Our Christmas Present to Ourselves

Rod and I don't always go crazy on gifts for eachother, it's more important that we give than receive. However, this year we splurged on a really good camera. Our gift to eachother arrived a couple of days before Christmas. It's a Nikon D90 with all the bells and whistles including 5 lenses, 2 tripods, filters, the list goes on. It's a hobby of Rod's and I am slowly learning.

Expect an improvement in our photography once we learn how to use it. We've always had a 35mm, our last being a Nikon. I just have to read the manual and start using it the way its intended instead of my current method of point and shoot and settings on auto. lol Rod has been reading and playing with it since we got it. He's shown me a few things but I really need to read it myself in order to retain anything.

We are both back to work this week, but will get the grandkiddos tomorrow for a day or two and celebrate New Year's with them. Hopefully, we can find a fireworks display somewhere close by. I still have to get my black eye'd peas, ham and cabbage for New Year's day. There are so many different traditions.

One year, we putted down the canal in our boat with a group of friends right at midnight and a lady through a bucket of water on us. I thought, WTH? I asked her why she did that and she told me, in Cuba, they throw a bucket of water out the window or off their porch right at midnight to rid themsevels of all the bad things that happened the prior year. She didn't realize our boat was passing by as she heaved a 5 gallon bucket of water over the rail. :)

In the New Year, may your right hand always be stretched out in friendship, but never in want. ~ Traditional Irish toast

 New Year’s Reflections

 Looking back on the months gone by,

As a new year starts and an old one ends,
We contemplate what brought us joy,
And we think of our loved ones and our friends.

Recalling all the happy times,
Remembering how they enriched our lives,
We reflect upon who really counts,
As the fresh and bright new year arrives.

And when we ponder those who do,
We immediately think of you.

To all our family and friends...
Thanks for being one of the reasons we had a great 2009 and 2010 will be even better!

Comments and Graphics - New Year Layouts - Photobucket

Christmas Eve

Good Morning everyone. Connie, Sam and I just want to wish you all a Merry Chrismas.

We are awaiting the kids. They are coming here for Christmas Eve dinner and to exchange gifts with us. Connie is making her annual prime rib and other delicious treats. Later this evening we will all load up and head back to their house for dessert. Connie, Sam & I will spend the night there. Tomorrow we will spend the day with them and Dana's family. It will be a pretty big crowd and is always fun. We'll end up back here, worn out but happy later tomorrow night.

I hope Santa brings y'all everything you want.

Adios for now, enjoy the day.
--Rod

More of Nothing In Particular

I just dropped Sam off at the Doggy Detailers in Galveston. He needs to clean up his act for Christmas. This is the first time I've taken him there and his reaction surprised me. Usually he is excited to go somewhere new and loves meeting new people. This time he locked his legs and squatted his hind end down. They had to drag him past the desk (tile floors). The beagle ahead of us was doing everything he could to not go in the door so maybe that spooked Sam.

UPDATE: The Doggy Detailers just called and said Sam keeps opening the door to the pen he's in, we need to go pick him up now. LOL We have two deadbolts on our entry door and he can open both of them. When he wants out, he wants out.

How about some random thoughts?

Where has the time gone? I’m 60 but it seems like a short while ago that I was fresh out of high school, working full time and attending college at night. I’ve got a head full of memories, most good, that seem to get more vivid each day. My memory of things that have happened in the last week is foggier. I can remember the taste of my grandmother’s home fries from 50 years ago but can’t remember if I had breakfast last Sunday. How does that make sense? Anybody else have this problem?

Sometimes when I think back on my life I wonder how the hell I got this old. My friends and I did some very stupid things. Youth sure does make you feel indestructible. Now I worry every time the kids go anywhere or do anything.

All week it’s been in the 40s and 50s with wind and rain. I’ve been miserable. When I lived in NY this would have been a pleasant mid-winter break from sub-freezing temperatures and snow. Am I spoiled by the nice weather we have 95% of the time or just turning into a crotchety old man? I’m hoping it’s the former but afraid it’s the latter. Will retirement cure this? I hope so.

When I do retire I hereby promise that I will not drive during rush hour unless I’m at least keeping up with traffic. I also will not go to the post office at noon or the grocery store at 5:00. What the hell is the matter with these old coots? Are they just trying to aggravate those of us who still have to work? Is it a requirement that you do these things in order to join the retired club?

I love watching kids at Christmas. Can there be a more exciting time in life than being seven years old and getting up to a tree loaded with evidence that you’ve been good all year? I really feel bad for the kids in the homes that Connie’s organization runs. No kid should be without at Christmas.

