Pharr TX. Come back soon

Till next time..........................

Chili Cook Off

Last night (Saturday) was the Chili Cook Off up at the clubhouse. Donna Zinneckerg and I decided to join in and make my White Chicken Bean Chili.

There were twelve signed up but a few must of changed their minds at the last minute because I think there was either 9 or 10 contestants. The only thing that would of been nice is not having the temperatures in the high 80's. Hot Chili - Hot Weather

Here's a picture of the Chili Row
While some were in line others where enjoying the samples

Before the event started there was some prep work in the kitchen.

What's food without Deserts!!!!

Even tho Donna and I didn't win our good friends Marilynn and Gary Orthober came in at

Third Place
Congrat's to them.

Not much else going on. It's been warm all week and we've even had to have the air on. Right now it's in the mid 90's but really windy.

Guess that's it for today. Larry's heading for the freezer for a fudge bar so gotta go.

Hapy Hour Conversations,

At our happy hour tonight the ladies - wait - let me explain something first about our happy hours. There is a dividing line where the guys sit at one end and the gals at the other. This way the women don't have to try and talk over the conversation of the guys. Which most of the time is Truck Talk. Now there is only one man that seems to slide down into the the ladies section and that's Jack. Haven't figured this out yet, maybe we need to ask him at the next happy hour. But as long as he sits quietly there and doesn't try to inject a mans point of view to our conversations we'll let him stay.

So back to my story. Tonight the ladies were talking about how much our life style has changed since we retired and started spending winters here. We can't imagine the way we could juggle full time jobs, house work, grocery shopping. not to mention kids and all the other things that were just part of our daily lives. Now we're so busy with the activities, happy hours, Mexico lady days, mall shopping, pot lucks, trips to DQ for blizzards that we just don't have time for all these "house" chores. And if we happen to have a appointment during the week than it's like the whole week is shot and can't do anything else. Do you think we're spoiled? If you ask any of the women here they would give you a big fat YES and PROUD OF IT.

So all that being said what did we do this week? Monday we went to see Larry and LaVila. Had a nice lunch at a new Mexican place not far from their place. We each had something a little different, the food was good and I think the total cost for all four of us was less than $20. Than we went over to a liquor store as I needed some Raspberry Vodka. I found this really yummy drink with Cran-berry juice (healthy stuff), diet 7-up (again somewhat healthy) and a shot of raspberry vodka (depends on the shot how unhealthy). But it sure is a refreshing drink on these warm afternoons. From the liquor store we went over to the Don West Veggie Market. We got a 5lb bag of grapefruit for $3.00 (sooo sweet and juicy), a whole pineapple (again sooo good) $2.00, 2-tomatoes $1.00, and white radishes (not very good) $.50. After leaving there some how the car ended up driving into the Diary Queen so we had to have a treat. It was a good day with good friends and we got home just as friends where walking up for happy hour at our place.

Not much going on the last couple of days. Larry helped Grant today with some thing on the living room slide. Danielle and I ran to the Dollar Store. Still can't figure out how we can spend an hour in a Dollar Store when she was going along for the ride and I needed two items.

Tomorrow Donna, Marilynn and I need to run up to Walmart and get our ingredients for the Chili Cook Off on Sat. Should be interesting, everyone testings hot chili when the temperature is suppose to be close to 90 degrees. Could be worse, Sundays suppose to be 98. Larry said everyone should just wear their swimsuits, test chili than a dip in the pool. Might not be a bad idea.

My sister Nadene sent me a couple of pictures this weekend that I'd like to share. These were taken in her back yard in Dewitt Michigan.

Spring is in the air, blue skies, green grass



Only 24 hours later

Crap!!!!!

Guess that's it for tonight. A Big Welcome to:
Pottsboro TX, Staunton IL, Aberdeen SD, Dierks AR, Arlington VA, Edmonton Canada,
Please come back and visit again.

Till next time.................

Where did the week go

Can't believe I haven't posted since last Monday. This week went so fast but not sure what we've done. The weather has changed back to what we expect and want in this area. Highs are in the 80's and lows in the 60's but we do get the wind when it's this warm.

Must be we didn't do anything exciting on Monday. All I remember about the day was it was our turn to have Happy Hour and our little patio area was full.

Tuesday was the Heavy Duty Truck Luncheon here. Mark Bruss and Jack Mayer organized and placed a post on the Escapee's Forum for anyone in the Valley wanting to join us. For being the first year of having it here at Retama there was a pretty good crowd. Everyone (even us in the park) brought their truck up to the clubhouse and parked.

The line up
Lots of conversations

I'm sure some of the people in the park were wondering what they had gotten into when they saw all the big trucks parked along the clubhouse. There were six trucks missing for various reasons so it would have really filled the parking area up they'd of all been there.

I've posted more pictures of the trucks on our Webshots if you want to see them. There is one more picture that I want to share here.

