RV Blog--Life in a Box. This just ain't 'camping' any more....

Christmas Eve was fun. My kids think I’m insane, but, well, I think I’m entitled. After all, here we sit, behind a big old farmhouse, and I insisted that my kids and their families climb over each other in our RV! Sure, it seems nuts, but I wasn’t insisting on a meal, or anything. Just sitting around, watching the kids with presents (mostly Connor, because he’s 8—the baby is just a little too young to get into ripping paper off packages, this year.) But they survived.
You couldn’t have asked for a gloomier day, tho! Misting rain, turning to pea soup fog by nightfall. Illinois threw some of its most classic winter weather at us! Did ya ever notice that there are no songs written about slogging to Grandma’s house in the mud, or pictures of folks picking out Christmas trees amidst piles of old, blackened snow, or rushing home with treasures in the pouring rain-- back home in the Midwest?
Hubby spent Christmas Eve and Christmas afternoon, in a hole in the ground that he had dug out with the neighbor’s backhoe the day before. See, it’s one of those little facts of RV life, that it is necessary to have a place to dump your not-so-nice, used water tanks on a regular basis. In a campground, you just attach a hose to a pipe coming out of the ground, pull a lever and it disappears into a septic system somewhere. But we’d been living with ours since we left Florida and were running out of room! So he had to sink a plastic tank and make a septic system! Now, once again, we have a functioning home. J There is still a mountain of black dirt out back, that has to be shoveled back into the gaping hole in the yard, but the worst of the job is done, just in the nick of time!
This weekend, we’re off to Louisville for a weekend with the Schnauzer Cloud over New Years. Normally, we’d have parked our house in the driveway on the way to IL, but time was short this trip! So, we’ll pack a bag and go be ‘houseguests’…and thing we’re not used to doing any more. Much easier to just pick up your home and move it to someone else’s for a visit. It’s not quite as easy, with diesel fuel so high, of course! The really big challenge is finding transportation! We might still end up taking the trip in the Big Yellow Bird! The only other transport we have available is the ¾ ton pickup we left here…which hasn’t been plated or insured for over a year—and which is sitting in the shed, loaded down with stuff we packed out of the garage before the thieves could come back for them.
And, so it is time to commence to begin….. Stay happy!

We’re adjusting to real Winter, slowly. After a week here, and one single digit nite where the water tank apparently froze for a while, we have our heaters in place and have discovered that the thermometer on the overhead heat pump/air conditioner has ‘issues’ in ultra cold weather! That was fun—NOT.

Our first day back we went and checked out our storage trailer and garage and assessed the damage done by local thieves. We didn’t leave much of real value, but they found it. Looks like they had plenty of time and were pretty thorough. They got the Minolta SRT 101 that Keith brought back from Thailand in 1969. (I loved that camera! It was one of the first SLRs made. Took a lot of black and whites and really had fun with it.) They also found the Minolta X700 that I bought several years later, all the lenses and filters and bags. My bad, for leaving them there. They made off with Keith’s fancy nail gun and accessories, of course. And the part of his knife collection that he hadn’t taken along. PLUS, a couple of high-dollar heaters and random things. AND MY WINTER COATS! What kinds of thieves steal a person’s COAT???? They missed the bag of 50 cent pieces dating back into the 19th Century, tho!

Insurance? We had no stinking insurance! After all—we’d rented the place out to a guy who was supposed to park a mobile home on the property, keep electricity turned on and take care of the place! He was supposed to have had his fancy Harley Road King parked in the garage and be around to look after things. Turns out he put the mobile home there and then abandoned it and the entire plan. Took his Harley and rode away, as it were.

So, that nite we went to the school Christmas program. Next morning we went back to do some damage control and damned if they hadn’t come back and carted off BUILDING SUPPLIES! They didn’t get them all, but we spent a good part of the day gathering and loading what was left and boarding up all the windows and doors.

Yesterday Keith spent the day visiting pawn shops, hoping to find the SRT101, at least. It had a lot of sentimental value… And it didn’t turn up anywhere.

