Having a much better weekend than last week. Last weekend the windchill was below zero with strong winds coming from the north. The camper stayed warm - greatful for that but we woke up Saturday morning to no water. You don't know how much you actually use water until you don't have any coming from the pipes. Not to worry - we had plenty of drinking water.
Went outside and the campground faucet was froze. Waited until the office opened up and went up and asked another work camper for assistance. Had a hand held blower and thawed the faucet. Didn't help - still no water. This means that a pipe in the camper is froze. Yuck! Hopefully it won't burst. Found out we could also thaw out using our blow dryer.
Later that afternoon, with the sun out, still not above freezing, went out with the blow dryer. You guessed correctly - no pictures. Just imagine the cute sight - all bundled up with a blow dryer in hand blowing warm air on the pipes. :) The faucet wasn't froze. The water hose wasn't froze so still in the camper. Wondered if just froze at the connection to the camper. Since the campground faucet froze kept water from coming into the camper at night - just maybe. Plugged in the dryer and blew the warm air on the connection. Heard yelling coming from inside the camper. YEAH!! We have water. Just to be on the safe side - let the kitchen faucet drip through the night but the north winds had died down. Had water all night long. Sunday afternoon we just emptied the kitchen gray tank.
On Monday had a little over an inch of snow. By Tuesday, starting to get back to normal. You know you just can't do much of anything when you have the kind of trauma we had over the weekend. Ha Ha.
Went to the grocery store on Tuesday afternoon. Took us awhile to get started. Sort of got hooked on Andy Griffith reruns. That Barney. Around noon, decided we should take showers and get ready to go into town. Grabbed a quick lunch and then went to Hy-Vee. Wednesday - rained all day.
Thursday & Friday we worked. So Saturday was a chore day: laundry and empty tanks.
Ate leftovers earlier in the week so on Friday made a quiche, Saturday we had waffles and bacon. Needed to use up part of the bacon used in the quiche and today we're having roast turkey, stuffing and carrots. Been eating good the last couple of days. This next week we need to eat up some more leftovers. Freezer is getting full again. Just need to keep a couple of items for when we're on the road.
This week we'll work Thursday& Friday and again on Monday & Tuesday before leaving Thursday, March 1st for San Antonio. Today, planning menus for the week and preparing the grocery list.
About time to go and cut up carrots-the turkey is smelling wonderful. We're supposed to have another rainy day either tomorrow or Tuesday so trying another new recipe: creamy chicken tortilla soup in a crock pot.
Still have about 560 slides to scan and then the slide project will be done. Then I can start on the pictures.
Well, as you can see we're enjoying being very lazy at the moment. Have been watching movies, playing games and doing some reading. Need to get back to working on our winter projects again.
Well, guess it's time to start some "lupper". We coined this word for when we eat mid-afternoon: combination of lunch and supper.
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Strange Week
Have you ever had one of those days that you just don't feel like doing anything. Well, that's been this week. Most for the good, some just plain simple, but at least nothing bad.
On Saturday we received a phone call from our friend, Jean. I worked with Jean at Principal in HR. Her and Dick were coming back from Texas and heading home to Iowa. Thought they might stop in on Sunday if we didn't have any plans for the Super Bowl. They hadn't seen the RV, yet. All of the plans over the past couple of years kept getting changed. They arrived about 4pm. Ordered a couple of pizzas and had a great visit. At least the right team one. Nice, exciting finish.
Monday was just one of those kind of days. We were going to run errands: pharmacy, grocery store, etc but decided to wait until Tuesday. Played games all afternoon. Kind of refreshing.
Tuesday, we did run our errands. Grabbed a couple of salads from the store for lunch and continued the game playing in the afternoon.
Now, Wednesday, you'd think we'd be ready to do something right. Well, NO. :) Sharon got up around 9:30 am. We had a webinar at 10 that lasted about 1/2 hour. Watched a little TV, made some soup and read all afternoon. It's been so cloudy and cold.
Today, we work. Sharon's got the morning shift and we both work this afternoon. Tomorrow, I'll work in the am and we'll both work in the pm.
We were hoping to get our taxes done but still haven't received our W-2's from the summer. Apparently the owner didn't tell the payroll company where to mail them. They were sent back to the company. So, hopefully we'll get them by the end of next week. Glad we asked him about them. Sharon had a few quips to say.
Going to try a new recipe for lunch. Found a recipe in the new healthy cooking magazine. French toast with apple topping. Still cloudy today so sounds good with a nice cup of coffee for lunch. Have a chance of snow tonight after 8pm. Guess we'll see.
