Wednesday, February 25, 2015

WEIGHT WATCHERS AND A COLD AND RAINY WEEK!

Last week was not the best for working out. I managed one bike ride and one Aerobic work out. This past Saturday, Feb. 21st,  Loy and I went to WW and I lost 1.6 pounds. I was very happy because I broke into the 180's and now weigh 189.2. In 5 weeks I have lost 14.6 pounds. Just 35 more to go!


Ralph took advantage of probably our only nice day for this week. Here he is sprucing up our yard with the weed whacker before the cold and rain comes.

Now for the rest of this week, at least as far as the weather goes, it is and will be rainy, windy and cold. To my "Northern Friends" some of the highs this week will not make it out of the 40's. I know, I know, you all would love to have that weather right now. What can I say? Our blood has become thin since we don't have to deal with snow and real cold weather!

We had brisket at Hoppy and Loy's home. I love men in the kitchen! Hoppy did a great job smoking the brisket. It was "DELICIOUS"!


Sunday, Feb. 22nd, Loy and I did a step aerobic workout. It was a good workout with a lot of huffing and puffing and sweating! I always feel so good afterwards.

This is will be my only aerobic workout this week due to Loy working at the school. Being a "sub" she fills in for teachers on vacation or calling in sick.

Over the last couple of months, I have gotten into making bread from scratch. Most of the time it was a successful endeavor.  We play the game Bunco on the second Tuesday of every month. I have wanted to make decorative cupcakes to hand out to the Bunco ladies. Each month has some kind of holiday or season so I was thinking of decorating them for that months occasion.

Well the next thing I know, Loy pulls out a cupcake book. She took Wilton cake decorating classes and over the years has made decorative cakes and cupcakes for her children, grandchildren and friends.

The next thing I knew she got all her decorating stuff out. Her decorating books, icing bags and tips. She showed me how to fill the bag, attached the collars and tips, then gently squeeze the bag with a study pressure to make leafs, stars, grass and how to write.


She showed me her icing color dyes and how to apply them to icing.

It was a lot of fun. The only thing is neither of us got to lick anything. That delicious icing went right in the trash! We worked way to hard this morning!

Rabbit is the nickname of Loy's husband Hoppy. It has been his nickname since he was a small boy.


I am not ashamed to say this, but I sure did want to lick the plate! The other plate got rinse off before I thought to take pictures. We practiced more leafs, stars and other designs.

Stay warm and Happy Trails...........











Saturday, February 21, 2015

FEBRUARY IS FULL OF OUR ANNIVERSARIES!

We celebrated many wonderful things this week. First of all we celebrated Valentines Day of course. Then 25 years ago sometime back in February of 1990, Ralph and I got together and we celebrated 25 years of fun. We just don't remember the actual date. It is scary how fast time has flown by.

Another anniversary we celebrated was on Feb. 18th.  9 years ago on that date in 2006, we took off for "The Full Time Adventure". It seems like yesterday when we "got out of dodge" and happily left Maryland. So we had lots of fillet mignon, crab cakes and shrimp on those special days!

In case you are wondering what we still think about "full timing", well here to goes:

I described it in our "early days" as every day being a cross between "Valentines Day and Thanksgiving!" Well 9 years later, it is still exactly that!

We have not regretted our decision for a minute.When folks ask us when do we want to buy a home and come off the road, well it makes us almost shutter at the thought. We don't ever want to own an "Anchor" and "Money Pit" that you are tied to. I personally would feel trapped. Living in the same place, seeing the same front yard day in and day out. We love our feel of freedom.

I have a motto that fits us too. "We love being irresponsible with no responsibilities"!

Off course Ralph and I chat about when we get old, have health issues and can no longer drive. Well there are RV parks that will accommodate folks like us. We love our little ranch house on wheels. We have all the comforts of home in a 375 square foot space that takes no time to clean and we don't accumulate "stuff!" Stuff just clutters space, stuff you don't need and stuff just weighs you down. That life is just not for us.

