Congratulations to Joe

Today, Mark and I would just like to say congratulations to Joe (Speedy to many of you) on his retirement.  In his blog, he said he was num and really didn’t know how he felt today.  Well, let me tell you, that after all these years of having been friends with his guy, he is downright excited and jumping for joy.  He just doesn’t know it yet. LOL

Mark and Joe were suppose to have retired together in 2001, but due to unforeseen  circumstances, Joe wasn’t able to follow through with his retirement at that time.  Well, the long awaited time has finally arrived and we are so excited for him.  Now, as I noted in the comment section of his blog….it is now time to “let the good times roll”. 

Life is short and it is now time to take the scenic route!  So Joe, when you catch your breath and realize that life has now dealt you the card you have waited on for so long, we are waiting for you to join the rest of us that wander aimlessly along the highways and byways looking for a new adventure around the next bend in the road.

Again, congratulations, and welcome to the world of the unemployed!  We love you and Sherri and thanks for the many years of friendship we have shared and we look forward to making and sharing many more memories with you both.

Love,

Mark and Dortha

Catching Up Again

Well, I know it has been a few days since I last posted and busy days they have been. When I last left you we had a list of things a mile long to accomplish. So, let’s get started and see if we can catch up….

First on the list was

Zachary’s baseball game. He loves playing first base, just like his Uncle Scott. I am wondering when his dad will try to get him to follow in his footsteps as a pitcher? The main thing Zachary is to just have fun. He was…

also awarded the game ball. Way to go Zachary, what a great season you have had.

Friday…then brought about Lauren’s long awaited birthday party. She had planned for herself and 4 other friends… a bowling party, a pizza party,

a craft project…they all made beaded tote bags with lots of fun iron-on’s.

a big birthday cookie, and

finally a sleepover. What an evening…good night girls and thanks for making me a part of the fun!

And while all of this was taking place Andrew and his 5th grade class were offto Sea World in San Antonio for an end of the year trip. It was an overnight trip…the girls slept in the penguin house while the boys got to sleep under the shark tank. Andrew petting the sting rays

and the teachers taking a head count.

And…Memorial Day weekend goes on with Karen and Kenneth having out of town company. There were babies and more babies and golf games and cookouts….then on Monday Lauren’s birthday present came from Poppa and I and that was a promised trip

to the American Girl Doll Store in Dallas. She got to bring along her friend Melony, who also loves American Girl dolls.

They wanted to be first in line and here they are wishing 10:00 would come real soon!

This is too true at this store.

Not only did Lauren get to go to the American Girl Doll Store, she and Melony got to purchase a new doll. Their choice was Charisa, the 2009 Doll of the Year. After the purchase, they took them

to the beauty saloon at the store and got their hair done. Wow…to be a little girl again.

Now, Lauren was pretty sure she wanted to spend all her birthday money in one spot and

that she did. Sort of reminds of the scene from Pretty Woman!

Now, it was off

to lunch at the Galleria and then

home to try on all those new clothes for both mom’s and dolls. Can’t have too many look alkies when it is your best friend!

Tuesday was suppose to be a day to recover from all the weekend activities and excitement, but it was anything but…there was a doctor’s appointment, errands, laundry, and

the spring storm that rolled through bringing 3 rounds of hail along with it. When all was said and done

it left the roof covered and

the driveway covered and

the car covered with leaves from the trees, but not one hail dent. We ended up with lots of hail and lots of rain, but no damage…how lucky can we be?

Next thing I knew it was Wednesday and time for the scheduled knee surgery. I arrived at the surgery center on time and they took me right in. Things were running ahead of schedule and it wasn’t long before I was off to meet up with Dr. Hunnicutt. When I woke up he had finished his job and

this is the band-aid I was wearing and will be wearing until Saturday night. It isn’t too hard to walk around in and there is no pain. Mark is a great nurse and is taking real good care of me. And, thanks to all of you that said a prayer during surgery yesterday and for all the calls to check on me. How great it is to have friends and family like all of you.