How come sitting in a boat watching the sunrise or sunset makes your mind go to God? I see sunrise over the Gulf of Mexico almost every day on my way to work. It's always different. I enjoy it but when I see it from a boat I always find myself wondering about God and His plan for me. Here's a couple of sunsets over the bay:

Do the rest of you fishermen feel like it’s been a poor fishing trip if you don’t catch any? I love to catch fish but it really doesn’t matter to me if I do. I’ve even sat in the boat, line in the water, without bait on the hook. My fishing partner on the other hand is in a competition with the fish. When she misses one I try to stay out of her way until she calms down. I think the maddest I ever saw her while fishing was when she had hooked a flounder in the 7 to 8 pound range. She got it to the boat and I knocked it off the hook with the landing net. I don’t think I said a word for 2 hours. Fear can be crippling.
Here's a shot of our best fishing day ever, 2 full limits of speckled trout.

Acouple more of my fishing partner showing off her catch:

We have had some great times fishing and boating where we live. Sometimes when I think about it I almost regret our decision to sell the place. It lasts about 10 seconds then I think about all the new adventures we’re going to share when we hit the road.

I’m looking forward to the RV show in Houston on Feb. 10th thru the 14th. I’ve looked at the website and it doesn’t appear there will be a Carriage dealer there but we’ll get to check out their competition. Carriage is our top choice so far in the search for our new home on wheels. The Carri-Lite is the model line we like but financially the Cameo is probably what we’ll end up with. That could all change if I pick the right numbers in the redneck retirement system on one of these Wednesdays or Saturdays.

Adios for now, enjoy the day.

I love this!

Tis the Season

This weather stinks. It seems like its been raining, cold and blowing for 2 weeks now. Our winter weather usually stays in the 50's which I'm not complaining about, but add gale force winds and rain, or no wind and fog as thick as pea soup and it makes for weather you don't care to get out in.

The days end so quickly, its dark by the time we get home from work this time of year. Rod and I prefer to be outdoors fiddle fartin around and since we can't, well, we get lazy. Our routine changes to coming home from work, playing with Sam for a bit, I make dinner, Rod does the dishes and then we settle in for the night and watch TV and hit the sack by 10.

Thankfully, despite the weather we did all our Christmas shopping last Sunday, that was exciting...NOT. The first half of the day wasn't too bad. Most everyone must have been at church but when church let out...BAM! Lines were 15 people deep and we had a bicycle and a full cart. Since Rod isn't one for shopping in the first place and thats putting it mildly, I told him to go ahead and check out with the bike and I would get the rest of the gifts and meet him out at the truck. He seemed more than okay with that. ;) We went to lunch afterward and made it home without too bad of an attitude. Around the holiday shopping time people drive crazy, are rude and basically have no regard for anyone but themselves. There were accidents all over the place. Be careful out there, its a zoo.

It's been a long week for some reason and I have my performance evaluation today. I'm not worried about it at all, I just want to get it over with so I can mark that one off my calendar.

Tomorrow, at work we are having our pot luck lunch and Elephant gift giving. I'm looking forward to doing something different at work besides working. :) The theme is Mexican food so I am making fish tacos. This could get exciting since I blacken the fish in my cast iron skillet. I've already located all of the smoke alarms but we have 14' ceilings where they are mounted and no ladder. LOL

The one joy we do get this time of year is seeing the excitement in our grandkiddo's faces. I think they are going to explode at times. All this activity is more than one kid can take. The suspense, the running around buying gifts for everyone, their Mamma makes them take part in the whole process. The wrapping and helping with the cookie making. The excitement of it all has them buzzing around like little squirrels on crack. We spend the night at their house on Christmas Eve so we can watch them open gifts Christmas morning. It brings so much joy to us being with them. :)

Have a great day and watch out for the loonies out there, it's like a stirred up ant hill.

Connie

The holidays are not the same for everyone...

There's a tear in my coffee this morning as I think about what the holidays mean to me, and what they mean to the children in our care here at work.

For those of you who don't know, I work for a non-profit organization that has programs that provide care, education, treatment, research and training to promote and restore the physical and emotional health of children, youth and their families. We don't give services away to just anyone, they must have a real need. Each of our clients are screened carefully so that there is no abuse of the "system." We won't waste valuable resources on those who don't meet our stringent intake process.

Everyday is tough for children growing up without parents but the holidays are even harder. It's not the lack of gifts, it's the lack of family that hurts.

We have a facility for undocumented children who have been on the streets or riding the rail system from South America who were brought here by "coyotes" or "human traffickers" and who are running from abuse or just trying to reunite with their families in the US who left other countries to come here and try to earn a living. Once we unite them, the Government tracks them and if its an imigration issue with their family, they will all be deported. If you ever get a chance to see "Which Way Home" (HBO and Netflix has it), its an eye opener.

