December 2019

December 2019

It's hard to believe as I am writing this - it is now a New Year - 2020!  

December was a busy month for us, and I just found it hard to take the time to blog daily, but I do hope to return to regular posts in the coming days, when we begin traveling again.

We did quite a few fun things; visited a lot of doctors (routine only); and of course was busy with holiday fun.

I started off the first of the month with my sisters and my daughter Misti going to the Independence, KS Christmas Home Tour.  After church, I loaded everyone up and we made the 35 mile drive where we enjoyed visiting with each other and viewing four homes.  The first home we visited was the best and we thoroughly enjoyed our tour through it.  

From bottom up:  Misti, Cindy, Jody and Crystal.

I had to include both pictures since neither of them had everyone looking at me.  Lol!

It was a large older home with 4 or 5 bedrooms and two baths.  It was decorated to the nines and reminds me of all the Christmas decorations I used to have.  I do not miss them at all.  I'll probably stick with my tree that holds decorations from when the kids were small, those I've recieved from friends, my mom's and the Hallmark ornaments that I have bought for each of the grandkids for the year they are born.  When I look at that tree it reminds me of very special memories - much more important than an impersonal tree.  How we change with time.

A beautiful truck on display at the second home we visited.

This was the home of William Inge, a famous playwright born and raised in Independence.

I loved this Christmas tree with all of these beautiful hats.  It made me think of my "Nana" who had a number of beautiful hats.  How I wish I had one or two of them.

We were quite surprised to learn that the homeowner, of one house we visited, literally finished their decorating in the early morning hours prior to the tour beginning - which even included doing some painting.  Talk about dedication to a project!

All in all we had a wonderful day together, and ended it at Braum's where I treated everyone to an ice cream treat.

Our grandson Jaxson's school Christmas program was Monday, December 2.   His sister Kamron had a basketball game that night and Mom's job (UPS driver) is requiring later hours as it nears Christmas, so Papa and Nana and his Mimi (Jen's mom) attended the program.  Fortunately, Mom, Dad and Kamron made it, albeit a little late and was able to see him in the final part of the program where all of the children sang a few songs together.  He did a great job!  I'm not sure what date these pictures were taken but it was before the Christmas break from school.  The school had the pictures taken of each of the students for their parents/grandparents.  I love this picture!

In November and December we both had routine doctor visits.   Let's see Heart, Dermatologist, Urologist, Dentist, Eye Doctor, Chiropractor, Primary Care Doctor, and Hearing Aide checkup.  Whew - that's a lot to fit into a two month period and fortunately we both had great reports.  Praise God for that!  

We've been able to attend a few basketball games to watch our granddaughter and hope to get one more in before we head to Wichita for a couple of days with Dean's boys on Jan 27th.  We were able to attend the 8th grade parent's night at one of her games.  She not only plays basketball but is also a cheerleader.

Shooting the ball....I don't remember if she made this one but she did make a basket during the game.

Jaxson watching Sissy

Front and center is our girl.

Mom Jen, Kamron & Dad Marc at Parent Night.

Jaxson spent the night with us a few weeks before Christmas.  December is a busy time for UPS drivers and makes for late evenings.  Kamron had a basketball game out of town, so I picked him up from school.  He was pretty excited about having a sleepover with Nana and Papa.  We had so much fun, and he asked if he could do it again soon.

Dean started on the desk project and he completed it shortly after the first of the year.  We moved it into Bentley the evening of Jan. 7th.  

The frame

Friday, Dec 13 we moved Bentley to son Brett's house near Lamar, MO for our Christmas with our kids and grandkids (at least those who were able to attend) on Saturday evening.  While not everyone could be there we still had a great time.  I have been making one of the saran wrap balls for our kids and their spouses to unravel for the past few years.  This year I added one for the younger kids.  They all had a great time trying to win the big prize.  I wrap the ball over and over to make it worth the effort to unwrap it.  It passed through their hands many, many times before someone finally won!  

Next - opening the presents.  We have a system, starting with the youngest child opening presents and work up to the oldest child.  I've grouped them in their own family unit rather than separate pictures for each one.

Brett/Emilee's Family - Tucker, Dacy and Logen.

