12/10–12/12/2014 Amazing People!

(Arizona City, AZ)

The decking of the halls has started.  Christmas trees are being put up in different places around the main building.

I couldn’t stay all the way to the end so I didn’t get pics of the finished trees today.

I’ve found a new game I just love to play!  Have you ever played Bunco?

Every Sunday, up to 24 of us play this face paced dice game in the card room in the Oasis.

If you ever get the chance to play I strongly suggest you do.   I won $9.00 the first time I played this year.

Bob has played golf a couple of times and spends his afternoons sitting outside with the guys in the neighborhood.  They drink their beer and solve all the world’s problems.  I hear an awful lot of laughing going on over there so I don’t know exactly know how many problems are really getting solved.

The fundraising is going gangbusters.  Residents are knocking on the door and handing over twenty dollar bills.  During the line dance class I made an announcement that whoever wanted me to stop buy later in the day to pick up their donation should color in their space on a map of the park I provided.  Needless to say spaces were colored in.

Later in the day, my neighbor Jodee, and I went riding slowly around the park to make the collection.  People who saw us go by their places soon came chasing us in their golf carts to give us money.  Twenties.  Nearly everyone is giving twenties.  We were handed one envelope and when we opened it we were shocked.  Not one twenty, six of them!  A $120.00 donation!  Another envelope held $50.00.  I was getting way more money than I expected.  Didn’t I tell you Quail Runners were generous?

A group of us went to Tumblweeds again to have dinner and to listen to Bunky sing.  This sure is an active season so far.

12/9/2014 Riders in the Sky

(Arizona City, AZ)

This evening Bob and I joined 19 other couples from Quail Run at the Pence Center for Visual and Performing Arts.  This is located at the Signal Peak campus of Central Arizona College.

We enjoyed the performance by Riders in the Sky.  We went to see their Cowboy Christmas Show.  It was very, very good and we really enjoyed.  Lots of songs we knew, lots of comedy, a good time for sure.

During intermission one I got up to stretch my legs and to see what others from our park thought of the show.  We didn’t have assigned seats so we were pretty much spread all over.

While visiting with two friends from the park, one’s wife walked up and told her husband to give me some money for the family we were collecting for.  He opened his wallet and pulled out a twenty.  Following suit, the other fellow also handed me a twenty.  A few rows up on the second level another park resident watched what going on but couldn’t see the denominations of the bills I’m sure.  He walked down to the railing and leaned over to call my name.  He said he wanted to take care of his donation while it was on his mind.  Yep, another twenty.  I couldn’t believe it.  I was asking for fives but these caring, generous people were handing me twenties.

I nearly floated back to my seat when the house lights blinked.  This project certainly was starting out on a good note!

12/8/2014 An Idea Forms

(Arizona City, AZ)

I sat at the dining room table playing Candy Crush, a game I play on Facebook, but I couldn’t concentrate on my game.  I kept getting the picture of the Angel Tree slips in my mind’s eye.  Not the side where we found boy or girl, their age and wants.  No, the flip side.  This is where the parents wrote needs for the family.  Towels, pillows, blankets, shampoo, lotion, toothpaste, a heater and water.  My mind kept drifting back to those sides of the Angel Tree slips.  Not all of them had it, a dozen or so at most.  I couldn’t stop thinking about them.  Basic human needs.  Blankets, towels, hygiene products.  Things you and I don’t even give a second thought to.

There was one family I heard about in particular.  A set of grandparents who unexpectedly got custody of four grandchildren.  Four grandchildren they were ill-prepared to receive and to take care of.  This was the family that was asking for pillows, towels, blankets and hygiene products and food.

I knew I had to do something to help.  Ideas and thoughts kept tumbling through my mind on the how I was going to do this.  I knew I couldn’t fill this need on my own.  Bob and I have our kids and grandkids we wanted to give Christmas gifts to and we have our own bills just like everyone else.  I also know that I live in a very giving community of people.  I would turn to our family in Quail Run.

I am one of three administrators on the Quail Run Facebook page.  I write the majority of the posts on the page and used that as my platform to reach out to the community.  I would ask each Quail Runner to donate $5.00.  Certainly doable and a request I knew our community would embrace.

So I set things in motion.  I wrote up the plea for the needed funds and posted it.  Now I just had to wait to see who would respond.  I know they won’t let me down.

