The Wandering Workentins

Weekend Happenings!

2012-01-29T20:58:00.000-06:00

Greetings on this cool Sunday evening. We have had off the last three days. Friday morning was spent getting some much needed lab work done (Alice) and then off to see Dr. Emily. Had to have a medication review and discuss an ongoing tummy problem that I have had for the last several months. The outcome...time for another colonoscopy ~ oh joy!!! We have decided to put that off till after our vacation the end of March. For a couple of reasons: needing to save up the money to pay for it as the cost is about $1100 :( and time wise it will be better to take the two days off after we get back from our vacation.

After spending the morning at appointments we decided to take a drive on Friday afternoon. Drove to Uvalde then over to Eagle Pass where we had lunch at the Kickapoo Casino and then drove toward Del Rio and Bracketville and then back to D'Hanis...a large circle. It was a beautiful sunny day and a nice day for a ride. We got home just in time to play bingo in the clubhouse...a good night for me as I won two games ~ won $14!!!

Then Saturday I did 4 loads of laundry and Ron cleaned up some in the motor home. In the afternoon we decided to watch a few movies that we had recorded over the Christmas season. All three were Hallmark movies - so fun.

Sunday we slept in and then headed out to go down Texas 211 - found out it is a dead end road - no sign when you turn off Highway 90 to Texas 211...oh well, now we know there is nothing down that road :) And then we made another large circle, this time going to Poteet, TX - which has a big strawberry festival each spring. And this is what welcomes you into town:

Poteet's water tower painted like a giant strawberry!

And then we were off on more adventures. And to the town of Lytle. We saw a beautiful County Courthouse and the jail, both built in the early 1900's.

The Courthouse is the same on all four sides. The jail is kinda obscured by the trees but beautiful none the less, the two signs talk about the history of the jail. Both buildings were built and designed by the same man.

While in Lytle we had lunch at the Railroad Cafe...lots of pictures of railcars throughout the restaurant. Ron had a jalapeno burger and I had a mushroom/Swiss burger with some delicious onion rings. After our lunch break we made our way around many back roads to Sabinal and then back to the park.

All in all we went through two full tanks of gas, laughed a lot, sang some old hymns along with some crazy songs, saw lots of neat scenery, enjoyed the beautiful sunshine and most of all enjoyed each others company.

And often we shared about how blessed we are. We are so thankful for our family and friends, near and far, and then we ended our day Skyping with Brandon, Danalyn, Max, Christopher and Treyson - can't wait to see them along with Jamie, Suzanne and Opal in just under two months!!!

Hope each of you have had a great weekend!!!

Nice & Relaxing Weekend

2012-01-22T21:27:00.000-06:00

Have had a pretty laid back weekend.

I had planned to sleep in on Saturday but no, the body was wide awake at 6:45 a.m! So don't understand why on days I can sleep in I wake up early and wide awake yet come Monday morning I will be dragging my butt out of bed and just wishing for another hour or two of sleep...just don't understand that one.

But alas, since I was awake I got up and headed over to the laundry room. Did two loads of clothes and then cut out some pictures from last year's calendar to add to a photo album. Just love the calendar's that Danalyn has made the last two years. So fun to see how the boys have grown over the last year. Also decided it was time to get the cross-stitch out and do some of the many projects I have on hand. I will show pictures after the first five get sent off to their recipients - want them to be surprised. Making five things that are the same but different. Can you guess what they are????

And then we were off to the clubhouse for some good ole' fiddler music. Twice a year the Fiddler's come to town for an all day jam session. And of course there was a potluck with lots of great dishes. I took a salad and a bag of multi-grain crackers. Was able to visit with one of my Women RV Forum friends, Sharon, who's folk have a lot here in the park.

And then we were home for the evening. We watched the movie About Schmidt...loaned to us by one of the members here in the park. It was about a man who goes on a cross country trip in his motor home and living life at the same time. It had some good scenes but not really a movie I would watch again or recommend.

Woke this morning with another dang headache. Took some of my migraine medicine and rested for about another hour then got up. Laid around on the couch and Ron made bagels for breakfast. It's funny I am not a raisin person but sure do like cinnamon raisin bagels ~ go figure. Then decided to tackle the two long cupboards in the living room. Got them cleaned out and organized. Now I have another big project to do - take all my paper address books and get them into one Excel workbook. Once that is done I will have about 4" more space in the cupboard above the couch.

Then it was time for lunch ~ made some chicken & shrimp pasta. Pretty tasty if I say so myself. And then it was time for some football ~~~ my Ravens lost :( and now the 49'rs are in overtime...hope they win!! While watching football I finished my first cross-stitch project that I started yesterday and then graphed out the second one. Will start stitching it tomorrow night.

For dinner we had cabbage rolls. When I made my one and only batch in December I had enough for two pans so I froze one for a later time and that time was today. The only thing I did to it today was added some more seasoning over the cabbage rolls and then another can of tomato sauce...they were much better the second time around.

So that's about it for our weekend. Relaxing and productive ~ can't ask for much better. Hope you all had a good weekend and have a terrific week.

Nothin' Much Happening Here

2012-01-14T20:52:00.000-06:00

Thought I would just write a bit to let y'all know we are alive and well, just working and hanging out and just kind being.

Since I last wrote we have been working - and it has been busy here at The Lone Star Corral. Over Christmas and New Year's holidays the park has been full. We have the First In/First Out rule...when the park gets full (all rental lots are full) we then have to bump the guest that has been here the longest. We came close...the park was full and we had a guest come in and no sites open. So off to boondock they went and we went and told the couple who has been here since the early part of October that they would have to move. I thought it was 48 hours they had to move but really it is 24 - need to read up on those darn rules again :)

Anyway, the day came for them to move and just before they were going to move a guest left opening up a site..yeah the first people in didn't have to move and the last person in got a site. Hopefully we won't get that close to moving guests around again - it is such an uncomfortable position to be in to tell some one they have to leave because someone else wants to come in...but that is the rules and we are here to enforce the rules.

It has been pretty busy in the office for the past couple of weeks and it doesn't look like it is going to let up any time soon and that is fine with me. I like busy days. And no two days here are ever the same. I have been working on all the end of year reports and finding out interesting things like Ron and I average doing three loads of laundry a week. Some weeks we do two loads, some three and like this week we did six loads!! Guess that's what happens when you don't do laundry for three weeks. That and finding little mouse droppings...in a few places :( so lots of cleaning went on today and decon got put out and the little emitters were plugged in in a couple of places instead of just one.

And we are dealing with cold weather in the late nights/early mornings. It has been so cold that this morning our water hose was frozen this morning. And it was cold in this rig we call home. Down to 52...so guess who jumped out of bed, scurried to the living room and turned on the furnace and back into the bedroom and turned on the back furnace and then crawled back into bed for about an hour to let the motor home warm up - got it up to 71' in just over an hour. And I spent that hour reading and relaxing - just what you are supposed to do on a day off - right?

We have been playing bingo on Friday nights here at the clubhouse. And this week was a good week for me. It cost either $3 or $4 for your cards, depending on how many you play. I won two games at $8 each game so we came out ahead - now that makes for a fun night. There is always lots of chatter and laughter going on during those bingo games.

As I mentioned earlier I did laundry today and Ron worked on the water pump in the motor home. It quit working so after some detective work he found out a wire and come undone some how...not sure what he had to do but whatever he did we now have water without having to use city water if necessary...like when it is supposed to get down to below freezing and the water hose freezes. We also did some major cleaning in the rig, cleaned out one cupboard, two drawers and worked on our plans to do some remodeling in the dining area. And also just some regular cleaning. One of those things that needs to happen whether you live in a sticks & bricks house or a house on wheels..regular cleaning needs to happen.

We also have been working on some vacation plans. We are going to be flying to Seattle on March 23rd and heading to Blaine on Saturday, March 24 - hoping for lots of time with Jamie, Suzanne and Opal...Ron is worried she won't remember us, then to Northwood Alliance Church on Sunday where we will get in lots of visiting and sharing a potluck meal. Also planning a family gathering, just not sure when that will happen, a coffee date with my bestie, Dee and then later with others. And more visiting on Sunday evening and Monday. Tuesday, 3/27 we will make our way to Oregon with a stop at Northwest Labs to see Christie & Todd my ocularists - the ole eye needs a polishing job and I a check-up. Then off to Oregon to spend some days with Brandon and Danalyn and the boys before driving back to Seattle on Sunday, April 1st (am trying to come up with an April Fool's joke - don't know if I can top last years:) to catch a flight back to San Antonio to start our second year here at the Lone Star Corral. If you are reading this and want to see us while we are back in the Blaine area give me a shout out so we can see if we can make it happen.

So in a nutshell that's about all that is going on with us. Hope you are all having a good weekend.

Welcome to 2012

2012-01-01T06:27:00.000-06:00

Happy New Year to our family and friends.

We ended 2011 with a drive to Carrizo Springs, TX. It was a great day with the sun shining and clear blue skies. We met up with Rex K. at HEB and then followed him out to where their gate guard duties has taken them for the next four months or so. It was fun to visit with Rex and Shirley and see where they will be working for the next little while. One of the reasons we went out there was to hear about "gate guarding" as we are thinking that is something we may like to do in a couple of years. In the three hours we were there they probably had 8 - 10 people in/out of the gate.

We left there about 4:30 and went the round about way to get back to D'Hanis...traveling through Big Well and then stopping for dinner at Brush Country Steakhouse. It was a very relaxing time of thinking about the past year. We cannot say often enough how blessed we have been and the many ways God has provided for us. We are so thankful for our many friends who have encouraged us along this journey. Yes we have had some deep valley's to climb out of this year but also some super duper mountain top experiences. And we talked about 2012 and what it holds for us: a trip home to Blaine & Molalla the end of March, some more exploring of the Texas countryside, some remodeling to the motor home and of course spending time with friends and sharing God's love with others. After dinner we made our way back to D'Hanis through Yancey and Hondo. Admiring the Christmas lights that were still shining in the different towns.

We arrived back to the motor home around 8 p.m. and had a quiet rest of the evening. A fun and relaxing day to usher out 2011 and welcome 2011. Not sure what today will hold for us. We are thinking of maybe going up to Medina Lake but with the blustery winds that we are experiencing right now we may just hunker down in the motor home and spend the day just reading, watching movies and relaxing.

So with that we want to wish you a Happy New Year! and may this year may you see God's blessing's in your life!

Christmas Day 2011

2011-12-28T20:04:00.000-06:00

After a late night on Christmas Eve waiting for hubby to go to bed so I could put his gift under the tree ~ he didn't go to bed till after 1:00 a.m.!!!  Doesn't he know that Santa doesn't come till everyone has gone to bed.Finally into bed and sleep we did ~ 

slept till almost 10 a.m. and so we decided not to go to church.  I made a breakfast of scrambled eggs w/cheese ~ definitely need to do that more often.  And then Ron saw his gift under the tree ~~~ you see, he has said over and over that he wanted a new rifle so I bought him one.  Well not  a real one, it is like fire starter/clicker.  The only bad thing is that the darn thing doesn't work ~ so now we will be planning a trip to Beall's to return it.  That will happen later this week.  But in the meantime this is what it looks like.

Ron and his new rifle.

Checking out the scope

Ron and his new Rifle

And then we took our tableware and silverware over to the clubhouse.   We visited for awhile and then headed back to the motor home to change and get ready for dinner.  We made our way back to the clubhouse about 1:30 p.m. ~ dinner was being served at 2:00 pm.  And what a wonderful dinner!!

Our table all ready for us to enjoy Christmas Dinner.

Margaret collecting $$ from Sue S. Dinner cost us $5 per person...not bad for all you can eat of ham, scalloped potatoes, cole slaw, rolls & butter, and peas & onions. Topped off with peppermint ice cream.

