Monday December 11, 2006

Well, today I have had an epiphany…Saturday afternoon, we went to the Downtown Hometown Christmas in Livingston. This appears to be a very, very poor kinda town. The band was playing Christmas carols and someone was singing way off key. The craft booths were pitiful…at least compared to the stuff we saw at the Muskegon Celebration. There seemed to be only one crafter with any talent at all….she made wreaths and they were quite attractive. I wouldn’t pay $40 bucks for one, but then again I am pretty cheap. After visiting the booths, we were off to find a restaurant and have an early dinner/late lunch. I was thinking a hot bowl of soup would be good. While out, we decided to find the Vet place where the furkids will be boarded and look for a place to eat. We found the Vet but there didn’t seem to be anywhere to eat out there that appealed to grandpa. Don’t get me started. So I suggested the Texas Pepper, advertised as a “family” restaurant…figured we could get soup, salad and maybe a blt or something simple. Well, it turns out it has highly priced Tex-Mex dishes…a few steaks and of course the ever present chicken fried steak. Paul and I split a burger and fries, grandpa ordered a burger and onion rings. The hamburger was just so-so and the fries and onion rings were cooked along with the burritos, charos and taco chips…ick. They tasted like greasy tortilla chips. Like I said, …ICK.

Today, we are kept in by torrential rains. This weather has sucked since we got here last week. At least it is gonna be warm today. I volunteered to make cookies for the Livingston Municipal Band concert here tonight. Paul and I will drop off the plate then go over to the clubhouse and watch the Bears on the big screen. Today we stopped at a local dish network place and it has been determined we will NEVER get in the satellite service…the box and the dish itself are incompatible. Crap. I get so irritated with this stuff. Everyone in the park has a dish and we are the only ones who can’t get it to work. Grrr…

Well, grandpa is still sleeping….he did go out with Paul for a ride this afternoon, but he has only been awake for perhaps 4 hours at the most in the last three days. He does have a doctor appointment to have his psa checked on Thursday so maybe the doctor can tell us if there is something wrong with him or he’s turned into Rumplestilsken.

Let’s hope the real Rex Grossman shows up for the Bears game tonight. All over the Houston paper was the story of Vince somebody who was a local kid a star at Texas, the Texans football team passed him over in the draft and he went to New Orleans and is now according to these people, the second coming of Christ….I am NOT making this up. Apparently he will lead NO to the next 10 superbowls he is so wonderful. Yeah. Right.

Whatever…

Later

Dee

Sunday December 10, 2006

We all slept late and then just sat in our jammies while we read the paper.

We went to the show and saw Deck the Halls with Danny DeVito and Matthew Broderick. It was really bad. Thank goodness we paid matinee prices. Grandpa slept through the whole movie. Then back at the rig, he fell asleep on the couch. Paul made pork steaks on the grill, some Mexican corn casserole and bbq beans. Very good dinner, Paul. After dinner, grandpa lay down again and slept. All evening. On the couch. Finally at 10:30 we woke him up, and made up the bed so he could GO to bed. Our TV reception is still sucky. We can't get more than one station and that is a religious one. Argh. Such a pain in the butt.

later

Dee

Saturday December 9, 2006

I am having a fibrofog moment...I don't remember what we did Saturday during the day, LOL!
Saturday night Paul and grandpa went to play poker. Since we are still having such a terrible time getting the satellite dish to work at all, I stopped by the clubhouse here at Rainbow's End and picked up a video from the library. I watched the good version of Scrooge...the Alistar Sim version and a movie I had always wanted to rent, Beloved with Oprah Winfrey. Well, Beloved ran 172 minutes and was still on when they boys got home from poker. It was the strangest movie I have ever seen. The boys made a stink about having to watch the end. That's just tough. They can sit and watch the end...I am going to see this to the end. Boy, it really is a strange one. I looked it up on the internet just so I could understand what I had just seen. Thank goodness for the internet and study guides on line, lol!

We think we may go to the movies tomorrow.

later

dee

Friday December 8, 2006

Today was not a good day for the Ziaja marriage. I had purchased a large tin Texas star for my secret pal and we were trying hard to get it packed and mailed. We needed a box about 30" X30"...not too difficult a task. Wrong. We dumpster dived, checked every store we could think of to buy one and wound up at the UPS store. They wanted 11 bucks for a box and packing. Right. Then it would have been THIRTY bucks to ship. I don't think so. Paul and I had words about the stupid thing and he wound up taking it back to where we bought it. I was really pissed. We got a small star from one of the local stores that also had the word Texas on it...and I bought a skein of sock yarn for her. Big deal. I didn't even wrap it as I was so mad at Paul I wouldn't stop anywhere to get paper and tape. Back at the rig, grandpa was asleep in the lounge chair. I laid on the sofa and we watched TV until dinner time. We had left overs. Just like being at home, LOL! At four, Paul and I went to the announcements. Not a lot going on...it's been cold and dreary here.

Perhaps we will have a more exciting day tomorrow?

hugs

dee

Thursday December 7, 2006

Well...I was up for once at 7 a.m. Wanted to go shopping after sampling the infamous $3.00 breakfast at RanDee's which is only available until 9 a.m. Took a shower, woke up Paul so he could take a shower, and go in to rouse grandpa. He is famous for getting up five minutes before us and then asking us if we were going to sleep "all day". So I say...."Grandpa, are you gonna sleep all day?" to which he replies...."I need to go to the doctor, I think my stomach hurts." So I go tell Paulie and we hustle out the door. The Care Center nurse gave us the name of a local doctor and called us in ahead of time. After filling out all the paperwork, they finally call him and its been an hour since we arrived. They had a full waiting room, and I guess they could just about get him in. I sit for another hour. Finally Paulie comes out and says its gonna be another half hour. They had given him an IV for fluids and to shoot him up with antibiotics. He also needs to get an X-ray. Finally, I go sit in the car so I don't catch something from all these germy sick people in the waiting room. After all this time, they finally get out...its 11:15 and we have not eaten anything yet. I did have a protein shake, but I am on the verge of a hypoglycemic problem. I do have peanut butter crackers in the glove box, but just as I reach for them, Paulie and grandpa get in the car. We are off to see if we can find a place to eat other than crappy fast food. We find a neat little cafe called the Whistle Stop Cafe. The boys got soup and chicken salad sandwiches and I had a Ruben. Pretty good for a Texan Ruben.

We head over to WalMart, to drop off the prescriptions and pick up a few things. I purchased a secret pal gift for my poor knitting guild secret pal. I am trying to find a box to ship it in. I have to listen to naggy PIA Paulie telling me its gonna cost a fortune to ship. Cripes, I missed the girl's birthday, the least I can do is get her a NICE Christmas gift. Jeesh. Men. Why don't they understand these things. I lose Paul at WalMart. He calls me FOUR times to check where I am. Good Lord....I'm running away with the checkout kid for chrissakes. I find a pair of jeans. I am down a pair that fit great when I had to go to the ER in Peoria...they cut the pants off. Plus, I am wearing old short miss's 14's and they are too big. I also buy a Santa hat for myself and some shower gel. As my legs are killing me, I call Paul and tell him I am checking out and would meet him at the door. I find grandpa and we wait for the big guy to finish shopping. From Walmart we go to the hospital for the X-ray. An hour of sitting in the car for me. Jeesh. From the hospital we go back to Walmart to pick up the prescriptions. While in line, the scooter store guy calls and we give him directions to our campsite. Back to Rainbow's end to unload and wait for the scooter fixer guy. We pull up to the rig and he is right there. Of course, we KNOW he doesn't have the part...he confirms...he will have to order and get back with us. Crap. This is getting old. A wasted trip as far as I am concerned. Oh well. Just after the scooter fixer guy leaves, a truck pulls up and a guy asks us if we still want to move into another spot. OK. Yep...so we hurry up and unhook, pack in the slides and off we go. We are now in the main in and out area...we were at the Care facility lot and it was pretty empty and quiet. We finally get settled again...we will stay here until we pull out to go on the cruise next week. I like being around people. Plus, now I can access the internet legally. Yesterday I guess I was hacking into someone else's wifi system and I have a guilty conscience. Tangonet is the wifi service used here so I signed up just for one week, then we'll be off to Mexico. Well, so much for today. Paulie and grandpa are going to play poker tonight so I get the whole place to myself. I can watch what I want which is quite a treat for me.

I promise to take some pictures of the campground and facilities tomorrow.

later....dee

Wednesday, December 6th

Jeesh, a lost day. The front is coming in hard and fast and I was in bed the entire day. I just hate that.

I have added some photos...not many good ones, from New Orleans and from the Tabasco plant. We must be picture impared...we don't take any or the ones we do take suck. Gotta practice this a bit. oh, here is the addy....


http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/rocketmom1985/album?.dir=/5c23re2&.src=ph&.tok=phrej7FBBOgrGa.o


later...

dee

OK, I finally have wifi again....we are at the Isle Of Capri having brunch. What a waste for me....six bucks and I had 1/2 pancake, two spoons of grits and some fruit. Next time I pass.
Remember to scroll down to where you left off and read UP! I know, its goofy, but that's the pia having no direct net access for days. *sigh*.

I will be updated sooner, hopefully when we get to Livingston. They have wifi I think.

hugs

dee

Monday December 4, 2006

We left the city of New Orleans around 9 a.m. We had a great time visiting with Tom and Sue, and I loved the French Quarter and of course Uptown. I would love to live there for 6 months or so…not summertime of course. The weather is again very odd for this time of year…it was freezing overnight and that rarely happens here.

