Great weekend

Quiet time at home. After the last season in Texas it has given me a greater appreciation of my time here in Iowa.
Sunday evening . We went to a gathering of the "Rebounders" , people from our youth who have left Jefferson and then returned. When we moved here it was one of the joys of our life to find this ready-made family. I would never have guessed that would happen and then to have it be a group we find very congenial is another bonus. We laughed ourselves silly Sunday night.
Yesterday I snipped a bunch of photos from daughter-in-law Laura's facebook page. I laughed when I saw all these fish photos of Jason as our family albums from Lake Panorama are loaded with Jason and fish pictures.

And then I snipped some others that caught my eye.

Elise and her bubbles at her 2nd birthday party

Laura and Ethan

Amanda reading "If You Give a Pig a Party" to Chloe and Elise. Great book by the way.

Can you read Ethan's face? This was at Ethan's 3rd birthday party.

Washed Gary and Susan's trailer

We have been meaning to get their trailer washed for quite some time. It washed up very well. I was afraid the awning was toast but as it turns out it was just very dirty.

New phone

A whole lot of yesterday was spent on learning about the phone. I read tutorials...downloaded apps etc. Just learning how to slide, pinch and tap in a timely manner is a challenge. Being computerized has given me a leg up because they are essentially mini computers but it is also like trying to learn a new operating system. Slow going. Butch says to teach him how to answer the phone, make a call and speak a text message and that is all he wants to know about it. It dings every time a new email comes in and I told Butch he would need to learn to ignore that sound. He is having a tough time doing that.
The kindle app was already on the phone so all I had to do was put my Amazon user name and password in and I have all the features of my kindle on the phone. I always or nearly always have the phone with me so this is VERY handy if I find myself waiting somewhere. I can read a book! I tried it out and it worked very well.
We haven't used the GPS yet but I have looked it over and I am sure it will work fine.
I downloaded Word with Friends but the screen is awfully small. I prefer using the computer for that and reading and answering email as well as browsing the web. But those things can be done on the phone and I am sure there are times I will use it for that.
I tried out the camera and it is a great improvement over the other phone camera. I took a picture of myself... I am always shocked when I do this. It is a stark contrast from how I look and how I think I look. Oh well, Father Time is not kind. I can get Picasa on the phone and that should help the transfer of pictures from phone to computer and vice versa. See?, I am not done fiddling with the phone. Every bit as time consuming as setting up a new computer.
The battery in the phone seems to go down very quickly. I have hopes this will improve, thinking it is all my fiddling with it that is making it drain off in a hurry.
This too shall pass...

View of San Francisco & Bay from an AIRSHIP If you had to pay for a flight it would have been $495 per seat. These pictures are awesome. http ://home. comcast .net/~bzee1b/ Zeppelin / Zeppelin . html

Gary and Susan's Backyard Flood

Crazy weather these days!

http://youtu.be/kjrw7u0HlyA

Gary, that looks awfully close to your patio!

Mom

Friday's Frustration

We have a new phone. I have been debating quite awhile on an upgrade but finally took the plunge. The GPS feature was a big pull. I had a heck of a time getting my contacts transferred. In fact it did not happen until this morning after going online on the laptop and getting it figured out. So anyone who sent a message yesterday...I really did not know who you were because I only had a phone number to identify you. But I did know today Peggy...who had snow on the ground in Carson City NV!!!

We had a few showers yesterday but really not enough to put much in the rain barrel. I do believe I planted the hosta's correctly...at least they are looking pretty good today.

We visited the local cemeteries to place some flowers there. I have missed many years but when we are here we do get it done. They have to share though because I do not get one for each of them.

At the Jefferson cemetery

And at the Catholic Cemetery. Mom is there too ...wink, wink

This is my paternal grandmother. She died at 25 so I never met her and I am sure there has not been flowers on her grave for many decades. She gave birth to a mighty fine guy who was my daddy and she would have been very proud of him. He died young as well . He was 33.

Different kind of Day Thursday

 We had no plans for the day other than an appointment at the lumber yard to look at windows. It ended up feeling like one of those days you are led around by your nose. Jason called and offered his help in getting the 6 mil moisture block laid down in the crawl space. With the two of them working on it it did not take long. It helps tremendously having that plastic surface down there. Now it isn't so unpleasant to go down there and it makes it a lot less dirty too. We were just finishing up with that project when the lumberyard in Grimes called to tell us we could pick up the pocket doors. So we borrow Leo's pickup and head for Grimes. We drove through some terrific downpours but did not get a drop at home. We came back through Boone picked up some Hostas at Jason's,went to supper with Jason and Laura came on home and planted hosta's...Had a very full day.
We desperately need rain. My rain barrel is very near the bottom. Last year I did not have to use city water on my plants even once but most likely will have to this year. 

Windows and a party

Today we go talk windows. Big decision. We need 4. Needing only 4 we might go top of the line. Things are starting to come together.
We have been invited to a gathering Sunday evening. I am ready to meet up with old friends. Too much work makes one old and crotchety.
later...

Electrical entrance

Yesterday was a big day...started early and went late. Butch changed the electrical entrance into the house. I helped. If one has never been involved in such a deal you might not know how extensive this deal is but we now have an updated electrical entrance and I am glad we only had to do this once. Today Butch is finishing hooking up what is necessary to carry on with the project.

This is the one I wanted to make. We had to enlarge the hole. 

One of the casualties of the project was a wrens nest. It was in the very top of the part that sticks above the roof. I said I helped. I didn't say I knew what all these things are called. Butch had to disturb the nest and the 7 eggs within. This pained him no end.
 So today we went to Bomgaars and bought a wren house. We put the old nest in the new wren house but have serious doubts this will work. But we are trying. Also years ago when we lived on vine street we had a wren house made from a clay flower pot on the back porch that was used every year. So we also fashioned a clay pot wren house. Maybe between their two choices they will choose to move into one of their new digs.

