Trouble in Mexico

See McAllen near the top of the map? We are about 15 miles east of  McAllen.

Tonight Butch helped some people from British Columbia Canada park their RV. They wintered in Puerto Vallarta. Their friends and next door winter neighbors left last week for the US and ultimately home to Canada. They received an email from them relating their ordeal near Ciudad Victoria Mexico. They were about 20 kilometers north of Ciudad Victoria Mexico (See Map) when vehicles across the road stopped their progress. There were 3 RV's traveling together. They were all three hijacked. They took everything they owned including all their money. They were left on the side of the road with only the clothes on their back. They were lucky they left them alive.
There will be far fewer Canadians in Mexico next winter.

Firming up plans

Today we spent some time firming up plans for when we head north out of the Rio Grande Valley. First stop is Palatio TX. It has been a stop for us before. We like it there. As we travel we develop all these favorite spots that we wish to return to. The next stop is Pass Christian MS and old friends Lum and Donna. That is all we have planned at this time.
Till next time...

One of Amanda's students

One of Amanda's students drew this picture for her.

A Day in Mexico

They were gearing up for their annual appreciation day so it was getting lively in Nuevo Progresso

Enjoying Panchos and margaritas at Garcias

This fellow danced like this for hours with no break. He had a bucket for tips and he removed the tips as soon as they hit the bucket.

Recipes by Request

     Runza Casserole      
      2 lb Hamburger
      2    Onion,Finely Chopped
      4 c  Cabbage,Shredded
           Salt & Pepper,To Taste
      2    Refrigerated Crescent Rolls
      1 lb Mozzarella Cheese,Shredded

[Note: One of my standby recipes. One that Butch is always happy to
see on the  table. ]

Brown hamburger and onion, drain. Put cabbage on top of meat and let
steam for a few minutes. Add salt and pepper. Using one tube, spread
the crescent roll pieces over bottom of a 9x 13 inch pan. Spread
hamburger/cabbage mixture on top. Add layer of cheese. Using the second
tube of crescents, place on top of cheese. Bake in 350 F. degree
oven for 35 to 40 minutes, covering with foil the last 10 minutes to
soften the crust


Peggy's Crockpot Corn
2 16 OZ Frozen Corn (thawed)
2 T. Sugar
1 8OZ Cream Cheese
1 stick Butter
1/4 C. Water
Salt & Pepper

Mix....Cook on Low...4 hours. Stir 2-3 times

Peggy cooked supper for us tonight so we had Salisbury Steak, Mashed Potatoes and the deliciously creamy corn recipe above. Very yummy!!

See a picture of where you grew up.

See  a picture of where you grew  up.    This  is really amazing....    Check  out some of your old "haunts."
   When  you enter an address you will see a picture of  that place.  There's a little map with a  little man on it - you can move the little man up  and down the block if you need to.  I just  looked at my childhood home!  Really nice  website!
    http://www.vpike.com/ 

10 Questions To Ask Your Doctor

Link of the Day:

 

  1.  What is the test for?

 

  2.  How many times have you done this?

 

  3.  When will I get the results?

 

  4.  Why do I need this surgery?

 

  5.  Are there any alternatives to surgery?

 

  6.  What are the possible complications?

 

  7.  Which hospital is best for my needs?

 

  8.  How do you spell the name of that drug?

 

  9.  Are there any side effects?

 

10.  Will this medicine interact with medicines that I'm already taking?

 

 

  http://www.ahrq.gov/questionsaretheanswer/

 

 

How to Build Your Own Set of Questions

 

See:  http://www.ahrq.gov/questionsaretheanswer/questionBuilder.aspx

Nina Grace

Can't get enough of the great grands.

Nina Grace

Pretty as a picture

Nina Grace

She looks so grown up for her 15 months of age

Elise Colleen

From her Grandma Susan:

Amanda had a 3-D sonogram done this morning, and attached is Elise’s picture.  J  Those things are AWESOME!  I got to go along, and it was just so cool.  Amanda has tons more pictures, a CD with all of them as well as a video.  This was our favorite picture, and it was accomplished when the technician was poking on Amanda’s belly, trying to get the baby “riled up”.  Instead, we got a smile!  J  Enjoy!!

And then we...

We went to South Padre Island and the beach was littered with these jellyfish. Non-poisonous we were told. Locals call them garbage heads. The sun has shone enough this winter for Butch's legs to take on a "Turkey Leg Tan".