We headed west on I10 then swing south to go to Avery Island, home of the Tabasco sauce plant. We stopped for lunch in a grocery store parking lot in New Iberia. Grandpa ate the leftover shrimp poboy, I ate the remaining chunk of the mufuletta sandwich and I made Paulie my special roast beef on white. It is very slow going on state road 90. This is the future I49 corridor, which should make the trip a lot easier. I thought Chicagoans drove nuts, these Cajun peoples are far, far worse! I think they drive like their music…fast and choppy and gets on one’s nerves. When we arrive at Avery, we paid our $1 entrance fee at the guards post across the bridge onto the island. We park and go in for the two cent tour. We actually got to see them bottling Japanese label Tabasco. It was interesting, but Paul and I wondered later if it was really worth the extra two hours of driving. We now know a whole bunch of useless facts about Tabasco sauce. We bought a jar of Tabasco Chili mix, a bottle of Tabasco A1 Steak Sauce for Zack and I finally broke down and bought myself a t-shirt. We took state route 14 heading west again to get to Lake Charles. This was a terrible road, very bumpy and congested for quite a few miles. Then it was turns and more turns. I made a few phone calls, first to set up an appointment with the fools at the Scooter store and then to the cruise line. I have called several times to see if my bringing the scooter would pose a problem. NCL told me that they couldn’t help, since we had booked with Vacations to Go, so I had to call them. Thank goodness it is all taken care of. Details. It’s always the details that kill ya. We decided to pass on the state park as it was 12 miles out of town so we called the Isle of Capri casino and got a spot in their RV parking area for ten bucks. Just electric but that’s all we really need. By the time we roll in it’s after five. There was an accident on this huge bridge over Lake Charles…a load of lumber was blocking the east bound lanes. What a mess. We finally pull into our reserved spot and let me tell ya…there is NO room for anything in these spaces. We are jammed in between a half million dollar Country Coach to the left and a nice 5th wheel rig to the right.

Both grandpa and I are hungry so we tell Paulie to step it up and we head over to the casino for some dinner. Of course, they have the all you can stuff yourself with buffet which is total waste of money for us, a sports type bar of place that has 15 buck hamburgers and then the top of the line steak house. Hmmmm…we finally find the sandwich market and Paulie and I split a cheeseburger. Grandpa settles for the most dried out looking piece of pizza I have ever seen. Both Paul and I try to talk him out of it to no avail. Stubborn old coot. By the way, he is not able to chew the crust…

I head back to the rig while the boys go throw some money away. I find very little to watch on TV…reruns and junk….Thank goodness for PBS….IL Divo in concert, am I lucky or what!!!!! Oooo, Ooooo that Spanish guy is sure a hunk.

I am really tired tonight. We should be in Livingston tomorrow. So far a very enjoyable trip overall.

Later…dee

Sunday December 3, 2006

We were up having coffee and reading the paper by ten. At least I got up and was semi-awake at ten. We decided to go back to the Garden District and the Uptown area just to tour around in the car and view the architecture. Again, the map we have sucks so Paul got another one out of the newspaper. Unfortunately he didn’t look at it closely and it has no street names, but accompanied an article in the paper about the levee system reconstruction. Gee, what a helpful guy he is.

We were quite impressed with the uptown area. Beautiful mansions. Truly unbelievable palaces to be honest. The uptown area is where all the universities are….Tulane, Loyola and St. Xaiver. The garden district is historically signigicant as if I recall it was the former high society area of old New Orleans money was centered. I was quite surprised as the homes there were not opulent or over adorned. Lots of lush, but overgrown landscapes. Most of these old homes have been converted to condos and apartments. Not a parking spot to be found…anywhere. We circled around a bit and then headed back towards the river. We wanted to check out the steam boats, perhaps taking a tour. We parked just outside the JAX building, the former Jackson brewery. It is now shops and restaurants but I thought they still operated a small micro-brewery. Nope. No beer. We walked across the street and came upon what the sign said was the only operating micro-brewery in New Orleans. We went inside to check it out. I ordered the sampler which was four approximately 3 ounces glasses of the house drafts. A dark German type; a Pilsner; a reddish brew called the Stallion and then the special which due to the holiday tasted like it had nutmeg in it somehow. I relished them all. Grandpa ordered the Black Forest dark brew and Paulie shared my samples even though I wasn’t in the sharing mood. Who shares beer for heaven’s sake? Certainly not moi.

After this we go back in the car, paid the outrageous parking fee ($8 for not quite two hours…a real rip off but what choice does one have?) We were just outside the French Quarter so we decided to find a place to eat. First we had to find a parking spot. Lo and behold we find a handicapped FREE spot just off Royal Street. We stroll down Royal which is the art gallery and antique shoppe street in the FQ. We saw some street musicians and all of a sudden the streets began filling up with people in Saints jerseys. The football game has ended and the FQ invasion of the drunkards had begun. No restaurants to be found on Royal. We get to Bourbon and make a hasty exit. It smells like vomit and beer. Jeez. How disgusting. We make our way up to Toulouse and find a bar & café that looks inviting. I must say inviting because we were hungry, tired and the sun had set and it was getting quite chilly. Grandpa had the house sampler (gumbo, red beans with rice, and either jambalaya or the et-to-fey (Sp…My dictionary doesn’t do Cajun and Creole). Paul and I split a hot beef poboy that had the most delicious gravy. I ate about three bits of beef but chowed down the fresh French bread covered in that marvelous gravy. Talk about being stuffed. Bread grows in my stomach, and I know this…so what do I stuff my face with? Yep, bread. Paul finished up, paid the bill and went off to get the car. By this time the streets were filling up very quickly with the tourists and more of the football folks. We headed back to the rig, all tired from our unexpected walk through the French Quarter. We will be heading into west Louisiana towards Cajun country tomorrow. We plan on touring the Tabasco plant on Avery Island and then head to the Sam Houston Jones state park to stay the night. We will then head towards Livingston, Texas on Tuesday.

Later…dee

Saturday December 2, 2006

We slept in this morning. Paulie was up first and took a walk to an interesting little Chinese grocery store several doors away from the RV Park. He picked up the newspaper and a breakfast sandwich. I didn’t get my bum outta bed until almost 11. Tom and Sue called and said they would pick us up around three, and take us to the lake house for a pontoon boat ride. We stopped for crawfish and shrimp at a local place near the lake house and by the time we got to the house, the sun was sinking into the lake quite quickly. So…we just looked around at the lake house property and then dove into the food. I am very picky about my food, if it looks nasty, I don’t eat it. Well, I had to quickly decide if I was gonna be squeamish or starve. The shrimp still had the heads on. So Gross. So Disgusting. So Vile. Sue showed me how to rip their buggy eyed heads off and peel ‘em. They tasted wonderful. Unbelieveably fresh, just caught today. The crawfish are another story. They really ARE bugs. Mudbugs. They remind me of the monster in the Alien movies. I grabbed one and again Sue guided me thru the process of ripping off the bug eyed head, pull some of the shell off and just crack the tail and pull out the meat. There would be NO sucking of the stuff in the heads to pass these virgin lips like Tommy. There is approximately one one-hundredth of an ounce of meat in a mudbug. I am not making this up. The little sliver I managed to get out of the shell was as big as my ring finger fingernail. It was ok…one was enough. I now can say I ate a bug. Of course, dear readers… you know that alcohol was involved in this…NO WAY would I eat this stuff sober yanno. I am not nuts, honest.

Tom and Sue’s lake house is quite beautiful. Just what you’d imagine a getaway cabin to look like. It is bigger than the house we live in…furnished in that rustic look that is so popular now. After dinner we just sat around and talked…it was almost ten by the time we were back on the road and on the way home. Another great day in NO.

Later…dee

Friday December 1, 2006

I think I have my dates goofed up on my previous postings. Now ask me if I care. We awoke to a very frigid New Orleans. Crap. Normal temps are in the mid 70’s with lows in like the 50’s. Today the HIGH will be fifty. With a very cold and biting wind. Better than being at home I say. I don’t like ice and snow anymore. Oh well, we are up and out the door, heading to Café Du Monde in the French Quarter. Of course, we take the Canal Street exit off I10 and I TELL the driver to stay on Canal. An arrow points straight ahead and says in ENGLISH, Canal Street ahead. The driver makes a right. Me, playing navigator, tries to read the map upside down since the map is one of the guide book things and I am desperately trying to figure out where the heck we need to go. After several U-turns, the driver runs right through a frickn’ red light. We make it through alive. We finally ask some guy and he says to go right and stay on this street. We go through what seems to be the financial district before we stumble onto Bourbon Street. What a sh*t-hole. Strip clubs line Bourbon street. I thought this was a place to hear music and have a drink. Ugh, the place is so gross. We continue on and get to another cross street which I recognize so we turn in, and finally we are in the real French Quarter. We find out later that after Hurricane Katrina, that disgusting Larry Flint came in and bought up Bourbon street for pennies on the dollar to destitute property owners. What a shame. Bourbon Street is now Hustler filth alley.

We find a parking spot just off Decatur Street, and see the Café across the way. The wind off the river is really nippy. We get into the Café and it is not unlike my expectations, very quaint. There are only either Chinese or Vietnamese waitresses who can barely speak English. We each order beignets and I got the café aulait, the boys ordering hot cocoa. The coffee is a dark roast that is very rich. Half coffee and half hot milk is perfect. Best café auliat I have ever had. Obviously I am biased by my surroundings. We have NINE beingnets in front of us. Gee I hope they reheat well. They are hot and loaded in huge mountains of powdered sugar. I immediately fell in love with Café Du Monde. I will be back. Just now, I can checkmark this place on my list of “wanna go to’s” and “wanna go back to’s.” Paul and grandpa seemed to enjoy them also, at least they didn’t complain. After we finished, we went up to view the Mississippi. We are below the levee and I would assume under sea level? We walk up the rampart, and all of a sudden my head is just spinning and my ears are screaming in pain. The air pressure is not normal here and I am frantic to get away. We walked a bit down Decatur. Lots of really neat shops and café’s, including the French Quarter Grocery, home of the original Muffaletta sandwich. The smell from the grocery was incredible. We continued walking for a couple of blocks to the visitors center and check out tours. Grandpa and I just cannot walk to do tours or sightseeing. My head was pounding from the air pressure and grandpa’s legs were giving out. We found the French Market but just were outta gas to do any kind of shopping. Paul walked back to the car and grandpa and I sat freezing in a quaint little park off the market waiting. Paul had gotten a call from his friend Tom, and we headed to Gretna to see them. I wanted to stop at the rig first to get cleaned up…I had nasty bed head this morning and just stuck a baseball cap on my head. They have a beautiful home. Right now son Tommy and his wife and two kids are living with them until February when they transfer to Houston. We talked all afternoon, and then Sue made a wonderful dinner of Italian type chicken with breadcrumbs and diced tomatoes, sautéed broccoli and noodles. We talked around the table until about 9:30 pm. I felt really kinda stupid keeping my baseball hat on the entire day, but by then my bed head had turned into a couple of greasy tufts of thin stragles so no way would I take the hat off. Let Tom and Sue think I am a weirdo, I wouldn’t let anyone see my hair like this. Poor Pepe was prolly doing the “I gotta go potty” dance back at the rig so we said our goodnights and went home. We pretty much just went to bed when we got back. A good day…very disappointing for both me and grandpa. It is soooooo frustrating not to be able to walk more than a block. Both he and I are in the dumper…we had looked forward to doing some sightseeing here. He’s almost 90, so he’s got reason…me, who knows?

