November 25th thru Dec 25th 2013

November 27th   Weds

Still cold out and Dan went out for his morning coffee with the boys..   I decided that I was going to go and play Pokeno with the ladies this afternoon. I was down to a few cents in my pouch and then borrowed some pennies and built it us a little bit.  Ha Ha   it was fun.... Some one has to win and someone has to loose... I am just out for the fun of it,,, Win or Loose.

November 28th  Thursday    --  Thanksgiving

Well this morning I had to make my stuffing for the Pot Luck. Well, I got all the ingredients out and then I prepped all the stuff and put it all together. Put it in a crock pot and oh boy,  it turned out to be so so good.We came back after dinner and relaxed on our chairs and took a nap and let the dinner settle.  Later turned on Duck Dynasty for some good ole laughs...

November 29th  Friday

Up early, doing  my morning rituals... Dan went for coffee this morning with the boys and then they went off on their Black Friday shopping.

Sun Rise

I decided seeing that I had the truck, that I was going to go to Rockport and do some shopping myself..  I had taken Herbie out for a walk before I left and I seen my friend Judy Kelble sitting out reading and asked her if she would like to join me..  So off to Rockport we went.. I was on a mission looking for a new pair of yellow box flip flops... Then we had stopped at a few other shops and resale places.  We stopped at a bead store and I signed up for a beading class..

November 30th  Saturday

Warm this morning and in the 50's...  Dan went for coffee with the boys and ended up being gone almost 5 hours. He was helping with some plumbing in the upper floor of the community building.  I was getting ready to go and do some shopping myself and he came home.  We stopped over to the Palm's to see Gene and Linda...  Then went to Wal-mart to pick up the few items that I needed.. The weather was really nice today.. There was a Happy Hour over in the Community Building this afternoon. Along with Pork Sandwiches and misc snacks... Gerald from Missouri made the pork loins on charcoal grill,   Really yummy...

DECEMBER

December came in like a Lion....Cold.... Cold.  We had a few nice and sunny days in the beginning of the month, but then the cold winds came from the North and West.. Herbie didn't even care to be out long on his walks...  More Winter Texans are arriving.  We are starting our get-togethers with the Heartland Friends.

The progress of building more RV sites here at Southern Oaks is coming along quite well..Dan has been enjoying watching the progress and the procedures that they do down here..  33 sites are to be ready by Christmas..

There are a number of Quilter"s here in the park.  After the 1st of the year they hope to have one full day a week, that they get together and quilt and work on projects.  I think I would like to learn the basics and see where it takes me.  I also have started going and playing Pokeno on Monday and Weds.   I had to get some rolls of pennies from the bank, as I could loose alot.    

One of the neighbors in our row, who is from Missouri loves to Grill and BBQ and he has been doing just that for some of the Happy Hours.  He made Pork or Brisket and has sandwiches and charges a few dollars to cover the cost of the meat. 

 Making Prime Rib on a Charcoal grill..... Yummy

Then others bring snacks or salads to go with it..Sure is good.

They have a Birthday Pot Luck once a month to celebrate the month's birthdays. 

I had gone to Corpus Christi on the 5th with one of the gals. We left at 9 am and got back around 3:30. gone to the mall and alot of the out stores.. Had a good time and found some items I just couldn't live without.   

I had bought a small Christmas Tree and light and small ornaments and have it set up on the counter.  It looks festive here.

Then the following Thursday I took another one of my friends shopping for the day.. 

Saturday 12/14  I baked 10 loaves of Julekage (Norwegian Christmas Bread) and shared with some winter friends for the holiday...It was fun doing that. Although I burned up my hand mixer and so now I need to get a new one

.. 

Sunday 12/15 we had our friends Gene and Linda over for dinner and she brought homemade apple dumplings for dessert.

10 days have passed and here we are at Christmas..

I had done some more baking, and watched the construction of more new sites here in the park.  

 Getting ready to pump out water from ground to Dig.

If they dig 4 ft down there is water.  They need to pump out

the water so they can dig deeper..

 Digging for sewer  pipe to make connections

On Friday the 20th, we had a breakfast with our Heartland Friends at Moby Dicks in Port Aransas..A great place to enjoy a nice breakfast.  More of the Heartland group will be coming after the first of the year. It will be nice to see them again..

 Pat and Jim Doggett

 New Heartland Owners  Tommy and Doris Dahms

We spent our 29th wedding anniversary with friends from Minnesota, Ted and Nancy Hansen  and we went to Texas Roadhouse for dinner. 

Afterwards we went to see the decorations in a area of Corpus Christi.. CANDY CANE LANE....  The traffic was horrendous, bumper to bumper and streets were closed off, so we decided that we would come back the next night. We drove along the lakefront and seen a few decorations and the Corpus Christi Christmas Tree and the lighted bridge and of course the Lexington.

