Happy Easter

Mom and I went to the Baptist church near the park for Easter services.  The RV park was hosting an Easter lunch providing the ham with the residents bringing potluck—as usual it was all delicious!

This couple was celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary today.

It was a warm day and even Emmi decided she had had enough ball playing in the heat—she dropped the ball and went to the door of the motorhome asking to be let in where it was cool!

The rest of the afternoon was spent searching the internet for beach condos.  My girlfriends are coming for a visit in late April and we won’t all fit in the motorhome with Michael and Emmi!  I got a little lost, too !  I was searching on South Padre Island finding lots of beach front condos when I realized South Padre Island was down by Brownsville, TX and North Padre Island was here near us!  Back to the search!

Tonight Michael came home with interesting news—tomorrow he starts working 12 noon to 12 midnight—what’s up with that???? 

On one of my trips in and out of the motorhome this little guy surprised me—he is hanging onto the hand hold going into the motorhome.

On occasion we have talked about our friends Gwen and Arch—Gwen is a realtor and sold our ranch but the two of them over the years have become very good friends.  Arch (a retired physician) was a tremendous help to us when Michael was so ill in 2010.  Seven months ago Arch was diagnosed with inoperable cancer which had spread to many areas of his body—Friday afternoon Arch died.  Our hearts go out to Gwen and the rest of their family.  We will miss him greatly.

A Long Day

I just get used to having Michael around and he goes off to work and a day early I might add!  It’s busy at the job site and when Rollie offered to let Michael have Thursday off so he could drive back to Houston with me, Michael volunteered to work today.  So, it has been a long day.  But a good one—I finally was able to remove these lovely stockings to take a shower!!  Orders were to shower in the dang things then dry the stockings with a hair dryer—which took a while!  It was bliss to remove those tight things even only for a little while.  I also don’t have to sleep in the dang things any more either!!! 

I spent most of the day on the couch with my right leg elevated—the removal of the troublesome varicosity and the way the tech in the doctor’s office wrapped my leg caused a great deal of swelling.  I should have removed the bandage and re-wrapped it the right way myself!  Once I removed that elastic wrap and propped my leg up for a couple hours, the swelling went away and is almost non-existent this afternoon in spite of my walking Emmi a couple times and running the vacuum (taking after my friend Brenda ).

Michael bought a large package of bananas while in Costco the other day and of course about four of them were too ripe to eat as of today.  I don’t usually make banana bread but today I must have had an urge—I used a recipe which calls for Greek yogurt instead of oil and the bread is delicious—I’m not joking, even Mom and Chuck thought it was good!

My sweet niece Niki sent us an Easter package—edible treats for Michael, pretty spring dishcloths for me and an Easter chicken for Emmi--

A good day!

Brazos Bend State Park

Was the absolute best!  We loved it—convenient to Houston (20 miles), quiet, scenic, filled with wildlife—we wish we could clone the park and bring it to Aransas Pass with us! The first four nights of our stay were so relaxing and peaceful—we could have stayed a lot longer BUT--

This is of course Easter weekend bringing all the weekenders out in full force taking away the peace and quiet.  Every rig arriving yesterday and last night contained at least two children, usually four, bicycles, motorized cars, toys, loud music, beer and the yelling young adults which go with the consumption of too much beer.  And can someone please explain to me why on earth they turn on so many lights.  As we were leaving this morning, almost every rig had some kind of external light burning around the picnic table as well as their outside lights glowing on the rigs.  Are they afraid of the dark???  The night sky was beautiful out there in the middle of nowhere, stars galore.  The moon coming up was breath taking.  Owls hooting, coyotes howling—beautiful sounds the loud music loving, beer drinking/yelling folks missed. 

Some even brought their Easter decorations along:

The last two days of the vein treatments were not as easy!  Nothing went wrong, the days were just kind of mixed up and confusing.  I assumed I would be finished this week but that wasn’t to happen—I will drive back to Houston next Thursday for hopefully the last appointment.  My legs don’t hurt anymore—having to wear these support stockings for two weeks will be tedious but I will survive.  I am VERY pleased with my procedures.