Keri made Butch a pecan pie this weekend. Here is a picture of what remains. It was delicious as always. 

Arkansas Nightlife

At Bill and Jo Brooker's Place

 At

On my walk...

Took a camera with me on my walk yesterday...As I was strolling down the side walk I spotted this squirrel having breakfast and snapped his picture. It is not a particularly good photo but I posted it anyway because just as I was taking the picture a woman came flying out of her house and said, "What are you doing?!" and I said "Taking a picture of a squirrel." She calmed down just a bit then but I was thinking 'get a grip, lady'. Geez. My camera was no where near getting her or her house in the shot. I still do not know why she had her undies in a wad.

And then as I was coming home I spotted Leo and Lexi sitting in friend Norma's driveway on the phone. Leo was on the phone, not Lexi.

Later in the evening Leo and Keri came into town to get their evening constitutional , a regular habit on their part, and we joined them for a walk to the Dairy Queen. One of the things I truly love about Jefferson is that it is a great place to take a walk at any time of the day or night. And it is pretty darn nice having family nearby as well.

Before and After-windows closed off

1.This is before the window was removed and closed in. The location is where our bathroom/laundry will be located. 

2. Closed in but no paint.

3. Finished!

No before picture for this location. You think you have every possible angle but...Wrong!

Closed in but needing paint.

Still in need of a 2nd coat of paint.

This is on the south side of the house and where the window was located will be where my stove and vented microwave will be set when we are finished.

Progress

It has been a productive week here at the little house on the Iowa prairie. We have two windows filled in along with other holes that needed filled before we can insulate. I have some annual and perennial  flowers planted. I am holding off on more till the new windows are in because they would get trampled in the process. It looks like electrical is next on the list. Butch has doubts about what is needed but I have it pretty clear in my mind where I want things located so it should go a bit smoother than he thinks. We need to get the electrical boxes and wire in place before insulation too. For me getting it insulated has become a goal of sorts as it should look a whole lot different when that is done. Let's call it a mini-goal.
The weather has been near perfect despite the fact we could use some rain. My rainbarrel was filled early on but I can tell it is getting down because I can wiggle it a bit. Cannot do that when it is full. I could also tell there was not much snow this past winter as the soil has a much different quality than last year. It is dry farther down than normal.
Must get on with the day...so till next time...

The work has commenced in earnest

Yesterday we both got down to business after our walk. Butch closed off a window on the south. It will be where the kitchen stove will be located so the window simply would not have worked in that spot. I helped him now and then when he needed a hand but in between I worked on the flower bed in front of the house. Oh yes, this was after two loads of laundry. So I feel like I worked my butt off yesterday but last I looked it was still behind me.
Today's plan is to close off another window. This one in the bathroom. Butch hates to have this one closed because the ventilation from it has been beneficial at times. But there comes a time when you just have to plunge forward. The sequence of things can sometimes be tricky.
Moving on now...

Papa Gary's birthday videos

These are all small videos.
Friends: http://youtu.be/0QyJjQVHgNc


Presents: http://youtu.be/qsQp8C3NVsg


Bike: http://youtu.be/UUeKC_Fvpes


Bubbles: http://youtu.be/cr9V5LA1rTQ


Slide: http://youtu.be/MyTdm4Ps680

From Papa Gary-Field Trip

School Field Trip to Deanna Rose farmstead


Goats: http://youtu.be/6rf9OF2fIXI


Hayride: http://youtu.be/yhWDx9RPgGk

Birthday video coming soon

Birthday weekend

Getting reacquainted with our great grand Elise on her birthday weekend.

Gary started off the weekend on just the right note by telling us he had a new job! We were all excited about this. Gary is a middle school math teacher and football coach at a small school 30 some miles from their place in Lees Summit as of last Friday.

Elise Colleen Teeter is two,
 What a surprise this little snippet is! Her vocabulary is astounding and there are many examples of this. Her Nana Susan was getting her dressed and she said she wanted to wear panties. I asked Susan incredulously if she was wearing big girl panties and she said that she was referring to pull ups. Although she is trained for the big job.  She told Elise they would have to see if her mom had sent any so a few minutes later as she was putting on her diaper she said "I want a different diaper."  A DIFFERENT diaper? That blew my mind. She not only has a large vocabulary she also knows the meaning of the big words she uses.
Later she was saying she had a hangnail. This "Hangnail" was on her sock and it was a loose string but she really does know what a hangnail is her grandma assures me.
Cheese is her favorite food and she still has a ravenous appetite. Yes, she is spoiled but that is what grandparents do. She has 'imprinted' on her Papa Gary and follows him around wherever he goes and the minute she is upset about anything she wants Papa Gary. Papa Gary is her go-to guy for everything.
Her birthday party was a big event for her and she handled it quite well with only little spots of upset. In the midst of opening gifts she wanted to do something else and started crying. Her Mom said, "Elise, there are more presents to open. She said, " I am crying". In other words, Mom I am busy right now, maybe when I finish. She talks all the time...and I mean ALL the time. Her mother was the same way but I believe Elise may have her beat. Everything she does she tells you. "Eating cheese. Now waffles and dip. Dip, by the way is syrup and just like her great grandpa Butch she likes the 'dip' better than the waffle. Go outside. Go inside. Vacuum. Fork. Heaven. (Wiley the cat went to heaven to be with God) and yes, she also says God.
I will relate more of her  vocabulary words as they come back to me or Nana Susan reminds me!
Below are birthday and other weekend pictures.

