Catching Up After Two Busy Weeks - Monday, Sept 27- Saturday, Oct 9, 2027
It has been a busy two weeks. It seems like each time we get a packet of mail from our mailbox in Texas, I end up spending a day or two dealing with whatever shows up. One of the biggest things for us this year, is I transition from my health insurance to Medicare. That has been a time consuming ordeal, especially setting up accounts with all the various groups. We had to make a few changes that required phone calls and the like. It just takes some time... as most of you know and understand.
I had a long list of phone calls to make for a number of personal things. Can you ever make a phone call that doesn't lead to waiting for a response, a return call, etc? It seems to happen more often than not, but we did get almost everything resolved that was on my list before we left Oswego and headed back to Wichita the following weekend (Sept 30, Oct 1-2) to watch some more sports events.
A day or two before we left for Wichita, I mentioned to Dean that the drawer I keep much of my kitchen utensils in was a mess. I wondered if he could add a few boards that would allow me to separate some of the items into specific areas. Look what he did for me:
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| He added three panels allowing me to group like items. It has been much easier to find things with this simple change! I love it! |
Thursday morning, September 30 we left Oswego. About an hour into our drive we ran into rain, and then quite a downpour for 5-10 minutes. At least both the truck and Bentley had a shower to clear much of the dust that has accumulated over the past several weeks. It has been pretty dry since we returned from our trip out west at the end of August.
Once the rain quit, I was able to get some nice pictures in the Flint Hills:We are staying at Air Capital RV Park again, as All Seasons was again full this weekend. We will have to make our reservations much earlier in the future if we want to be a little closer to the boys and their families; and save a little money.
Tonight we are going to watch grandson Abram play for the Goddard, KS 8th grade football team against Derby. Goddard won.
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| Abram - #74 about in the middle with the black shoes on. He plays tackle so it was impossible for me to get a good picture in action. |
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| So, I guess there is a tradition, that if Goddard wins, they walk under this "tower" to ring the bell. Unfortunately, the rope was wrapped up around the top, so they just walked through it tonight. |
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| A close up of Abram as he joins up with his dad to head home. |
Dean and I returned to the RV Park, after stopping for a dish of ice cream at Braum's, which happens to be right across the street from where we are staying. What a coincidence?
Friday, October 1, 2021
I spent most of the morning doing laundry before we headed over to Jarred's after Emerson got out of school. Papa and Emerson enjoyed a little soccer game between them on the front lawn.
Jarred left to pick up Hayden at daycare while we hung out with Emerson. Hayden is always happy to see her sister.
Later, after Andrea returned from work, we went to dinner with Jarred and family at Jason's Deli. We had a nice visit over a good meal, before returning to Bentley.
Saturday, October 2, 2020
We headed to Heath's house this morning to visit with him and his family for an hour or so before we headed to the northeast part of Wichita to watch Emerson play soccer. I forgot to take any pictures but we had a nice time catching up with them. It's hard to believe their oldest son, Abram is taking driving lessons. Roman plays soccer and Gideon does cross country. I failed to get any pictures, but it was nice to just sit and visit with everyone.
What a beautiful day it was! Emerson was full of energy and she loves her sports. She definitely follows in her daddy's footsteps.
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| Emerson is #7 on the right in front of #2 |
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| Here, she is on the left side, just left of the referee. |
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| On the far left this time with the ball in front of her. |
Hayden was enjoying watching her big sister play soccer.  |
| Clapping for sister! |
After the game, Dean and I stopped at Red Robin for lunch. The food was delicious. From there we drove to Jarred's. Hayden was down for a nap, and Emerson enjoyed showing me some of her gymnastic moves.
Emerson enjoyed making this little video for me!
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| Do you think this household likes the Chiefs? |
Jarred was working at the church this evening and Andrea was going to a friend's house. They asked if we'd want to watch the girls. We agreed if we could take them to the RV as I still had another load of laundry to do. We loaded up and headed back to Bentley. |
Hayden acting like a scooting worm, as she moved from the bottom to the top of my yoga mat.
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Jarred stayed for a little while to visit, before they headed home. It was good to see them all this weekend.