This was our front yard this morning. We had our coffee outside and enjoyed our view.

These are last years babies. There should be several this spring. I would love to be around when the momma's are calving.

 Enjoying a little siesta.


As you can tell this is the "Big Guy".


This past Wednesday, Ralph went to Dr. Medina for his one week check up after his Lasik surgery. Dr. Medina is his Optometrist and gave him a "Thumbs Up". He was very happy!

Ralph competed last weekend and he said the targets were nice and clear. However he still had 3 misses out of 130 rounds.

He asked Dr. Medina for a partial refund because of his misses. However Dr. Medina thought 3 misses out of 130 was respectable and therefore there would be no refund. Instead Dr. Medina asked Ralph to make him some knife sheaths for several of his flint stone knives. Ralph will be busy for the next couple of weeks.


This past week here in Texas has seen a cold snap. A few of the days were rainy and windy too. Loy, the ranchers wife and also "my personal trainer from Hell", was subbing for one of the teachers so we were only able to work out this past Monday. I am still not comfortable working all the electronic gizmos for the Wii Plus to do it on my own. Wow, did I sweat and huff and puff. We did 30 minutes of step aerobics.

Due to the bad weather, we only managed to ride this past Thursday. We did 15 miles with a nice break at the Somerset convenience store for coffee. I have noticed that the aerobics are really improving my breathing while bike riding. I don't nearly huff and puff while peddling up grades like I use to and my legs don't get as tired either.


Until next time..............Happy Trails!

Monday, February 16, 2015

VALENTINES DAY WITH MOM, WEIGHT WATCHERS AND A CALL TO 9-1-1!

On Friday, Feb. 13th, Town and Country Manor where Ralph's mom resides was having a little Valentines Day celebration.

Mom use to collect frogs back home. Any kind of little frog trinket or statue. It is amazing all the frog things you can find. She had quite a collection and now her grandchildren are cherishing her collection.

Ralph and I stopped at a grocery store to pick up little Valentine goodies for her. I couldn't believe it but I found a frog cookie for her. I had made heart shaped cookies for our Bunco game last Tuesday. I put the names of the Bunco gals on them and made one for Ralph's mom.

The dining room was decorated with Valentine decorations and tables covered with red table cloths. Her son Gary arrived with one of those humongous cards and a big box of candy.

Soon the staff came around and served everyone Valentine cookies and punch. What was really nice was they had music playing from the era of these residents. Some was easy listening and Big Band which I love. I don't know why because I was not from that era of course,but I have always enjoyed the sound of Big Band.

They played the famous Valentine Song "Let Me Call You Sweetheart". All the residents broke out loudly in song. I was amazed that they all knew the words because many like Mom they have Dementia and Alzheimer's. I guess like mom, their short term  memory is gone but they sure can recall things from their yesteryear's.


On Saturday, Feb. 14th, Hoppy and Ralph headed to a shooting competition very early in the morning. The competition was about 1-1/2 hours from the ranch.

A bit later Loy and I headed to Weight Watchers. Now last week I only lost 0.8 of a pound. The week before that I lost 5 lbs. Well I step on the scale and wow, a 4 lb. loss for the week. So far I have lost 13 lbs. in one month that I have been with WW! Only 35 more pounds to go! Loy had a nice loss too and is doing very well.

On the way back to the ranch we were turning onto the dirt road that leads to Hoppy and Loy's ranch. It is a narrow road full of good size dips and divots. Up ahead we saw a small car come flying down with its hazard lights on. Loy pulled over as far as she could to the side of this dirt road.

The Hispanic woman came to an abrupt stop and yelled "Can you please call 9-1-1! I don't know where we are at and my husband cut his wrist badly on a glass window pane. We jumped out and ran over as I told Loy I would call 9-1-1. The man was holding his wrist that had been wrapped up with a cloth. He looked frightened, was breathing hard, sweating and in pain.