Today we’re moving, again. Our current location is about 100 yards from where we need to be parked in order to have a proper drain and be close enough to a freshwater source, due to the fact that the driveway was iced over and this was as far as we could go! Got a little heat wave coming in before Christmas and most of the ice is gone. Should be something to watch, since he intends to move it without pulling in the slide-outs! When he’s done, we’ll have a row of old rusty gas tanks right outside our door. Wahoo!

The insurance company, in their wisdom, has decided that an inability to remain awake long enough to put in a full day’s work, let alone have a life, does not constitute a reason for a temporary disability payment, so it looks like we’re just screwed on that count. They will pay out for 3 weeks on his hernia surgery, tho. That might cover his share of the health insurance payment from work… Oh well, we knew we were going to be broke all winter…

Meanwhile, we’re here. Our kids and our grandkids are here. And it’s Christmas! Life is good.

Weather has turned COLD here! Well, ya'll know what I mean--highs in the 60s and low about 50! Freezing the Floridians, don'tchaknow?

We're thinking of having the latest thing for Thanksgiving Dinner... Turducken! Look THAT up in your Funk and Wagnall's! Duck, inside a deboned turkey with a chicken inside the duck! Those Cajuns sure know how to come up with some funky food!!!

Meanwhile, back up North, we've had a break-in on Redneck Hill. Thieves foraged through the garage and took what looked like easy money, and then ransacked the storage trailer hoping to find more goodies. I have no idea what they took from there, since our son had no idea what was in there and they pretty much trashed the lot, anyhow. Just have to wait until I get there. I was really feeling sorry for myself, thinking of things like camping gear, cameras, down bedding, winter clothes, knick knacks I couldn't bear to sell at last year's auction.... And then I thought about those who lost every last thing they owned in Katrina this year. We still have our photos and the 'things' that can't be replaced....and our home.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING to you all!

I'm going to be an Aunt again! My favorite, childless niece and her hubby heard the ticking clock and are in the process of getting a Chinese baby! I can start a new baby quilt!

Periodic Limb Movement Disorder, closely related to Restless Leg Syndrome, often seen in patients with sleep apnea--origin unknown. Treated with a variety of drugs, on a 'try it and see' basis. And we can't find anyone who does any more than shrug and tell him to lose weight and he'll feel better! Meanwhile, he keeps gaining weight because he eats and then goes to bed and sleeps until time to go to work. And sleeps all weekend, only getting up to eat and pee. His VA primary care doctor at least admitted that he hadn't a clue and put him down for an EEG and an appointment with a VA neurologist... That was weeks ago and there's still a month before he sees the neuro! I AM JUST SO FRUSTRATED!!! The other nite, he had to turn down the offer of a new, better paying job in Georgia--a whole day's drive North and closer to our family. He doesn't dare try to work at a job without the crew he is on now--they are keeping an eye on him so he doesn't fall asleep and get caught. We can't even experiment by trying any of the drugs that are prescribed for this PLMD for fear they'll do a random drug thing at work and he will have drugs in his system that he doesn't have a prescription for! ARRRRRRRGGGGG!

Hubby had to work this morning! Oh, boy! 6 hours of overtime to spend foolishly...gee, maybe I'll go crazy and make an extra payment on something!

Our daughter called last nite, with just minutes to talk... What a busy person! I need to go see our mutual doctor and get me some of whatever she's taking that's energizing her! LOL! "Whisper Down" sounds like they're picking up a 'following'! At least, they seem to have several 'gigs' lined up. And her hubby has his own mike, now! He is singing backup to her lead! Which, is the way they both like it! :)

I remain glued to the news coverage, still trying to make sense of the federal f*** up in the Gulf States. What I've gleaned so far is that they put FEMA in with a bunch of other agencies, under the auspices of the great and powerful HOMELAND SECURITY--and so anyone trying to get into the devastated area to help those poor people had to be frisked, checked out and thoroughly wrapped in red tape first! Which would also explain the fact that foreign rescue efforts appear to have been thwarted.... In the immortal words of Charley Brown--"Good grief!"