Thank you Ruth, Don and the rest of your dinner committee members for all the hard work in giving all of our 110 closest friends at the LSC for a delightful Christmas dinner.

1. Kitchen Crew 2. Armando & his parents 3. Max & Jerry 4.A view of the clubhouse 5. Euona (one of my adopted momma's here at the LSC) 6. Another view of the tables.

1. Santa (I just love the guy!!) 2. The peppermint ice cream 3. Marie, Larry & Louise at our table 4. Jane L. 5. Us from the night before - I really like this picture of us and 6. Kay, Larry & Marie, another view from our table.

Our best gifts were talking with Jamie and Brandon and all our grands!  And just before we headed off to bed we got to Skype with Max, Christopher and Treyson thanks to their Grandma Lynda and Pop Pop Dan.  Definitely a great way to end our day!!!

Christmas Eve 2011 at The Lone Star Corral

2011-12-28T19:05:00.001-06:00

Christmas this year was a little different for us in that we weren't attending worship services with our Northwood Family or spending the evening with our children or grandchildren but that does not mean we didn't have a great evening. We joined our new Lone Star Corral family for Christmas Eve Festivities.

Here are some pictures of the clubhouse all decorated for Christmas:

The large Christmas tree.

The Christmas Village

This Christmas tree has an ornament from person/couple who has owned a lot here at the LSC.

Snowman standing guard over the whole room.

And for our Jewish friends the Menorah is set and table decorated for Hanakkah.

Our MC for the evening was Kay, Treasurer of the Blue Bonnets here at the LSC. You can read her view of the evening by clicking on her name.

Kay reading a Christmas story to the LSC family.

We began the evening singing Christmas Carols led by Ruth & Don K. They did a great job and at one point I led the group doing the hand motions to Away in a Manger while Ruth & Don led the singers.

Ruth K. leading us in song. Mike L is chatting with his wife.


Ruth & Don leading us in song. They did a great job!!

And then came time for presents. The way it worked was everyone who put a gift in the gift exchange received a ticket. The first person whose ticket was chosen picked a gift from all the wrapped gifts. That person then drew another ticket. The 2nd person then either got to choose from the unwrapped gift (stealing it) or choosing one from the table. And so on, and so on. At first people were being nice and not stealing gifts but little ole' me got the ball rolling by stealing a stocking that had a Santa shelf sitter and some lottery tickets inside. A little later it got stolen from me again and so I stole a beautiful candle and so I stole the stocking, Santa shelf sitter and the lotto tickets back - and after the gift has been stolen 3x it is that person's so guess what ~ I got to keep my stocking, Santa shelf sitter and lottery tickets and one of those won $1!! I must say after I got the ball rolling there was lots of stealing going on - the most popular gifts were the many bottles of wine and packages of lotto tickets. Everyone had a great time!!

Faye not wasting any time opening her gift.

Sandra M. stealing a gift (M&M's and some lottery tickets), which were later stolen from her.

My lotto tickets, shelf sitter and stocking!

And of course there was lots of food. Each couple/person was asked to bring a finger food and boy was there lots on the table: meatballs, sandwiches, vegi's and dip, and of course multitude of cookies!!

And Santa himself!! was in attendance.

Ron aka Santa and Ali aka Mrs. Santa!

So glad to be able to spend the evening with about 65 of our closest friends here at The LSC.

Merry Christmas

2011-12-24T23:20:00.000-06:00

Merry Christmas

from our home

to yours!

Our Weekend in San Antonio - Dec. 2011

2011-12-04T19:18:00.000-06:00

We had a great weekend in San Antonio ~

hope these pictures will allow you to share in our fun.

A couple and their wedding party on one of the bridges over the Riverwalk.

Going through the locks on the San Antonio Riverwalk during the day.

The tree at the locks taken as we went up as the water was being raised in the locks.

A beautiful view of the lighted building.

Looking down the Riverwalk on the water.

The Christmas Tree in front of the Riverwalk Center Mall

Another view on the Riverwalk.

This picture does not give it justice - this margarita was Texas sized!!! One of these and I am sure I would be down for the count :)

Santa's Barge! Still haven't got Ron to get our picture taken with Santa :(


A group of girls singing across from La Villita - they did a great job!


A snap shot of some of the views on the Riverwalk. Hope you have enjoyed this journey with us.

Celebrations

2011-12-01T20:34:00.000-06:00

Today has been filled with lots of blessings.  You can read all about my birthday over at Alice's Restaurant - definitely a day of blessings.

And we have been working with the Board of Director's about a new contract for the 2012-13 year.   And today an agreement was reached.  We have been offered a new contract and it has been signed.  We will be here at the Alamo Area SKP Co-op, aka The Lone Star Corral.    We will now be here in Texas till May 2013.  

We want to use this time to set some short and long term goals, see more of Texas and do some remodeling of our rig.  We have 3 projects that we would like to get accomplished: 1) is building bookshelves above the nightstands in our bedroom 2) take out the bench & dinette and build a three-section cabinet: the far right side will be two file size drawers, the middle section will be a drawer on the bottom with a bookshelf above the drawer to hold my cookbooks (they are now in a cupboard above the couch) and 3) paint the cabinet above the driver & passenger seats...right now it is raw wood.

And of course, the ongoing cleaning out and purging of stuff that we no longer need or use.

So here is an open invitation ~ if you ever make your way to the San Antonio, TX area give us a shout out.  We would love to meet up with old and new friends, share a meal and hugs and lots of laughter.

Today I am Thankful for ...

2011-11-30T21:34:00.000-06:00

Today I am thankful for the many blessings of life ...

... a wonderful husband!  We have walked many different roads in 36 years.  We have shared joy & sorrow, laughter & tears, fears & triumphs.  We have moved 34 times in 36 years (not counting all the moves with the motor home:), owned way too many cars, and become the best friends that anyone could want.

... two wonderful sons, two great daughters-in-love, and four terrific grandchildren!!!

... friends, oh so many friends.  Having lived in Nevada and Washington and the Netherlands we have met so many different people who have blessed us over and over with their friendship.  I have Blog & RV'r friends who I have never met in person but I count as friends ~ and we have had the pleasure of meeting in person many of those blog and rv'r friends and our life is richer for that.

... a great church family at Northwood Alliance Church in Blaine, WA.  They have stood by us as we have traveled the into the valleys and up to the mountain tops.  They have prayed with us and for us too many times to count.

... I am blessed to have a great job where I get to work with and meet so many fun people and especially getting to work each day with my hubby.   

Yes, I am truly blessed and I thank the Lord for my life and where I am today.  

Today I am Thankful for ...

2011-11-29T20:45:00.000-06:00

Today I am thankful for ....

...an invite to join friends for a quick dinner at Dairy Queen. Was fun to visit and laugh.

... a surprise visit running into friends as we were leaving Dairy Queen so we sat and visited with them too ... two great visits in one day!

... a phone call visit with a special friend who is not feeling too well and hearing her pleasant voice even when she would rather have been sleeping. Praying she gets to feeling better real soon!

... that I was down 2 more lbs when I weighed yesterday ~ that makes 19 lbs in 4 months!!!

and I am thankful as always for a loving Abba Father who gave his son to die for me so that I may live in His eternal presence.

In closing I would like to ask you to keep Kathie Thiessen and her family in your prayers as Kathie is nearing the end of her battle with cancer. Please pray for Jenelle, Andrea, Kendall & Monica as they gather around their mom in her last days.

Today I am Thankful for ,,,

2011-11-28T20:04:00.000-06:00

New friends...yesterday Ron and I took a road trip to Austin, TX to meet up with some Families on the Road families.

We had a great time visiting, watching all the children play and of course share a meal.

And then we drove home. It was a cold and clear night. And we were without a top or sides on the Jeep. And we took the long way home. Ron has been saying since we have been here in Texas that he wanted to go to Luckenbach, TX and so we did.

While driving home we had a beautiful sky of a sliver of a moon and seeing Jupiter. Here are the pictures I took while Ron was driving.

And then he stopped and I got a great picture of the moon with Jupiter just below it.

We are so thankful for God's creation and beautiful show He gave us last night on our way home.

It was 46' when we pulled into Hondo at 8:30 p.m. and we both had chattering teeth. We left Austin around 3:00 p.m. Took us almost six hours drive home and it only took us 2 1/2 hours to get to Austin. We definitely know how to make a short trip take a long time. After a stop at Walmart we made the final trek home...where it was nice and warm.

We laughed as we pulled into Lone Star Corral when Ron commented that we drove 319 miles between 9 a.m. and 9:30 p.m. ~ our normal travel days are usually not more than 250 miles!

All this to say I am thankful for new friends and a sweet hubby who loves to drive even though we were so crazy to not put the top or sides on the Jeep before going for our drive!! And for the opportunity to see God's beauty in so many different way.

Today I am Thankful for

2011-11-26T17:37:00.000-06:00

Today I am thankful for a fun day with my hubby. First I balanced the checkbook (not so fun but it balanced the first time through :) and then we cleaned the motor home together and then got out the Christmas decorations...the best part!! We have lights up in the living room, on the tree, down the hall and into the bathroom - it is definitely a Christmas light festival in here oh and Snowflake lights in the living room. The tree is up and Scooby Doo has sang his song a few times and the Christmas bear is sitting guard on the edge of the couch.

We also got some little packages ready for our grands and adopted grands. Will get those in the mail on Monday.

And all the while cleaning and decorating we watched Christmas movies...new ones and old ones...but all with the message of sharing love with others. Exactly what the Christmas season is about.

I am thankful for a loving husband who knows how to help me have a fun even when there are little chores to be done!

Today I am Thankful for ...

2011-11-25T21:36:00.000-06:00

Today I am thankful for friends who drive and get up early and go shopping with me at 5:45 a.m.

I posted on Facebook yesterday if anyone would be interested in going to Beall's (like JC Penney) for my non-Texan friends.  They had Sketchers, regularly $120 for $29.99 - they had one pair in my size so I grabbed them up.  They are so comfortable.  Though at first it feels kinda weird with the rocking motion.

I was also able to get a gift for Ron ~ it is in hiding till Christmas Eve.  Now I just need to find the right box for it.  I need one about 36" long, 3" deep and 8" wide.  And I also picked up one of the grands' a gift that was on their wish list. 

And then we went to Mickey D's for breakfast...so fun to sit and drink a nice peppermint mocha and visit for a little while.  Then it was back to the park as one of us had to go to work.

On a sad note we went to put up our Snowman in front of the office and he didn't blow up anymore...we think he got banged around way too much on his trip to Idaho, then Washington, then back to Idaho, Oregon, California, Arizona, New Mexico and then finally landing here in Texas.  :( :( :(

But that just means we get to look for a new one ;) :) :)

All in all it has been a good day ~ did a little decorating in the office, will do the motor home and outside tomorrow.  Then on Sunday we are going to Austin to meet up with some more Fulltime Families who are RV'ing.  So excited as there are going to be a bunch of little's and this grammy will get to do some cuddling :)

Hope you all had a great day after Thanksgiving!!!

Today I am Thankful for ...

2011-11-24T17:00:00.000-06:00

Today I am thankful

... that we got to talk with Opal and her daddy, Jamie. Opal has the sweetest voice and sounds just like the princess she is.

... for new friends to spend this Thanksgiving Day with. And the sharing of a great meal. And we even got to bring home a few leftovers: dressing & gravy and scrumptious desserts.

... a special note from Rob, our boss at the carnival last summer. Such a surprise to get greetings via email from him today.

... a beautiful Fall day here in Texas.

My heart is full of gratitude for the many blessings in my life.

