12/31/2010 The Party We Didn’t Go To

The last day. Of the year, of this move, of our time in our park model.

Everything is out of the park model now. We finally moved the food out of the fridge into coolers. Yes, COOLERS! Our fridge has a recall on it and because it is a possible fire hazard we have to have it fixed before we can turn it on. I think I’ve already explained that Bob called Norcold, the manufacturer, and they have our info so even though 99% of the those whose fridges fall under this recall are still using them, we can not. Should ours be the one that catches on fire our insurance company upon investigation could find out from Norcold that we called in and in fact knew that fire was a possibility and in turn tell us to jump in a lake as far as paying a claim in concerned. So we are living with our food outside in coolers. I hate this! I called to check on our parts that are on order and they aren’t in yet. The guy also informed me that when they did arrive there are 70 people ahead of us for install. And….AND…. there is only one certified technician who is doing the installs. To say I am not a happy camper would be a gross understatement. I’m going to have to think about this. Trust me, the wheels are turning.

So we get over to the 5th wheel, showers have been taken, clothes are ironed and we’re sitting in the living room and Bob says, “I am so tired.” I looked at him and agreed and that I too was tired. I went on to tell him that if he wanted to stay home it would be fine with me, alls he had to do was say the word. He said the word and we welcomed in 2011….sound asleep. And that was fine with us.

12/30/2010 Moving Out, Moving In, Moving Back

The end is near. Not the end of life as we know it. The end of this move is near.

Today we moved just about the last of our belongings to the 5th wheel which is very close to bursting at the seams. When we started this we would move so many boxes and bags of stuff and I would promptly start putting things away. That worked for awhile but then Bob got faster than me and he was bringing more boxes and bags over faster than I could find nooks and crannies to put it. Soon we were overrun with boxes and bags and they were EVERYWHERE!

You have to understand, we aren’t just bringing over things that we took in back in in October when we arrived. We’re bringing over 99% of our belongings that we left there when we headed for Delaware last April. In a sense this park model is our storage unit. Only difference is we own it outright instead of renting it monthly. We didn’t realize how much stuff we stored here.

One saving grace that we have storage under the bed and it is filled nearly to the brim. Also the storage shed is off limits to our renters otherwise we WOULD be renting a storage unit.

So we finally get everything moved over save cleaning supplies which we will put to use tomorrow. Oh yeah, we didn’t move the food from the fridge yet either.

We locked everything up and a few minutes later walked into the 5th wheel and we just stood in the doorway and looked at bags sitting on top of boxes which were sitting on nearly every flat surface and all over the floor. We just looked at each other.

Bob turned on the TV and the local weather was on. Next thing I know I hear, “Oh #$%^!”. I asked what was wrong and he told me that it was going down to 27 degrees tonight! Yes, we're going through a bit of a cold spell right now. He looked at me and said, “We can’t stay here tonight, we have to go back to the park model because we won’t have water which means no bathroom.” He had hooked our water up but didn’t put any precautions against freezing temps in place as yet. So he emptied our water lines while I packed up what we would need to get us through the night and I found what I needed in order to make dinner. Back to the park model we went.

So far today we moved out, moved in and moved back.

We are tired! Exhausted. One more day, just one more day and this will all be over.

12/26-29/2010 Moving, Moving, Moving…..

We are full steam ahead in getting our belongings into the 5th wheel. We brought it over on Monday and it has been a whirlwind of activity every since.

I keep telling myself that someday we will be at a point where we transfer nothing but food. That we will be at a point that we have enough clothes for any weather in both places. That I will have a blow dryer in each place. Although i don’t use it often its something that does come in handy once in awhile so I keep lugging it back and forth.

I have favorite serving dishes I use for get togethers that I take back and forth as well as favorite knives and my hand mixer. Now the hand mixer is something that there is two of. Mine and the one that was in the park model when we bought it. I still bring mine back and forth because its the one I like to use. If I ever see the one I have on sale I’m buying it! It will be one less thing to move next time.