A few of many beautiful decorated homes!!

We ended the evening at Dairy Queen.

We arrived around 5:30 pm and it was clear driving around. The lights were on and about 1 hour later it was back to back again.. Glad we got there early..  Ended the evening at a different Dairy Queen..  LOL


Christmas Eve, I made a nice breakfast for us.. We ran a few errands, I was even lucky enough to get an appointment to get my hair cut. Then came back and made a few Holiday phone calls and settled in. Later Dan and I had a nice quiet dinner at home, Steak, Baked Potato, and Salad..  We watched a few Christmas Programs...


Christmas Day, I made my dish to pass for Christmas Dinner, I went and took pictures of the Prime Ribs that were being prepped for the grill..

 Prime Rib, Ready to go on Grill

 Smoked Turkey

There was 2 Turkery's, 2 Hams, 2 Prime Ribs, with alot of sides to go with them.  We were going to come back after dinner and take Herbie to the Beach, but Dan and I had some wine with Dinner and when Dan has alcohol, he does not drive... So maybe during the weekend Herbie will be able to run on the beach..

After dinner we came back and took a snooze and I called my brother in Wisconsin, and I had a great present, my Nephew Dan was there having dinner and I got to talk to him and wish him a Merry Christmas. I had not talked to him in years.  I always had a special place in my heart for him, but circumstances kept us estranged.. I hope that 2014 will change that.

So this will be the last Blog for 2013... Hopefully I will get back on track for 2014 and do it on a regular basis..

It was a great year and we enjoyed every day of it...

Novemeber 11th to November 24th

Nov 11th   Monday   Happy Veteran Day

Today is a day that we should never forget.... Dan and I are so thankful for what the Veterans and Active Military have done for our country.. God Bless...

Nov 12th   Tuesday    Happy Birthday to Me.....

What a great day.. Woke up another year older.. Happy that I made it another year.. It was a great year and did alot of traveling and made new friends and enjoyed being with old friends..  We went to Texas A1 Steakhouse in Portland for dinner with some HOC friends.

 Karen's Birthday

Nov 13th    Weds

Up early and when Gene and Linda arrived, we left and headed for Salty Dogs to drop off Herbie and Marcella at the boarders.  Then we headed down to the Valley.. We went to Don-Wes Flea Market and walked around. We bought some watermelon and a pineapple and Gene bought a bag of oranges..We then went to Gonzales's for their famous burgers.  they are so so big and so so good... Yummy... I had a hard time eating 1/2 of one.

Then we headed to McAllen to the Dury Inn and checked in..

 Gonzales Burger.... Oh so good..

Nov  14th   Thurs

Up early and had a great hot breakfast in the Lobby at Dury Inn..  Then off to Progresso, Mexico.  Dan and I and Gene and Linda had our teeth cleaned... WOW, what a cleaning for $30.00.  The dentist office, is very modern, clean and efficient.  We went to Renee's Bakery and had coffee and doughnuts, and then Dan and Gene went and had their pedicure.. The place that they go to had upgraded to new pedicure seats and bowls.  Soon we were going through customs and heading back to Aransas Pass..  We stopped in Kingsville at Chili's for dinner.  The dogs were so happy to see us.  Herbie was outside with 2 bulldogs and he seen the truck pull up and he turned and looked at the truck and then started barking, those bulldogs looked at him and barked at him, and he was stunned and looked back and waited.

He was ecstatic when he knew that we were there to pick him up...

Nov  15th   Friday

Things were not so well for Dan this morning..  He had a terrible night with spending most of it in the bathroom.   Upset stomach.   No moving out and about for Dan..  A Oil rig was going out this morning and I wanted to go and see it.. Well, the timing was off, and the line to get on the ferry was a 45 minute wait.  I could see the rig from where I was waiting for the ferry.. Sad, I was suppose to meet others.  Well, there were pictures posted on facebook, and others have some pictures that I can copy.

Tonight is a Birthday Pot Luck for November Birthday's.  Dan did not go, I went and had a good time.. Happy Birthday was sung to about 6 of us..

Nov 16th   Sat

Dan is still recovering from the Texas Krud.  We went to Port A and met the HOC friends for breakfast at San Juan's.  I think that this is not the place to go for breakfast especially on a weekend. 

The Bakery in Aransas Pass, still has the best breakfast.   

 Made a light dinner for Dan and myself..  Dan slept most of the day in his chair.  Our highlight of Saturday night is turning on RFD-TV and watching Midwest Country and Cumberland Singers, Mollie B's polka party and Larry's Cafe.. I let Dan watch most of it. I have been reading some good books in the evening .. Now I am reading James Patterson, 1st book in the Women's Murder Club Series..

Nov  17th  Sun.