Marc/Jen's family - Jaxson & Kamron

Matt/Megan's Family via Skype - Sam, Sarah and Josh

Jarred/Andrea's family - Emerson (and one on the way - June 2020)

Heath/Casey's family - Gideon, Abram and Roman

Misti's daughter - Haleigh

We planned to leave on Sunday afternoon but a winter storm moved in.  We didn't relish the thought of pulling the RV on ice and snow packed roads.  While it wasn't bad in Kansas, western Missouri received quite a bit of rain and snow.  

Monday (12-16) we were up early to make a long drive to Vinita, OK for a lab appointment before my doctor visit next Monday.  Missouri roads were somewhat clear but it was still slow moving. 

I-49 in Missouri

Brett's house before we left - beautiful sunrises from here

A cold, snowy yet a beautiful morning.

Once we hit the Oklahoma line, the roads were as clear as could be.  Not sure if it was the break in the weather or more highway workers in the area here.  Either way, we made it there with no problems.  We came back through Oswego and the roads were fine all the way until we hit Missouri again north and east of Pittsburg. 

The next day (12-17) Dean had an appointment in Springfield with his urologist.  It went very well, we ate lunch and then headed back to Brett's.  Somehow "chicken" came up in the conversation and the next thing I knew we were in the truck and headed to Chicken Mary's.  It was soooo goood!!!!  

Wednesday (12-18) back to Joplin for my annual eye appointment with my ophthalmologist, then on to Sam's for Dean to have an eye test to order new lenses.  I cannot believe I walked around that store for over 1.5 hours waiting on him.  He was no happier than I was at that wait.  On the upside I got lots of steps today!  Look for the silver lining, right?

By Thursday (12-19) the roads were clear and we were finally able to head back to Oswego.  Not that we minded the time spent with Brett's family, but we had some other things to do for the upcoming weekend - my sister's and I were hosting our families for our Christmas.  By the time we got hooked up and drove back to Oswego and set up, had lunch, did some laundry it was time to head to Columbus to the Columbus High School Christmas program.  Dacy and Tucker are both in band.  They have an amazing music teacher and it is a treat to hear this group perform every single time!

Sunday (12-22) Dean, two of my sisters and Jody's husband Mark and I met at the Community Center to set up tables and chairs so we could get that chore out of the way for our dinner at 1.  We will meet back there at 11 or so to make tea and lemonade, bake some things, etc. before everyone starts showing up between 12-1.  We started inviting our stepdad Larry and his wife Verna several years ago, and also our Aunt Betty and her daughter Barbara.  Fortunately the weather was cooperative this year and they were able to make it.

After dinner we had our gift exchange - we passed gifts around the table as we sang Jingle Bells or some other Christmas tune.  When the song stopped so did the passing of presents.  It's a little fun to the time together; and then come the pictures:

Sister Crystal, BIL Lonie and grandson Dempsey!

Sister Jody & Family
L to R;  Nathan (youngest son), Amy (daughter, &husband Burk),Mark and Jody with granddaughter Peyton.

Blackledge Sisters
Cheri, Cindy, Crystal & Carla (Jody)
Our stepdad Larry & his wife Verna

Grandchildren of Don Blackledge and Barbara Long with our Stepdad Larry & his wife Verna

My Aunt Betty and her daughter Barbara

Daughter Misti, Granddaughter Haleigh
Dean and I

Sister Cindy's Brood
Tim (hiding behind his wife Melissa) Ty (the tall one) and Aaron (the second tall one)
Melissa, Nikki (Cindy's daughters), Kennedy and Bethany (Aaron's wife)
Kass on Cindy's lap, Raylen on his Papa's lap along with Hannah
Dani

Monday (12-23) I made the drive back to Vinita to see the doctor and to obtain the results of my lab work last week. I had a great report and I don't have to see her for six months.  

Christmas Day, Misti invited us over to watch Haleigh open her presents and to have breakfast with them.  Watching Haleigh open one of the presents her mom gave her was so touching.  Before we left home, Misti asked me if I could print out a map of California and bring with us.  I found one that showed each of the counties - and also the county seat of each one.  That happened to be perfect for what she wanted it for.  She wrapped the map in a box.  When Haleigh got up later and opened it there was an arrow with a note - We are going here!  

She was pretty overwhelmed with the gift of seeing her brother Logan!  The tears were flowing.  I don't think you could have given her a better Christmas present.

