Sunday, January 31, 2010

What A Week

On Monday, a friend of Dawn’s died suddenly. Dawn started feeling bad on Sunday and now it seems she is coming down with a cold. She has slept or attempted to sleep in the recliner most of the week due to the abundance of sinus drainage. She said she felt like she was drowning whenever she tried to lay down in bed. I did something to my back. It only hurt when I bent over or set down! I have been coming home every day and going straight to bed.

On Wednesday, Dawn was feeling worse but needed to pick up two friends at two different airports. She was gone most of the day. I stayed home from work because my back was hurting so bad that the only way I could get relief is to lie down. Later in the day I decide to have a BLT and while I was cooking the bacon the hot grease popped and burned my figure. I’m not talking about a tiny spot, Nope, I do things right! It burned a spot on my middle finger from one knuckle to the other.

On Thursday, Dawn decided she might need to see the doctor. She received a couple of prescriptions and was told she had an infection and bronchitis. Then, one of my four legged coworkers died. He was about sixteen or so and was loved by everyone that met him. We will sure miss you, Trouble.

On Friday, It is very cold and rainy out. Dawn seems to be feeling better so she is out and about running errands. I am back at the office and my back is feeling much better.

On Saturday, The weather is cold and wet. Dawn is not feeling so well. She thinks she might have over done it on Friday. We stay at home and get caught up on the laundry and house cleaning.

On Sunday, The rain has finally moved on. It is still cold out and we stay indoors. Dawn is still feeling under the weather. I made a trip to the local half price book store. Seems everyone had the same idea. I didn’t find any RV books or atlas.

Thankfully, a week is only seven days long!

Monday, January 25, 2010

Busy Weekend

We were busy this weekend. Dawn drove a friend to the airport, fed another friends cat, and went to the grocery store. I did some laundry, washed the car and truck and did some other things around the house. We were productive but it seems like we didn't get anything done.

Dawn had lunch last week with a friend that has shown interest in renting the house. He is interested and has a current lease that isn’t up for renewal until December. Maybe we can wait until December! We will do whatever it takes. Dawn said after their lunch it hit her that we are really going to do this! She said she suddenly got very excited and her mind was racing, she was thinking about all the places we would visit and the things we would see.

We still have so much to do maybe; December is a better deadline for us. We just have to roll with the flow.

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

New Blog Name Again

Yes, We have changed our blog name again and we hope this will be the last time!

Monday, January 18, 2010

Planning Ahead

Texas weather is something else. Here it is early January and the temperature was 60. I took full advantage of the warm weather and pulled out the fifth wheel. We have bought a new rug for the living room. I am soooo ready to hit the road.

We still have a lot to do around here before we can leave. Mom has one more chemo treatment next month and then she will have to undergo radiation. We still have a lot of stuff to do away with. I know that “good things come to those who wait”.

The forecast is calling for another good weather weekend and we plan on taking full advantage of it. The truth of the matter is we are planning on having garage sales whenever the weather allows. I know you are wondering why we just don’t call Goodwill to pick this stuff up. Well, first of all they would have to send more than one truck over to get all of it. Second, of all we are trying to make extra cash for any extra expenses for our journey. There are a few things we would like to mark off our list of things we need before we go. We need a small generator, RV tailgate and slide-out awnings to name a few. It would be great to get those things without it really costing us.

We really don’t have that much time left to get everything done so we are planning on being very busy for the next eight months.

Thursday, January 14, 2010

Date Set!

The date is set! We have set our “hitting the road” date for September 23rd, first day of fall. We still have a lot to do but I know we can get it done! We have to plow forward full steam ahead or else we will never get started. I am so stoked!


We have spent the last few evenings going through kitchen cabinets and ridding ourselves of any and all of the excess we have. We laugh about all the pots, pans and bake ware we have. We only have one oven!

Much of the excess is from having a catering business and needing nine cookie sheets, ten pie pans, four 9x13 baking dishes and a ton of cake pans. We have nearly restocked the garage sale shelves to maximum capacity.

We need a warm Saturday so that we can reopen the garage sale. It really feels good to rid yourself of all the excess stuff. Dawn has a more difficult time with it because of her motto; “Better to have it and Not need it, then to Need it and Not have it”!

We are from two very different spectrums, I would rather have just the bare essentials and she, she has her motto! It has been hard for her but she is getting rid of stuff and I am very proud of her.

Sunday, January 10, 2010

What a Weekend

Our crazy weekend started on Thursday night. The weather is crazy. It is extremely cold (for Texas and the wind is blowing like there is no tomorrow. We were all geared up for one of those let's just relax and be lazy weekends but that didn't happen! First of all my son was asked to drive a monster truck in San Angelo, TX for a Friday and Saturday show. The owner of the truck was snowed in in Iowa. Vance needed to catch a plane out of DFW Airport to San Angelo. We picked him up from work at four on Thursday and drove him to DFW Airport. I don't like rush hour traffic. I haven't lived in Dallas in a very long time and the traffic is terrible at any hour. We dropped him off at the airport about six. He was plenty early, we didn't know which gate was his because he forgot to check when he bought his e-ticket. Back on the interstate with the rush hour traffic we go. Traffic was still terrible. The phone rang, Vance called to say his gate was a good stroll from where we dropped him off, but no problem he had plenty of time.