Today I am Thankful for ... Skype!

2011-11-23T20:47:00.000-06:00

Got a text from Max right after work today - "Do you want to Skype?" You betcha!!!!

It was so fun to see Treyson. He now weighs 20 lbs 3 oz and is 27" long. The size of a one year old. His hair is super blond and he giggles with his eyes. So fun to see.

Christopher was his usual bouncy self. He told me today was a "no school day" and then laughed out loud. And then he showed us a turkey he made with his handprint - I remember when his Daddy and Uncle Jamie made those same kind of turkey's.

Max was busy playing a Wii game and not much of a conversationalist tonight. Maybe next time.

Danalyn and I were able to visit for awhile which was nice. We don't get to do that very often. Brandon was busy working on dinner: broccoli - cheddar soup. Sounds yummy.

Again, thankful for the technology of today that lets me spend time with my family even when we are hundreds of miles away.

Today I am Thankful for a fun project.

2011-11-22T20:26:00.000-06:00

Today I am thankful for a fun project. I saw these cute little turkey's on a blog (can't remember which one) and thought they would make great name cards for our Thanksgiving table.

So I bought Oreos, fudge frosting, candy corn, colored writing frosting and gel and malt balls. And set to work. I made thirteen of these little guys. Eleven for our Thanksgiving table and two for Bonnie as a treat.

What do you think? Kinda cute, definitely not perfect, but will definitely brighten up our Thanksgiving meal.

These two went to Ed & Bonnie tonight.


From a distance.

Eleven more are hiding in the freezer. They will come out tomorrow and reside in the fridge till dinner on Thursday. Will definitely keep these in mind the next time we are with the grandkids for a Thanksgiving in the future.

Today I am Thankful for ...

2011-11-21T20:13:00.000-06:00

Today I am thankful for ...

... a great visit with a great friend.

.... a husband who blesses me in so many ways. Sometimes with word and sometimes with actions.

... being healthy.

... for good jobs and the great people I meet each day.

... for God above who loves me just the way I am.

Today I am Thankful for a funtabulous fun day!

2011-11-20T20:59:00.000-06:00

Today I am thankful for a funtabulous fun day spent with my hubby and best friend, Dee. We were up early this morning and headed out for San Antonio about 8:30 a.m. First stop was the Golden Corral for breakfast buffet. What a great breakfast ~ we had banana nut french toast, eggs, hash browns, baked ham, biscuits & gravy, omelet and banana pudding - well that is what we each had some of :)

And then we were off to The Alamo. What a fun time walking around and reading all about the history of the Alamo and seeing some beautiful artwork. After spending a couple of hours there we made our way to the Riverwalk. First up was a ride on the barge - so fun and saw so many cool pieces of architecture and again so much history. After the boat ride we then walked part of the way and then made our way to the Buckhorn Saloon and Texas Ranger museum. We enjoyed a margarita (me) and a beer (Ron), Dee passed, as we walked around the museum. What a place to go...so would recommend it to anyone coming to San Antonio. I think we spent about 3 hours there. And then we walked back to the car and made our way back to the motor home.

What a beautiful day - it got to 94' and was gorgeous to be with two very special in my life.

On the way home we drove through Castroville so we could show Dee the beautiful Catholic church. Again we saw many old homes, so many of them made of rock and just amazing.

What a beautiful day - so thankful we had a day to play and just see some amazing things.

Today I am Thankful for my hubby

2011-11-19T21:45:00.000-06:00

Today I am thankful for my hubby who goes above and beyond for me. Without going into a lot of details (they fall under Too Much Information) I am so thankful that Ron is right there when I have a little emergency and he doesn't flinch or get frustrated when I need help with some yucky stuff.

Thank You Ron for being the BEST hubby any girl could ask for. I love you 'mensly.

Today I am Thankful that I know how to KEEP MY MOUTH SHUT

2011-11-18T16:03:00.000-06:00

Today I am thankful that I know how to keep my mouth shut!!! Because otherwise I might have blown my top and been fired from my job here at the Lone Star Corral.

I would like to know what makes some people think they are so perfect that they cannot have the grace to allow others to make mistakes and then apologize for that mistake. But no, they wine, mumble so people can't understand their mumbling and then make snide comments about people not doing their job right.

So I copied something upside down - dang, it didn't look upside down to me. I apologized, offered to redo it, apologized two more times after some rude comments and then walked back to my desk. And I am not apologizing again. Three times is just plenty.

So yes, today I am thankful that I do know how to control my mouth even when my brain is running full steam ahead and would have liked to have said a huge mouthful.

That's all for today!

Oh yes, I am also thankful for a loving hubby and good friend who said I handled the situation with grace and dignity.

Where is the time going?

2011-11-17T20:46:00.000-06:00

Where is the time going?

I missed posting last night and here it is already Thursday night. I continue to have much to be thankful for.

I am thankful for a hubby who loves me even when I am grumpy at him for no reason. Being tired and hungry is no excuse for grumping at him over something someone else said to me in an email. I will try to do better tomorrow.

I am thankful for a best friend who does not mind that I don't have all day to just sit and be with her. She is understanding that I am working and that our conversations get interrupted without notice and that I sometimes forget what we were talking about 10 minutes before the interruption. She also doesn't mind that I am not the best hostess this week in preparing breakfast and lunch. Thanks for being willing to eat a peanut butter sandwich while I ate my liverwurst sandwich (she doesn't like liverwurst and the only other thing I had to offer was peanut butter). Now dinner is a different story ~ tonight we went to Bill & Rosa's and we all brought home enough leftovers to make a nice lunch tomorrow. I am so glad she likes me just the way I am.

I am thankful for a quiet evening at home, where we can just sit and watch a couple of TV shows and visit during commercials. And we can just be us here at home.

Yes I am blessed with a wonderful hubby and best friend.

Thankful Tuesday

2011-11-15T20:18:00.000-06:00

Hello All

Have had two great days. Yesterday I was thankful for planes, traveling mercies and gifts from a distance. Hubby arranged for my best friend, Dee to come here to Texas for a week to celebrate both of our birthdays. Dee's is on 11/30 and mine is 12/1. And I think hubby knew a good dose of friend time would be fun for me. Dee left her home in Blaine yesterday morning at 7:15 a.m. and arrived safely in San Antonio at 8:55 p.m. (6:55 p.m. her time). After some great big hugs, picking up her luggage, getting the rental car and then stopping at Applebees for a late night dinner we got back to the park at 12:13 A.M. We gave each other another great big hug and headed off to our respectable beds.

Today has been another great day. Woke to a thunder & lightening storm at 5:09 a.m. and watched the glorious show that God put on for us. It was nice to hear the rain falling, not so nice to feel water spraying on my leg on the bed ~ hubby has to do some more caulking on the roof. Enjoyed fresh coffee made by my sweet hubby and then had a great day at work. Visited with Dee throughout the day then joined a group of Escapees at the local Mexican restaurant for dinner and then made our way to Dairy Queen for mini blizzards...just enough to taste good and not kill my trying to eat healthier goal. And then back to the park. Now for a little time on the computer and then heading to bed.

So thankful for a sweet and loving hubby, good friends to come for a visit and her sweet hubby encouraging her to take a little vacation and the warm welcome the members of Lone Star Corral are giving Dee.

Hope you are all having a good day. Talk to you again tomorrow night.

Oops, missed yesterday :~

2011-11-13T19:24:00.000-06:00

I was just eating and thought I need to write my blog post for today and then when I got here saw that I didn't do one for yesterday ~ wonder what I was thinking about??

Yesterday was a good day. Different working on a Saturday and a Sunday. It was pretty quiet yesterday even with the annual Flea Market here in the park. Our day started with breakfast at 7 a.m. The kitchen was serving up breakfast burritos and cinnamon rolls. The burrito was a little dry for my liking but it was okay. And then we headed to the front gate to visit with our local "gate guards."


Top: Jerry, Bill, Keith (a local musician) and Ed blocking the cars from entering. Left bottom: Jerry & Ed. Bottom right: a look down County Road 5216. The first truck in line was there at 6:55 a.m. ~ the doors don't open till 8 a.m. and then they started...

and dang I can't get the video to load...grrr....there were 38 cars to the right and 4 to the left before there was a lull in the crowd.

And the afternoon was quiet. Had a guest do an early checkout and that was about it. In the evening we went into D'Hanis for a fundraiser benefit for a local musician who is dealing with some major health issues. They had a couple of great bands, a chili-cookoff (and then they mixed all the different chili's together so everyone could have a bowl. It was tasty but a bit more spicy than I prefer. They made $500 on the cook-off and then they had a raffle with many different gifts. Not sure who won as we left before they did those drawings. But the evening ended for us after the live auction. So neat to live in a close community who gave generously. We don't know the final total from the live auction but they were way over $5000. We did not get home till almost midnight and didn't shut our eyes till after 1 a.m.

Which leads me to today being thankful for good sleep. I only got 5 1/2 hours of sleep and made it through the day without a problem. For those of you have known for me for quite a few years remember the insomnia I used to deal with, some/most nights getting 3 hours of sleep in a 24 hour period...and I am so thankful I am not plagued with that any more.

Today was another quiet day in the office. Had a good visit with Bonnie, the VP. Talked about a new contract, some new projects to start working on, discussed the upcoming budget planning meetings ~ it was good to touch base without interruptions. We ended the day by joining the members in the clubhouse for the ice cream social. I had some pineapple sherbet...it was really tasty and reminded me I have the stuff on hand to make a pineapple smoothie for breakfast tomorrow.

And of course, my excitement is building as Dee arrives tomorrow night for a week long visit. I can't wait to see her and spend lots of time chatting and just hanging together.

Wishing you all a great week!! And thanks for stopping by!!

Veterans Day 2011

2011-11-11T19:44:00.000-06:00

First off I am thankful for all the veterans who have served and who are serving in our US Military to keep our freedoms and our country safe. My Grandpa George, my Dad, Ted, my husband Ron, my son Jamie have all served in the military ~ thank you guys for serving.

We had a beautiful two day respite and went camping at Garner State Park and Lost Maples State Park. It was a relaxing time and we were blessed to see all the colors of Fall and having time to enjoy God's beautiful creation.

Wednesday afternoon I had a great doctor's appointment ~ Dr. Copelky was pleased with how my blood pressure had come down and stabilized and that my pulse is back down to the mid 70's, low 80's. And I don't need to be seen again till May 2012!

Thank you to all my friends and fellow blog readers for following along on this journey that we call life.

Today I am Thankful for the opportunity to meet new friends.

2011-11-08T21:15:00.000-06:00

Today I am thankful for the opportunity to meet new friends. Well, really someone I have known for awhile but just now got the chance to meet her in person.

Birdie (Nancy) is one of the members of Women's RV Forum that I belong to and she called today in the middle of our lunch and said she was coming here to Lone Star Corral for the night on her way to Lost Maples State Park. We had planned to connect tomorrow evening but got to meet a day early. I explained that I had a meeting with the CPA in Hondo after lunch but I would be back in the office close to 2:00 and I would see her then.

So off to my meeting. Received a nice compliment from the CPA when she told Kay & Judi that I do a great job on the books for the park ~ I always think I do a good job but hearing it from someone else is always nice. After the meeting we returned to the park. And what was hubby doing ~ weeding the flower beds in front of the office. Wish I had a green thumb and knew what to plant there to make it look pretty ~~~ suggestions are welcome, hint, hint, hint.

Any way, once I was back in the office, this gal walked in and smiled and said "Hi Ali" and right away I knew it was Birdie. Out the office door and big hugs were shared. Unbeknownst to me, Ron had already got her parked in a site, she just needed to do the paperwork. Got that all squared away and she was off to drive to Lost Maples to check the route. And I went back to work.