As I said it's been a strange week. Hopefully, we'll get back on track this weekend.
On Saturday we received a phone call from our friend, Jean. I worked with Jean at Principal in HR. Her and Dick were coming back from Texas and heading home to Iowa. Thought they might stop in on Sunday if we didn't have any plans for the Super Bowl. They hadn't seen the RV, yet. All of the plans over the past couple of years kept getting changed. They arrived about 4pm. Ordered a couple of pizzas and had a great visit. At least the right team one. Nice, exciting finish.
Monday was just one of those kind of days. We were going to run errands: pharmacy, grocery store, etc but decided to wait until Tuesday. Played games all afternoon. Kind of refreshing.
Tuesday, we did run our errands. Grabbed a couple of salads from the store for lunch and continued the game playing in the afternoon.
Now, Wednesday, you'd think we'd be ready to do something right. Well, NO. :) Sharon got up around 9:30 am. We had a webinar at 10 that lasted about 1/2 hour. Watched a little TV, made some soup and read all afternoon. It's been so cloudy and cold.
Today, we work. Sharon's got the morning shift and we both work this afternoon. Tomorrow, I'll work in the am and we'll both work in the pm.
We were hoping to get our taxes done but still haven't received our W-2's from the summer. Apparently the owner didn't tell the payroll company where to mail them. They were sent back to the company. So, hopefully we'll get them by the end of next week. Glad we asked him about them. Sharon had a few quips to say.
Going to try a new recipe for lunch. Found a recipe in the new healthy cooking magazine. French toast with apple topping. Still cloudy today so sounds good with a nice cup of coffee for lunch. Have a chance of snow tonight after 8pm. Guess we'll see.
As I said it's been a strange week. Hopefully, we'll get back on track this weekend.
Monday, January 30, 2012
Last Monday of January
Where has the time gone. Can't believe that we currently have 65 degrees but the wind is outrageous. The wind is 24mph gusting to 38. Every now and then we can feel it but mostly just hear it whipping around.
Sharon's had a bad head-ache the last couple of days so just been hanging out in the camper. The tree pollen count has been high and her sinuses are acting up. Hopefully, it will be better soon.
Have been enjoying the birds at the bird feeder. Here are a few pictures from this past week.
Made our reservations today for San Antonio on March 2nd. It will be nice to visit our friends again. Hopefully we'll get to El Viaje in Medina to visit Anne & Susan. They've built a new house on the hill and we'd love to see it. They own an resort there.
It's been a quiet kind of day. At least I'm trying to stay quiet so Sharon can get rid of her head-ache. But then it seems I just can't help clanging and talking. It is close quarters.
Well, guess it's time to pack it in and try to get some work done. Of course, I shouldn't clean out cupboards today. That would definitely make too much noise.
Sharon's had a bad head-ache the last couple of days so just been hanging out in the camper. The tree pollen count has been high and her sinuses are acting up. Hopefully, it will be better soon.
Have been enjoying the birds at the bird feeder. Here are a few pictures from this past week.
Made our reservations today for San Antonio on March 2nd. It will be nice to visit our friends again. Hopefully we'll get to El Viaje in Medina to visit Anne & Susan. They've built a new house on the hill and we'd love to see it. They own an resort there.
It's been a quiet kind of day. At least I'm trying to stay quiet so Sharon can get rid of her head-ache. But then it seems I just can't help clanging and talking. It is close quarters.
Well, guess it's time to pack it in and try to get some work done. Of course, I shouldn't clean out cupboards today. That would definitely make too much noise.
Friday, January 20, 2012
Friday - Killing Time
Sharon's working this morning and I have lunch started so thought I'd kill some time with an update. Hopefully I'll finish before noon.
The weather has been great. Some days it's been a little cold but no snow and last Monday it was 70. Felt strange working around in a t-shirt. It's been a lazy kind of week. Last week we had to work 3 days due to the RV show in St. Louis. We're back to working 2 days a week.
Started copying slides to memory cards. Just got a couple of boxes done so far. Posted some on facebook from our trip to Kentucky visiting Ruth & John. A couple of pictures from that trip in 1987. Can you figure out who these young people are?
The other box had slides from the Grand Canyon from a 1992 trip. The day we were there it had rained earlier in the day. Got a shot of a rainbow over the canyon. The slides weren't too bad after 20 years.
Sharon received a new game for Christmas, Spicy Farkle. We tried it out the other day. It's a twist on regular farkle but we sure can get caught up in it and the afternoons just fly by.
Well, Green Bay didn't make it. That's right - it was a little noisy here on Sunday. Have no idea who she'll be yelling at on Sunday. I know it won't be the Pats.