These are also those children have been abused and are running to try and find a better life for their families back home. They have been sold a 'bill of goods' by coyotes that they can come here  to the US and earn $30,000 to $40,000 a year and send it back home to their families. Their families hock everything they own sometimes to come up with the $6,000 they have to pay the human trafficers. Only to have them get to the US and inform the parents back in Mexico that their children will not be released until they come up with more money, a lot more money. If they don't release the kids, the kids will begin making the human traffickers income by prostituting, stealing and other mob-like actitivies. If we don't get them off the streets, they will more than likely be picked up by dangerous gangs such as MS-13, Azteca or Zeta. The only way out of those gangs is death. We receive these children from Border Patrol, local law enforcement and ICE. We are a holding facility as see they go to court, go home, reunite with their families or depending on their circumstances may end up in our Foster Care Program.

Other young children have been living on the streets for months before we get them. They have seen and experienced things that no child should. Some (boys and girls) have been raped, physically abused, or watched this happen to someone else. The age range is from 5 years old to 18 and we are seeing more and more in the 5-12 year old range. They come to us with a suitcase full of emotional issues. We give them warmth, comfort, education and therapy. And, try our best to provide a safe and secure environment for thier time with us. Our staff does a great job parenting them, but we both know it’s not the same as having your own parents. Some of them have been dropped off at the border by their parents, some are here because their parents have been murdered, are in jail, or Mommy and Daddy have left their home country to come here and make a living and left the kids behind. Some of them are just running from sexual abuse, the list of reasons is long. Whatever the reason, they are in need of our help.

We also have a program dedicated to youth that are about to "age out" of our Foster Care programs where they reside fulltime. We help them transition into the working world; teach them life skills that will give them the confidence and ability to live on their own. We also have a facility for older youth that will never be adopted.

Our residential center that houses children who will never be adopted is the most heartbreaking of all to me. These troubled kids don't have the gift of a loving family, a bedroom of their own, they can't visit with friends outside of the facility other than in school. They don't have the joy of seeing aunts and uncles and cousins and sharing memories of fun times together. My heart bleeds for these children right now. They have no family, they don't know the love of a mother or father.

My compassion is strong for the children 365 days a year but even more so during the holidays. Many of these children have never had a sit down Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner with family. They have never felt the joy of the holidays, as many of us know it. Their emotions run strong. For those children without parents who are "throw away" kids its even tougher.

Until I came to work here a few years ago, I had no comprehension of how many of these children were out there. The numbers are huge and growing. It's an ugly life for child.

It's so easy to forget these children this time of year when we are busying ourselves with our own celebrations. Our programs are here out of necessity only. Unfit parents or tough times have made these kiddos homelless. They need a hand up and that what we try to give them. Education, safety and a chance at life.

We have many generous donations this time of year. Gifts for the children and families are plentiful, to me, whats missing is peace in their hearts.

Please take a moment to remember these children and families in your thoughts and prayers. Pray they can somehow find comfort and joy this holiday season.

Not everyone realizes this problem exists. These children get lost in the cracks of society. If you are departed from your families during the holidays or just feel like giving your time, contact a local child welfare organization near you and see what you can do to help. Sometimes its just gift wrapping, singing carols, or helping cook a traditional holiday dinner for the children. You will get back tenfold what you give.

Thank you for taking the time to read this today, and hopefully you can share a moment of silence and good thoughts for these kids.

Warmest wishes for a joy filled holiday with your loved ones.

-Connie

Nothing In Particular

Sitting here looking over the North Rim of the Grand Canyon I realize………
Oh crap, daydreaming again. Sorry about that. Not traveling yet so I don’t really have too much to write about. How about a background story on Sam?

Sam aka "The House Horse"

Sam is our chocolate lab. He will be 7 years old in a couple of weeks. We got him in November of 2005. We had to put down a dog we had had for 13 years and both of us agreed “No more dogs”. Two days later Jackie called us and said she knew of a lab that needed a good home. His family had a new baby and a new house with white carpets. They kept him in the garage because he kept escaping from the yard. We weren’t too crazy about the idea but after a little discussion we agreed to go meet him.

It was dark the night we went to see him and they had just let “Sampson” out of the garage to get some exercise. He was racing up and down the street and all over the neighborhood. The more his mistress called him the more he raced around. I remember thinking “This dog doesn’t listen at all, we don’t need an animal we can’t control”. After about an hour he tired himself out and came home. We petted and talked to him. He was real friendly. We told the owner we would take him and see how it worked out. Everyone agreed we could bring him back if things went badly.

I opened the back door to Connie’s SUV and Sam hopped in without any coaxing. All the way home he just sat there looking out the window as if he had rode with us a hundred times before. We got home and he jumped out of the car and raced towards the house. He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Connie start up the stairs. I had to help him up the steps. I guess he had never climbed stairs before. Once he was inside he just lay down and went to sleep. It was very strange because he acted like he was home and I guess we knew he was.

Sam loves to eat. If I put a 50 lb. bag of dog food in front of him I think he would bury his face in it and eat until he exploded or the bag was empty. He gets 1 cup of food in the morning and 2 cups at night when we get home. His other downfall is peanut butter flavored dog biscuits. Those are his treats and he gets one after each meal and maybe 2 or 3 during the rest of the day.

