Here are a couple of things that made me laugh...
YMMV

Grandpa and I voted Paulie out of the kitchen.  He lost interest in doing decent dinners so goodby lousy chef!

gee for Jr. things never change...he said he took this picture so I could see the name of a really good beer....suuuurrrreeee Zack....

This may offend some of my readers....hmmm, and do I care?????

this is for one of my favorite sisters.....

whomever snapped this photo during last years debate should get a "gee whiz, when did this happen?" award.  I still get the giggles when I see this photo...and I really really admire Sen. McCain.  This just tickles my funny bone...no offense intended to the Honorable Senator!

Here is!
Here is!


When our son Zack was just learning to talk and put together sentences, he would respond to our asking where he was with “Here is! Here is!"

So my title today answers the question so many of you have asked. I’m here, just been off the web “grid” for awhile. Well, it’s been 10 months which is really scary that so much time has passed without posting my glib and self-centered musings.

We left the RGV mid-June, heading for St Louis, Springfield, Illinois and then Muskegon, Michigan to spend the summer months in a cooler environment. The Texas RGV is a killer in the late spring and summer with the heat and everlasting UV rays from the sun. We were escaping temps in the 95 to 105 degree range that we had borne since mid April. We spent two wonderful months in Michigan, enjoying not only Lake Michigan but the local eateries and the abundant farmers markets. From Michigan we returned to Illinois to see friends in Chicago and our remaining family there. We had a wonderful visit, having not been up north in several years! We traveled back to Central Illinois to see Mom and Cecil, and our FMCA local chapter, Cenois Prairielanders for a great rally in the Champaign area. We were also able to visit with a cousin in Danville before we were off to Celina Ohio for the Escapees Class Reunion and the Gypsy Journal Rally immediately following. Another great time, visiting friends and meeting new ones. We left a day early as we needed to hustle down to Kerrville Texas for the RV Dreams Rally, the last leg of our summer travels. We were able to visit one of Paul’s FedEx co-workers who has also retired and moved to the Austin area. Jackie was so very sweet to make us a hearty breakfast of blueberry pancakes and sausages for our trip into Kerrville. The RV Dreams Rally was great…good people, good food and entertainment and the best seminars on the full-timer lifestyle. Paul went into San Antonio to have his hip rechecked at the VA as he is still experiencing some problems since his surgery at the beginning of the year. Nothing found, just to keep up walking and doing some exercise. After the rally, we stayed an extra day at the RV resort to gather our thoughts and ready ourselves for what we needed to face getting back to Weslaco and Paul’s dad.

Before anyone becomes alarmed, we just needed to visit with Grandpa and tell him our concerns about him remaining in this big home in Weslaco when he is starting to feel his age. More on that in tomorrow’s blog. Good news all around. Lots to do and lots to think about in the next few weeks.

Hugs,

dennise

My shinning masterpiece...

...for this week anyways. Here is the cake I made for a wonderful lady who is leaving the park to live nearer to her daughter in NC. She loved the cake.

This cake was a lot of fun to make...three torted and filled layers. Bottom layer was chocolate cake with twinkee filling (I love that stuff so I make it alot!) The middle layer is white almond sour cream buttermilk with chocolate chip whipped ganache(Oh, it is heaven...like the middle part of a truffle...!) and the top layer I carved into the beehive shape. The cake was also the white almond sour cream buttermilk but with strawberry filling. All of the cakes had buttercream base icing and then were covered in fondant. This is my first stacked or tiered cake and only the second time I've worked with fondant. I made my own fondant which was also a lot of fun to do. It is very sweet, kinda like eating candy corn. Many folks don't like it because it is so sweet, but it is a decorator's dream to play with on a cake. All the bees and flowers were also made of fondant. All handmade and modeled by moi. I had pictures to reference. The bees are so cute. In the next picture, I did change the color of the bow on the "big bee" and replaced one of my ribbon roses that in the pictures anyway, looked like a specific part of the male anatomy...and I don't DO those kinda cakes!

Here Lola posing with her cake.