And then there's the part where they sent a plane load of African Americans from the Deep South off to live in UTAH!!! A reporter asked one guy what he had thought when he saw the mountains in the background. He said, "I thought they were fake." These poor folks mostly intend to make their homes there! None of them has any clue what Winter is like. Down here, it's a 'cold snap' when the day's high is below 70 degrees and the low is below 55. And, will the Feds be standing by to load those frozen people back into a plane and fly them South again in January????

Enough musing. Got laundry to hang out. Life goes on....

Hubby found out that he gets to go in for hernia repair next week! I'm beginning to think that the main reason we're stuck in FL is simply for the medical facilities. For a man who never went to the doctor, he's made up for it in the last 18 months!

Meanwhile, we wait for "Ophelia" to dump lotso rain on us....

Just a bit of early morning musing.... This is what happens when Florida Refuse picks up the dumpster across the street--at 4 AM, when hubby has to get up at 4:30 AM to go into work an hour early....

Gasoline shortage? There isn't a gasoline shortage. Just thousands and thousands of Floridians, buying up all the gas cans in the state and then rushing out to fill them.... Yesterday's gas prices were all over the map, from $2.75 on up. I can't help wondering just how happy those folks are with their SUVs now... Sure am glad we don't need to take our show on the road any time soon! We're still reeling from the $118 it took to put diesel fuel in the big yellow bird on Saturday!

The good news is that the long weekend starts today and we don't have to leave our air-conditioned 'box' for 3 days! LOL! Except, of course, to go out and rent movies, since there is still nothing on the networks but re-runs.

Is that one amazing looking tatoo on Wentworth whatsisname on "Prison Break?" What's really scary...I've seen a few like it that were the real deal! Just spend a week in South Dakota some August..... Or Daytona Beach in early March....

On the other hand, we could be in the midst of the exodus from New Orleans! Katrina is a Cat. 5. Those folks have known for a very long time that it was just a matter of time before one came right at them and swept 25' waves into their 'bowl'.

Hubby is still fighting sleep just to go to work and spending the weekends sleeping--while we play the doctors' games... He and I know that he has a sleep disorder called Periodic Limb Movement, because we know that so many things AREN'T causing it, but we have to wait for help until everyone has run all the tests over and over! I understand that doctors know way more than the people they are supposed to help, but there's a line between that and admitting that the patient might NOT be an ignorant moron! The 'frustration level' is way high! You'd think that they'd believe us when we say that he sleeps ALL THE TIME and needs help to stay awake NOW. The civilian doc he saw not only didn't want to hear what we had to say, he didn't even want to see the medical records...HE isn't going to take anyone else's word for anything! Gotta run his own tests. (I'm pretty sure it has a little to do with kickbacks down here. NO GP treats anything anymore. If you are due for a colonoscopy, they send you to a specialist instead of ordering the test. Need a pap test? They send you to the gynecologist. Something in your eye? Opthamologist, of course.) I've never seen anything like it anywhere else in the country. Must be a "Florida Thing". Soooo, the VA has him scheduled for an EEG on October 18 and a visit to a neurologist on October 31. But, that's just the VA. There's always a 2 month wait with them... I promise, if my hubby falls asleep driving to work, I'm going to sue everyone he's been to see for the last 6 months! Not one of them has offered him any temporary treatment! They all act like he's exaggerating.

There, I guess I've vented!

Of course, last week I read the 2 latest Harry Potter books, "People of the Owl" AND assembled a new quilt for my grandson... Dragons and flames--his choice, not mine!

Ya'll keep cool......

But, now I've discovered that AirTran runs a shuttle from here to there and b ack again..... :)

Meanwhile, our first tropical storm has come and gone. We were on the 'wet side' of it, so an inch or more of rain every day. We are starting to MOLD down here......

I shopped and shopped and then bought a pair of airline tickets home for the 4th of July. Betcha our grandson will remember his 8th birthday for a few years.... :) We're not telling him we're coming. The last time we talked on the phone he said, "You know...my birthday is coming up. You should be here for my party." He's going to be 8. I reminded him that we were there last year.....

Time to go see what I can find to fix to feed Shirley and LD for breakfast...their house is not a place where ya'd wanna eat this morning. Reeks of Clorox, and that 'underlying' aroma..... She'll be burning incense for weeks!

We had a FIRE! Well, not 'US', but the old alcoholic 2 lots away dropped a cigarette and didn't bother to go look for it because he was on his way 'out' with a friend. When he came back, flames were shooting out his bedroom window! We had firemen and fire trucks everywhere! Our grandson would have been fascinated! Pretty much gutted the guy's home, and left a lot of cockroaches and probably some mice, homeless! The water and fire didn't make it to his Florida room, so he's set up camp there while he waits for someone to come haul off the ancient hulk of an RV.

The Exodus is about over. Most of the mobile homes and rvs have turned a blind eye to the sunshine and traffic, while not good, is a little less hazadous! Our SD neighbors are bustling around, getting ready for their 2 week dash to the Bad Lands to see to their place out there. And haul off a truckload of lumber and belongings that have collected since they got here over a year ago. We're planning a similar trip in late June--minus the truckload of 'stuff'! Of course, we've begun to discuss hooking onto our house and taking it North with us, if we can afford to buy 2000 miles worth of deisel fuel..... It's pretty bad when you need a bank loan to take a trip! Deisel is still running about $2.35 down here, for some reason--even tho gas prices have dropped to about $2.25. :)

The great "hurricane preparations' have begun. The "Season" starts in just a couple of weeks. In fact, for the first 10 days in June, the State is waiving the 7% sales tax on hurricane supplies. Gas cans, water, plywood... I sure hope they're wrong about this summer being much like last!!! I could live just as long without ever having to live thru a hurricane!

On the political front, we heard last nite that SD is learning what a stupid move it was to vote out Daschle! Ellsworth AFB, the second largest employer in the state, is on the chopping block, and they no longer have the House Minority Leader to go to bat for them! Florida of course is home to the Presidential Brother, so they won't be losing any military installations....

Shirley has finished up her 25 hand-decorated Indian dolls to sell at the Memorial Day Pow Wow. She has crocheted her fingers to the bone trying to get those done! I'm still plugging away at weaving beads into sell-able items! Definately getting better at it. We'll all have Indian-style 'bling' to wear for the dancing, at least! LOL!

Got Mothers' Day pictures of the grandbabies and the new motorcycle... The baby is growing so FAST! And her big brother has had another growth spurt And now it's time to clean up and head out for the Flea Market. With the Snowbirds mostly gone, you can actually walk through the place without tripping over a motorized wheel chair at every turn!!!

Ya'll keep in touch.... (You, too, Marie! Where are you and how's it going?)

Sunday was interesting. The friend of an online friend, and her husband, are vacationing in these parts with their new 5th wheel trailer and 3 cats. So, we were going to meet at a truck stop for breakfast and say "howdee" before they went on down the road. Only, they couldn't go on down the road because their truck refused to back up! So, we drove to St. Cloud and had a lovely visit and a free lunch instead! Very nice people.... :)

Meanwhile, we're having a very nice Spring here! Highs around 80, lows around 60--and the humidity has been down! Too bad it won't last. The weather people are starting to talk about the patterns being the same as last summer.... ugh.

All the winter people have flown back North, except for the preacher and his wife next door. They leave in a couple of weeks--for upstate New York. Sure is quiet here! All their little rvs are buttoned up and their windows are blind--covered on the inside by reflective aluminum stuff. And traffic, while still sucky, has improved a LOT!

Today we are off to Tampa, in search of the VA hospital. Hubby has an appointment with an ENT this afternoon--and another on Friday morning! Maybe they'll get his sleep apnea under control. If not, his insurance kicks in the first of May and we'll find someone else. A man shouldn't have to sleep every waking hour--as it were, and still be sleepy!

Aside from the weather, there isn't much excitement here. A lot of the snowbirds have flown--going home for Easter, I guess. Works for me! We could stand less people down here!

The glads I planted 2 weeks ago are a foot high, one of my little tomato plants has a tiny little tomato on it, and the peas are up....