HERE is El Centro, CA where her brother Logan is stationed in the Navy.  When she read it, she began to cry and was overjoyed at the opportunity to go see him.  Misti did tell her it would not be immediately but sometime in the near future. I was so touched by Haleigh's reaction it still brings tears to my eyes just telling you all about it.  Later in the day we drove to Parsons to see Marc, Jen and the grandkids.  We stayed and ate pizza with them after seeing all of the presents the kids received.  Yep, I forgot to take pictures.

Monday, Dec 30 I went to Parsons to get Jaxson for the day.  Kamron has basketball practice this morning, so Marc will bring her down around noon.  We had so much fun.  I taught him how to play "Go Fish".  He loved it and we played several games.  After Kamron arrive, we taught Jaxson how to play "52 card pickup".  I wish I would have taken a picture of the look on his face when those cards went flying all around him.  He thought that was the coolest game ever!  Papa went to the garage in the afternoon, so we put a movie in for Jaxson to watch and Kamron and I played Yahtzee for the remainder of the afternoon.  It was a great day.  

He loves Papa's little neck pillow and thinks it looks like a great hat.  Kind of reminds me of an artist.  Lol!

Playing Go Fish - he's using my Hand, Knee & Foot card holder.  

New Year's Eve Dean and I went to Cindy & Elmer's to play cards.  It was another fun evening.  We ended up talking until almost 11pm when we finally headed home.  I think Dean and I were in bed before 11:30 and I know I was asleep before midnight or I would have heard the typical fireworks/gunshots that occur around here.   It's been a great year!

November 30, 2019 - Spending Part of My Day with Cindy; Dean Goes Back to Brett's.

November 30, 2019 - Spending Part of My Day with Cindy; Dean Goes Back to Brett's.


I slept in for me - as it was a little after 5:30 before I crawled out of bed to start the day.  Coffee was ready by the time I finished my morning excercises.  I enjoyed it while reading my daily devotion and the chapters designated for today, as part of reading the Bible in a year.  I am enjoying reading the Bible more than I ever have in the past.  As I get older I appreciate God's word more than ever, and I can look back on my life and see how he has taken what I considered the bad times in my life and turned them in to the best times of my life.  When I may have thought my world was falling apart he showed me how he could put it back together.  I'm so thankful for that.

Cindy called me to see what I was doing today.  This is her fourth day of five days off work.  I said do you need to get out and do something - yes!  So we are going to Joplin later today. She had some things to return, and a couple of places where she needed to buy something.  I really didn't need much but I was ready to get out to.  Since it's supposed to be a beautiful day and Dean is going back to Brett's to work again today, I may as well go with her.

Dean emptied the tanks this morning, so I ran another cycle in the washer/dryer combo to release anymore lint that may still be there, washed my dishes and once the final rinse cycle was done on the washer, I took a shower.  I had plenty of time to get everything else done before Cindy picked me up at 10:30.  Dean decided he would go to the garage for awhile since he is not going to Brett's until after lunch.

Our first stop was at Peddler's Junction, a flea market, at Crestline, MO.  Cindy had read on their Facebook page they would have random gifts located throughout the booths that could be exchanged for a prize/gift.  Cindy found one right away and she received a set of knives.  Later I found one, but I held on to mine until we finished walking through, looking at each of the booths.  While we waited for the owner to finish up with a customer I noticed some Barbie doll clothes that were handmade.  When it was our turn I asked her about the clothes.  She said a 90 year old lady makes them.  I told her I was going to check with my daughter-in-laws to see if their girls are playing with Barbie's yet and I might get back with her later.  I turned my package in and my gift was 2 individual bottles of Pepsi, a box of Buttery Kettle Corn, and two Popcorn containers.  

When we arrived in Joplin, we were both hungry so we stopped at Sonic just off of 7th Street and Maiden Lane.  We both ordered the small double cheeseburger and something to drink.  The burger was very good but whoever dressed this thing did a lousy job.  We had ketchup and mustard everywhere.  It was a challenge to eat it and not have it all over me.

I sent Marc a note and said I hope you never dressed a burger like this when you worked at Sonic.  When I lifted the burger off the paper, ketchup and mustard was all over the bottom too.  However, it did taste good.  

In no particular order we went to Home Depot, Kohl's, The Dollar Tree, and Walmart.  Cindy found a Christmas tree she liked at Home Depot, but she didn't buy it at the time.  She was hoping they would still have one of them in the store.  Unfortunately, they had already sold them all.  We stopped at Hobby Lobby but she didn't find anything there she liked either.  She is wanting a slim tree and those seem to be snapped up pretty quick.  While at Hobby Lobby she bought a couple of neat combination wood/metal decorations.  She's been looking for something like this for a wall in her house.  

Our next stop was Kohl's where Cindy needed to return something.  I looked at some sweatshirts and purses but decided I'd spent enough on me, with Christmas right around the corner.  From there, we drove across Range Line to the Dollar Store.  I bought some cards and a few items for a game we will be playing for our Christmas get together.  Our final stop was at Walmart.  While I didn't need that much, I was literally all over the store so Cindy ended up waiting for me.  I needed to go to the toiletries area, pick up some things in the RV department, to the computer area to get ink for our printer, and then I needed a couple of things for dinner tonight.

On our way back I had Cindy stop at Peddler's Junction again.  I heard from my daughter-in-law's, and two of our three young granddaughters have Barbies, so I picked out two outfits for each of them.  

Cindy dropped me off at Bentley.  After putting things away, I worked on the blog, watched TV and made chili for supper.  Dean made it home from Brett's just before 7:30.  The chili tasted good on a cold, windy evening.  We'll have enough for leftovers tomorrow night.  

Today I am grateful for the ability to have/get food when we need it; with easy access to grocery stores.  It's not that way everywhere.  We are certainly blessed in the USA.

Friday, November 29, 2019 - Dean is off to Work; Laundry; Catching up the Blog and Reading Emails; Christmas Shopping; Dinner & More Movies

Friday, November 29, 2019 - Dean is off to Work; Laundry; Catching up the Blog and Reading Emails; Christmas Shopping; Dinner & More Movies

I slept in this morning - it was almost 5:30 when I woke up, and I laid there for a few minutes before I finally got up.  Dean came downstairs not too long after I did.  He is going to Brett's to help him work on Dacy's little apartment, and plans to leave about 7.  We enjoyed sitting and drinking our coffee.  Then I started a load of clothes and made our smoothies while he was getting ready.  

I'm looking forward to spending the day by myself.  I want to catch up on the blog, read a backlog of blogs I follow, and do some online Christmas shopping,  I usually have to order a few things online; and it certainly helps when we send things to Matt/Megan's kids in NY.  It's so much easier to have them sent directly versus coming to me; then having to send them myself.  

I spent some time texting a few daughters-in-laws, asking questions to approve of a few things I planned to buy, and also asking the older grandkids for ideas on what they want this year.  As of 4:30 or so, I have everything ordered and on it's way except for the three oldest ones.  

I stopped long enough to eat the remaining pork taco I brought home from Mi Puebo on Wednesday evening for my lunch.  It was hard not to eat that peach pie in the refrigerator, but I made myself wait for Dean.  I needed a snack though and finally decided dry roasted peanuts with a few M&M's would work.  

After finishing my shopping I started going through emails, deleting junk, reading and commenting on a few as I caught up on the blogs I follow.  I even found a message in one of the blogs I read from Patsy of the blog Chillin' with Patsy - telling me to check my blog for her comment to a question I had.  Lol!  Thanks Patsy.  The information was much appreciated.

It started raining this morning and it has been raining off and on all day.  Right now it sounds like it is pouring.  It lets up a bit and then starts right back in again.  It's only 47 right now at 5:19pm.  I've managed to stay fairly warm today (except my toes which never seem to get warm enough unless the sun is on them, or they are near/over a heater vent - Lol!).  I sure hope Dean doesn't have to drive home in heavy rain, and I don't expect him back until after 6, or later.

I just read on Facebook that the 3rd annual official lighting of the park will take place tonight at 6pm, and rain will NOT cancel it.  If Dean was home, we might go.  By the time he gets back thought, I doubt he'll want to do anything but rest.  This year when visiting the park, everyone will have the option to tune their radios to 92.3FM as they drive through.  There were 52 trees available for decorating this year.  When we drove through Wednesday night, I'm not sure that many trees were decorated yet, so there might be some new surprises tonight.  

It was close to 7 when Dean got home.  He was going to empty the tanks when he returned, but decided we could probably get through the evening and he'd do it in the morning.  I agreed.  I could see he was worn out and I didn't want him out in the rain and wind to do it either.  I made orange chicken with rice for dinner.  After we ate our dinner, we halved the leftover piece of pie.  I warmed it up a bit and it was just as delicious as it was on Thursday at our Thanksgiving meal.  Thanks again Lonie!

