January 16 - 31, 2026 Surviving the COLD and Snow !

16-Fri-I slept poorly last night but I got up at 8:30 anyway. After lunch we worked on pictures most of the afternoon. Besides picking out the pictures and printing them, I am trying to put the location and date we were there. It takes some time to put it together. And by no means am I a great scrapbook person. 

17-Sat-We had our breakfast and then watched You Tube til almost noon. Then we made our bed and got dressed. Steve was checking our picture viewers on the computer. I am not sure what I was doing. But at 3:30 we watched the Denver Broncos and the Buffalo Bills play football. We root for the Broncos, they are Steve’s secondary team. But I also like the Bills! When I was at Buffalo New York way back in my twenties, I was at a conference and the Buffalo Bills football team was staying at the same hotel. All the ladies were checking them out! LOL. Anyway Denver won! For supper we had fish fillets, fries, salad greens and berries for supper. We also had a Fiber One brownies. They aren’t bad when heated 15 seconds in the microwave and topped with cool whip!

Snow is starting

I am ready to cheer on the Broncos!

18-Sun-After I was awake for awhile, I noticed my left eye hurt. I put a warm compress on it and let it rest. Today is Steve’s sister’s birthday. So we called Irene and wished her a Happy Birthday!. We worked on pictures and then watched football. The Texans got beat by the Patriots and the Rams beat the Bears. Supper was eggs, Canadian bacon, hashbrowns, toast and berries.

 

19-Mon-We got around and did our usual morning things. Then we went to Homeland and picked up the mail. After that we got a philly steak sandwich and hand cut fries from Monty’s food trailer. He does a great job with them. We get one and split it for lunch. We got home and worked on our picture scrapbook more. For supper I made meatloaf and baked potatoes. Later we also had berries. It was kind of funny, I didn’t think the potatoes were quite done so I put them in the microwave for a bit and one of them exploded! I forgot that they can do that! So we had a little mess to clean up!

20-Tue-OK we had breakfast, got dressed and made the bed. We also watched some TV. Then we worked on pictures from 10-1. After lunch I fixed my hair and we went to the main Walmart at Stillwater for some items I needed (printer ink). Next we met Linda and Hazel at Chili’s in Stillwater for supper. Then we went into Hobby Lobby to look at their scrapbook supplies. We were not impressed, because we did not find what we were looking for. We did get two pairs of funky scissors for about $5. We waited in line forever! Poor customer service, only one checker and the couple in front of us had $300 worth of flowers and etc to check out. I will try not to return.

Buster siting on the futon in the room where I am working on pictures!

Winter storm warning

This is what I am working on!

Outfit for Mariana

21-Wed-I was awakened by a call from the VA. Steve’s appointment with pain management was cancelled until he gets his procedure. I kind of figured that was going to happen. We finally got the appointment for his back procedure and it is April 1 (pre-op), April 17 (procedure) and April 29 (wound check). So then I had to get on the phone with Huntington Beach State Park in South Carolina and change my RV reservations. We moved everything up a week, so we can ensure that we are back home by April 1. This got me somewhat discombobulated, but I finished it. Then we went to Walmart to get our groceries for the upcoming snowmageddon! Walmart Market was very busy. People everywhere! We got back home by 1 PM and put away our groceries. For supper we had waffles with peanut butter, turkey bacon and berries. 

22-Thu-OK, we putzed til about noon. Oh we did all the usual things, but nothing exciting. Then we called to see if the RV is ready and it is! Yea! I am thankful we can get it back under the carport. With the storm coming we will have the RV with a generator, in case our power goes out. Also we can put the stuff we unloaded back into it. That will free up the garage so we can put our 4-wheel drive pickup in the garage. That way if we have to get out in the snowstorm, we can. After we picked up the RV we gassed it up so we could run that generator if needed. We had sloppy joes and fries for supper. 

23-Fri-We were up at 7:30 and got ready. We are prepared for the snowstorm we have heard about all week from the weather guessers! I waited and waited for snow to come. It did not arrive until 9:30 PM. We are supposed to get snow overnight now they say. We paid a few bills and picked up our mail. Steve also went into Homeland for more apples. I pretty much did not do anything. I watched Traveling Robert on You Tube. Steve did some work on the computer. It is 17° at 7:30 PM! Way too cold.

It's starting to snow!