We left Brazos Bend State Park about 8am, dumped our tanks and headed for Aransas Pass arriving just after noon.  Set up was quick and now we are relaxing and catching up on the computer and laundry.  Air conditioners are running—it is a little warmer here than in Brazos Bend!

Alligators and More Alligators

Tuesday evening we walked across the road out to one of the marshy lakes hoping to see some birds and other wildlife, we weren’t disappointed! 

I love this photo and the reflections.  That’s another one of those yellow CROWNED night herons (not CRESTED as I said before—thanks a bunch Judy!!) and his buddy the turtle.

As we were walking away from the lake along the path a bicycle rider stopped us and said, “you might want to pick up your dog or go another way, there is one big, huge alligator back there right along the path.”  And the guy wasn’t joking—this alligator was probably ten feet long—scary huge!!!  We took another way back home rather than walk past him!!!!! 

 

We watched this alligator and vultures for a long time.  The birds seemed to be saying, “is it alive, how close can we get.” 

We had a fabulous time at Brazos Bend State Park—life is good!!

Day Two

We were back in Houston by 10am this morning for round two of the varicose vein treatments.  I was an operating room nurse and participated in many, many what we called in the surgical world, “varicose vein strippings.”   Barbaric procedures where multiple incisions are made and the vein is “stripped” from the leg.  Patients experiencing this procedure spent six weeks recovering and often endured swelling for a long time post-operatively.  

The procedures I am having are totally outpatient, I am awake and very aware of what’s going on.  Catheters are inserted into my veins and radio frequency waves generate heat ablating (laymen’s term—frying) the vein forever.  It is not a procedure without discomfort but for the sake of getting rid of these painful, ugly varicose veins, I can grit my teeth!  Plus there is no recovery time, patients are encouraged to walk immediately, Michael and I did 2 miles yesterday.  And you get to wear these lovely, sexy stockings for three weeks!!

At least they are flesh colored, the girls in the office offered me hot pink or lime green—I could have looked like an Easter egg!!

We are still in love with this park, we’ve spent the entire afternoon outside enjoying the sounds—birds, wind in the trees, etc. and the absolute quiet.  We went for another walk this afternoon—again, about 2 miles.

Yellow crested night heron—aren’t you proud of me Judy???

On today’s walk we noticed this alligator in the distance and until I loaded the photos into Picasa we did not see the other huge alligator in the undergrowth--

Yep, we will be happy to give those alligators their space!

Back tomorrow for round three—injections of some of the more superficial veins and maybe the removal of one of the “fried” veins if the vein did not flatten out as the physician wanted it to. 

We had a delicious lunch today at the Salt Lick Steakhouse—my sweet potato fries were fabulous! 

Life is very good!  Emmi doesn’t think so, although!  There are many little honey bees around in the clover and Emmi had been biting at the bees—I warned her, “not a good idea Ms. Emmi.”  Well, one got her today—she might have learned her lesson????

The Wheels Are Still Round

A gale force wind with 40mph gusts sure reeked havoc on our fuel mileage yesterday!!  We rolled out of the RV park about 9am and arrived at our destination, a park near Houston around 12:30pm.  What a magnificent park!!!  An absolute jewel and it certainly doesn’t hurt that the campground is almost empty this time of week and year!!!  Miles of hiking trails, lakes, alligators—did I mention alligators???

See that black spot to Michael’s right—alligator—see where Emmi is—in Dad’s arms!!!  Same alligator in this lower photo telling us not to come any closer!!

It is so lush and green, sites are huge with lots of green grass between each one, Ms. Emmi has chased a ball until she is exhausted! 

Last evening we took a mile long hike around one of the lakes and saw three alligators, scores of birds and beautiful scenery.  It is also so incredibly quiet, no traffic, no people, blissfully quiet. 

After a fabulous quiet night of sleep we headed into the big city of Houston this morning for my first vein procedure.  Great doctor, great staff, a little bit of ouch and I was done with instructions to walk as much as I wanted.  Plus I was to wear this absolutely gorgeous thigh high stocking even in the shower!  Tomorrow I go back for leg two. 

Life is good, very good!

