Friday, July 30, 2010

Getting Back on Track

It is time for us to get back on track with the boxing up and throwing away STUFF. We don't have anything on the calendar for the next few weeks. This gives us plenty of time to get back to sorting and packing. We need to get our butt's in gear!

First, I am going to start by going through the remaining closets and get those cleaned out. Can you believe we have six large closets in our house? They are for the most part stuffed to the brim. We have one closet that has shelves full of old records, books and sorted other junk. I will tackle it first. We have some furniture we have to move and then I am going to paint the interior of the house, a neutral color. We need the walls to be a lighter more neutral color. You noticed I said "I was going to paint." There is a very good reason for me doing the painting. Dawn tends to get more on herself than on the walls. I love painting and she hates it. I think maybe it is best that I tackle that job alone.













We need to have a few more garage sale before I can tackle the big garage. This is our RV garage and it is full of STUFF to. We have skimmed through it a few time and placed things in the garage sale garage but, as soon as this weather cools off a bit We are going to clear it out! Yes, We are going to remove everything. If it doesn't fit in the storage room, we get rid of it.  Boy, that is so much easier said than done! We still have a lot of work ahead of us but we have made some progress. Every little bit of progress means we are that much closer to hitting the road. Yahoo!

Thursday, July 29, 2010

Yep, It's an Old Goat

I saw this on my way to the office this morning. I stopped my truck and thought about it for a second and then backed up. Yep, That is what I thought I saw. I wasn't sure if I should offer assistance or just go on my way.

I know the when  a car is on the side of the road with the hood raised that generally means mechanical difficulties. If a car is on the side of the road with the trunk open it is generally a sign of a flat tire. But when I noticed this car with an old goat laying across the trunk, I wasn't sure what to think!


I do know one thing, He sure has a more expensive car than I do!

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Future Workampers

I don't mind working. I have had many different jobs since I was fifteen years old. I started my job with the City when I was twenty-five and that is why I was able to retire with twenty years of service at age forty-five. I've worn many hats as far as jobs are concerned over the years. I have been a nanny, cashier, concession manager, file clerk, mail sorter, answering service operator, school bus driver, water meter reader, dispatcher, receptionist, permit clerk, B&B owner and operator, planning coordinator and caterer.  I am currently manage the office for a friend who owns a plumbing company.

Dawn too has a lot of work experiences since college (degree in recreational management). She has been a cashier, teaching assistant, water meter reader, recreation manager, pool manager, B&B owner and operator, caterer and served on city council. 

We look forward to working in different surroundings and doing different things while meeting new people. Our plans for full timing will also include some workamping and we look forward to the opportunities.  

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Resting Up

We are taking a much needed rest this week. We worked ourselves into the ground last week preparing for the bridal shower. We had to make everything look so nice. The yard work in this heat alone is enough to nearly kill a person. We set dishes from the shower aside to be washed on Monday and went to bed early Sunday night. We normally wouldn't do that but we were so tired, neither of us had the energy to wash dishes. On Monday I went to work and Dawn did her best to get dishes washed and things back in their place. We went to bed early Monday night too. Here it is Tuesday and we are both starting to feel a little more rested but plan to turn in early tonight too.

We both love the house we live in and will miss it when we sell it, but the truth of the matter is that we are getting older and it is too much work keeping up a twenty-four-hundred square foot house and two acres. The Texas summers can be horrible and neither of us care for the heat. We are so ready to live in our little cottage on wheels and let someone else do the lawn!

Monday, July 26, 2010

Bridal Shower Done

We spent all week preparing for my nieces wedding shower. We had to mow and weed eat two acres, Put away boxes, clean house, grocery shop and prepare food. We had it all done by Sunday afternoon just in time for the bridal shower. We were expecting about forty and ended up with about half that many. Needless to say we had plenty of food left.

Lots of desserts too!

This bridal shower was a gift card shower. The kids have been living together for a while and they both work full time and she is also a full time student working on her masters degree. We thought we would ask that gift cards be given in place of the traditional wrapped gifts. They are so busy and it is hard for them to find time set up a gift registry.  We just thought this would be easier for them and their guest. This is the second gift card shower we have done and everyone loves the convenience of it. My niece and her fiance loved the idea and were very appreciative of all the gift cards and the shower.

Now we look forward to the wedding next month.  