The skirt Elise is wearing is  a tutu...a craft project her mother found on Pinterest.

Part prep

Papa Gary and Elise

.

Gone, Gone then Home

Butch and I will be in Missouri this weekend helping wee Elise celebrate her 2nd birthday. So not sure I will be on the computer at all...most likely not. So you can skip a couple of days. OMG I am giving you a vacation! I really do need to send out a nudge because every now and then I think many of you have dropped off from keeping up and I would hate for that to happen.  That is said partially with tongue in cheek.
Butch and I are listening to an audio book so I am really looking forward to the trip. We are currently listening to Rush Road Home by Lori Lansens
Here is what it is about:
"When Addy Shadd was a young girl living in Rusholme, she was taught the history of her town, which was settled by fugitive slaves in the 1800s. It was told to her like a storybook legend - and although Addy is forced to leave her beloved home as a teenager, the place will call to her for the rest of her life. She thinks of it as a commandment: "Rush home, Addy Shadd. Thou shalt rush home." But the stories and memories of Addy's past have been buried deep in her 70-year-old heart - memories that are by turns dark and poignant, erotic and mysterious.
When five-year-old Sharla Cody is abandoned on Addy's trailer-park doorstep, the old woman doesn't know if she is up to the task of mothering the willful, curious child. But she takes the little girl into her home, and Sharla opens a door to Addy's past - to memories of the strawberry fields, the church graveyard, and the tender crust of her Mama Laisa's apple pies. The past returns to Addy Shadd, and as she sits in her trailer she can close her eyes and "see the county farms and city streets and recall each season of death and rebirth." Somehow, Sharla Cody helps Addy make sense of her long and hard life so she can find forgiveness - and finally make the journey home again."

                                         

J.I.G.S. Day

Yesterday I enjoyed a day with the girls, J.I.G.S, otherwise noted as Jefferson Iowa Girls. Really we are girls of long ago but girls all the same. We met for lunch at the Corn Patch in Grimes, Iowa. A nice place to eat by the way. It worked well for us as they were not rushing us in any way so we were able to sit and visit for as long as we liked...and we liked alot.
It is also a place to find out what is happening. A real, ' I heard it first here first' deal because my former classmates are involved in their community and thus know what is up. Jefferson had an A & W Root Beer Stand for many years. As a matter of fact I worked their as a carhop in my youth. Little known fact as they say.Well our dearly loved A & W closed a few years back much to the dismay of many people and not just locals. Well, we will once again have an A & W and that is cause for celebration! It will be open ASAP as I understand it and they are actively getting things done. Whoohoo!!
While I had a day away Butch managed to get a move on with the house and he made quite a bit of progress too. He has started on the pocket door area and will soon have it ready for the hardware part of it. He continued working on it today so things are moving along nicely. I will be taking new pictures shortly.

Kay Voss answers Kay Stilson

Hey, I will adopt you....bring veggies. haha Jim bought at least 50 new strawberry plants this year besides the 4 long rows we already have. One would think we had 15 children living here......He did cut back and only got 40 baby chicks this year. The "other Kay".... 

Bill and Jo Brooker's Fox

Bill and Jo have lots of wildlife come visit them as they live on the Little Red River, Heber Springs AR

Sent on May 6th from Kay S

For my friends who know Bill and Kay this will not be surprising...We need to reach out to our friend in this time of need. Perhaps we should consider an intervention.
Barb
From Kay:
"I have been home exactly 1 week today and already I am dreading the summer. Bill went up to his special little fruit market just across the border in Michigan. They had fresh strawberries for 25 cents a quart. His heart stopped, his eyes bugged out and he had thought he had hit the mother lode. He came home with 20 quarts. I am just now getting done. I ended up with 9 (16 oz). Red Neck wine glasses, 18 other jars of various sizes, but most were 16 oz, and 4 quart bags of sliced berries that I froze. I could give a s--t if I ever see another strawberry. Tell Butch there will be an ample supply of jam this winter on Peach Street. Also in this same trip he got a head of lettuce, a head of cauliflower, celery, and last but not least a bag (not small) of fresh green beans. Think of me, as it is only the first week of May. Somebody please adopt me QUICK"
Kay S.

Daddy is her hero

Storm Damage

Elise is looking over the storm damage to her new swing and play set she received for her birthday. She said, "Daddy fix it". And I am sure he will.

snipped from Facebook

Yesterday

Early morning we left for Atlantic...dentist and eye doctor...Went straight to our destination and stopped at the dentist first. I needed just a little adjustment on my bottom denture but he was extremely busy so that took up any extra wiggle room we had before our eye doctor appointments. We went straight from the dentist to the eye doctor with both of us getting eye exams. Butch is going to need a bit of laser work on his left eye and is scheduled in Ames for June 14th. He was told at the time of his cataract surgery that is not an uncommon occurrence.  On my exam he said I was needing cataracts removed but it was up to me how soon I wanted to get that done. However he did tell me it would be pointless to get new glasses as they would not do me that much good given the cataract situation. Night driving is out of the question for me right now but I already knew that. I am thinking of waiting till we get to Texas for more than one reason but I may change my mind.
After our appointments and with my vision totally messed up we went to lunch at The Farmer's Kitchen meeting up with my old Senior Haven partner, Connie Jones. Don't misunderstand, Connie isn't old. Actually she is near our kids age but it was a long time ago when she was the cook and I was the manager at Senior Haven. We had many good times together during that period of our lives. We had a tasty lunch too.
After that we moseyed down to friends Sherri and Randy Clark's house. Sherri has a daycare business so it is always interesting at her house. I was tickled when she told the children to leave the door open because "Somebody could get hurt." Grant, aged 2, said, "Who?"
That tickled my funnybone.
Sherry and Randy had plans to go out to eat with their friend Izetta Bopp and asked if we would like to join them. With nothing else on our agenda we agreed to meet up at 5:30 at Izetta's.
In the meantime we went to visit with golfing/squaredancing friends Bill and Bev Gunderson. Bev was just finishing up hostessing her bridge group and there were several people there we knew. However I did not know till later that another old bridge playing friend of ours was there. I totally missed Sue Schwanke being there! Duh! I am going to use the excuse that my vision was still messed up and it was but I really should have been paying more attention.
We met up with Randy and Sherry at Izetta's place. Izetta  lives at Heritage House, a senior housing place in Atlantic. It is the first time I had been in Heritage House and it reminded me of an upscale hotel. Very nice. Izetta will be 100 in August and her son has 3 big parties planned for her. She will be up for them too as she is still very sharp and agile. We used to play golf in tournaments with Izetta and her partner Jack so we reminisced about golf and enjoyed some wine then making our way to the Redwood in Anita for dinner. We had a great time with conversation and good food. We made our way back home after that and I was tired enough to not even think about doing anything on the computer...so this is a long entry.

This is a picture of Izetta Bopp and Sherri Clark. Sure lookin' good!

Getting started and other stuff

We have been getting a slow start to working on the house. Partly because of needing a respite from the hubbub of Magnolia Park life and partly just procrastination. But yesterday we made a start. I worked on the flowerbed out front and did some raking of leaves and other stuff. Butch mowed and started working in the crawl space under the house. He hates this part but it should be much better once this ugly chore is finished. I am his self appointed go-fer for this phase. Specifically what he is doing is moving out trash and rearranging dirt in preparation to lay down plastic for a moisture barrier. This is needed before insulation can be done. New windows, doors and electrical will also be done before insulation but we are taking the first step.


Butch took his bike to the new bike shop in town to get it repaired. Our bikes have suffered from their former outdoor life. His is now repaired and working great. Butch was pleasantly surprised at the reasonable fee to have the work done. So now mine is in the shop getting a work over too.

Last night there was a moonlight ride to Cooper (14 miles roundtrip) where Drew Sorenson, coincidentally the bike repair person, had his telescope set up for viewing the stars. I sure wish we could have done that. My night vision is lousy but I may have given it a go if my bike had not gone to the shop. I say that but we both were pretty beat after our days activities.

Where Did That Bing Toolbar Come From? Windows Updates — That’s Where

"Bing" is the sound it makes when it hits the side of the recycle bin. That and every other toolbar they try to unload on me.
Where Did That Bing Toolbar Come From? Windows Updates — That’s Where

It looks like

It looks like we will be keeping Verizon Internet...at least until our contract runs out or it screws up again. We do not mind as long as it works. And it seems to be. Although neighbors to the south A. J. and Megan, really great kids, have offered to share. I would like to see them stick around a while. But they are in a rental so as their situation gets better I look for them to move onward and upward.

Jefferson is in a big construction project. Actually more than one but the pictures below are looking north on Elm street otherwise known as highway 4. An overpass is being built over the railroad track. We have many, many trains per day and at times it is very difficult to get across the track. And our one and only grocery store in the county is on the least populated side of town, north of the tracks.

Pondering

Butch and I were in the house today and we measured and discussed and decided and made a list. We call it progress.
Later this afternoon we are headed for Boone to help Jason and Laura with an electrical problem. What they do not know just yet is that I have a potroast I am bringing with me. It is bubbling away in the crockpot as I write.
It is a good day....

Stop, Look, Listen and be grateful

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=gXDMoiEkyuQ#!

Thank You!

Discombobulated

I am all discombobulated and do not know what to do first. I have a fast Internet connection and it is with Verizon and if it stays working as it is we will be happy with it.

I have a routine in the morning with the Internet and it has been long enough without it that I cannot remember what it is I do first.  But this morning I felt it should be email and so I did. I go through the messages and take care of personal ones first and I have done that...so if you have been waiting for a personal message from me and I haven't answered you I may need a nudge because you could have become lost in there!!  I was selecting and deleting pretty fast sometimes just to get it pared down to where it wasn't so overwhelming.
I am still in shock over how well this Internet is working. Of course, it will not be long before I will take it for granted. One thing is for sure, I will have far less patience with them in the future if I am getting poor service.

We now have a lawn chair bungeed to the ladder so that should keep our little neighbor off the roof. She is definitely the mini Evil Knievel of the neighborhood. She is very near the age of the little girl who lives to the north of her. Aubry is her name. I have often wondered why they didn't play together. But she too is a little daredevil. I think if the two of them were together one of them would die. Geez, I am glad we raised boys.

On with my day now...but know that I am thinking about you....I always do!

Like a new Internet Experience!

This squirrel looks like he is ready to do some dirt work for us. You go, squirrel!

And here we have Fat Mama. I think she is preggers. What do you think? I hope she brings her babes around for a photo shoot.

So it is several hours later and Butch and I have both been on the Internet giving everything a good workout. So far so good. At first Butch thought it was faster than Roadrunner even but I would never go that far. I just experienced a slow down but it didn't last long and it was not as severe has it had been. I really had pessimistic expectations but it looks like I may have been wrong.

Earthquake Cake from Jan Foster

The latest

Had the Internet for a very short time this morning. It would come in and out for 5 minute intervals but it would take nearly 5 minutes for a page to load. So getting anything constructive done was a real crap shoot.
So I plan to get on with something more constructive...like laundry and/or cleaning.
I did the above and then...I received the new sim card about noon. So I called them and got it activated so I could see if it would work. At first it was worse than the other one! Stacey was supposed to call me at 3:00PM...she didn't. So I was getting ready to call person number 7 when I decided to try one of the things Stacey had me do yesterday which was to take the sim card out and rub the shiny part with my shirt tail and then reinsert it. As odd as it may sound it is now working. Not sure for how long but it seems to not only be working it is staying steady. So I plan to give it a good workout and see how it goes.
Gary sent me a video this morning and I haven't tried to run it yet but it seems like that should be a good test. And I have quite  a bunch of emails to get caught up on. So now the test begins!!!