The dryer part of our combo unit kept stopping before it finished a cycle, so I googled what was occurring to see if I could find out what the problem was.  The dryer stops part way through the drying cycle and the lights start flashing.  I found an article about it with steps from the manufacturer (although this information was not in the manual that came with it) about what to do.  If anyone has a washer/dryer combo and is having this problem, and you'd like to have the information, just make a comment on the blog and I will get it to you.  It involves running water in (with special steps) to get it to the mid level of the window, and once it has been done per the instructions, you let it go through a complete wash cycle.  You would not believe the amount of lint that we saw.  I didn't think to take a picture, but I'm not sure how well it would have shown up if I had.  The second time through we did not see hardly any lint until it finished.  When I opened the door, we found 2-3 globs laying inside, with a few random smaller pieces.  I still need to run it through one more cycle - but each cycle takes 1 hr and 45 minutes.  Next time I do this (it should be done every 3 months per the instructions), I will start in the morning, so I can complete it all in one day.  I finished all of the laundry yesterday, so it will probably be Sunday before I have a load of clothes to see how well it works.  (Since it's so close to Dec 1 I will add it to a schedule I have on my phone - to change the filter in our Brita pitcher; change the heads on our electric toothbrushes; and now to clean the washer/dryer combo every three months.)

After our dinner we enjoyed watching another Hallmark Christmas movie.  It was a fulfilling day for both of us.

Today, I am grateful for my husband.  He is such a hard worker and he actually enjoys working.  He loves helping me and our kids.  He's a great dad and stepdad.  If I ask him to take care of something - even as simple as tightening a screw for a knob on the bathroom cabinet; to making me a desk for the RV; he does it.  We enjoy our time together and I am so thankful God put him in my life!  
  

Thursday, November 28, 2019 - Thanksgiving Day!

Thursday, November 28, 2019 - Thanksgiving Day!

Even though it was late when we went to bed last night, I laid there for awhile thinking about Logan.  I'm so proud of him for joining the Navy and serving our country, as well as the many men and women who have served and are serving.  Dean was tired and he fell asleep pretty quick, but it was probably at least 20-30 minutes before I drifted off.  I was afraid I might oversleep, so I set my alarm to go off at 5:00.  

....and when my alarm went off this morning, I was sound asleep, but only for a second.  It really startled me.  After laying there for a minute or two to gather my thoughts, I came downstairs to start the coffee pot.  I have a lot to do this morning.  I had hung some clothes in the shower last night to dry, so I folded those while waiting for the coffee to finish.  Once it was done, I set down to follow through on my morning routine.

After Dean came downstairs and had I had my second cup of coffee with him, I got up and dusted the entire RV.  I wanted to vacuum later, but the dust cup/container on the vacuum was full, so I asked Dean if he would mind taking it outside to empty it, since I didn't want to create more dust after I just dusted.  After he finished his coffee, he took care of it.  It was raining and had been off and on, so he had to put the awning out in order to empty it.  He's always so great to help me and I appreciate him!  I made our breakfast smoothies, then did the dishes before I went in to clean the shower.  Afterwards I vacuumed. Now I just had to get me ready before our guests arrived.  Timing was just fine because they showed up just a short time after I had set down to wait.  Heath (Dean's oldest son), Casey and their boys Abram, Gideon and Roman stopped by and visited for a little over an hour.  We were thrilled they did.  It was cozy with all of us in Bentley - but we had just enough room.  All of the boys were sitting on the couch with Casey, so I said one of them could come and sit in the chair at the table by their dad if they wanted, and I moved to the other side of the table.  Roman came over and we visited quite a bit.  He likes games and playing with his brothers, but sometimes his brothers want to do their own thing.  I asked if he knew he could play some card games by himself?  He didn't, so I got a deck of cards and showed him how to play solitaire.  Gideon came over to watch and told me he played this game on his computer sometimes.  I told Roman when we get together for Christmas I would show him a couple of other games he could play by himself, as well as one that several people could play.  By then it was time for both of us to head to our Thanksgiving dinners.  They are going to Casey's grandma's for dinner.  All of her family lives here in Oswego which makes it nice that we get to see them when they visit here (that is, if we are not traveling).