I am going to leave you with this last picture and thought…Mark and I are at home by ourselves. Not even a neighbor is home. And…

if he falls off of the Kubota…who is going to drive him to the hospital?

Catching Up

Wow, it is almost Friday agian. This has been a really hectic week with lots going on that I won't bore you with...but I am glad we have worked through so much and we are looking forward to a great holiday weekend.

I had to go back to the orthopedic doctor on Tuesday for the results of my MRI and found that I have two tears in the meniscus of my knee...one on each side. I will be having surgery next Wednesday to repair the tears. Great...just what I didn't need right now, but better to get it done than have my knee buckle and go out on me just walking....which is what he said would happen at some point in time and with no warning. The surgery is really no big deal as I have already had it done on both knees before. Wow...guess I am just hard on the knees. LOL The only hard part is that you just have to walk around for about a week with one stiff leg. But, then it doesn't hurt anymore.

However, I am not letting that stop me between now and next Wednesday, because...Zachary's baseball team is playing in a tournament which starts tonight. Go Pirates! And, tomorrow I am helping Jennifer with a pizza party/sleepover for Lauren's 9th birthday party as Scott has gone with Andrew on a 5th grade trip to San Antonio for a sleep over under the shark tank at Sea World. And, while all of this partying is going on, Karen and Kenneth have out of town company coming in for the holiday weekend. And, finally on Monday, Lauren and I have planned a trip to the American Girl Doll Store in Dallas for lunch and a day of shopping. So, by next Wednesday I will be ready for the rest. LOL

And, just to let you know...Mark is busy too...he is keeping Scott's truck over the weekend and has already started what else...WAXING!

So, just in case things get really busy over the weekend and I don't post, you understand why, but I will have lots of pictures when you next see me.

Fun at Field Day

Today was Field Day at

Andrew and Lauren's school.

First there was

a school wide picnic lunch before the activities get started for the upper grades.

And there is no better way than to spend a day like this expect with your friends.

Lauren and her friend Melanie

Andrew and his friend Sam.

After lunch, the fun began...

Lauren's first event was rolling tires down and around a cone and back to pass it off to the next person in line.

Then she was off to the races....in a sack that is

How about a trip through the obstacle course bounce house?

Only a kid would get a kick out of trying to carry water in this pipe from the pool to dumping it in a bucket, especially when your hand is the only way to keep it from running out.

Here the 3rd - 5th graders are getting ready for the high light of the day...tug of war

This is the one event, Andrew loves

Andrew, Sam, and Travis getting ready for tug of war

Pull guys...Andrew is always on this end. These guys have been on the winning team ever since 3rd grade...they are now 5th graders and this is their last tug of war competition.

But never fear, Andrew

your sister is here to take your place!

What a fun day! Pop and I enjoyed spending it with you. And thanks Jeremy for all the time it takes for you to get this day organized!

Doctors, Doctors, and More Doctors

Well, from the title, I bet you can't guess what we have been doing. This has been the week for doctors. I have been having some trouble with my knee and I didn't want to wait around, leave town in a few weeks wishing I had made the call. So, I was off to see my orthopedic doctor earlier this week. He didn't think it was anything too serious, but scheduled an MRI just to make sure all was okay. So, I did that today, and will follow up with him next Tuesday. In between, I had to take my mom to her doctor to have a cyst removed on her back. That was easily taken care of and she hasn't slowed down. And, if we haven't seen enough doctors, Mark took his mom to her yearly checkup with the heart doctor. She was great and got a good report.

Then yesterday, I had a dentist appointment, and Mark had an appointment with the eye doctor and to get some new glasses. Today, he had a dental appointment. I think after I see Dr. Hunnicutt next week, we will be caught up until November.

In between all the doctor visits, life has been pretty normal. Mark finished waxing the motor home today. I got a couple of books painted, did the laundry, and a little cleaning. Tomorrow we are planning on spending the day with grandkids. Andrew and Lauren have field day at their school with a picnic at lunchtime and then we will go tomorrow evening to Arlington to Zachary's baseball game, plus Caden is having a sleepover with us.