Update

Internet update: Sunday
Butch and I have both been on the Internet this morning. It seemed to work okay for awhile but you cannot rely on it. About the time you are in the middle of something it will either go away or become unworkable. This is pretty much the way it was all last summer. This summer I have decided I will not pay for such bad service. It is looking more and more like we will be doing something different. I went back to the diagnostic page they led me to the other day. I am sure they do not expect you to remember how to get there and what to look for when you do. But I remember. I noticed we had been switched to 3G. It did not say 4G the other day but now it says very clearly ...3G. And they had me check modem speed on two different tech calls. On one call it was 94 and another 109. The tech told me that 80 is the best you can get and 125 is no signal at all. A few minutes ago it was 93. Not much improvement. When it was 94 he told me that was a very iffy situation and that indeed is what we have. I can see the end of the road but it is taking a long time to get there.
Monday morning ...
The end of the road is nearer still. Last night the internet went away and did not come back. Same story this morning . I checked our signal again and it is 98. Today is when I tell them our Internet relationship is finished...kapoot...done! No more contract. 3G, 4G doesn't matter it will not work in this area.

One of my dental implants in my bottom plate needs some attention so we will be making a trip to Atlantic. We have not been there for awhile so it will be a day of visiting with old friends if we can happen to catch them at home. Having lived in Cumberland for nearly 20 years we are very familiar with the area in and around Atlantic. And we like it. We like to have lunch at The Farmer's Kitchen. They have had national attention for their pies but all their other food is mighty tasty as well. We also like the Chinese restaurant downtown but I know they are not open on Mondays. It is actually our favorite Chinese restaurant of all the places we have ever tried anywhere. A Chinese family owns it and you do not get the factory stuff you do in other Chinese restaurants. The Mr. and Mrs. prepare all the food themselves.
We had a cold and rainy weekend so did not do much. The promise is for better stuff to come although stormy. In the midwest we are always treated to a variety of weather.
We did get to Atlantic and back. Butch wanted to do a quick trip so he could get the ladder secured and I needed to get my Internet debaucle resolved so we did not visit with friends as I had planned. We did run into Bob and Sandy Sheilds and enjoyed a nice visit with them.
Connie Jones called while I was in Atlantic telling me they were headed for Jefferson!! So we passed somewhere on the road as they live south of Atalantic. We will be in Atlantic next Monday and plan to meet Connie for lunch since we missed her today. Darn it anyway!!
Next chapter on the internet... The gal I talked to today said the only thing she can see that no one had tried yet was a new simm card. It is a tiny little card that fits in the device that identifies us from all the other devices. She said it was very, very rare for them to go bad but she wanted to rule it out. So how long will this take ,I ask. She said 2 to 3 working days unless I want to overnight it for $12.99. I said no because I refuse to put one more red dime into this situation. She talked to a supervisor and they are overnighting it at their cost. Will have it by 3 tomorrow afternoon...and she will call me back. I said you are now the 6th person to tell me they will call me back and 5 of them have not but we will pretend you will for now. She said no one has called you back because no one had a resolution to the problem. I said I know but that isn't making me feel any better. And that is why I want out of my contract.

So Butch now has the ladder secured. It looks like crap but if she tries to get up the ladder two things could happen. One being her weight would break the boards and she would fall 4-5 feet onto rock and the second being if she actually makes it onto the board to go higher there are screws coming through that could feel very bad on bare knees. It is a pain in the butt but we can not have her on our roof doing God knows what.
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
I had to check the Internet of course and we still did not have it...and then for some unknown reason it let me in for about 5 minutes. I was even able to read one message and send a reply. Thanks Barb Wilson for the suggestion of bungeeing a lawn chair to the ladder. I do believe that is a good suggestion and I do not know why we didn't think of it.
I have to sit tight until I get the new simm card because we have to be here for delivery so you will not see this until it gets here and works or I leave Butch in charge and go out to the other Brooker's.

I received another 5 minute window of Internet so I am quickly trying to get this posted...more later!

And we continue...

Internet with Verizon...continued.April 28, 2012
A Verizon tech engineer called me this afternoon and said they had sent someone to the tower to investigate and they should soon have an answer for me later today. Hmmmm I am writing this at 8:12 PM and I do not have an answer. We have speculated that he got lost trying to find this non existing tower. I said he is probably stuck on top. Butch said he doesn't have to go on top. I said but he does have to find the damn thing. We have had great fun speculating on the possibilities.

We have another and different problem that came to light the last few days. We have a young girl who lives behind our place. I am guessing her age to be somewhere between 5-7. The neighbors told us she was on top of our motorhome a couple of days ago. Yes, on top! Climbed the ladder on the back. Her mother yelled at her and she got down. The mother knows how to yell and it has been our experience that is what she does best. This girl is a handful. Last summer she was driving a 4 wheeler by herself and going at top speed full out all the time in circles around their house and through the alley. I do not think her mother is up to the challenge. Bert and Everett also told us that she had opened our water hydrant...fortunately we had the water completely shut off. We would padlock it if we had not done that. But she had also opened a compartment on Gary and Susan's RV. Butch thought he had locked them all but apparently he had missed one. I do not think we can trust this youngster to leave our property alone. We plan on informing the police what she has been up to in case we need that on record for any future mishaps. Butch is also going to come up with a solution to make the back ladder inacessible. Any ideas? I thought maybe barbed wire...

