Brrr... It's Been Cold Jan 9 - Jan 24, 2019

January has been cold or perhaps I've just noticed it more. Since I don't have to go to work anymore, I guess I pay hyper attention to the cold weather.  We have been working on cleaning out our closet (check) and dresser drawers here at home.
On Wednesday, the 9th we were able to walk at CCC Lake with the dogs. In addition, we heard from the manager at Fish, Wildlife & Parks in Montana this day. He wanted to know if we wanted to return to Echo Lake this summer and we said YES!
Most of the days are somewhat routine. Thursday I was online with Amazon about the pickup backup camera, we walked at the YMCA and did a little laundry. Friday, we cleaned out another hall closet, went to the grocery store. It has been in the 40's , overcast and dreary the last two days. I much prefer sunshine! The new backup camera arrived and it does not have the gridlines! This will give Steve something to work on when the weather is a little nicer.
Saturday was routine, except I missed going to the YMCA because they close at 2:00 PM instead of staying open all day. So,  now I know. We watched Dallas lose to the LA Rams and OkState win their basketball game!
Sunday we went to Walmart for groceries and supplies then watched football. Monday was routine stuff again plus making sure we mailed an affidavit to the VA and I also dissolved my LLC for my Dietitian Consulting business. We walked at the YMCA again. It was sunny today - so   I helped Steve work on his backup camera, even though it was only 40 degrees outside. If you dress warm, it helps!
Tuesday,  I had a long conversation with Janette about RVing and wonkamping. She and Bob are interested in doing this at some point.  Steve finished connecting his backup camera and was pleased with the results. We went to La Macarena for supper without Linda and Hazel - cause Linda is going to basketball games with her kids and Hazel is busy with something.  Wednesday  was nothing special - just more of the same.
Thursday the 17 th -After going to the YMCA we drove up to Tonkawa and went to the casino!  We joined their player's club and had some good luck  - we think we came out ahead some.
On Friday the 18th we wished Irene (Steve's Sister) and Anthony (my nephew) a Happy Birthday.  We watched some RV videos on You Tube - about the RTR, Phoenix Ramblers, Grand Adventure. And sometime in the last week we watched RV Nomads movie. These are keeping us entertained until we get to leave in the spring!
Saturday the 19th rolled around and again it was cold, 35 with a wind chill of 26 degrees. We got dressed up today to attend a friend's 50th wedding anniversary party in Ponca City.  It was held at the Marland Mansion in Ponca City.  This is a mansion built by one of Oklahoma's early governors who got rich in the oil fields. Then he lost money and had a rather sad life later.  If you are ever in Northern Oklahoma, it is a great place to tour and he has another mansion in town that is a museum also. We attended the party and left about an hour later because big parties where I know very few people are not my thing. But it was great to see my friends, Cecelia & Don and help them celebrate their 50th anniversary. It was also nice to see their kids! They have a great family.  Sunday brought more football: LA Rams beat the Saints in OT and the Patriots beat the Chiefs in OT. I was rooting for the Saints and the Chiefs, neither won. If you have a favorite team, maybe I should not root for them!
So this week - Monday was a holiday, Tuesday was routine - except Steve & I did go eat at La Mac without Linda and Hazel again! It was Rainy, cold and drizzly on Tuesday.
Wednesday the 23rd, we went to Stillwater to the VA for Steve's appointment.  Thursday, we took the RV to Camping world in OKC to check out our basement air conditioner. We had it installed last year in Montana and we wanted to make sure it was wired correctly. Sometimes it doesn't seem that the second compressor kicks in. Steve also got the oil changed in the pickup  and we watched Project Blue Book - about the UFO study project.  So this catches me up for awhile.  Hopefully we will have some adventures to report on soon.

2019 - A New Year has arrived!