As I write this most of our things are in the 5th wheel and put away. Not all, but most. We’ll move the rest tomorrow and and then start giving a final cleaning to this place. There is light at the end of the tunnel.

This is a lot of work! Poor Bob hasn’t had time to do anything other than working on this place and moving our belongings.

Lots of pictures of both places, all set up, coming soon.

I’m going to lay down for awhile, I need a nap.

12/25/2010 Merry Christmas!

By now Christmas 2010 is nothing more than a pleasant entry in your own personal history book.

Santa has shimmied down your chimney.

The weeks, or months, of shopping are a thing of the past. Those wrapped gifts, all opened.

The story of the reason for the season has been told and remembered.

Stockings which were overflowing just hours ago are now empty.

You are already regretting all those cookies and pieces of fudge and candy you ate.

Yes, Christmas 2010 is over. In a couple of hours it will be December 26th and the malls will once again be crowded with people exchanging things that weren’t just right or people will be spending Christmas cash or maybe just grabbing all the half price wrapping paper they can get.

But what a day it was. Family, friends, new friends for us, good food, singing carols, sharing and caring. Living the day to the fullest. Its what Christmas is all about.

Bob and I hope yours was wonderful. We hope you shared this day with family and/or friends had a great meal to boot.

You know what I want for Christmas? Something that can’t be wrapped or bought in a store or something that would take tons of time to give me.

I want you, our blog friends, to sign up as a Frequent Reader on the sidebar if you haven’t already done so. That’s all. It will take two minutes of your time and it will mean a lot to me. You don’t have to add a picture if you don’t want to. This really isn’t a big deal in the grand scheme of things but I know you are out there and I want to know who you are. So if you come here often, or just once in awhile, let me know you’re a part of our blog family.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

12/24/2010 I Gotta Get Me One of These!

I went four wheeling today on Bob’s new toy. Granted, it was inside the park and I didn’t get over 3 miles an hour,,,well, there was that short period when I gunned it, let ‘er rip if you will and I topped at seven. Oh yeah, feeling the wind breeze in my hair. I gotta get me one of these!

Now Bob has a ‘08 Polaris 400 cc. Small potatoes,,,I want the 2011, 550! Its a toss up between getting camouflage paint, desert design naturally or perhaps emerald green, metal flake of course. I’d want the built in cooler for my Pepsi’s on the back and lots and lots of padding on the seat. Oh and a windshield so I don’t get bugs in my teeth. I can just see us now!

Throughout the day we both started getting ready for the move. I packed up all the canned goods I know we won’t use between now and next Monday when we bring the rig over. At least I’m hoping I won’t need any of them. Bob started with the outside things and the shed. Some of our outside lawn decorations will go with us.

The biggest challenge is going to be the bedroom. I want to leave half of our clothes here packed away in plastic tubs under the bed and only take half with us. This will be a monumental task for Bob. He’ll want to take everything and he just has too many darn clothes as it is. The man can go a full month (or more) and not wear the same shirt twice. I think its time to really look at these shirts and pare down the inventory. Shhhh,,,,I’ll do this when he isn’t looking.

I really can’t wait to get into the 5th wheel again. It will be like seeing it for the first time. I don’t know if I’ve already written this and I don’t feel like going back to see if I did or not so I’ll just tell you again if that’s the case. I was shopping and thought about something I wanted to buy for the rig but color was going to come into play and for the life of me I couldn’t remember what the inside looked like. Just a few more days to go!

12/23/2010 The World Can’t Be THIS Small, Can It?

Checking our bank account on line first thing this morning told us that today would be the day that we would pay for our new ….. well, we’ll get to that later.

I called the fellow we met on Tuesday and told him the funds were available and that we would be over today to give him a check but that we wouldn’t be picking up our purchase because our friend was going to pick it up for us but couldn’t until Sunday if that was okay with him. He replied, “Well, that’s fine but if you want I’ll bring it over to your place.” Wow! That would be great and would save us a lot of time and trouble. He said he would be over in a bit and the wait started. We hate to wait. Its like time stands still.