When we brought him home he weighed about 103 pounds. By the following March he had gained a little and was up to 112 pounds. The vet told us he would be healthier and live longer if we could get him down to about 90 pounds. I switched him from regular Purina to Purina Fit & Trim. I also started playing ball with him everyday. Six months later he was down to 93 pounds. The vet was happy. I wish I could make my doctor happy like that. We have been trying to keep Sam in that range but he seems to be gaining a little at a time and is now about 100 pounds. I also have been gaining so he and I are going to add a little walking into our ball playing routine.

Sam is a pretty smart dog. He has his “lab moments” but overall I think he is the smartest dog I’ve ever had. He has a good vocabulary. It seems like he is trying to understand when I talk to him. He knows the words treat, eat, food, ball, ride, mommy’s truck, blue truck, downstairs, upstairs, nighty-night and a few other words I can’t think of right now. Sometimes I hide something he wants just to see if he can find it and get it out of where ever I’ve put it. Most of the time he’s successful.

One trick I wish he never figured out is opening the door. When we remodeled last year we put in a new entrance door. It has a lever type handle. The old one was a doorknob type. Sam has figured out how to put one paw against the doorframe and use his other paw to pull the handle down, unlatching the door. This would be pretty smart in itself but he also has to pull the door in to get it to open. The first time he did it we had gone fishing at 8:00 in the morning. When we got home that evening Sam was standing on the dock waiting for us. The front door was wide open and the AC was running full blast. After he made a few escapes we started locking the door. That keeps him in most of the time. On occasion he has turned the deadbolt with his mouth then opened the door. He only does this if we have left him for a full workday then come home for a little while and leave again.

The first thing I do each day is go downstairs and get my newspaper in the driveway. Sam always accompanies me. I am trying to teach him to pick up the paper and carry it upstairs. So far he acts like he doesn’t know what I’m asking. I think he knows what the word “paper” means but for some reason thinks I’m supposed to pick it up and take it in the house. If any one has a suggestion on this I would appreciate it.

Sam loves to go for rides. I even have to let him in the truck if I’m just rearranging the vehicles in the driveway. This will sure help when we finally become full timers. Cleaning dog puke off the seat is not something I want to add to the set-up checklist.

I hope I haven’t bored you too much with my story about Sam. This blog will get better in the days ahead, I promise.

Adios for now, enjoy the day.

A Christmas Parade and Carnival

We headed up to League City where our daugher, son-in-law and grandkiddos live yesterday afternoon. It was freezing cold but we managed to stay from 2:30 until after 9:00 p.m. to watch our grandson Chase, participate in a Tai Kung Do Demostration before and during the parade.

People were everywhere and we thought we were smart by bringing chairs and placing them right up against the barricaes but OHHHHHHHHHHH NOOOOOOOO, people still managed to stand in front of us on our side of the barricade. Where have good manners gone? Sheesh!

Anyway, we had a great time. The park is absolutely beautiful!

It was so hard to get good pictures of a moving target and a parade, my camera didn't know what to focus on but here are a couple of pictures of Chase in the pre-parade demo.

Obviously, he's contemplating every step of his routine in his head. LOL

We're really proud of him for sticking with this and now he's even part of the Premier Team who perform demos at malls, schools and events.

I'll admit its been awhile since I rode any carnival rides and I was hesitant when I saw the rust on the first one our grandaughter wanted to ride. She was going to go with her Daddy and I was going to ride with my daughter but plans changed and I rode with her. Little did I know this was her first big ride. She was scared, having fun, then scared, then having fun, and screaming her lungs out over the top of my screams, which was quite a feat in itself.

Okay, after looking at the picture a little closer, its obvious "I" was the one who was scared.

Our daughter Jackie, seemed to take it all in stride.

Megan and Dana her Dad moved on to more rides. I decided to sit this one out.

There was just no stopping her, as long as Daddy would go. LOL

We all had a really great time. I wished my pictures of Chase had come out better. I think its time for a new camera. Here's a shot of Rod, me, our beautiful daughter Jackie and Son-in-law Dana.

Megan, our 7 year old grandaughter took this picture.

In closing, I found the cutest decoration and our wish to y'all as well this holiday season...

Warmest regards,

Connie

A frosty morning on the island

We woke up to 25 degrees and a layer of frost on the lawn, deck and vehicles. We covered all of our tender plants last night and hope that all our palms all make it. Last spring, we invested a few thousand dollars and some back breaking work into our landscaping to replace what Hurricane Ike took away, which was everything right down to the lawn. I am keeping my fingers crossed this morning that we don't lose too much.

Funny how our weather is around here, it's going to be back up into the 50's today and 74 on Tuesday.

When we moved here over 30 years ago someone told us, "if you don't like the weather 'round here, wait a minute." It really does change that fast. :)

Frost or snow in this area happens but not very often, when it does people get very excited.