Peggy, Mary and I went to Ropa Usada (used clothing) and went on a WinterTexan treasure hunt. I purchased 4 pounds of baby clothes for new great granddaughter at 38 cents a pound.

Everyone has to go to Gonzales Burgers at least once. Here Donn Gordon is ready to tackle the double meat burger he ordered. Another treasure of the RGV.  Most do not order the double meat and now you can see why!

The Iwo Jima Memorial in Harlingen TX at the Marine Academy near the airport.

Nina Grace

Great Grand of ours. Her Granddaddy Rich sent me this  photo of Nina Grace. She is now 15 + months old.
Cute as a button.

South Padre trip

Create a slideshow

Explanation

I was experimenting a bit to see the best way to post pictures of the Ropa style show- thus the 5 pictures below. I have been busy and will continue to be so but will get as many pictures posted as possible as soon as possible. Right now there is a complete Smilebox album on the Magnolia News website.
Today we are headed to South Padre with the Gordons. I will be adding those pictures to the mix as well. When it rains it pours.
The weather is finally summer-like. High today of 89. We will be leaving the AC on for Angel for the first time since last November. As I sit here I am hearing the whir of  a lawnmower and the smell of newly mown grass. Aaaah summer!

Erv Hagens Ropa Pictures

Dorothy Wendt


















Kay Voss


















Mary Bruun


















Erma Cleaveland and Mary

Egg-citing!

Personalize your own photo slideshow

Ice Storm Recovery Video

Thanks Keri Brooker for sending this. Butch will enjoy every minute of it. I thought others might as well.

http://www.midlandpower.com/aspx/Announcements.aspx?AnnouncementID=2241

Time Marches on

Clever huh...since it is March. I was elected president of the park association this week. It is a social association rather than a homeowners association which makes the job a bit more palatable.  I will give it my best.
The weather has taken a turn for the better. We are finally getting some temps in the 70's and 80's. Long overdue!
Friends Donn and Peggy Gordon will be arriving on my birthday Saturday to stay for a couple of weeks. We always enjoy each others company so it will be a fun two weeks. Peggy and I met when I worked at the medical clinic in Panora IA. Her husband Donn was a merchant seaman and was gone for 6 month periods and Butch was in sales and gone through the week so Peggy and I did things together outside of the time at the clinic and developed our friendship as individuals and as couples. They moved to Nevada and we had a long gap in seeing them but when we retired and took to the road we re-established our friendship and it was as if we picked up where we left off. I will be telling you all what we do for fun this next two weeks.

Here is a picture of us from the old days in Panora.

Suggested

It has been suggested to me that it is not apparent what part of Butch's anatomy is injured. For the record it is his right shoulder. 

Golf Ball Hit

Butch was hit by a golf ball Saturday. Fortunately it hit the ground before hitting him. You can see the glancing blow lines. He says it hurts and I am sure it does.

Roses

We have been grumbling about the weather down here but these roses are thriving. Cannot be too bad, can it?

Roses in Bloom

My Oh My

I keep trying to think of something positive to add to this dear blog...it is tough. This is the worst weather we have ever had in the valley. It changes how we do everything! It is a very serious reminder of what life would be like had we stayed up north. We can get out and walk but we are usually one of the few who are out there. Standing on a street corner for a 15 minute conversation does not happen all that often when the temps are in the 50's. Wanna go to South Padre? Not really...and freeze our butts off! Gonna grill tonight? Not hardly when it is soup and chili weather. The coats and jackets cannot be put away and wearing shorts is only happening on rare days. We are not wading through 4 and 5 foot snowdrifts and that is what we all console ourselves with as we quickly head for the warmth of Allen Hall.
If this were the first year for coming south I do not see how the poor souls would be at all impressed. I hope this is not a trend for future winters!!

Northern Woes

From friend Mickey in Clive Iowa (near Des Moines):
Here's my mailbox in it's own little igloo. There's no way I can throw it that high so have to carry it to a lower spot. Only have to shovel what the plow builds up at the end of my drive. In picture 2, can you see the ice above the gutter that is acting as a dam? It will keep water from running off the house when the snow melts and allow it to creep under the shingles and into the house. Problems yet to come. Should I sell now?

Not much new going on here.