Meet our Security Staff "Trash".

While we were all inside enjoying the meal he was assigned to watch our rigs. The good thing is Trash is Big, the bad thing is Trash is a lover not a fighter. He thinks of himself as a puppy and this 100+ lb puppy loves to cuddle. Anyone trying to do something to the truck can expect one of two things to happen. Either they will have their face washed with that 2 ft tongue or they'll be pinned down from Trash's cuddling.

Wednesday Larry had his annual Dr's appointment than we decided to run down to Mexico to pick up a couple of things. Of course we can't leave there without stopping at our favorite restaurant. Yes the one that has buy one Marquita ($1.00) get the second one free. Now keep in mind it's not quite noon when we stop and oh by the way neither of us has had anything to eat yet that day. Larry had his beer and I did drink my 1st Marquita but had to turn down the free one. Just new there was know way I'd make it across that quarter mile bridge to the car.

Thursday and Friday were both uneventful days. A trip to Walmart and the post office. Larry's been busy this week. His computer died so since we don't play good together when it comes to sharing computers it called for a emergency run to Best Buy. I can't believe how the prices have changed since we purchased our first lap top. Anyway since than he's been installing and trying to find all his favorites he had. So much for the backup thing he was using on the old computer.

Guess that's it for today: In looking back at the Status for this week we've had a lot of new hits.

So a Big Welcome to:

Sidney MT, San Lorenzo CA, Hughes Spring TX, Ingleside TX, Crandall, TX, Dierks AR, Oil City PA, Walled Lake MI, Barcelona Catalonia Spain, Laveen AZ, Russian Federation, St Louis MO,
Gothenburg Vasta Gotaland Sweden, Goochland VA and Metairie LA.

Till next time...............................

Valentine Wish - Yard Sale

First a big Happy Valentine's to my hubby Larry, our son Alan, our daughter Renee and her husband Brian, our youngest daughter Brandi, our favorite granddaughter Anissa and favorite grandson Darrius. Oh yes I almost forgot our favorite grand dog Devon. Miss you guys and can't wait to see you in just a few months. Oh and also a Happy Valentine to our siblings and all the nieces, nephews, great nieces/nephews and even some great-great nieces/nephews. I'd list them but we have a whole lot of family out there and it would fill up a blog.

The Yard Sale seemed to be a big success. People were lined up at the gate by 8AM and it wasn't suppose to start until 9AM. I went around and check with the other lots and everyone was ready so we opened the gates before 8:30. It was a bit chilly (38*) when the sale started but by noon it warmed up nicely and the sun was shining. Here's a few pictures

Jutta is all ready to make that first sale
Bob and Kathleen got comfy.
Grant and Jim stayed warm with the coffee that Dick furnished

Marilynn is always ready for an adventure know matter how cold

Doesn't our lot look big without the truck

While cleaning out the shed last week Larry came across a squatter

We thought about keeping him for the grandson but than that would mean he'd have to stay in the house. Nope- not going to happen. Darrius will have to be happy with the picture.

Sunday we went over to see our friends Larry and LaVila. LaVila is a little under the weather and we had a good visit with them. They purchased a lot in Mercedes which is about a half hour from here. Wish they were closer as I really enjoy being with LaVila, oh ya and you too Larry. lol

Guess that's it for tonight. The weather is back to where we expect it to be 80's and looks to be this way for awhile now.

A big Welcome to:
Montgomery AL, Newburg MD, Slatington PA, Norristown PA Martathon FL

Till next time.....................................................

High Tea at Retama

The ladies luncheon this month was a Tea Party with the finger sandwiches and all sorts of hats.

I never new there were so many different kinds of finger sandwiches
There sure was a verity of ladies hats

The group was a little smaller than usual with maybe just over 60 women but everyone seemed to have a good time.

Later that day Marilynn and I had a hair cut appointment at Victoria's. Vicky is such a neat lady and it was interesting to hear about the different Coming of Age Ceremonies that young girls have in the Spanish Culture. There is one Ceremony called Quinceañera that is a special unique birthday for a girl who has turned 15. It's like a debutante's "coming out party". These Ceremonies begin at the families church which is compared to a large wedding. The girl arrives dressed in a full length dress with matching headdress and bouquet. Not only is she dressed to the hilt but the males in her family are in tuxedos and woman also in elaborate dresses.

I did a search on a picture of some of these gowns that these 15yr olds wear
In finding this picture the article says that these events cost as much as a wedding.

This is a major event in the girls life and the whole family gets involved. After the ceremony at their church they attend a large banquet to celebrate. Just a little tidbit about the Mexican Culture here.