Chase and Megan, our grandkiddos are enjoying the weather even if Papa and Nana aren't. ;) They live about 45 miles north of us and got out of school early yesterday. lol

Okay, I'll admit it, our family poses for pictures. LOL

This time of year we are often blessed with a beautiful sunset looking off our deck as we were this past week.

Enjoy your day everyone!

-Connie

Rainy Monday

It’s Monday again. I hate Mondays, especially when it’s cold and rainy. I don’t care how rested I am Mondays are always a drag.

We got home from our Thanksgiving trip about 3:00 yesterday. I hope y’all had a great Thanksgiving and took a few minutes to reflect on all that you have to be thankful for. I know I did. Sitting at our campsite early in the morning with Sam lying beside me I thought about all the wonderful people and things God has given me. My beautiful wife, Connie, is on top of the list. She takes care of me, inspires me to be more, keeps me on an even keel and most of all puts up with me.

I'm also thankful for our daughter Jackie who has made me so proud over the years. She has turned out to be a wonderful mother and wife. Her and Dana are a true partnership. They have been successful because they work well together building on each other’s strengths. They have given us two beautiful grandkids. Chase & Megan are very special to us and will be the hardest to leave when we hit the road. We'll miss some of their growing up.

I am also very thankful that God sent me to two people who spoiled me first then as I aged supported me and bailed me out of some boneheaded mistakes and decisions that youth can cause. My parents, Ralph & Doris.

I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the big, ever hungry, ball chasing dog, Sam, lying next to me. I've had a lot of dogs but none like him. He's taught me a lot.

We left home on Wednesday morning and about six hours later arrived at Potter’s Creek C.O.E. park on the north side of Canyon Lake. It’s in the Texas Hill Country and the scenery is very different from what we see along the Gulf coast.

As we crested the hill outside the park the lake came into view and it was a beautiful blue/green color. When we saw it we knew we would enjoy our stay. Sam forgot to take a picture and neither of us remembered either.

We stopped at the office and received our map and rules for the park. The park host gave us directions to our site which I had picked on-line back in early September. As we pulled up I thought “uh oh this doesn’t look good”. The roads are narrow and lined with timber bollards about 18” high. To make matters worse there was a small dumpster on the edge of the road between our site and the next. It was going to be very tricky to back the RV into the site without hitting something. Connie must have read my face because she said “I want to do it, you get out to direct”. I must admit she backs both the RV and the boat better than I do. I think it’s just that she goes slower and thus doesn’t get in a bind like I usually do. Sam & I got out and ran from side to side behind the rig directing while she backed it in. She cleared the dumpster with the RV by about 6” and the bollards with the truck by about 1”. She proceeded to back in perfectly on the first try. No front/back maneuvering, just backup, park and get out of the truck. I’d probably still be maneuvering. I think it might be the good directing she had.

We got setup and sat down to relax when the deer started coming out of the woods. They came very close to us and acted like it was feeding time. This proved to be a early morning and late afternoon ritual every day that we were there. I counted over 20 of them at one time.

Everyone who is a regular at the park seemed to have a 50 pound bag of corn for feeding them. I guess it’s OK but I’m not a big fan of turning wild animals into semi-pets by feeding them. I would prefer the way the state parks we have been to forbid feeding them. I’m not a big fan of the way they are hunted here in Texas either. Just doesn’t seem right to feed them at set times each day during the year then shoot them from a tree house when they come to feed on opening day. I know the population has to be controlled and I’m not against hunting. I just don’t like stand hunting the way they do here. Oops, got sidetracked. In short if you want to see deer this is the park for you.

Sam was very tolerant of the deer and didn’t bark or try to chase them. This is different behavior from last spring when he didn’t want them anywhere near our campsite. I guess he’s either getting older or lazier. Maybe both.

This park is built for water activities and in the summer is probably mobbed. Other than that there isn’t much to do there. It is close to San Antonio, New Braunfels, San Marcos and Fredericksburg so day trips are in order for this time of year.

Thanksgiving morning Connie woke up with pain in her lower back. She thinks she pulled a muscle twisting around to see while backing the RV into the site. We didn’t have any Ibuprofen so I used an app on my iphone called “Around Me”. It’s a pretty neat little deal that you can use to search for gas stations, grocery stores, pharmacies, etc. near your location. I searched for pharmacies and it found several. Most were in New Braunfels about 25 miles away but it listed one about 4 miles from us. Sam & I headed out. We followed the directions and eventually ended up in the driveway of a private lake house. I guess it was owned by a pharmacist who also owned a pharmacy in New Braunfels. We were now at least 4 miles further away from the nearest pharmacy. I re-computed for a grocery store and found one about 20 miles from the park. Sam guarded the truck while I went in to get some Icy-Hot, Ibuprofen and a few other things.

By the time we got back Connie had already cut all the vegetables, baked a pecan pie and was in the process of making dressing.

