MY CHRISTMAS PRESENT

 

I am always cold. Jim only gets cold when he doesn’t feel good. So at our house, we try to compromise so he doesn’t get roasted and I don’t freeze. Our furnace does an okay job of heating our home but it really uses a lot of propane which is expensive.

Our friends, Jeri and Terry, bought a blue flame propane heater and really like it. We know other RVers who also have these type heaters and have really good luck with them. We decided to see if we could find one here in Apache Junction. They are not a big seller down here in the land of sunshine.

I found one on line that got good reviews and ordered it along with the regulator hose that you need. It’s larger than I expected it to be but Jim hooked it up and we tried it out. Well, I love it. I am actually warm for the first time in weeks. Jim sits with his window open by his chair which serves a dual purpose – keeping him from roasting and also ventilating the heater.

It really is like having a gas fireplace. And is so much more efficient than our furnace. And it uses a whole lot less propane. Merry Christmas to me.

Another project Jim had was to fix the light above his chair. It quit working so he took it apart and rewired a couple of things. Works perfectly now.

We also purchased a yard decoration. Jim had to put it together which wasn’t as fun as he thought it was going to be. But I love the end result.

Friday night John and Karen stopped by to see if we wanted to go with them to the #1 Eastern Super Chinese Buffet. That took two seconds to make that decision. It was wonderful as usual. After dinner we went over to their rig and played Phase 10. Thank goodness we don’t keep score. Had a wonderful time. And a great break from all the running we’ve done the last couple of weeks.

SHOPPING

I let Jim go shopping at Bass Pro. These are what we came home with.

 

 

 

 

 

This one did NOT come home with us.

They have this great carousel at Bass Pro. The kids were having a wonderful time.

Now for a few projects.

ANOTHER BUSY WEEK

We’ve been on the run again this week. Monday we stopped to see Aunt Happy and then went over to Judy’s to wait for the exterminator for her termites. We waited and waited and finally she called to find out where they were. That’s when we found out she had the wrong date and they aren’t coming til next Monday. So we took her grocery shopping again. Back home to feed the girls and then go play cribbage. Wonder if I’ll ever win. Doubt it.

But Wednesday was the worst day. We left the house at 7:45 a.m. so we could be with Aunt Happy when she had her surgery. Picked up my sister and then got Happy settled at the eye doctor’s. Pat, the woman who stays with her at night, was also there and was going to give her a ride home. She has a car which is easier for Happy to get into.

Jim, Judy and I decided to go to Coco’s and have breakfast and then we’d go back to the eye doctor’s. We called Pat to see how things were going and found out that she had already taken Happy home. WHAT???

For whatever reason they didn’t do the surgery. Instead they did a laser procedure and will do the implant surgery next Wednesday. Needless-to-say, Aunt Happy was not happy. I really don’t know all the details, but they needed to do the laser work to shape her eye for the implant. But that’s not what they told her last week. She thought she was going to be done with this nonsense and now it’s going right into Christmas. This is all interfering with all her plans for parties and socializing. We went over to her house and visited with her for awhile until she calmed down. I don’t blame her for being angry.

After we left her house, we dropped Judy back at her house and then Jim had a doctor’s appointment up in Scottsdale. I originally hadn’t planned on going with him but we were running out of time and he couldn’t take me back to Apache Junction and then get to Scottsdale on time. So I went with him.

This appointment was with a General Practitioner. Jim has to get clearance from a GP as well as a Cardiologist before the surgery. We didn’t have either doctor down here so the surgeon referred us. Dr. Palen is a very busy doctor and they were running way behind. We were at the doctor’s office for over three hours. Then we had to go down the street to an imaging office and have his X-rays taken.

We didn’t get back to the rig until almost 5:00 p.m. Boy were the girls happy to see us. I felt so bad we had to leave them for so long. Everything seems to be looking good for Jim. The Cardiologist will do a stress test on him, but he passed his last one with flying colors. (He’s had two heart by-passes.)