After what seemed like an eternity but in actuality was only an hour or so Gary and his wife Linda arrived. We hadn’t met her when we were at their house earlier in the week.

As soon as Gary got out of his truck I asked him, “When we left your place on Tuesday did you have the feeling you had met us before or did we look familiar to you in any way? Just at this point his wife got out of the truck and said, “Snookie, don’t you remember meeting us?” Bob and I practically had whiplash we turned our heads to look at each other. I shook my head no because I couldn’t do anymore than that, I was so dumbfounded that we actually had met this couple before now.

She went on to say, “Don’t you remember, we met in ALASKA two summers ago.” It all came flooding back to both of us! Of course, we have a mutual friend, Bob Timpko, that we had met while we were in Alaska and we even spent some time with them when we all met up for an afternoon. OMG,,,,we did meet before! Can this world really be this small? Yes, yes it can for this surely proves that point.

So now its time to show you what we bought.

Yep, an ATV. Several of the guys here in the park, and one lady, have these things and Bob has wanted one so that he can go riding in the desert with them.

Gary and Linda with Bob.

Bob is just thrilled with his new toy and he can’t wait to get out in the desert with the guys.

So this is a 2008 Polaris 400. It came with lots of extras because Gary and Linda had them put on. He’s gonna have a ball on this thing!

12/22/2010 Wrapping Crew Makes the Paper!

Today the Arizona City Independent comes out. This is the weekly paper for Arizona City.

Of course the front page news is the Arizona City Children’s Christmas party. If you choose to do so you can read all about it hear and you can see our picture. Click HERE.

Bob is moving around much better now and he is definitely on the mend. The doctor was right, seven to ten days for a sprain.

It’s cloudy and overcast today and rain is predicted. We need it but then I think that is the standard answer when it comes to rain in the desert.

Nothing special going on today, just everyday things like laundry, dishes, making dinner and all the normal things of a typical day.

Tomorrow is our big day!

12/21/2010 Carpet Day!

After today there will be no more getting out of bed and walking on plywood. Finally! It’s only been a week that it has been like this but plywood underfoot just doesn’t feel good for any length of time.

So we got up early to get everything out of the room that we could. There isn’t much space between the platform bed and the walls as it is so its going to be a tight fit when the installation begins.

Our install time was given as anytime between eight and ten. At nine we got the call that our carpet was just put on the truck and that they were on their way. A half hour later they arrived and the install began.

I really felt bad for the guys because they were big men and there is only two and half feet between the platform top and the wall. We had debated on taking the mattress off the platform but then realized it wouldn’t make a difference either way so we saved ourselves the trouble.

No, we didn’t get red carpeting, that the padding underneath.

While one guy was laying the padding the other was outside rolling out the carpet for cutting.

The padding was done….

….and the cutting began.

It was such a tight fit for this fellow but he assured me he had been in tighter.

I won’t give you a finished picture until I get the new bedding on and the room is complete. It won’t be long because we don’t have too much longer in the park model this year.

It was soooo nice to walk barefoot on the new carpet. We just sink down into it. Trust me, a million times better than just plywood.

I spent most of the afternoon with Marilyn in town getting my haircut. Yes, it took most of the afternoon. Why? Because we went to the local Beauty College to get them. Now this was my first time ever going there. While I was very, very happy with my haircut I don’t know that I’ll go back. An hour and ten minutes for a haircut is just a tad too much more time than I want to put in to it. I understood going in that everything that is done will need to be checked by the instructor before the next step is taken. It was very crowded and the instructors were stretched thin. But again, I couldn’t have been happier with my cut. And the price! Six dollars for a haircut certainly works for me! Would I do this again? Maybe, if I had nothing else to do, however, that wasn’t the case today. Read on.

This next part is going to be cryptic in a way because I don’t want to say too much too soon. Let’s just say that Bob and I are in the market for something and that we have been very busy on the Internet researching things and looking for this particular thing that could be for sale or up for auction.

Well, we found one very close by and Bob and our friend Paul went to check it out yesterday. Bob was very happy with what he saw and Paul who has knowledge of these things said it was in good shape and worth the money as it stood now. I say that because Bob found it via an auction site. We debated and debated on whether to get into this auction because there was a $25.00 entry fee and the administrative costs was $350.00 plus whatever it went off for at auction and sales tax and price just kept escalating to a point it was going to be more than what we wanted to put out. We still have until tomorrow until the auction ends

However, yesterday afternoon Bob found another ad online. I don’t recall if it was Craigslist or the local paper but it turned out it was also close by. Like less than two miles close by.

Since I am the maker of all phone calls, I called and got more info and made arrangements to go see it today, between three and three-thirty. At three I was still at the Beauty School so I called to let them know we would be running late and to make sure they would still be available. All was good. We could go when it was convenient for us because they were going to be home.

So I jump out of Marilyn’s car and into the truck when I got home and off we went, two miles down the road.

We liked what we saw, it fit the bill, the price was very good and Bob and the man shook hands sealing the deal. We are now the proud almost owners of……. uh-uh, not yet. Not saying what it is until the money transfers into our account and then into the owners hands. I’m not going to get ahead of myself until the deal is done.

When we got in the truck Bob, who is sitting on Cloud Nine says to me, “You know, I feel like I’ve met that guy before but I don’t know where.” I replied, “So do I!, he looks so familiar to me.” but they just moved here in the last month and spent the summer in Colorado. Our paths didn’t cross so we thought nothing more of it.

Since tonight is pool night for Bob we went for dinner at the diner across the street since time is short.

Stop back to see what happens next.

12/19/2010 My 2nd “Signs of Christmas”

I’m not going to do a whole of typing in this post I think the pictures will speak for themselves. These are Signs of Christmas in Quail Run. Enjoy!

12/18/2010 Beautiful Morning Sky

I had to go pick up our drapes that were in the cleaners and I got a really early start. In fact, the sun wasn’t even up yet.

I had the camera next to me on the seat and I saw the pretty morning sky and took a picture as I was going down the road.

I would imagine a real poetic minded person may call the following picture something like, Cactus at Dawn or perhaps Morning Sky Cacti. Eh. I call it, Going Down the Road Pic and Damn Cactus Got in the Way of My Picture of the Pretty Sky. What would YOU call it?

Geez, now that I look at it the sky wasn’t all that anyway!

However, a little ways down the road I caught the sun coming up behind a small mountain peak.

Going to the dry cleaner’s so early in the morning was so worth it. Everyone should witness a sunrise every once in awhile.

12/17/2010 Marilyn is Bad for My Wallet!

Glutton for punishment. That’s me. The last time I went shopping with Marilyn I went for window valance curtains. I came home with eight bags and a whole lot less in our checking account. You think I woulda learned the last time. I guess I didn’t because I’m going to the mall again. With Marilyn. Before I go any further let me explain that there are not malls here as we know them. In Delaware if you go to the Christiana Mall or the Concord Mall you go to a very large building with store after store all under one roof. Even though I hear the term “mall” here, they are no more than shopping centers, Strip shopping centers on steroids. Now that I think about it I hear the term mall from people who very probably have real malls in their hometowns. I guess it wouldn’t be practical here. It would cost a fortune to air condition a common area in 115 degree heat and store rents would be through the roof.

So Marilyn has a 30% off coupon that she is going to share with me. I happen to be in need of a lot of things right now. A coffee maker for the 5th wheel, new sheets for both places, socks for Bob and the list goes on. Well, I hit the jackpot! The mother lode! I was able to get nearly everything I needed on sale. I bought $214 worth and with the discounts due to sales and then the 30% on top of that I walked out paying $97.53. I am a shopping goddess! Well, maybe that is a little over the top, let me rephrase that. I am cheap, the Queen of Cheap and I am happy! And the best part,,,,I didn’t take anything back!