She popped a couple of the pills and I rubbed a little Icy-Hot on her then she finished cooking a delicious Thanksgiving dinner for us. We ate about 3:30 and then sat around the fire for a couple of hours. Both of us were tired so we went in the RV, got ready for bed and put in a movie. Neither of us watched more than 30 minutes of it.

Friday morning I woke to a lesson. Furnace vents blow hot air. I mean real hot. Look at the table on the left in the picture below. I had pushed the table up to the RV and during the night it melted a hole in the table.

Friday and Saturday we took rides around the area and just generally hung out. We met a really nice couple, Mike & Suzie Eubanks, from Dayton, Texas. They have a beautiful Montana 5th wheel RV and gave us the grand tour. We spent some time getting to know each other Friday night. Mike is retired from his job in the oil business but has a part-time business he started up. Suzie is going to retire this spring. I asked Mike if they were going to become full time RVers after Suzie retired. He said, “No but we’re gonna be real hard to find”. He gave me several tips about 5th wheels and Ford diesels. He’s the kind of guy who does most of his own maintenance and repairs and seems to be very self reliant. I am looking forward to spending more time with them.

Two guys fishing on the Guadalupe River.

Canyon Lake

Sunday morning came fast and it was time to hook up and head out. We got on the road about 10:00. Traffic on I-10 was very heavy and we saw a sign saying I-10 was only one lane in Houston. That helped us decide to get off the interstate and head cross country on FM roads. We figured our route and ended up almost a full hour quicker getting home than going to the park on Wednesday. It was nice to see some of the countryside and not just the back of the car that just passed you.

After arriving home we unpacked the RV and just relaxed. I grilled a couple of steaks and Connie baked some spuds then we watched a movie and called it a night. Sam was snoring before we were even through eating so I guess camping wore him out too.

Adios for now, enjoy the day. --Rod

Heading off to Canyon Lake

We leave this morning for 5 days at Canyon Lake. It's just Rod and I, and of course Sam. We are all looking forward to the time off and to be out there with nature again. We are loaded for bear with all the Thanksgiving fixins and looking forward to preparing dinner in the woods.

To all of our friends, have a safe and happy Thanksgiving.

Connie and Rod

A Stress Test Then More Stress

I had to get up at 4:30 on Wednesday morning in order to get to the Heart Institute at St. Luke’s Hospital in Houston by 7:00. I had to go for a 6 month check-up after my hospitalization in May. As usual I was a little early and had to wait until the appointed time to get registered.

This time I remembered to bring a book. I figured between that and my i-Phone I would be able to keep myself occupied in between the various fun activities my cardiologist had in mind for me. Good thing I brought the book because my phone couldn’t get a connection.

My cardiologist’s name is Dr. Patrick Hogan. He graduated from Georgetown University Medical School and trained under both Dr. DeBakey and Dr. Cooley. He has been treating me since my 2nd heart attack at age 47. He supervised one of his residents placing the stents in my heart back then. He threw one of his other residents out of the cath lab in the middle of my procedure and it was quite funny. While the residents (& I) were watching the procedure on monitors one of them said “oh shit” when the balloon catheter almost caused a blowout in one of my coronary arteries. Dr. Hogan let him know in no uncertain terms that his days in the cardiologist program were over. There is no fooling around with Doc Hogan. I would highly recommend him to anyone in need of a cardiologist.

After registration I was sent to radiology for chest x-rays and then a CAT Scan of my heart. Of course they can’t do one then the other you have to go sit in the waiting room for a while in between. When I finished there they sent me to another floor for lab work. I had the blood work done 2 weeks ago just to cut that part out. It took some talking and a phone call to the Dr.’s office to convince them that I didn’t need to be drained again. Then they sent me to the 12th floor for my stress test. Only problem was they had never heard of me and I wasn’t on the schedule. Another call to the office and I was told they were going to run the stress test in the office not the hospital.

I made my way to the Dr.’s office and signed in. Another wait. They finally called my name and I was led to their stress test facility. Since it was supposed to be a nuclear stress test they had to inject me with an isotope then send me back to the waiting room for another ½ hour. After I was sufficiently lit up they called me back to lay still under the camera for 28 minutes. This is to take pictures of blood flow thru the heart at rest. Kind of a “before” picture. When that was finished they sent me back to the waiting room for a while. A couple of chapters later they called me back in and wired me up for my test. Surprise, no treadmill, the doctor had order a chemical stress test. I hate that more than the treadmill. They inject you with a chemical that stresses your heart while you’re laying down. It doesn’t hurt but you feel like a weight is sitting on your chest, you get short of breath, have pressure on your heart and start to sweat. The whole thing takes about 5 minutes and about 2 minutes later you start to feel normal again. That’s when they injected the isotope again. This time they told me to go eat something “fatty”, get a cold drink and come back in an hour. I found a deli on the 1st floor and had a muffalotta and a 32 oz. coke.