Guess that's it for tonight. A Big Welcome to:

Carmel IN, York MA, Bedford TX, Palm Harbor FL, Coppell TX Burleson TX, King of Prussia PA,

Till next time........................Stay Warm

Happy Birthday Hubby

Well my guy turned 62 today. Hard to believe he's getting soooo old - good thing I was a child bride even if it is my second marriage. The good thing is he can start drawing Soc Sec. before it runs out. The bad thing is good old General Motors reduces his pension by the amount that he gets from Soc Sec. Grrrrrrrrrrrr

There have been many birthday wishes on FaceBook and he thanks everyone. But this morning was our monthly community meeting and our friend Gail (or at least he use to be Larry's friend) made an announcement of this special day. So a big happy birthday song was sang.

Yesterday Kathie, Sandy, Marilynn and I went to Mexico. Sandy is visiting Kathie and she wanted to do some shopping there. I drove and let me tell you, riding with three Canadian Woman is an experience in itself. They were using words to describe things that I swear they were just putting me on. Cross the bridge around 9:30 and it took us over a hour to get through the first block. Finally stopped for lunch around 1:30 than worked our way back over the bridge with all our goodies.

The trip home wasn't very good. Once we got close to Mission there was a huge grass fire along the highway and they closed that route and sent everyone over to the only other north/south road. This road ends up going pass the McAllen Mall. It took us about 45 minutes to drive about 2 miles in bumper to bumper traffic. So our half hour drive turned into almost a two hour drive. At least we got to read all the Business Signs along 10th Street. Did you know there are 41 WhatABurgers in this area.

This seems to be a busy week. Had the meeting today and my Thi Chi class. Tonight we're going out for pizza with the Bill/Kathie Bevington and Sandy. Tomorrow is the ladies luncheon and a hair cut appointment in the afternoon. Friday night is the wine/cheese party and Saturday is the community yard sale.

Colder temps suppose to move through tomorrow but warm back up by Sat. for the sale.

Guess that's it for now. Back to my Welcomes (keep forgetting) to
Easton PA, Arlington TX, Peeria AZ, Jacksonville FL, Denton TX, Rockwell, TX, Sheffield UK, and East Lansing MI. Till next time.............................

Rain-Frost-Ice-Warmth-Sun

Well I think for the first time since we've gotten here last fall the local Weather Station was right on their forecast. I have decided that Father Time and the Snow Mizar did something stupid to really piss off Mother Nature and we here in the valley got the raw end of her mood. Why Father Time and Snow Mizar you ask? Well let me explain. First Father Time because you have to go back in time over 20 years to see this kind of weather, Second Snow Mizar because he's the only one that can drop this sh** down on us that we had the other night. So the way I see it, these two probably started arguing and wouldn't quit. Finally Mother Nature had enough and knocked their heads together causing Time to loose his memory and go back 20 yrs and the Mizar head to explode releasing winter weather on the valley. Hey if anyone else out there has a better explanation why we got hard freezes three nights in a row, wind chills in the teens and a quarter inch of ice I'll be more than happy to put it on this blog. Until than I will believe what I want to. But you know what the worse thing was during these four days, No Happy Hours.

The sleet started early Thursday evening and by morning things were covered in ice. Here's a few pictures of the park.

Looking out our window or at least what we could between the ice
That's ice on the grass and car.
Later that morning the sun came out and really showed the ice on the trees

This one I copied from a friend that was taken from his place

The area down here is not equipped for this kind of winter mess so until the sun came out and things melted the major expressway and all over passes where closed down. Which pretty much made it hard to get around since about every other street around here has a over pass. Many businesses and schools were closed not only because of the ice but the wind chill. Since they don't have salt down here for the roads they used dirt to spread around. Interesting and very messy as they pretty much just dumped it on the roads instead of spreading a thin layer.

Unfortunately some of the residents forgot to turn the water off on the sprinkler system so now have that expensive repair. There were several people that really took a terrible fall when they stepped down on their RV step and ended up at the bottom. One poor lady ended up in the hospital from her fall but is ok now. You just don't think of those things down here.

The sad part is the majority of the flowers and bushes have pretty much had it. The only ones that look like they may be alright are the rose bushes. Many people started cutting back things today and putting it out for the lawn maintenance crew to pick up.

Today was a beautiful day with Sun and warm temperatures.

It was so good to see this

Not a cloud in the sky. People were out walking and biking again, you could hear the laughter at the different lots during happy hour and windows and doors were opened again. Life in the Rio Grande Valley was back to normal. Thank Goodness

Till next time........... from a whole lot warmer place..........and a happy camper.....................

Pleassse Enough

It just keeps getting better and better here. Words are appearing on local stations, newspapers, online that should NEVER EVER be mentioned in this area of the Country. Now come on, we are sitting less than a mile from Mexico, we are on the most southern tip, we can't go any farther south or we get our feet wet.

