Long ToDo List

My list is a bit long but thought I would just say "hi" so you know the blog is on the list.
The list:
Norma's computer
Lucy's computer
Judy H Kindle
Laundry
Download camera pics
Look up cost of Allegra D through Humana
Cook Ham in oven that is larger than mine.
On the blog:
Tell you about Ethan's "Baby"
Butch's doctor appt.
I will get to blog asap.

Happy New Year to all!!

Butch and I went up to Allen Hall for awhile to visit with friends and listen to music for a bit. I must admit that after our trip to South Padre yesterday I was in a fight not to put my pajamas on and spend the evening at home. I did make it to midnight but I listened to the fireworks in a prone position. They were every bit as loud as usual.
Here are my favorite pictures from yesterdays South Padre adventure.

This dog was having a great time with his people throwing him a ball.

A girl was feeding the gulls so they were clustered together waiting for more and the father and daughter featured below were running through them. They were having a great time.

There was a heavy fog near the shore but yet the sun was shining overhead. Very unusual day at the beach.

Eventful morning.

You will have to go see the other blog (www.magnolianews.blogspot.com ) to see the full story but it has been a busy one. Laundry, cleaning, a walk, the hawk and who knows what all! Spring has arrived. Birds are building nests and I hope to get some good pictures of this later. A grackle is building a nest in Donn and Peggy's tree in front of their house across the street from us. It gives me a very good view of the tree and the nest.  Fall, winter and spring seem to all blend together here. Some of the trees are losing their leaves. The releafing will begin in late January and February.

Butch is off to another park playing pool this afternoon and I am working on decluttering the house. It reaches a certain level and then simply must be tackled. Today is the day!!

Several more Elise videos

I do not feel one bit guilty putting all these Elise videos on here. If you aren't into baby videos or if your connection is such that it takes forever for them to load they are easily skipped over. Butch and I are so lucky we can keep up with her progress through the videos.

Elise playing at Mall: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Te5pbvQvrM

Reindeer blowing nose: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=De13L26vN1s

Making Santa Cookies: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_7m2x4EhAzU

Elise and her Santa gifts videos

I assure you Elise got way too many gifts for Christmas. The videos are from when she opened just one of her favorites from Santa:

 1. http://youtu.be/ntabkzxw150

2. http://youtu.be/Vd1USgLLXDQ

3. http://youtu.be/jDkw2idZzgU

4. http://youtu.be/KGC2vmnM2so

5. http://youtu.be/bkpcSqBQ1Rs

Elise being polite

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzoR3brT-uk

Every now and then...

Something special comes my way. This brought the tears...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=WxjZB5S_g7s#t=0s

Elise Videos

Elise wants to draw: http://youtu.be/3Gof5Iwh1hw

Elise with Candy canes: http://youtu.be/JGZRB1NY4S0

Elise is Ornery: http://youtu.be/hT6R7lB_vQY

Sunshine!!

All it takes is a bit of sun to turn everything around down here. Today there are people in the pool and the sun is shining brightly, windows and doors are wide open. People are out and about and all returns to normal. Amazing what a little sun can do. We have had a period of very cloudy, dark, damp, drizzly weather so we all feel we deserve this respite.
Butch is getting a double dose of golf today. It was park golf day this morning and he is going back with Jim Rader for a second round this afternoon. They had to bring the wimps back home before they could continue playing. Butch shot a 32 this morning on nine holes. That perked him up a bit.
Christmas Dinner was very nicely done again this year. It always amazes me how people step up and get things done when they see the need. 
The years end is but a few days away. It happens so fast! I am sure that 7 year-olds would argue that fact but this near 70 year old thinks they are whizzing by.
Our friends Donn and Peggy went for Christmas eve services to their church down here in Alamo TX. As the church emptied after services the pastor was standing at the door saying "Feliz Navidad" to all who were leaving. Donn answered him with "Gesundheit"! Before you think that is inappropriate I might remind you that Gesundheit means God bless you and thus it was entirely appropriate. The pastor saw the humor and got a chuckle out of it.
I thought it was more than a little clever. So to all of you I say Gesundheit!!