As you can imagine, the cake was a huge hit with the partygoers. I was very happy and Paul said it was a "work of art...nobody will eat it...". Well, they did smarty pants. They all liked it too!

I will have to make a tiered "wedding cake" for my class final. I think I am going to invite everybody over for cake and coffee the day after so I can get rid of the cake. To say we are all "caked out" is truly an understatement.

Next week is the park's luau party and Dennise got suckered into decorating the table...guess what folks....CAKE! I am going to do a tiki guy head and a bunch of palm tree cookies. Thank goodness I bought that palm tree cookie cutter when I saw it a couple of weeks ago! I will do a hot color table cloth, buy a boogie board and make some fake palm trees out of rice crispie treats and use fondant to decorate them. An all edible centerpiece! That should get me a few points in the judging! I'll post the pictures after the 22nd...

Not much else going on. Zack is getting depressed not finding a job. Poor kid. Worst economy in freaking history and he is now out on his own. He has put in many many applications and sent out lots of resumes. He is still looking at going to the UK to teach in the spring. We'll see.

later...

dee

Well, it's been a hectic couple of days. After the New Year and taking down and packing all the holiday stuff, I tore into the laundry room. There is a small closet that is jammed with stuff from the previous owners. Let's see...two, yes two(!) waffle irons, a smoothie maker thing that has never been used, a tortilla holder made from stryofoam, a box of wipes for only God knows what kinda dispenser and a miriad of other useless crap. Plus the tops of the washer and dryer were lost among the stuff the two other residents of this house can't put away...well, now its CLEAN. Next stop...kitchen cabinets. We need another storage cabinet in here for the liquer...it's all over the darn place...when you open a cabinet here, there's bottles and more bottles. People will think we are achololics for goodness sakes.

We had some more parties to attend this weekend...is it just me or is finger food the bane of a human's existance? I can eat meatballs, cowboy salsa and other crap and feel fully satisfied and then turn up my nose at a good salad. No wonder there is weight gain during the holidays...I eat crap! On Monday, I was going to my first meeting of Brushwackers a local decorative painting group...the meet once a week on Mondays and work on projects, have seminars and graze..you know...EAT. Great...a grazing club. I bought a bunch of stuff to add to my clutter stash as the club's annual auction and only fundraiser is held at the first meeting of the year...yeah! Food and stuff to buy. What can be more fun than sitting around eating all day, buying craft stuff? I made two cakes for the meeting and they went over very well. Here is a picture of my first fondant cake. It was supposed to be a winter white cake. No color. But is really looked blah so I painted it with gel colors mixed with vodka. No, didn't drink the vodka! Used it to thin the colors. I was not happy, but everyone oohed and aahed anyways.

The second cake was a piping practice cake...I did some stringwork, called cornelli lace on the top then sprinkled it with glitter. The red roses are made from red candy melts...called candy clay roses...ugly but effective I guess. Here is a picture.

I was happy with this one...except for the leaves...didn't like the color but it was too late to change. This was a strawberry filled yellow cake with buttercream. The fondant cake was a double chocolate with twinkee filling...hey I LIKE twinkee filling! Under the fondant was buttercream. Both cakes weighed a ton! I had originally intended to do a tiered cake but they were too heavy...I torted both so they were four layers and all that filling made them so heavy. I don't know how the pro's can do that!

A couple more pictures....

On Tuesday, after an appointment with the VA in Mcallen, we headed to San Antonio for the Prince's pre-op stuff at the VA hospital. What a long boring drive that is! We got in around 7, bot checked in and went to bed. Paulie went to the hospital at 8 and got three of his four appointments like xrays done. Doc is only at the clinic in the afternoon so we had to wait until 2 to get in. This turned into a nightmare of more xrays and stuff and we didn't leave until after 5. Then the long boring trip made worse in the dark...we finally got home at 10. Paulie's surgery is scheduled for January 29th. We have a reservation at the Travelers World for the RV. This way I can bring Mack and relax in my house on wheels instead of a hotel room for four to five days. Thank goodness I talked him in to letting me take the rig. He doesn't think I can pull the electric cord and dump the tanks...geez, I am a college graduate...how tough can it be for goodness sakes?