Dean and I left a few minutes after they did, and were parking at Lonie and Crystal's a few minutes before noon.  Their son Rye, wife K'eo (pronounced KO) and their son Dempsey was already there.  We enjoyed visiting with them while we waited until they called us in to fill our plates.  What a feast!  Lonie does all of the cooking (well, Crystal made the deviled eggs) and he loves doing it.  We had turkey, two kinds of dressing (bread and cornbread), gravy, mashed potatoes, cranberry salad, green beans and homemade rolls.  And if that wasn't enough Lonie made pies.  Our family LOVES his pies.  We had chocolate, coconut cream, peach and cherry.  Dean and I both had coconut cream and peach (we only ate half a piece of the second one), and they sent four more pieces home with us.  Thank you both so much for opening your home to us.  We enjoyed catching up with Rye and K'eo and it was fun talking to Dempsey who turned 4 yesterday also, sharing a birthday with Great Uncle Dean.

We headed back to Bentley about 1:30.  We watched TV most of the afternoon.  Marc had called me earlier just as we were getting ready to eat, and he called back to visit for awhile.  Jaxson has his Christmas program Monday night at school, and Kamron has a basketball game in Chetopa.  I'm going to pick Jaxson up from school and take him to the program.  He'll either come back here with me and Marc will pick him up after the game, or he'll go on home with his Mimi (Jen's mom), after his program.  We'll see how tired he is.

After we left Lonie & Crystal's, I sent Misti a text and asked her to stop by when she left her Aunt Patsy's house, where she went for Thanksgiving lunch.  I told her I had something for her and Haleigh.  I think they stopped by around four or so.  Crystal sent some cookies home with me that she had Lorrie B make for Misti & Haleigh.  I know Misti likes chocolate pie, so I gave her the piece they sent home with us, and Haleigh got the cookies.  Dean ate the coconut pie and I had the peach pie.  That was our dinner tonight!  There is one piece of peach left.  Dean and I will share it after dinner tomorrow night.

Here are my Mini-Me's!!!  Misti and Haleigh, before they left last night.  Oh how I love them!  Misti wanted a pic for Logan.

We knew there was going to be a big surprise in the Jarred/Andrea Peine household today but we were sworn to secrecy!  I was scrolling through Facebook shortly before Misti & Haleigh arrived, when I saw the big announcement.  Emerson got her first letter from her Elf on the Shelf "Wanda".  (You can watch the entire thing on Facebook by looking up Jarred's page).  She received a package with a shirt that said "Big Sister"; a sonogram picture of a baby in it's mommy's tummy that she said - this is me before I was born - and then a book about being a big sister.  She finally put it all together and realized the picture wasn't her but that she was going to have a baby sister.  She was so excited.  We are excited too of course, and they will give us our 16th grandchild in June. 

After Misti and Haleigh left, we watched a couple of Hallmark Christmas movies.  We enjoy watching them, but after the second one we were both tired.  We were in bed before 10.  Dean has a big day tomorrow, so he needs some rest.  It has rained off and on today, and we are supposed to have more tomorrow. 

Today I am so thankful and grateful for our families.  We are blessed to have wonderful children, their spouses and grandchildren, and it's always wonderful spending time with them.  

Wednesday, November 27, 2019 - Breakfast at Circle L; Busy Morning; My Car is Ready!; Pics of New Grandson; Birthday Dinner

Wednesday, November 27, 2019 - Breakfast at Circle L; Busy Morning; My Car is Ready!; Pics of New Grandson; Birthday Dinner

After a great night's sleep I was awake at 4:30.  It was only 34 degrees this morning.  We turn the furnace down at night, so I turned it up to 70.  After my morning exercises and devotional, I started working on the blog post for yesterday.  Cindy called me and we visited for a half hour or so.  When I hung up I mentioned making a smoothie to Dean, but he suggested we go eat breakfast for his birthday!  

When I woke up I immediately thought of Dean's birthday, but he didn't get up until about 6-6:30 and I didn't think about it when he came downstairs.  I know....how could I forget?   I guess 26+ years later we are either getting forgetful or birthdays aren't such a big deal anymore because he did the same thing to me on mine.  


It was about 8 when we left the park and headed to Circle L Cafe, here in Oswego - Dean's favorite place to eat breakfast!  Two men came in and set down at a table near us.  We visited a bit and before long we were discussing relatives.  He had just moved to Oswego from Chetopa, and his friend lived in Chetopa.  They knew my dad, granddad and his brothers.  I found out he was an O'Brien and his friend's last name was Fritz.  It was fun to meet and talk with them.  Then Betty came in and we shared a hug and visited a bit, before Carol and her husband came in and more visiting ensued.  As we left, I had to stop to talk to one more friend Rick.  I love Oswego and our people!  By the way, breakfast was wonderful - as usual!