When I got back to the office I waited for about 20 minutes and then they called me back to take the “after” pictures. About 10 minutes into the photo session my bladder realized I had drank a 32 oz. coke. Talk about stress. I spent the remainder of the session clamped down and praying I wouldn’t wet myself.

By now it was about 12:30 and I settled in to wait to see the doctor. My appointment was for 3:15. At 1:00 they called me to the desk and told me that they had switched me to the 2:00 slot because I had been there so long. I went back to the waiting room figuring I'll be on my way home at 2:30. I sat there until 3:00 before I was called to see the doc. Good thing they moved my appointment up.

Dr. Hogan went thru his check list and gave me the results of all the tests and blood work. He said the enlarged aorta hadn’t changed so not to worry about it. Told me to lose weight and exercise more and come back in a year. Hooray! No changes from May.


“Hey doc, what’s my chances of getting a disability retirement?” “Sorry, you won’t qualify” Boooooooo! Oh well I had to ask. Would have been nice to speed the counter up.

I left the office and went to the wrong parking garage. Couldn’t find my truck and after walking around for a while realized I had taken a wrong turn coming off the escalator. I retraced me steps and finally got headed to the right garage. When I found my truck it was blocked by the valet parking cars. I had to track down one of those guys to move a couple so I could get out. $12.00 later I was out of the garage and on my way home.

When I got to the freeway I was very happy I wasn’t pulling the travel trailer. Those drivers are idiots. Speeding, switching lanes and cutting other cars off is the norm. Of course you have to do all that while talking or texting on your phone. I used to drive in Houston traffic all the time but it has gotten much worse than I remember. My heart really was stressed by the time I got back across the big bridge and on the island. This is east bound on the south loop (610).

After I got home Connie told me she had heard a flock of Canadian geese going over when she was sitting on the deck before work. She usually communicates with her mom in Spruce Lake N.Y. about the geese in the fall and the robins in the spring. They’ve figured out it takes about one month for the birds to travel between our homes, a distance of about 2200 miles.

Adios for now, enjoy the day. --Rod

Brrrrrrr...a cold front

Texas is known for its mild winter weather but ths morning we woke up to barely 50 degrees and a strong wind. Thankfully, it'll warm right back up to near 70 and into the 70's by the weekend.

Thats one thing we've always loved about Texas is its mild winters. Moving from the Adirondaks 30 years ago to the south, we learned to appreciate our winters here.

I really do miss the fall in the Adirondaks it's beautiful. All those colors always reminded me of Kix Cereal.

Unfortunately, like summer, fall dosen't last long where my family is. They have already had snow and it past time to stock up on firewood or pellets, or fuel oil and get ready for the long winter season. It won't be long before the lake is covered with ice and the family's little one's are out there ice skating like we did when we were kids. We were the first house on the lake where the plows would turn around in the cul-de-sac. Us kids used to make some pretty elaborate snow forts and caves underneath those huge snow banks. We'd stock pile snow balls after we dipped them in cold water to make them nice and hard. This way when my brother and his friends started a snow fight with us girls we were prepared. We could protect our fort ! I can remember when us kids could touch the top of the telephone poles by climbing up the snowbanks the plows left behind.

I miss certain things about winter and love the snow just not for so darn long. The lake where my Mom and two of my sisters live is pretty remote and although I don't know the exact elevation, it's in a snow belt for sure.  I can remember years when the ice didn't go out on the lake till mid June or so. Then the first frost was the 3rd week in August. Summer never lasted long enough for me. The year we moved south, it never got above 35 below the entire month of February. Rod and I moved the following May. We truly treasure our winter season in Texas. Here on the coast, the tourists have left for the most part, the fishing is great this time of year, the sunrises and sunsets are incredible and life is good. After we become fulltime, we will winter here in Texas near our daughter and grandchildren.

Be well and stay warm.

Connie

Sunday Morning In Jamaica Beach

We woke up to another beautiful morning on the best coast. It looks like a perfect day to go fishing but I have too much work to do to reach our goal of selling the house ASAP. Sitting on the deck having coffee is so relaxing I'm having trouble getting started.

There are a pair of ring neck doves cooing and preening each other on my neighbor's deck. I wish I could hold one, they look so soft. I don't know if it is their coloring or the texture of their feathers but something has always made me want to hold one. They used to nest in the tops of some tall palm trees but recently built a nest in the framing under George's deck. I should go tear it down because they will make a mess but I just don't have the heart to. George will have to do it when he comes down again.

Down the canal a ways I can watch as a young guy picks up the mess left by his guests from last night. They are a young couple from Sugar Land, Tx. who bought the house a year or so ago. They had a party yesterday. I'm not sure if it was planned or not. When you buy a beach or bay house you suddenly find you have many more friends than you realized. Connie & I remarked last night how that was us a few years ago. Now we're the older generation and the new ones are continuing the traditions of living here. Life goes on.