Friday, July 23, 2010

Patriot Guard

I was very moved last week when I witnessed a group called the Patriot Guards gathered at a local funeral home for services of a local boy that was only twenty years old. He was a combat medic in the 82nd Airborne. If you are not familiar with the Patriot Guard this is what I have learned, they are a diverse group of motorcycle riding volunteers around the nation that attend funeral services of fallen heroes. They gather together to become human shields for the families of fallen heroes from interruptions that are sometimes created by protesters. This is a very dedicated group of people.

It was a real heartwarming thing to witness but it was also upsetting as well. What is this world coming to? Why on havens green earth would we need to have all these people standing around this funeral home in the one hundred degree weather standing guard? I suddenly became ill.

The reason I became so upset, was seeing all these dedicated patriotic American people standing in the hundred degree heat in order to protect the grieving families of fallen heroes. The reason for the protection is due to a group from a church in Kansas. The members of that church have been known to protest at funerals of fallen heroes. They protest with signs and yell chants at cars during the funeral procession. They believe all soldiers are bad lazy people. I won’t get into all of that. They are radicals.

I am proud to be an American and I am proud that being American affords us the freedom of speech. It is because of all the men and women that fight and have fought for this country that we have these freedoms. However, I don’t believe it is respectful to protest anyone’s funeral regardless of your religious beliefs. Furthermore, my opinion in the matters is, if you feel that this nation is going to hell, there are many other places you could choose to live.

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Preparing for Bridal Shower

We took some time off and went out of town last weekend to visit with some of Dawn's old college friends. It has been more than twenty years since she last visited with some of these friends. We spent the weekend together in a rented house in the woods. We had a great time visiting, eating and playing cards. We had a really great time and plan on making it an annual thing. It sure was a lot of fun.

This week we have been busy getting things ready for my nieces wedding shower that we are hosting at our house. We are so happy to host this bridal shower for my niece. She is such a great kid and we just love her fiance. It isn't going to be a very big shower. The guest list contains about forty people. We can handle that.
Hosting this shower at our house means we have been busy putting away all the boxes and bags of shredded paper and digging out punch bowl, cups and plates. It helps that we had our boxes labeled!

It feels strange that we have gone two weeks without packing up STUFF. We haven't had a garage sale in over a month. We will be getting back on track as soon as the bridal shower is over. My mom stayed at our house last weekend while we were gone and she told us that our house was starting to look naked. It looks naked because we have have boxed up and or sold STUFF. It does look a little naked but we have a long way to go.

I am sure looking forward to some cool fall weather, I always feel more productive in the fall. I will be able to get so much more done when the temperature cool down. I don't do well with the heat. Texas heat always comes with humidity.

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Fellow RVing Blogs

We love reading our fellow RVers blogs. Blogs written by people living the Fulltime RVing lifestyle or those like us that are in the process of beginning the lifestyle. Each and everyday we read the blogs on our blog list. We discuss the new blog postings of the day. We feel as if we know the blog owners personally. We read about their adventures and mishaps. We discuss the places our blog friends are staying and the sight they are seeing. We look at the pictures posted and imagine ourselves there. We are looking forward to the day we are out there writing our own post and posting our pictures of the great sights we are enjoying.

We have learned a lot from our follow RVing blog friends. We have learned about the trails and tribulations of the RVing lifestyle. We have learned about technical and mechanical issues, about the good, bad and the ugly of workamping, about places to visit and places to avoid.

We have followed as our fellow RVing blog friends travel, visits with friends and family, have surgeries, suffer loses, experience technical and mechanical difficulties, celebrate births, severe weather, birthdays, weddings and graduations.

We have been touched by the kindness of our fellow RVers. We have been touched by the willingness to give helpful advise, to share a kind word and to cheer us on.

We are thrilled to have so many great fellow RVing blog friends.

Monday, July 12, 2010

UPDATE; Solo RVer Located

Great News! Doris Westoby has been located safe and sound in Washington. Thank you all for your prayers and for your concern.

Thank Goodness

Missing Solo RVer

This notice was posted by RVing Women last week.


URGENT NOTICE!
One of our members, Doris Westoby, hasn't been heard from since July 5th. Her RV broke down near Walla Walla, WA, while she was driving from Montana to Oregon. Her family is very concerned. Please contact the RVW office with any information. Thank you.

She called several friends on July 5th and told them she was on reservation land in Yakima... was waiting for parts to fix rig. still, that is the last time anyone heard from her. Her family has contacted city, state, reservations, and all police depts.