Well, it's getting close to lunch time. Making italian sausage sandwiches. Time to put them in the oven. Sharon will be home soon.
We're doing fine. Sharon's getting over her cold but is now getting over 3 cold sores on her upper lip. I can definitely tell the knee shot I got in August has worn off. Aches and pains of getting old.
In case you haven't heard, we will be working here in Springfield for the summer. We're working from April 1 through July 24. Hoping to make Dan's graduation from Lackland.
The weather has been great. Some days it's been a little cold but no snow and last Monday it was 70. Felt strange working around in a t-shirt. It's been a lazy kind of week. Last week we had to work 3 days due to the RV show in St. Louis. We're back to working 2 days a week.
Started copying slides to memory cards. Just got a couple of boxes done so far. Posted some on facebook from our trip to Kentucky visiting Ruth & John. A couple of pictures from that trip in 1987. Can you figure out who these young people are?
The other box had slides from the Grand Canyon from a 1992 trip. The day we were there it had rained earlier in the day. Got a shot of a rainbow over the canyon. The slides weren't too bad after 20 years.
Sharon received a new game for Christmas, Spicy Farkle. We tried it out the other day. It's a twist on regular farkle but we sure can get caught up in it and the afternoons just fly by.
Well, Green Bay didn't make it. That's right - it was a little noisy here on Sunday. Have no idea who she'll be yelling at on Sunday. I know it won't be the Pats.
Well, it's getting close to lunch time. Making italian sausage sandwiches. Time to put them in the oven. Sharon will be home soon.
We're doing fine. Sharon's getting over her cold but is now getting over 3 cold sores on her upper lip. I can definitely tell the knee shot I got in August has worn off. Aches and pains of getting old.
In case you haven't heard, we will be working here in Springfield for the summer. We're working from April 1 through July 24. Hoping to make Dan's graduation from Lackland.
Monday, January 9, 2012
'First Week of the New Year
Well, this past week has been uneventful. I got caught up on laundry - ok, not all of it - but did 4 loads and put away the Christmas and heavier winter clothes for another year. We always keep a few sweatshirts and jackets available.
Sharon still has her cold but it's getting better. She talked to the pharmacist on Saturday and found some cold medication that shouldn't be a problem with her other meds. So a little more optimistic.
Sharon's been enjoying watching all of the football games. I did get to see the Rose Parade on Monday. Very nice. Enjoy looking at all of the floats. Watched a show preceding on HGTV on making of a float. Extremely interesting. Maybe one of these years we'll take a trip and see this parade in person.
While Sharon watched the games and paid close attention in the last 5 minutes - I managed to get a couple of books read. One a James Patterson, the other a Karen Kingsbury. Guess you can't get too much more diversified than this.
Enjoyed watching the birds. We've taken a few pictures over the past few weeks so here's just a couple to give you an idea.
We asked the owners of the campground if we could work from April 1 through July 24th. We just received an email this afternoon that they were in agreement with this. So, right now our plans are to take off on July 25th towards San Antonio so we can attend Dan's graduation from Lackland. Then, we'll be heading up to the fair for the first part of August.
Our plans right now are to take off from here on March 1st and head down to San Antonio for about 1 week. Visit some friends. Then head on over to Mississippi. It will be a nice break between winter and summer.
Now, all I have to do is get in gear and start copying all of the slides and photos. Would like this project done before we take off in March. Did one box of 140 slides yesterday afternoon. This box was from 1987 and 1988. Had some pictures of some of my co-workers from Principal; Indianola balloon festival and some pictures from visiting Ruth & John in Kentucky. Took us awhile to figure out the years, though. Should have marked the boxes. Put some of the photos on facebook of John, John, Ruth & Jeremy. I'll try to remember to post some more later.
Sharon still has her cold but it's getting better. She talked to the pharmacist on Saturday and found some cold medication that shouldn't be a problem with her other meds. So a little more optimistic.
Sharon's been enjoying watching all of the football games. I did get to see the Rose Parade on Monday. Very nice. Enjoy looking at all of the floats. Watched a show preceding on HGTV on making of a float. Extremely interesting. Maybe one of these years we'll take a trip and see this parade in person.
While Sharon watched the games and paid close attention in the last 5 minutes - I managed to get a couple of books read. One a James Patterson, the other a Karen Kingsbury. Guess you can't get too much more diversified than this.
Enjoyed watching the birds. We've taken a few pictures over the past few weeks so here's just a couple to give you an idea.