24-Sat-VERY COLD! SNOW! Needless to say the snow showed up! It’s pretty! We worked on pictures to put in our scrapbook. We watched TV. I fixed cube steak, baked potatoes and green beans for supper. We had berries later. It was 10° at bedtime. I do  NOT APPROVE of this temperature.

It SNOWED! And we have not had this much snow in years!

25-Sun-I repeat it is VERY COLD! We had our breakfast and then watched TV and took snow pictures. I can’t print any more pictures for my scrapbook because I am out of photo paper. It wont be here til the 29th of January. Steve worked on the computer. I talked to Marsha. We watched football!. The Broncos got beat by the Patriots! That stinks! And the Rams got beat by the Seahawks. So the Super Bowl will be Patriots vs Seahawks! Both of the teams I wanted to win, got beat. I fixed some yummy chili for supper. Oh by the way it was 2° at 8:45 PM! Cold weather makes me disagreeable.

Yes that is a lot of snow!

26-Mon-We were up in good time this morning. Steve has an appointment at the Stillwater VA at 10:30 AM. We hope they are open and the roads are decent. We left at 9:15 and it took us about 45 minutes to drive there. Stillwater is about 25 miles from us. We were home by noon. We picked up the mail and then got some chips at Braum;s. We watched TV most of the afternoon. I added Paramount Plus to our Direct TV bill. I want to watch Landman. Supper was leftover chili.

It warmed up to 11°!

Road headed east to Bill's Corner

Road going into Stillwater

Piles of snow downtown.

Some young men came by and shoveled the snow off our driveway for $30!  We gave them a good tip!

27-Tue-I was awake at 7:15 this morning. My sister Marsha called me about 8 AM. We talked awhile. She is in South Carolina and it is cold there but not as cold as here. So Steve & I had breakfast. Then I checked Paramount Plus. It would cost us $3.00 per episode to watch! Even though I added the channel. That is not going to fly with me! I called Direct TV and Cancelled it! That makes me so mad. I kind of want to watch Landman, but not at that price.

Sunset 

28-Wed-We got up about 8 AM and got around pretty quickly. dWe had an appointment at OKC VA today. We left for OKC at 9:15. We arrived about an hour later. We talked to the doctor and then decided to visit Costco. Wed joined last year and haven’t really been inside since we joined. I had seen some things advertised as specials and decided we needed to try to find them. We got home about 2 PM. We did computer work when we got home. I am still working on pictures also. I made chicken vegetable soup for supper. 

The snow is still here! I am ready for it to be gone!

29-Thu-We got up about 8:30 this morning. We went to get the mail and stopped at the hardware store also. The flushing handle broke on the toilet last night so Steve will replace it. He also tried to check out his cruise control and brake lights. They were acting wonky yesterday. We think his pickup has a gremlin. We went to The Boomerang (a diner) with Linda and Hazel for supper. 

30-Fri-After our morning routine we started doing some laundry. Then we went to get the mail. Since family game night has been cancelled for January, I needed to mail the Valentine present to Mariana. Its a valentine outfit and I don’t want it to get to her after Valentine’s Day. We also made a stop at Homeland. Then we had our lunch and I ordered an air fryer from Costco online. It was also on sale! I am looking for sale items. I made a weight watchers key lime pie which is easy and helps our sweet tooth. And the gremlin left the pickup today. Everything was working fine. Supper was Fish and fries.

31-Sat-After breakfast putzed around.Steve is woking on pictures files in the computer. I am printing pictures for a scrapbook. For supper I fixed the Chicken Teriyaki Meatballs (Costco find) , rice and Mixed vegetables. 

January 1 - 15, 2026 Projects, Finishing Some and Starting New Ones

1-Thu-Today we watched the Rose Bowl Parade. It was great even though they had rain. We did go pick up the mail and stop at Homeland. Then we watched football off and on. I also worked my blog. Steve was able to work outside and he leveled the spot for our remaining walkway. I made turkey cheeseburgers, and tater tots for supper.

2-Fri-We got around and then headed out. I stopped by Linda’s beauty shop to give her a copy of the newspaper that featured her son’s story. Her son, Monty Stueve is a rodeo announcer and has now opened a food trailer. So his story was told in our local paper. Then we went to Stillwater and dropped off a return item at the UPS store. We also got groceries at Walmart market. We got home and unloaded our groceries and put them away. After a short rest Steve and I worked on the last part of our deck/walkway.

3-Sat-It was a chilly day so we paid bills and updated Quicken this morning. I also worked on my blog. Steve and I shopped online for RV’s. We can’t seem to find anything that makes us want to spend money yet. We watched football during the afternoon. Supper was cube steak, ranch style beans, salad greens and berries.