I Was A Whirlwind

We are heading to Houston tomorrow morning, taking the motorhome.  As we’ve been sitting still for almost four months—lots of things needed to be done.  We have snap on outside sun shades, those had to come off—the windshield was beyond dirty so out came the ladder and the window cleaner.  I decided since I had a clean windshield I would go ahead and wash all the outside windows, too.  And wouldn’t you know it, the wind came up and it rained just enough to wet the windshield—GRRRR!

There is an old wives tale—southern women don’t sweat, they glow.  Yea, right!!  By the time I finished all those windows I was really glowing!!!  I dumped the black tank, defrosted the refrigerator, vacuumed, changed the sheets—the list goes on and on.  Now tomorrow we will see if the wheels are still round as Jim and Ellie would say.

Whipped up a batch of Pioneer Women restaurant style salsa to take with us for munching.  I defrosted the refrigerator as we are planning a Costco run while in Houston. 

Tonight we are heading over to Jim and Ellie’s for dinner, Mom and Chuck are going and so is Rollie, we hope. 

We will be in Houston until Thursday, blog posting may or may not happen, we will see.  I have varicose vein procedure appointments Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday with the last checkup Thursday morning.  I am so looking forward to getting these things fixed!! 

This Day Really Disappeared And A Close Call

I was up right after Michael closed the motorhome door leaving for work which is 5:30am.  I looked at my watch several hours later and couldn’t believe it was 11am!!  Of course I did my coffee and blog reading, took Emmi to the dog park to do her thing, loaded her in the car, drove to the park, walked two miles and played basketball.  Back home I gave her a haircut—our high temp tomorrow is to be 85+ degrees.  And it snowed in Arkansas!!  When I went to get in the shower to wash away all the dog hair attached to me I looked at my watch and saw it was 11am.  Oh, and I did a load of laundry! 

After lunch Mom and I drove over to Corpus Christi—she wanted to get some fabric for making a baby quilt like the one I did recently.  On the way over, just as we were getting onto Highway 398, the cars in front of me came to a dead standstill—I slammed on the brakes, I mean really slammed, I heard rubber burning—looked in my rear view mirror and saw the guy behind me doing the same thing trying to avoid me.  All the while we are thinking “what the heck was that all about???”  There was no traffic.  There was a truck and trailer parked against the far concrete barrier, the traffic is still just crawling and we are still thinking, “what is going on??” when Mom says, “look Janna, there is a tire rolling down the freeway!!!”  Those can be lethal as well as cause lots of damage.  The car in front of me zoomed past the tire, I just hung back and let the thing roll, it finally wedged itself against the concrete barrier but was still rolling, I then zoomed past.  Scary!

We made a HEB stop in Portland before coming home.  Emmi and I went over to Mom’s in the golf cart taking the ladder.  Their trailer has two doors and Mom wanted to put some of that reflective bubble wrap stuff in the window of the door to block the sun’s heat.  To reach the window required a ladder.  I brought the rest of the bubble stuff home with me and did our bedroom windows—I am thinking of doing the shower skylight.  Deb and Rod told us they did this when traveling in Alaska one summer so they could shut out the 2am sunlight and get some sleep. 

It is really greening up around here and to think it snowed in Arkansas—a lot of snow in northern Arkansas!

This little guy caught my eye hopping along the edge of the road today.

Remember when we both got smart phones for Christmas?  Michael’s phone battery has never held a charge, a couple weeks ago I inquired in the Wal Mart cellphone department about a new battery through warranty.  The person helping me said, “oh, if your phone is over 15 days old Straight Talk won’t do anything, you might as well order another battery on the internet, they cost about $20.”  So, I mulled this over for a while, decided that while this isn’t an iPhone we are talking about, the phones did cost $150 each.  I emailed Straight Talk, received a prompt email in return with a phone number to call.  Got a non-American person but I could understand him.  He listened to my problem then said, “we will replace your phone.  I will email you a shipping label to send your old phone back to us.”  Well, now—that is customer service to brag about!!!  The only drawback is Michael has to be without a phone for a few days—he doesn’t care! 

One Of Those Days

Where I seem to be going in slow motion not getting a lot done.  I think I have too much of my Dad in me—the man’s hobby was work—and I always feel the need to accomplish something every day.  I did meet two delightful ladies today who arrived in our park a few days ago, Paula and Kathy, both retired USAF.  They used to have schnauzers and were just enthralled with little Ms. Emmi.  We spent time talking schnauzers and young people who don’t know what they want to do with their lives.  Of course we three knew exactly what we wanted to do in life at the ripe old age of 22!

