Sunday, November 26, 2017

November 20 - 26, 2017, AZ

Saturday, November 25.  Happy Birthday to my daughter-in-law, Tracey!  I had a nice conversation with her this morning.  Unfortunately, she is still suffering from migraines that never let up.


Backtracking on the week - there isn't much to say.  We went to Sharkey's Tacos and Tequila Tuesday night with Pat and Roger.  I had conversations with all of my siblings during the week, wishing them a Happy Thanksgiving.


Yesterday, we drove back to AJ to check out 6 Tricon RV Parks - all under new management and their ads said "recently remodeled", so we wanted to see what they had to offer.  One of the 6 could meet our requirements, but now we know.  They are all old parks, mostly park models crammed into small spaces, with few RV sites scattered here and there, most have updated clubhouses and pools - probably a work in progress.  We have had a lot of discussion lately about selling his mobile home and where to stay after that happens.


Thanksgiving started with phone conversations with both of my sons and FaceTime with the grandkids back in Minnesota.  Tom and I made a huge batch of mashed potatoes for dinner at his son, Chaney's house.  I got to meet his daughter, Trina, too.  Dinner was delicious - Chaney deep fried the turkey, and it was moist and tender.  Another guest, Sue, brought an English Trifle for dessert that was delicious!  It was a beautiful day d temperatures hit all-time highs in many areas - I think it was almost 90 degrees.




Back row:  Tom's ex-wife Kathy, their son Chaney, his wife Melissa, Me, Tom, Melissa's sons and their friends.

Middle row: Friends of Chaney and Melissa

Front row: Kathy's husband John, Tom's grandsons Lakin, Hunter, Colton, and his daughter Trina.

Friday, November 17, 2017

November 13 - 19, 2017, AZ

Friday, November 17.  Here it is, another Friday and I haven't written a thing in my journal.  It has been a busy week.


Monday - I cleaned for Karen and was wiped out when I got back home, so took a nice nap.  Tom and I went to Zur Kate German restaurant for a nice dinner. The special was roast pork and it was so tender and flavorful - served with German potato salad and red cabbage.  We will definitely go back there.  There are actually 2 German restaurants in the same little strip mall at Main and Higley and we walked into the Bavarian Inn first, just to check it out because of some negative reviews that I had read.  The reviews were right - mostly of a bad odor - and we walked in and right back out again.  The right choice was made, our dinner and experience was very nice.


Tuesday - I cleaned for Jim and Shirley and spent the rest of the day around home.  Arlene had to go to the hospital on Monday night due to some intestinal problems, so she and Sharla gave us their tickets to see "Kiss and Tell" at the Hale Theater. 


From the Hale website:  "Hugh Herbert’s 1940’s riotous romp entangles a family feud, a secret marriage, and a madcap dose of mistaken identity! Two teenage girls, Corliss Archer and Mildred Pringle, cause their respective parents much concern when they start to become interested in boys. The parent’s bickering about which girl is the worse influence causes more problems than it solves after both girls sell kisses for charity at the USO bazaar. It’s a “fresh, funny, and completely beguiling comedy about a small town Junior Miss." 


Connie joined us for the great comedy production.  It was lively and full of laughs.  They do such a nice job on their shows.


  My $10 bike.


Wednesday - no work this morning, so I slept in - until 9:00 when my phone was ringing.  It was Rita with an update on Rick's condition, but actually there was no update because he refused to go for his scheduled PET scan that would show where the cancer is in his body.  He was stubborn and obnoxious when Randy got there to pick him  and he refused to go.  Later that day, he ended up calling 911 and Randy spent 3 hours with him at the hospital and again, he got irritated and took a cab home.  This is not going to have a good outcome, I just have a bad feeling about it.


We met up with some friends at the pool in the afternoon for a happy hour.  Another good time of sipping and yakking.