Later,

dee

Thursday November 30, 2006

The rig was packed and ready to hit the road about 9:30 a.m. It is starting to drizzle again. The cold front is pushing south and we are running just ahead of it. Paul had run over to a small donut shop and brought us a couple of deep fried grease nuggets. Why does deep fried grease taste so good?

We got back on I55 once again heading straight south. We stopped at the Louisiana Welcome Center and picked up a bunch of tourist brochures. I would love to go on the Vampire and Cemetery Tour, but it is a walking tour and its after dark, too deadly for moi. Walking is still difficult and forget walking in the freakin’ dark…since I have no balance I have to use my EYES so darkness renders me totally unbalanced…no rude comments please.

I55 into NO is very interesting. About 20 or so miles out of the city, there are bayous along the highway, shrimp boats and houses on stilts. Very interesting. We plan on doing a swamp and bayou tour. I better remember the bug spray or I won’t come out alive, sucked dry no doubt.

We arrived in New Orleans just ahead of the super thunderstorms that are making up the cold front down here. The wind was blowing pretty hard and the traffic on the NO freeways just whizzed by us. I think Paulie was stressed. I cannot describe just how terrible it still is down here as we passed on I10. All the residential areas we passed still had half the houses in repair or disrepair. Roofs missing, windows boarded up. FEMA trailers still stand in a lot of front yards. We passed a strip mall that was still just a pile of rubble. Some homes look like they have been rebuilt already…their insurance must have been good. There are still piles of rubble everywhere, on street corners and even on roofs. Very sad. This was probably not a very attractive area, most likely a poorer area and it just looks like jumbled up shambles.

We finally find Chef Menteur Hwy and get off to find the park. Hmmm, it’s a parking lot with hookups. There is a pool, and a hot tub. I truly doubt if I’d set foot in either one, even if I was dying of the heat and humidity. There are mostly work campers here. It looks like a lot of electric company trucks are here. I suppose if the work is here, staying in a campground is not such a bad deal. At least you go to bed in YOUR bed every night, and can cook a meal. About six blocks from here is the quarry and the main barge landing on the Mississippi. Not the most picturesque place we’ve ever stayed by a long shot, but NOT as bad as my favorite place in Southern Illinois. We are about 5 miles from the French Quarter. First thing tomorrow morning I am shagging male asses outta bed and we are going to the Café du Monde for beignets and café au lait. It IS open 24 hours so I may just steal out in the middle of the night and treat myself.

The rain finally caught up with us at around 5:30 p.m. It was really heavy and came down in torrents blown to and fro by a strong wind. Paul stupidly made himself and grandpa fish sticks for dinner and stunk up the entire rig. No windows can be opened due to the torrential rain, and he makes fish sticks…in the toaster oven. Jeez. Now it smells like Arthur Treachers in here for heaven’s sake. I am lighting candles all over the place. Putz.

Well, that’s about all that’s going on here. It is supposed to rain tomorrow so I am not sure what is on the agenda except for the beignets .

More later

Dee

Wednesday November 29, 2006

After a nice sleep-in, we decided to go to Vicksburg to once again visit the Battleground Museum and Cemetery there. Grandpa had changed his mind and decided he now wanted to go, so we thought we could see things we missed on our first visit over two years ago. We again purchased the CD tour which is very interesting and puts the battle into perspective as you drive through the huge battlegrounds. The Siege of Vicksburg is told from both sides, Confederate and Federal. The townspeople fled to caves they had carved into the hillsides along the Mississippi. The most beautiful monument in the park is that of Illinois. It is a domed structure of marble and inside its circular interior are the names of each Illinois soldier to serve in this historical campaign. I have put up a new album of a few photos at http://www.yahoopictures.com. We didn’t get out of the car so the pictures are just basic…but the day was beautiful and 77 degrees.

We stopped at Cracker Barrel for a late lunch, early dinner thing. Of all the regional foods we could have sampled, the men choose CB. Jeez. Whoosies, both of ‘em…all that BBQ just waiting to be sampled and we eat at a place we can eat at any damm time.

We will head for New Orleans tomorrow. It is about 245 miles from here so it will be a nice easy day. We found a place to park the RV in the French Quarter…it only costs $80 per day. I think not. Instead, we will be staying at a place called Judes Camp for a mere $30.00. I sure hope it’s in a good part of town, or is there such a thing anymore in New Orleans?

Later

Dee

Hey, since this is the first time I've had access to the net, I've done several updated entry/uploads all at once...scroll down until you get to the point where its new to ya....

dee

Tuesday November 28, 2006

Forget Tunica…we decided to just do a short 220 jaunt south to Jackson Mississippi. The weather has been great, but we awoke to cloudy skies and light drizzle. After packing up the rig and saying goodbye to Tom Sawyer’s place we were off and out of Memphis heading south on 55 by 9:30 a.m. We stopped for breakfast at Waffle house, one of our favorites. I of course had to have a waffle AND a bowl of grits. I KNOW I cannot eat even half a waffle so what’s up with me getting the grits too? They are so good with butter. If I lived south of the Mason Dixon line or where ever the invisible line exists where hash browns suddenly turn into grits at the eateries, I’d weigh 600 pounds. Grits, butter and fat Dennise. No question. I ate ¼ of the waffle and about 5 spoons of grits. The poor waitress thought something was wrong…I just had to assure her that my eyes are a whole lot bigger than my stomach. If she only knew.

After an uneventful yet pretty drive, we pulled into Swinging Bridge RV resort. I think they are using the term “resort” quite loosely down here. We unhooked the car and made a quick trip to the market. I was able to access wifi at the local McDonald’s but it took me forever to get the software uploaded. I had SBC freedom link but now its gotta be AT&T. Like I need more aggravation. Oh well, we are updated, I was able to access my email and send a message to the neighbor to send mail to us in New Orleans Wednesday.

Tomorrow is either Vicksburg, which grandpa has never visited , or Gulfport and find a campground with an ocean view. Paul and I went to Vicksburg so I’d prefer to keep going south.

Will update more when it happens.



oh, here is a picture I snapped of Pepe...he was trying so hard NOT to fall asleep....

Monday, November 27, 2006

A beautiful day again in West Memphis, AR. The river runs quietly by, the occasional barge passing by with sounds similar to a passing train or motorboat. The river currently flows approximately 7 miles per hour. Funny, I’ve passed over the Mississippi a million times heading into St. Louis, but it never seemed to flow as swiftly as it does here. Perhaps it is because passing over a distant bridge, the current is unnoticeable. I just sat and watched this morning in the bright sunlight sipping my morning coffee. The swift current continued to wind its way always southward, itinerant tree limbs, origin unknown, keeping pace, making their inevitable journey to the sea. (Gee, I shoulda been a writer).

It was a quiet catch-up kinda day. Since I walked what seemed like miles yesterday, I was not only sore all over, but I was simply exhausted. How funny this disease fibromyalgia is. A good day or two and then the bastard reels you back in for more misery. Good thing Paul and grandpa understand. Grandpa had spoken earlier to one of the campground hosts. His wife also suffers from this unseen disease. He said that for a period of about 6 months, she could barely get out of bed. He says she has improved since they have been here at this RV park. Perhaps it is the mild climate or maybe it’s just the ability to sit and watch the river each day that creates a sense of relaxation and quiet peace.

We will be pulling out tomorrow morning, heading (I think) towards Tunica. Grandpa said he had no interest in seeing it, however we have a lot of time before we meet up in Gretna, LA with Paul’s friend, so we need to slow down the pace and that seems like a good place to do it.

Sunday November 26, 2006

Poor Paulie…he tries soooooo hard. He has a couple of other Rv’ers helping him to set up this stupid dish. Every Rv’er in the freaking world has a dish satellite hooked up and running. Except us. Bummer. One fella brought over his signal finder and attached to the dish, it shows at least a 70% signal but the satellite strength on the TV is zippo. *Sigh*. No Bears game today unless we hit some kinda sports bar. Grandpa wants to go fishing in the pond, convinced that he can get dinner. We could send him down to the river which is right out the door but he won’t pop the $5 for the license. He took off on MY scooter…the one I haven’t even USED yet…oh well, he breaks, he BUYS ME A NEW ONE!

Paulie is on the phone with Dish. I hate these people. As soon as he is done we will be off into Memphis. First item…Walgreens…I need refills on two scripts. Just plain forgot to do it before we left. Nothing that I can’t live without. The expensive little Purple pill Nexium and a bity thing for high blood pressure which is stupid cause I don’t HAVE high BP. Argh.

We slept til about 9 and grandpa was already up. He had turned on the coffee pot, as I had kindly premade it last night before I went to bed.
I sure do make good coffee, if I say so myself.

Paulie went to get us some cream for the coffee (as he forgot the one at home that I bought). He brought a Memphis paper and a couple of sweet rolls. Of course, grandpa took the apple one and then bitched about how lousy it was. Sometimes…..he just irritates the crap outta me.