Back at Bentley, Dean soon left for the garage to work on the desk and I wanted to get some things done here.  I cleaned the bathroom and did a couple of loads of laundry.  Shortly before 12, Toyota called to let me know the part for the car came in today and they had it ready if I wanted to go ahead and pick it up today.  Wow...we sure were not expecting this, but I'm thankful I'll have it back sooner than we expected.  Cindy offered to take me over to get the car, and then she went by to visit with Larry & Verna.   I needed to get a few things at Walmart while I was there, so I made a quick stop - well, what was supposed to be a quick stop, but it was the day before Thanksgiving - what did I expect?  

It was about 3 when I returned.  I finished up another load of laundry and then I changed and got ready for a meet up with Brett and family.  We met Brett & Emilee uptown at 6:15 where they had 3D or 4D (I can't remember which it was) pictures taken of the baby.  They had Dacy, Tucker and Logen with them too.  The little guy should be here in 7 weeks +/-.  It's amazing what you can see with these pictures before the baby is even born.  

Afterwards we all headed to Mi Pueblo, our local Mexican Restaurant for Dean's birthday dinner.  We had a nice visit and some great food.  We sure went through the baskets of chips, salsa, cheese dip and guacamole.  Poor little Logen could hardly keep her eyes open by the time we left.  I bet she didn't make it far before she was out.

Before we headed back to the RV Park, I suggested Dean drive through the park so we could see the Christmas lights.  It looks great and I love that so many people come together to decorate a tree, and make a showplace of our beautiful park.

I love this new tree - beautiful color displays.

These are just a few of the things on display.  I'm sure we'll be through several more times before the end of the year.

Shortly before 10 we were getting ready to go to bed, when I heard Dean's phone ringing.  He was upstairs, so I ran to pick it up - what a wonderful surprise - it was our grandson Logan!  I answered and talked to him for a minute or two before I told Dean to come down here, we had a phone call.  We enjoyed almost an hour of visiting with Logan.  Gosh we miss that young man, and he misses all of us here too.  We are so proud of him.  It was just great to hear from him.  We are so thankful for his call on his Papa's birthday, and on this Thanksgiving Eve!  We have so much to be thankful for.

Tuesday, November 26, 2019 - Car Repair?, Finding Something To Do in Joplin; Lunch Choices; Doctor Appointments

Tuesday, November 26, 2019 - Car Repair?, Finding Something To Do in Joplin; Lunch Choices; Doctor Appointments 

We went to bed early again last night around 9:30 and I slept until 5:00 this morning.  It's going to be a busy day, so I'm thankful for the extra sleep.  I cam downstairs to start the coffeepot and as soon as I turned it on, I remembered I had not put the water in it the night before.  I didn't turn the light on, and all of a sudden I heard water....I ran it over, not too bad, but I did have to grab a towel to sop it up real quick.  Nice way to start the day, but now that's out of the way - it's going to be a great rest of the day, I'm sure!

We have an appointment at Toyota in Joplin at 9:30 this morning so they can check out the car to see what is causing the "check engine light" to be on.  Just to be on the safe side, Dean will follow me in the car this morning for two reasons.  One if it would happen to quit before we make it there (we don't really think that will happen, but to be prepared), and if they need to keep the car, we will have a way home.  We will have quite a bit of time to spare before my annual well woman exam at 2:20.  Somehow I think we'll manage, and of course, we'll have lunch somewhere.  Dean gets to choose where since tomorrow is his birthday, and also what we'll do in between the two appointments.  

I made our smoothies, we had our showers, and soon we were ready to head out the door about 8:30.

The drive to Joplin was very routine and we arrived at the Toyota dealership just a few minutes before our appointment time.  They will call us after the diagnostic testing is done to let us know what they find.  

When we left we headed to Best Buy.  After I mentioned I thought Dean might want a TV for his birthday to put in the garage, he liked the idea so we went to look at what was available.  It wasn't open when we arrived for another 15 minutes, so we drove south a few blocks to Harbor Freight.  We walked almost every single aisle so Dean could look - just like me in a store I like.  No wonder he sometimes gets bored and after a short time goes to the car to wait on me.  Lol!  I did feel like that a time or two, but honestly HF has a lot of things that are interesting too, so I just enjoyed looking.  He bought a couple of things he wanted, and then we drove back to Best Buy.