As I was on the phone with dispatch I relayed questions to the wife that they wanted me to ask. Dispatch was sending an ambulance out as we spoke but needed info. on age and what exactly had happened. His wife said he was taking window frames out of an old abandoned house for his friend that uses old wood to make furniture. Loy knew the friend he was speaking about. A piece of glass broke and cut his wrist pretty bad. She said blood immediately squirted out and she wrapped his wrist up as he applied pressure.

I relayed all of this except I did not go into the detail. I stated he was doing home improvements removing window frames and broken glass sliced his wrist. While I was on the line, dispatched called the Medic's and was relaying the info. of what had happened. Well I heard her say it was a stabbing. Whoa, where did that come from? Before I could tell her different, she came back to me and started asking me questions on his condition, demeanor, height, weight and gave instructions on first aid.

I was watching this 39 year old man breath heavy, sweat and wince in pain. I gave Dispatch his estimated height and weight from what I saw. I said we had them recline the seat to lay down but I estimate he is about 5'8 and he was very lean and fit looking probably a 29" waist as he had no shirt on. So she asked me "Is he under 300 lbs?" Whoa, where did that come from? I said no, he is lean and fit, I estimate 135 to 145 lbs.

His wife was still holding the pressure towel. I was just about ready to take my shirt off and add to it, but then I thought I did not want this man to go into shock seeing me. I was worried about shock even before my brainy idea. Loy kept comforting this man and his wife. Loy went to her Jeep where she had a baby blanket and added that to his arm.

I realized that I had my little cooler in the Jeep with ice packs because on the way home we got a couple of pounds of shrimp. I was going to get them and put it on the man's head to keep him cool. I was still on the phone with Dispatch because she wanted to have open communication. As I was heading to get the ice packs, I heard the sirens off in the distance. So instead I headed to the road where I could be seen and flagged them onto the dirt road.

The Medics along with a Deputy Sheriff arrived all at the same time. I then ended my call with Dispatch and Loy and I went to comfort their 3 children. Loy asked them their names and one was in his first year of High School, one in Jr. High and the youngest in Elementary School. They were scared and the youngest had his head on the trunk with his arms over his head. We kept assuring him that his Daddy was going to be okay, that the Medics were taking good care of him and would make him better. All 3 of them were sweet kids and very polite.

Loy talked with their Mom while the Medic's were tending to her husband and found out she lived in the nearby town of Somerset and her kids all attended school in town. Loy's daughter is a physical education teacher in Somerset and the oldest boy knew Coach Gaston. Loy told Mom that she would take her sons, feed them lunch and that she had video games and a big screen TV to keep them busy and they would be in safe hands. Mom sure appreciated it and kept thanking us, but said she would take them home and then go onto the hospital.

Later that afternoon, Loy called her friend Victor who hired this man. Victor said the man is doing well and will be okay. So that is great news! Luckily he did not sever his artery. Loy and I are sure glad that we were there and met them before she got out on the road.

Until next time..............Happy Trails!









Sunday, February 15, 2015

LASIK EYE SURGERY!

This past Wed. Feb. 11th Ralph had Lasik surgery done on his left eye. Dr. Parkhurst performed the surgery.

Here is Veronica (L) and Jenni (R) with Ralph. They gave him a "HAPPY PILL" and put this nice fashionable hat on him. They asked him what kind of music he wanted to listen to during his surgery, of course he said Traditional Country. The staff here is very attentive and best of all the office has a nice Keurig Coffee Machine, chips, granola bars, candy and other goodies for us!


I could not resist, I had to take a "Selfie". Oh yes, I think the Happy Pill is starting to kick in.

Soon they called Ralph and I gave him a kiss. I knew he was in good hands and so did he. I grabbed a cup of coffee and sat down on this big comfy chair. I had a front row seat to watch the surgery. The wall between me and the surgical room had a floor to ceiling glass wall. They had Ralph lay on the table and put on a nice warm blanket over him. I could see Ralph on the table but I needed to look up at the big screen TV to see the actual procedure. Now all I needed was a box of popcorn!