Oh, I almost forgot, Mark signed up for his social security as he will be of age in August.

Now, I think that about covers us for the last few days. See you later with pictures from Field Day and baseball games. See you soon.

Happy Birthday Lauren

Today is Lauren's 9th birthday. Wow...I am not sure where time goes. It just seems like yesterday my own children were this age and now I have grandchildren this age. But...understand, I am not getting any older. LOL

I hope you had a great day...you are such a beautiful young lady and we are very proud of you.

Love, Moppa and Poppa

Getting Back On Track

I know...I have let a whole week pass by without a single word. When we arrived home last Tuesday, it was quite busy around here as Karen and the kids were still out of school from the flu scare. We got the motor home set up and settled in. The rest of the week was filled with kids, laundry, kids, hair appointments, kids, etc. I think you have the picture. Karen returned to school on Thursday to get her classroom cleaned and ready for the kids to return on Friday. Yeah...things are almost back to normal.

We also had friends, Weldon and Sandy, in town. They were in from East Texas at the local Camping World to get their refrigerator replaced in their motor home. Which by the way had to be replaced/installed twice as the first one didn't work. What a chore. So, they stayed a couple of days to make sure the refrigerator was working properly which allowed us to have a good visit with them. I am sorry you guys had to come to town for repairs, but glad we got to see you.

Saturday, we went to Zachary's baseball game and did a little shopping in preparation for Mother's Day. Yesterday, Mark and I got up and decided that instead of going to our church service, we would go to church with my mom. I am so glad we did...it was a great service and I am glad I got to share it with her on a special day. Afterwards, we stopped by to visit with his mom. We then spent a quite afternoon before all the kids and grand kids came to have Mother's Day. I always love it when they are all here...we

ate Pizza...and then

it was outside with all the grand kids....Lauren and Zachary are trying to get a game of baseball started, while...

Andrew just wants to drive the Kubota and

Kourtney is trying out Caden's tricycle while

he is occupied with the wagon.

After we had fun playing outside, it was time to go inside for dessert of chocolate dirt pudding. Yummy. And then the kids gave me a couple of really great Mother's Day gifts....

I got this really nice HP/Photosmart wireless wifi printer and

these really great Weight Watchers scales. I might say I now need these after pizza and dirt pudding in the same meal. LOL

Thanks kids for a great Mother's Day...Love, Mom

Today is Monday and we woke to a rainy day. However, we are trying to get back on track as this promises to be a busy week. Several doctor/dental/eye appointments are scheduled as well as the everyday chores that need to be worked through. My biggest chore for the next several days is to get back to the cleaning in the craft room. I sort of had to put that on hold when the remodelers were here...so now it is a double mess. And, we all know that Mark's biggest chore is getting out the wax bottle. He is also working on a few items for Karen the remodelers overlooked. We will also be working in some grand kid activities....baseball games, field days, talent shows, and award ceremonies.

I better get this journal wrapped up for now and get to the business at hand or this day too will be gone. See you soon.

What Happened To The Weekend?

Wow, it was just Friday, and we were doing all that cleaning inside and out...when Jim and Ellie arrived in Tunica to claim that site we were holding for them. They got settled in, we all caught our breath for a minute, had dinner, and the fun began.

We spent the evening showing Jim and Ellie around casino row and finally settled in at Harrah's were we each spent our allotted funds. But, what a fun way to spend your money. I get more enjoyment out of my $25 at the casino than I do at the movie theater buying popcorn. We had fun evening, but it had been a long day for all of us, so we went back to the RV Park and settled in pretty early. Then, sometime in the night the rain also settled in and remained with us for the entire weekend. Thank goodness, it was just rain, rain, and more rain...but no severe weather.