Paulie and I are off in the car about 11 am. We head first to the visitors center and pick up a few brochures. Then we find Beale Street. Very picturesque…and disgusting in the daylight. Delapilated store fronts, actually bar fronts, peeling paint and an ATM on every corner. There were lots of places to eat and the smells were fantastic. Since I am not a good walker yet, we only went up two blocks and then back on the other side. We stopped at The Pig’s…BBQ with an attitude. We split a pulled pork with beans and fries. Memphis BBQ is unique, it has a vinegar base almost. The sweet sauce was great. Even the beans had vinegar in them. We really enjoyed our lunch which we followed up with a renowned southern fired peach pie. Of course, I had to take a pain pill…swilled down with a Killian’s Red…it hit pretty fast. The I had a stupid hot flash. Hmmmm, maybe related to the pill and the beer?

We walked back to the car and started our quest to find both a Walgreen’s and a grocery store. We had to get one of my refills….oooops. Guess I blew that one. We finally got back to the RV park around 3 pm.

Remember earlier when I lent grandpa my scooter and said he’d have to buy me a new one if he broke it? Well, guess what. He broke it. Snapped the go forward lever right off. I am not a happy camper…we called the scooter store and all they could do was have someone call us on Monday. Crap.

After I took a ‘lil nappie, Paulie made us a nice dinner of steak, baked potato and corn along with a salad. Quite tasty. He is so good to us.

Well, we saw the last ugly minute of the Bears game. That damm Grossman. What a putz. He needs a sports psychologist. The same guy never shows up to the game for chrissakes. That’s why I hate getting to involved watching sports. My team always breaks my heart. We will just watch a bit of TV tonight…Desperate Housewives and Boston Legal are on. At least we’ll get a few laughs tonight.

Here are a couple of photos of the Mississippi about 20 feet from our campsite at Tom Sawyer's RV park in West Memphis, AR.

Friday, November 24

We slept til about 9 am. Auntie Avril came out just as Gene was getting Pepi out for his morning walk. She said breakfast would be ready soon. I had wanted to take her out for breakfast but she beat us to it. She had made French toast and bacon and it was wonderful…she even heated up the syrup!
After breakfast, Paul disconnected the car and he and grandpa went off in search of a Bridgstone tire. Auntie Avril and I just talked ourselves silly til they got back around noon. Around 1:30 we decided to try to drive a couple of miles towards Memphis before traffic got bad. Peggy and David were entertaining some friends and we would have to miss visiting them at the farm this trip. We stopped at a KFC for dinner (since we didn’t have any lunch) and filled up the tank. We decided to stop at the West Plains MO Elks club. They had 30 am hookups and water and all for a $5 donation. Incredible. We all turned in early, but Paul and I watched TV til about ten.

later...
dee

Thanksgiving Day 2006

Well, we had a good nights sleep, and were up and moving about 7. The tough part about loading the motorhome is that the majority of stuff we will use is stuff we use daily in the house and therefore have to wait until take-off day to load it up. It is very tiring. After putzing around for several hours, we finally hit the road about 11 am.

By this time I had a sore hip, sore butt from walking and I was walking into stuff. I have so little stamina, just vacuuming the kitchen floor had me winded. I stretched out on the new sofa/futon, which is by the way, quite comfortable, Pepi along side of me and slept until we were way past St. Louis. We hit a bit of traffic in the Springfield but it was clear sailing the rest of the way. Just as we passed Cuba MO, Paul was flagged down by a passing car, the passenger pointing to the toad. After pulling off, Paul discovered that the right front tire was shredded. Earlier, I had heard a thump, so there must have be something on the road that wasn’t visible. Paul called OnStar and they said someone would be there to change the tire within an hour. Of course, this meant we had to get the temp tire outta the back of the Vue, which meant unloading the entire back end, including my new scooter. After the mechanic helped get us back on the road, it turns out we had only been down for about an hour. I had called Auntie Averil so she knew we’d be a bit late. I think we rolled up about 5ish. We had a great time catching up, and then we had our turkey dinner, hauled all the way from Springfield. It was just as good warmed up as it was fresh. We all just sat around and talked until about 10 p.m. and then we headed to our rolling home to retire for the night.

As usual, I don’t sleep well the first night in the rig (it’s the change of bed or excitement or just plain stupid). I was up to the bathroom at least 8 times. Snickers decided to sleep in between Paul and me….by our heads, and she kept putting her paw on my cheek, hoping I’d pet her. Paul seems to be snoring a lot again…have to mention this to him. He isn’t breathing thru his nose, he is breathing thru his mouth and doing the sleep apnea stop breathing for 15 seconds tricks again. Grrrr.

Here is a wonderfully flattering picture of me and Auntie Averil....she's gonna kill me.....

Wednesday November 22

Heh, heh, heh...you guys fell for my bs again. I haven't updated since Oct! Well, the old saying, the best laid plans....

For weeks the debate here in the Ziaja realm has been ...."when are we gonna leave? What are Zack's plans? Are Jan and the girls coming in? blah blah blah." We finally make a decision to leave Thanksgiving day. Not MY choice. Grandpa has had his clothes in the motorhome since October. Every now and then I see him sneak out to get some clean underwear...he wears the same pants and shirt everyday. Paul has to steal his clothes in the middle of the night so they don't walk away. Just Kidding yanno.

It is 8:30 pm and Paulie is still outside loading the rig, mostly the stuff in the storage bins. My thoughts are this should have been done WEEKS ago yanno? Last minute Paulie, flyby the seat of his pants. Some things never change I guess. I don't get it. We have talked up this trip for freaking MONTHS. The bad thing about being part-timers is that we have to share the stuff in the rig with the house...like pots and pans. Toothpaste and shampoo. Can't keep it in the rig as it melts in the summer and freezes in the winter. Same with clothes. Gotta wear seasonal clothes, can't leave them in the rig either. But stuff in the bins? PIA.

Add to this, we all had to pack for the cruise. Summer clothes for the cruise, warm clothes cause we don't know what the weather is where we are going stateside, light jackets, a heavier jacket, and who knows what kind of clothes for the Rio Grand Valley. Gee what a terrible dilemma!

Well, I am totally exhausted at this moment. I will have to take something strong tonight. All I have to take into the rig tomorrow is my cruise suitcase(if anyone can lift the sucker) and my meds and toiletries.

We probably will get on the road around 11. Our first stop is Lebannon MO to visit Auntie Averil and get there some time in the afternoon. She lives about 150 miles from St. Louis so with the 90 to SL, we have about a 4 to 5 hour trip. Not too bad.

I will update when we get on the road tomorrow.

Boy, time sure flies when your having fun. Since my last update over two months ago, I had my surgery, recovered, dislocated my new hip twice and after several ambulance trips to the er and visitis back to the doc, a revision is only option. Crap. Had revision on Sept 27. Doc said there was fluid in the joint which made it unstable. He lengthened my leg, inserted a new socket that has a lip to keep the ball in place and then put in a larger ball. I did ok after surgery. My ass hurts where all the soft tissue damage was done. Can't describe it any other way...I have pain in my right ass cheek. Hmmmm. Back to square one...a simple (for most folks anyways)surgery, becomes a 16 week ordeal for me. Typical.

We are getting ready for the great get-away. Hopefully we will get outta Rochester before Thanksgiving. Time will tell.

I am going to try to update daily from this point on, keeping everyone abreast of what is happening here.

later
dennise

Oh goodness. It's Monday night and I have only one more day to wait til I get this freakin' hip fixed. I have so much stuff to do tomorrow it is just ridiculous...I hired a cleaning lady today...$15 an hour...oh well, it's only money right? I just can't deal with a dirty house and Paulie just can't keep up. I suppose it will be about 4 hours worth of work for this woman, and I promised her that I'd have the place at least picked up so she doesn't have to clean around clutter. We picked out the lino for the bathroom redo today...its a light grey background with speckled spots...just like the stuff from the 50's. I am going to draw something up for the wallboard guy to look at...I want beadboard and chair rail along with new baseboards. Shouldn't be too expensive. Can't wait to see it done. One more step to selling the house. I am making lists of stuff we have to do. Get rid of sh*t is number one. Getting rid of furniture is next. Gosh, its gonna take months to get this stuff done. I worry about video tapes of Zack when he was growing up....pictures, knick knacks and stuff I really love is gonna be tough. If we do buy a mfg home, I can keep some stuff. Kitchen stuff. I have great kitchen appliances such as my Kitchen aid mixer. Ain't giving that puppy up...how about my pizzeli (sp) maker...no...how about my professional cookie sheets, hell no! China, silverware and serving dishes are also hands off. I gotta have some stuff to make a new home a real home.

I will prolly not post until after I get home. Don't be offended if I am a bit grumpy or surly...it is gonna hurt like hell and I am not gonna be a happy person by any stretch of the imagination...

hugs

dee

My girlfriend Karen told me on the phone that my blog was coming up blank. Yikes! It was...the edit page was there, but when I also tried to view the blog, all I got was a blank page...hmmm. Thus the test test test post. Sorry. It seems to be ok now. Pffft. Technology. Can't live with it, can't live without it.

I am sitting in my recliner, another day down, 7 more to go. This is only the second time I have actually WANTED to have surgery. This pain in my hip sucks the big one. Sorry, that's not nice, but heck, I am NOT feeling "nice" right now.

I visited with Terry Stephens at Dr. Stegeman's office today...preop physical. What a pia. She did take my disability paperwork to be completed and signed by Dr. S. Disability paperwork is a necessary evil I guess...I recall getting complaints from folks when I took calls at the Franklin for disability. We did waive the paperwork after the individual was deemed permanently disabled and had no hope of recovery in order to go back to work. That's me I guess. I hope they agree to waive my forms soon for pete's sake.

We are trying to figure out which chair I am going to use after I have surgery next week. The chair I am using now is not appropriate as my hips lie lower than my knees. Can't have that. So, I guess it's either stuff pillows under my butt to level my hind end out, or use the other chair. The nasty disgusting chair Paulie uses is an oldie moldy from the farm house...and has spent the last several years in Zack's dirty pit, er bedroom.

Well, that's about all for today...I need to go to Walgreens for some meds I need to start prior to surgery.

later

dee

Testing....testing....testing....hey, where did my blog go?