You all remember Everett Beebe and his wife Bert. He is the fellow who had the heart attack while driving down our street. Everett is doing fine and he stops by to visit when he takes their dog Hunter for a walk. I know many of you have asked  how he  has been getting along. The answer is great!!


Sunday, April 29, 2012
The little hellion who lives behind continued. I told Butch I was going to come up with something to tell her when she comes over again. I am thinking about  telling her we have hidden cameras and we know everything she has done and that she is not allowed over here because she can not be trusted. And that if we see her over here again she could be arrested. Harsh, you say? Why not be friends with the child instead?
I could consider that...things usually work out as they are supposed to so we will see how this one goes.

Oh yes, I have a working internet...it works for 5-10 minutes and then quits...slower than 1996 dial up. The engineer must be up a pole with a screwdriver tuning us up. It is a baby step and still no phone call.

TMI?

Last April I sat here in nearly the same position I am now. Last year I had an internet connection sometimes. It was weak and it was slow but it did work enough to get by. I called Verizon on two different occasions and after going through all the hoops they told me, " Someone will get back to you within 48 hours with a solution to this issue. " No one ever did...BUT the connection worked enough to get by so I didn't  call them again. This spring I decided I was not going to live with that and pay for poor service any longer. I have so far had two bouts of tech support at the higher level with no resolution. The second tech support person last monday told me someone will call you with a resolution within 48 hours. No one has called. So I am about to embark on my 5th tech support call
But before I do... I called a company I talked to last winter while in Texas. They offer satellite internet either through them...Exceed is the company name...or through Dish Network.  With Dish it would be Internet only and it would be the cheapest way to go.
With Exceed 7.5G per month
$149.99 Install fee
$ 49.99 per month plus
$9.99 lease fee
Total per month 59.98
Can put it on vacation or what they call a pause fee for $10 a month with a 6 month limit

With Dish Network 10G per month
$99.00 Install fee
$49.99 a month plus
$10.00 lease fee
Total per month $59.99
Can put it on vacation or what they call a pause fee for $5 a month with a 6 month limit

I asked about a gaurantee of a connection and she said the tech guy would not bother to set it up if there wasn't a sattelite signal and  it would be as instantaneous as our satellite TV. She said you will not notice any hesitation when you go from one website to another.

So now we will go get the bottom line from the local telephone company. I will try not to have a chip on my shoulder when I go in the door. My last stop there the receptionist practically threw a phamplet at me and in trying to figure it out on my own the internet was going to cost nearly $600 to set up...$59.99 a month and $35 a month to put it on vacation. I plan to stop in again and ask for more specific information. I will give them a chance to not blow me off. But if they do.....

Jefferson Telephone Company
One time fees of:
$99 Install fee
$15 INS
$69.95 Modem/Router combo

$57.95 per month
Vacation fee is 1/2 the price of the monthly fee.
They were OK at the telephone office.

Called Verizon- the technical engineers are working on the case. They will either cancel my contract or suggest something that will work within the next few days. They are beginning to handle me with kid gloves.

You are able to read this because I am at the other Brookers. The new credit card was in the mail yesterday so I am at the other Brookers making sure the new credit card numbers are on all of the auto pays affected. The bulk of our auto pays come from our checking account. It is a better situation in cases where the credit card is "comprimised".
But a few... I would say 6 at this time are on the credit card.

Oh my, you are finding out so much about how our life works. Fascinating? NOT!!

I am more hopeful today. I hope Verizon gives up on me so we can go with the sattelite as it seems like the best connection for the money.
My life is not the same without the Internet at my fingertips.

Holding Pattern

Thursday, April 26, 2012
I have told Butch, "No more Rhubarb Pudding!" The stuff is just too good. I have discovered that my little apartment size stove I have in the garage and consider so handy is not working correctly. I knew it was running hot so Butch checked it for me. It is too old and does not have a calibration on it. So its malfunction is that the temperature keeps climbing. Try and cook with that feature!! I have been successful so far but I do not believe I would try something that needed to bake for more than 30 minutes. I put the rhubarb pudding in at 275 and when I took it out 30 minutes later the oven thermometer registered 360 and Butch assures me it would keep going up. So it is too old to fix. If I happen upon an aprtment size stove that works though I will be very tempted to buy it for our garage. I have discovered it is very handy to have an oven in the garage. Think summer kitchen.

 I am in a holding pattern.  As we were tooling through the countryside, somewhere in Oklahoma I believe, we received a call from our credit card company telling us our credit card had been comprimised and they had sent us a replacement that we had not activated. This phantom credit card had made a roundtrip to Texas and back. We did finally receive it but not before calling them and telling them we needed a new card because we had no idea where it was so it isn't any good to us. So we are waiting for the second new card and it rather ties us up on using it. Plus I have several auto deducts that come out of that card that I need to update to the new number but it has to wait until I know what it is....thus a holding pattern. Sure hope that stinker shows up in the mail today so I can get that little bugaboo off my plate.
It seems that every now and then we must endure a batch of these little irritations. The secret to maintaining ones sanity is to remember that they are minor and they will pass.

Same old story

The replacement Internet device arrived yesterday afternoon. I quickly found out it did not make a difference. So I spent another chunk of time with a tech support person. The first one was male and sounded U.S., this one was female and I suspect in India. At any rate it was determined that I have a 4G device and no 4G signal in our area. Now last year when I was having this problem I was told it would fall back to 3G if 4G was not available. No one is telling me this now. So little miss whatshername in India said she would put a trouble ticket on it whatever that means and someone would contact me as to what they were going to do about it. My guess is an entirely new gizmo with a new 2 year contract and that is not going to be acceptable. I dug out our old Verizon gizmo this morning and if anything it is what we will use. They cannot stick a new contract on us because this device was on an old contract that expired a long time ago. All of this is most likely of no interest to you but it is therapeutic for me to write about it.
So I do not have an Internet connection as yet and not sure when I will have one. So if you are able to read this it means I have been to Leo and Keri's with my computer in hand to use their connection.