On the 1st day of January (Tuesday) - I watched the Rose Parade.  I always enjoy seeing the floats and bands! It started off cold this year.  I found out that a friend's husband had passed away and today was his visitation at the funeral home here in town. I went and visited her and the family to share my condolences. I also did some errands.
Wednesday - I was up at 7:30 and fixed us some sausage, biscuits and gravy! I have been wanting this breakfast for about 2 weeks!  Boy was it good!  I have always been able to make good gravy and today was no different.  I had to deal with Apple today regarding some gift cards from Christmas.  I made a mammogram appointment, went to the YMCA for a walk and did other errands.
Thursday - I paid bills, made a hair appointment, ordered a headstone for my sister and checked up on my meds.  In addition - Steve & I cleaned out 3 dresser drawers! That gives a great sense of accomplishment. Now I love to look in my dresser.

New Shoes!

Woke up to ice on trees Friday!

Friday - 4th - Today we went to Stillwater.  We made several stops: Academy, Lowe's Walmart and salads at Wendy's. We also stopped and talked to the City of Perry about our storm drain.  I also did a short walk at the Y today in addition to the shopping.

Storm Drain

Saturday - We have been working on our exercise and eating better. Today was a beautiful day, so we walked at CCC Lake. Next we started on our bedroom closet, we have a goal of cleaning out all the closets this month!  We watched Log Cabin Living and the Dallas Cowboys (
they won)!
Sunday - Today was another nice day, but it was windy. We watched some football and tried to install Steve's backup camera in his pickup. It was supposed to have no gridlines - but it did have gridlines. Bummer! So we stopped messing with it and contacted the seller. We walked our dogs in the neighborhood which they love. They love to snoop around and bark at the other dogs! Next we sorted Steve's clothes for about an hour and a half.  We  had three piles: Keep, Donate, Trash. We are making progress!
Monday - 7th - I spoke to Melba about ordering Nancy's headstone. We did laundry and started on my side of the closet. I can't believe how many clothes I still have. I cleaned out my clothes last year, so I didn't think I had so many. But we had another big bunch to donate and some to trash. We went to Stillwater to check at Best Buy for a different backup camera - no luck. They didn't have what we wanted.  Then it was a stop at Lowe's for weather-stripping for the back door. We also checked at an after market place for trucks about a different backup camera, with no luck. When we got back home - naps were the order of the day.
Tuesday - 8th - After getting around I took pictures of what the backup camera displayed. That is what the seller wanted to see in order to get some resolution to our problem.  Then we were off to the beauty shop to get fixed up, color and hair trims!  We walked at CCC Lake at Perry with the dogs. I can't tell you how happy our dogs are to walk with us!  They love it! We had supper at La Mac with Linda and Hazel.  All and all the new year has been pretty good!

Grid lines - we don't want them

December 24 - 31, 2018 Christmas, Birthday and New Year's Eve!

Monday we got around and prepared ourselves for Christmas Eve at my sister's in Enid. I made chili for lunch so everyone could eat.  Steve & I left about 4 PM to drive to Enid for Christmas Eve at Pam's house.  She put out a big spread of sandwich and snack items! Paige, Dave, Landon & Parker got there about 5:30. As soon as Parker arrived, he wanted to open presents (he is just a young thing of 18! LOL). The boys are always excited about Christmas even though they are adults! After we had supper then we opened presents!  Exciting! We hung out for awhile and tried to help clean up  then we returned home. At home we ate a few cookies and watch The Christmas Story - one of Steve's favorite movies.

Tuesday - Merry Christmas! When  Steve & I got up and walked into the living room both kids (Austyn & Logan) had on pink bunny suits like Ralph in the Christmas Story! They looked so cute! We opened presents and enjoyed our Christmas morning. Breakfast was cinnamon rolls and then we had Turkey, Dressing, Mashed Potatoes, Stuffing, Green Bean Casserole, Pink Party Salad and Pumpkin Pie for our Dinner - about 2:30.  After eating, we watched National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation - another favorite. Then everyone just slept and snacked. Later we watched Bird Box on Netflix!  We really enjoyed the movie and would highly recommend it.