Monday

Well, we secured the rig, loaded up the furkids and some of grandpa's stuff and hit I74 for the 2 hour ride to Rochester.

We got home and as expected, the house was dirty...I expected this, Paulie is pissed. I don't know why he thought the house would be clean. It is after all, still standing. There were no holes in the wall, no burnt food in the oven, no dirty dishes all over and all the furniture was still in one piece. Dirt is something a 20 year old boy doesn't see. Doesn't he get this? Disappointed my tushie...as I said, it was almost cleaner that I thought it would be. Nothing is broken, everything is still in place and the plants are even still alive. Paul needs to chill. And then the weather is so great...99 in the shade! The house is starting to cool down...but the outside flowers are pretty well goners, I have yet to see the tomatoes. Where I had planted annuals, the weeds have taken over the plants everywhere. Oh well, it'll just have to stay that way...no way in hell is anyone gonna pick weeds in this weather. And since I can barely walk, weeds can do whatever they please.

We will head back to kickapoo on Wednesday evening....I am planning on getting together with my cousin Nancy who lives near there. After the Cenois FMCA meeting is over on Saturday morning, Paulie and I will head home in the rig. Gee...since grandpa won't be with us, I will actually be able to sit in the FRONT seat instead of the frickn' recliner in the back. Wow, I am soooo excited.

later

dee

Sunday July 16th.

We had a nice breakfest of fresh fruit, bagels and scones. One by one, the out of towners got ready and had to pack up to leave. We finally got on the road around noon. It was hard to leave Michigan...we enjoyed our time here. We took a red road (red on the map) which was a strait shot down to Lafayette from Michigan City. We will stay at Kickapoo Sunday night, leave the rig and then bring grandpa back to Rochester on Monday. I have to see the doc on Tuesday morning and Paulie is doing some driving for the special needs folks.

Once we made it to Kickapoo, we set up the rig and then had a run to Tilfton or some such place for dinner. We went to Monical's pizza and it was truly bad. Oh well, we will know next time.

hugs

dee

Saturday July 15

We broke camp (or should I say Paulie broke camp?) and headed over to the Williams.
Steph and Matt arrived soon followed by Ricky and Linny. We had some snacks at the house then headed to Grand Haven for dinner. The place could only seat us outside. Half the table was in the shade and the other half of us sat in the sun. It was almost unbearable out there. Finally another table in the shade left and Amy and I went and sat in the shade by ourselves. After dinner the group headed for a walk but Sue and I went across to the coffee shop and I got a frozen coffee. The group had stopped for some ice cream and then we headed back to the house. We sat around and talked for a while. Since Matt had to umpire some games back home he and Steph had to leave about 9. We planned to have coffee and bagels in the morning.

Friday July 14

I crawled out of the air mattress about 8 a.m. I just couldn’t take it anymore, I felt like I was suffocating. Why Paulie was able to sleep is beyond me. It is another overcast day, the expected high to be around 90 degrees which is unheard of here in this part of the world. I am really hurting today. I just am counting the days until I get this freaking hip fixed. I hate to continually complain around the old farts so I just bitch about it here!

I guess I will go to B&N to post this. While I am out I will have to get another air mattress. I haven’t taken any pictures lately…so there isn’t too much to post in that area, but what I have, I will get up. We have to break camp here tomorrow as the campground is full up on Saturday. We had originally planned to head home tomorrow, but our plans changed when cousin Ricky could only make it here this weekend. So, we will probably park the rig at Wally world overnight. Sunday is still up in the air. We are going to avoid the I90/I80 crap and head south into Indiana. We will drop the rig off at Kickapoo State park near Danville and then just load up the car and head home to Rochester. The Cenois group is meeting in Kickapoo next weekend and it is cheaper to pay the daily fee at the park than drive the rig home and then back 150 or so miles with the cost of fuel. Hank and Elizabeth Kerr are arriving on Tuesday so they will be early arrivals and will undoubtedly keep an eye out on the rig for us, not that anything would happen. We will return on Wednesday or Thursday and stay until after the club meeting on Saturday. We have a wedding and a retirement party Saturday night.

Well, I am off to get dressed and then maybe Paulie and I will go to the mall and get the mattress.

Later

Dee

Friday continued…

Well, they say the best laid plains…

We wound up sticking around here. Paulie started to clear up the outside and put stuff away in anticipation of breaking camp tomorrow. He had a terrible time getting the awning in. I just don’t understand. I watch a ton of folks set up camp and then take it down again. NOBODY has the problems Paulie does. I don’t know if its just fate or he is doing things his own way and not bothering to do things the right way. As if I would even know the right way from the wrong way. For example, the clip thing on one end of the awning was jammed. Nothing could un-jam the thing. He finally had to get on a ladder and unlock the thing with pliers. Geesh. I watch folks putting out and pulling in awnings and I have never seen anyone have any difficulty…at all. I did pretty much of nothing…so what else is new? I did have to lie down for a while. Paulie also cleaned all the windows on the front of the rig.

We are supposed to go to a margarita party tonight. I am not in any mood to be pleasant. Just am not in a very good mood. Don’t know why. Maybe I am depressed ‘because we have to go home. I shouldn’t be…we’ve had a great time. And I do want to get this hip thing over and done with. Maybe I am just tired from the bad sleep I had last night and the nap didn’t really help. I am going nuts from about 25 mosquito bites I got sitting out at the beach with the campground folks last night. How can a bite still make you itch like crazy a day after you’ve been bitten? That’s just not right. I am scratching the skin off in places! I didn’t get a very refreshing nap either. Nope. Nothing promising so far about this evening!

We are having hot dogs, corn on the cob and potato chip fragments for dinner. I don’t know who is eating all these chips, I haven’t had any. I haven’t had any in months…ugh. When I think of all the chips I ate when I had my binge/cravings I get sick all over again. Finally the sun is out…it’s now 6:30 p.m. and the sun decides to show up. It is supposed to be really hot and humid tomorrow, very rare for this area. Looking forward to seeing Steph, Lindsey and Unca’ Rick.

Later

dee

Thursday July 13

We had some errands to run this morning so we took grandpa to Toast and Jams. Well, I ordered the eggs benedict; Paulie the French toast and grandpa got a pecan roll. My eggs were delish, but I could only eat one egg. Paulie could only eat one slice of toast, and grandpa didn’t like his pecan roll…it had caramel sauce all over and pooled on the plate. Not his kinda pecan roll. A real bust actually.

We proceeded to Sam’s Club to check out ribeye steaks. We wanted to buy the fixings for dinner on Saturday when Rick and the girls get here. The whole ribeyes were outrageously priced. Twice the price as at home. By the time we would buy the meat, side dishes etc, we could eat out without the hassle and the messy clean up.

We then went to Walmart for RV black water tank stuff and to get grandpa’s favorite nut rolls. We had talked to Sue and made plans to go to meet at the Old World Buffet for dinner around 6:30. The sun was out, and the humidity was rising. When we got back to the rig, we changed and went down to the beach. It was very hot. We only stayed by the water for about an hour and a half. The sun was just so intense, I had to cover up about ten minutes after we got there. Back at the rig, I needed to nap, so I shut myself up in the bedroom while Paulie and grandpa watched a poker tournament on TV. I was hurting and really didn’t nap but it was nice and quiet in the bedroom plus I had pulled down the shades. We had turned on the air conditioning before we left in the morning in anticipation of the heat and humidity so the rig was nice and comfortable.

We left the rig to meet the William’s about 6:10. While on our way, Sue called and said they would be on their way shortly. When we got to the buffet, it was pretty busy. We looked around the deli checking out the imported foods. Just as we decided to go sit and have a iced tea while waiting, a huge group of about 20 people came in…and they had teenage boys. By the time Sue and Casey had arrived…the buffet had been decimated. Teenage boys. What more does one need to say?

The sausage, cabbage rolls and the sauerkraut dishes were all superb. Why else would we have returned? Those rotten teenagers ate the entire dish of potato pancakes. The nice lady at the buffet said she would get me some and about two minutes later three hot, sizzling pancakes were sitting in front of me. Pure heaven. Why don’t my potato pancakes taste like these?
I gotta learn how to cook better polish, its soooooo good. There is a dish called Bogi or something like that which is a sauerkraut stew made with meat. Oh, my goodness. It is very good. Gotta get that recipe off the net.

After dinner, Paulie and I went up to watch the sunset again, and were joined again by some of the folks from the campground. It was a beautiful sunset once again. We watched a bit of TV and then it was dreamland. We were hoping the air would stay in the mattress where it belonged, however I again woke up about 3 a.m. and the air was half gone. How uncomfortable that is…sleeping on a half filled air mattress that is on top of the most unbearable sleep sofa mattress ever created. It was sticky and hot ‘cause I kept sinking into the plastic of the mattress. Gosh. Then I wonder why I hurt when I get up. The air mattress really had been a godsend for my fibro…I sleep well on it and it is not hard like my other mattresses at all. Actually I was thinking of replacing our mattress with the sleep number but then changed my mind when I saw the price tag!

Wednesday July 12


OK, I am now starting to get pissy. Rain again. Overcast skies. Déjà vu all over again as Yogi would say. We started out this trip with continuous rain and now it’s haunting us again. Sometimes I wonder if its just us, or there really is something to this luck thing. If we have been gone six weeks, probably three have been rain, overcast and just plain yucky. I give up.

Don’t know what our plans are for today. Paulie has volunteered to help the Elks Lodge here serve a veteran’s steak dinner. I don’t know the details as of yet. Maybe I will go to WalMart in the town north of here. The Muskegon super WalMart is not scheduled to open until July 19th. Just walking around WalMart is better than sitting here watching the idiot box.

BTW, after I was kicked out of Barnes and Noble at 9:45 last night, I tried to call the mad shopper Paulie. Obviously no signal in the Meijers Superstore. I wait and I wait and I WAIT. Finally at 10:15 I get a hold of him. He pulls up and is all innocent like. I ask him if he just does this stuff to piss me off. Again, Mr. Innocence tells me I told him B&N closes at ten…well, my dear that’s HALF of what I told you. I remind him I also told him that they shag everyone out 15 minutes before closing and I would be out in front at about 9:45 or 9:50. Conveniently, that part of our conversation has been forgotten. Ya think he does this on purpose just to honk me off? Or to make me even pissier, he half listens…and forgets most of the details. He’s trying to get me committed. I just know it. Can I prove this…yeah right…every crazy person claims to be sane. That’s the gig.