We did not let the rain stop us...and on Saturday we decided to drive up to Memphis for lunch. We ate at the famous Neeley's Interstate Barbecue as seen on Food TV. Mark and I have been there before, but Jim and Ellie wanted to experience Memphis Barbecue. Now, they can mark that off their list. It is good food, but they said in comparison it wasn't as good as the barbecue they ate at Aurthur Bryant's in Kansas City. I guess I am going to have to go there to judge for myself.

After lunch, it was still raining, so just did a little site seeing from the car. We drove them by Graceland. I am sorry to report that we did not see "The King" out anywhere. Then we drove by Davis Motor homes where we purchased our Phaeton. His lot looked like he had a few motor homes to sell. We then stopped at the grocery for a few items and then it was back to Tunica where we spent the rest of the rainy afternoon at the outlet mall. I think Mark and Ellie are the only ones that found something to spend their money for. As for as Jim and I, we were saving ours for the casino later that night. We decided since it was raining, we would just stay at the Hollywood and Resort casinos which are the two casinos located next to the RV Park. We started at the Hollywood and then walked over to The Resorts. However, once again, I am pretty sure we each left our allotment with the casino. Better luck tomorrow!

We woke again yesterday to still more rain, but with the promise of it letting up later in the day. We just hung out until about noon and then we headed to Harrah's....straight past all slot machines, up the stairs to have lunch with Paula. Yes, once again Mark and Jim had a date with Paula Deen for lunch. It was more than yummy. Mark and Jim tried it all. Ellie tried the chicken, I had pork roast and grilled oysters. And, all the veggies were very tasty. I think it has something to do with all that butter she uses. LOL Then...the desserts were to die for and absolutely up to Paula's standards. I had my all time favorite bread pudding and sampled the Pumpkin Gooey Butter Cake. Ellie chose Gooey Chocolate Butter Cake, while Mark and Jim tried pecan pie, ice cream, peach cobbler and who know what else. Needless to say, that was our only meal for the day. We all think her buffet at Harrah's is better than eating at the restaurant in Savannah. Be sure to put this place on your list. The only thing that would have made our lunch experience better was for John and Bridget to have been there to enjoy it with us. They were suppose to drive up from Jackson yesterday, but Bridget hasn't been feeling well the last few days. Hope you are better soon and I hope we will catch you guys down the road sooner than later.

Well, now after that big lunch, we decided that we should work off some of those calories by walking around the casino and dropping a few coins in the slots. Sounds like a good exercise to me. I am not sure about the official outcome of the afternoon, but I do know that at one time Jim had paid for one lunch and I was working on paying for our lunch. I think I finally won enough for lunch and to have a little left for the evening. At this point, we decided to head back to the RV Park for a while...but on the way, and even though it was raining, we drove to the Tunica Riverwalk. This is a little museum on the Mississippi River and where the Tunica Queen, riverboat is docked. Sorry, no tours today in the rain. So, we sat out on the big covered porch for a little while, watching the river and the birds. I was sorry it was raining because they have a beautiful nature walk trail. Maybe next time.

Last night we decided to try our luck at Fitzgerald's Casino, which is Mark's favorite. We arrived and all headed out to look for which game was going to accept our money for the evening. Mark went straight upstairs to the back corner where he likes to play. Ellie and Jim too disappeared. I spotted a new video slot game I hadn't played before, so I was off to try my luck. Well, it was pretty nice to me and I got to go to several bonus rounds pretty close together and before I knew it I was up several dollars. Okay, I had enough fun there, so I was off to find another game. However, not so much luck at this slot and there went my extra bucks. I am still ahead for the day. It was then I decided to settle in at another game I hadn't played...and like the first one, I was getting bonus rounds left and right. It was one of those bonus games that finished with well over what I started with. Okay, I could play this some more, but...that is when I heard Joe, (Speedy) saying....CASH OUT! I heard you Joe, pushed the button, and walked away. He would have been proud of me if he had been there.