If you’d like to see what goes on in our park you can check out our Facebook page.  Just type Quail Run RV Park in the search box on your Facebook page.  If you don’t have your own page just Google Quail Run RV Park Facebook Page or follow this LINK.  Be sure to click on the one that says Arizona City if you Google it.

12/1-12/7/2014 December Already!

(Arizona City, AZ)

December.  Last month of the year.  Christmas. Shopping.  Wrapping.  Shipping.  Baking. Parties.

All of the above is going on but normal everyday and weekly things are going on too.

Playing horseshoes for instance.  We had a new player this week.  Her name is Kim and she lives in the 5th wheel that backs up to ours.  Kim has never played horseshoes before.  Never.  Until today.  Now when Kim first started out she didn’t know where to stand or even how to hold the horseshoe.  She stood still and threw, walked up like she was on a bowling lane and threw, she stood near the edge and stood way back.  One time she threw completely over the pit.  We all ducked on that one. 

Then she changed sides and she hit her mark.  She started getting the shoes inside the pit and even close to the pole.  And then…..she got a ringer!


Oh yes she did!  She threw the second shoe.  We watched it sail through the air.  It seemed to be in slow motion.  CLANG!  Another ringer!  A six-pack!



Pretty as you please, two ringers.  All the rest of us got very excited for her and were yelling, “She got a six-pack!”  She looked at us and said, “What did I get?”  It had to be explained.

She was so proud of herself and rightly so.  I didn’t throw so well but that’s a story for another day.  Congratulations Kim!  (There goes my medal in our Winter Olympics)

Bingo also started this week.  Bonnie L. and run the bingo on Thursday nights.  It was planned that we would start in January when more people would be in the park but the ladies here were anxious to get started.  A list was made of all the ones who would play so that we made sure we would have enough to play and not lose money.


We have this rule that if you win three times in one night that that is grounds for a dunking in the pool.  Well, we had a three time winner.  We’re not showing her face here for her own safety.



This week we had the Craft Fair/Bake Sale and Luncheon.  It went very well with a great turn out.

Lots of jewelry, lots of knitted and crocheted items and these….fake cactus plants!


I’m hoping at the next one this lady is back because I didn’t have any money with me this time.  Sure, I could have gone home and gotten some but I’m keeping in mind that I have packages to ship in a few weeks and shipping isn’t cheap!  If I’m meant to have one of these she’ll be here again at the next one,  They sure were pretty and the best part is I can’t kill it!  I have no luck with cactus.


 One of the ladies in our park even wrote a cookbook.



Also this week our Angel Tree was put up.  The names of local children were provided by the local school district.  The surrounding area has some very poor sections and this gives the children a chance to get something for Christmas because its very likely they won’t otherwise.

Each slip tells you if it’s a boy or a girl, their age, what they would like to have and their sizes.

I picked out a little boy, three years old, who wants anything to do with Thomas the Train.  I have to admit, I know nothing about Thomas the Train but how hard can it be?

I looked at all the slips and was surprised that some of them, older kids, 15 & 16 were asking for IPads and computers.  Nah, that’s not gonna happen.  Those slips will hang there a long time I’m thinking.

Bob has been keeping busy around the house, and golfing, and going to the driving range, playing cards two nights a week and making weekly visits to the VFW club.

11/30/2014 We’ve Got New Wheels!

(Arizona City, AZ)

We’ve got new wheels!  Bob has been perusing Craig’s List and Ebay and the local for sale ads for a few weeks now and we finally added four more tires to our fleet.

We got a golf cart!

 

As it turned out we didn’t even have to go out of the park to find one.  Our friend Lawrence and his wife Elaine had his and hers golf carts and decided they didn’t need two after all.  The price is exactly what we wanted to pay so as soon as we heard it was for sale we told him we’d take it.

So Bob is one happy camper.  Me?  Well, its ok,  I know me, now that we have this thing I’ll never walk again.  I guess I’m just going to have to make up my mind that I’m not going to fall into that trap.   Who am I kidding?  As sure as my name is Snookie I know I’ll never walk this park again.  No!  I will!  I will!  Oh, no I won’t.  I must!  This is going to be a real battle.