Thursday - we took off at 9:00 with a list of RV parks to explore at Casa Grande, about 50 miles to the south of here.  Of the eleven parks that we stopped at, there were 3 that we both liked and would consider for a long-term winter stay in the future.  There are a few others in the Apache Junction area that we learned about and would like to see.


As we were heading back to Mesa, we got an email from our HCC President notifying us that the board meeting scheduled for 5:00 this afternoon has been pushed back to 4:00.  We were both a bit irritated by this, so I tested back that I wasn't sure if we would be back in town on time.  We did make it on time and even stopped at Waldo's BBQ for some take out pulled pork and brisket for dinner.


Today - we both had appointments this morning at 10:30, so we headed our separate ways.  Tom picked up his trailer that was in the shop for new brakes and I was off to get a haircut.  After my appointment, I went to Turnstyle and found some good bargains and then to Trader Joe's for a few things.


Tonight, we picked Pat and Roger up and went to The Dog Run in AJ for fish fry - and a very good one it was.


Sunday, November 19.  Today was the day to meet some of Tom's friends.  We met Manuel and Linda at the Hen House for breakfast this morning.  They are a nice couple who met up with Tom on his travels out east this past summer and have been long-time friends and co-workers.  It was a nice time.


I had a nice FaceTime conversation with Charlotte this afternoon, as she was down and out, not feeling well, and snuggling on the couch.  


This evening, we were off to Duane and Debbi's new house in Queen Creek.  Again, a very nice couple, long-time friends of Tom and his ex-wife Kathy.  Their house is beautiful - complete with an RV garage where Duane is rebuilding/restoring a 1963 Corvette.  We had a drink on the patio before having a very nice steak dinner, then visiting until time to go home.


Saturday's hope highlight was the Homecoming Dinner and dance at the clubhouse.  Ninety people signed up and attended dinner but the crowd thinned a bit after that.  Rick Jones provided the entertainment, an excellent singer and guitar player backed by music on his iPad.  It was a fun night of dancing and socializing.


The news coming from Springfield regarding Rick, is not pleasant.  They have found several spots of cancer on his lung, taken an MRI of his brain, a CT scan and surgical biopsies, but no results have been passed on to Randy yet.  I don't have a good feeling about this at all.

Friday, November 10, 2017

November 6 - 12, 2017, AZ

Friday, November 10.  It's been another week that is just flying by.  The days are full with the usual activities like dog walking, running errands, happy hours, hanging with Tom and hanging with friends.  I've also had opportunities to talk with family members; Pat, Rita, Randy, and Bob.


Randy didn't have good news - my brother Rick who has been doctoring an open wound on his abdomen (suspected to be a spider bite) learned that it is cancerous.  It all started with a blister that he scratched off and then the surrounding skin became infected and was treated with antibiotics that didn't clear it up.  So now we wait for further test results and treatment options.  I don't have a good feeling about this, primarily because of his lifetime of chronic alcoholism and rough living.


On Wednesday, I opened up and cleaned Sylvia's condo at Fountain of the Sun.  Tom came along to help with the outside work of sweeping and hosing down the patio and carport and moving her outdoor furniture from inside.  I got the refrigerator and ice maker going, ran the dishwasher, and wiped down surfaced and vacuumed.  It looked sparkly clean when we left.  Next week, I will be cleaning for Shirley and JoAnne and that cycle will be starting up for the winter.


Also, on Wednesday evening, we met Tom's son Chaney, his daughter-in-law Melissa, grandson Lakin, and ex-wife Kathy at the Harkins Theater in north Scottsdale to see the screening of the IFP Filmmaker Challenge.  It was a completion of local filmmakers and their short films.  Lakin played a role in the movie called "Pause", one of 20 films that met the challenge - a 6-minute movie that met the assigned challenge of a specific prop and a phrase.  Each film was viewed and judged by a panel of 7 professionals and also by audience voting.


