Auld Lang Syne

An optimist stays up until midnight to see the new year in.  A pessimist stays up to make sure the old year leaves.

 

I could have posted a title wishing everyone Happy New Year.  I figured there would be lots of blogs out there with that.  2012 is now behind us and all that remain are the memories.  Thus, Auld Lang Syne  … for the sake of old times ... is pretty relevant.

--  Soon this park tree will be  boxed and stored for another Christmas.

The clubhouse at the park had a New Year’s get together last evening.  Terry, of course, didn’t go because he’s still on an uphill battle trying to knock the bug he picked up.  I walked to the clubhouse with Toni and Doug for about an hour.    I think if you knew a lot of folks it would be fun visiting but most found a chair, ate some finger foods and talked to folks at their own table.  The best part to me were the Lairds.  They are certainly mighty fine people.  Our RVs have been back to back for nearly a month.  However, tomorrow we’ll be saying So Long for a few weeks as we both head our separate ways.

Instead of staying up late to bring in the New Year Terry and I rolled into bed before the clock struck twelve.  Once the sun goes down it gets pretty chilly but snuggling under the electric blanket makes that chill not so noticeable.  However, this morning it seemed nippier than ever. The temperature in the motorhome had dropped to 47 degrees.  Now that’s cold.  Even though it was still only 4:30 AM, I hopped out of bed and had our propane heater and our electric heater going.  It’s still not as cozy as being under an electric blanket but those little heaters make a big difference and keeping Duchess warm is important too.  Besides I can always take a nap later.

Party Hats -- 

With each year come changes.  2012 was no different.  We had a few changes.  We sold our cabin close to the lake only to regret it and buy another cabin just down the road.  That’s a continuing work-in-progress project.  We also sold a couple of the ATVs we bought the year before and replaced them with a Polaris RZR – that will probably change this year too.  We're tired of pulling a trailer and all the extra work having one brings. Terry also lost his father.

In the meantime we feel we have the best of all worlds.  We have the absolute best family and some mighty wonderful friends who are scattered all over this country.  Speaking of this country … we also know we live in the best country on earth.  I would say we’re mighty lucky people. 

Now come the resolutions for some.  I long ago stopped making those resolutions.  They cause stress.  I’ve come to learn there's no reason to make them if I’m not going to keep them.  Diet is at the top of many lists. If I made resolutions maybe that would be on mine too.  However, that would mean I'd have to give up good food.  We all love to eat and especially at the holidays.  Lots of people worry about what they eat between Christmas and the New Year but they really should be worry more about what they eat between the New Year and Christmas.

 -- Here's a toast to you and to the New Year.  I have to toast you with hot tea as it's too cold for anything else!!  

We're wishing the best of everything to our family, friends and fellow bloggers during 2013.  I’m sure a lot of adventures await all of us over the next twelve months.  Here's our toast to you and we're hoping the adventures are all good ones.

Happy New Year.

‘Tis life on the road.

Time to Head Back to Arizona

"Life is what we make it, always has been, always will be."

 

I hardly know where to begin with our activities over the last few days. It sure has been a busy time.  The shopping got done.  The wrapping of dozens and dozens of gifts was finally behind.  Now it was time to  relax and enjoy the festivities with family.

Christmas Eve was spent at Tammi’s house.  We started eating her turkey, ham and all the trimmings early.  Then, we munched the rest of the day on them.  After church services the first round of gifts began.  The gifts were fun gifts.  Well, some were pretty serious but most of all we had a lot of good laughs.

Tammi started with plastic bins to Terry, Justin and Jordan.  To Terry the bins eventually held sugar-free snacks --- unwrapped one by one.  To Justin – it was to hold “soldier’s” survival needs.  Again, a lot of fun items were unwrapped one by one.  Jordan (and boyfriend, Brendan) had two bins.  They were date night bins for two dates.  Future items they unwrapped either went towards date #1 or date #2.  One date was a dinner date and another date was a night at the movies complete with gas money, snacks, tickets and popcorn – unwrapped one by one. 