I did finish one quilt, loaded another and started quilting it.  Mom and I made a quick trip to Lowe’s for some of that reflective bubble wrap stuff—the sun comes in two of her windows in the morning and rapidly heats the rig—she is going to put some of this bubble stuff in those windows—the windows don’t open. 

Tonight for dinner we are having a Mexican based casserole and I made some of Pioneer Woman’s restaurant style salsa—the jalapeno I used has some kick to it!!  Rollie arrived this morning, he has been in Louisiana holding granddaughters, seeing his wife and daughters. 

Emmi and I walked in the park a little earlier than yesterday and saw no one except a lot of city workers leaning on their shovels. 

Correction To Blog

Sometimes I don’t listen very well or read my text very well I guess, Michael read the blog tonight and said, “I didn’t tell you they set the crane on top of the Olympus, they mounted the drilling rig up there.” So, I stand corrected, it’s a drilling rig, not a crane—whatever it is it’s huge!

Another Windy Day In Paradise??

We had a late night last night—at least later than we usually do when Michael is working—spur of the moment dinner with friends, their newborn little girl (the recipient of the baby quilt I just finished) and their four other kiddos.  I never had kids of my own and I love it when I hit the nail on the head choosing the right gifts for little munchkins!  I went to Wal Mart, right by the cashiers there was a display of children’s books.  I bought several as well as some bathtub toys and put it all in a plastic bucket.  The books were a total hit!!  The little 2 year old who hates to take a bath kept playing with the bathtub toys—I would say, “you can’t play with those unless you take a bath.”  He would say, “no want one!” 

So, we were late getting home and thus it was an early morning for Michael.  I slept in until the wind tried to tear the windows awnings off the motorhome—then hastily dressed, went outside and rolled in the awnings. 

Emmi and I went to the park to walk today—there is a lady who is frequently in the park with her little terrier mix dog.  He is usually on a leash or in her arms.  The woman has told me before the dog doesn’t get along with other dogs.  Today he was off the leash, she picked him up as soon as Emmi and I got close but for some strange/stupid reason she put the dog down just as we were walking past—I reached down, lifted Emmi into my arms and the dog made a run at my ankle.  I stomped my foot and yelled “no”—the woman laughed, saying, “he always get the person before he gets the dog.”  Can you imagine?????  I said, “then I suggest you keep him on a leash.” and kept walking. 

The rest of the day was spent quilting and helping Mom make a Mondo bag—an oversized bag made from 2 1/2” strips.  I almost finished the quilt I’m working on—yippee!  One more to do to make my goal of four quilts this two week work session.

Dinner tonight is homemade bread, orzo pasta with homemade marinara sauce.  YUM!

Yesterday morning Michael sent me a text telling me the crane had been set atop the Olympus hull making it look even larger than it did previously! 

No Dentist and Shopping

Mom and I had dental appointments in Corpus Christi today—planned an early departure so we could run our errands, hit the dentist then come home.  As we were driving to Corpus, my cell rang—“the dentist has injured her back and we need to cancel your appointments.”  Dang it but what can you say—so we just enjoyed some more retail therapy!!  And lunch!! 

I use Zappos a lot, a whole lot when I am searching for a particular kind of shoe such as sneakers for Michael or me.  I usually have good luck—for instance I ordered two pair for Michael right before we came to Texas—one pair fit well, the other did not.  The beauty of Zappos—shipping is FREE both ways—so it’s easy to send stuff back.  This time I ordered two pair of sneakers at a time and after the second try gave up.  Went to ole Google and searched—“running shoes in Corpus Christi.”  Up popped Fleet Feet with good reviews for service and selection.

Success:Mizuno running shoes—have never heard of the brand but they fit and feel good!!  A very intelligent young man who knew his stuff helped me find these—they also came in bright blue or bright orange, I stuck to the conservative ones!

Lunch was at Grimaldi’s Pizza—we were headed to PF Chang’s when I noticed the pizza place—Greg and Jan White have spoken well about this pizza place and they were right—it was good, a little pricey for pizza but good!