Sunday, October 3
We were up early this morning and after our morning shake, we started packing up to head home. It was a nice drive and we were back in Oswego shortly before 1. We were soon set up and we spent most of the day just being lazy. After two weekends in a row, these two grandparents were ready for a day of rest.
Monday, October 4
We have both been wanting to get back to our daily walks, and finally it has cooled enough, so today was a great day to begin. What a beautiful morning in Oswego's Historical Riverside Park as we made our two mile walk. It was good to see friends Jamie and Marlys; my former co-worker and dear friend Carol, and Chris making use of the park this morning. Carol joined us and she kept us moving this morning!! Many people walk here from early morning into the evenings, especially when the weather is as wonderful as it is right now.
This week is the start of my fall clean-out of Bentley. It's amazing how things can accumulate a in an RV. We also need to be thinking about changing out some of our summer clothes to add winter clothing. As the evenings get cooler, we'll need sweatshirts and jackets, along with a light throw for sitting around campfires.
I was also on a quest to find room for my steamer and ricer. I have missed them so much, and decided they needed to come live with us again. It's amazing how you bring different things and they continue to sit in the same place, rarely being used. Today that changed and I've already made quite a pile. Dean is going to bring a tub from the garage for me to pack them in.
Another thing I try to do in the spring/fall is go through all the cupboards and clean them out. I like organization and over a period of time things can get cluttered, so every cabinet, drawer and closet will get a good cleaning.
We are in the process of having house plans prepared to build on our lot. This morning we received a call that we could meet on Wednesday afternoon to go over them. We are excited to see them.
Tuesday, October 5
After enjoying our morning coffee, we headed to the park for our morning walk. It was really foggy this morning. As we headed into the park, I asked Dean do you see that girl...I was afraid he was a little close. He slowed and moved to the left, then I realized it was MY girl, Misti, on her last lap of her early morning walk.
I continued my cleaning project this morning, going through cabinets in the kitchen area, and laundry. How can two people go through so many clothes? Actually, if Dean is working at the garage, whether its inside or outside, he can get pretty dirty - especially with all of the cleaning he's done on the building next door, or a project in the garage.
Dean had an appointment with his hearing aid consultant this afternoon. As we were leaving shortly after 2, Marc called and wanted to know if we could pick up Jaxson at school. He has lumber delivered to his shop every week or so. They had just arrived and he wasn't sure he could finish up there before he needed to leave. Since I couldn't do it, I told him I'd check with my sister Cindy, as she has offered to do this if he needed someone to pick Jaxson when we are gone, and of course she said she would. (I found out later, than he finished just in time to get him. He caught Cindy just as she was leaving her house).
We arrived at the Hearing Aid location and immediately visited with the consultant there. Dean was ready to argue, but today (after 9 months of being unhappy), they immediately agreed to try him on a different hearing aid since it is within the first year, if he's happy with it, they will trade it out. They reset his old hearing aid again and it worked great the rest of the day and into the evening. By the next afternoon it reverted to the same problems he has had from the beginning. We will be going back next week to get the new type they believe will work better for him. I certainly hope that is the case.
On our way home, a road was closed so we took a different road through Weir, KS. It's been years since I've been through there. I took these pictures:
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| I love these old gas stations that have been maintained. |
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| I love this water tower |
After we returned home we had a quick dinner and relaxed for the remainder of the evening.
Wednesday, October 6
Dean and I headed out for our morning walk, a little later than usual, but we enjoyed the beautiful morning in our city park. It is such a beautiful area. We feel blessed to have such a wonderful place to go. The park is utilized by many residents and visitors.
We walked a short distance then met up with Carol for the remainder of our walk, until she left us to return home. We walk 2 miles every morning that we can.
We stopped by Misti's on the way home. She has my big mixer since I have no room for it in the RV, but today I wanted to borrow it to make some Peanut Butter No-Bake Energy Bites. My sister Cindy gave me this recipe a couple of years ago. I love them. I find them to be very filling, and since I'm trying to lose some weight I wanted to make several batches. I will freeze 2 packages and leave one in the fridge.