Tuesday we got laundry done, ran a zillion errands, and then had John and Karen over for dinner. They are staying at our park for a week while they’re here visiting friends and going to a show at the Palms Dinner Theater. Had a great time visiting with them.

Today we’re waiting for the guy to show up to work on our trailer brakes. And Jim has had a couple of projects going. It’s been rather nice to stay home for a change. My sister’s husband arrived today which means she now has a car at her disposal so we won’t be running to Mesa quite as often. He can also help her deal with her termites.

Pictures? Who has time to take pictures!

QUARTZSITE, AZ (Q)

Every January hordes of RVers land in this small town out in the middle of the desert. We had plans on joining them but with Jim’s surgery, we’ve had to once again change our plans.

We were going to meet up with about 30 other rigs – members of the Escapees Classes of 2005 through 2014 or beyond. The classes are gathering the middle of January and it will be party time.

Since we can’t be there at that time, we are going to pack up and head over probably the 27th of December and stay until the 7th of January. We won’t get to see everyone but there are going to be several people gathered early that we can join up with. That way I get my Q fix and we’re back in time for Jim’s surgery. I can hardly wait.

I had also hoped we could meet up with the Montana Owners Club that holds a Rally out at Q during this time. That’s not going to happen either. This is a picture of their 2011 gathering.

Karen asked about Aunt Happy’s eye doctor. Dr. Wendy Wooten has been named one of the top ten eye doctor’s in Phoenix and has numerous awards. Everyone that we have talked to that has gone to her has been more than pleased with the results. I wish I knew what had gone wrong but maybe on Wednesday I can find out some additional information. But Aunt Happy’s positive outlook sure is amazing.

Jerry – it was definitely Big Ed and Alice. We’ll see them again at the next Chapter luncheon and I’ll be sure to tell them hi.

I want to thank all of you for all the wonderful comments and well wishes for both Aunt Happy and Jim. It sure does gladden our hearts.

Because we’ve been on the go so much, the girls have been very lonely. So the minute I sit down, this is what my lap looks like.

BAD NEWS, GOOD NEWS

It’s been a week since I’ve posted anything. And what a hectic week it has been.

My sister arrived Monday afternoon and we had to make Panda Express our first stop. Dumped her off at her place and then got ready to play cribbage.

Tuesday, my sister had several things that needed to be done at her park model and she also needed to go to the grocery store. Finally got back to our place in time to have dinner and watch a little TV.

Wednesday, we went to the Escapees Chapter 45 luncheon and then Doug and Carol came over to visit for awhile. After they left, I called Aunt Happy. Her cataract removal was a disaster. This is one lady that you never hear feeling sorry for herself or feeling down but she was really down in the dumps. So we headed up to see her. I’m not sure what went wrong but the doctor had told her she might lose her sight in that eye. I felt so bad for her. We stayed with her for awhile and got her dinner for her.

After we left her we stopped to see my sister. She’s not doing well either because of her Restless Legs. She also has termites and the exterminator can’t come until Monday. Never a dull moment.

Thursday Jim had a doctor’s appointment with the spine doctor to review his MRI. You know things are a little iffy when the Physician’s Assistant looks at the MRI and goes wow. And it’s really bad when the doctor looks at it and goes WOW. But the good news is that the doctor is sure that he can give Jim quite a bit of relief from his pain.

His surgery is scheduled for January 10. In between he has to have an appointment with a General Practitioner and a Cardiologist. Have everything all scheduled. The doctor is going to perform a laminectomy which is a minimally invasive surgery to scrape out some of the bone that is crushing down on his nerves. We are really excited about this. Changes our plans for going to Quartzsite in January but more about that later.

We also stopped in to see Aunt Happy because she had another doctor appointment in the morning. She was feeling much better because the doctor told her the chance of her losing her vision in that eye was very slim. They have to do another surgery next Wednesday and are doing some kind of an implant. She doesn’t really know what went wrong or exactly what they are doing. But we are going to be with her next week when she has this surgery done. Back over to check on my sister. Still not doing very good.