The trees are almost completely leafed out—these last few 80 degree days are making spring come on fast!  I took some photos of flowers with the phone today but I’m struggling with this “share” business—when I “share” to Picasa, sometimes the photos never appear in Picasa—lost in cyberland! 

A good day in spite of the canceled dentist appointment. 

One Busy Monday

Whew!  I decided to take all our linens, rugs and assorted other laundry to the laundromat just up the road—the RV park laundromat does not have large enough washers for queen size quilts.  My theory was if I got everything clean, rid of germs, maybe I would get completely well??  Back at home I made the bed with all those clean linens, vacuumed and mopped the floors.  Oh, and I washed the dog—she wasn’t impressed.  Now everything and everybody is clean.

Laundromats are typically not the cleanest spots and this one took the cake—absolutely filthy!!  Gross!!  Made me want to shower when I got back home!

Mom and I finished these little Easter wallhangings—we bought the pattern in the quilt shop in Port Lavaca when we did the shop hop.

 I also managed to get some quilting on a customer quilt accomplished—if I am going to finish four projects in this two week work period, I better get moving!  Two down, two to go!

It was a warm day here in Aransas Pass and muggy, tomorrow is supposed to be cooler. 

That Was A Long Week

To say the least—it is good the week of nights is over and we have our regular schedule back.  Very good indeed!

Yesterday when Emmi and I were walking in the park we noticed the park maintenance guys using a long hook to retrieve something from the lake—the nearest place which might have one of these retrieved items is more than a mile away—strange:

Maybe the alligators went shopping??

This is probably a weed but I thought is was a pretty weed:

The baby quilt is all bound, labeled and ready to go. 

Michael slept for a few hours this morning and after lunch we headed over to Rockport to visit our friends Jim and Ellie who rolled in a few days ago.  Jasmine and Mr. BoJangles (both schnauzers) were also glad to see us and Emmi.  It has probably been about two years since Emmi was in their motorhome—but she marched herself right back to the bedroom where the toy bin was located—made herself right at home!  We taught Jim and Ellie how to boondock thinking they would be with us for about three days out in the AZ desert—two months later they were still with us and came back for more the next year!  We met them while staying at Doc Justin RV Park in Tucson several years ago—they were in the process of buying the Phaeton motorhome they call home. 

Here we all are enjoying happy hour in the desert—Gina and Rollie under the awning, Ellie, Jim and Michael.  I think in this photo Rollie and Gina had just arrived—they had met Jim and Ellie before but not us.  We spent many fun filled hours together in the desert that year. 

Last Night

Michael headed off for his last night shift about 5pm this afternoon—we are both very glad this week is almost over.  Emmi and I made ourselves scarce today, going to the park to walk, playing ball outside and working in the quilt studio.  He was able to get some good sleep while we were out of the motorhome.  Our window shades are day/night shades and are a darker brown color making the bedroom quite dark even in the daytime—makes him think it is night time??  

In the quilt studio I finished two little Easter bunny wall hangings Mom and I had made plus I loaded another customer quilt onto the frame.

And that’s the extent of our day—nothing exciting other than this is Michael’s last night—just the same old thing.  Our park has some empty spaces—the snowbirds are taking flight! 

The baby quilt I am making is for a co-worker of Michael’s.  The family lives in Texarkana with the dad spending two weeks at a time down here.  Michael called a while ago to say Mom and baby were coming here tomorrow—I better get to stitching that binding!!!! 

Hope you all are having a great weekend. And a couple family photos--

Mom and her husband Chuck—I like this photo!

Our granddaughter Katie and her husband Michael—ready for their St. Patrick’s Day run or maybe they just finished their run as I think that is one big beer in Katie’s hand???

Warm and Windy

That was our weather today, warm and windy but at least not as warm as Rick and Paulette are experiencing out in California.  Our high was still under 80 degrees but the minute those winds kicked up I felt that tickle in my throat again so I suspect this illness is probably allergy related.  Rollie came home early this afternoon—his allergies are not being nice to him, either.

Michael didn’t do so well sleeping today so he may be in for a long night out there.  He has tonight and one more then no more nights we hope!  I didn’t sleep well either last night—I was hearing things outside—which kept me wondering if someone was trying to steal all my sewing machines???? 