Finished up with work and headed over to do laundry - that never ending job. When I got home 2 1/2 hours later Ron said Birdie had been by to see if I wanted a glass of wine. So we quickly ate dinner (thank goodness for the crock pot - I use it probably 3 or 4 times a week. If you have a favorite dish you cook in your crock pot, please share it with me, another hint :)

And then I was off with a glass of wine to go and visit with Birdie. We visited for about an hour and then we both yawned and then giggled...and off I was back to the motor home. We will get more visiting in the next 2 1/2 days as Ron and I are going to Garner State Park tomorrow after my doctor's appointment with the cardiologist ~ just a follow up. We are going to be at GSP Wednesday night and then move over to Lost Maples Thursday mid-morning and stay there the night and then come back to the park in the afternoon on Friday.

Thankful that Gordon & Diana (the assistant managers) were willing to swap days with us.

I don't know what kind of reception/signal I will get up there with my Verizon mifi card so if you don't hear from me I will be back for sure on Friday night.

Take care all and have a truly blessed night/day.

Today I am Thankful for ... the little things

2011-11-07T20:01:00.000-06:00

Today I am thankful for the little things. One of the gals here in the park volunteers at the local senior center/nutrition center on Monday, Wednesday & Fridays. And the nutrition center posts a monthly calendar. If there is something on the menu that sounds pretty good Jan will pick up lunch for us. Well it lunch at the nutrition center but dinner for us. And all for $3 for each meal.

Last week the menu for November came out and today's lunch was chicken fried steak and all the trimmings. So we sent our $6 to Jan and she brought lunch/dinner home for us. And what a blessing it was for us. Ron is still battling that cold and he took a two hour nap after work. I went to the clubhouse and visited for a little while and then came back. Ron was still sleeping so I quietly heated up the chicken fried steak with mashed potatoes and broccoli...it was yummy.

Thank you Jan for picking up our lunch/dinner. You always say it is nothing, just a little thing you can do...but for us today it was a big thing. Thank you for being a blessing for/to us today.

Today I am Thankful for ...naps

2011-11-06T18:35:00.000-06:00

Today has been a kinda different day: woke up early, made sausage rolls for breakfast and then went to Sunday School. Sunday School was interesting and we talked about "our calling." And through it all hubby coughed, coughed, and coughed some more. After Sunday School we looked at each other and said at the same time "maybe we should go home." And that is what we did. We came home.

Hubby took some cough drops and a small nap in the recliner and I goofed around on the computer and watched some Dateline ID shows and then made lunch: homemade pizza with Dutch apple pie (leftover from last night) and then decided a nap sounded wonderful. I tried to sleep on the couch but couldn't settle down between the knock on the door (thanks Jim for the newspaper) and Gordon, the assistant manager, coming and going in the golf cart (the negative of living so close to the office) and so I finally moved to the bed about 2:15 p.m. And then I took a nap ~ slept till 5:23 ~ guess I was pretty tired. Changing the clocks back/forward always throw me off for a day or two.

I woke feeling very refreshed ~ thank you Lord for the gift of a nap, the gift of sleep.

Today I am Thankful for...a day of relaxation.

2011-11-05T20:21:00.000-05:00

Today I am thankful for a day of relaxation. I woke up at 6:11 this morning - was so looking forward to sleeping in but that was not to be. So I had a caramel hot cocoa and read some emails. And then Ron got up about 9:30 and after chatting for a little while decided we would go into Castroville to go to some garage sales. About 1:00 we went to Sammy's for lunch. We had heard good things ~ our thoughts "it was okay, but nothing to write home about." And then we decided to go for a ride...we went to Moore, Devine, Yancey and then back to Hondo for some grocery shopping.

Then home for a dinner of hodge podge - actually left overs and a cleaning out of the fridge. And I baked a Dutch apple pie. I am letting it cool for a little while before we dig into it.

It has been a great day ~ no demands, a nice drive through some pretty countryside and a few stops along the way. In Devine they were having a Fall Harvest Festival so we stopped and walked around checking out the different vendors, listened to some good country music and watched some clogging. After that we stopped at the Yancey General Store. And what an interesting store it is ~ kinda like a yard sale, kinda like a 7-11 and a little like a gift shop.

Thank you Lord for a great day of rest!!!

Today I am Thankful for...Friends

2011-11-04T20:36:00.000-05:00

Today I am thankful for friends.

Ron and I have been so blessed through our lives by friends. Just today a friend blessed me by leaving me a gift at the door to the motor home. Another friend provided our dinner tonight by sending us a package from Frontier Soups. Tonight's dinner was White Bean Chili ~ it was scrumptious. And we shared that dinner with friends from here at Lone Star Corral.

We have been blessed by friends every where we have lived. We have been blessed by friends we have met through the internet and met along the road in our travels. We have been blessed with words of encouragement, a card in the mail, a surprise phone call, gifts of love, surprise visits and so much more.

I hope you too have been blessed by friends.

Today I am Thankful for...

2011-11-03T20:21:00.000-05:00

Today I am thankful for our work. We really like our jobs, being in Texas and the members in the park who have become our friends.

We have been here at the Lone Star Corral just over 8 months. We like our work. Ron enjoys being outside so much of the time. And being outside here is a lot different then at home in Whatcom County - the biggest being no rain. It has rained three times since we arrived here last February. We are definitely in a drought and never thought we would be praying for rain ~ yet we do just that each night when we go to bed.

I enjoy being in the office. I like being able to organize things, design and make forms, flyers and handouts. One of my responsibilities is to keep the books for the campground and that includes balancing all the different checking/savings account. What amazes me is that they usually balance the first time ~ what I don't get is why my home accounts don't do that???

One of the things we both enjoy is being able to visit and engage in conversations with so many different people. Just yesterday one of the members shared with Ron about quite a few places to see around here. So I think we are going on a drive this Saturday or Sunday to check out some new places. I like hearing where the campers have been before they arrived here and where they are heading when they leave. For instance, last night a couple left to go work as gate guards for a few months. We enjoyed talking with them before they left as that is something we have talked about possibly doing in the future.

We look forward to finishing out our contract here at the Lone Star Corral. Right now our contract ends on April 13, 2012. But that date may change as we have been asked to stay for a second year. Right now the Board of Directors are working on a contract to offer us. We would ask that you join us in prayer ~ that if this is where we are to be for another year that the contract will be one we can accept and is agreeable to all of us. We will keep you updated on our plans.

Today I am Thankful for My Hubby

2011-11-02T19:11:00.000-05:00

Today I am thankful for my hubby! Well every day I am thankful for him but today is extra...he is such a sweet man and loves me in many ways.

He told me this morning about my birthday present. He got us a room at the Drury Suites on the Riverwalk in San Antonio for December 2nd & 3rd. What a fun weekend to celebrate my birthday and our 36th anniversary (Dec. 20th that is!). And the room has a private jacuzzi in it!! Now how fun will that be. He knows one of the things I miss being in the motor home is not being able to take long, relaxing bubble baths...now how sweet is that he got a jacuzzi just for us. Bring on the bubble bath, candles and a glass of wine - yippee!!

I have thought about ways Ron shows his love for me...we have a couple of good deals. If I do the cooking he does the clean up. If I do the laundry he cleans up the motor home ~ you know stuff like cleaning the bathroom and sweeping...stuff that he knows are not my favorite things to do when it comes to cleaning.

When I have had rough night of sleep, he will let me sleep in if it is a weekend and till 7:30 a.m. if it is a work day (thank goodness we live only 25 feet from the office). He is always willing to make me coffee or stop at McDonald's (no Starbucks or Woods here in D'Hanis) to pick me up an iced mocha.

Ron and I joke that he married me to get lower insurance rates and a pay raise (he was 20 and in the Air Force) and I married him to get away from home but the truth is that he wrote his dad a letter the day we met and told him he had met the girl he was going to marry. I think it took me a couple of weeks to know I wanted to spend the rest of my life with him. And it has definitely been a journey.

We have had some real rough roads to climb and some great mountain top experiences together. We have cried together and laughed together. We have moved 34 times before moving into the motor home. Some of those moves have been within the same apartment complex to across town to across the ocean and back. And through it all he has been right along side of me.

We have faced some major medical hurdles and celebrated with some wonderful parties with friends and family. We have been blessed with two wonderful son's and together we have parented through the good and the bad times. We have celebrated many mile stones with our boys - birthday's, school achievements, girl friends and wives, and the birth of 4 wonderful grandchildren and mourned the loss of two grandbabies together.

Through all of our married life journey Ron has been my rock, my stronghold, encourager and even a pain in the rear at times but through it all we have walked together. I am so thankful for a husband who loves me through thick and thin, the good and the bad, the fun and the sad.

Thank you Ron for your unselfish love for me!! I love you 'mensly! I love you more!!!

Being Thankful

2011-11-01T06:44:00.000-05:00

As I woke this morning I thought about November and Thanksgiving and being thankful. I am thankful for the many blessings I have in my life: friends, a loving husband, two wonderful sons and their precious families and so much more. I thought about the decision I made last November to write about being thankful for specific things each day in November. Don't get me wrong - I thank the Lord each day for things that I am thankful for but last November I was diligent to write a post each day on thankfulness. And as I woke at 5:03 this morning I thought "I should do that again!" And so here I am today on November 1 ~~~

Today I am thankful for the gift of friendship and unexpected visits with special friends. Yesterday afternoon I received an email from Pastor Charles (our pastor from our home church of Northwood Alliance Church in Blaine, WA) asking if we could get together for dinner and a visit? Well of course!!! So I chatted with Ron and then called Pastor Charles on his cell phone and he said he would be at our place in a couple of hours. I was so excited to spend time with him. One of the things I miss about not being in Blaine is being able to walk into Charles' office and ask questions or share something special with him. Email and phone calls are just not the same.

Charles arrived about 5:30 and after lots of hugs and hello's we gave him a tour of the office here at Lone Star Corral and then walked over to the clubhouse. We then drove around the park and introduced him to a few of the friends we have made here. And then we were off to dinner at El Charro's and lots of visiting and catching up. And before we knew it it was time for him to head back to Seguin where he was staying. But before he left we spent some time in prayer - another thing we have missed - sharing in prayer time with special friends. And with more hugs he was back on the road.

Thank you Charles for taking time out of your busy schedule to spend a few hours with us and for the delicious dinner and most importantly for spending time in prayer with us. We are so thankful for the blessing of friendship, love and care that Pastor Charles brings into our lives.

Stay tuned for more thoughts on thankfulness in the coming days. And don't forget to find something to be thankful for in your own life.

Sunday Evening 10/9/11

2011-10-09T20:20:00.000-05:00

We are home now...sounds funny since our home always travels with us :) We had a good time with Cindy & Walker Brewer. And the rain last night and today was refreshing even with the leak around the window.

And of course no trip with The Wandering Workentins is ever uneventful. Hubby pulled into the HEB in Hondo to get gas before we returned to the Lone Star Corral. While waiting for a pump to empty I decided to go into HEB and get some bananas for smoothies in the morning. Just as I started to step out of the motor home there was a huge bang and jolt and I said SH...! And quickly stepped out of the rig to see a lady in a pickup towing a horse trailer hooked onto our motor home. Yes, we had been hit. Ron told her to back up a little and let's see what the damage was. Fortunately she only pulled the metal and rubber end off the rig!! And Ron put it all back together. Not her trailer though - she had to take a hammer to get it pulled away from the tire.

As we were driving home (before the little incident at HEB) we were talking about maybe looking for a new motor home to purchase as we continue to plan for where we go after we are done in Texas...on Ron's bucket list is to drive to Alaska and work up there for a summer...so the wheels are turning....and then after the incident we both commented if the gal had ripped off the back end of the motor home it would have been totaled...hmm can we go back and have her hit us a little harder :) just kidding we really are glad the damage was little and no one was hurt.

