Christmas

Well, we're resting the day after Christmas. I had to work this morning. Not very many showed up for breakfast this am. That's o.k. Seems like I've just been tired all weekend.

Friday night we had a soup and salad night. Only 4 people showed up for supper. We knew it was going to be slow - but not sure we realized that it would be that slow. Had beef stew and turkey noodle soup. Beef stew was awesome - not a big fan of turkey noodle. Brought some home for later this week. It's supposed to be a little cooler at the beginning of the week. Our highs will only be in the 50's and lows in the 30s. Guess we need something to help us remember it's winter. We knew there weren't too many people in the campground so didn't expect too many for the Christmas potluck. The park provided the ham and turkey. We had 50 people show up. The food was awesome. Our friends from Iowa were going to join us for Christmas dinner but got the stomach flu. Decided to stay home. I, for one, was very grateful.

Some pictures from our dinner.




We had a very nice Christmas. Leisurely day yesterday morning. Made 3 side dishes for the potluck. Sue made candy and desserts. Thought that was a nice trade off. Made scalloped corn, baked beans, and mac n cheese. All good things that go with ham. Or at least we think so.

Christmas night a couple put on a variety show. Sharon went down but I couldn't get off the couch. She said they were excellent. They did some song parodies. Played a wash tub, wash board as well as mandolin, flute, kazoo, and guitar. About 30 people showed up for the mini concert.

Today, we had a few people show up for breakfast. Sundays is all you can eat pancakes and waffles. Only used 2 containers of batter.

This afternoon I'm playing on the computer. Updating maps on the gps. Catching up on the blog and facebook. This pm is football, of course, for Sharon. The "pack" are ahead - I'm grateful. Must be kind of exciting - the recliner keeps going up and down, up and down.

Left overs for dinner. Can't beat that. Looks like meatloaf, scalloped corn, and mac n cheese.

Wishing everyone a great Christmas - and a safe one - been watching the weather channel - every now and then. Stay safe.

Busy Week

We had a busy week leading up to Christmas. David & Patricia are in San Antonio this week. Nick was flying in on Sunday, the 19th. We decided to meet up after Nick arrived and have dinner on the Riverwalk. We met in front of the Alamo. Took a couple more pictures of the Alamo, of course.
There was a Christmas tree in front of the Alamo Plaza. Later some carolers. Had a nice conversation with the pastor from the church. They were from Bulverde which is north and west of San Antonio.

Every now and then we manage to catch a picture of each other. Usually one of us wants to go take a few pics of something and the other waits. Caught each other while waiting on the Kimmels.


They arrived and we went down to the Riverwalk. There were supposed to be boats of carolers that evening but we only saw and heard one boat and a partial song. Oh well, it was nice catching up with them. We ate at Landrys. Sharon had snapper and I had a filet mignon.




You could see the lights so much better when it gets dark. Sun doesn't set until close to 6:00 down here. There was also carriage rides at Alamo Plaza. Took a couple of pictures of the carriages.



We had a great time but I was very very tired. Had worked Sunday morning and then walking around the Alamo - yea, you guessed it - the arthritis was really acting up. But I wouldn't have missed it for anything. It was great talking to them again.

We had such a good time on Sunday that we decided to get together again for lunch on Wednesday. We met at Mi Tierra (Mexican restaurant and bakery) and it's right next to El Mercado (Market). Mi Tierra was decorated - mainly the ceilings. Had to take a few pictures.



We walked around El Mercado for a little while. We bought a multi colored inch worm. It has a blue head with red antennas. Very cute and very small. There was a rack of hats and a sign that said - do not take pictures with hats on. So, Sharon stood beside them.



After this, we stopped at the bakery and picked up some Mexican pastries and candies. Neither one of us wanted to try the pumpkin or sweet potato candy - but it did look very interesting. The bakery is in the lobby of the restaurant. That's Patricia buying pastries. She walked away with a box and a bag. We just had a bag.


Wouldn't be complete without a picture of the group.


Thursday we went to the grocery store and did a little Christmas stocking shopping. The next blog will have Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

Saturday, Christmas Party

We had a great time Saturday night at the employee Christmas party. Only 1 couple didn't show up. In my opinion, no great loss but it is Christmas. They did miss a good time. We had a lot of food. Everyone was to bring something to eat. We had fixins' for tacos (beef & chicken), mini crescent dogs, enchilada dip, sausage/cheese/chili dip, coconut pie, lil' devils, vegetable tray, cream cheese dip, fudge, cherry pastries, turtle pretzels, chips, stuffed mushrooms, spaghetti, red velvet cookies and assorted chocolates.

The lil' devils were awesome. I had 2 - Sharon 0. They were hollowed out jalapenos (no seeds) filled with little smokies and cream cheese and wrapped in bacon. They made my eyes water but the flavor was awesome. She said it takes 3 days to make. I think the jalapenos are also marinated.

The turtle pretzels were pretzel logs wrapped in homemade caramel, dipped in chocolate and rolled in chopped pecans.

The stuffed mushrooms had pecans, mushroom stems, sausage and onion soup mix. Sharon had a few of these.