I did talk to Maureen briefly yesterday. Nothing new on that front. Also talked to Jan for a minute. She has to buy a new mower. Again. This is like three in two years. I’d give up. Find some neighborhood kid with a mower and pay him ten bucks and be done with it.

Well, since it’s gonna be another crappy day, I suppose I should pull out Zack’s sweater and start knitting. Problem is today is supposed to be a bit on the hot and humid side and that thing weighs a ton! Hmmm. Maybe I’ll work on my new purple top that I am making out of microspun. This sucker will take forever…size 5 needles for a tunic with long sleeves. I must be a glutton for punishment as Daddy would say. OK, I’ll stop my endless complaining here and get productive. Maybe I’ll just go back to bed!

Hugs

Dee

Wednesday continued…

Well, the sun did eventually show its face this afternoon, so the three of us went down to sit on the beach. We stayed about two hours as the clouds kept the hot part of the sun at bay. Lots of kids playing in the sand and water.

Paul went and bought a rotisserie chicken from Meijers for dinner. It was very good and he had purchased some side dishes; fried apples and candied yams. Pretty good slap it together dinner.

After dinner we went up to the beach to watch the sunset. We never get tired of watching a sunset. This evening, it was very different…the sun dropped out of a cloud just before it went down. Quite different than any we’ve seen thus far. We sat and talked with some folks from a fifth wheel rig across the way. They are from Midland, and are hopeful that they will get a permanent site next year. They have a huge basset hound that stinks really bad (to me anyways). He is huge, about 80 pounds at least, all really close to the ground. The appeal of that dog escapes me. Ugh. He kept nudging me to pet him…I did very reluctantly and paid the price…stinky doggie smellie hands until I got back to the rig.

We got back to the rig about 10:15…grandpa was sitting outside waiting for us. He had been waiting for about 45 minutes…he told us he just figured we were “having sex on the beach” that made us late. Oh yeah, me and Paulie have been wanting to do that for so long…riiiiiiight. We sat outside for a couple of hours before going to bed.

About three am, I woke up and both Paulie and I had rolled into the center of the air mattress…like two hotdogs in a bun. The mattress was leaking. Well, when we got up, we realized that Paulie hadn’t affixed the cap on the intake valve properly. Hopefully, that’s all it is and we won’t have to get a new air mattress.

Well, Paulie dropped me off and then went to Meijers. What is it about that place he won't let me in? Grr.

Well, they just made the announcement that B&N is closing in 20 minutes. This is worse than Springpatch...closing at 10 pm...what's up with that? No true coffee addicts here in Must-be gon? Ooops...Sue told me that name for Muskegon and now it has stuck in my brain. Oh well. Here's hoping tomorrow is a nicer day. One can always hope right?

I will sit here on the wifi until they TELL me to leave...besides...my ride isn't here yet.

enjoying my mocha...

hugs

dee

Tuesday

We woke up to a really overcast and icky day. Not a total bummer, but since my day at the beach was lost yesterday, I was planning on vegging on the beach today. Oh well. We may go take in a matinee at the movies. There are a bunch of movies I want to see and grandpa has mentioned that he would like to see one of the Meryl Streep movies that are out.

Yesterday we just bummed around. We had a late lunch so dinner was a mix of lunch leftovers and celery, cheese and crackers. We had a campfire tonight…the air was really cool, even when the sun was out. I actually had a sweatshirt jacket on and then had a blanket around my legs. It was nice to just sit and talk.

Not much going on around here. I am fighting the urge/need to sleep with this weather change. Ugh.

Pepe fell out of bed last night. Poor dog. He must think he’s living a nightmare. First he is thrown in the big lake and then he falls out of bed. He seems no worse for wear. Maybe he was asleep when he fell and didn’t tense up when he hit the floor.

Well, not much else to say. Will post later when I have something to talk about.

Hugs

Dee

Tuesday continued…

We decided to go to see The Prairie Home Companion with Meryl Streep. The cinema had 17 theaters. It was like an arcade in the entry and it even had a carousel. Yep. A really pretty one. The popcorn was just like at home…refills are free. The movie started out strange (but it is a Robert Altman film) but picked up. The characters which drive all Altman films were quirky and unique and totally entertaining.

By the time we got out by 2:30, it was raining. Of course, I was fighting fatigue and ear fullness most of the day (actually had to lay down for a while last night) so by the time we got back to the rig I was not only extremely exhausted, but my blood sugar was dropping rapidly. I had a hard time getting out of the car and an even more difficult time checking my sugar. I actually had to stick myself three times to get enough to do the test. Nothing irks me more than not getting enough to test on one stick! Ouch.

I slept until about 5…gee, Mom called and I missed it again! We had one of those Hormel premade meatloafs with mashed potatoes and gravy. It was surprisingly good! Add to that some salad, a viola! Cheapo dinner just like you’d get at the diner, LOL!

The all star game is on tonight. Gee. Another blockbuster TV viewing night. Too bad its still raining…going down to the beach would have been nice. I think I will take the car and go over to B & N. I would prefer to sit and surf the net than watch this mindless crap on TV.

Well, that’s all that’s happening in this part of the world. A bleak and rainy day but I suppose the gardener’s around here are happy. Here’s hoping for a sunny day tomorrow. That darn beach is still calling me and I’d like one more day to enjoy it. By Friday, the permanent site people invite all the relatives and it gets busy down there. But, it is a lot of fun watching the kids play in the sand and the waves. The big lake is fairly shallow for quite a ways out, but then it drops off fairly quickly. The sand bars at this point create the rip tides. They are similar to the undertows in the ocean. Since we have been here, about 6 people have been caught in the rip tides. I think three have drowned. The newspaper had a big pull out section just before the holiday, warning people about them and explaining where they occur. They gave some good information on how to get out of one when caught. Then they did several side stories on folks who had survived and then on some who didn’t. Very sad stories and all of the swimmers were just that…good swimmers who were familiar with the big lake’s rip tides.

I’ll pick up later at B & N.

Monday afternoon...

I was just dropped off at B&N so I could dump the blog. Had to have a cup of coffee to satisfy my need for quality coffee. I have been using FOLGERs for goodness sake in the rig. Ugh. Bitter. Uncouth. Disgusting. Grandpa loves it. *Sigh*.

We perused the mall this morning. Looking to go to the Airport restaurant for lunch...Paulie has that 25% off road construction discount stuck in his head. Then I need to see Lar about 3:30 for my aide recalibrations. No beach for me this afternoon. I want to stop at the grocery and get some hotdogs and buns. Eating late lunches makes for no hunger at dinner but starvation around nine p.m. or so.

I plunked down 50 cents to weigh myself. After 5 plus weeks of eating junk and drinking high calorie booze, I have LOST 5 lbs. Imagine how much I would have lost IF I had been a good girl? I won't go there. Again, my freaking hip is killing me. I can't get this surgery quick enough. I woke up twice in agony last night...seems my hip joint "slips" outta the socket. Jeez, nothing like dislocation pain to interrupt my dreams.

Well, I guess I better shut this down. I really miss not being able to log on whenever I want to. I guess I am never satisfied!

We are losing our camping spot Saturday night. So far, no cancellations at the Lodge. Darn. Hate to break camp and boondock for just one night then reset up for two days. Looks like we will pull out of here on Monday. I have a doc appointment early on Tuesday. One more week. Then I guess we start planning our winter road trip. We have Arizona and Texas on the mind plus some boondocking in Quartzite. Grandpa was talking to a guy at the campground who does winters near where he and grandma did around Mercedes, Texas and supposedly there is a new construction of pads for mfg homes with pads for RVs. Sounds just like what we are looking for.

will write more later

hugs
dee

Sunday

This is my second attempt to write today. I had about six paragraphs written when the stupid computer just up and died from the battery running out of juice. It never gave me any kind of warning so I could just plug in the power cord…oh, no…just cut me off. Paul is making fried shrimp on the grill. Don’t ask…I have learned NOT to ask.

Paulie and I got up today about ninish…our usual time…in order to go do laundry. Imagine four loads. What the heck did we do this week where we had four loads of laundry? We filled up the washers, added the soap and other stuff then went off in search of breakfast. We went to a neat place called Toast and Jams. Really cool place, retro décor with Route 66 themes. I had eggs and bacon, Paulie the omelet (that thing with the veggies). We finished up and then headed back to the laundry to dry the stuff. About 45 minutes later we are back at the rig, putting stuff away. Grandpa who was not feeling well when he got up, was now making keiska in the galley. He had it in a frying pan with butter and was stirring it wildly with a spatula. That stuff was flying all over the galley. There was keiska all over the stove I had just cleaned yesterday; on the floor, on the front of the oven. It was burning but I didn’t say anything….Paulie stepped in to save the day, and the rig, from a keiska fire.

After reading the paper, the clouds started rolling in. I was hoping to hit the beach again today. I had such a great time yesterday. Oh well, we have all week to hit the beach and it will pretty much be deserted after the weekend. By noon, I couldn’t keep my head up, so off to the bedroom I haul my butt. I woke up about 3:30 and no one was here…those two old farts snuck off to the grocery store. They don’t let me go, ever…the putz’s. I wanted to look for a better beach chair. Oh well, I will just have to go after dinner. I went back to bed and didn’t get up until 5:30. What’s up with this? How can I sleep nine hours at night and then 5 hours in the afternoon? My poor brain must be like mush.

Well, I think I will go down to the beach with a bottle of pre-made bloody mary’s and enjoy the sunset; after I fell asleep, Paul told me the sun came out again and the rain clouds disappeared. I guess I just needed the sleep.