Well, I guess I should ring off now. Hugs to all.

dennise

Good grief...

another couple of days have slipped past me. I been buzy, yanno. Making cakes. Making cookies. Making chocolate covered cherries. Sleeping. Being dizzy. Same old stuff I guess.

Paulie went to his group meeting at the VA Wednesday and I made a cake for him to take. I just don't know what happens some times. Things start off so well, and whhooosh! Things are outta control. In the middle of doing the cake, Grandpa lost Patty(she had surgery that morning, to get "fixed" at the shelter where he got her.) Paul is off playing Mexican train or some other old person time killer...anyways, grandpa comes into the kitchen and asks me where his dog is. 'Scuse me? I'm making a freakin' cake here, not babysitting a recovering puppy. He goes around looking for her. So, I put aside what I am doing and help him go find the missing Patty. I go into his room and the dog is in her bed. And on top of grandpa's bed is a nice foamy pond of doggie barf. Ugh. Grandpa says, "Your dog threw up on my bed!" Ummmm, no Mack cannot JUMP up on anybody's bed, he is too small...to which he responds..."Then it was YOUR cat!" Noooo, Snickers kitty barf is chunky, what goes in comes out looking the same way...not my cat. Well, he says getting louder by the minute, "It wasn't MY dog, she is in her bed." Just a minute ago, she was not, or why was he looking for her. I suddenly realize this is deteriorating into the absurd and say, ok fine, lets take off the bedding. I strip the bed(it was soaked) and take it into the laundry. Gross. I start dry heaving myself even tho I am at this point steaming. I stuff the blankets and stuff into the machine and then go and scour my hands. I go back to the cake and in comes grandpa into the kitchen, still mumbling about the barf my cat did. I don't say anything although I am bleeding from the tongue biting so hard! I drop the pastry bad with green icing in it. Splat...the darn thing which is plastic, splits and green goop is now oozing all over the kitchen floor. Clean up goop. Wipe sweating brow. Ignore old man. Grab red pastry bag, and begin piping on cake. Red goop runs out the top of the bag. Gee, ya think I am squeezing a bit too hard. Red goop all over my hands. Grrrr. Clean up red goop. Swear in my head. Cuss under my breath. Paulie walks in door. I pounce....attack. So I start to tell him what's going on and in comes grandpa wanting his sheets...which are still in the wash cycle! I give Paul the evil eye and he takes grandpa into the family room. My hands are shaking so badly for whatever reason and now the cake looks like some 5 year old did it. Here is a picture...

and another...

Yanno, I am supposed to get better...what this cake is I am at a loss to say...green poinsettias...what was I thinking? Oh, I know...get the cake done, lol!

Well, that's all my complaining for today. Zack arrived yesterday. He and the Prince are off to shuffle board. What a nice kid...plays games with the old guys.

til later...

dee

Duh-licious....

Here is a picture of my very first cake that somebody actually PAID me for...well, I only charged her for cost, not for my time. Time would have been outrageously expensive as I am a slowpokey cake decorator. I made up the flowers, so if you can't identify them other than the roses, its not just you...call them Ziaja blooms, available for a limited time only...until the decorator gets a heck of a lot better at this!

This is an 8" double layer Ultimate Chocolate cake(I use the Barefoot contessa's chocolate cake recipe here.

I just love the chocolatey flavor of the cocoa in this cake...and it takes LOTS of cocoa to make this puppy. I now buy my cocoa at Sam's....a small canister at the dollar store was $2.65....I got a jumbo at Sam's for $6 something and it four times the size....also been buying my confectionary sugar there...7 lbs for $4 something...#2 at Wally world is over $2.50. Gotta save the Polish Prince some money somewhere LOL!

Well, that's about all I have been doing...having a fibro kinda day after baking and decorating yesterday. Will never, ever do that big a cake with basket weave sides...my hands are ready to fall off!

Here is the mini cake and cuppies I got with the extra batter...

And here is the other cake...for our dinner tonight! This is a two layer 6" cake...

Started guitar lessons last Thursday and haven't practiced a lick! Think anyone will be able to tell...LOL! I am also going to go the Brushwackers meeting on the 15th to attend a daisy coaster class. Will post when I get them finished. Not sure if I will continue with the painting...going from doing nothing to a whole lot may be more than the old body can take!

hugs

dennise

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope that this day finds you all in good health. I had a bit of an off day yesterday, as did grandpa. He has a cold. You would think he was preparing to meet his maker the way he is acting. I swear, if it wasn't a holiday, I would let him have it with both barrels. Its a freakin' cold, snap out of it! Sure you feel crappy, but hey, this is a bit overmuch yes? Grrrrr.

I finished by Wilton course 2 the other day, and I did a fairly ok job on my cake...here are some pictures.

For all of you critics out there , the little creature is supposed to be a bear holding a pumpkin...the technique is called color flow using some of this chemical stuff tasting goop to creat a picture out of icing...not something I think I will do in the future. Stupid.

The cake is the recipe I mentioned the other day, my fav choc cake in the world. I tried to do fall colors rather than what the Wilton course book showed...a white cake with spring flowers...it it was spring, well then I would have copied it. I also think the chocolate buttercream looks good in the basket weave, which is on the sides of the cake. I hated making the royal icing flowers, would have preferred buttercream, but hey, that's the course. I also make up a cupcake collar for the cuppies from the other day, and packaged one to see if it would work in the treat bags I have. I was planning on doing the craft show, but I have declined. I think I will wait until the spring when I can do spring flowers and cookies. I just don't have the confidence to make that much stuff in so short of a time. The cuppies are already stale and they were baked Tuesday morning...they don't last long without refrigeration and I don't have any fridge space.

Here are some pictures of my "designs".

The cupcake bouquet...5 cuppies in a little tin flower pot...

Here is a cuppie with a doily collar...cute no?

Here is a wrapped cuppie...artistic background is the kitchen table with a candle draped in a Thanksgiving napkin...

Here are the two together...

Well, it's 11 am and we have to be at the hall to eat at noon....waaaayyyy to early for me...why not like 2 or three? That's dinner time...what are we gonna do at 6? McDonalds is closed...soup and grilled cheese I guess. That is the bad thing about potlucks...all you get for leftovers, if there ARE any is what you brought...I am bringing risotto with butternut squash and the above cakes and cuppies, (stale or not, LOL!).

Later

dennise

Cuppies!

I had some extra batter from the cake I was making for my last Wilton class. So I made some cuppies...
aka cupcakes. I don't like the way Wilton makes their flowers...they look ok, but I can't tell an apple blossom from a violet, and I don't think anyone who hasn't taken the course does either, LOL! So I did some freehand flowers...I love the style of the cuppies sold at Cupcake Cafe in NY...the owner was on Martha a few years ago and I was amazed at how simple these looked...now that I have been learning cake decorating, I have found out what Martha knew all along...this looks easy but it's really stinkin' hard! My decorated sugar cookies looked like a 5 year old made them, and that is insulting to the kid! Practice is necessary...piping along the outline of the cookie is a PIA and is not easy. Oh well, I guess Zack will be getting more samples in the future while I hone my skills.


This recipe is my fav chocolate cake recipe...Barefoot Contessa Ina Garten from Food Network makes this recipe...it is wonderful! Some photos that make even my mouth water, and I am sick of cake and buttercreme!

How artistic is this?














this little cake is my class cake...I made FRESH, yes fresh blackberry filling, but forgot to put it in the cake! Brainless at times.










Well, gotta go get stuff ready for class tonight. I will post my final cake pictures tomorrow I guess.

hugs
dennise

Just a quick note to let everyone see our new family member...Grandpa picked out a new puppy from the Oasis Shelter...he named her "Pat"...don't ask me why...he defies logic at times...