Okay, I was off to catch up with the others. I found them all upstairs hanging out at the hot dog vendors. Well, that is Mark and Jim. They were spending their last few dollars on supper. Ellie too had found a game that had been really nice to her. And, yes, Joe...she cashed out too.

By this time, we decided to call it an evening and head back to the RV Park as tomorrow, which is now today is a travel day for all of us. When I woke up before 7 this morning, Mark was already up drinking his Kona coffee that Ellie had shared with him. Well, that pure coffee must have really wound him up because he was ready to get this day under way and I found myself pulling out of the park by about 8:45. LOL....Ellie, said, no more Kona for him. It is really okay, as we needed to be out early anyway as our destination for today is Shreveport, LA. That makes us travel about 350 miles today. That is a big day. Then, tomorrow we will be heading into our home base in Fort Worth. We will be there for the next six weeks or so. Ellie and Jim also will be traveling today into Sheridan, Arkansas as they start the trek across to Colorado Springs where they will be visiting with family and friends for the next month. Safe travels and see you guys in Custer if not before.

As I post this journal, we are traveling south down Highway 61 in Mississippi from Tunica to Vicksburg. There we will pick up I-20 West into Shreveport, LA. The weather is rainy, but with a promise of sun a little later. I had a phone call just a little while ago from our friends, Weldon and Sandy. This was the weekend they have been in Canton, Texas at The First Monday Trade Days, where they are vendors. We were going to try to meet up with them on the way to Fort Worth, but it didn't seem like it was going to work out. Well, now it looks like they will be in Fort Worth before we can get there. I am glad we are going to get to see them, but, the main reason they are coming to town is to make a trip to Camping World just south of Fort Worth. It seems that their refrigerator has gone out and they are having to replace it. OH NO! Camping World had to order it, so it will be tomorrow or Wednesday before they get the work done. We all hate it when we have to do things like that, but these RV's are really no different than having to take care of a house. Things do break, go out, get old, etc. We still have to plan and still save for those things. Hey, Sandy, don't spend all your money at Camping World...we need to make a trip to Bed, Bath, and Beyond, and I know a really good Mexican Food Restaurant. Hope you guys can plan to stay on with us for the rest of the week so we can get in a good visit. See you tomorrow.

I guess that is all the news from here on the road for now anyway. I had some pictures to post, but can't seem to get them out of the camera right now? Maybe later. So for now, I am just going to enjoy the journey...may each of you have a blessed day where ever you are.

Cleaning Inside and Out

Boy, did we collect a lot of dust during our stay in Red Bay. But, when you are parked on a gravel parking lot with motor homes going up and down the road in front of you and up and down the road behind you what do you expect. But, when every thing turns white, it is time to clean.

So, having slept in to 7:00, taking a nice walk, and having breakfast, it was time to tackle the cleaning. I started inside at the front and worked myself all the way around and from top to bottom, and side to side, I cleaned cabinets, windows, the dash, and the furniture. Then out came the Pine Power for the floors and the Solution for the counter tops and the mirrors. The rugs went to the laundry, and the sheets were changed. Yeah, my house is clean once again. The only thing left to do is the window screens. And, that will have to be another day.

Now, while I was doing all of this, guess where Mark was. Three guesses and the first two don't count. Oh, you got it...outside with his Solution in one hand and his wax in the other. LOL

By the time all of this cleaning was done, it was well into the afternoon and first thing I knew Jim and Ellie were pulling around the corner. We said a quick hello, and then let them get set up, the visiting would come soon enough. As is the rule, on travel days, you don't cook. So, I had planned dinner for the four of us. We had pan grilled chicken, rice and hoppin john. Ellie did bring over some left over salad. I also made a cherry dessert. After dinner, Ellie helped me with the dishes and then while Mark and Jim continued to visit, Ellie and I took a quick walk. By the time we finished, Mark and Jim decided we would go find a little casino action. No jackpots to report here.

Tomorrow, we are going to show Jim and Ellie around the town and see if we can find some Memphis BBQ!