I think our neighbors to the north that I have not had time to get acquainted with as yet are moving out.
Oh well, no point in it now.
Yesterday Jason came over to help his dad with a "project". Trouble is we really had not started one yet. But never one to pass up free help they decided to get the duct work under the house put back together. They got it all done except for one little piece. We ordered pizza for supper and I made Rhubarb Pudding with our very own rhubarb from our very own patch. It is rhubarb we moved last year. If it had not been moved it would be underneath where we now park the motorhome. It is thriving in its new location. Okay I have to tell you the whole story. We had a lot of rhubarb to move. So I placed some beside the clothesline thinking that was a good spot. Butch placed a second plot of it on our north lot line. His has flourished and mine has not. It gets more sun where he put his patch. I am not going to quibble about this...the bottom line is we have rhubarb!
Rhubarb pudding is a family favorite. We do not need the extra calories so often in the spring I pass it up. It also can depend on the availability of rhubarb. Many times I would have had to go to extreme measures to acquire it. So last evening I decided to make a batch. Hmmm...hunted high and low for the recipe and could not find it. Jason says," As often as you made it, Mom ,I cannot believe you do not remember the recipe." So I decided to wing it and amazingly I did remember it after a bit of cogitation.

Rhubarb Pudding
4 cups rhubarb, chopped
1 tsp ground cinnamon
2 TBLS butter
2 cups sugar,divided
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 egg
1/2 cup milk


Place chopped rhubarb in bottom of a 8 x 8 greased baking dish. Dot with butter and sprinkle with cinnamon and 1 cup sugar.
Put remaining dry ingredients in a mixing bowl  and stir until dry ingredients are thoroughly mixed.
Make a well in the dry ingredients and place egg and milk in the well. Stir until completely mixed and pour evenly over rhubarb. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 30-40 minutes

In most years the rhubarb would just be coming on about now but everything is about two months ahead and the below freezing temps they had a couple of weeks ago has not seemed to affect things much. The trees are all leafed out and many flowers that we do not see till June are blooming such as iris. Our iris are not up but on my walk today I noticed that many were. I may have done mine in when I weeded the flower bed last fall. If I have, maybe I should give up doing flower beds and rhubarb!!

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Today is Jason's birthday. Jason and Laura have plans to attend the Drake Relays later today but first he came over to have breakfat with us and then play golf with Butch. Leo also joined us at the Uptown Cafe for breakfast. I walked home and finished up a book I was reading, washed sheets and made another Rhubarb Pudding.
Do I miss having the Internet? You cannot even fathom how much. A gazillion times a day I say, "I will get online and...."  And then I cannot do it. Frustrating as all get out. Verizon was supposed to call me with their decision as to what they could do. It has been two days now and no call. Every time I decide to approach the neighbors to see if I could launch a deal with them I see them pull out of their drive. I just called one of the neighbors I do know from way back in our youth and they do not even have a computer much less a wireless internet connection. She did not have the faintest inkling of what I was talking about. And she does not know her neighbors! Talk about living in a bubble!

It is confirmed. The neighbors to the north are moving. They sure have taken their sweet time about it but today a poor mans moving van pulled up, an old guy with a truck and a trailer, and they are commencing to load it up with all their worldly possessions.
As you can see I have made my way to the other Brooker's house to use the internet.
Stay tuned to find out my solution to the internet dilemma. I too will be interested to see how this works out...

Loose Ends

We are busy getting loose ends wrapped up. That always takes a bit. Things like car insurance and license paid. Ran out of this and that so running around town picking up those items.
Running around Jefferson is not as simple as it used to be. We are getting an overpass over the railroad so a big chunk of the town is torn up so a person really has to know their way around to get things done. Fortunately, we do! There is work being done uptown as well and on 3 sides of town. We were joking the other evening that the only way to get out of town was through Scranton, a little town 7 miles west of Jefferson.
Butch is out to the golf course this afternoon paying his dues and I am once again at the other Brooker's so I can be on the Internet. As I have said many times it always takes me about a week to settle in no matter where we are.
If the news we have heard is true we will be getting a new grocery store in Jefferson and it will be 3 blocks from us!! We sure hope it is true because it could not be more convenient.
I think of many,many of you often but right now getting a quick email off to you isn't as easy as it once was.

Frozen Burrito Casserole

A quick and tasty meal

 

Frozen Burrito Casserole

7 - 8 Frozen Burritos, I used beef & bean (completely thawed)
1 - 14.5 oz Can Re fried Beans
1 - 15 oz Can Wolf Brand Chili, no beans
1 - 10.5 oz Can red enchilada sauce
2 - cups shredded cheddar cheese or Monterrey jack cheese blend
Sour cream (garnish)
black olives (garnish)
salsa, optional (garnish)
chopped onion and tomatoes (garnish)

Spread the re fried beans on the bottom of a 9 x 13 inch casserole dish. Lay completely thawed burritos on top of re fried beans. In a separate bowl mix enchilada red sauce and the wolf brand chili together, blending well. Pour the enchilada sauce mixture on top of the burritos. Top with shredded cheese. Bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes or until casserole is bubbly and burritos are cooked through.


* If you want you can pre bake the burritos in the oven on a baking sheet for just a bit before adding to the casserole. It is really up to you. I think i might do that next time so the burritos are a little more firm and a bit crispy.