Now to start thinking/planning/figuring for the future!.

On a sad note, we got word this morning that Ed, the previous Assistant Manager died of a massive heart attack late last night...please keep Jeannette and their kids in your prayers.

6 AM on Sunday, October 9, 2011

2011-10-09T06:12:00.000-05:00

Got woken up at 4:21 a.m. due to the door slamming shut from the wind. Laid in bed and watched the lightening, listening to the thunder and then hearing a drip, drip, drip on the bedroom window. We haven't had much rain here in drought stricken Texas but this morning is different. It is coming down and hard at that. Just checked radar and there are flash flood warnings in Bexar and Guadalupe County (where we currently are visiting friends). I do love the sound of the rain though (can you believe this Washington transplant girl is saying that?)

Anyway, thought I would just check in and let y'all know we are fine. Hope to be able to update more tonight once we are back in D'Hanis. Have a great day today!!

Ramblin'

2011-09-28T08:53:00.000-05:00

Thought I would just write about what we have been doing and what is on the horizon ~ hopefully not too boring for y'all.

Work is going well. New Assistant Managers, Gordon & Diana arrived on Friday, September 16th and started working on Monday, September 19th. They seem to be catching on pretty well. Training has been very uneventful. Tomorrow and Friday we are going to be hanging in the motor home and let them do their jobs without us hovering. We will be close by though in case they have problems. Then next week they are working on Wednesday as I have a doctor's appointment with the cardiologist ~ Dr. Emily, here in Hondo is concerned about my high pulse rate - it is beating between 100 & 144 beats pretty consistently. And then they start working on Saturday & Sunday's, October 8th & 9th so the office will be open 7 days a week ~ the start of our winter hours.

We have good friends arriving on Friday. They are going to stay in the little B&B about a mile from us here in the park. I am looking forward to seeing the inside ~ have thought of doing a weekend retreat there all by myself so I can take a couple of long hot baths ~ sure miss my tub and a long soak with a good book and a glass of wine

Patrick & Patricia will be here till Monday morning. On Saturday we are going into San Antonio. Will go to the Alamo and the Riverwalk. When we took our grandson to the Alamo he was not interested in reading all the history and stuff. We know we can do that with P&P. And of course we will go for some BBQ somewhere. Any of you who have visited San Antonio know of a good BBQ place?

I am going to use Thursday as a day to do some cleaning and sorting of the rig. They (the park) have a big flea market/yard sale on the 12th of November so I am want to see if I can gather enough stuff to have a table or else I will donate it to the park table. I have also decided to go through all my clothes that I have in the rig and also in two big totes in the storage shed here - I don't need to keep carrying all these clothes that I don't wear very often or at all any more. And then I need to get busy and clean out all the cupboards in the rig. Feel free to ask me how the cleaning/purging/sorting is going - a little accountability never hurt!!

And of course pictures are always fun to show. Sure hope you enjoy them.

Opal - she looks so much like her daddy!

Grandpa asked to be slapped when he said "just like a typical woman - yakking on the phone"

Danayln, Max, Brandon, Treyson and Christopher - we love how Danalyn always coordinates their clothes for family pictures. Grandpa thought she should have picked something besides Carolina Blue.


Brandon with Treyson. I took this picture while we were on Skype together just a couple of weeks ago.

Well I guess that's all for now. Hope you enjoyed catching up with us. Take care and have a great day!!!

A Productive Weekend

2011-09-11T21:59:00.000-05:00

We have had a good and productive weekend.

Saturday found us going to San Antonio for a Costco run. We had not been since the end of June. Usually when we go we only buy bottled water like Propel or Gatorade, toilet paper, paper towels, dry goods and of course, Ron's beer. But this time was different. A couple here at the Lone Star Corral have offered us the use of their side by side fridge/freezer so this time we were able to buy some meat and frozen fruit & vegi's. This will help me so much with meal planning and saving money.

One of my goals for the month of September is for us NOT to go out to eat unless it is a special occasion. We ate out way too much in July & August. Like last week I went out Friday night with a group of gals from here in the park. And this next week, we are taking Jared out for dinner to say thank you for all his hard work this summer and for covering while Ron was in Idaho & Oregon. So far we are up to 16 of us going to H.ermann's & Sons. It should be a good time. But I digress - so after grocery shopping and figuring what all we had in the shed, the storage bins and added what we bought I am now planning our meals for the month. After all that shopping we had a quiet evening at home.

Today was a busy day. After sleeping till about 8:30 I got up and decided to do some cleaning today. I did some deep cleaning of the kitchen and bathroom, and organizing my books and cleaning off my nightstand I tackled the dining room table, benches and underneath the table. And swept the motor home - I can't believe how dusty things get even with the windows closed up - with running the air conditioner 24/7 for almost three months straight I was really surprised but the dust bunnies are all gone now - at least for a little while. I then went and did six loads of laundry - usually we have two loads. Thank goodness for having six washer & dryers in the laundry room - took me just over 2 hours but it is done for now.

I then spent a few hours on the computer before Ron started scrounging around for something to eat. It was after 5:00 p.m. So I put together dinner - roasted chicken with green beans w/mushrooms, fried potatoes with onions and something new. Hank & Euona Rathjen had made us a plate of okra w/onions and bacon. Ron and I had never had it - we were pleasantly surprised - it tasted really good. Definitely going to add that to our menu.

We ended the evening watching John Wayne in McClintock. So fun to see a well made movie and so many famous actors.

So as Ron's mom used to say - "we had a perfect day." Hope you did too.

Mini Update

2011-09-09T21:24:00.000-05:00

Am really struggling with knowing what to write and telling myself I should just write whatever. And then I ask myself who am I writing for - I write because I like to write, I like to talk and I like to share what is going on in our lives so this raises the question - Why then don't I just write a small post each day just for me??? So that is what I am going to do - just write something, anything and write for me not for others. If others like what I write that is great, if not, so be it.

The last couple of weeks have been frustrating here in the park. While Ron and Jared were working on the drain/water system surrounding the clubhouse last week Ron broke a propane line. This meant the water and propane to the clubhouse had to be turned off. Thinking it would not take long to fix we put a sign up on the laundry room explaining the laundry room was closed till further notice and put the same notice on the sign board outside the office. Well two days turned into five, turned into eight days.

Needless to say we had some unhappy campers. Especially the one who went into use the laundry room and didn't know it was closed. Seems someone opened the door to the laundry room (the sign was on the outside of the door) and this person didn't know the laundry room was closed. OK, no big deal right - well no, we had to refund their money and while Ron was climbing on top of the washer to disconnect it from the electricity so he could get the washer open so she could get her dry spinning dirty laundry out he smacked his head a good one against a nail sticking out of the wall!! A nice 1 1/2" gash on his head. My question was "why would someone open the dang door to the laundry room if it was closed?" of course no one could answer me and of course no one would fess up to doing it.

So after multiple trips to Hondo (16 miles round trip), one trip to Uvalde (66 miles round trip) and trying multiple fixes it was successfully repaired late Wednesday morning. I have 5 or 6 loads of laundry to do but wanted to wait for the rush to die down - think I am going to try to do laundry tomorrow late afternoon.

And of course we are on fire alert. Earlier this week we had a large fire in San Antonio about 45 miles from us. Today has been a bit more scary as there is one burning about 25 miles from the Lone Star Corral. You can see the smoke from that fire all the way into Hondo. We have talked about an evacuation plan. Ron figures we would need 30 minutes notice to hit the road ~ in that 30 minutes we would just toss things from the shed into the rig, move stuff around in the rig so we can have access to the driver/passenger seats, hook up the Jeep and hit the road. Besides getting all our stuff in the rig I have made a list of what I need to grab from the office: the Emergency Contact Book, the money, the checkbook and the little safe. If I have the time I would also grab the desktop computer - it is only the hard drive and the screen.

So we pray:

1. For rain - we desperately need rain.

2. For safety for all the firemen/women responding to these fires

3. For 45 minutes notice to evacuate if it comes to that

4. For peace of mind no matter what comes our way

If you are a praying person, please join us in praying for Texas and the weather/fire danger and I would also ask for your prayers for those on the East Coast who are dealing with floods, with no end in sight. For people to remain calm and not let their emotions rule what happens.

So that's it for tonight. Talk to y'all soon.

Where Have I Been?

2011-08-31T17:39:00.000-05:00

Why can't I get my act together to keep this blog and my other one "Alice's Restaurant" updated on a regular basis??? I think of all the things I want to write about but time just gets away from me....so here I go again.

We are doing fine. Ron made it safely home from Idaho and Oregon...he took 535 pictures and I finally got them onto the computer. Now to get them into a post or two or three....they are in my head, just have to get them onto the computer. Today I finally wrote a letter that I have been needing to write for almost 3 months...what is with that????

I think I need to go back to carrying a daytimer of some sort. I have been looking at them to start in January but what to do in the meantime??? Suggestions. I have made lists, lots of lists and where are they - on my desk in the office when I am in the motor home or in the motor home when I am in the office. Agh....I just need to get my act together. Not only about writing and keeping them up to date but also stuff aIround here. I feel like I am just being a slug....and I don't like this slug that I am turning into.

I have been doing two things that were missing in my life. I am now getting up at 6 a.m. and exercising...I have got to lose some weight. First goal is 7.2 lbs down and I am down 2 of that 7! Then the next goal is down 25 lbs and then another 25 lbs. Timeline wise I want to be down 20 lbs by 11/14 when my friend Dee arrives for a week. So I only have 18 more to go to reach that goal.

The other thing is spending time in the Word every morning. Right now it is about 15 to 20 minutes a day. I would like to be able to spend 45 to 60 minutes each morning in the Word and in prayer. And I know that will improve as I get connected to a Bible study that begins the middle of September. More directed study is the best and easiest way for me to spend more time in God's Word.

Our motor home feels crowded and cluttered. I need to purge and get rid of stuff but don't even know where to begin. I need to get my monthly menus back on track. I have done pretty good this week with meal planning by day. But I do so much better eating wise, grocery shopping wise, spending wise and not eating out wise.

I need help, some plans, some ideas - please share, please ask me if I am doing "xyz" - what do you do to keep your home organized and simplified? How do you do monthly meal planning? How do you keep motivated to keep a clean and tidy home? Yes we live in our motor home but it is our home...it's not just a place to go camping and play in???

So to close I will share the one movie Ron took while he was with Brandon and his family. The background noise you here is Max playing a Wii shooting game. The baby is Treyson and it is so fun to watch his little movements.

Hope you have enjoyed catching up with us even if it is just a little bit.

And the Bathroom is Finished!!!

2011-08-13T20:29:00.000-05:00

Let me begin this post with an order:

IF ANYONE HEARS ME MENTION PAINTING ANYTHING IN THE MOTOR HOME - TELL ME NO!!!!

This is what it looked like before I started painting. The wallpaper is an avocado green with white. Took 3 coats of paint to cover the green so it would not show. The cabinets were an off white and they took 2 coats of paint.

And this was just after I had been at it for about 45 minutes and I was asking myself "why did I want to paint the bathroom?" You may also be wondering why I didn't take the wooden cabinet down. Because I couldn't ~ it had two screws inside and they came right out but that cabinet was stuck to the wall. I have no idea what we did to get that cabinet to stay up there but it is there for good! Also giving credit where due - my cousin Mike Stortroen and his girlfriend Betsy Cook are the ones who made that cabinet for me many years ago for Christmas.