After having our morning protein shakes, I pulled all of the ingredients out to start the Energy Bites. Let's see it's been about 4 years since I've used the mixer. Without thinking, I just dumped all of the ingredients in the bowl. When I turned it on - cocoa powder went everywhere. What fun it was to clean that up! The last several times I've made these I had to do it by hand with my wooden spoon. I will never make them like that again. Using the mixer is the only way to go!
On the chance someone might be interested in this recipe, here it is:
Peanut Butter No-Bake Energy Bites
Add 1/2 c peanut butter, 1/3 c honey, and 1 t. vanilla to mixer. Mix this portion then add the following items, 1 at a time. 1 c oatmeal, 1 c coconut, 1/2 c flax seed, 1/4 c cocoa, 1/2 c pecan pieces.
After mixing items well, chill for a minimum of 30 minutes in the refrigerator.
Roll into balls - I used my cookie scoop which was a life saver, since I tripled the recipe.
You can store what you want to use for a week, but may freeze the remainder.
I love them and I've been able to miss a meal each day - usually lunch or dinner.
By the time I cleaned up the mess I made, I made lunch, then hurried to shower, dry my hair and get ready to leave by 2:00pm. With a little time to spare before we left I noticed my phone seemed to be struggling to download anything, and the feed on Facebook was very slow. We are located on a high spot in Oswego, within a mile or two of the tower Verizon has. It seems like it gets slower and slower.
We were excited to see the house plans and were pretty happy with the layout. We talked about many different things, then took a couple of the preliminary plans with us to look over in detail.
Since we were in Parsons, we stopped at ParCom, a Verizon retail store, to ask about the signal for our phones and our MiFi, which also gets bogged down at times. One good thing we learned is they will be replacing the tower, and are in the process of getting ready to do that, although it may be quite awhile before it is in operation. It's an old tower and has been there since All-Tel was the company. I had a car phone back in the 80's using that tower. He said it's just overloaded, and it will improve greatly when it is replaced. It might just be the load at times that slows things down. It is spotty, so at least it's good to know there is something better coming!
We decided to stop at Chinese Chef for dinner, with a quick stop at Walmart before we headed home. I was exhausted and was just ready to chill for the rest of the evening, while Dean watched his TV shows. I prefer to read, work on the blog or find something else to do in the RV.
It was a good day!
Thursday, October 7
Marc called early this morning to let me know Jaxson was not going to school today. He has a sore throat and had a stuffy nose. I was very disappointed since I was going to pick him up after school. I was going to have him help me make a carrot cake cheesecake in the Instapot. He loves to help me cook. So now I'm on my own, without my sous chef to assist me this afternoon. What a let down!
I spent the morning going through more cabinets - the ones over the couch, which means I have to stand on the couch to get to everything. When we first bought the RV, I placed thin rubber pads down that come in large rolls to hold things in place. As I started going through things I realized the pad had shifted quite a bit so it meant I had to pretty much start over. Reorganization every so often is a good thing!
Then to the pantry. I took everything off of each shelf, then reorganized it all. I was quite happy with the process when I was finished and glad I took the time to do it. We have lots of storage under one section of the seating area of the couch. One seat section of four, lifts up and provides a large storage area. I pulled all kinds of stuff out of there and it is going to be stored in the garage. It now holds all of the throws/quilts that we use when the weather is cool outside. The remainder of the couch has a large pullout drawer were I store things we need, but don't use as often. These were both great ideas by the designer of our RV. I still have a few more cabinets to go through but they will have to wait until next week.
The cheesecake process awaits me! While it wasn't hard to make, it required using a lot of utensils and bowls. I had stuff everywhere. I finally had it all put together, put it in the instapot, turned it on and waited. It was supposed to go off after 36 minutes. I happened to look up later and it was on 38 minutes and it had not stopped. Oh my goodness. I forgot to hit the "on" button to start it. So I reset it for another 36 minutes and fortunately it turned out just fine. It was a layered process of carrot cake batter, cheesecake mixture, carrot cake batter and finally the last of the cheesecake mixture.
After the first round of what I thought was "cooking the cheesecake" I made meatloaf and macaroni and cheese for dinner. By the time we had eaten and the dishes were done all I wanted to do was set down for the rest of the evening. It was a good day getting much accomplished!