And what do I see on the weather site for our area

The National Weather Service in Brownsville has issued a Winter
Storm Watch... which is in effect from Thursday afternoon through
Friday morning. A wind chill warning remains in effect from 6 PM
this evening to 3 PM CST Thursday.

Currently it's 36 degrees at 2PM. Three days ago we had 89 degrees. Luckily our heater is keeping it at 70 inside but it still feels cold.

The ONLY thing that's getting me through this crap is looking at Sunday's forecast

				74° F | 54° F
				Partly Cloudy

And next week is looking even better.

So this morning I put a big pot of White Chicken Chile on to simmer all day. Hopefully the soup and the hot spices will help to keep us warm tonight. As for this afternoon I'm heading over to the kitchen (like that's a long walk from my livingroom) and fixing me a big cup of hot choc.

Oh, Welcome time - keep forgetting

Welcome to Princeton TX, Walled Lake MI, Schumburg IL, Huntington Beach CA (probably the only place in the Nation that's warm), Cincinnati OH, DeQueen AR, San Francisco CA.

Till next time............................

NOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Honest I do feel for all my family and friends north of us who are dealing with this unbelievable storm. As I've said I can't imagine the type of snow your getting and the cold temperatures any more. It's currently 32 degrees with strong winds so the wind chill is 22 degrees and since it's early we haven't hit the coldest time of the day. News reports here are telling people how to prepare for this cold weather, take pets inside, dress in layers, protecting water pipes, etc. It's kind of funny reading these things by us "past-northerner's" but we have to remember the people down here just don't no how to handle this type of cold.

But what really got me this morning was when I linked on to the weather site

Today Cold Hi 41 °F

Tonight Wintry Mix Lo 22 °F

Thursday Slight Chc Rain/Sleet Hi 39 °F

Thursday Night Snow/Sleet Lo 27 °F

Friday Snow/Sleet Hi 46 °F

Friday Night Mostly Clear Lo 32 °F

THIS IS JUST PLAIN WRONG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Retama prepares for the Major Storm too

So we've been watching the National News, Weather Channel and reading the local papers back home. After so many years of not being in any type of snow it's really difficult to imagine 15+ inches. Several friends where expecting family/friends to arrive this week but that's not going to happen. Pat/Jim Olsons kids from WI where suppose to fly in on Wednesday and the air line rescheduled for Thursday (hopefully). Bill & Kathy Bevingtons friend Sandy who lives in Canada was to arrive today. She arrived at the Detroit airport this morning only to be told there would be no flights out and it would probably be Friday before she could get one. Poor Sandy, she's stuck in Detroit airport, not knowing a sole and no rooms available anyplace.

Than our good friend Marilynn Orthober flew back to WI last week to spend some time with her first Great Grandbaby. She too was suppose to fly back here tomorrow (Wed) but her airline called yesterday and rescheduled for Friday. So poor Marilynn will have to spend the next three days doing this

Marilynn is a faithful reader here so I know she'll see this. And even tho I'm sure she wants to come back here what better way to be stranded. The only lucky ones were David/Linda Cypcar's family who drove in today from North Dakota. They were the smart and lucky ones to stay ahead of the storm.

OK, so even tho we aren't having the Blizzards, ice and sleet we too have to prepare for our portion of this storm of the Century. They are still calling for temp's in the 20's at night for 4-6 hour duration. The sad part is all the plants and flowers around our park are in full bloom and so pretty, with these temperatures it will pretty much kill everything off. I did move my few potted plants inside the shed today and the park is starting to look like a sea of blankets and bed sheets. Larry fill the fresh water tank than unhooked,and drained all the hoses and filters than moved those into the shed. This afternoon we went over to the other trailer and helped our renters get things ready there.

OMG I just looked at the online Weather Channel and this is what I saw:

		Thursday
		40° F | 27° F
		Chance of Snow 20% chance of precipitation

Are you seeing what I'm seeing. There is a 4 letter word that should NEVER be incorporated with a forecast in this area. Gee-sh what's going on here. And than there's this:

Hard freeze warning in effect.....Wind chill warning in effect ........ Fire weather warning...

One of our heaters died a couple of weeks ago and the last couple of days I sort of been looking for another one. Well guess what, there's not a heater to be found in this area - wonder why. So our good friends Jack/Danielle Mayer mentioned they have one in their shed that they don't use and wanted to know if we wanted to use it - well YA. You may be wondering why they aren't using it themselves, they have a big beautiful fire place in their livingroom that keeps the place toasty.

Larry keeps saying he doesn't think we need another one but I believe in being prepared when it comes to keeping this body warm. He's just lucky I didn't go buy more blankets for the bed. I'm a little nervous that my flannel sheets, cotton blanket, bedspread, another flannel blanket, afghan and my heavy bath robe isn't going to be enough. Oh and my flannel PJ's and wool socks does help too.

So that's it for now. Hope everyone stays put where ever you are and stay warm.
Till next time................................