 Butch and Bill have been busy with projects for people here in the park. Both plumbing and electrical. Rain is predicted for today and the radar map shows it coming. The in-park pool tournament is tonight and both Butch and I participate.
Angels flea situation is under control. We haven't seen a sign of any for the past two weeks now. Of course she wants outside but we are afraid to let her go. Those damn fleas are waiting for her to step outside so they can jump on her.
It is about the time we start thinking about where we will go from here and we have been doing a bit of that. Haven't come to any conclusions however. It does not seem the time to head north too early. All that snow has to go somewhere, sometime. Best case scenario would be a slow warm up so that the runoff is also slow but that means it would be a late Spring with cold and cool temps well into June. It sounds like quite a balancing act. Predictions do not mean a thing. It usually is getting hot enough here by April 1st that we are ready to venture north but we have had a cold winter here too so the temps in April may be quite pleasant right where we are. What will be , will be. Let's wait and see.
We have company coming in March. Friends Donn & Peggy Gordon from Nevada. That will change our routine a bunch and we are looking forward to it.
Till next time...

Shirley Franey's Birthday

Shirley's son Mike flew into McAllen to surprise his mom and help her celebrate her birthday. Way to go Mike!!

Greene County Iowa gathering

A light crowd gathered at Lin's Chinese restaurant in Weslaco TX for the annual Greene County get together. Those who were there enjoyed the food and the company. See ya'all next year!

Brian & Mary Carlson

Dale Weaver

Shirley Franey

Dave and Cherie Roquet

                                                        Carolyn & Eugene Houk

                                                           Hazel Monthei

                                           Hosts- Jane & Bill Ecklund

                                                 Bill & Jo Brooker

Get This: Warming Planet Can Mean More Snow- From NPR

Get This: Warming Planet Can Mean More Snow

February 15, 2010 Shared

View and comment on NPR.org

With snow blanketing much of the country, the topic of global warming has become the butt of jokes. Climate skeptics built an igloo in Washington, D.C., during the recent storm and dedicated it to former Vice President Al Gore, who's become the public face of climate change. There was also a YouTube video called "12 inches of global warming" that showed snow plows driving through a blizzard. For scientists who study the climate, it's all a bit much. They're trying to dig out. Most don't see a contradiction between a warming world and lots of snow. That includes Kevin Trenberth, a prominent climate scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Colorado. "The fact that the oceans are warmer now than they were, say, 30 years ago means there's about on average 4 percent more water vapor lurking around over the oceans than there was, say, in the 1970s," he says. Warmer water means more water vapor rises up into the air, and what goes up must come down. "So one of the consequences of a warming ocean near a coastline like the East Coast and Washington, D.C., for instance, is that you can get dumped on with more snow partly as a consequence of global warming," he says. And Trenberth notes that you don't need very cold temperatures to get big snow. In fact, when the mercury drops too low, it may be too cold to snow. There's something else fiddling with the weather this year — a strong El Nino. That's the weather pattern that, every few years, raises itself up out of the western Pacific Ocean and blows east to the Americas. It brings heavy rains and storms to California and the south and southeast. It also pushes high-altitude jet streams farther south, which bring colder air with them. Trenberth also says El Nino can "lock in" weather patterns like a meteorological highway, so that storms keep coming down the same track. True, those storms have been record breakers. But meteorologist Jeff Masters, with the Web siteWeather Underground, says it's average temperatures — not snowfall — that really measure climate change. "Because if it's cold enough to snow, you will get snow," Masters says. "We still have winter even if temperatures have warmed on average, oh, about 1 degree Fahrenheit over the past 100 years." Masters say that 1 degree average warming is not enough to eliminate winter. Or storms. A storm is part of what scientists classify as weather. Weather is largely influenced by local conditions and changes week to week. It's fickle — fraught with wild ups and downs. Climate is the long-term trend of atmospheric conditions across large regions, even the whole planet. Changes in climate are slow and measured in decades, not weeks. Masters and most climate scientists say a warming climate would be expected to affect the weather, sometimes drastically, but exactly where and when is hard to predict. "In that kind of a climate, you will have more frequent extreme events, heat waves and so on, but again, none of those individual events is proof itself that climate is changing," Masters says. Climate scientists say they can't prove any single weather event is due to climate change. Thus, they say, Hurricane Katrina or the heat wave in Vancouver that's dogging the Winter Olympics isn't proof that climate change is happening. Nor can southern and eastern snowstorms prove that it's not.