And this is the finished bathroom. I went with a blue to compliment the yellow. What I originally thought was off white was really a lite yellow and the yellow of the cabinets is actually 3 shades of yellow above the light yellow on the color strip. What do you think of my earring holder? I took a piece of corkboard and put it in a 8x10 picture frame and then thought it would be nice to add some pictures of our kids and grandkids.

I hope you have enjoyed seeing the project of painting the bathroom in our motor home. I really like how it turned out but again

IF YOU HEAR ME MENTION PAINTING ANYTHING ELSE IN THE MOTOR HOME TELL ME NO!!!!

Taking a Break

2011-08-12T15:31:00.000-05:00

It is hot!!! here in D'Hanis and things are slow in the park so Jared (Ron's assistant and who is working Ron's regular schedule while Grandpa is off playing in Molalla, OR) and I decided to shampoo the carpet in the office. It really needed it...after the 3" of rain we got on May 26th in less than an hour which leaked into the office through the window the carpet was looking pretty dingy.

So yesterday Jared left a little early and went to H.E.B. and rented a rug doctor shampooer. This morning after the regular stuff was done: reading the water meters, compiling the rental pool book and checking work emails we got a moving. First we moved everything off the floor and all the chairs into the membership office. Then I vacuumed and vacuumed again. And then we scurried around and picked up all the little rocks off the carpet that the vacuum would not pick up.

Then Jared started shampooing the carpet. Took him about an hour and as he was pulling the shampooer out the back door he turned and laughed and said "we forgot to turn the lights out." No problem, I walked around to the front of the office and opened the door between the lobby and the office, reached in and turned the lights out. We had already put the radio and a sign that said we were shampooing the carpet and would be in the library, cruising the park or in the motor home.

Then Jared went to hang out in the library and I took advantage of the break from the office a.nd painted the first coat of the yellow paint on the cupboards in the bathroom. Boy does it look bright!! And it was very clear it will need a second coat :( I will do that tonight after dinner. Hopefully the brightness will tone down after it dries and I get the blue towels hung up in there.*

And then I had lunch - leftovers from my dinner last night with Mindi. She made chicken spaghetti. I had never had chicken spaghetti but boy was it delicious!! I am definitely going to have to get the recipe as I know Ron would enjoy it as well.

After lunch I mozied over to the library to see how things were going there. Watched a group play bridge for awhile - seemed like Greek to me :) And then I delivered some of the mail packages that came - since the office is closed it is important to make sure people get their mail. Plus it gets me outside and I really don't mind driving around the park with the golf cart :)

Jared and I then went back to the office to see how the carpet looked. It looked pretty good but some spots were still noticeable so we decided to go over those spots again. Took us another hour or so to get that done. Then Jared drove around the park and then went back to the library for awhile.

So I am hanging out in the motor home, have the radio handy and making use of my time writing some blog posts. Nothing exciting but at least I am writing :)

*Pictures will follow as soon as it is all done - hopefully by the end of the day on Saturday.

Yes, We are Still Alive

2011-08-10T20:59:00.000-05:00

Yes we are still alive...thought I had better check in here before y'all started sending out the tracker dogs to find us. Here is a small recap of what we have been doing ~ told in reporter format :)

~ Ali had her scheduled eye surgery on 7/11 - all went well and she returned to work on Thursday of that week. She has one more follow up appointment and then will get her new glasses. She is just amazed at how bright things are, how things are clearer and the headaches seem to be gone.

~ Max arrived on 7/16 and we were very busy. 7/16 & 17 we were in San Antonio, went to the Ripley's Believe It or Not, Guinness Book of World Records, the Wax Museum and Grandpa & Max went in the haunted house. We went swimming and ate dinner at Chili's.*

~ the first week Max was here we went to bingo, went to Bill & Rosa's for dinner, did laundry one night; the next weekend we went camping in Bandera, attended the rodeo, went to Flying L Ranch water park (Grandma got sunburned), went to OST (Old Settler Trail restaurant), went to Brick's cafe, went swimming;

~ in between we celebrated Grandpa's birthday with cake and laughter at Social Hour AFTER Grandma made a quick trip to the ER taking Grandpa who decided the way to get out of workk for a few days was to cut his hand with a light fixture while working in the clubhouse kitchen with Jared. Grandpa is fine though his ego is a bit bruised for the accident happening even though we all have told him it was an accident.

~ the last weekend Max was here we went swimming, went to the Snake Farm, the Wild Life Ranch, swimming and met new RV friends & shared a delightful dinner. And then we got up at 3 a.m. to get to the airport and get Max on that 6:00 a.m. flight and then two very tired grandparents went back to the hotel and took a much needed nap.*

And then last weekend we went to San Antonio so Ron could fly to Lewiston on Sunday morning. On Saturday we went swimming, took a nap, had appetizers and then went out to dinner at the Texas Land & Cattle Restaurant. And on Sunday Alice drove back to D'Hanis and the campground. Other than driving to the previously mentioned ER, Alice had not done any driving since early April. She arrived safely back at the campground.

~ Monday Alice started a new project ~ painting the bathroom in the motor home. Before and during pictures have been taken. After pictures will also be taken and posted at a later date. All she is asking if anyone, and she means anyone, hears her talking about another painting job remind her that she does not like to paint!!!*

~ the other thing Alice has been doing is writing posts for Alice's Restaurant ~ Dishin' Up Food for Thought. Check it out here to see what has been on her heart and mind the last few days. There will probably be 7 or 8 posts in this series of posts.

Guests that's all for now. I have made a commitment to write at least one blog post a day either here on Wandering Workentins or at Alice's Restaurant. Thanks for being patient with me as I got my head wrapped around a few things.

* More detailed posts with pictures to follow.

Week in Review ` Planning for the New Week

2011-07-10T20:09:00.000-05:00

Have had a good week. After last weekend of being sick and laying low it was good to get back to work and being with friends.

Tuesday morning I had my pre-op appointment for my upcoming surgery. Surgery is scheduled for tomorrow (7/11). We have to be at the hospital at 7:00 a.m. No eating or drinking after midnight tonight. Stopped the baby aspirin as of last Monday. No meds in the morning till after surgery.

Had a great week at work. No major problems though our hearts are heavy at the park this week as two of our residents have been in the hospital. If you think of them, say a prayer for Ellie & Stan as they fight the good fight and that they feel the presence of the Lord in these difficult days.

We were able to enjoy a dinner of great conversation and good food with Walker & Evelyn. Always fun to do is to go out to eat with another couple. On Friday night after work, Ron took an almost two hour nap and then wanted to do something so off we went to Bill & Rosa's for appetizers, a beer (for Ron) and ice tea and listening to some great country music. Too bad they don't have a dance floor.

Saturday I made a deal with Ron. He could choose - clean the motor home including the bathroom or do the laundry. Now I know Ron hates! to do laundry and I really didn't want to clean that toilet :( ~ so yeah, you could say I stacked the deck...but hey, he did have a choice. He chose to clean the motor home so I went off to do the three loads of laundry. While doing laundry I visited with the Busy Bee's (the knitting and crocheting group that meets weekly here at the park). When I was done folding all the laundry I loaded up the golf cart and came back to the motor home. It was so nice and clean and smelled so good. And the bathroom just sparkled. Yep, I think I got the best end of that deal.

For the rest of the weekend we have just relaxed. So enjoy having down time to just read and enjoy the life we are blessed with.

Today we went to church and celebrated with little Jessica who accepted the Lord as her Savior - what a joyous occasion. After a nap we went over to a new friends, Shanna (her, her hubby and a girlfriend own The Family Dawg, the best place to get hot dogs, sandwiches or gyros locally) who French braided my hair so I don't have to worry or figure out how to comb it while I can't see as I recuperate from my surgery. Thanks Shanna! We also did lots of reading, watching The Ax Man (one of Ron's favorite shows) and some blogging. Check out my new post at Alice's Restaurant where I talk about Special Friendships.

Now to settle down for the night and get ready for surgery tomorrow. Since I can't eat or drink after midnight till after my surgery I have set the alarm for 11:30 p.m. tonight so I can get up and drink a glass of orange juice - want to do everything I can to avoid having my blood sugar drop in the night or early morning.

Talk to y'all soon. And looking forward to seeing the world in a bright new way on Tuesday!!!

What We Have Been Doing

2011-07-03T20:46:00.000-05:00

Here is a picture blog of different things we have been doing in the last month. Hope you enjoy traveling along with us.

As you may remember we went to Medina Lake Thousand Trails which is about 52 miles from the Lone Star Corral. We had a good time just relaxing, swimming, reading and more relaxing.

We decided to go back up the weekend before Father's Day with another couple from LSC. Hank & Euona went up on Wednesday and we joined them on Friday night. We did a lot of visiting Friday night and Saturday. In the afternoon we went to the ice cream social - not a bad deal $1 a bowl and each bowl had 3 or 4 scoops of ice cream. You had your choice of vanilla, strawberry or chocolate or a mixture of all three. I forgot the camera so there are no pictures ~ will try to remember the next time.

Saturday evening we bbq'd ribs and Euona made potato salad, coleslaw and corn-on-the-cob. It was a great dinner and of course, more visiting. Below is Ron grilling those ribs and Hank and Euona as we visited in their rig.

Ooops, wrote Father's Day weekend on the picture, but it was actually the weekend before.

Below is a collage of pictures (thanks Rick for me how to do this) of the many deer roaming through the park. Many people pick up deer corn and feed them. We heard one little boy say he counted 32 deer and Hank stopped counting when he hit 70. It is not easy to keep track of them as they kept moving trying to get corn. Some of the larger bucks could get quite mean, shoving the does and fawns out of the way.

The rig in the background belongs to Hank & Euona.

A couple of weeks ago we were driving down the road in front of park. Ron swerved out of the way and pulled over. Found this little guy in the middle of the road. We brought him back to the park to get some pictures and put him in a safe place and not the middle of the road. That all happened at lunch time. By the time we were done with work, our turtle friend was long gone. Too bad, it would have been nice to have him visit for awhile.

I have been sick the last few days. This evening feeling a bit of cabin fever we decided to go into D'Hanis for the annual 4th of July Parade. It went in front of the Country Mart, past the bank and local B&B and then around the block and down the main road for about a half mile and then turned to go down one of the side road and then back to Bill & Rosa's and the Country Mart. We met Judge Bubba - he was out greeting the citizens of D'Hanis also Deputy Jeff. Someone was hosting a free hot dog feed but we decided to head back to the motor home. I was wiped out. Below is a movie of the parade. And a picture of Judge Bubba and Deputy Jeff.

Judge Bubba and his wife Sharon (not the lady in the picture) attend First Baptist Church in Hondo. After church last Sunday we joined them at the Jade Buffet for some good food and great conversation. It feels good to connecting with some of people from church.

Hope you have enjoyed traveling along with us on our short jaunts here in the Hondo area.

What a Week

2011-06-26T21:09:00.000-05:00

Boy did we have an unexpected week here at the Lone Star Corral.

Tuesday morning we found out we had been robbed here at the park. The person or persons had cut the lock off the door to the tool shed and taken about $750 worth of tools, cut a huge hole in the fence and messed up some stuff in the tool shed.

Ron and I were so thankful that in early April we started doing a full inventory of the park. Along with tagging and listing of items, Ron took pictures of everything in each area. We only have the clubhouse and the library to do yet. And we plan on working on that in the next week. Back to the robbery. We called the police and the sheriff showed up about 20 minutes later. Ron gave him pictures and list of what was stolen and the sheriff said he would stay in touch with us.