Went back to work on Thursday and the rest of the work week went unremarkable. The boss was hunting so the office was relaxed. Since I made up my mind about retiring and set the date in my head work has become very boring. I can't get too motivated about anything there. I do my job as best I can but I don't look forward to starting new projects like I used to. I have the number of days remaining marked on my desk calendar and the high point of each day is crossing off another one each morning.

Friday the 13th brought an unexpected surprise. Our neighbors across the street were down for the weekend and invited us to go to dinner at the Galveston Country Club. Chuck & MaryAnn have owned the house since shortly before hurricane Ike hit and I have kept an eye on their place for them during the week. For a while their garage door would open itself for no apparent reason and I would close it before their stuff was ripped off by one of the transient contractors that were crawling the island after the storm. Nobody misses those guys. Chuck just wanted to thank us for that and the other help we have given them. It was a nice evening and we all enjoyed it.

Connie and I worked on painting the house yesterday. It was tiring and this old fat guy used muscles all day that hade not been used in a while so I was pretty tight and sore last night. IceyHot applied just before bed seems to have done the trick so I'll give it a go at round two today. Sam as always was close by and keeping an eye on me. I dropped a paint brush from the ladder and it landed square on his head. We aren't sure if he looks like Spike from the movie Gremlins or Paulie from the Sopranos.

I better quit goofing off and get started painting so.......

Adios for now, enjoy the day. --Rod

Veteran's Day - November 11, 2009

We would like to start by thanking all our veterans for their service. Without them we wouldn't be able to enjoy our freedoms and this great country let alone dare to dream of spending our days wandering around the USA in an RV.

I'm off today and Connie just left for work. My buddy Sean wanted me to go fishing with him and I would have loved to but I wouldn't have enjoyed it knowing I have so much to do and that I haven't taken Connie fishing all summer because of it.


I'm going to spend the day painting the pilings and trim downstairs under the house. I started the painting job upstairs on the deck railings a couple of months ago but have been goofing off since the RV Dreamers rally in Kerrville last month. I know Connie was bummed about having to work and leave me unsupervised. She knows what a sloppy painter I am. I'll be real careful today and Sam's sure to keep an eye on me.

Sam & I just went to the hardware store for supplies and as usual he wanted to drive. My truck is old school type cab so he doesn't have much room and tries to sit in my lap. Wouldn't be bad except that he is far from a lap dog. He does love to ride though and that will be real important when we sell this place and hit the road.

I better get started so adios for now, enjoy the day. - Rod

Our next trip...

Rod and I will be leaving the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and heading to Canyon Lake. It'll just be the two of us and our house horse Sam (100 lb. chocolate lab).

Sam

Rod bought me a roaster oven so I wouldn't miss making Thankgiving Dinner. :) I am already planning meals for the leftovers.

We are all looking forward to getting away. Rod and I are trying to get Sam more used to RV'ing and us leaving him inside while we ride our bikes or hike around. The last time we camped with the family, our son-in-law took him on the leash while riding his bike so we could all go exploring together. It turned out to be something that resembled a Chinese fire drill or stired up ant hill, people and bikes went every which way and I laughed so hard I nearly fell off my bike and wet myself in the process. Sam decided to take off into the woods after something, well the rest is history. No son-in-laws or animals were hurt in the process so all is well. :)

We expect he will resist when we leave him alone in the RV at first, he has horrible separation anxiety. However, he manages just fine everyday that we go to work. I guess the RV is such a different environment for him, he must assume we are going to leave him forever.

He's only been RV'ing with us a couple of times. When we went to the 2009 RV-Dreams Ralley, we kept him at The Bayside Bed and Biscuit. We get him a luxury suite. He has his own room with a TV playing Animal Planet of course, a bed, a beautiful mural on the wall. I believe his last suite was the Tahiti Suite. They even have a lab room with nothing but balls in it. They take him out for play time twice a day and try to match him up with a playmate based on their personalities. I know it's a bit much but we can't have a good time if we are worried about him. We've used this service quite a few times now and he is used to it. This time he will just have to rough it with us. ;)

I will be sure to take plenty of pics, especially if I can get Rod to take Sam on the leash while riding his bike. :D

Slowly but surely...

.. I am getting this thing set up. Rod and I enjoy reading all of our friends blogs so I thought we'd better have a place to share as well.

Today, we are flooded in by tide waters. This is at the end of our street, the only way we have out.

One thing we won't do is take our Tow Vehicle through saltwater. There is probably a little over 16" of water on the street right now, more on the lower section of the street.

I hope to keep up with this every couple of days but not sure how many of you want to relive the nightmares of sticks and bricks and 8-5 jobs.  Maybe our blog can serve to remind you of how great y'all have it. ;)

I will work on getting a picture of Rod and I up there. I called my daughter and she didn't have one and I can't find one on this computer either. Seems like when you are the one with the camera all the time, you don't get your picture taken.

Hugs,
Connie