Friday, October 8
Dean and I had originally planned to travel to Springfield, MO today to have lunch with our local Escapees group members at Golden Corral. We haven't been for over two years (mostly due to Covid and our travels). Dean has a follow up with his Dr. in Springfield in a year. Since it requires a test off site, she sends us the information once she has coordinated it. We told her we needed it to be the week before or the week after, as our camping club meets the week we had it this year and we had to cancel. We received the letter in July. Since then I have made numerous phone calls to the doctor's office, leaving three messages that we need to have the date changed. He's a very busy doctor and we don't want to let it go too long without getting it corrected.
We left Oswego at 9:20, making a quick stop at Misti's to drop the mixer off, along with a few of the energy bites to see if she liked them. We planned to be at the doctor's office around 11:30. On the way out of Oswego I called the doctor's office again, and stayed on hold for 45 minutes until we reached Oronogo, MO where we stopped to use the restroom. At that point I hung up.
It was 11:30 when we pulled into the parking lot where the doctor is located. We went straight upstairs and explained to the receptionist what we were there for. They sent us back to the doctor's receptionist, and told us where to sit while we waited to speak with her. There was one person ahead of us. When she was finished, Dean advised we were there to get the date of his appointment changed. We were surprised and saddened to see the former receptionist was no longer there. Dean asked about not being able to get through to the doctor. Well, we found out what the problem was. A new phone system has been installed and the calls no longer go directly to the doctor's office, so the number we were dialing was basically useless. At that point, I told her how many times we had called since receiving the original letter, that we had left messages and how long we had waited on the phone today, making one last attempt to reach them. I asked why the hospital did not notify patients of this change, and she said it would be helpful, as we were not the only ones who had concerns about getting through. I did ask for the number to call and it is in my phone for future use. It was definitely worth the time to make the stop while we were there today.
Dean wanted to stop at Sam's to get diesel for the truck. I believe it was $3.09/gallon, but the lines were so backed up he didn't want to wait in line. Next door was a Northern Tools Store, so we stopped there and walked through it to kill some time before we arrived at Golden Corral.
Once we arrived at the restaurant we headed inside where we found a large group of our friends waiting to head through the line to pay. It was good to see several couples we have not seen in over two years. It was fun catching up. Joanne told me one of the things she missed the most was playing hand and foot. I had to agree. That's where I learned to play and I miss it too.
The meal was pretty good and we visited over our meal and afterwards for nearly an hour and a half. By then, we needed to get back on the road. We needed to make a quick stop at Sam's in Joplin before returning home. I have a few things I routinely buy there in bulk. We made it home by 5:30. We came in freshened up a bit, grabbed the cheesecake and headed to Cindy and Elmer's to play Wahoo and cards. The girls didn't do too well tonight, while we won a few games of Wahoo, the guys ended up taking the lead and pitch didn't go well either. Oh well, it didn't keep us all from laughing and having a good time. The cheesecake was a hit with all. I really enjoy these small cheesecakes that serve 4-6 people. I'm going to be looking for some new cheesecake recipes on Pinterest in the coming days.
A full but very fun day!
Saturday, October 9
I was up early this morning. I have another busy day ahead of me. After our shakes I showered, and readied myself to spend the day with my granddaughter Haleigh in Joplin. I left Oswego at 9 to meet her at Sam's in Joplin. She was already there when I arrived. After getting some much needed hugs from her, we set out for some flea market/antique shopping. Our first stop was at Southside Antique Mall just a short distance away from where we met up.
We saw a number of things we really liked but neither of us purchased anything. It was fun to visit with her while we walked through it. It's been awhile since we've spent much time together and I enjoyed it very much.
It took us a little over an hour to walk through this store. I asked her if she minded stopping at Khol's, and she said it would be fine. I had a 30% off coupon and a $5 birthday coupon. I was just looking to see if there was anything new and to look at purses. I really need a new one but can't find anything I like as much as the one I have. I like lots of pockets to keep things well separated and easy to find. No luck with the purse but I did find a long sleeve shirt I liked, so it wasn't a bust.