We played chinese bingo for $5 gifts. I ended up with a basket that had 2 jars filled with ingredients to make chocolate chip muffins and butter pecan bread. Notice a theme of pecans. Someone said they're getting a little more expensive. I think they're now $14 for 5 lbs. People just thought that was crazy. Sharon ended up with a bottle of riesling. As she said, Oh well. We still had fun. There was lots of laughter during the gift bingo. Sharon did start out with a toy hamster, though.

A few pictures from that night.
A little early for the party - just sitting around waiting. Charles, Lois, Gary and Sharon.

Ray & Yoli


During part of the gift exchange.

Saturday, end of the Week

It was a slow weekend here in the campground. Not many people for supper last night or breakfast this morning. Last night was chicken alfredo. Brought the leftovers home. We gave out very large servings to get rid of most of the food. This am I made a couple of breakfast casseroles: one ham, the other sausage. Froze the leftovers for a later date.

We've been making some new friends here in the campground. Cindy & Frank live just a couple of campers up from us. Cindy had hip replacement surgery a few weeks back and just came back here yesterday. Her therapy is going very well. Hope to see her back at games and bingo real soon.

I think I've mentioned Yoli, she's the assistant on the weekends. We're getting to know her and Ray. Hopefully I'll have a few pictures of our fellow employees after tonight. We have an employee Christmas party tonight. We're taking a vegetable tray and mini crescent dogs. We're having some of the left over taco meat and spaghetti and whatever else others are making. Yoli's bringing 'lil devils'. Can't wait to find out what those are. Pat's bringing mini quiches. Sue's doing bars and candies. Sheryl's bringing stuffed mushrooms. That's all I know so far. Should be fun. We're to bring a $5 gift for a gift exchange. We're going to play some sort of game. Sharon's gift is a mini flashlight, pens, notebooks and the box is stuffed with hershey kisses. My gift is a yo yo, beef jerky, and the box is stuffed with an assortment of salt water taffy. We've been munching on what didn't fit in the box. It's really really good.

We had errands to run earlier this week and some groceries to buy. Found this cute little miniature poinsettia at the store. Just had to buy it.


Tomorrow, David & Patricia are supposed to be in San Antonio. We hope to get together with them late afternoon. Well, that's it for now. We've been busy but also it's been nice.

Fish Eyes & $10 Picture Fee

Thought that would get your attention. :)

Yesterday, we went to a place called Bracken Village. Apparently, it was "something" in its day. Let's just say, we had fun, did a little shopping, and had a great supper. Bracken Village is a place that a someone years ago brought in older homes and buildings and converted the area to a little village with a petting zoo and lots of boutique shopping. Now, there's no zoo and only 5 shops left open. I would show you some pictures of the place but. . . . THERE WAS A $10 PICTURE TAKING FEE!! Thought about going across the street and taking a picture but . . . .

The shops were cute except the first one (where you received the permit to take pictures). Someone should tell the clerk that when a customer is standing in front of them - she should terminate her phone call in less than 10 minutes. If we knew the fee was $10, we wouldn't have waited on her. And then, she was rude when our mouths fell open at the fee. Oh well, probably will never meet her again anyway. :)

The British tea shoppe was nice. However, have you ever heard of a tea shoppe that didn't sell tea. Did buy a couple of beef pasties and cadbury chocolate. Not a complete waste.

Another shop, found some really cute Christmas earrings.

We stopped for supper at the small town cafe. There's a town called Bracken close to this little village. The hamburgers were HUGE! It was just Sue (from the campground), Sharon and I. Here's Sharon and Sue at the cafe.


This place reminded us of the cafe that Ruth & John took us to in Kentucky - great hamburgers. We thought we'd never forget the name but we have. A few pictures of the ambience.



Now, you're wondering what fish eyes have to do with this. Nothing. Sharon received some fish from a camper nearby. When we took them out of the package, the heads were still attached. So while I ate chicken, she sat across from me eating fish with the heads still on. YUCK! She did say they were very tasty, though. She didn't eat the heads, just in case you were wondering.

This week we have a potluck and then the employee Christmas party. Should be a very busy week. Works going well. And, we're very glad we're in Texas. We were complaining about the 10 - 15 mph winds for the last couple of days but we'll take that over the snow and below freezing temps any day.

Packers lost - Vikings won't be playing until tomorrow night. And I doubt we watch the cowboys tonight. So, should go and get some dishes done.

December 1

We got the itch to go shopping. Imagine that. We need to buy a couple of $5 gifts for a staff party coming up. Sharon wanted something unique. Actually, I think she just wanted to go to Bass Pro. The Bass Pro here in San Antonio is very close to where we were broke into last year. So, we decided we needed to go back at least in the daytime and face the past experience. I still think it's because she wanted to go to Bass Pro. Off we went to the RIM. The GPS got us there safely.

A couple of pictures of the outside area of BPS. Beautiful isn't it. This on December 1st.


We had dinner at the restaurant. Sharon, of course, ordered fish. It was called Island Mahi Grill. Had to take a picture it looked so good (at least to her).


Sharon found an item to add to her "wish list". Of course, she'd need another truck to haul it around. lol


Sharon had to take this picture - thought it was soooooo cute:


And to prove that we went inside, other than the fact that she found a couple more lures: