I know, it has been a long time since I have written anything in the blog. Since we have returned from vacation, I have been busy making lap quilts and still didn't get all of them finished for Christmas, but gave them anyway and Kristi and Angela just had to give them back to me to finish. I have really enjoyed making them and it keeps me and my mind occupied. I, also have had the cold and cough crud for two weeks now and I haven't really felt like doing a lot of quilting.

We had a nice Christmas in our new home this year. I had to get a new tree because the old tree was to big for this small living room, but the new tree looked great. I am going to try to get new decorations next year and fix the tree totally different. We had lights outside on the house and down the sidewalk, but not having much traffic on this street, I don't know if anyone really saw them or not, but we enjoyed them and that is the most important thing. On Christmas Day, we had brunch with our kids and grandkids and then had the present opening. We(Bobby and I), like every married couple of 40+ years, didn't know what to get each other, so we got new recliners and called that our Christmas, which was great.

Our two cats are still here and eating us out of house and home. They are both gaining weight and doing great. Lady is back to normal after his little escapade after our moving. He had a UTI about a month after he came back and had to make a trip to the vet,but is doing great now.

Well, I have gotten caught up on the past two months. I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and I wish everyone a Happy New Year!!

October 17----Lady Cat

Well, i guess most of you know by now that Lady, my white Himalyan Perisaon cat had disappeared after we moved. Well, tonight, after a busy day moving boxes out of the storage unit to the garage, Lady came home. He had been gone for 7 weeks. He is very skinny, but at least found home again. I don't have any idea where he has been, but I don;t think some one had him because he is too skinny. I feel like he tried to find his way home on Salem Road, but after a lot of roaming he found his way back here. I am so glad to see him. I called Kristi and Bobby and was crying like a baby, but at least my baby was back. He needs a lot of nourishment and hopefully he will be okay.

We finally got a storage building on our property and now the final part of the move will be done. The boxes we moved today, I am going through and putting what I can in the house and the rest will go in the storage building and I will leave one corner for Bobby to have for his tools and whatever he needs to have room for him a work area. I will be glad when all the stuff is moved out of the storage unit we have been renting and is HOME with us.

Oct. 11-Oct. 15

Well, we made it out of Laughlin, Nv, after taking a cruise on the Colorado River. It was really a nice cruise. We left Laughlin on Sunday morning and drive over to Phoenix and stayed in the Ak-Chin Hotel, which is a property of Harrah's. I didnt' win anything but enjoyed staying there. On monday, we left and drove throught he Sanguara Natl. Park and looked at the cactus. I love cactus and really enjoyed driving through the park. We drove on over to Tucson and on up through New Mexico on an off road and ended up staying at another casino, Inn of the Mountain Gods and it is really a nice place. We have decided that when we need a retreat we are reatreating to this place. It has a lake, golf course, walking trails and just about anything you want. It is in the mountains, outside Alamogorda, and it is very quite and peaceful. The next morning we got up and it was raining, the first day we had rain on our entire trip. It rained on us all day, until we reached Shamrock, Texas, where we stayed for the night. It continued to rain and we got up the next morning with more rain and it rained on us off and on until we reached home that afternoon and then the big storm came through here and it rained all night. It was good to be home and we really ahd a nice trip. Hope I haven't bored everyone with my blog.

Update on Journey Oct. 4-10

We visited in Salt Lake over the weekend and stayed in the condo that Bill and Elke have downtown, across from the condo, is the Gateway, a large open air mall, which is very nice. We walked through in the rain, but enjoyed it very much. We left SLC on Sunday morning and went over to Wendover, NV and stayed a night at the Peppermill Casino and played the slots and rode up the street to the Rainbow Casino in a shuttle. It was a different town to be in, but nice. We left on Monday morning, when we left Wendover, we went down the back roads, staying off the freeways, looked at the scenery and ended up in Mesquite NV for the night. The next day. which was Tuesday, we headed on down to Las Vegas and checked in at Harrah's for three nights. We roamed the streets the first day and rode the shuttle across town to the Rio, and then came back and walked a little more. On Thursday, we got in our car and rode around town and out of town and looked around. We always enjoy looking around in Las Vegas to see how it has grown and is still growing, but according to the news report, may quit growing due to the economy. Gasoline was $2.99 in some places in Las Vegas when we left town on Friday morning. Before leaving town on Friday, we went to the Stratosphere Casino and went up in the tower and looked at the town from high up. It is always interesting to go up in the tower. After leaving town, we went out to Hoover Dam and looked at it along with the other hundreds of people who were out there for the same reason as us, to see the sights. We were surprised to see all the people this time of the year. It is Friday night and we are now in Laughlin, NV for a couple of nights. It is always nice to stay in Laughlin on the Colorado River. When we leave Laughlin, we will be heading for Phoenix for a night and then from there who knows, but will probably be home by Wednesday.

Day 3 and 4

On day 3, we left Cripple Creek and drove up to Pikes Peak. Again, the aspens on the way up the mountain, were beautiful. Once we reached the top, the sky was a beautiful blue and clear. That was the first time we had been on Pikes Peak when the weather was at it's best. After leaving,Pikes Peak, we stopped in Englewood, Co., and had a nice visit with Donna and Jim(Pat's parents). We stayed there about 3 hours, which is norm for us, when it comes to visiting. We are not like our parents who would stay for hours and days and then leave. After leaving, Englewood, we went to BlackHawk, CO., and spent the night at Isle of Capri. We walked around and played slots for a while and while visiting the Rivieria Casino, I won $250, which was a great surprise to me. It was on a quarter machine. After a good nights rest, we got up this morning and drove further into town and walked the streets for a little while and left heading towards Estes Park, hoping to see elk in town by McDonalds, like we have seen before, but guess what, an Elk Fest was going on in town and no elk were to be found. We later left town and drove through Rocky Mountain Natl. Park. We saw some elk when we entered the park and then no more until we left. They we having a controlled burn in the park, which was a first for us, so that was rather interesting. We saw more beautiful aspens, a few snow flakes, rain and a little snow on top of the mountains. We then drove to Steamboat Springs for the night. Tomorrow we are going on to Salt Lake City for a visit with Billy and family for the weekend.

Cripple Creek, CO

Well, we left Dumas, Texas, this morning and headed for Cripple Creek, CO..We saw a lot of antelope in the fileds on the roads between Dumas and Raton. It was a beautiful day, with a clear very blue sky. So different from Arkansas. After we got to Pueblo, CO, we got off the Interstate and went over to a little dirt road we have always traveled when we come to Colorado. It took us two hours to travel the road up to Victor, CO and then on over to Cripple Creek. The aspens were so pretty on the dirt road. It was just a very relaxing ride through the country side. We are staying at Midnight Rose Hotel and Casino in Cripple Creek and it is very nice. We walked the streets a little tonight and played the slots. I did better at the newest casino in town called the Wildwood. We are hoping to sleep better tonight than we did last night, but that still remains to be seen. Sometimes you can be too tired to sleep good, but if you take enough drugs(for Kristi's benefit) you can sleep very good. Goodnight to all.

Day One of Vacation

Day one of vacation, was about the same as usual. Today is our 41st wedding anniversary. We left home at 5AM and had breakfest at McDonald's by the Alcoa overpass. Once we got on the road, we didn't stop again until we got out of Arkansas. After leaving Arkansas, I had a nice long nap, first one of the day and then about 25 miles from Oklahoma City, we stopped at a casino called, Fire Lake Grand Casino. We spent a couple of hours there and had a nice lunch. Once back on the road, I drove for a few hours and then let Bobby drive the rest of the way to Dumas, TX., where we are spending the night. I went swimming for a little while and sat in the hot tub and that was really nice, considering that I had the whole place to myself. Well, that is about it for today. We are off to Colorado tomorrow for a drive through woods to see the aspens and end up at Cripple Creek for the night.

Day One of Vacation

Well, since we have gotten settled in our new home, there is not much happening. I am quitting my job on Sept. 20. We have decided that it is time for me to stay home for a while and enjoy being a housewife. I am looking forward to being at home and enjoying the house......
Kristi and her family are doing okay. Kristi is working part time for Hospice as a nursing assistant and is really enjoying her work. When mother was in the hospital last year, she was great with her and found her niche. She went to school in the spring and I am really proud of her.
Kirk was laid off from his job, after 11 1/2 years, which was a shock to us but not to him. He has been off for the last month, so we have gotten to see him often which is nice. He has gotten another job at the Air Force Base in Jacksonville, with a company called Tybrin. His job title is contractor and it deals with top secret stuff which is what he has been doing in the Air Force for 22yearsee. In order to take this job, he will need to retire from the Air Force, so he is just waiting on his papers from the government so he can get out.
Well, back to the house, we still have stuff in the storage unit, but removed the winter clothes today and got them moved to the house. We didn't realize we had so many winter clothes.
We will probably need some of them for vacation next month. I will try to keep my blog going while we are on vacation so everyone can keep up with us.signing off for now.

Living in now house

Well, we are all moved in and I am still putting up stuff, so therefore I have gotten behind in my blogging. We moved in to our house on August 13th. I have felt at home ever since the furniture was moved into the house. I have put up most of the stuff we brought directly to the house and everything is about full and we still have STUFF in the storage unit we have rented. There are still things that I can not find, but with time I will get to that certain box and find those items. We moved both cats and Lady, my Silver Point Persian, went out last Wednesday after living here for a week and has not come back. We feel that he was sick and has gone off to die somewhere, which is what cats do. I miss him, but Jack, our orange tabby, is keeping my entertained.
I haven't found much time to rest when I am at home, because I want everything put up and done, but that is not the way it works. I have worked my self down to the very tired point, so I am going to have to learn to sit down and let things happen as they will. Once the drapes are hung and all the pictures are put up, I guess I will sit down and rest.
I am going to quit my job and stay home for a while and get rested and get the house in order. WE are planning a vacation the first couple of weeks in October, so I am looking forward to a nice time away. We think right now, that we are going West, as we usually do, but that is fine with me. I know that Bobby and I both need a nice long rest.
Well, now that I have updated this, hope everyone reading is doing okay.