Our day went on and Tuesday evening about 7:30 we had a knock on the door. Ron was told that someone wanted to talk to him on the phone. So off to one of our members lot. After talking to this man we now know who robbed the park. Another call to the sheriff and about 20 minutes later here came the sheriff (he just lives about a half mile from the park). After taking the members statement, talking to a man on the phone and Ron filling out a statement The sheriff was off to check out some things and gather a couple more statements. About 10:15 p.m. the sheriff stopped by the motor home and said he would get a warrant in the morning and we would go from there.

Without going into a lot of details, about 9:30 the warrant was served and one of the people involved was arrested. The sheriff said he would keep us updated on how things progress. Friday morning we were again visited by the sheriff saying another warrant was going to be executed. So the case is moving along.

On Monday we started the process of looking for new Assistant Managers. The couple who had accepted the job sent a letter stating they could not work on weekends so they would not be coming in September. They had been told that they work on our days off. When they find out it was Saturday and Sunday they decided that was not for them. So along with dealing with the robbery I was busy placing an ad on Workamper News and then looking at resumes. Tuesday morning when I came into work I had 21 emails in my office - all resumes of couples wanting us to consider them for the position. So lots of our time this past week has been reading emails, answering questions on the phone, replying to emails all in regards to the open position. Saturday one of the couples came for an interview - it just happened they are currently working just outside Austin so they made a day of it to come here so we could meet and interview them. There were five of us interviewing the two of them. Things went pretty well and a decision will be made soon about how we proceed.

Saturday afternoon we just hung out, watched a movie on TV, recorded lots of movies on the Encore channels (we get it free this weekend) and did some grocery shopping. In the evening Ron went to the Mud Drag Races in Dunlay. He had a good time. He did notice that many of the people carried in their coolers with their beer and wine coolers - something we would never see in Washington! I stayed home and had a quiet evening to myself. I did some reading, some writing and enjoyed the quiet and peacefulness of some alone time ~ something I think we all need once in awhile.

Today we were off to church. Heard a good sermon on pride and were entertained by the VBS kids who sang in words and signs some cute songs. After church we went to the Jade Dragon for lunch. As we walked in we were invited to join three people from church. We ate lunch with Judge Bubba and his wife Sharon, and Carol (she leads a Zumba class at the church 4 nights a week) ~ I am thinking of maybe trying that out but not too sure yet. Have to think on that one. We were later joined by Al & Yvonne, the first couple we met at FBC of Hondo. We enjoyed the company and getting to know more people on a personal level. Found out Judge Bubba lives almost across the street from the park and he is the judge who signed the arrests warrants from our robbery. In talking we found out that a reserve deputy lives just around the corner from the park and the judges secretary lives just down the street. Never thought we would be getting to know the locals in the judicial system.

After lunch we came back to the motor home and I made Hawaiian meatballs for Hawaiian night at church this evening. And then I took a much needed nap! This evening we went to FBC and had a great time. Ate dinner with the local district attorney ~ he won't be handling our case as he does felony cases only. Also found out we have quite a bit in common with them. His wife had HELLPS - which is what Suzanne had and which caused the early arrival of Opal. Their little guy arrived at 28 weeks just under two pounds as well. He is almost 5 and doing real well.

It feels so good to finally making some connections at church. God is good and does guide us every step of the way.

I would ask that you keep us in your prayers as I go for my final pre-op appointment on July 5th and have my eye surgery on July 11th. Ron and I are both trying not to worry but sometimes those negative thoughts have a way of just bouncing into our minds. Again we have to put our trust in God's hands and remind ourselves that He is the one in control and He knows what we will be dealing with and that He will never give us more than we can handle.

Take care and have a great week.

Checking in ~

2011-06-19T18:41:00.000-05:00

Thought I had better check in and let y'all know that we are alive and well.

Memorial Day weekend found us camping at Medina Lake Thousand Trails, about 50 miles from D'Hanis. We went swimming, slept, read, rested, ate bbq, went to a parade, rested and read some more. It was a great relaxing time.

The first weekend in June we went for about a 5 hour ride in the Jeep. We enjoy doing that kind of thing.

The second weekend in June we were back at Medina Lake Thousand Trails, this time with Hank & Euona Rathjen, a couple from here at Lone Star Corral. We visited with each other and found out what a small world we live in. In 1968 I hurt my eye on Gerber Road, in Sacramento, CA and in 1971 Hank & Euona lived on Gerber Road. Small world indeed. Saturday afternoon we went to the ice cream social at the clubhouse. In the evening we bbq'd ribs and had potato salad, coleslaw and fresh corn on the cob. It was delicious. And we followed up dinner with peach pie and vanilla ice cream. It was another great weekend here in Texas.

This weekend we ran errands, went grocery shopping, stopped at a Farmer's Market and went to church this morning. Chatted with the pastor about our frustration of having such a difficult time to connect with people. He seemed to understand and was a good encouragement to Ron and I. He prayed with us about my upcoming surgery and said he would like to join us at the hospital before I go in and sit with Ron during the surgery. It felt so good to pray with someone else, I have missed being able to pop into Pastor Charles' office and have him pray with me and talk about life and life's happening's.

After church we went to JB's BBQ - do you see a theme here? So far we have eaten at about six different places. Our favorite so far is Busbee's in Bandera. Maybe I should make a running list of all the places we go for BBQ and rate them. What do you think?

After lunch we went to Tractor Supply to return a denim shirt I had bought Ron ~ the snaps did not stay snapped :( We bought Ron two more short-sleeved western shirts (with snaps ~ he hates buttons) and I bought a sleeveless western style shirt to wear with my denim skort. We are definitely getting into the Texas wear here.

That's about it here ~ oh, and yes it is HOT here - we are experiencing 100'+ days. Lots of them! We are told this is very unusual for this time of year. Yes 100'+ days in August not June.

That's about it from here. Hope you are all doing great!!!

More Family Pictures

2011-05-30T14:14:00.000-05:00

Just have to show off more family pictures. These were taken on 5/26 in the evening while Skyping with Brandon and his family.

Max ~ isn't he an handsome guy!!! Can't wait to actually get to give him some hugs in July.

Christopher ~ age 3

Another picture of the smiling boy!

Max & Christopher together!

Daddy holding Treyson up to the camera!

Christopher snuggling up to Daddy and holding Treyson.

Christopher showing Grammy how big Treyson's foot is.

Grandma Lynda holding Treyson's foot up to the camera so we can see how big is foot is. Notice the comparisonn to her hand.

And the print of his foot...almost too big for the paper :)

Christopher and Treyson

Christopher doing what he does best, making funny faces and showing off Treyson.

Max holding Treyson

Treyson shortly after he was born. Our first glimpse of him.

And can't leave Miss Opal out of the family pictures.

This was taken just before we left Blaine in January 2011.

Hope you enjoyed these pictures.

Catch Up with Pictures

2011-05-30T12:36:00.000-05:00

Hello Everybody!!

Sorry it has been so long since I have written a blog. Could make lots of excuses but what good would that do ~ nothing. So to get you caught up to where we are I thought I would just post some pictures and tell a little about what we have been doing. Hope you enjoy!!

In case you forgot who we are and what we look like ~

Ron & Alice, also known in Texas as Ali

On Saturday, May 7th, the US Postal Carriers had their annual food drive. The members of Lone Star Corral came together and made a great donation of food for the local D'Hanis community. The collected food covered half the floor of the office lobby. Great job Lone tar Corral members!

Touring Comfort, Texas

Stopped for lunch at Brinks Cafe in Bandera, TX. They serve ice tea Texas stytle in a quart mason jar. We had a beautiful view from the window...if they were to get rain this would be a beautiful waterfall. And just look at the size of those onion rings. Also on that sampler plate was huge slices of zuchinni, cheese sticks and jalapeno slices called bottle caps. There were also these bright red bottle caps that I, Ali, thought were carrot slices, nope, red peppers and boy were they HOt!!!

More pictures of Comfort, TX. We were only there for an hour or so, so we are planning another visit to that sweet little town as they have a winery that we would like to visit.

More sights of Comfort, Texas.

On Saturday we went into Bandera for Funtier Days. It was a fun day to check out an arts & craft sale and watch a delightful parade. Our only complaint was it would have been nice if the people to our right and left would have stayed to our right and left. Nope, they had to move in front of us to watch the parade...it was a bit frustrating but we finally got to the point where we would just look at them and then at each other and just laugh.

This weekend, Memorial Day Holiday, we took a mini-vacation and went to Medina Lake Thousand Trails. They also serve food up Texas style ~ check out the bottle of syrup! We heard one little boy telling his Grandma that he saw 32 deer from their campsite to the swimming pool. The deer are fun to watch. Had one lady tell us that one came right up to her as she was sitting at their picnic table to sniff her and looking for food.

And then I did some decorating for the holiday. Love to have all my red, white & blue decorations throughout the motor home.

We have had a great mini-vacation. Spent a lot of time just reading, relaxing and taking a dip in the pool. Spent Sunday evening up at the Family Lodge visiting with new friends and listening to some great country music by Bimbo and the Borderlines. Even danced a few times with Ron ~ y'all would be happy to know he behaved himself on the dance floor.

Where to Begin?

2011-05-30T11:53:00.000-05:00

Guess i will start with our newest member of our family ~~~

Welcome

Treyson Xzavier Tate Workentin

Top Left ~ Daddy with Treyson

Top Right ~ Brandon, Danayln, Max, Christohpher and Treyson

Bottom Left ~ Momma with Treayson

Bottom Right ~ Treyson, about an hour old

Treyson Xzavier Tate Workentin

weighing in at 11 lbs. 6 oz.

22 1/2" long

Born on 5/25/11 at 8:30 p.m.

Lewiston, Idaho

The family is doing well and we are so thankful that Treyson arrived safely and healthy.

Our New Pet!!

2011-05-01T18:28:00.000-05:00

We have acquired a new pet. Not sure if he is a he or a she and a horny toad or a lizard.

We think it might be a horny toad because it is so fat but the tail seems a little long for a horny toad so really we do not know. Any one have an idea?

Our new pet lives in our backyard, usually hiding by the patio set that we have been loaned from one of the members. Let me tell you, I do make sure to move the cushions on the chairs before I plop down in one of the chairs.

We have not named our pet but he/she greets us most days when we come out of the office for lunch. He/she sits patiently until we get close to the gravel and then he/she takes off on a quick run. He/she is fun to watch.

Hope you enjoyed meeting our new pet!

Views of Lone Star Corral

2011-05-01T17:21:00.000-05:00

One of the things we do here at Lone Star Corral is to take drives around the park in the early evening's to just see how things are looking. The other day I took the camera with me so I could share what some of the sights we see right here in our little community.

Hope you enjoy!

This little motor home belongs to one our boon-docking guests. It is about 22' long.

I thought it was kinda cute. What do you think?

This is the front of the office. My home away from home. The two flowering plants are wild sunflowers. We were being told to pull them there weeds. We liked them so we kept them. They grew to about 2' taller before the flowers started to die off. Then Ron removed them. They were a bright yellow and beautiful to see from the window inside the office.

One of the many "sheds" through the park.

Ron keeps threatening to "steal" Judi & Dave's wheels. Don't think he is too serious though because she has been known to leave the keys in it while it is parked outside the office and Ron never does try to take it.

This little house sits across from the office. I understand it has been pulled in a few of the local parades. I think it would make a great playhouse for Opal - do you think we could tow it behind the Jeep when we head back to Washington?

Ron likes this little cowboy!

Can you tell what this landscape is made of?

Hundreds of Golf Balls!!!

This is one of Ron's favorite lots here in Lone Star Corral.

Hope you enjoyed this visit to Lone Star Corral.

Friends, Wal-Mart, and Turkey ~ What do they have in common?

2011-05-01T15:32:00.000-05:00

Last Tuesday, Walker came into the office and said Wal-Mart was having an unadvertised special on turkeys for 39 cents a pound. He and Evelyn had bought 4 and were thinking of deep fat frying one but wondered what to do with the all the oil.