Bob is still hurting but he’s forcing himself to move. Two more days and he should start feeling better. Keep your fingers crossed!

12/16/2010 To the Doctor He Goes

Bob’s back is no better and he’s really hurting. He had a follow up appointment with the doctor scheduled for today anyway so while he was there he brought up this intense pain he is experiencing.

He told the doctor what he was doing when it happened and the doctor poked and prodded and told Bob that at this point he thought it was a sprain and that it would take 7 – 10 days for him to start feeling himself again. However, if he still felt this way on day eleven to get back in to see him and x-rays would be done. We’re keeping our fingers crossed that it doesn’t go that far.

The worst part of all of this is that Bob can’t do anything and if you are a longtime reader here you know Bob can’t sit still, he always has to be doing something. He’s driving me nuts!

Even though this is our fourth Christmas away from Delaware, where the average daytime temp is in the high 30’s to low 40’s this time of year, we still aren’t used to it being THIS warm. We are reaching 80 degrees now, people are laying out at the pool, people are swimming, everyone is in shorts, we’re sleeping with windows open for heaven's sake. At the same time Christmas is in the forefront and I’m watching White Christmas on television and I know there isn’t a snowballs chance of a white anything here. And after four years its still strange. Will we ever get used to this? I don’t know but we’ll give er’ hell trying!

12/15/2010 We Wrapped How Many????

It was a bit of a scramble this morning because some of the ladies who are have been part of the wrapping crew since the beginning had golf dates today and couldn’t make it and we had three out sick. It didn’t take long to get volunteers to help fill in, thankfully.

In case of some you are new readers and don’t know the story behind this Christmas Party I’ll give you the condensed version here. Shortly after Val and Lou moved here they were at the golf course one day. After golfing they gathered with their new friends and the subject of a Children’s Christmas Party came up. It was explained to Val that the local Moose lodge put the party on and Val thought that was wonderful that the Moose would do this for the community. Val was quickly set straight that it was only for “Moose children”. That is fine in itself, however, the surrounding area is a somewhat poor area in some sections. Unemployment is high, the Mexican population has grown considerably and Val knew that those children needed Christmas too and that very likely Santa may not be stopping at a lot of the homes. She couldn’t sleep that night. The next morning she told Lou, her husband. that they had to do something for those children. And the Arizona City Children’s Christmas Party idea was born. They ran with it. They had just two hundred kids the first year and Val and Lou bought all the gifts. Yes, you read that right, all the gifts. The next year, when we all got involved the number had jumped to a little over 400 kids attending. The third year we wrapped over 600 gifts. Well, it was getting so big after the first year that Val turned to the community for donations. It was growing so big so fast that there are now two golf tournaments, a bike run, monetary donations from area businesses and individuals and good discounts from some retailers. Val and her husband do the shopping for all the gifts. The first year we were involved she accepted gifts that our park and others bought but that ran into problems. Some people bought things like bikes, those big battery operated remote control cars and others bought very acceptable Candyand or Parcheesi games, baby dolls and Tinker Toys. While all gifts were certainly appreciated it was too much of a swing between the value of the gifts. How does it get explained that Santa gave Johnny a bike and he gave a Jimmy a box of Tinker Toys and Johnny and Jimmy are brothers a year apart in age. I can see where that could cause a problem. Instead, Val and Lou do the shopping. She leans towards educational type toys or ones that introduce music, art or language.

Now how’s that for the condensed version?

So once again we make our way to Val’s to finish up what we couldn’t get done yesterday and the extra hundred gifts they shopped for until 11 pm last night.

Some of the gifts were almost as tall as the ones wrapping them.

Nancy and Diane have certainly been busy!

I hate wrapping balls! Basketballs, Footballs, Soccer balls, it doesn’t matter, give me a square box any day! Kathy steps up to the challenge!

Do you think the kid who gets this will guess what it is????

The wrapping is never ending! The piles never go down!

Finally at the end of the day, we had this.

Can you guess how many gifts we wrapped this year? Drum roll please…… EIGHT HUNDRED AND THIRTY ONE! And next year will even be bigger.