Before he went in, I asked the surgery staff if the Doctor had a lens that when Ralph looks at me I would look about 30 lbs. lighter. Although Lasik surgery has come a long way, they haven't come that far. So for now I will keep on with Weight Watcher's.

Ralph asked Dr. Parkhurst if he would guarantee that his surgery would make him shoot better. Dr. Parkhurst is good, but not that good. Over the years Ralph has been blaming his eye sight on all his misses, of course I always knew it was operator error.

I was just amazed at what I saw. Now I don't know all the medical terms and the name of all the eye parts, but I will do my best to explain the procedure. An apparatus came on down to Ralph's face and these clamps pull back the upper and lower eye lids. Another gizmo comes down close to the eye and the next thing I saw was this other instrument cut around the lens but not all the way. A hinge is left and then the clear looking lens that was covering the eye gets lifted and peeled back. Dr. Parkhurst lifted the flap back, did some stuff and returned the flap back over the eye and smoothed it out with this tool. The tool looked like a thin "L" shape metal tooth pick squeegee is how I would describe it. He smoothed it over sort of like how you would do wall paper trying to get all the air bubbles and wrinkles out.

Before I was even close to finishing my coffee, Ralph was done! They put goggles on him and he will wear them for the first 24 hours and also to bed for the next 7 days. I felt like I was with a "Super Hero", now all I need is for him to wear a cape.

He also had to keep his eyes shut for the next 4 hours. So of course I drove home and it was already dark since our appt. was at 5:30 p.m. But I had "Gertie" our GPS to take us home so I was good to go.

I had Ralph lay the front seat down and made sure there was no peeking at the heavy traffic and let him know that I would be fine. We were at the tail end of the San Antonio rush hour. Don't get me wrong, we like San Antonio, but we have purchased a Dash Cam because of the erratic drivers here. This is a big city of 1,500,000 and the highway system in massive. It reminds me of a big giant spider web.

We arrived at the ranch and I took Ralph's hand as we walked to the RV, I still made him keep his eyes shut. One thing Ralph does is listen to Dr. orders all the time and mine some of the time.

I fixed some easy left overs because it was so late. He was good and kept his eyes shut as he ate. As much as I love him, why is it that I like to torment him? Over our  25 years together I have played some good practical jokes on him. As I sat across from him I kept thinking, wow, I could sprinkle hot habenero sauce on his chicken or pour vinegar in his water.

After dinner he relaxed in his recliner and listened to some TV with the lights out because of the sensitivity. For the rest of the evening, I would put two different RX eye drops in his eyes every couple of hours. He soon went up to bed but I stayed up since his next dosage would be at 11:30 p.m.

I went up to wake him up at 11:30 p.m. Now Ralph never snores, but he sounded like a freight train! I said his name several times, each time getting louder and louder. Finally I started shaking him and nothing, he just kept on snoring!

Well I saw his chest rising and his color was good and I could see he was in "La La Land". I thought the Happy Pill must have kicked in big time. I was worried that if I woke him up, maybe he would start feeling the pain they told him to expect for the first night. So I let him sleep.

He woke up the following morning at 8:00 p.m! He was feeling good after a restful night sleep. I put drops in his eyes several times during the day and I kinda liked how my "Super Hero" looked in his goggles. Unfortunately he wouldn't wear the towel I brought over to him to wear as a cape.

That afternoon we went to Dr. Medina's office for his check up. He is affiliated with Dr. Parkhurst and has an office in another part of San Antonio. Dr. Medina has been Ralph's eye doctor while we have been "wintering" here in San Antonio these past several years. He was happy with the results and tested Ralph. Ralph read all the letters on the eye chart and Dr. Medina had me stand behind Ralph so I could see the small print that Ralph was reading. Dr. Medina said he has 20-15 vision and it will even get better as time goes on.

I said maybe he will even get X-Ray vision!

Next week we go back to Dr. Medina for his 1 week follow up.

Until then.............Happy Trails!












Saturday, February 14, 2015

THE CARPENTER'S ARE FINISHED!

