Another Week Spent Doing ?????

Gosh, another week has gone by so fast. It seems I was just trying to get caught up with this blog thing just yesterday.

No pictures again this time.

Mon. & Tues. had Bill feeling a little under the weather so we didn't dance on Monday. That gave me a day to clean & defrost the refrigerator/freezer. One is bad enough, but in this 5th wheel we have 2. The nice thing is you can leave one running & move stuff from one to the other, that is, if you have enough room. Thankfully we have a cooler that plugs in outside too. Why is it you don't seem to have time to do this BEFORE you buy groceries????

Tues. & Thurs. afternoons I was helping to monitor an Excel 2003 class. That meant I had to give up line dancing classes on Tues. (That hurt!!!!) Next week I'll have to do that too. Next week on Tues. & Wed. I'll be taking a class myself on Backup of Computers. Something I've been meaning to learn a long time ago. I don't want to loose what I have on mine! I don't live on it, but I don't want to loose it either. You never know when it could..........shhhhh.......crash!

Pilate/Stretch classes are going well. My back still doesn't like some of the movements, but I just skip those. Did you ever notice how your hamstrings become soooooo short as you become older????? My arms are 4 times the length of my legs!! LOL You never heard a room full of women moan & grown so much and a teacher so encouraging. One of the gals told her she could be a birthing coach. We all cracked up!!! As you can tell we have a lot of fun & hopefully we will have some results from all that moaning & groaning!

Weight Watchers & I didn't have an argument this past week either! I made it through Christmas, New Year's & a Birthday I still lost .6 lbs. Now of course the next 2 weeks I'll want to be bad.....notice the word "want". Some days I fall off the wagon, but then I have to get up & get back behind that horse pulling the wagon. What a constant battle to keep our bodies in shape! I still rather do that than go to a doctor though!!!

Just to give you an update on the more serious stuff -
My brother-in-law, Bob, had his surgery this past week & it seems the doctor was pleased & optimistic. The tumor on his jaw was not wrapped around anything & appears to be non-cancerous from all the tests so far. He was able to get his teeth back in & they fit (which made him happy) & he was laughing & talking with his room mates the next day. He was able to smile with no affects of nerve damage from the cutting. He still is having some problems with getting sick, but I think that might be the effects of medication. The report from his daughter was that he did eat cherry pie & some coffee. That means he's doing good!! Coffee for a Swede is one of the essential basic foods!!! LOL He did have a fall down at the barn a couple weeks ago & they did an Xray & they think it is his rotator cuff. Another surgery??? Probably, but who knows. When you are 80, how much can your body take at one time?

My sister-in-law, Carolyn, is doing really good from her surgery. I called her this morning & when she answered the phone she sounded like the old, chipper Carolyn. She still is working at getting her appetite back, but she has a positive outlook. She is trying to stay active which is good for building her strength & body back to normal.

This coming week will be another busy one where we need the calendar with us. Because the Comedy Club had a show last night & again on Mon. night, the Jam Session has been moved to Sun. afternoon, so we won't be lacking in activities this weekend. I'm getting ready to make cookies for Chapel tomorrow as the Sunshine Acres Children's Home kids are coming & you know kids, we need extra cookies! Monday night we will go to the Comedy Club Show as we missed it last night. Besides, Monday they will have all the bugs worked out & more relaxed. Always think it's better the last night! Tues. night a big band will be entertaining & Bill wants to go hear that. Nice to be entertained with music & the price is always right ($3.00/person) & you don't have to drive anywhere either.

I wanted to paint my sign today too. (Our friend, Don, made us a state of PA that I'm going to put our name on & where we are from). But just a bit on the chilly side for standing outside to do that. I know we will have a warmer day for it. Bill & I began to wire brush the hitch on the trailer to paint too, but we had to buy a wire brush attachment for the drill. The hand tool just doesn't cut it. Want to get that done on a warm day too.

I guess I'd better get my cookies baked. The day is moving right along & I haven't accomplished much of anything yet. Before you know it I'll be asking what we are having for supper! (Dinner for some of you, but I'm still a farm girl at heart so for me it's supper!)

Until next time....................The Traveling Cardinal's

Super Bowl here we come!

