Happy Boxing Day

AJ, AZ  High 68  Low 43

Paul reminded me that today is Boxing Day, a celebration that originated in the United Kingdom and is celebrated in a number of countries that previously formed part of the British Empire.

Jim and I celebrated a quiet, peaceful Christmas day. Used my working oven to fix a turkey and we watched holiday movies. We did, however, have a couple of glitches in our peaceful day.

We ran out of propane and as per usual it was in the middle of the night on Christmas Eve. Sure glad we had full tanks on the Bungalow so Jim could just exchange those because I’m not sure anything would have been open on Christmas day especially that early in the morning.

The other issue was more serious. Jim discovered a leak in our bathroom. Not sure if it was from the shower or the toilet, so he had to take things apart on Christmas day. He’s pretty sure it was a pipe to the toilet and got it repaired and put back together. He’ll keep a watch on it and we have our fingers crossed.

I want to post my Christmas decorations so I will have them to remember in later years.

This is our fishing Santa. The Hershey’s Christmas tree was made by Aunt Happy in her crafts class. The bottle next to Santa is full of candy to help us celebrate New Year’s Eve.

Jim decorates the outside with lots of lights.

Spike is all dressed up for Christmas.

Our Christmas Dachshunds.

The newest addition to our Dachshund family. Thanks to Todd and Michaela.

Our Christmas tree (there is a ledge behind the couch for it to sit on)

The Nativity Set my mother made for me some 35 years ago.

I hope all of you had a truly wonderful Christmas at your homes filled with love, friends, family and good food.

December Happenings

AJ, AZ   High 58  Low 33

We were able to meet up with some Escapees Class of 2008-2009 members at Benihana for a Christmas get together. So much fun. The restaurant had a hard time getting us seated but once that was out of the way, we really enjoyed the show and the food. It’s been probably 40 years or more since I went to Benihana and I’m sure glad Jeri suggested it.

Jeri brought lights for all the guys to wear and had fun turning them on.

Toni and Doug, Jeri and Terry, Janice and Jerry, and us

Jim and I both ordered steak which is served with mushrooms, onions, and rice. Sooo good. Our Chef was very entertaining.

This is the onion volcano.

Jim also went jeeping one day with a bunch of guys. He got some great pictures but I don’t think he’ll be doing that again. All that rocking back and forth hurt his back and his neck. Other than that he did have a good time.

One of our neighbors here in the park, Jeanne, took this fantastic sunrise picture and I wanted to share it with you.

We’ve gotten tons of goodies from the fantastic cooks here in the park and have enjoyed them in front of our fireplace. It’s been cold (for us) the last few days but next week’s weather looks about perfect.

RJ got a new sweater. Skittlez claims the fireplace as hers.

Sassy, You Will Be Missed

AJ, AZ  High 58  Low 37

Received an e-mail from Denise’s sister this morning letting us know that Denise (Sassy) passed away on December 14 from lung cancer.

We met Sassy back in 2011 in Yuma and she became one of our dearest friends. She loved her RV and she especially loved her Harley.

She put up a mighty battle against Cancer and now she is free. I love you girl.

Life after the Adrenalin

AJ, AZ   High 78  Low 42

It’s kind of hard to follow up my last post which was full of adrenalin and this post is all about mundane living.

Let’s see – what have we been doing. We’ve almost finished up our doctor appointments – only the dermatologist is left on the 21st. I had my favorite procedure (a colonoscopy in case you were wondering) done on the day before Thanksgiving. The good news is all the polyps were non-cancerous. The bad news is that I have to do it again in three years because I had five of them.

Jim got great news from his pulmonologist. His breathing has improved from his last visit to the point that she doesn’t want to see him for another year instead of six months. That’s wonderful news.

My kidney doc said everything is status quo except I need a prescription Vitamin D. However, I just looked at the paperwork they gave me on Friday and discovered they had combined my info with another patient. So now I’m not very happy with them. I’ll have to call them and try to get it straightened out tomorrow.

We had to say goodbye to our friend, Paul. He is now in Florida where he will be having a hip replacement. Wish you all the best Paul and we’ll see you next Fall.

I came down with a miserable cold about a week ago. Of course we were invited down to Bill and Jan’s for a Christmas party and we were going to see Toni and Doug’s new motorhome. Even had Paula all lined up to be our barking dog sitter for us. All those plans got scrapped and I spent the week sitting wrapped in a blanket in the recliner.

We finally got down to see Toni and Doug’s motorhome yesterday and it was beautiful. She fixed a great lunch for us and we had a short visit. We had the puppers with us and they had lots of fun exploring a new place.

Skittlez was exhausted from all the excitement.

One of our beautiful neighbors here in the park passed away and she will be greatly missed.

That pretty well brings you up to date in our world. Hope all your plans for Christmas and the holidays are coming together nicely and without too much stress.