 Ralph and Hoppy finished the inside of the Tuff Shed a couple of weeks ago. This is going to be the grandchildren's playhouse. I realized I never put up pictures of the finished playhouse.

On the way, Sissy followed us and put on a show.



I love the little table and chairs. The basket ball hoop is from when Hoppy and Loy's children when they use to play. The metal steer is what Hoppy made for his kids when they were competing in roping at rodeo's. They would practice roping it.






I think the grandchildren will over their new playhouse.

Until next time.............Happy Trails!




Wednesday, February 11, 2015

PICNIC, BUNCO AND RANCH LIFE

On Saturday, Feb. 7th, Loy and I headed to Weight Watchers. This past week I did well with eating but did no exercise due to the nasty weather. I only lost 6/10th of a pound. But in 3 weeks I have lost 9 pounds. I think the 5 pound lost that I had last week was a lot and my body is saying "Whoa". Loy is doing well too, she had a 3 lb. lost.

I am so happy with WW and so satisfied. I don't get hungry and I feel so good because I am eating properly and nutritiously.

Here is Hoppy and Ralph jawing over I am not sure what, but I am sure it must have been important.


Last week  we did not visit Mom because of the nasty cold weather, so this past Sunday we went to see her. We usually take her out to eat, but found out we all enjoy a picnic better.


During our visit here at the park, we usually feed the ducks but this was a hot day and the ducks were on the other side of  Cibolo Creek lying on the banks under shade trees. We did see several turtles sunbathing.


While we were enjoying this beautiful day, we met Carol and her son Aiden. Carol recognized Ralph's mom Mary. Carol is a physical therapist at Town and Country Manor where Mom is.

Carol was excited to see Mom and meet us. We had very nice chat. Carol is a marathon runner and last marathon was the N.Y. City marathon. It was her 36th marathon!  Her husband and son Aiden travel with her to the marathons and are her support team. They hold up signs and root for her as she passes by. Her son told her that he wants to start running marathons so she is training him to do a half marathon which is 13.1 miles!

I was very impressed with Aiden. He will do it and accomplish this task. He was such a polite young man and very talkative and articulate in his speaking. He chatted with Mom and gave her a hug and a kiss goodbye and off they went.

Monday evening I was busy icing sugar cookies and making chocolate covered strawberries for tomorrows Bunco game. Everyone will get a personalized cookie.

Tuesday morning I headed up to the ranch house and made a big batch of corn bread for tonight's Bunco game. Loy is hosting the Bunco game. Even though we have 2 ovens in our RV, I wanted to kill 2 birds with 1 stone so to speak. I had fixed one pan of cornbread in a 9x9 dish and the other in my cast iron frying pan. So while the cornbread was baking, I did an aerobic workout.

On the way up to the house, I encountered a livestock jam. The longhorns decided to take a nap on the driveway and the parking area.



This momma cow was taking a nice break from her baby.

The bull was more than welcomed to nap where I usually park our truck. Our RV is surrounded by the longhorns. They are just as intimidating as any good watch dog or alarm system would be. What stranger would dare cross a field with this guy looking at you?


Loy did a beautiful job with the Valentines Day table. The cupcake display was adorable and added a nice touch.


Hot out of the oven! My cornbread was a hit with several requests of the recipe. The ingredients were corn meal, flour, eggs, buttermilk, green and red pepper, jalapenos, cheese, onions and creamed corn.

I love Loy's big oven and 6 burner stove.



The cheese enchiladas, beans and rice and Valentine cupcakes that Loy made were delicious. Everyone liked their personalized heart shaped cookies and chocolate covered strawberries.

It was a fun night of Bunco. I always have a good time with these gals. There is plenty of laughs and camaraderie.

Until next time, Happy Valentines Day and of course Happy Trails!