Yesterday, Hubby got rained out, so we borrowed the neighbors' car and went car shopping yet again! (our friendly, neighborhood mechanic had only managed to buy 1 car at the auction!) So, I dragged him over to test drive the old Horizon--but it was gone! That was CLOSE. Eventually, in the pouring down rain, we found a white 1998 Ford Escort station wagon, which we proceeded to buy. I'd post a picture, but when you've seen one white station wagon, you've seen them all! Not a bit of chrome anywhere. Just white.

And now I am free to go anywhere, at any time, without having to ask to borrow the 'family car'! But, it's Friday in Central Florida and we don't like to get out into the free-for-all! Old people slamming on their brakes at yellow lights--and getting rear-ended. Busy people who don't have time to look both ways, pulling out and t-boning old people who are minding their own business! And that's just on the 3 mile drive to the mailbox!

The big loom is such an improvement! I've already made a 3' long band, about 2" wide.... Don't ask what I'm planning to do with it--I just don't know! It would make a nice shoulder strap for a purse..... maybe I'll make a denim purse and bead it.....

Creeping to the top of my 'to do' list is the scheduling of the RV for all that 'new rig' warrantee work. We've been making a list and checking it twice.... Worst part of it is that the RV has to go to Tampa for the work to get done--and we're living in it! Basically, they kick you out in the morning and let you back in at night, if the work takes more than one day. I have a feeling we're looking at more than one day! Got a slide-out to adjust, drawer fronts to be replaced, an AC unit to work on, a water pump that bangs against the wall when it runs..... little annoyances like that....

I've decided it's time to behave like an adult and quit smoking, for the last time! I've started on the Wellbutrin (which was very helpful the last, last time) and started phsyic-ing myself up. Just gotta pick a date.... It is just pure insanity for a grown person to piss away $25 a week on something that's most likely going to kill them!!!

Meanwhile, the beading is going well. I had to get the big loom--shoulda just bought it first! It didn't take long to get really sick of sewing 5" strips together to make bigger ones.... Got one on the loom now that's about 18" long, so far.... Now, I'm not sure what it will become besides a brightly colored strip of beads....

We're getting really sick of the hunt for a serviceable junk car to replace the old gunboat. (gunboat is scheduled to get a $50 junkyard transmission put in, sometime before Summer hits.) I'm still liking the 1984 Plymouth Horizon with 64K miles on it.... LOL! It's orangy-red and black, interior looks good, about the size of a ladybug--2 seats and a couple of wannabees, plus a handy hatchback... It's been a 'toad' in it's past life. ("toad": vehicle that is teathered behind a large motorhome and towed down the road from campground to campground and then used for a vehicle while the motorhome sits.) Yeah, so Hubby is whining. Resisting. It's NOT a manly car! It's a 3 cylinder roller skate! We've got motorcycles with more power! But hey, it's carborated. If only Hubby was a 'tinkerer', he could have a lot of fun messing that up! Of course, the little engine is packed in so tightly that it'd have to be taken out for any kind of work! We'll see... The mechanic who sold us the gunboat last year was heading for the auction yesterday. Maybe he'll have something to keep me from test-driving that Horizon.....

Gus and Minnie are driving down from wherever it is they're camped for the winter. It'll be nice to see them, since we haven't laid eyes on them in about 3 years!

Got new pics of our little granddaughter yesterday. She can stand up, with help! Cute little thing..... Takes after her 'Nonny', I'm sure!

I just discovered a birdfeeder outside my 'office' window! LOL! Wonder how long that has been here! First time I've been sitting here with the blind up.... There's a FL version of the redheaded woodpecker sitting there having breakfast. I guess the old guy who has lived here in the park for 35 years must be the one filling the feeder....

Big excitement at the A-OK yesterday. They started the demolition of the wrecked 5th wheel that's been sitting there since Ivan blew through! FINALLY! It's been a nasty eyesore all winter, right at the park entrance.... Funny to watch the old guys working... I think they only went thru one case of Miller Lite.....

Took the old station wagon for a new exhaust system yesterday. Next thing we have to do is buy tires. *sigh* When we bought that old gunboat, we had no plan to spend any more money on her...but that was before we decided to become temporary 'locals'.... and drove down here in a 2 ton hauler that gets 7 mpg! THAT rig hasn't left the park since we pulled in! LOL!