We asked the owners of the campground if we could work from April 1 through July 24th. We just received an email this afternoon that they were in agreement with this. So, right now our plans are to take off on July 25th towards San Antonio so we can attend Dan's graduation from Lackland. Then, we'll be heading up to the fair for the first part of August.
Our plans right now are to take off from here on March 1st and head down to San Antonio for about 1 week. Visit some friends. Then head on over to Mississippi. It will be a nice break between winter and summer.
Now, all I have to do is get in gear and start copying all of the slides and photos. Would like this project done before we take off in March. Did one box of 140 slides yesterday afternoon. This box was from 1987 and 1988. Had some pictures of some of my co-workers from Principal; Indianola balloon festival and some pictures from visiting Ruth & John in Kentucky. Took us awhile to figure out the years, though. Should have marked the boxes. Put some of the photos on facebook of John, John, Ruth & Jeremy. I'll try to remember to post some more later.
Sunday, January 1, 2012
Christmas with the Vander Ploegs
Sharon's family got together on the 26th. So we drove up on Christmas Day to her sister Donna's house. It's a little longer drive than to Des Moines. We were on the road by 7:15 am. That's right, before coffee. Had a thermos in the truck but still we were up and on the road that early. We arrived at Donna's around 4:15. We assumed 9 hour drive if we ate sandwiches in the truck. We estimated correctly.
When we arrived at her sister's, they were still celebrating Christmas with their children and their families. We were able to visit with them for a couple of hours and Sharon got to see her newest great nephew, Reid (about 2 months old).
Sharon and Reid
A few random pictures from the get together on the 26th at Kevin's (her brother) in Sioux Center. Kevin was smoking wings out on the deck so Verle, Lyle and Kevin were standing outside on the deck. Notice the outerwear. It's December in Iowa. We were loving it. Still missed some parts of Texas but the fact that we were able to get together with family out weighed Texas this year.
On Tuesday we visited Sharon's mom at the nursing home. This is a picture of her mom from Monday night at the party.
We left around 7am from Donna's on Wednesday and arrived back here in Springfield at 5pm. Stopped outside of KC for some dinner.
We worked on Thursday and Friday. Ran some errands on Saturday including grocery store. Enjoying relaxing and not doing much of anything right now.
When we arrived at her sister's, they were still celebrating Christmas with their children and their families. We were able to visit with them for a couple of hours and Sharon got to see her newest great nephew, Reid (about 2 months old).
Sharon and Reid
A few random pictures from the get together on the 26th at Kevin's (her brother) in Sioux Center. Kevin was smoking wings out on the deck so Verle, Lyle and Kevin were standing outside on the deck. Notice the outerwear. It's December in Iowa. We were loving it. Still missed some parts of Texas but the fact that we were able to get together with family out weighed Texas this year.
On Tuesday we visited Sharon's mom at the nursing home. This is a picture of her mom from Monday night at the party.
We left around 7am from Donna's on Wednesday and arrived back here in Springfield at 5pm. Stopped outside of KC for some dinner.
We worked on Thursday and Friday. Ran some errands on Saturday including grocery store. Enjoying relaxing and not doing much of anything right now.
Christmas with the Christensens
My family got together on Sunday, December 18th at my brother's house. Both my sisters and quite of few of my nieces and nephews were able to attend. The weather was beautiful. Sharon and I drove up to Des Moines on Saturday, Dec 17 and returned on Monday, Dec 19. The DM and KC areas were expecting ice/sleet/snow on Tuesday. We tried a different route up and enjoyed it immensely. The state highways were divided and we made better time than the trip down. Of course, we had the camper on the trip down.
It seems that every time we get together for Christmas we divide up into 2 teams for a game of trivial pursuit. This was a great and memorable year. My team beat my sister's Marcia team. Absolutely awesome. Everyone always likes being on my sister's team. She has a real knack for remembering obsolete information.
A couple of pictures from that day.
My great niece Jersey. Doesn't she look cute in her glasses.
My nephew Mike; my niece Mykie; and my sister Pam
My great nephew Ethan teaching my sister Marcia a new card game called 'trash'.
A few of us sitting around talking and nibbling on relishes and candy before eating dinner.
It seems that every time we get together for Christmas we divide up into 2 teams for a game of trivial pursuit. This was a great and memorable year. My team beat my sister's Marcia team. Absolutely awesome. Everyone always likes being on my sister's team. She has a real knack for remembering obsolete information.
A couple of pictures from that day.
My great niece Jersey. Doesn't she look cute in her glasses.
My nephew Mike; my niece Mykie; and my sister Pam
My great nephew Ethan teaching my sister Marcia a new card game called 'trash'.
A few of us sitting around talking and nibbling on relishes and candy before eating dinner.
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