Wednesday - 26th- Steve woke up at 5:30 and I got up at 8:30! Go figure!  When he hurts, he can't sleep very good. After breakfast we watched TV as usual and had showers. Kristi and Austyn got their stuff around and left for shopping and home in El Reno. Austyn is working at McDonald's and had to work Thursday. Logan stayed with us. It rained a lot of the day off and on. It was kind of funny because about 9 PM we had a Thunderstorm with big winds and heavy rain. I don't remember ever having experienced a thunderstorm in December before.
Thursday - The days have started to run together and I have had a hard time keeping track of what day of the week it is. We took down our Christmas Decorations today. The back yard had water pooled in the path to the shed. But we did get everything put away. We also vacuumed and mopped the kitchen and had a light supper of Turkey bacon and eggs.
Friday 28th - Today we were at home just relaxing. Again Steve woke up at 4:30 in the morning with pain.  I have put his TENS unit on many evenings and some afternoons also. I went to the Dollar Store here in town to pick up birthday cards and a present for Steve. He has no idea what he wants for his birthday - so I got him a Lowe's card -which he will use at some point. Then I went to Braum's and got an ice cream pie.
Saturday - 29th - Today is Steve's birthday! He turned 58 - he's just a young thing. At lunch, he could not wait any longer and he opened his cards and present from Logan & I. Then we had some of that Strawberry Ice Cream Pie and boy was that good. Later Pam & JC stopped by and brought him a present (sweatshirt), which he really liked.  Pam picked up the wallet I had ordered for her. The dogs went insane while they were here. I had one  outside and the other was held by Logan. After they left we loaded up Logan and his stuff and headed to OKC to meet up with Kristi & Austyn for the birthday supper at Texas Roadhouse. Wow, we had a 45 minute wait for a table, even though we arrived at like 5:20 PM - I was about ready to walk out, but didn't. I did go back up to the front and ask if my pager was broken. Finally we got seated and had our favorite foods. Their prices have increased and the service could have been better. Steve got a rolling stool from Kristi & the grandkids. We unloaded Logan's stuff and said our See Ya Laters! We got home about 8:30 and watched the remainder of the OU vs Alabama football game. Poor OU - they got beat.

Steam Engine we saw on I-35 

Steve &  I -Birthday picture 

Sunday was pretty uneventful. We did do laundry today because we have to go to OKC to the VA for Steve's annual appointment tomorrow. We watched Dallas play the NY Giants and win by 2 points. Then we putzed around.
Monday - 31st of 2018 - Last Day of the Year! We wondered about Steve's annual appointment (for his MS) - it was at 12:30 PM. I had not received a letter and didn't know the details like we usually do. So I wrote them a secure message on myhealthevet.gov and received a one sentence reply.  Then I called and left a message on the nurse line and they called back.  They said he did not have to be fasting today - so he could have breakfast and his usual routine. We left about 10:45 and arrived at 11:30 or 11:45. We checked in at the Spinal Cord Injury Clinic (SCI) and the nurse did her intake, then we went to the lab for bloodwork. We returned to the 2nd floor (SCI Clinic) and the Occupational Therapist visited him, then his Physician Assistant did her exam. His functional ability is good. His back and hip are bad - she really listened and ordered some X-rays - then he may need an MRI. We spoke to the Social Worker for a short time, then went to Xray. According to Steve, they turned him every which way but loose for the back and hip X-rays. After that we sent to the travel department to inquire why he has not received his travel pay. They said they are about 20,000 claims behind! Can you believe that? We made his 6 month appointment for June - But if we work in Montana this summer - we will need to change the date of that appointment.
We got home and watched the Oklahoma State (my alma mater) & Missouri game - The Liberty Bowl. OK State won by a few points and it was an exciting game to watch. We also heard from Marsha after the game.  Supper was leftover chicken vegetable soup from the day before and then we welcomed in the New Year and went to bed!

Buster getting scratched by Steve - with the backscratcher no less!
Spoiled Dog!