Donna Gabbert

Sunday morning blog entry

 I sit here knowing that my email is mounting up higher than a mountain. I really need to make my way out to the other Brooker's to get it caught up. It has been a long time. At least a long time for me.
Jason and Laura came over yesterday and we had a great time getting caught up. We brought stuff back for Jason and we tried to not have him pay us for it so we could lay on a small layer of obligation for help in the future but he would not let us get by with that. Jason and Laura brought brats to grill and I made THE broccoli and rice casserole. At least I intended to do that. I pulled a package from the freezer with a picture of a green vegetable on the front. Turns out it was spinach and not broccoli so we had a spinach and rice casserole with our brats. It was delicious though. So a tip for all who have that recipe-other vegetables work with it as well.

Saturdays blog entry

Our Blog- Saturday
Yesterday after arriving at our cozy little home, one of the first things I tried to do was connect to the Internet and I was unable to do so. This time I did get hold of a Verizon tech support person who seemed to know what he was doing.  After an hour or so of jiggle-jaggle we came to the conclusion that my device is not working correctly. So they are sending me a new one and it will take 3-5 business days. In other words sometime next week I might have a new device. My next question to this tech guy was," What if it doesn't work?" " If it does not work I will want out of our contract." He assured me that if it did not work it would not be  a problem getting out of our contract because it would be sanctioned by tech support. So if it works, okay ,but if not I will be searching for another option. We have had company in the past who were able to use their Verizon connection so I think it probably will work.
We do have some neighbors I could "borrow" from if I knew who they were and their security key and I may do some investigating and pay them for the privilege if they are open to the idea. In the meantime I will go out to Leo and Keri's to use their connection.... So enough of the Internet woes.
Correction!!!!
It was not Leo who mowed our lawn 3 times. It was Keri! I am sorry about that Keri. I really should have realized that Leo was too knee deep in tax preps to be able to take time to mow.

We ventured up to the Uptown Cafe for breakfast/lunch yesterday and when we walked in it was like old home week. Of course it was! We spent quite some time there visiting with Paul and Joy Bartley, John Hamilton, John Redfern and various other acqauintances. It could not have seemed more welcoming had it been planned.

We called DirecTV to renegotiate for a lowered rate. This has worked in the past but it seems this time we had a modicum of success. There was  $5 HD extra plus package that we were able to take off that brought our monthly cost to $78.99 plus tax. He did tell me that there are promotions all the time with different discounts so it pays to call now and then to see what they are but right now there are no discounts that would help lower our bill any further than it is. I will call them now and then until I hit the jackpot. Hehehe...More than one kind of lottery it seems.

Last evening Keri invited us for supper at Bev and Barts BBQ. It was delicious and then we ventured on to the Mexican restaurant for dessert. After all the re-meets and greets are done I will need to get my exercise and diet routine firmly established.
It felt really good to hit that mattress last night after our week of travel. Till next time...

Iowa update

We left the Rio Grande Valley on Sunday April 15th and made our way to Llano Texas staying there a couple of days greatly enjoying the company of our Canyon Lake/SMR friends. Wednesday we headed to Norman OK where we spent the night in the Windriver Casino parking lot but more importantly meeting up with Snow Mountain Ranch friends Marilynn and Sam Wilson. We had a fantastic meal with them at a place called Libby's and caught up on each others lives. Also greeted Graem, their now 13 year old grandson who we also first met at Snow Mountain Ranch. Graem is as good looking as he is nice. He is just a great kid.
The next morning we headed out early for us (7:20AM) to make our way north through Oklahoma City where we did encounter some parking lot driving but otherwise it was an easy go. We sucked it up and used the toll roads through Kansas and they do make for easy interstate type driving. Their fuel prices were lower than we had in Texas. We do not understand this at all. It used to be the prices  for fuel in South Texas were the lowest anywhere but that is no longer true. The lowest prce for diesel($3.79) that we encountered was in Missouri but we had already filled up in Kansas so passed it by.
We were in for a very long day because it is a total of 582 miles from Norman OK to Jefferson Iowa but we pulled up short in Anita Iowa. We were both really tired by then and looking at another hour plus to home. We are very familiar with Lake Anita State Park and have stayed there many times. When we pulled in the drive we saw a turkey, a fox and several deer all within 30 seconds! We had a pleasant but chilly evening. It was chilly outdoors but not in our cozy abode with the electric heater running.
We did not get up in a big hurry leaving the lake at 8:20 headed for Jefferson. Leo had called to warn us that there was road constructionNorth, East and West of town but he did not know about South. There is road construction south too! What wonderful planners are the DOT of Iowa!!
But now we are in our spot at 402 N Cedar in Jefferson Iowa getting settled in. Butch is off looking for a pipe wrench to get the water hooked up so I can call the city to have it turned on.
We have new neighbors to the north. It seems James and Renee from last year made a hasty retreat to parts unknown for unknown reasons. I witnessed some suspicious activity last summer so I think I have an inkling. They were good neighbors though despite the funny stuff.
Now we have Matt and Sasha although we have not yet made their acquaintance. Leo has mowed for us 3 times so he has passed on this info.
It will take us a bit to get settled in. It always does no matter where we are.
My internet connection is always a big question mark here. I have seen my home page and connected a couple of times for brief periods so decided I would get everything I want uploaded to the internet lined up so If I lose the connection I can just keep trying. This is one issue I hope to tackle this summer and get resolved somehow. If any of my readers have experience with Hughes Net or any other satellite connection will you please contact me and tell me how you like it?
Well, the water is hooked up!! Love that small town service!!
Well the old boy is asking for my assistance so will see how the posting goes...