I told Paulie about my posting of Pepe’s letter last night. He said that I am crazy and that Pepe was just pulling my chain. He also said he is certain that Pepe does NOT call me Beautiful Blond woman, and Paul the big human with the beard. I told him he needed to have a serious talk with Pepe and he would be enlightened. I also didn’t want to hurt his feelings and tell him that Pepe calls him The Big Asshole with the Beard, but I just didn’t have the heart.

Oh well…it’s our last 8 days or so of vacation, this great trip we have been on. We have had such a great time. I love being on the road. It’s hard to believe we have been gone since May 30! Paulie is harping bankruptcy but I am just as happy as a clam; the only thing I miss is Zack, and he is never more than a phone call away, just like he is at school. Don’t miss my house, don’t miss my stuff, and don’t miss much. I enjoy this life. I hope this next year works out and we can get the heck outta Rochester and someplace warm and NOT humid or rainy.

Well, Paulie is calling me to dinner…more later.

Hugs
Dee

Sunday evening continued…

Paulie made shrimp…French fried shrimp on the bbq. Don’t ask.

After dinner we watched America’s Funniest Home Videos, one of my all time favorite shows. I remember Zack and I laughing so hard we couldn’t breathe when we used to watch this while Paulie was at work. We had such a great time laughing at the sheer stupidity of people.

At about nine, Paulie and I decided to go up to the deck and watch the sunset. The clouds had rolled in so we were not sure what we would be able to see. It was really incredible. I hate to use that word so much, but I just cannot get over how beautiful each sunset is…always different in some aspect. That’s why it is so much fun to go see the sunset everyday.

After watching the storm clouds move in and the increasing whitecaps on the big lake, we decided to go to Whippi Dip. It’s like the DQ but a local place known for its BBQ pork sandwiches. I have wanted to go for the last five years and finally talked Paulie into taking me. Of course, I got the canned speech about how I can’t eat ice cream, custard, soft serve, etc., etc. I told him I would not get sick (yeah, right). So we stopped by the rig, picked up grandpa and headed out to the Whippi Dip. I got a snickers flurry and grandpa got a custard cone. Paulie didn’t get anything, but he shared my flurry. This was the first concrete/flurry/blizzard that I have ever had that had too much snickers candy in it! Can’t believe I said that but Paulie said the same thing. I didn’t actually barf until we were home. But then grandpa was watching the Cardinals/Astros game and I am sure it was being forced to watch the Cardinals that made me barf, not the ice cream.

We finally hit the sack and I was so sick with dumping on the sugar I fell into a sugar coma. So much for Whippi Dip. At least I tried.

Later

Dee

Monday

We really slept late this am. I got up and after making coffee and the sofa bed (this is becoming a REAL pain every day) I took a shower. I want to go to the mall and see what bargains I can find. Not that I need anything you understand, I haven’t bought anything, I swear, on this trip. I don’t need anything but it’s always nice to look. Plus I want to dump the blog and then get over to Larry’s to have my hearing aide adjusted. I am getting feed back when I am in of all places, the bathroom in the rig! I guess because the walls are so close together. Whatever.

I hope to also get down to the beach again today…it should be empty, the campground is pretty quiet.

Later

Dee

This is a letter fat Pepe asked me to post to you all...dee

Dear Everyone...

Well, last night was the last straw with that old man who owns me. Do you want to know how he treats me, a poor defenseless little Taco dog? He bribes me to go walking with him. He promises me some left over steak. Then, after walking what seemed to be miles and miles we come to this huge freakin' staircase. The old man picks me up and carries me down all these stairs. I hear this terrible roaring sound in my ears. Gosh, what could it be? OH! OH! OH! IT'S WATER...LOTS AND LOTS OF ROARING WATER! In all my 8 years I have never seen such a huge thing of water! Its making a roaring sound. OH GOD! HE'S WALKING UP TO THE EDGE AND ...OH NO! THE SOB THROWS ME IN! Water fills my little mouth, my little ears and oh my god I can't feel my feet! I keep pumping my legs but there's nothing my feet can make contact with. Then, all of a sudden, the old man yanks my leash and under the water again I go! He's dragging me!!! OH, I am gonna drown, I just know it. After an eternity, he stops dragging me. Finally, I can feel mushy sand under my toes and I open my eyes. I can see the old man laughing. Laugh you SOB. Go ahead and laugh.

I finally get out of the water and this darn sand is so soft I am sinking! I gotta get away, I gotta get away! I see the stairs. I strain at the leash and try to get thru this gosh-awful sand that is in my eyes and in my nose. I start to sneeze. He laughs again. I get to the stairs. Oh, if only I could pull hard enough on my leash to make the old man fall on his ass. I finally get up the first few stairs. I can hear the old man laughing. Grrrr. I keep going even though I feel my heart beating so hard it's gonna jump outta my chest. Finally, at the top of the landing I see the other two humans...the big man with the funny beard and the beautiful blond woman that I love to kiss and sit on her lap. I am saved. The beautiful blond woman will save me, YES! She picks me up and wraps me in a nice cozy blanket and holds me in her lap. I am so scared and cold I cannot stop shaking. The old man is telling them about throwing me in the water. The big man with the funny beard laughs too. Ass. My heroine hugs me closely and says she won't let the old man do that again. Oh, what a terrible night this has been.

I am looking for a new human to take care of me. The old man is always teasing me and holding me like a baby. I just HATE that. Maybe the beautiful blond woman will let me live on her side of the house. Well, I can always HOPE. I know the beautiful blond woman will be having surgery soon....maybe the old man will let me stay with her and sit on her lap all day to keep her company..Now, if only I can get rid of that damm cat, my life would be complete. She just irks the crap outta me...jumping up and down like some kind of..of...of feline! She horns in everytime my beautiful blond sits down to pet me. I hate her, I really do. Plus, it just isn't right that she can lift her legs way over her head to lick herself. I tell you, its just not right! Stuck up thing. And she never shuts up...when I bark I get yelled at...she caterwauls and nobody says a stinking word to HER...oh no, not the freakin' princess of the manor. That goof with the beard just dotes on her..its sickening. *Sigh*. Its hard being a fat little dog who can't do much of anything. Well, maybe I can write again soon. I have lots of stuff to tell you all...

Signed
Pepe
the mistreated poor little doggie

Saturday Nite at B & N

I am sitting here sucking down a venti mocha frappacino. Bad Dennise, Bad.

I just uploaded some pictures and updated the blog.

hugs

Dennise who is bemoaning the fact we only have 8 more days here....

Thursday continued…

After our visit to the cyber-café, we loaded up the car (we didn’t buy anything, just loaded our butts in there!) and headed towards Grand Haven State Park. There is a campground right on the beach. I think you must have to make reservations years in advance. It only has electric, but imagine going to sleep with the sound of the waves lulling you into oblivion. I am going to try to get reservations for next year there.

We parked at the day use beach and pulled out our camp chairs. We sat on the sandy beach soaking up the sun and people watching for quite a while. The sun was warm but the breeze off the lake made it just perfect. My tummy started to growl so we decided to go get some lunch. We stopped at Butch’s Beach Burritos a Grand Haven icon. Really good burritos and they hit the spot. I was starving and I almost ate the whole super burrito! After filling out tanks, we drove to Spring Lake to visit another RV park that Paulie and grandpa had found on an earlier excursion. It is right on the canal…it leads from an inland lake to the big lake. The only problem is they don’t allow pets. Hmmm. That can be arranged. We drove a little into the town trying to find the pie shop Gay Leezer had told us about. We didn’t find it, but since we needed coffee, we stopped at a local mart called the Orchard market. Such a nice little store! We didn’t grab a cart and by the time we had picked up not only the coffee, but some cheese and crackers, blueberries, cherries, paper plates and of course some lovely donuts for breakfast! Went in for coffee…spent $32. Oh well, we probably won’t have dinner since we had such a late lunch so this stuff would be “dinner”.

Back at the rig, grandpa hit the couch, I hit the bed and Paulie watched some TV. After a short nap, we had some cheese and crackers and of course, our cocktail of the month, a bloody mary. About 8, grandpa decided to take Pepi the fat taco dog to the beach. We gave them a head start, then followed in the car. By the time we had gotten there, grandpa had already thrown the terrified fatty into the lake. Poor dog. He only got back to shore when he was caught in the next big wave. His legs are so short and his body so fat, he can’t swim! We sat and watched the sun go down. Each sunset seems to be different, different cloud formations, and colors of the sky. I took some more photos so go to the yahoo photos page and look under the album “another sunset over the big lake”.

You can access it here: http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/rocketmom1985/my_photos

After the sun set, it started to get cool. Back at the rig, we started a campfire and sat around it for a good long while. It was so beautiful…stars shinning and a half moon up in the sky. I couldn’t keep my eyes open much longer so we headed inside. It was a very nice day…

Later

Dee

Friday

We were up around 9…seems to be habit now. We are going on a sailboat on the big lake this afternoon with Sue. She had won this trip at a silent auction earlier this spring. I am hoping I won’t get sick…I am planning on taking my Meniere’s meds before and during the trip. This should be a great afternoon. I promise to take lots of pix if I can hold my head up.

later.
Dee

Friday continued…

We had a wonderful day on the sailboat. It was a 36 ft sloop, which is a type of sailboat I guess. We set out about 2:15 from the Muskegon Lake Harbor, and headed out to the big lake. Remember I told you that the big lake is Lake Michigan…but it’s not the Lake Michigan I remember as a kid in Chicago…this is entirely different on the western shore. The wind was just perfect, the sun was warm and I guess I remember Joel, our captain telling us the wind was at ten knots? I should pay more attention and it’s not like I can’t hear these tidbits…with my new hearing contraption, I can hear a lot! I felt queasy a couple of times however I kept my eyes on the horizon and it would pass. I took a bunch of valium before we got on and that really helped. We sailed about four miles out into the big lake. It was so quiet on the water in a sailboat; in a motorboat all you can hear is the engine. In this sloop, all we heard was the gentle lapping of the water on sides of the boat. I have never been on a sailboat and I just loved it. The cabin below was really beautiful. All that wonderful polished wood. The boat can actually sleep 8. The bedroom is in the front. There is a u shaped dining booth, and a small galley in the center of the boat. I am sorry I didn’t get pictures of it but I kinda felt funny asking to take photos of someone’s boat especially the private living area. Joel and Kay were wonderful and would have gladly let me, but one thing (in addition to being hesitant to ask) was that the steps to the living quarters were actually a ladder. I don’t do well with ladders. I was lucky that I was able to get my butt ON the boat much less down a ladder to see the interior. We had just the perfect day. I would do that again in a heart beat. I never realized how neat a big sailboat with living quarters can be. We finally headed to shore about 5 and we would be treated to a bratwurst supper. Once docked, I made a mad dash to the bathroom. I didn’t have any wobbly legs so I really was booking along that pier. Well, as fast I could book that is. Sue had called the girls and Larry to meet us to dine. Joel cooked the brats on a gas grill that attached to the back rail. It was really neat. Kay had made a delish coleslaw made with dill and truly wonderful potato salad. Of course, my eyes being bigger than my tummy thought I could eat a whole brat on a bun, and both salads. Then Kay brought out some frozen frango chocolate cups and lemon cups. I passed. I couldn’t eat another bite. Then Kay served a delicious coffee that was Gevalia cinnamon which hit the spot. We all raved and raved about our day and were sorry to see it end.