I try to stay out of the motorhome all morning while Michael is sleeping—Emmi and I go to the park to walk our two miles, we come home and play ball then I prop the door of the quilt studio open and keep an eye on her while I sew.  She is just fabulous about staying right here on our lot—dogs walk by in the street with their owners, Emmi might growl in her throat but she never moves.  When tossing the ball for her, sometimes the ball with bounce into the street—she immediately stops at the edge of our lot, I tell her to “sit” –she sits and waits for me to walk across the street and retrieve the ball.  Have I mentioned how smart our dog is??? 

More sneakers arrived from Zappos today—what incredible customer service—order one morning, the shoes are delivered before noon the next day and shipping is free.  Customer service was great, shoes were not!  That’s three pair I have ordered and sent back now—and return shipping is also free.  I am going to try this shoe store in Corpus Christi next week and see what I find—I have a long, narrow foot and it is hard to find sneakers in narrow sizes—that’s why I order from Zappos but I’m not having much luck this time!

The binding is on the little baby quilt and I will start hand stitching it down—where are you Gina when I need you??? 

Life is good—and will be better when my husband is off nights!!

I’m Done

The food provided by one of the caterers out at the job site leaves a little to be desired—then when the food has been sitting in the refrigerator since lunch time—it is really lacking.  Michael is working with another guy on nights this week—his wife brought food last night, tonight I took food out to them—the Cajun Blackened Chicken Alfredo recipe I made last week.  It was almost dark while I was driving the few miles out to the site—it looks like a little city out there with all the rigs lighted.  The hulls are enormous once you get that close—and the office trailers where I met Michael are still a ways from the actual rigs.  

It was very foggy this morning when Michael arrived home—when Emmi and I drove out to walk in the park the fog was gone here but out around the rigs on the coast, the fog was still hanging making for an eerie scene.

Finally one of those cardinals decided to light somewhere long enough for me to snap a photo today—dang anti-social birds!

Rollie and I ate southern tonight—pinto beans, cabbage and cornbread—YUM!  As you know Gina is gone and I usually cook for Rollie some but I’ve felt so bad this week there hasn’t been much cooking going on around here!  Tonight I was back in the game!

I am done—today I went to Rockport for groceries and decided to pay another visit to Southern Star RV Resort and the owner Russ Reynolds.  His truck was there but he was nowhere to be found.  I called the number listed for the RV park and who do you suppose answered the phone—yep, Sandy—the same woman who took my reservation, promised to return my check AND who Russ Reynolds told me two weeks ago he had fired!!! 

I am done—I was so incredibly angry I could have done things I would have regretted but I didn’t.  I came home, told Michael I was not wasting any more of my brain cells, energy or happiness on a low life who wouldn’t know the truth if it jumped out and bit him.  FedEx can go the same route, too—I am done.  In our life $250 is not worth the stress or anger these idiots have caused us.  In the case of Russ Reynolds, his actions will at some time come back to haunt him. 

I am feeling better, I finished that baby quilt today, photos tomorrow—life is good!

A Better Day

Michael crashed immediately when he got home, Emmi and I headed out the door about 8am for the park to walk.  Almost every morning we go to the park we see a really nice couple out walking their two dogs, a mixed breed and a miniature schnauzer, Pearl and Roscoe.  Couldn’t tell you the people names, only the dogs—shows you where my priorities are! Roscoe is not fat at all and he probably outweighs Emmi by 10 pounds—it’s funny to see them side by side.

Guess who had doggie treats!

On the way out of the park you get a birds eye view of the job site where Michael and Rollie work.  Another rig hull, Bigfoot, came in a couple weeks ago—so there are two big hulls sitting out there.  The project hull which is employing Michael and Rollie, Jack St. Malo, is due sometime in April.  Gonna get kind of crowded out there!

I am more than half way done quilting the little baby quilt and it is gorgeous—a meandering feather.  Michael’s lap belongs to Emmi and Emmi only, no computer, nope Dad, that computer is not going in this lap, this is my lap!  And she usually wins!

Feel a little better today but have this awful cough—maybe that means I’m on the mend!