Back in the car, it was now a little after 11, so we discussed where to have lunch. I asked her for her favorite places. She mentioned Logan's, Texas Roadhouse, Olive Garden and Japanese Steakhouse. So I asked her two favorites - the last two mentioned above. Since we were almost next door to the Japanese steak house, and it was in the direction we would head next, that's where we went. We haven't been here in several years, and I wondered why not? The food was great and reasonably priced for the amount of food.
Our next stop was at Rangeline Antique Mall. I had not been here for many, many years. We enjoyed looking and ended up near two other couples - one from Altamont and one from Coffeyville - and here we are from Oswego - all located fairly close to each other. We walked through about half of this mall before we left to get something to drink. We made a quick stop at McDonald's for a frappe, which we both love, before moving on to Junkerville. I had never been here before, nor had Haleigh. I think we liked it the best and walked through the entire building, a former full service grocery store.
When we left there, I drove Haleigh back to her car, where we said our goodbyes before we headed our separate ways. I love that girl and so enjoyed my time with her.
The drive home was long - as my car does not have a good radio to keep me company. About 20 minutes or less from home, I started getting tired. I called Dean so he could talk to me that last little bit to keep me aware.
Later I told Dean about our meal, and how I enjoyed it. I brought home enough leftovers for him to have it for dinner. He agreed we should go next time we are in Joplin. I had one of my Energy Bites and that did me for the night.
Dean was watching something on TV so I decided it was a good time to try and catch up the blog. I have missed writing it, but with so much going on, sometime's its just too much to do.
What a busy week we've had. My goal is to finish cleaning out cabinets next week, get more winter clothes back to the RV from the garage, and then do some cleaning before we leave Sunday for our Escapees rally at Old 86 Campground on Table Rock Lake. The week will go by quickly!
Sunday, October 10
I woke up at 5:00 this morning. After laying in bed for a few minutes I decided to get up. I was ready for a cup of coffee, so it was first on my list. While waiting for it to finish, I glanced at Facebook for a few minutes. I really enjoy the cooking shows I watch but I get tired of much of the posts and comments anymore. I just want to see people being happy and kind to each other.
I picked the laptop up to get back to working on the blog after I poured my first cup of coffee, which really tasted good this cool, early morning.
Our mornings are pretty routine - coffee, protein shake, wash dishes, showers and then on to the rest of the day. That's how it went this morning. We enjoyed being back at our church this morning after missing the last two weeks that we were in Wichita.
After we returned home, I made us a light lunch, and a little before 1pm, I walked outside to the car. Todd was outside with our new neighbors who pulled in just a short while ago. I waved, and headed to Cindy's for our Sisterfest. It's been awhile since I've been able to attend so it was fun to visit with everyone and catch up.
We discussed a date for our Christmas get together with our families and decided we would hold it on the Sunday before Christmas. My job is to contact the city office tomorrow about reserving a room at the Community Center. It's hard to believe it's just a little over 2 months away. Where does the time go?
I left Cindy's then made a quick stop in front of Jody's house, where her daughter Amy and her husband Burk had just pulled in. I wanted to let Amy know the cookies she made for me were really good and were enjoyed by all.
Dean wasn't at the RV when I arrived, so I went on in to start working on the blog again. It wasn't long and he returned. After he got out of the truck I heard someone talking to him, and I watched out the back window, as he walked next door to our new neighbors. He didn't come back right away, so I walked outside too. Tim and Marilyn are from Oregon and we enjoyed visiting with them. They invited us to set and visit, so we grabbed our chairs and walked over. What a fun couple with lots of stories to tell of their travels. We enjoyed visiting and "laughing" with them as we shared our travel experiences with each other.
We headed back to Bentley for a light dinner, and settled in to watch the Kansas City Chiefs game against the Buffalo Bills. Dean's youngest son Jarred is at the game, and my nephew Rye is at the game. Jarred is a Chiefs fan and Rye is a Bills fan. Who will win? It's not looking great for the Chiefs right now, but they sometimes make some amazing last minute plays to pull through. It's raining and lightening in KC right now, so the game is on hold for now. In the end Rye was the happiest of the two!