The shelter thinks she is about three or four...it appears that she has been preggers, but no evidence of any puppies delivered (I wonder how they know this?). She is about 15 lbs, and is all black with a white triangle on her chest. She looks to be a real Heintz 57...I see maybe miniature pinscher and doxie...she is very sweet. Paul and I just started to call her Sweetie before grandpa named her and it really fit well. She likes to play with both Snickers and Mack, well, let's just say he is in 7th heaven. She is scheduled to be spayed next week so we won't have to worry about Mack becoming a child daddy!

Finishing up my second Wilton class...learning to do all kinds of flowers...having a great time.

hugs

dennise

We are going to visit Petsmart this afternoon. They have a dog and cat adoption every Saturday. Grandpa seems to be depressed over Pepe even though we kinda laugh about the poor little bugger every now and then. I think even though he adores Mack, he is not HIS dog. He wants an older dog that is housetrained. We need one who gets along not only with people, but other dogs and cats...

Snickers hated Mack...now they are BFFs!

Will post later if we have a new addition to the family.

I have been invited to participate in a craft show at Llama Grande RV Resort. Much larger place than where we are. I will do some cupcakes, cupcake and cookie bouquets, bagged sugar cookies, some choc chips and I would do spritz if I could find a cookie press like the old ones! The new ones get horrible reviews...where is my supershooter when I need it! Prolly in sombebody's house in Rochester, IL waiting to make Christmas cookies! Why did I let him sell all my stuff? I KNEW I'd need that stuff! I worked on practice cookies yesterday and have some cupcakes ready to give out as samples...the Prince doesn't seem to understand that I need to PRACTICE recipes and decorating in order to get better so the stuff doesn't look HOMEMADE. What is so difficult about understanding this? Grrrr.

Will post more later.

dennnise

Wow, November 13th! I can't remember the last time I blogged. Not much to talk about...well, we did have one thing happen last week that is quite sad. Well, it's sad depending on your point of view. You see, last week, grandpa's fat little taco dog, his obese Chihuahua , Pepe went to the great doggie heaven and is waiting for his master at the rainbow bridge. Unfortunately, he did not go peacefully in his sleep, or mercifully put out of his doggie Alzheimer's fog via the tip of a euthanasia needle. He got run over by a golf cart. I am not making this up! Poor Pepe. Head crushed like a walnut under the turning wheels of that demon golf cart, driven by another demon, Prince Paul who was chauffeuring grandpa to the spa. Pepe loved to sleep in the sun. Or if it was hot, under grandpa's car on the concrete where it is nice and cool. He never went near the golf cart, unless of course, Chica, his longed for paramour happened to try to evade him and run under the cart. Well, long story short, Pepe for whatever reason, decided to sleep with his head UNDER the rear wheel of his master's golf cart...laying out in the afternoon sun, lazing away another day of eat, sleep, bark at nothing and poop. Ah, the life of a dog. I know there was something wrong with the dog. He would stand for hours standing still, looking out into space, no expression on his little apple face. I think it was old pooch dementia or doggie Alzheimers. Poor thing. Well, for whatever reason, and we shall never know, Pepe lay down with his head, as I explained above, just under the left wheel. The Prince and grandpa always go to the pool and hot tub around 2. They got in the golf cart, put it into reverse and the Prince swears he didn't even give it the gas...they felt something drag, and thought it was the breaks hanging up. They kept going and felt something again. It was then they saw the poor fat little body on the drive. It was quite tragic from my perspective of that day. Grandpa came running into the house yelling that they ran over Pepe and I should "say goodbye". I step outside and the Prince yells at me to go back in the house...I see blood and get all hysterical. I really didn't HATE Pepe, he was a PIA but he was just an old cranky dog. That didn't come when called, sit when asked to, barked at nothing, but was my late mother-in-laws comfort lap dog when she suffered from Alzheimer's herself. It was very sad. After the shock had worn off, it actually was kinda funny. Poor Pepe. Gone, but not forgotten. Grandpa is doing okay, now that a week has past. He talks about getting another dog, but I don't know if he will or won't. He wants an older dog, under ten pounds. Hard to find around here.