Its already been decided that from now on we’ll need two days to wrap.

We’re tired. Our backs hurt from standing all day. But it is so worth it! Val starts working on the party in JULY,,,,we can certainly give this small amount of time for such a worthy cause.

Val, we tip our Santa caps to you. You are an amazing, kind woman!

And you make great fudge!

12/14/2010 Gift Wrapping Day - 2010

Today is the day the ladies from Quail Run wrap all the presents for the Arizona City Children’s Christmas Party.

As soon as I arrived in Quail Run I contacted Val, the lady who chairs the whole event to assure her that Quail Run would once again be there to help. As the ladies who had been on the previous gift wrapping crews arrived I checked to see if they wanted to be part of it again this year. There was not one refusal.

We gathered at 12:50 in the parking lot to make sure everyone had a ride to Val’s and we arrived a few minutes later to find this…..

…..and this wasn’t all of them! At the time we arrived there 720 kids registered for the party so that meant we were tasked with wrapping 720 gifts! Before the day was out one hundred more would be added and that meant Val and her husband Lou would be going shopping tonight for one hundred more gifts.

Usually we have fourteen wrappers. At the last minute we had three who couldn’t make it but were able to get one of the other ladies in the park to fill in.

Here we are getting last minutes instructions from Val. She’s the one in the Santa hat.

Val has it all very organized by each box holding age/sex appropriate toys and each box has wrapping paper assigned to it. There are wrapping stations set up all over her house. The office, a spare bedroom, the kitchen island, the dining room table, a table set up in the living room, a pub table on the porch and the top of the hot tub also on the porch. Seven wrapping stations, two wrappers per station.

It was time to get started. Marlene and Maisie on their way to the office.

There was lots of paper cutting going on….

Lots of measuring….

Lots taping….

and lots of lugging boxes filled with wrapped gifts.

I think this is Billee’s fourth year

with the “Wrapping Crew”.

Maisie thinks this box will NEVER empty!

Question: How many Quail Run ladies does it take to wrap one game? Janet and Kathy are really into team work!

Now while its true that we got right to work when we arrived that isn’t to say we didn’t take little breaks. There was even a line dance going on at one point. We just happen to know a dance for Jingle Bell Rock that was on the radio.

Val made this fudge that was to die for! I’ll be honest right here and now. This is why I do this. Not for the children, not to give back, not for the friendship of the ladies,,,uh-uh. It’s Val’s fudge, plain and simple. I’m tellin’ ya, to die for!

Babe likes it too!

Everyone just kept so busy, busy, busy…..

I caught Marlene off guard. Usually she has a great big smile for me and not this look that seems to say “get that damn camera out of my face!”

Merry Christmas Marlene!

Val came to me and said that she wanted a group picture of the wrappers for the local newspaper but she didn’t know how we could do it because her husband wouldn’t be home until much later and her neighbors worked. She got called away at that point and the conversation ended. However, my mind was still working on this.

A little while later I slipped out front to see if I could find a photographer. I looked up and down the street and the driveways were bare. No one home in this neighborhood during the day. I was standing there in the driveway thinking how we were going to get a picture of all of us when a pick up turned the corner.

I had an idea!

I ran out to the street and flagged down the truck. When he rolled to a stop I asked him if he was in a big hurry to get home. He looked at me kind of strangely and I realized then how that may have sounded. I quickly explained that I wanted him to a take pictures of thirteen women in the house. His eyes got big as saucers and I knew this just wasn’t coming out the way I meant it. I further explained and he finally got it. He said sure, he would be glad to take the pictures and I told him I would go get the ladies.

Doug, our photographer.

I don’t think Val could quite wrap her mind around that I flagged down a perfect stranger to take our picture but I know that she was happy that it was being taken. And he did good!

I present to you……

The Quail Run Wrapping Crew

Well, we didn’t get done. There was just too many. We’ll have to come back tomorrow. It’s ok,,,,there’s till fudge left.