No pictures, no long blog......just to let you all know we are still alive & basking in the glorious sun (& Son). Weather is perfect (not like back east!! LOL), temps in the 70's.

Had a great day today with the annual Chapel's annual fellowship dinner & entertainment by gospel singer Roy Hope. Another great meal & I did try to behave myself. The church women are like everywhere......great cooks! This was the 11th annual dinner out of the 22 years the chapel has been active here at the park. Attendance this morning at chapel was 293 compared to last year of 260. Last week it was 298. God is working in the lives of many.

Bill was under the weather today so didn't go with me. No more stuffed peppers for him. Those peppers just don't like him I guess. Should have known, but I was hungry for them. Next time I'll just buy the frozen ones & make it for myself. So he stayed home & watched...........you guessed it, the playoffs. Well, let me tell you, since we had TWO Pennsylvania teams in the playoffs, I had to agitate all my neighbors! I wasn't really rooting for the Eagles, but they gave Arizona a run in the last quarter. But I was glad Pittsburgh won as the other team to go to the Super Bowl. Now I can really agitate everyone in the neighborhood. They are all rooting for Arizona because the quarterback is from Iowa. So I guess I'll just have to be the odd ball & root for the Steelers! Besides, that would be traitorous if I didn't root for my home state team!

Well, tomorrow is a busy day as is the rest of the week, so I'd better "hit the hay". So................... Until next time......................The Traveling Cardinal's

Sorry about the layout of my blog!

I made some changes & I see it looks terrible! It didn't look like that in the preview.

I guess I need some lessons!!!! Nothing I do makes sense some days. Hopefully I can get it corrected by the next update.

Never mind........I went back & fixed it!

Soooooooooo Far Behind

I don't even know where to begin. My New Year's Resolution to "keep up" didn't last long. Just kidding......that's why I don't make any! A couple people have emailed to see what we've been doing & I said we've been so busy I haven't had time to blog. You have to carry one of those pocket calendars around with you because you either overbook or forget what the plans are for the week or the day. Mostly it's forget!

As I said in my last post, Bill & I started our Monday classes of Country Western dancing. We have a lot of fun, but we have decided to only do the 2 step class. It's easier to accomplish one thing at a time. Bill is doing really good. Building his confidence on the dance floor anyway. When he sees a lot of other beginners, that helps. Also, the crowds at the Monday Night Jam Sessions are huge now that most of the snowbirds are all back. So he feels he can get out there & loosen up a bit. We do a lot of laughing because we get out of step. Oh well, the idea is to have fun & I've waited 42 years to get him to dance! He said the other night, give me a pair of roller skates! He was the best on them, that's why I picked him!!!!

Last Thursday was our first BBQ Pot Luck. Our friend Kay down the street, made the best "from scratch" carrot cake!! Did I have a piece??? You betcha!!! No, I didn't take my camera. It was very well attended. Bill & I will be helping Lou & Lynda & Dave & Carol getting that set up each week. Right now Dave & Carol went on a nice little vacation - I think to the Caribbean. Now that sounds like a vacation!

I've changed Pilates classes from 9 to 8am so now I have to make the conscious effort to get up earlier. I thought they might be a little easier on my back than the other class. Some things are a little easier, I just have to learn which moves I can do & which ones will hurt my back. I feel pretty good this week. I'm trying to decide if I should go once a week or twice a week. When I go at 8am on Mondays, then walk for 2 miles, go to the Market Place, come home clean up & go dance, I'm pooped at the end of the day!

When I came home before the Market Place (I took my shower at the club house as I had to recaulk our leaky shower again!), I checked my phone messages & I'd forgotten to go to an email class I said I'd help monitor! See, I told you it's all about "forgetting"!

Connie, The TeacherGreg, Jean, Nettie, Bobbie, Marilyn, Pat, Bev, Steve - The Class & Monitors

This past Mon. Bill did a No, No! He got Ruby, our neighbor, to ask me to go computer shopping with her. She wasn't very interested as I noticed, but thought oh well, she hasn't made up her mind which kind of laptop to get yet. Come to find out she had bought a new computer (desktop) that morning & she was just keeping me away from the trailer so Bill & the neighbors could put together a surprise birthday party. Phyllis asked him where he was going to put them all & he said he thought maybe a nice neighbor would let him use her patio! I think he should have checked with her first! He's a stinker, but he got me some beautiful apricot roses. That would have been enough. But 22 people came to share my evening & Bill cooked chicken on the grill & everyone brought something. It was fun. He was afraid I'd be really mad at him. I had told him in the morning after I saw the roses, he'd better not tell anyone. Now that it's over, I can tell!