Finally the elections are over. I am glad of the outcome. America needed a change, and let's all pray that President Obama can get things back on track. I am a bit tired of Sarah Palin, aka Yukon Barbie, but that is just me. Her voice grates on my nerves. Yanno? Hehehe.

I won the contest at the park Halloween Party...can you see why? I scared the crap outta a couple of folks. It was fun. Too bad I didn't get better pictures, but the Prince is no Ansel Adams if you know what I mean! Can you believe that even with a white face of makeup and hair covering my face somewhat, my face still looks FAT? I hate it.

Here are a few pix of some cupcakes I had done...they were just leftovers from a cake I had made and fozen. I think I overbaked them a bit, as although the cake was really tasty it was a bit on the dry side...its called White Sour Cream Almond...oh, so good! My favorite cake is the Barefoot Contessa's Chocolate cake. OH MY...sour cream, buttermilk, tons of cocoa and butter. Delish.

Sorry the images are so blurry...but I was in a hurry...the roses were crappy looking anyways. I am getting better with practice tho!

Well, I guess I should get up off my tush and accomplish something today. The weather stinks, a new front coming in and it is cool and rainy right now. Has been not to warm and sunny the last few weeks. Winter Texans continue to make their way south the the valley and the place is once again filling up with ENGLISH speaking people. LOL! More activities, dancing and music jams on the horizon. Thank goodness...it was so boring here!

later

dennise

Cake, Cake and ick, more CAKE!

Well, I have graduated from Course I of the Wilton Cake decorating Universe...I say this because Wilton is the only name out there, they have NO competition per se, and their prices are really really ridiculously expensive...but they own the market.

Here is last week's cake... the class was doing those freaking clown figures...they really gross me out so I just practiced the flowers and shell borders. This is all you get to see...

I bought the pastel colors before class so I could experiment. I don't like the bright colors, they are really tacky. (OMG, you should have seen the clowns my classmates made...I shoulda brought the camera...good thing I don't have a clown phobia anymore, I would have had some kinda nightmares after seeing what I saw!) The pix don't do it justice...and of course, I took the side of the cake I started on...the flowers got better on the other side after I got the hang of it...

This week was as I said, graduation. Plus, we learned flowers. Roses. Yep. I suck at roses. You will be able to see it in the pictures below. The girls who produced those fugly clowns in bizzare colorscapes made beautiful roses...in vivid purple, navy (yes navy!) blue and RED...blood red. They were gaudy, but they were ROSES...unlike moi's pitiful cabbage like globs of buttercream. *Sigh*. I have downloaded a couple of videos so I can practice. I am not in despair however...I just signed up for Course II...that is all flowers! Yeah! I can feel foolish for another month! Class starts Tuesday so I have little time to get up to par on those roses.

Here's a pix of my pathetic roses and final cake....This was a 9" two layer banana walnut cake per the Prince's request, made with cream cheese buttercream

Those are little "dots" on the side of the cake...in a pretty light green, but I didn't take my time, we had like 5 minutes left in class when I started them, so they are a bit off and not uniform. And, the cake does list a bit to one side...hmmm. Prince perfect pointed this out to me RIGHT away...plus I guess I missed part of one edge...well, all I can say is PRACTICE is in my future!

Not much else going on here in the RGV...we have a Halloween party tonight...I will make sure I get pictures of me and my costume...I am going as a ghost...

More tomorrow

Happy Halloween!

Saturday

Still not a lot going on here in the Valley. I did my first cake at my cake decorating class on Thursday. Here are some pictures.

The mistake I made was to make the nose pink...the one pix I have shows yellow(?) but should have done it black. It was a fun class...all the gal in it are Hispanic and they all slip back into Tex Mex when talking...kinda funny after a while...maybe I can learn Tex Mex at class!

Gave Mack a bath this morning...his front leg fur is still not growing in from his disastrous walk with Paul when leaving the keys. He looks a bit odd...but he is still a cutie. I just sent some pictures out on email, so here are some more.

It's hard to get him to stay still for a photo, so they might be a bit blurry.