The final part of our walkway.

4-Sun-Well today we did our usual routine. Then I worked on adding the pictures to the blog. We had our showers and then watched Dallas get beat by the Giants. That was not a good game for Dallas. We also took down our Christmas tree and inside decorations. Christmas is over. 

Boxing up Christmas Decorations

Christmas Tree gone!

One of our Christmas presents! We will have to put this up at Echo lake this summer!

5-Mon-We took advantage of the better weather today and took down our outside lights and decorations. We got rid of the Christmas trash that was taking up space in the garage also. Then we worked on the rest of the deck.

Outside lights coming down.

The boxes of stuff we have unloaded out of the RV in case we go on a trip and trade ours for a different one. 

6-Tue-After breakfast and getting ourselves around for the day, I worked on the computer. Steve was back at work making a few finishing touches on the deck. We did some laundry. Steve ordered some car seat covers for his pickup so he installed them this afternoon. We went to Stillwater for supper at Texas Roadhouse and met Linda and Hazel there. Hazel was having trouble with her phone and she arrived a little later. Her phone quit and she was trying to get a different one, but it took too long so she joined us for supper. 

Our walkway is finished!

7-Wed-Today we looked again at RV’s online. Nothing really floated our boat. We tried to renew the RV tag but the office was closed, they are having printer trouble. I started working on sorting pictures that take up three drawers in our hallway. This is going to be a job! We also have saved cards in those drawers. Steve worked on the gutters to make sure they were clear. I fixed chicken parmesan, couscous, green beans and berries for supper. 

8-Thu-We were up early and had breakfast. After watching some tv I took a shower and got around. We left at noon for Oklahoma City. Steve has an appointment for orthotics at the VA. The guy checked his foot and said they would send a purchase order to the orthotics guy in Stillwater, so he can get his orthotics. It was a nice day so we drove to Optimum RV and toured two Coachmen Miranda’s. We liked the second one but again we did not purchase. 

9-Fri-Another routine day. After getting around we stopped by Linda’s beauty shop and visited for a little while. Next we did a few other errands and came home. We worked on the computer a bit. Then I was sorting pictures and cards. Steve worked on getting rid of some old records. Supper was chili, baked corn tortillas, and berries. 

10-Sat-Today I slept in until 9 AM! We continued doing the same thing as yesterday. I was sorting pictures and putting them in page protectors and Steve was shredding. Then we finished the day with football. Supper was leftover chili.

Our first RV- A Fleetwood Southwind, 1984 was the year and we bought it in 2003.

My Grandparents farmhouse, south of Freedom, Oklahoma

11-Sun-I worked on pictures for a while. My sister got us an adventure book (picture scrapbook) for our anniversary. So I have started printing pictures to put in it. We watched football also. Supper was turkey bacon, eggs, bagel thins and berries.

12-Mon-We got around and started doing laundry. We have decided to have our current RV checked out by a mechanic (engine compression test) and the transmission and radiator. So we called a mechanic. We drove the RV to his place, its out in the country and left it with him. Depending on what we find out, we may just keep our RV. I worked on more pictures today. We had planned to go to Texas and check out used RV’s and so we had unloaded a lot of stuff out of the RV and into the garage. But now we are waiting to see what the mechanic says about our RV before we decide whether to trade it off or not. 

Steve, acting silly! Making glasses out of hamburger buns!

13-Tue-We got up and around. We went to Walmart market and bought groceries. It was 71° today! What a lovely day for January! We had lunch and watched a little tv. We also took a walk around the neighborhood. Then we printed more picture for the adventure book. It is fun looking back at the pictures and remembering some of the things we did. When we were in Colorado many years ago, we went on a sleigh ride to a tent and had a supper. We got on the sleigh at Copper Mountain Ski Resort. That was fun. We also rented snowshoes and fell down many times trying to use them. We rode snowmobiles and did a dog sled ride too. We went to La Macarena for supper. It was just Steve and I, the girls did not join us.

14-Wed-I didn’t jot down much for today. I know we putzed around on the computer. It was also nice enough to take another walk this afternoon. I fixed pizza and we had salad greens and berries for supper.

15-Thu-We completed our morning routine and then got dressed. We renewed the pickup tag and got the mail today. We also stopped by Linda’s shop. Then we went home and had some lunch. I listened to a webinar on writing short memoirs today. For supper I made chicken soup.