So, off get dressed and eventually go after the mail....

Enough with the RV Talk Time.... Meanwhile, the sun is shining and the humidity has shot back up into the 'tropical' regions. The low humidity was a nice break, altho my naturally curly hair was pretty flat.... It's curlin' now! LOL.

Wouldn't you think that Verizon would offer a service package that combined a landline and a cell phone under one plan? I've just spent a great deal of online time trying to find something like that, but if they have it--it's a secret. Now that we have a landline, I don't much need the cell and the landline costs half as much as the cell, until I start paying 5 cents a minute for long distance.... But, when we leave here next year, we'll have to sign a contract and get a new cell phone service, if I drop what I have had for years. 'Tiz a quandry....

Me thinks it's time to go for a walk....:) Have a wonderful Sunday, ya'll....

P.S. We can still be reached on our cell phone like before--only it's next door at the neighbors' house for the moment....

Ya know how they put those mirrored closet doors in the front of the 5th wheel, so the space looks bigger than it really is? Well, that looks nice on the rv lot. But, I've been sitting in this one for months looking towards those doors and seeing all the clutter in the bathroom, the unmade bed TWICE, stuff like that. All from the LIVING ROOM at the other end of the trailer! You can sit in the recliner and see all the way to the mirrors and then all the way back to the shower stall, past the sink (with it's permanent array of bottles and hairbrushes, and all manner of things, and then it's also reflecting the kitchen! NOT ANY MORE!

I spent 4 hours yesterday, covering those damned mirrors with a nice, quiet, palm-tree-covered contact paper. Hung some pictures on one of the doors and I'm much happier now. :) Actually makes for a cozier bedroom. And you can't see the bathroom unless you're IN it! LOL!

Meanwhile, it's chilly in Florida. :) And we ran outa propane again. Need to get a gauge for those tanks, I guess..... Maybe while we're out today, getting a muffler put on the old Ford wagon and getting the tanks refilled....

Later.....

Those of you who have my new phone # can call, now.... :) But not when I'm online......

Here we sit, in sunny you-know-where. Hubby has a good paying job, for a 'right-to-starve-state'. We have medical benefits for the first time in 37 years, and they guarantee him 3 days pay a week...even if it rains all week and they can't work. He's due a raise in May. Our lot rent goes down after we've been here for 6 months (also May)-a $50 drop! And the only reason to leave here is because I'm pining for those grandbabies.... We got to be underfoot while #1 grandchild was in his 'formative years'. We haven't seen the new baby since she was 6 weeks old..... I guess I was spoiled with the first one. So many grandparents only see the kids once or twice a year!

On the other hand, it'll take $1000 in fuel to drag our home to where they are, stay a couple of weeks, and then go West to work for 4 months. At a job which pays as well, with NO benefits, in a climate that we LIKE--before coming back down here and signing back on at the above mentioned good job. And losing the chance at the $50 drop in rent, and having to start over on the medical.....

Meanwhile, the bills keep rolling in--bypass surgery can be verrrrrry expensive! And no income during the recovery period does a real number on the savings and the credit cards!

Okay, now that I have it all in print in front of me, I guess I can see that we have no option but to stay put (I knew that all along, of course) and hope the hurricane season and the intense tropical summer doesn't don't do us in! *sigh* Life is good--but sometimes it's hard.....

February 11, 2005 is a birthday that hubby nearly missed. We have much to be thankful for.

Or not.

Meanwhile, life goes on. Had both dogs to the vet last week. Kizzee had an itchy, allergy rash on her butt that had been bothering her for ages. We chalked it up to the frequent invasion of fleas all summer, but the fleas are gone and the itch was still there. I'm thinking she was allergic to the new carpet! Vet gave her drugs to break the 'itch' cycle and she seems to be fine, now--as 'fine' as a rat terrier can get, anyhow. Meanwhile, MollyB has injured a disc! Poor thing tries to keep up with Kizzee and must have jumped onto one too many chairs! She just isn't built for jumping! So, she's on muscle relaxers and an anti-inflammatory! Sheesh! It's worse than having kids!!!!