Saturday

I was so tired last night I just shut down the computer and didn’t even finish my thoughts.

We got up at the usual time, around nine and the first thing I did after making coffee and the sofa bed was pop that strawberry rhubarb pie I started yesterday into the oven. I had gotten the stuff at the farmers market the other day, and the strawberries were going bad. They are the last batch of the season for the home grown variety. I made the pie up and then wrapped it well and put it in the freezer yesterday morning as we didn’t have time for it to cook before we left for the sailboat. I only had one refrigerator pie crust left so I had to make the same crunch topping. I hope it will help the rhubarb as far as sweetness goes. We shall see.

I am not sure what the day holds for us. Our laundry basket is overflowing once again so I am sure we will need to make a run to the wash-a-teria.
I love that name, wash-a-teria. I don’t even know if it’s a real word or name or not, it just makes me giggle. I really need a pedicure and manicure but I don’t think I will be able to sneak that in without you-know-who-has-the-$ finding out. We have been invited to the annual Margarita Party next Saturday here at the campground. We need to purchase some supplies for this and also some margarita glasses, preferably plastic. They had a bunch of them at Younkers where we got our newest palm tree. They should be like 80% off by now!

The rig next to ours is getting a new roof today. Maybe Paulie can have one of those worker guys climb up atop our motorhome and look at the antenna area where the water came through during that nor’easter we survived out east.

Well, I am gonna go check on the pie. This little oven sure does heat up the rig…plus it sucks when it comes to baking anything. Next time I get the convection combo and where the oven is, get more storage space.

Later

Dee

Saturday Afternoon…

After the pie was done, I cleaned the galley and Paulie vacuumed the floors. We changed into our beach attire and packed a cooler with water bottles and ice. We then headed down to the beach. It was wonderful. I have a hard time walking in the sugar-type sand with my knees and of course my wonderful hip, but I made it down all 60 steps and down close to the water. The wind was cool off the water and was forming small whitecaps that lapped the sand. There were quite a few sun bathers, and swimmers already there when we arrived. There were several folks in kayaks and wind surfers about also. After about an hour, Paulie and grandpa decided to take a walk. I stayed firmly planted in my chair, lathered with sunscreen and hiding under a sunhat. After a while, perhaps an hour, I knew that my sickenly white skin had had enough sun, so I put on my shirt and covered my legs with a beach towel. As I was leaning over to cover up my tootsies (nothing is more miserable than sun burnt feet!) I suddenly toppled right over face first into the sand. My camp chair wasn’t firmly placed in the sand when I leaned forward. A sand sandwich is really gross. Five hours later I am still gritting the stuff outta my teeth. There was a kid making a sand castle right in front of me at the water’s edge and the little shit witnessed the whole thing…laughing so hard and pointing his wicked little pudgy finger at me in glee. Yep, witnessed by a pre-pubescent pudge muffin who will now tell all his other grubby friends about the goofy lady who fell face first into the sand at the beach. Aaarrrrgggghhhh…infamy.

We got back to the rig about four and we had some cheese and crackers along with a nice refreshing cocktail. Paul started to make dinner while grandpa and I both fell asleep where we sat. That “sea” air takes it outta ya! We had steak, salad and corn on the cob which was delish. We shall have my strawberry rhubarb pie (sans calories of course…) later. I am thinking of asking Paulie to take me up to Barnes and Noble so I can get the blog downloaded. We didn’t do laundry today, so I guess we can do that in the morning. I am putting the sailboating pix and the beach pix up at yahoo.

Here’s the addy:
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/rocketmom1985/my_photos

Not too many good ones…I seem to be enjoying what is going on and forgetting to snap anything. And I refuse to give the camera to Paulie…he has such a talent for making me look really awful.

Later

Dee

Thursday....Grand Haven

One of my fav towns. I just love the quaint shops and bistros. I am sitting inside the Coffee Grounds sucking down a frozen mocha. OK, forget I said that, they are banned from my consumption list. This morning we went to the Muskegon farmer's market. What a great selection of stuff...all fresh and locally grown. I bought some of the last strawberries of the season and some rhubarb. You know what I'll be doing this afternoon when we get home. Grandpa and Paulie are sitting outside in the sunshine but I couldn't see the computer screen so I am inside the coffee shop. Gosh I love the smell of fresh coffee. I think we will just rest here for a while and then head back. I am itching to sit on the beach and get some sun, with sunscreen and a hat on of course. I am feeling better than yesterday, but I still have the remains of that freaking migrane. Enough malady talk.

The pooper guy, the honey wagon came this morning just in time. Paulie asked him if he had emptied our black water tank last week and he said no. I was right...no way can grandpa and I fill up the 40 gallon black water tank in less than a week...all interesting stuff for my readers I always say. Well, I guess I don't have a whole lot to say today. I will try to get some pictures...crap, forgot the camera. It figures. I am a bust when it comes to photos.

later
dee

Tuesday, Independence Day

After I got home from downloading at B & N, Paul and I sat outside for awhile. Grandpa was having a stomach problem so he was resting. The sun is warm, but the breeze is cool off the lake. The campground is still buzzing after the pancake breakfast. There were a few craft venders and some games for the kids. There are some competitive games being held over at the ball diamond. We just are planning to enjoy the view and the passing activity. Lots of cute kids. We finally get dressed and go over to the Williams’ to meet up for the ride to Larry’s folks house.

We had a great time at the BBQ. We meet Larry’s folks again and his brothers, one whom could be Larry’s twin. The food was great, the company warm and wonderful and we all had a great time. We did lots of laughing and grandpa, Paulie and Sue did some reminiscing when Tommy Ash, Sue’s brother called. Of course, my camera was in my bag the whole time, never once did I think of it until we were walking out the door. Another great photo op gone. One of these days I will hang it around my neck so I get some pictures of people.

We left about 9:15 and headed back to the rig. We passed tons of folks lining up to view the upcoming fireworks. I am not a fireworks fan (well, I am but my eyes/head/Meniere’s problems get quite intense watching them now, so I just avoid them altogether.). The campground was thinning out by the time we got back. It had turned quite cool and we just watched a bit of TV and then got ready for bed. We did watch Yankee Doodle Dandy, a 4th of July tradition for me anyways.

Wednesday

We slept late, 9 a.m. this morning. It was really cold last night and I woke up with my nose cold several times. I had my down comforter doubled over the two quilts I share with Paulie. Grandpa wants some keishka (how the heck do you spell that?) for breakfast. Ewww.

I need to call Maureen and Kathy this morning. I never heard back from Mo after I called yesterday, and I tried to call Kathy back on her cell but didn’t get an answer. Probably couldn’t hear the phone over the booming fireworks.
Well, we don’t really have any plans for today, and it looks to be a nice sunny day, with a high of about 77. Perfect for me anyways.

Later

Dee

Later…
About ten minutes after I finished writing the first part of the blog, I got a blinding headache. I talked to Maureen and she is on her second set of steroids for the poison ivy and is beginning to feel better. She said that the drugs are making her very cranky. I told her that Daddy used to get really cranky when he was recovering from all his bouts of pneumonia, and he too would be nasty when he was on steroids.

Kathy returned my call and apologized for not calling back, but she had left her phone at home in the charger and it was late when they got back. We talked for a bit about the kids and their schedules (very, very busy!). She is still searching for a better part-time position.

Then after I talked to Kath, I called Jan on a hunch she just might be home after working a gazillion hours over the holiday weekend. I lucked out and we talked about 20 minutes.

By now, my headache was progressing into migraine level so I lay down in the bedroom. Paulie and grandpa decided to go walk on the beach. I wanted to go in the worst way but there was just no way with a terrible headache and this damm hip. Then, in the middle of this wretched headache, I start to feel sorry for myself. I hate when this happens. I start to have my very own pity party about how lousy I am feeling, what I can’t do (like today, I hurt all over from the fibro and can’t walk on the beach) and all kinds of stupid things. Then I start to cry and feel like a pathetic invalid. I have these episodes of mental breakdown every so often. I finally overcome my vanity and get a hearing aide and now I am wallowing in self pity for all the other stuff. *Sigh*. I have to think that every now and then I have to get it out of my system or I will just explode. I slept until about three, got up and used the bathroom. I went back to bed and slept until 8:15. Another day lost. I decided to go with Paul to see the sunset no matter how bad I felt. I needed to get out in the fresh air and stop the pity party. Watching the sunset made me all weepy again. Poor Paulie. What he has to put up with sometimes. It was a beautiful sunset but the wind off the lake was quite cool.

We got back to the rig and watched a bit of TV. The crap on TV this summer is pathetic. We are planning on going to the farmer’s market in Muskegon tomorrow and then take a ride to Grand Haven. I really like GH…lots of little shops and my favorite bakery, The Great Bread Harvest or something like this.

I will post more tomorrow.

Hugs

Dee