When we returned to Best Buy, I suggested maybe we should consider buying a new TV for Bentley, and he could take the old one to the garage.  After thinking about that a bit, we decided to at least wait and measure the TV in the living room and decide which way we should go. Since the TV we have is on a lift and retreats into a cabinet when we move, we really need to know what size will fit in the space.  He watches more TV in the RV than at the garage.  Our TV has been down a lot of roads in almost six years.  It may last another six, and it could go out at any time.  Maybe being at the garage would be a good thing for it, versus continuing to take a beating as we travel.  While here, the technician called to let us know a sensor that regulates air flow is what is causing the problem.  They will not have the part in until Friday so we will leave it with them until then.  (Update:  I haven't called them yet today, but when I realized that is Black Friday, I think I'll call to see if we could pick it up Saturday morning instead.)

Dean loves fried chicken.  I read about ME's Place several years ago in the Joplin Globe and I've wanted to try it ever since.  It's a small little restaurant on Broadway Street.  From the outside it looks pretty rough and there's not much parking.  It opens at 11:00, so we decided to head there next so we could be sure and find a place to park.  Surprisingly there was a fair amount of seating inside.  We were the first ones there and at 11:02 we walked in.  Melodee, the owner, came out to meet us and gave us a menu.  Tuesday's specials were Dumplings, Chicken Fried Chicken, and Baked Chicken, but she informed us they did not have the dumplings today.  I was a little disappointed at that, but the other choices sounded good as well.  The main reason I wanted to bring Dean here though is the fried chicken which they offer every day.  As I stated above, he loves fried chicken.  That's what we both ordered, and of course I forgot to take pictures of our food, but I did take some pictures of the outside and inside of the restaurant.

With fried chicken (2 pieces) you also get two sides.  Dean chose fried okra and deep fried potatoes (like potato chips).  I chose cooked cabbage with ham and fried okra.  The meal was very, very good.  It was just the right amount of food.  

After our wonderful lunch, we headed to Home Depot to look for some more wood for the desk.  Unfortunately, we didn't find what he was wanting.   

He did find a couple of other things he wanted, so after paying for those we headed back to the car.  We still had a little over an hour before my doctor's appointment.  I called Verna to see if her and Larry were at home as they live nearby.  We thought we might visit for awhile, but she didn't answer the phone.  

Since Academy was only a short distance away, Dean suggested we stop there for something to do.  He always enjoys looking at the golf section; and I went to look for  sweatshirts.  All they had were name brand ones.  I am not interested in paying the prices they want.  I'll eventually run across something I like.

We left Academy about 1:50, and arrived at the Women's Clinic around 2 or so.  Verna called me shortly before we went in.  They had some appointments this afternoon.  They were sorry they missed us, but we are here off and on.  Dean has two appointments here next week, so maybe we can visit one of those days.  

By the time we went in, used their facilities and checked in with the receptionist I only had to wait about five minutes before they called me back.  All was good, and they sent an order down to the mammogram department for my appointment at 4.  Fortunately I was taken back a little after 3, and I was done by 3:27pm.  I like that kind of service.

We stopped at Dairy Queen in Galena and had a blizzard before we headed home.  A nice way to cap off the day.  After a big lunch and ice cream we won't need any dinner.  I had some sugarfree pudding at home that we ate later in the evening and it was just perfect.

Sometime around 7, the wind came up and with each burst the RV was rocking.  We might have had similar winds like that in the past, but not for as long as these lasted.  Dean had gone upstairs for something and I was still downstairs watching TV, when the TV went out.  I thought the weather caused it.  When Dean came downstairs he said, the electricity is off - when he saw the clock on the microwave was off.  One good thing about an RV, our batteries keep the LED lights on.  We did shut some of them off since we weren't sure how long it might be out.  Fortunately, our phones were charged so we were able to look at them until it came back on about 40 minutes later.  It was getting a little chilly, so we wrapped ourselves in our blankets.   Misti was just driving into town from Independence where she's been working, when the town just went black.  I bet that was an eerie feeling!

We watched a little TV and finally gave it up about 9:30.  It was a busy, busy day.  We are grateful for our vehicles that get us where we need to go.