We were half way home when the phone rang. Vance calling to find out if we were anywhere near the airport, his debit card was not working and he didn't have any cash on him. No way we could make it, we were half way home and his plane would be leaving by the time we got back to the airport. We were nearly home when the check engine light comes on. What? The car isn't making any kind of strange noise and it seems to be running fine. We pull into a parking lot and I am reminded about the last time I saw this kind of light. I owned a jeep, Apex and the check engine light came on because the gas cap was not on tight. I tightened the cap and the light went off. O.K, Dawn gets out and checks the cap. It was loose, so she tightened it up. I cranked the car and the light came back on. We talked about it and decided to head back home and hope for the best. We made it home just fine.

We got home, I took a bath put on my PJ's and got all comfy in the recliner when the phone rang. Vance calling to say his flight was delayed due to mechanical difficulties. He really doesn’t care that much about flying and this mechanical thing is not helping.

We settled in to watch TV and the phone rang. Vance calling to say the flight might be canceled. It is almost ten o'clock on a Thursday night and he said I might need to return to the airport to pick him up! I told him to call me if the flight does get canceled. Thirty minutes later the phone rings. Vance calling to say the flight has been canceled and rescheduled for seven-forty-five AM. Did I mention I hate driving in Dallas rush hour traffic?

I told him to talk to the gate attendant and explain to them he had been dropped off there several hours earlier and would need a hotel and meal voucher. I told him to call me after he had the details worked out. A few minutes later the phone rings. Vance calling to say he would be staying at a hotel near the airport. He gave me the address and I told him I would bring his new debit card.

We got dressed and this time we drove the truck since we had the check engine light problem earlier. The wind chill out is in the single digits now and the wind is blowing forty plus miles per hour. We didn't have the rush hour traffic at this hour. We drove to the area where Vance was staying and stopped at a fast food place to grab him a burger. Meanwhile, Dawn is talking with him on the phone trying to pinpoint the location of his hotel. We made a wrong turn out of the fast food place and had to turn around. I then saw the sign for the hotel and realized we were on the wrong side of the interstate. I pulled into a parking lot and turn around. By this time Vance has put the hotel desk clerk on the phone to give us better directions. I pulled out on the service road and drove a short distances when we noticed a car coming at us head on. Dawn is yelling we are on a one way street and for me to turn around, just as the driver of the car coming head on starts to flash his headlights. I stopped the truck and the man in the car pulls up beside us and is screaming and cussing at the top of his lungs. He is screaming that we are on a one way street and we needed to get our drunk asses off the road! Drunk! We got the truck turned around and made it to the hotel. Vance met us in the parking lot. We handed him his dinner, debit card and told him bye.

We got back on the interstate headed home. We encountered some real drunks that couldn't keep their cars in one lane of traffic and a guy driving with no lights on. We just want to go home and get into our warm PJ and go to bed. We had to make one more stop to get diesel for the truck before we called it a night. We pulled into the gas station and I noticed the speedometer read sixty miles per hour. That’s right! The speedometer is broken. I am not even going to say it. We just want to get home. We finally got into bed about a little after midnight.

Sunday, January 3, 2010

Great Deals

We took full advantage of this long New Year’s weekend. We cleaned out cabinets in the pantry and started going through the kitchen cabinets. Dawn has 5 sets of china; she inherited four of them from her mother. Her mother loved to entertain. When she bought china, she bought a setting for twenty with all the serving bowls and platters to match. With that said, you can just imagine the amount of dishes that have been boxed up for many years. We made the decision to sale Dawn's china in the garage sale. We will use the largest set of china for our everyday use. That is a big step forward.










My son said he knew where we could get an interior pet barrier for next to nothing. He found one at a local thrift store for $10.00. He said it was practically new. We had been looking for one but they were pretty expensive. They are priced from $65.00 to $80.00. We went by the theft store to see if they still had the barrier. It was exactly what we had been looking for and it only cost us $10.00. It looks new and works great in our chev crew cab truck. It is light weight and very easy to install. It is a Kennel Aire, wire pet barrier. This will keep our little four legged kids safe while we are on the road. What a great deal.

While shopping at a local Target store this weekend we ran across a biker trailer stroller. It is normally priced at $158.00 but was on clearance for 58.99. It is made to hook on the back of a bicycle for children to ride in. It comes with a stroller handle and folds up almost flat. We decided to buy it to use as a stroller for our three small dogs. What a great deal!

















I love to find good deals!

Friday, January 1, 2010

A New Year

2010! The significant to this New Year means that we are that much closer to our upcoming life style change. We are now just months away from making the plunge to becoming fulltime RVers. We are hoping to get everything done in time to head out on our new journey as of September 2010.

We had a lot of road blocks in 2009. It was a very hectic year for us. First the economy was so bad. The cost of fuel is ridiculous. We discovered Mom had breast cancer, and along with that came a couple of surgeries, chemo treatments and many doctors’ visits and test. My 28 year old unemployed son moved in with us. We closed our catering business.

We realize that everything happens for a reason. We don't know the reason and we don't question it. We have learned to roll with the flow. We have had to deal with a few road blocks. Maybe someone higher up thought we were moving a little faster then we needed to!

But as they say, Good Things Come To Those Who Wait.

The economy is improving. The cost of fuel is still ridiculous but my son has a job now and is planning to attend motorcycle mechanics school in Arizona in April.

Mom only has two more chemo treatments to go and things are looking better for her. We have sold most of our catering supplies and have time for many more garage sales.

We know it will all fall into place when the time is right!