Her rig is a 1999 Class B, blue and beige with the ocean painted on both sides. plate says SEBREZ

Strange Week

Last week was one of the strangest week I believe I have ever lived through!!! I really don't know where to begin. I have a cousin that was in town from Grand Junction, Colorado, a friend in from Tennessee, a friend in from Seattle, WA and another friend in from Canada. We had dinner with our friend in from Canada on Tuesday night. On Friday Dawn had lunch with our friend from Seattle and on Sunday we had lunch with my cousin from Colorado. Unfortunately we didn't get to see our friend from Tennessee.

Mom has been experiencing some tingling and pain in her arm. She called the doctor. They got her in on friday. They have scheduled an MRI for next week.

I got a call that my cousin in Longview, TX gave birth to a premature baby. She didn't know she was pregnant. That's right! She didn't realize she was pregnant until she was went to the hospital with serve pain and the doctor told her she was in labor. Boy, how weird is that? I have seen that kind of stuff on television! She was at work when her contractions started and didn't know what was wrong. Luckily she works across the street from a hospital. They estimate that she was at twenty-eight weeks. She had a baby boy. He weighed in at 2 lbs. 15 oz. He has been taken off of the oxygen and is breathing great on his own. He is being fed through a tube and is putting on the weight. Both are fine.

On Tuesday I got a call that my only living uncle has been diagnosed with lung and bone cancer.

On Saturday night my son was racing go-carts and was hit from the rear and had to go to the emergency room. We went to the hospital. It was around 4:30 A.M. when we arrived and 8 A.M. when we left. Luckily he doesn't have any broken bones just a bruised back.

Thursday, July 8, 2010

Moving Forward

We have a busy month ahead of us. We need to have a couple of more garage sales to get rid of the new STUFF we have uncovered. We have a college reunion of sorts for a weekend with some of Dawn's old college friends. The following weekend we are hosting a bridal shower for my niece. We also have a lot of yard work to be done around the house.

I started on the yard work yesterday afternoon. The weather was a bit cooler so I took full advantage of it. About five years ago we gutted the house and had the brick removed for a full remodel. We also added  new planting beds with complete landscaping done around the house. We didn't realize how over planted the beds were at the time. Landscaper will do that! We would have to hire a landscaper to tend the beds every month in order to keep them looking their best. Instead we are thinning out the beds. I have removed a couple of the beds and transplanted some of the shrubs. It is looking better but it is going to take some time. I don't work very fast because I am always on the lookout for snakes!

We were planning on putting the house on the market this fall but we may need to change our plans to spring. I can get a lot more done in the fall and spring. I am a bit of a sissy when it comes to working out in the heat. This could be because I am a middle aged woman that suffers from my own heat waves and the outdoor heat doesn't help matters!

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

What a Week

What a week! Dawn left on Sunday June 27th to assist her sister at the Baylor Hospital of Dallas Transplant Center. Her sister is being evaluated so that she can be placed on a liver transplant list. They stayed all week at Twice Blessed House. It is an apartment complex provided for transplant patients that live more than fifty miles from the transplant center. They checked in on Sunday and was given their schedule for the week. They had at least three appointments per day. They had to meet with dietitians, social workers, councilors, radiologist, cardiologist, transplant doctors and nurses. Dawn's sister had to have blood work, MRI, CT scan, mammogram and a few other test. It was a busy week for them and it was very over whelming. They didn't finish up until friday afternoon.

Dawn was exhausted when she got home. Not only did they have to run all over Baylor Hospital to make one appointment after another during the day but their apartment was located right across the street from a busy fire station and the air ambulance landing site. They didn't get a lot of sleep while they were there.

When Dawn got home we unloaded the car and went to the grocery store. We ran through the store, went home put away the groceries, changed clothes and went to the funeral home. (my great aunt died on Wednesday).

We got up on saturday morning and went to the funeral, came home loaded the car with food and went to visit friends in from Canada, Michigan and Illinois. We had a nice lunch and a great visit and then went home.

Sunday I mowed most of the yard, trimmed a dog and made homemade ice cream. Dawn did laundry, finished unpacking and spent time with her four legged kids who had really missed her. Sunday evening I took a car load of young cousins to watch fire works.

Monday Dawn finished up the mowing in the morning and we spent the afternoon relaxing finally!