Today I was up early and wondering how Dan was.  We have plans to go to the valley and stay with our friends/second family Wes and Sandy..  I asked Dan how he felt and he said that it was iffy.. We decided to stay around for a few hours and see how things went.  We left around 10 AM for Mission, and I drove all the way down.. If I must admit, I did well.  Sandy and Wes were surprised to see the truck pull up and I was driving,.. I don't mind driving, if I know where I am going.. I did have a problem with the 75 MPH speed limit.  I do not feel comfortable driving that fast... So we had an easy ride down.  When we arrived it was so hot and humid.    We unloaded the truck and visited and then Dan and I went to the grocery store to get a few things. Sandy and Wes went to their Club house and had dinner and then a gospel jam afterwards.  Sandy and Wes are great jammers and they enjoy performing at different jams around Mission area.    Oh yes, Herbie make himself right at home... he comes on in and settles in and they enjoy him so much.. They tell their neighbors that Herbie is not a DOG.. He is just one of the kids.

Nov 18th  Monday

Still warm and humid at 7 AM..  I can't imagine how they can survive in the dead of summer with heat and humidity..

Woke up early everyone is still in bed, I make coffee, turn on the morning news and check my emails and do Words With Friends.. I must say, I am getting better at it.. I had a 11 am appointment at a dentist in Progresso, Mexico.WOW, now it is .50 to get into Mexico..Last year it was .30... I was having some impressions done and had to be there for about 2 hours.  So, after the impressions we walked around and got some dog meds and stopped at Renee's cafe for  coffee and doughnuts.. then, back to the border..  Cost us .35 to get back into the US.

 Sandi and Wes practicing for a jam later

 Wes and Herbie

Dan and Herbie Chilling.... Look where he put his chew!

Nov 19th  Tuesday
Back over to Progresso for a fitting in wax..  Then we went and got some more meds and looked around at the Disco Market..  Came back and washed clothes, one of the benefits of staying with good friends, they even let you use their wash machine. We took our dirty laundry along with the idea of going to the Laundromat and doing our laundry.   Made dinner  and we just relaxed.   What A Life  EH!!

Nov 20th  Weds

The weather today was alot better than it had been in the Valley.. Just laid around and later took Sandy and Wes out for dinner. Went to CHEDDARS.. They have such wonderful food.  Dan had his favorite, Chicken tenders.  When we got back home I turned on Duck Dynasty..Had a few laughs and then turned on something else.  Time to get ready for bedtime..

Nov 21st  Thurs.

Up Early again at friends home and Dan was not feeling good.  We went back to Progresso to complete my dental work, and then went back to Sandy and Wes, picked up Mr. Herbie and headed back to Aransas Pass.  It is always better to be home in your own enviorment when one is sick and not feeling well.  I drove back home.  I was tired, but I tuffed it out and headed north. It is about a 3 hour drive.  Made Dan some soup when we got back and he sat in his chair and took one of his long naps.

Nov 22nd  Friday

It was nice waking up in your own bed.  Dan said that he felt pretty good.  He went and had coffee with the boys this morning. According to weather the cold front was coming through.  Boy yes it did.. the sky was dark and all of a sudden the winds picked up.  Time to go and dig out warmer clothes.  Got a call from friends at another park and wanted to know if we wanted to go to Pizza Hut.. We said sure.. Came back home and snuggled on our chairs and watched some TV..  Boy what a week...

Nov 23rd  Sat
Another cold morning,,,, I had such a taste for waffles.. I got up earlier again, made my coffee and snuggled in my chair with a blanket.. Watch the morning news and then turned on the cooking channel. When Dan got up I said that waffles would be a good breakfast.  Well, he made me breakfast.. Later for dinner we were meeting with our Heartland group at Moby Dick's.  We had 4 couples and a great time.



Nov 24th  Sun

Another cold morning,,,, This stuff has to change..   We decided that we had better get to the grocery store before the crowds get there..  So we had a little bite to eat and then off to Portland to HEB.. Then to Mickee-ee "D's" for a sandwich and then I wanted to go to BEALLS... Well, they didn't open until noon.. so we went next door to Radio Shack.  I am looking for a cassette player like the Sony Walkman..  Well...Hello I guess I am about 20 years to late.. They don't make them anymore.So we still had time to kill and Dan inquired about a smart phone.. His phone is ready for a upgrade.  So to make a long story short, he got a smart phone.  We changed our plan and now I have text...... surprise.. now try to figure that out.. Well.. I can not figure out how these people can drive and text at the same time.. I am having a hard time texting sitting in my chair and holding the phone..

We went out to dinner with our South Dakota neighbors.. We ended up going to Port Aransas at BEACHES..  yummy and I even got the last piece of bread pudding and took it home..It was a nice time with them and what was nice also, that we were able to carry on a conversation without a dozen other people talking at the same time...

Well, this has been 2 weeks and just hope that things

get better.....