FF

Well, tonight, I am finally taking a moment to get you caught up on the move. I have packed, and packed this week and still have more to pack. Thursday and Friday, with the help of Bobby and Kristi we got ready for a Moving Sale. We sat up table after table and kept filling them with STUFF and more STUFF. Today finally got here and we sold the majority of all the stuff we had. I am so glad this day is over and now we can continue on the prepare for the actual move.
Bobby and I both are tired, but seem to be holding up pretty good at the moment and will just be glad when all of this is behind us. The woman buying the house has not been one of the greatest people for the realtor or us to deal with, but it will soon be over and behind us.
I will try to continue to update. The big move is this next Wednesday and the closing is on Friday. The buyer wants us out on the same day that we sign, so we are meeting her wishes.
Keep us in your prayers this week!!!

HOT, Hot weather

Well, I know, that I have fallen behind on reporting, so since I am up early on this nice warm Saturday morning I though I would send out a report. The weather has been awfully hot this week and will continue into next week. I hope bu August 13th that the air is a little bit cooler outside. It would make it easier to complete the move. Everything is still on schedule, according to the realtor, so signing of papers should be August 15th.

We are progressing along slowly, I guess, but are getting things packed. The winter clothes have been taken down and are in storage. We rented a 10x10 storage unit to store STUFF in that we don't need right now and then we can slowly go through it and move it into the house box by box and not have 100 boxes sitting there looking at us, saying"Open me next, please"....

We had a nice trip to Dallas last weekend. Donna Jo and Kolby really enjoyed seeing their Daddy and getting to play with him. Of course, Kristi, was glad to see him, also...We stayed at a Hampton Inn and they had a nice breakfast each morning and a nice swimming pool. The kids swam and swam. We went to two malls on Saturday, one being the Galleria, which we used to go to when Kirk and Pat were stationed in Austin. Kristi and I reminisced a little, but couldn't remember a whole lot about what the Galleria looked like 20 years ago. Our brains aren't working as good as they used to work, especially mine. Anyway, we had a good time and enjoyed being away and were glad to get back to our traffic congestion in Benton and not the 6 lane freeway in Dallas. That is way too much traffic for me. I will take my little town of Benton any day.

Bobby and I mowed Aunt Emma's yard on Tuesday this week and guess what I found..You probably know, a little black kitten. He was half way up a tree, where I was mowing and had stopped to talk to Bobby and I went over and picked him up. When we started looking at him, he is missing a paw on the right back leg. We think he probably got hung up in a car somewhere along the way. We brought him home and he is gimping around on three legs, but does pretty good. He gets along with the two other cats very well. That is just what needed in the middle of a move is another cat, but I couldn't leave him out in the heat. The paw is healed up so it has been a few days that he has been out in the heat, trying to survive.

Well, I guess I have updated all I can update. I have the Habitat Resale people coming this morning to pick up the piano, so I guess I had better get up and get busy.

Hope everyone is doing okay. We are just tired and HOT!!!!

I haven't done much or feel like I have done much this week to prepare for the move. I have packed up the china cabinet that Mother had and then I inherited and cleaned out the cabinets and shelves in the living room around the fireplace...We have been in a very clean mode for 6 months and now we have gone to the messy mode, which I don't like, but that is part of moving.
Today, around noon, I will be leaving with Kristi and the children for Dallas, to see Pat ,who is in school, learning about some new stuff for AT&T. He left two weeks ago and has two weeks to go in Dallas and then he is off to Kansas City, OK city or somewhere else, I don't know, I can't keep up with all this, I am doing good to keep up with my own stuff. It is bad to get old and try to keep up with all this, especially when you are trying to move.
I am looking forward to Dallas. Kristi and I have reminisced about the trips we made with Mother to Austin the see Kirk and family, and we would always have to stop in Dallas and go to the Galleria Mall, so guess what, we are going to the mall..
Will update on the trip later..Have a good weekend.....

July 19,2008--cleaning out storage buildings

Well, today was another hot day in Benton..Bobby and I started our three or four week trek toward moving from our present location at 3718 Salem Road. Today, we cleaned out the three storage buildings we have outside. We thought we had been disposing of goods or stuff ever since we have been in the location, which was 8 years on July 18th...Well, to our surprise we still have lots of STUFF...Kristi came over and helped me with the two smaller buildings while Bobby worked on the larger barn..What a job, but we got through the two smaller buildings and sorted things for yard sale and storage and Kristi and I, along with Donna Jo, made a run to the dump, which was my first experience at going to the dump without a man in the truck, but you know what, we made it just fine.. I feel like we made some headway in the outside buildings and now I can start working on the inside of the house. Bobby still has a ways to go in the barn, but I told him I would take care of the house. We were hot and tired, so we went out to dinner and had a wonderful meal. Now, we will wait and see what we can drag up for tomorrow...More stuff, stuff, stuff.