Meanwhile, Hubby goes off every day to play with the boys in the sand and muck, and 'the Indian chick' says we have to run errands today..... :( I hate running errands in Florida! Too many old people out on the roads!!! And in the stores.... and lined up at the post office.... But, we're out of drinkable water, so we HAVE to visit the "well". (It's a pop-machine-like place where you put in quarters and water runs out.... Probably all comes from the same place, but it doesn't upset the digestion the way the local water does!) Too much information??? Tough. It's all I got! LOL!

Ya'll stay warm....

Meanwhile, here in the Sunshine State, we're having non-freezing drizzle. Open windows in the daytime, heat at nite. Keith's been 'dipping mud' from the bottom of a future pond and slinging it into trucks all week.....

My big accomplishment this week was finding a $4 remnant and upholstering my footstool......

Chilly weather here in the Sunshine State! Down in the low 30s, even! A little snow would have been nice, but, well, you Yankees kept it all to yourselves!

So, I'm told that in Illinois, the Wabash is supposed to crest at 28', which we haven't seen since 1985...jon boats in the streets, and we're down here missing it! Of course, being out in a boat ain't so much fun with temps in the single digits.... What a messy winter this has become for most of the Country!

Yesterday, we loaded up and went to a pow wow. That's always fun! Watched the grass dancers, the jingle dancers, the little bitty kids.... it's always fun! Ate Indian tacos (yum! Tacos on fry bread!), and shopped the booths filled with leather and feathers and beads and turtle shells and bows--and combinations thereof! :) Later, Shirley (who is 1/4 Cherokee) talked on the phone with the head man of her tribe and got a date for her "Naming Ceremony"! She's 69--it's TIME! So, we'll all be heading up to GA in mid-March for that. She's as excited as a kid!

Big Gun Show in Lakeland today, but I'm really sure *I* am not going! Hubby may, or may not, crawl out of bed for that...the weather is uninspiring enough to keep him under the covers most of the morning! LOL! This afternoon, he's under orders to buy and install a new master cylinder in the old wagon. A car that won't stay stopped, with an hour and a half commute through city traffic, is NOT GOOD!

Me? Oh, I think I'll curl up under the down throw and make a doily......

(Paul: Thanks for the compliment!)

Predictably, it's very warm and sunny, here in the Sunshine State. Too warm, if ya ask me! I experienced 'icky sweat' again yesterday and today, and frizzy hair--which makes me cranky even in the summer! The 'Snowbirds' are lovin' it. They go inside, crank up their air conditioners and then call the folks back home in Michigan, Wisconsin and Ohio and brag....

So, this afternoon I passed the time by working on my Florida Tan while stripping the paper wrapping off 50 year-old copper phone wire, which had recently been dug up on a road construction site. "Why?" you ask. Because there's a pile of it at the neighbors' house and a recycling center that's paying good money for it! And, it gives me something to do while working on my Florida Tan. :) Yesterday, the neighborlady took a 960# chunk of un-stripped cable and sold it. Doesn't get nearly so much per pound, but none of us even considered stripping that monster!

Hubby is still hacking and croaking. Says he's finally a bit better today, but he mostly talks in whispers, so I can't be sure....

I finally got all the Christmas baubles packed away, and most of the regular stuff put back on display. Even made an awesome-looking bouquet full of burgundy, pink and off-white flowers. I'm on the verge of over-doing the burgundy in my green living room...added burgundy pillow covers today! But, hey! I don't want my beautiful new burgundy leather and oak chair to stand out too much!!! LOL! The chair serves double duty as an easy chair when it's not being an executive desk chair. (It's a travel trailer concept....) :) Sure is a comfy chair! I got on a mark-down at Staples last weekend and found a new home for my old, boring, not-real-sturdy, cheapy, black desk chair.

Speaking of CHAIRS! I went dumpster-diving yesterday and came home with a prize! 2 very nice, metal dinette chairs--off-white, nearly new seats.... perfect for the neighbors' screen room table! Of course, you might be interested to know that 'dumpster diving' here isn't much of a stretch. The dumpster is 3 lots down from ours! LOL!

Enough. I'm getting tired of typing, so you must be really tired of reading!!! Off to beddy-bye.....