Ruby, the culprit who took me "shopping"

Me & My Honey

Jim (Ruby's honey - Birthday 01-14), Peg & BillPart of the gang
Kay (who made that delicious carrot cake for the potluck), Kay (Chico's), Gene & FayeRay & Marquita

Tuesday I didn't forget to go to email class, but I got there early so I went & walked my 2 miles on the treadmill. Boy, when it's cooler outside, it's a beautiful sight from that exercise room! You can look at those mountains & wonder "how far up them have I walked" & you never left the room. Also, if you didn't tell anyone & you just looked at the picture, you could almost tell them you were in Hawaii! Dream on!

Mel on left; lady who had open heart surgery last Fall on right

Tuesday afternoon is 2 hrs. of line dancing. Talk about tired legs. By last night I was ready to just put my feet up, but no, I had to run to the store, catch up on the checkbook and write out some cards. Oh ya, then clean up my emails. Did I say I went to bed around 11??

Fred our teacher Getting Ready
A few more, Lois on right is 92!!! Bless Her Heart! Yes, she does all 2 hours!

Bill told me today to get this blog caught up so I could spend the rest of the day outside in the sun & then tonight I could work on my scratch art again before class in the morning. I won't take a picture of this one because it's for a gift & if anyone sees it here they might guess who it would be for! Now all the family can wonder! Sorry!

Each week is pretty much the same except who we spend time with & where we go to eat when we go out. On Fri. night we've gone to the Am. Legion a couple times with the neighbors. They have very good meals, but Bill leaves & I stand in line to pay because it's in the smoking section & we both hate it! But it's worse for him.


This past Sunday we went with Ray & Marquita, & Larry & Bobbie to Paradise Bakery for brunch. It was good, but for your first time you don't know what you are doing, where to order, where to pick up. It was a little pricey, but hey, ya gotta eat somewhere different now & then. Bill's favorite is Sweet Tomatoes. It's all healthy, low-cal, low-fat salad bar. Very few desserts to choose from. We like it there. I thought that was where he was going to take me for my birthday, but I guess not.

Next Sunday is the Chapel Dinner, so we will be eating there after the service. I'm making chicken & Amish noodles. I'm sure there will be more than health foods there! I've never seen church ladies who couldn't cook or bake!!!!!

On another note, Bill's sister had her cancer surgery last Friday & seems to be doing well. Hopefully she was to come home today. They feel they got it all & it wasn't as big as they first thought. They didn't have to remove so much of her colon that she had to have a bag. That was wonderful news. Keep her in your prayers during her recovery.

Next Thursday, my brother-in-law, Bob, will be having surgery at the VA hospital in Buffalo, NY. He has a growth on/near his jaw. Apparently they will have to do extensive cutting from in front of his ear, down his jaw & down his neck. They are not sure if the growth is wrapped around anything nor if it is cancerous. The surgery could take from 2-1/2 to 6 hrs. Please keep him & my sister Romayne & their family in your prayers. This has the family quite concerned. He has been a real trooper through a broken back, prostrate cancer, bad hips, ulcerated legs & other problems, so let's hope the outcome to this is positive. He is a fighter! The family can use lots of support. As I said, your thoughts & prayers would be very much appreciated. Their daughter Dee will be closing her daycare temporarily so she can be with them & the rest of the family will be sitting on pins & needles wishing they could be there too. This is when I wish we weren't so far away from family. I guess we have to learn to accept the bad along with the good. As long as they know we are with them in thought, that is the most important thing right now.

Well, I have no more good or bad news, so until next time............The Traveling Cardinal's

Oh by the way..........look at the time..........it took me all afternoon to do this! No sun today for me!

First Post of 2009

The new year has begun with much joy, fun and sadness too.

Our New Year's Eve party traveling the neighborhood was a lot of fun. I came out a few nickels ahead. As you can tell we don't play for big stakes! I talked to a lady on Sat. at breakfast & asked her what they played for when they played Tonk. She said pennies. No inflation in Michigan!