Friday, February 6, 2015

A QUIET AND RELAXFUL WEEK

This has been a quiet week so far because the weather. The cold and rainy days have kept us inside. I did not ride my bike or work out on the Wii. Loy is a substitute teacher and worked every day this week because a teacher was on vacation. Even though she told me to go and work out, I am still not comfortable setting up the Wii. You see I am "electronically challenged". I don't even know how to work our Blue Ray player or switch our TV back and worth from cable to air channels. I really don't care to learn because TV is not important to me.

I have done well this week as far as eating goes being that I have been cooped up inside most of the week. I am never bored because I always find something to do. I caught up on some artwork, reading and letter writing while curled up in front of our cozy fireplace.

This morning we woke up to the herd of longhorns. The big boy is on the right.


Since things are slow this week, I thought I would pull up photos of our past travels. In early Dec. 2009, I went on my first Cruise. While we wintering at Lake Medina RV Resort there was a group of ladies who decided they needed a vacation and wanted to go on a cruise.

Now mind you, we are all "Full time RV-er's" and I had to giggle, because we are taking a vacation from a vacation. "Full time rv-ing" is one long vacation.  It was opened to anyone at the resort who wanted to go. I jumped at the chance to go with these fun gals because each one had several cruises under their belt so I would surely be in the good company of "Seasoned Cruiser's".

We decided to throw a big "Bon Voyage Party" at the RV resort. We had these cakes made by Nadler's, a well know bakery in San Antonio. Not only are they known for their delicious cakes and pastries, but they do photo cakes. I got a picture of the Gulf Of Mexico and drew our course of travel including the ports we would dock at. We docked in Belize City, Belize,  Costa Maya, Mexico,  Cozumel, Mexico and Santo Tomas de Castilla, Guatemala.


Here I am with my "Cruising Buddies", Carol and Mary. All our RV-ing friends at the resort  enjoyed the Bon Voyage party and of course cake and ice cream!

We booked a 7-day Western Caribbean cruise on the Norwegian ship "Spirit". Norwegian docks in New Orleans. We left a day early to do some sight seeing in The French Quarter. All I can say is, it was entertaining, amusing and I can say is "I was there".

I did enjoy having a beignet (a deep fried pastry sprinkled with powdered sugar served fresh and hot) and a cup of chicory coffee at the World Famous Cafe Du Monde. The coffee stand was established in 1862. They are opened 24/7, 7 days a week. They are only closed on Christmas and when a Hurricane passes through.

Even though husbands were welcomed to go, none cared to. They did not crazy about being on a ship in the middle of the ocean. I also knew Ralph well enough that I this was not his cup of tea.

Toasting with friends and enjoying a wonderful dinner on formal night. Sitting next to me is Carol's daughter, Jennifer.
                                                                       

I thought I died and went to heaven! This is the late night "Chocolate Buffet". A funny story here though: We were beat from a day of sight seeing at one of the port towns. The buffet started at 10 pm.

So that evening after dinner, we took in the evening show. We headed back to our cabin, showered and got in our PJ's. We were too tired to go to the chocolate buffet.

Well I don't know what happened but Mary and I kept thinking about all the chocolate and got a second wind. So at 9:45 pm we got dressed and headed to the Chocolate Buffet. Wow, were we glad we did! I was blown away with all the delicious chocolate sculptures.

Each night over dinner the piano player played lovely music.


The Norwegian Spirit docked at one of the port towns.



One of the many moon lit nights that we enjoyed while sitting on the deck.


Police presence made the port towns safe for the tourist.
                                                       
Beautiful ice sculpture in the dining room.

Mary (L) and Jennifer (R) enjoying the hot tub along with other guest.
                                           

Mary and I took an excursion and went snorkeling. It was an fun experience. We enjoyed the vibrant colored fish and sea life.


When I look back of the cruise, I think of the first time when I walked into one of the restaurants and saw all the food. I think I started hyperventilating. As most of my friends know, I love food, I dream about it and think about food all the time.  For 7 days I ate and ate and then ate some more. I gained a total of 7 lbs. 1 pound for each day. Thank goodness I did not go on a 14 day cruise!

Until next time, Happy Trails...............