Droopy on Christmas Morning 2011

Elise December 2011

I knew I would be getting some Elise pictures soon from Grandpa Gary and lo and behold here they are.

Link of the Day

This site features free gift tags in loads of designs in multiple
categories, including, 'natch, Christmas. Select one or more designs you
like (they are formatted in Word and PDF), download and start printing!


http://www.freeprintablegifttags.net/

Droopy

Droopy has become a park pet. Droopy has many different names but I call him/her Droopy. Droopy is a mockingbird that has one wing, his left one, that droops and hinders his flight. He has been here for at least 3 years. Since Angel is in kitty heaven Butch decided to "take in" Droopy and has been feeding him peanuts. Today I was in the kitchen by the stove and I could hear a bird chirping in the vent above my head. I told Butch that I think your bird wants fed. Sure enough. Butch opened the door and Droop hopped over to him on the roof and just as much said I am here! Of course, Butch wasted no time feeding his new best friend. I found a picture of Droopy. It is from 2008. I will try to get a new one soon.

Droop spends a fair amount of time at Pecan Bill's place too waiting for Bill to drop him a morsel. One of his other names is Lefty.

Oh Lordy

Been very busy. Of course the season is known for that but my busy has more to do with Presidential,computer and other duties than with the hustle and bustle of the season. I think it is the combo of all that. Hopefully it is.
I planned to call for a haircut appointment today but it completely left my mind with all the other things that popped up. The truth be known some days are quiet with no requests and other days it seems to pile up big. Like snowdrifts!! We are hearing about the big storm blowing through north of here. I do not know if the weather is a factor but we had residents of the park heading back to their other home in Oklahoma when they had a bad accident in Tyler Texas. The mister of the couple is in the midst of fighting bone cancer and in fact had a chemo treatment just before heading north. He had some broken bones in the accident. The missus of the pair is in critical condition. It has kind of discombobulated the park residents to have one of our own going through this major trauma. We may have differences at times but just as in any other family we all pull together and care for each other in times like this.
When Butch signed up with AARP (United Health Care) insurance we received info of different benefits we could receive because of the AARP membership. A 20 % discount at Denny's restaurants is one of those bennies. We had supper at Denny's last night and saved us between 3 and 4 dollars by using the AARP card. We met and  told some other folks in the park about it and they too saved. Now if we can just remember to use it!!
Later...

Winter weather

Winter time in S S T (Sunny South Texas) is decidedly different than winter time anywhere else. Some full timers I know who have wintered in the big three, Arizona, Texas and Florida tell me that the only place you will not find freezing temperatures is in the southern tip of Texas and the lower third of Florida and I know from experience that on rare occasions it happens here as well. We are not getting freezing temperatures but we are getting damp drizzly weather with cool temperatures. It is hovering in the 50's under cloudy skies. Not exactly what one would call pleasant but it is what we call winter here. We hope for a short one.
Butch and I cleaned house yesterday. Later I worked on a bracelet and he wandered off to the pool hall.

The mail came and with it the paperwork from the insurance company I have been waiting for since the middle of November. I had given up on it yesterday and went with a different company. I hope that aggravation is in the past. Butch's supplement to Medicare will be with a different company than mine. It shouldn't be a problem.

We have tentative plans  to go to Hidalgo TX for the Festival of lights but not exactly anxious to go in the rain. We also have plans to get to South Padre but the evil red tide is still an issue and until it is gone it is not wise to go there and irritate our upper respiratory systems. Geezzzz...just one of those things.