How Butch did

Butch played golf in the Valley Senior Olympics yesterday and the weather was crappy but not as bad as it could have been. It was cold...in the 50's...and damp. But the wind was moderate and it didn't rain. They shot a 74-one stroke more than last year but the playing conditions were very different. We do not know how the rest of the field played but Butch did know of a couple of 70's so they know for sure they were not in the top 3. It would be really something if they were as there are many good golfers over 55 in the valley every winter.

Golf anyone?

Butch is playing in the valley senior Olympics with Bob Milheim and today is the day. He has been worrying about this for weeks now. Today dawns cold and rainy. I did check the weather radar and the rain should be moving out soon but still it will not be good golfing conditions. I personally think they would be better off if it were postponed but I have seen some pretty crappy weather on this day through the years and never have they postponed. (Jason says Dad is in the special Olympics and indeed they are special!)
My computer is up and running nicely. I have Windows 7 on this one and so far I like it. There are a few things it has taken me a bit to figure out but it wasn't difficult. I had to figure out what libraries were and it is contacts instead of address book. It seems they decided to rename everything. To me that is suddenly like calling a bathtub a table but I am sure I will get used to it. My main problem has been the aforementioned address book. I had a database of all the Magnolia Park residents and for some reason I am unable to open it. So I have decided this problem will not happen to me again and it is taking me a loooong time to get them in a safe place and in a format that will not be vulnerable. I am up to the esses. (as in the letter S).

Jason & Laura Brooker- Boone Iowa

From the record snowfall of winter 09/10

And it just keeps snowing!!! 7 more inches on top of what had accumulated all winter.

From My Friend Peggy G.

Peggy Gordon, my friend from Carson City NV says this recipe is soooo good.  And it certainly sounds very good. Shall we all try it together?

Chicken Enchiladas

4 cups cooked chopped or cubed chicken

8 oz. cream cheese

1 medium onion (chopped)

1 T butter

2 cups whipping cream

8 oz. pkg 4-cheese Mexican blend

A small can green chilies

8 flour tortillas

 

Melt butter. Sauté onion in melted butter for 5 minutes.  Add green chilies, cook for one more minute.  Add chicken and cream cheese until melted/blended.  Spoon 2-3 spoons into middle of tortillas.  Roll up and place seam-side down in lightly greased 9x13 pan.  Spread Mexican-blend cheese on top.  Drizzle whipping cream on top of cheese.  Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.  Let sit for 5-10 minutes before serving.

Pleasant Rainy Day

The Brookers Four went to the movie Avatar in McAllen yesterday. We had to go to McAllen to see it if we wanted 3-D viewing. Jason had assured us that we did and he was right. It would have been a good movie on its own but the 3-D made it special. We followed up the movie with a meal at Fuddrucker's. It was excellent. Butch and I shared a crispy chicken salad and were reminded of our friends Don and Marilyn Scott with whom we had first experienced Fuddruckers and sharing one of their humongous salads. We topped off our meal with ice cream at the Dairy Queen in Alamo. We know  so many good places to eat in the valley and there are still many more left to try.
We are having our own experience of an icky winter. We do not have the cold, snow and ice to contend with but we are being denied the warm balmy temperatures and the usually  clear and sunny skies. Many people didn't bring enough cold weather clothes with them and so frequent laundry loads and wearing the same three outfits is an unexpected part of their life in sunny south Texas this winter. Oh well...this too shall pass.

Snowed under

Sister Myrla's friends car is somewhere under this snowdrift.

Netflix

Butch and I watched the movie Julia & Julie. I enjoyed it very much and thought it was well done. Meryl Streep did a superb job as Julia Child. As a blogger it had perhaps more meaning to me.

Yippee!!

The Magnolia Directory is finished and I am quite happy with the finished product. We are using a different printer this year so the quality will be greatly improved. We should be able to sell them by next Tuesday.
Butch is playing as much golf as possible and helping new park manager Dottie. We are happy with her as manager. We can talk to her without her putting up a wall as we walk in the door. I think she will do a good job. I hope we can keep her.
I like a lot more leisure than I am getting right now. That is no different than in years past. There is no perfect balance on that score. I am much better at dealing with the pressure of too much now than I was in my youth. It all works out.
We are still fighting fleas on Angel. We think we have it conquered and then we discover another one. Once she is clear of them the only solution will be to not let her out. She hasn't been outside for more than 3 weeks now and she is not happy about that. These Texas fleas are a force to be reckoned with!!