We viewed all of the movies and then awards were passed out.  "Pause" took several awards; 3rd place in the Top Film category, then Best Photo to granddaughter Photography, Best Trailer, and the Audience Awards.  I'm glad that I was able to meet some of Tom's family and to be part of this great event, quite exciting!


Connie came over for a drink one evening and we went to Pat and Roger's for a drink last night.  Good friends and good conversation.


Yesterday's highlight was a FaceTime conversation with Camille and Norah - I was asked if we could have another sleepover - hopefully that will happen over Christmas.  Norah was proud to tell me that she was told that she was doing good work on the violin at school and Camille was proud of her swimming accomplishments.


Today was grocery shopping day, as we have emptied lots of stuff in the refrigerator and I would like to have supplies on hand so I can do some baking one of these days.  Tom is a coupon shopper, so it's his job to save us some money on groceries.


Wednesday, November 1, 2017

October 30 - 31, 2017, AZ

Tuesday, October 31.  HAPPY HALLOWEEN!  


I cleaned Karen's house for her yesterday and boy, was I beat when I finished.  It's not that it was that big of a job - I'm just out of shape for doing that kind of a job.  It is now added to my calendar as a regular every other week job.


Also, on Monday, we took an ELS bus to San Tan Flats with 22 residents and friends from Highlands and a few folks from Monte Vista (they were complaining that the bus left 4 minutes late -not a good way to start out).  The food, company, and beverages were very good.  Naturally, the Highlands folks were having lots of fun and not quite ready to leave when the Monte Vista folks were already on the bus.  And then, we were a bit rowdy on the ride back too - they probably won't want to go with us again.


   Jan is enjoying her S'More at San Tan Flats


This morning, I cleaned Jacki's patio for her - a 3-hour job and one that she can't do herself.  


I went with Tom to his Holistic chiropractor appointment this afternoon to see if I might be interested in his treatment - a very different approach that focuses on total. Mind, body health. Tom has been going for years, but for me, it would be an entirely new process to introduce with possible recommendations for different supplements. At this point, I don't think I want to upset the apple cart that is my body and change to a new and different regiment at this stage of my life, although it all makes sense.


We met Pat and Rog (they just got here yesterday) for Taco Tuesday at Simpletons for dinner.  Great to see them again - looking forward to many good times over the winter.


   My 3 little trick or treaters in Minnesota - Camille, Charlotte, and Norah

Saturday, November 4. We've got wifi again!  The technician had  to come by and check connections and he did find some cables and connections that were damaged, so he fixed them and we are now connected. We might buy a new router since Tom's is pretty old, but for now, it is working.  Having wifi led the getting the Roku setup on the TV but that led to another issue - Tom was unable to adjust the screen size on the TV because the remote wouldn't let him access that setting - the picture is too large for the screen.  So, he has a replacement remote control ordered.


We both had lists of things to do on the internet, so that took a lot of time on Wednesday.


Since Tom is considering selling his house, we have been discussing options for where to live after that. I definitely want to spend time in the Midwest during the summer and we both want to be in Arizona in the winter.  Over the next few months, we plan to check out the Camp Verde, Sierra Vista, and Apache Junction areas for rental and RV options.


So, on Thursday, we took a drive up to Camp Verde and checked out several RV parks and decided that our first choice in that area was the Verde River RV resort, a place that we have both stayed at in the past, but is now under renovation and will be a beautiful park and facility when they reopen in February of 2018.  We stopped at the Rock Springs Cafe for some JalapeƱo Poppers and a piece of cherry pie before getting back to Mesa.  It was a productive and enjoyable day.


An old relic at LoLo Mai Park

Friday's highlight was to meet up with Chris and Norm and Pat and Roger for fish fry at Simpletons.  We had a good dinner and great conversation and lots of laughter.


Today was another day to explore RV and mobile home parks in Apache Junction.  This trip resulted in a few parks that we would consider - all of which would be a savings on housing expenses and nice places to live.  After dinner, Tom discovered a few others that have been recently renovated that we should check out in the future.