Superbowl Sunday
Rochester, IL

Well, we arrived home about 2 p.m. We had made a detour and stopped to see Zack. We met at the Cracker Barrel for lunch. It was good to see him; everytime I see him I think he looks taller, or it could be that I am shrinking? You know us old people...we seem to shrink before your very eyes, LOL! After a nice lunch, Zack came back to the rig with us and we gave him the T-shirts we had gotten him. He liked them both. He had a long goodbye with Oscar. We told him about the attack incident and he too was upset. We just cannot put off the inevitable. Paul will confer with Dr. Sturdy sometime this week to see if there is someone who can take him. I still think if we cannot place him with an understanding rescue type person, we will have to put him down. If we have to do it then I would prefer to just go ahead and do it. I know that I will back out of doing it if we delay it at all. I still can't look at him without feeling terrible.

Ealier in the day, Paul had said that all we really needed to get out of the rig was the perishable food and stuff that could freeze, and the laundry. Of course, as soon as we got home, he started unloading everything. I was not really in the mood to disembowel the motorhome so I was not a very happy "camper". I started the laundry and Paul brought out all the stuff. After all this he went to Walgreens to pick up my prescription and to the Chinese place get some egg-drop soup and a couple of eggrolls and crab ragoon. We watched TV for a while. It took a while for the house to heat up. Allmost all my plants survived except the one our neighbor Sherry had sent us when grandma died...I can't recall the name, but it doesn't look like it will be bouncing back anytime soon.

As I sit here and think about our trip I have reached a number of conclusions:

1. I love to take cruises. I could live on a cruise ship quite easily.
2. Pepi is never going to like sharing food with Oscar and Snickers
3. I never thought I'd like the sun coast of Florida...Tampa/St Pete, Naples, etc. I actually do. However this new appreciation of these areas has nothing to do with the traffic in each location (because it is really nasty all the time) but the actual climate. Hmmm, ya think that's why so many people live there and spend the winter there? Big duuuuhhhh.
4. Dry camping is not all that terrible...all we have to do is figure out how the inverter works so we don't have to run the generator when we want to watch TV.
5. I enjoy having the opportunity to do whatever I want without committments dictating my daily activities. I could really enjoy the freedom of just sitting on the beach watching the birds and the wonderful sunsets.
6. Sleeping on the pullout couch is not bad at all with the air matress on top of the foam mattress. Like sleeping on a sleep number bed, kinda.
7. New motorhomes are outrageously over-priced, have no storage and have things we will never use, such as a washer/dryer. The decor in all of them is really really fugly.
8. Wifi is great, except where you are looking at the satellite dish and still the darn laptop tells ya no signal available. Traveling to find a hotspot is a pain in the tush.
9. I actually enjoy writing. Maybe not for earning a living, but to entertain myself and others. Maybe a weekly column? Short stories? The great American novel...nah that is too much to ponder at this point!
10. Gene, Paul and I really do get along very well, except when Pepi is being a little shit and Grandpa thinks its funny. I'ts not. It's irritating as all get out.
11. Paul and Grandpa do not change underware every day(ick), or they go without(double ick)...I haven't figured out which just yet. While doing the laundry I noticed I had a pair in the wash for every day (and sometimes two if I changed clothes or took a shower) and they maybe had one or two pairs. I am too embarressed to ask cause maybe I don't really wanna know, yanno?
12. I really will live if I don't shower everyday....but that's it. One day without a shower is ok...two is not and I can't stand it. I will never go more than one day without a shower.
13. The walls of the motorhome are so thin that you can hear what another person is doing in the bathroom (triple ick, although what is a person supposed to do? I told Paul he had to go to the campground restrooms from now on. Ick again)
14. TV dinners are pretty good and there is NO cleanup.
15. Paper plate are not all created equal...some are not worth buying and spill stuff all over the place.
16. I do not like the Fox channel except for Bones and House tv shows.
17. I can live without actually watching my soaps by reading the updates on line. He, he, he.
18. I still hate Katie Couric on the Today show. I never turn it on at home and was forced to watch it for Grandpa. Ugh. She still is cloyingly nice and I think a phoney.
19. Motorhomes do now offer king size beds...but only on the really expensive ones.(Refer to number 8 above.)
20. Paul and I should always share a meal, otherwise we are wasteful and never eat the leftovers unless it has the word pizza in it.
21. I discovered that I still am not a sun worshiper and still burn if precautions are not taken.
22. I missed my kitchen and I am not sure why. I certainly don't cook anymore.
23. I think I am going to have to have a hip replacement. I don't think that fits this list, but I am always conscious of being in pain.
24. Taking 5 small 2 mil valiums with two night time tylenol works well but still doesn't keep me from waking up and going to the bathroom at least 4 times per night.
25. Paul was not mad that I put my cold feet on him to warm them up, as a matter of fact, he didn't even wake up for heavens sakes.
26. The older Snickers our cat gets, the more loving she becomes. You can't sit down now without her jumping into your lap. And she doesn't care who's lap it is either!
27. Fat little Pepi can lose weight. He did on this trip. Grandpa actually had to take in the notches on his little harness.
28. Snickers will not walk on a leash, and there is not a harness created to keep her in it.
29. Cingular works well some places but not all even though they have us conviced this is true.
30. I can wear Berkies and no one looks at my ugly toes.
31. I must shave my legs when in Florida.

That's all I can think of right now. Paul has a roaring fire in the hearth and my toes are getting toasted...this is not a good thing.

Will post more later.

dennise