We were also trying to get some Christmas shopping done for the Giving Tree at Church. Have I told you how much I hate to shop? And especially at this time of year. We even went to the Mall.

Friday we finished up the shopping and wrapping for the Giving Tree. Talked to Aunt Happy and Judy on the phone to see how they were doing.

Then we went down to Casa Grande for a party at Jan and Bill’s with Ed and Alice, John and Karen, Dave and Sherry, Vern and Polly. Really had a great time. So much fun we didn’t take any pictures. Probably a good thing or I could have used some of them for blackmail.

Today Judy wanted to do some shopping and we needed to pick up a couple of other things so we went to Kohl’s. That wasn’t too bad because there weren’t all that many people there. Quite tolerable in fact. Stopped over to Aunt Happy’s and she was busy getting ready to play bingo. Had her hair cut and was back to her optimistic self. Amazing.

Dropped Judy off and we came home. Wrapped all the packages and are watching TV and falling asleep.

JOY

There are definitely angels among us.

For some reason I have really been wishing I had a grandchild to enjoy. I think it’s because I’ve been reading so many blogs where many of you are spending time with your grandchildren and it’s the holidays. Our son is getting married next June so there is hope in my future. But Todd and Michaela are in no hurry to have a child so I’m not sure how many years in the future it will be before I get my wish.

Anyhow, my heart and my arms have been feeling empty. On Sunday that changed.

We were at Church and Sacrament meeting had begun. Jim and I were sitting in the back row. Ahead of us sitting on the side row was a family with five children. The youngest was probably about two. He was sitting on his mother’s lap when all of a sudden he looked at us and wanted down from her lap. He was very adamant about it and his mother finally put him down. He took off and came running over to us. Hugged Jim’s legs and then wanted up into my lap. Such joy filled my old heart. He didn’t stay long, hard to sit still at that age. But there are definitely angels among us.

Saturday night we went to the Church Christmas dinner. One thing about it, those Mormons really do know how to cook. After a fantastic dinner of turkey and ham with everything else you could think of, we had the entertainment. Our Bishop and his family (father, grandfather, and sundry cousins) have a blue grass band and they performed for us. A really great time and a wonderful start to the Holiday Season.

Second guy from the left with the mandolin is our Bishop. His father is on the far right with the banjo and his grandfather is second from the right on guitar.

HO HUM

An almost totally uneventful week. Jim did some fishing before the cold weather moved in. It’s been raining and cold since Thursday and I am not a happy camper. I think the rain is supposed to be out of here tomorrow but it’s not going to warm up very much for the next week.

We’ve practiced cribbage and Thursday night Jim went to the clubhouse to play poker with the guys.

We did get our hummingbird feeder up and have been enjoying the birds and their battles for dominance. It was a rainy and dreary day that the picture really didn’t turn out very well.

Yesterday we went to Mesa to open my sister’s park model. She’s flying in on Monday so we did what we could to make the house ready for her. Her hubby will be driving down with his son later in the week with a vehicle that they are going to leave here in AZ. They will then fly down to AZ in the fall and back to Helena, MT for the summer. My sister has Restless Legs Syndrome and cannot handle the long drive any longer. Turning on the electricity took a little longer than it should and also getting the pilot light lit. But next year we’ll be able to do it in half the time

Today we went to visit Aunt Happy. Her hearing aids aren’t working so it was a struggle to talk loud enough so she could hear us. She always tells such fun stories. This morning she went to the Lion’s Club breakfast as the guest of honor because she is one of their largest donors. But the pancakes weren’t cooked all the way through, they didn’t have real cream or half-and-half for the coffee, the orange juice was the cheap kind and so were the sausages. She was really glad that she didn’t have to pay the $6 for the meal because it really wasn’t worth it. Then all these guys came up to her and were giving her hugs and telling her how good it was to see her again. She didn’t have a clue as to who they were; so she was happy to get home and back to her book.

This Willy’s was sitting in the parking lot at Aunt Happy’s Senior Living Complex. Isn’t it beautiful?

I also have lots of help when I’m on the computer. Today it was Scooter’s turn to work with Mom.