Bonnie was in the office and said you could use it to cook up to 4 turkeys. The conversation continued with the three of us deciding we could have a Turkey Frying Party. So Bonnie made the trip to Wal~Mart. Picked up a couple of turkeys for them and one for Ron and I. Having no room in our motor home we decided to let ours thaw in the bathroom sink in the office. We will cook them up once they are all thawed.

Wednesday, Margie & Ed bought a turkey as well. Now we were up to four couples cooking at least 5 turkeys.

All the turkeys were thawed by Friday afternoon so the cooking commenced. Ron and I were busy working so we could not participate in the cooking so we sent some cheese and crackers over to the cooks would not get too hungry and start munching on the turkeys as they were cooked.

About 4:30 p.m. Walker arrived and handed me this:

Now isn't that one pretty turkey. I put it on the counter in the motor home and let it sit while I closed up the office. Once the office was closed I made a Risotta (type of rice) dish with Italian seasoning to enjoy with our turkey. Both of us exclaimed "delicious." The turkey was so moist, melt in the mouth and filling. After dinner Ron de-boned the turkey. We ended up with enough meat for at least four meals all for less than $6.

Side note: while Ron was busy working hard de-boning the turkey, I was off to play bingo in the clubhouse ~ and I won! Two $4 wins!! Not big dollar amounts but still lots of fun.

Thank you Bonnie, Ed, Walker, Evelyn, Ed (yes there are two of them) and Margie for doing all the cooking. We will definitely have to do this again, but hopefully next time it will be on a Saturday or a Sunday so we can be included in all the fun.

A Beautiful Sunset

2011-05-01T15:16:00.000-05:00

One evening a few weeks ago we had the most beautiful sunset and viewing of the moon. Hope you enjoy these views taken from our front door or deck here in Lone Star Corral.

The Middle of April Already

2011-04-17T20:49:00.000-05:00

Thought I had better pop in here and give an update on what we are doing. I have been struggling with what to write about on my blog since we are stationary right now. And I don't want to bore people but I think some of you like to know what we are doing. So here is an update of what we have been doing the first 17 days of April 2011...

...Ron was sick for 4 1/2 days. He got the crud that I had had in March. He spent 3 1/2 days either in the bed or sleeping on the couch, drinking lots of liquids, taking Nyquil, Dayquil, hot water with lemon and local honey. I knew he was feeling better when he started complaining about what I was watching on TV :).

...We have gone on a few day trips. We drove around for about 3 hours the other day and never was more than 20 miles from the SKP park.    We went on paved roads, gravel roads and dirt roads. Saw a house out in the middle of what we thought was nowhere and then drove right through the middle of one ranch just from following the turns in the road. We saw some beautiful flowers (pictures to follow later) and even a yellow butterfly (no picture). Saw a brand new baby calf, estimate it was just a few hours old. She was just the sweetest honey brown color. We saw lots of deer. Even one fawn that just stood by the fence for the longest time. She was beautiful.

...And we have eaten out way too many times. Ron has wanted BBQ since we have been here and yesterday he got his wish. We ate at Heavy's BBQ in Hondo. I had a beef sandwich with beans and coleslaw and Ron had a 3 meat plate with brisket, ribs and sausage with beans and coleslaw. Ron shared his beans and slaw with me as they are not his favorite things to eat. Today the Lion's Club was having a chicken dinner fundraiser. for $7 you got a bbq'd half chicken with beans and slaw. We can honestly say this was a first for us. The fundraiser was at Hondo City Park #1. You drove in one gate, drove up to the table, ordered the number of meals you wanted, paid the server (in our case a young girl of about 10) and she brought us two to-go dinners and we drove out of the park. And then we drove home and ate. The food was great and it put a new name on drive through diner. Ron ate his chicken about half of my chicken and I ate his beans and slaw along with my beans and slaw.

And how many different ways can you make coleslaw...I think I have had it four or five different ways since we have been here in Texas. From creamy to some with like an oil/vinegar dressing, one with lots of pepper and one with lots of carrot strips. All have been tasty, even the one with lots of pepper.

...We have been participating in some of the activities here in the park. I have played Bingo a couple of times, haven't won but have had fun. We have gone to the ice cream socials a few times and yesterday I went to a yard sale here in the Park...I sure miss going garage saleing...Ron sees no need to do that since we don't have room for anything. But I think it's still a lot of fun to go and look.

...Today we attended First Baptist Church in Hondo again. We went to Sunday School and felt very welcome. In fact, one of the men, Alan, shook Ron's hand and then told me he won't give me a handshake anymore...now it's hugs...made me feel like I was home. The service was good, such great singing and praise time. And the message was good - from Luke 23:32-33; it was on decision's we make. One thing that Pastor Dennis said really struck home with me "even if we don't make a decision we are making a decision, it is just not a yes or no decision."

I was hoping they would have a Good Friday service but they are not. I always enjoyed the Good Friday service at Northwood and sharing in communion. I will check the paper this week to see if there is a Good Friday service we can attend.

...We are so enjoying our jobs. This last week Ron hired a helper for the summer. Mario is 18 years old and just lives down the road from the park. He is working on Tuesdays, Wednesday's and Thursday's. He seems like a hard worker which is good. I have been going through the Office Procedure book updating directions and making them easy to follow. As well as making any changes that have been instituted since they were written.    Two weeks ago we did rearrange the office. Yes I enjoyed moving and rearranging things and Ron was such a willing helper. I will take some pictures of the changes and get them posted soon.

Prayer request ~~~

Last week I had my eyes checked for new glasses and found out that I have a double cataract on my right eye. This was troubling since I only have one eye and to think I need to have surgery on it is very scary. I talked with my doctor from Bellingham last week and he said I need to get it taken care of sooner than later. So I have talked to a couple of people and gotten a couple of names of doctors in the area. I will be calling them this week to talk about what I need and then make an appointment and go from there. Please pray that my anxiety will not climb during this proc.ess and that things can be taken care of quickly and correctly and that the financial aspect of it can be worked out. Since we don't have insurance the financial piece alone causes extra stress.

Guess that's all from here in D'Hanis, TX.   If anyone has any questions about what we are doing or you have suggestions on things we should make sure we see while here please don't hesitate to drop us a line.

Me from A to Z

2011-04-09T14:15:00.000-05:00

I, Alice, saw this meme on FabGrandma and decided I wanted to play along.

More About Me, Alice, A to Z!

A. Age: 53

B. Bed size: Queen. We removed the little foam pad that was in the RV and put our regular queen mattress and a temperpedic topper on our bed.

C. Chore you dislike: cleaning the bathroom

D. Dogs: used to have one and we miss Charlie Brown. Tried to talk Ron into getting another one a couple of weeks ago but he said no. :(

E. Essential start to your day: Quiet time with the Lord

F. Favorite color: Purple

G. Gold or silver: Either or

H. Height: 5′7"

I. Instruments you play(ed): clarinet

J. Job title: Office Manager, but the best title is Wife, Mom & Grammy

K. Kids: Jamie 33, Suzanne 27, Opal 3, Brandon 31, Danalyn 28, Max 12, Christopher 3, and Treyson due on 5/27

L. Live: In a 37' class A motorhome, currently in D'Hanis, TX.

M. Mom’s name: Margaret Jean, went by Peggy

N. Nicknames: Ali, Sweetheart, Grammy

O. Overnight hospital stays: several: 9 eye surgeries, appendectomy, gallbladder, total hysterectomy, 4x for emotional issues ~ glad to say I am now truly healed from the emotional and physical abuse from my childhood. If you have questions I am happy to share.

P. Pet peeves: people who don't use their signals when turning, people chewing gum with their mouths open and smacking while eating

Q. Quote from a movie: ummm...can't think of any that come to mind
R. Righty or Lefty: Righty.

S. Siblings: 2 biological sisters and many siblings in the Lord, 2 besties ~ one on the east coast and one on the west coast

T. Time you wake up: On work days 6 to 7 a.m., days off - sleep in when I can

U. Underwear: Definitely!!!

V. Vegetables you don’t like: Haven't really found any I don't like

W. What makes you run late:I try not to be late.

X. X-rays you’ve had: too many to count.

Y. Yummy food you make:Chicken Gumbo, Butta Soup & spaghetti

Z. Zoo Animal Favorites: Elephants and monkeys...love all the babies.

Hope you liked hearing more about me. Feel free to copy and input your own answers.

Touring the Hill Country in Texas

2011-03-30T21:03:00.000-05:00

We had such a great time on Monday. Took a drive for about 4 hours. The weather was beautiful, the scenery gorgeous and saw some interesting activities. Hope you enjoy our drive through the Hill Country of Texas.

The sign on the front says "Waiting Station" -it is on the outskirts of Uvalde.

Made Ron drive around the block twice so I could get this picture...it is a May pole with different tea kettles. Bet it looks good full of flowers.

John Nance Garner, Vice-president with President FDR. He is buried in his home town of Uvalde. One thing we found interesting, he died when he was 99 and his son died 11 months after him. Garner's wife pre-deceased him by almost 25 years.

One of many beautiful homes we saw on our drive.

This one was built with different rockery. To the right and in back there is a tree house just like it.

St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Uvalde.

Another view of the church. The stained glass windows were gorgeous.

And they like their trees in Uvalde. This one was in the middle of the road!

A close up of the tree in the road.

One of many beautiful gated entrances on our drive.

A group of buzzards/vultures. They are huge!!!

Saw a small herd of dear in someone's yard.

Thought this was a great sign. We decided we didn't want to go up their drive.

Another beautiful entry way.

This bull was right by the road next to this sign (a close up is below). He stood perfectly still

One of many crosses we saw along our ride. Many of them have bouquets of flowers placed by them.

Another gated entrance.

Don't know if you can see the horse/mule on the post.

These mules were behind the fence of the above entrance. They cane right up to the gate. I thought of trying to pet one but changed my mind when I saw their teeth...big and lots of them.

Another beautiful cow.

One of the large homes behind those gated entrances.

We cracked up when we saw this sign on a back road. We never thought of renting our pigs out...we just sold them.

A big eagle...the first one we have seen in a long time.

Look at those horns....maybe we should get a set and put them on the front of the motor home. What do you think?

Another beautiful long horn.

A sign at the end of a private road. We have seen many beautiful signs by gated entrances.

A garden scene by a driveway entrance...there was another one just like it on the other side of the drive way.

I thought these were bluebonnets but Ron said no, because they were purple. Not sure what they are but I wouldn't mind having these growing in my yard ... that is if I had one.

Hope you enjoyed are drive today.

Wild Hog Festival - Sabinal, TX ~~ 3/27/2011

2011-03-30T20:26:00.000-05:00

Isn't this guy just the cutest!!!

What a fun time we had in Sabinal, TX for the Wild Hog Festival. Had deep fried mushrooms and a BBQ pork sandwich. And shared sweet tea and lemonade.

The mushrooms tasted great but were pretty pricey.

Ron showing off his new hat....pretty dashing I say.

Just lovin these wild hogs.

Sat next to a family that had four members of their group participating in the Catch a Wild Hog contests. The contestants (two to a team) have to corner, catch and put the hog into a burlap bag and then drag it across the line. Hope you enjoy the pictures.

Aren't these babies cute?

And this one was our favorite!!!

All the little kids who grabbed or touched a wild baby hog.

Another view of the kids who were busy trying to catch a wild baby hog.

And this is Jacob showing off his blue ribbon!

These two boys won their division.

A mom and her son-in-law trying to get that darn hog into the burlap bag.

And this is Cassidy & Alexa...they won 2nd place in their division.