11/28/2014 Black Friday Shopping

(Arizona City, AZ)

I am so not a Black Friday shopper.  Of course my friend Bonnie and I had great plans of getting up early and hitting the stores by eight for the early bird specials but that didn’t happen.  See, I told you I wasn’t a Black Friday shopper.  We moseyed on into town around ten.  First stop was Kohl’s.  The parking lot didn’t seem terribly crowded and we thought, “Wow, this is going to be a piece of cake.  In, out, on to the next store!”  NOT!  There must have a fleet of buses around back that we didn’t see.  Oh Em Gee, where did these people come from?

Bonnie and I decided to go our separate ways as she had pre-teens to shop for and I didn’t.  First stop for me was the Ladies Department.  I stood at the perimeter and looked in at all the people standing shoulder to shoulder and decided I’d come back to that department.  Next on my list was the men’s department.  Hmmm…going in there would be like taking my life in my hands.  I decided I’d come back to that department.  Big & Tall, only a handful of people in this section and I have two sons who fall into this department.  I found what I wanted and made my way back to the toy department.  This wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be but I didn’t find what I wanted.  Little girls department was next and while it was crowded I wasn’t intimidated.  Everyone looked calm and I wasn’t hearing any screams of “I saw it first, give it to me!”  I quickly found a couple of outfits for our granddaughter, on sale no less, and I slipped quietly back out to the aisle way.

Ahhh,,,the aisle way.  Why do retailers insist on putting rack after rack of merchandise in the middle of the aisle?  There’s a gazillion shoppers and a bazillion shopping carts and we’re all vying for space in the aisle dodging racks of bear claw slippers,  the latest in kitchen gadgets and celebrity perfumes by the dozens.  I mean really!  If I want bear claw slippers I’ll go to the shoe department.  If I just have to have the newest perfume by the latest celebrity who thought she could come up with a better smelling perfume than Estee Lauder then I’ll go to the perfume department.  Leave the aisle space alone!  Every square inch of it is needed on Black Friday.

I was finally done all I needed to get in this store.  I called Bonnie to see how far along she was and she too was done.  We agreed to meet at the registers.  We got there at the same time from opposite ends of the store and we noticed that the registers were all roped off and a pretty big guy from the store was directing the check out traffic.  We started following the line of those waiting to fork over their cash and we walked and we walked and we walked some more before we finally got to the end of the line.  This is going to take forever we said!  We debated on putting our stuff back (read that as walking away from our carts)  and going home or waiting it out. We decided to wait it out.  After all, we had hit some good sales, the people in our immediate area were all laughing and talking with each other so we thought the time would pass quickly.  And it did.  We probably waited about 35 minutes in line but we joined in on the conversations around us and it wasn’t bad at all.  And we got Kohl’s cash!

Our bags stashed in the back of the car we sat in the front seats and decided where to go next.  Home.  Let’s go home.  This isn’t fun.  We’ll shop again next week when everyone will be at work or at school.

I’m so not a Black Friday Shopper!



 

11/22-11/27/2014 Big Birthday Party & Thanksgiving 2014

(Arizona City, AZ )

We had a big birthday for one our fellow residents, Jane S. on Sunday.  It was supposed to be a surprise but she found out.  I know that because she stood in front of line dancing class and invited everyone to her Surprise Birthday Party!

Birthday girl Jane….

 

When Quail Runners are invited to a party we show up!

 

 

 

Well over a hundred people, no, make that friends showed up.  Twenty pizzas were delivered, all kinds.  Everyone stayed until nearly dark and a good time was had by all.  Happy birthday Jane!

Thanksgiving time already.  I bought a turkey though we won’t be cooking it on Thursday.  We’ll have a neighborhood dinner in January or February when Bob will deep fry it.

I’ve been busy collecting “boxes” for the Christmas gifts I’ll be wrapping soon.  Last year I sent grandson Derek some Sonic gift cards and put them in an empty Dial soap box.  Hey, they fit!  They thought I had sent him some soap and all had a big laugh over it.  In their Christmas card I wrote a note and asked, “Who will get the soap box this year?”  So I’m wrapping something in an empty Progresso Bread Crumbs canister, a box that four sticks of butter came in.  a Stove Top box, a paper towel tube and plastic box that cherry tomatoes came in and a jar that beets came in.  Should be lots of laughs around the tree this year.

We had Thanksgiving dinner in the Carnaval Room this year with the many residents in the park.






I’m not a great fan of these holiday dinners.  Once we get back into our park model we’ll host dinners at our place.  There’s more and more of that going on here in Quail Run.

I’m going shopping Friday!  I know, I know, but the sales are just too good!