Christmas Day was at Lee and Sabrina’s so the next round of festivities moved there. And, as usual, Sabrina was very creative with her dinner menu and buffet table. We unwrapped gifts most of the day taking breaks periodically to reorganize and rest. By the time late afternoon rolled around we were all ready for a nap I’m sure. However, I’m the only one that took about a 15 minute shut-eye. It was definitely needed.

Justin had a 6:00 AM flight to catch on Wednesday. He was heading back to Norfolk. Next week he will be going to Jacksonville for search and rescue certification. After that … well, he’s off to see the world as his ship is being deployed …. somewhere.

With all the weather problems today across the nation many flights have been delayed or cancelled. That’s not a fun thing after the holidays. One flight was cancelled out of Portland – oops. Another one was cancelled into Phoenix --- oops again. Sometimes it’s difficult to get the planes from one place to another when the weather grounds either them or the crew.

However, we’ll be heading to the airport shortly. Hopefully we’ll make it out tonight. Terry has a confirmed ticket back. Me? I’m winging it as usual. Duchess is waiting back in Arizona for us. 

Next post I have a few very unique gifts to report …………..  right now it’s time to get ready to head to the airport.  As usual … my fingers and toes are crossed. 

‘Tis a wonderful life!

What Day Is It?

"Life isn't about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself."

I woke up this morning wondering what day it was?  Was it Thursday or was it Friday?  Sometimes my days go that way.  It’s not that they are extremely busy or extremely slow.  I just don’t keep track of the dates or even the days so much anymore.  My thought is why should I?  

 

Chefs at Arizona Casino buffet -- 

Then, I remembered.  After all, we had spent the day before at the Arizona Casino in Tempe shoving big bucks into those slot machines with Terry’s mom.  She loves going there so we pick her up and take her.  The hard part isn’t getting her into the casino.  It’s getting her out.   Needless to say, the machines kept the money and returned very little.  That casino is about the tightest one we have ever been to.  We’re trying  to convince Terry’s mother that there are others to go to.

Yesterday we took off to the little town of Casa Grande to finish up a little Christmas shopping.  We really don’t have much to do.  We’ve already bought some of the little filler gifts but still need to come up with a couple nice things for the kids.  We weren’t very successful but did more than we liked in looking.  People were everywhere.  The streets were packed with traffic.  Getting around was a pretty slow thing.

 

 

When we left the park the sun was shining and the wind was calm. That didn’t last forever.  By early afternoon the clouds started coming in and the wind started blowing.  We figured it was time to head back.

----- Picture borrowed from Sandie

The normally gorgeous blue skies had filled up with dark clouds.  Some pretty good gusts of wind were stirring up the dust and tipping the trees.  This was an Arizona winter storm.  The difference with the wintery storms in Arizona and the wintery storms in North Dakota is that one brings snow and other rarely does.  We are glad we’re in a place not likely to see much of that white stuff.

Yesterday we had another dinner get together.  It was so yucky out that we ate inside at Toni’s RV.  There were six of us and she had us all seated comfortably around her table enjoying a wonderful spaghetti feed.

Setting for dinner for 6 – there is room!  ------ 

During the night the rain started pounding on the roof.  It’s amazing how heavy those rain drops sound on the top of a motorhome.  The wind blew and the rains continued to pelt us.  As I’m looking out the windows this morning, I’m thinking today is going to be wet and cold.  The good thing is that once this storm passes, the motorhome will be cleaner outside and the temperatures will return to the 70’s.

What are we doing today?  Well, I’ve been doing a little sewing, Terry’s been playing WOW and Duchess has been doing what she does best too.  We might just do more of the same .... or, we might not.  It's too early to tell right now. 

In a few more days I’ll be heading to Washington and then a few days after that so will Terry.  Once there I’ll finish up the Christmas shopping, wrap the stuff we’ve already shipped and get ready for the best time of year …. that’s the time all the family gets together … all ten of us!  Even Justin will be there.  Having all ten of us together is the best Christmas present of all!

  ---  All of us!

‘Tis life on the road.