January 7, 2016—An RV lot in Yuma, Arizona

Bill and I attempted a walk this morning.  The wind was blowing harder than we had anticipated.  After a block, we made a u-turn and went back home.  Before we reached the MH, rain started to fall.  And we were even colder. 

Overcast skies, a cold wind, and moisture falling.  It felt like winter.  Bill even said it felt like it might snow.  That would have been a bit too much for the Old Man!

I remember the first snowman JP built.  It was in the driveway of our new house in Gearhart.  It stood about two feet tall and had the skinniest twig arms I’ve ever seen on a snowman.  The picture of JP and Lori shows how very proud they were of their efforts.

I made an appointment to get my haircut tomorrow.  We also went to Dollar Tree.  That’s one of my favorite places to wander around in…that and Habitat Thrift Store in Loveland.  I really have high expectation of my shopping expeditions, eh?

After lunch at Taco Bell, we went home for naps.  That’s one of my favorite parts of the day!

January 6, 2016—An RV lot in Yuma, Arizona

I can’t tell you what time the rain stopped during the night, because I was asleep. I can tell you we woke up to clear blue skies and fresh clean air…no dust!

Meredith called to say Joey had to go to the Vet this morning.  He had an ear that was infected and was getting worse.  He is on some strong medicine and was sleeping after they got home.  Luckily, Michelle was able to get Hapa while the Vet thing was going on.  She spent the day tending to Tippy instead of Joey.  I think Joey was the winner, “paws down,” on that one!

Todd couldn’t walk because his hip was sore.  I guess we ran him through too many paces yesterday and wore the poor old fellow out.  Bill and I decided to get our walk in at Walmart. 

We picked out a back pack for me to take to Mississippi.  Then Bill went grocery shopping while I went to the pharmacy area to get some traveling supplies.  Now I need to change from the purse to the back pack.  That may take some doing as I haven’t cleaned my purse out for some time.

We went to Arby’s for lunch.  We both like their food, and if you don’t want fried food, you have other choices.  The Arby’s here doesn’t seem like a fast food place, probably because it seems quieter.  Its location doesn’t attract teenagers and there are very few children of any age.  Just geezers, although sometimes they are like kids.  We find it a rather relaxing place to be.

Once back at home, it was nap time.  Ah-h-h-h-h!  It was a nice evening.  We even had company, which doesn’t happen often.  Donnie, Todd and Bonnie’s younger son, came to look at our catalytic heater…the one Natalia calls our fireplace.  They are looking at getting a different one and knew we really like ours.

By the time bedtime got here it was raining.  This was certainly a different kind of day!

January 5, 2016—An RV lot in Yuma, Arizona

It was overcast this morning when we set off on a walk with Todd and both dogs.  Bill takes Maggie’s leash.  She walks fairly well for him.  Lexie, on the other hand, pulls on her leash with all her six pounds of might.  She puts it in “four paw drive” and gives it her best.  Todd hooked her to my walker one morning and it didn’t come to a very happy conclusion.  She could pull much harder than I could resist.  There is a lot of power in that tiny little body.

When we were almost back home, moisture began to fall.  It was a very fine mist.  In Oregon, we called it sea dust.  It always felt so good on our faces then and it did today, too.  If the drops of rain were a bit bigger, we called it “mizzle," a combination between mist and drizzle.  And now you have had your weather vocabulary lesson for the day.  Don’t expect much more tomorrow!  Remember, I never did get out of Kindergarten!

At 12:30, we went to fetch Todd to go to In-N-Out for lunch.  Bonnie and Donnie were involved in other activities, so it was just the three of us.  Afterwards, we went geocaching.  We had looked for one of them before, but needed Todd’s help.  He said he had to look for it four times before he found it, and then when he looked at his records, he hadn’t claimed it. 

The second one, we had tried before, also.  We couldn’t even find the road to get close to the cache.  We relied on Todd to know the way without going onto private property.  I stayed in the car, because the path was very weedy and rough looking.  But my cane went…with Todd.  So I was well represented!

At suppertime, the rain had started in earnest and continued past bedtime!

January 4, 2016—An RV lot in Yuma, Arizona

We woke up to the sound of rain on the roof this morning.  It was a pleasant sound…one we don’t often here in Arizona.  It rained off and on most of the day.  I don’t think there was much accumulation, at least not in this part of town.

We didn’t go anywhere all day.  I seldom get an entire day at home.  I made good use of my time.  I opened a huge amount of mail that Michelle had sent to us.  Other than some things for 2015 Income Tax filing, there wasn’t much of any importance.  The taxes will have to wait until I get back from Mississippi.  It is nice to have all of that sorted and some of it filed where it belongs.  That’s different, eh?