New Year's Day was great! We really enjoyed the National High School Band Championships. It was a long day (11am - 10:30pm). Didn't get back home until 11:45pm. We did a lot of reminiscing and thought of the many band parents we had so much fun with during our kids band days. Looking at some of the equipment they hauled, I was really glad we did it in our "younger" years! Pictures are of inside of Univ. of Phoenix Stadium (where the Super Bowl was held last year) and a few of the bands and the formations.

The above band was Grove City High School, Grove City, Ohio. Because the color of their uniforms were red & white, several times they looked like peppermint candy sticks on the field. Certainly made for unique patterns.

Friday I finished taking Christmas decorations down. Saturday I cleaned out and cleaned the trailer good for the beginning of the year. It ended up being a sad day. Our friend down the street from Syracuse, NY passed away in the afternoon. Then that evening our good friends Phyllis & Tom called us over to say her brother in Minn. had passed away. She had been waiting since Christmas Day for the sad news. She is flying to Minn. tomorrow & while she is gone I will be Tom's nurse. Will help him with taking his blood sugar & giving him his insulin shots. Never thought I'd ever be brave enough to do it. It really isn't so bad. He's such a sweetheart he wouldn't tell me if I hurt him anyway. I guess I'm not too bad, he invited us to take him out to supper on Wednesday night!

Today Bill and I started our Country Western Two Step dance classes. We really had a lot of fun. The Texas Two Step wasn't so bad, but the next class was Pattern Dances. Bill has found he has 2 left feet, but with practice I'm sure he will do fine and we just need to keep going. The Pattern Dances are like line dancing only with your partner. So I feel like I have had a little more practice with some of the steps. Another challenge we will face together. I'm just so excited that after all these years, he has decided to take lessons to dance.

Well, now that I've brought you up to date, it's time to head down to the club house for Monday Night's Jam Session. Probably won't be brave enough to dance yet, but it's still fun to listen.

Until next time..............The Traveling Cardinal's

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL!

We want to wish all our faithful readers, friends & relatives a very Happy New Year! May 2009 hold all the dreams of what you want it to be.

I said to a man who stood at the gate of the year, "Give me a light that I may
tread safely into the unknown." And he replied, "Go out into the darkness
and put your hand in the hand of God. That shall be to you better than a
light and safter than a known way."
A wonderful way to look at the end of a year and to begin the new.

This week hasn't been quite as busy since Christmas. Nice to slow down a little.

A friend invited me to a Pilates/Stretch class on Monday. At least she said she was my friend! She truly is! But oh my. This is Wed. & I'm still having a hard time with muscles I didn't know I had. I try not to cough either! I said during class if God had wanted me to be a pretzel he would have left me 10 years old! It was fun & I think it just goes to show how much my body needs to do that to keep from having back, neck & hip problems down the road. At least that is suppose to be the goal! I can't do it twice a week, but I will continue to go on Monday mornings. It is another one of those challenges.

Tonight will be our traveling game night. We all split up from our spouses & go to 4 different trailers (all preassigned). We play a different game at each trailer for 50 minutes, then have 10 mins. to go to the next one. At 11:00pm we will all meet back at the 5th trailer for food & celebration of the new year. Those of us who don't host will bring the food. I'm taking veggies. It's not hard & after snacking at the other places, I doubt we will be very hungry.

Tomorrow Bill & I will be going to the University of Arizona's stadium (where last year's Super Bowl was) to watch the National High School Band Championships. I'm sure it will be a fun day. As old Band Parents, we are really looking forward to it! I hope I can get some pictures. We got seats on the 40-50 yard line & if it was a football game they would have cost $400!! Also, if it was football, at that price I wouldn't be there!

So, as the old year closes, thank you for being faithful readers and I welcome you back next year to more episodes of...................The Traveling Cardinal's

Merry Christmas (two days later)

We hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas and got to spend time with family and/or friends. We sure missed our families this first year away. But I got a nice present for next year. Bill told me we could fly back East to Maryland for Christmas! Now I won't care when we leave to come to Arizona as long as I know we can go home to the kids for Christmas!