Kindle Fire

Interesting computer class today and it ended up being a look at Kindle Fire. It took a bit to get on to it but after Peggy taught us all about swiping it went easier. We also looked at www.pixelofink.com to see about getting free books. We set up the Amazon account and "purchased" a free book to run through the process. I am sure it may be just a beginning. It is great really as I get to learn about it before I purchase one. That is in the future of course. As always I often learn more than the students. They do not believe me when I say that but it is true!

Help with cakes

On my agenda for this morning is to help make cakes for after the parade tomorrow night. Butch says he plans to go to the flea market with the guys.
My homework keeps piling up but one can always do homework, Right? Maybe sometime in January I can get to it.
I had "lost" one of my favorite bracelets. I somehow knew in the back of my mind that I had stuck it somewhere. When you travel in a motorhome you frequently will stick something away in a cranny somewhere and forget which cranny it is in. Last night as I was digging around in my pajama drawer and I found my bracelet. It was a happy moment for me. Speaking of bracelets ...when we came down I planned to really get ahead on my bracelet making and I have made a few that were ordered. But to get ahead or be creative in design just has not happened. I usually bead in the evening and lately I have lacked the energy.  I continue to be hopeful however.
Till next time...

Two days

We have been sort of holed up for two days. It rained on Saturday pretty much all day. We went up to the hall for breakfast; Yesterday was better but it was cool and misty most of the day. Went to the hall for ice cream at 5:30. Crowd was a bit larger than normal so they tell me. I think it may have been because we had been penned up a bit more than normal and we mad mixers of Magnolia park were ready to see other people.

 Butch played shuffleboard and I went for a walk this morning. Crafts this afternoon for me. Butch, Pecan Bill, Donn and Dean went on an excursion to Harbor Freight. They stopped at Juniors and Butch brought home T-Bone steaks. They were $2.99 a pound. Earlier in the day Peggy had invited us to supper. Butch brought home steaks and I TOTALLY FORGOT our dinner invitation!!! I felt about an inch and a half tall. I swear I woke up one morning very recently and I became old. Just that suddenly. I hope I can wake up soon and find I have returned to "middle-age".
Oh by the way...the steaks were pretty good. It is hard to compare to Iowa corn-fed beef but for $2.99 a pound they were very good.
Well that catches you up. Kay says to me she needed to get her Christmas letter done but really didn't have much to say. I said say( Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Our year was the same ol', same ol'.) Actually after the year Kay and Bill had last year (same ol') was welcome I am sure.

Frozen Cranberry Salad

A friend I met through Swedish weaving (Susan Helms) mentioned this recipe on Facebook so I requested it and she happily obliged. It sounds like a wonderful make ahead recipe.

• Mom's Frozen Cranberry and Banana Salad
  
  1-20 oz pineapple tidbits (drained)
  5 medium firm bananas halved
  1-16 oz whole cranberry sauce
  1/2 c sugar
  1-12 oz carton thawed cool whip
  1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)
   
  Stir together and freeze, keeps good in freezer for a good month Take out just a little ahead of time and cut and eat. it is really good. my family likes it for dessert even. Tastes alot better than it sounds.
  
  Enjoy and have a Merry Christmas!
  We eat it before it thaws much.

Rainy Day

I know we are obliged to grin and bear it but we had an all day rain yesterday and they say we have more coming in the next two days. When it rains in sunny South Texas it does not disappear quickly. The land beneath our feet was sea bottom in its past life so being mostly sand the water sits on top for a while before seeping to lower levels. This area has not seen these kinds of rain for nearly a year so they are very very happy...and we are happy for them.
The following is taken from a facebook posting of friends of ours from another park. I thought this phenomenon would be interesting to the folks up north, especially lineman.

Elaine Lindeman

Our power went off at 700am this morning and we just got it back at 530pm. According to news the terribly dry season caused the poles to be dry and insulators full of dust. During our storm this morning a number of poles caught fire. Of the 6000 without power only 3000 have been restored. I don't know what all our people depending on oxygen are doing.

 It is forecast to be sunny and 79 by Tuesday and that is the way it goes here!