You know that I have been concerned about my diminishing brain power.  I found some information that was some comfort to me.  Brains of older people are slow because they know so much. People do not decline mentally with age, it just takes them longer to recall facts because they have more information in their brains, scientists believe. Much like a computer struggles as the hard drive gets full, so too, do humans take longer to access information when their brains are full.

Researchers say this slowing down process is not the same as cognitive decline. The human brain works slower in old age, but only because we have stored more information over time. The brains of older people do not get weak. On the contrary, they simply know more. Also, older people often go to another room to get something and when they get there, they stand there wondering what they came for. It is NOT a memory problem, it is nature's way of making older people get more exercise.  This is my theory and I’m sticking to it.

January 3, 2016—An RV lot in Yuma, Arizona

Cowboy Country Church was great this morning.  Several people sang and one played his guitar and sang.  He had a very deep voice and a bushy beard that made him look kind of like a “desert rat.”  A man joined Jack and Armond on stage with his steel guitar.  It made for an interesting combination.

We went to Panda Express for lunch.  There were six of us there.  Of course, the food was really good, but I wasn’t able to eat very much.  It was just one of those days!

We got home in time to watch the Broncos play San Diego.  It was an OK game.  Denver won, giving them a spot in the playoff games.  My personal feeling is that they are going to need to improve their game quite a bit in order to make it to the Super Bowl.  I’m still a true orange and blue Bronco fan, but that doesn’t keep me from making an honest appraisal of the team.

I had some chores to do, but didn’t even attempt to start them.  In other words, I was a lazy bum for most of the day.

January 2, 2016—An RV lot in Yuma, Arizona

Today was just about opposite of yesterday.  Things went downhill.  On our walk around a long block, I began to wonder if I would make it back to the MH.  I was dragging my feet and kind of stumbling along.  I had no energy.

When we finally made it around the block, I was really tired.  I rested for about 30 minutes, but didn’t take a nap.  We wanted to go to the Flea Market.  We stayed there for over three hours.  That was way too long for me.  I did stop to rest and listen to a musician a couple of times.

There is a card vendor there, and I like to get spare birthday cards.  Birth dates tend to sneak up on me and I never know if we will be in an area of availability when the times.  In some ways, I do try to keep on top of things.  It doesn’t always work, but I do try.

We got home in time to watch the Ducks play TCU in the Alamo Bowl.  The first half “belonged” to Oregon, with a score of 31-0 at half time.  The second half was exactly opposite.  The final score in regulation time was tied.  After three overtimes, TCU came out the winner.  I was in shock!  It was a bitter disappointment.  But I’m still a Duck fan and am looking forward to next season.

January 1, 2016—An RV lot in Yuma, Arizona

Happy New Year, everyone!  We are looking forward to a year of continued improvement.  It has been a long slow process, but when we compare January 1, 2015 to today we can certainly see a lot of progress.  There’s still quite a ways to go, but we are encouraged.

I had a good night’s sleep last night and felt good, so I ask Bill if he would like for me to make him an omelet for breakfast.  He quickly accepted my offer.  It has been well over a year (maybe two), since I have been moved to such domesticity.  I am sure it won’t happen again in this decade, if ever.

Although Bill said he really liked it, I think his taste buds are way out of whack and he was trying to encourage me.  I, however, realized my current limitations and won’t soon forget the experience.  I used a skillet that was too small and the three little eggs turned tough and leathery.  I didn’t know if I wanted to re-sole my tennis shoes or add another row of bricks to our patio.  Oh, my goodness!  Every time I apologized for my lame efforts, Bill scolded me.  Finally he showed me that he was a member of the clean plate club, which I was not, so that was the end of the discussion.  It was so sad it was just plain old funny!

We walked with Todd and Lexie this morning, even stopping at a garage sale along the way.  That was a treat for me, although I wasn’t even remotely tempted to purchase anything, from 10 cent paperback books to an $11,000.00 off road vehicle…er, fun machine!

Back at home, we watched a football game and a movie…a Western of course, and napped.  I wanted to go to In-N-Out for supper.  It seemed like a good way to start 2016.  And I wasn’t even tempted to cook anything.  I am positive I could make a disaster of a PNB sandwich.

Bill found this little story on the RV Forum which he checks daily.  I thought you might enjoy it…2016 Seenager Thoughts to Ponder

I am a Seenager. (Senior teenager) I have everything that I wanted as a teenager, only 60 years later. I don't have to go to school or work. I get an allowance every month. I have my own pad. I don't have a curfew. I have a driver's license and my own car. I have ID that gets me into bars and the whiskey store. The people I hang around with are not scared of getting pregnant. And I don't have acne. Life is Good!

Happy New Year!