We did enjoy our time here with friends though. Christmas Eve 12 of us attended Christmas Eve services as Broadway Christian Church at 4:30pm for their candle light service. It was very nice & boy could those people sing! Talk about a "joyful noise unto the Lord"!!!! Needless to say, my emotions didn't let me get through the first prayer!! Bill knew then it was going to be a rough Christmas!

After the service we all came back to the park to Gene & Faye's for supper. They prepared grilled salmon (from Washington State!) and prawns (shrimp to most of us only larger). It was delicious. I made our families traditional Christmas Eve meal of stuffed shells. There was clam chowder, potato salad, vegetable salad, jello salad, several dips & snacks & of course, fudge & pies & cakes. We all ate so much we could hardly move. Gene had put tarps up around the patio & then a propane heater kept us warm. It stayed around 60-62 deg. & was very comfortable.

Christmas day we ate at the club house. Bill & I were the host/hostess for our table so I roasted the turkey & we decorated the table for 21 of us. It was really nice, but I wouldn't do it again next year. I learned afterwards that almost everyone does their turkey the day before, slices it & then just heats it up for Christmas day. I didn't know that & tried to get mine roasted fresh that day & hot & ready on time. It is too much to be the hostess AND cook the turkey. You don't get time to socialize before hand & by the time you eat, everyone else is ready to go home. I almost didn't get dessert. The one good thing was I didn't go back for seconds!

Christmas day our friend Phyllis had bad news that her brother in Minneapolis had a stroke. Our thoughts & prayers are with her & her family at this time of waiting & testing. She has made plans to go there if her brother doesn't make it. We will help Tom with his blood sugar testing & insulin shots & Gene & Faye will make sure he eats right. We pray whenever & if ever she has to travel, she has a safe & quick trip. It is always hard to be away from family at times like these.

We spent that last couple of days just visiting with friends here in the park & having a good time. We told our friends, Ray & Marquita, we were looking for some steps to the entrance of the trailer & lo & behold, Ray calls the next morning to tell us he found some as he was meandering around the park. We went to look at them, came home & measured, went back & bought them. We were just waiting to find someone with a trailer or whatever so we could move them. We knew we couldn't lift them up into the truck. Well, Gene, our nice neighbor & friend (also Mr. Fixit), says let's get the golf cart & go look. I said you can't get them on the back of the golf cart they are way too big. He just looked at me! Never said a word. Well.....................look how we got them back to the trailer............ Roger and Gene....

Of course, I inadvertently erased one of the pictures that showed it from the back. It was pretty funny looking with that golf cart going down the road with these double steps on the back!!!! We got a few curious stares!

We also have storage under the steps. The 2nd from bottom step hinges up as does the top. Now we can keep our extra cooler in there when we don't need it in the truck & we can use the back seat for passengers.

This is the crew. We have the greatest neighbors! Everyone is always so willing to help someone else. Roger, Gene, Bill and Tom, the supervisor.

We even are beginning to look like we are going to stay awhile. We now have a 100# propane tank so we don't have to keep running to the propane dealer here in town every 4 days.

Yes, it's been cold enough to keep that furnace running quite a bit (especially at night). Remember.......no place on earth (at least within my budget) has the perfect temperature year around! December and part of January just happen to be Arizona's winter too. But just look at the picture!!! We have sunshine, bikes & NO snow! We aren't shoveling anything here in the Valley! We have had quite a bit of rain, but this next week looks beautiful. Temperatures are suppose to be in the high 60's. I can take that! But it was frosty this morning. Several people had their flowers covered last night. It was a good thing too. This will make the orange picking time come sooner. If not, we will have our own frozen concentrate! I've picked one about the size of a soft ball off our tree. We only had 2 oranges & I can't get my fingers only about 2/3 of the way around it. I want to cut into it, but I keep saying "a couple more days".

Well, I'm sure more people will be arriving this next week. With the holiday season coming to a close, the rest of the "snowbirds" will be flying in.

It's hard to remember what day it is when we have weeks like this with weekends & holidays in between. Every morning I wake up & can't remember if it's Monday or what. Of course, some days are like that even without the holidays! It's an age thing I think. At least it was the last time I remembered. :) :)

Ok, I'm getting goofy. Until next time..................The Traveling Cardinal's