Not doing anything this weekend, although I did want to go to Padre Island for the Sand Castle competition. Oh well.

hugs

dee

OK, I hear all of you...here I am. Sorry. I have not been the most sociable or nicest person to be around lately. Guess I am still pouting about having to go back to Texas. Call me spoiled, insensitive, or just a bitch, but I didn't want to LIVE in TEXAS the rest of my life! I prefer just to spend a couple of months...like January and February max...Being in the Rio Grande Valley from April to Nov is like being in MEXICO...English is the second language. Oh well, I will quit my complaining.(

Not much happening around here. I am taking a cake decorating class at the Mcallen Michael's. Boy, is this one expensive little hobby! I have always enjoyed doing the gingerbread houses, and have tried once or twice to decorate a birthday cake...not terrible but certainly not inspired by any stretch. I just purchased supplies...we do our first cake on Thursday...and I am over $100! Of course, I did have all kinds of decorating supplies in Rochester...where they wound up, I can't say...somebody prolly paid Paul a buck for all of it...he was quit the flim flam man when it came to MY stuff.

Zack is doing fine...complaining about all the homework he has to grade. That'll teach him to give journal assignments every week(like 80 journals to read and comment on....!) and those quick little 25 essay question "POP" quizzes! LOL...it is really amusing to find that he really does have to work to keep up....too funny.

Well, nothing else to talk about. I am making a special treat for Zack's birthday that I plan to FedEX next week. I will post pictures soon. Mac is recovering from a bad landing after jumping down from grandpa's lap on Saturday...stupid dog thinks he can fly...or is underdog. He hurt his right back leg and gimps around on three paws...he still can fly around the house with amazing speed for only three legs the stinker. He was caught red handed pulling out a whole room sized runner/thread of carpet...you know how Berber pulls....he is always on the lookout for a piece of tuft to be sticking up. So far I have kept ahead of him with the scissors, nipping the threads before he finds them. Guess I missed one.

hugs

Dennise

We left Key West, Thursday September 19, 2008 at 9:05 a.m. It was the end of what could have been an ideal workampers position. It is not that we wanted to go, nor were we asked to go…we left because poor Paulie wasn’t able to keep up with the job requirements. *Sigh*. Nothing to do but admit we had erred in thinking general maintenance would not include climbing trees, fixing automated sprinkler systems and learning the art of Japanese gardening. Perhaps we erred in not asking more specific questions although I had listed them carefully, and when asked about the physicality of the maintenance position, some things were not clearly defined. Paul feels terrible. His replacement shoulders were shot after just two days on the job. He was expected to cut palm fronds with an implement that was heavy and had to be held above his head. You all know Paul cannot lift his arms past his shoulders due to the severity of his shoulder impairments. He pulled dead plants for four hours in heat of over 95 degrees and 95% humidity. He was lost when the other workamper disassembled a professional grade refrigerator in one of the million dollar lots, cleaned and repaired it and put it back together again. He was flummoxed when the other workamper revamped the tubing in an automatic watering system in another million dollar lot. Nope. This was not a job for Paulie! For the first time, I was confident my part was a snap…checking emails, responding to inquiries, making reservations and keeping the accounts all on a kool pc program called Campground Master. We were provided free wifi, a cell phone and even the laptop. The 13 sites were privately owned and managed by our boss. We were here as on site assistants, so we were parked on a $500,000 site with lush tropical landscaping, a Tiki Hut and lanai with an outdoor kitchen, and our own private dock on the canal. It truly was paradise IMNSHO! I really was crushed when we had to decline the position. How can I fault Paul…never once did he ever voice impatience with me when I had problems (with cleaning the bathrooms in Branson mostly…not hard, but difficult for me with fibro…).

We drove back up north through the beautiful Keys, stopping at a sandal and t shirt factory in Islamorada. While I was looking for bargains (which was a joke…some discounts…$20 per shirt and $149 Berkies) Paul took both puppies for a walk. Pepe was fine. Mack walked into some kind of “plant eating puppy” plants and in seconds, he was covered with stickers, burrs and some exotic things that wrapped around his legs and clambered up his chest onto his face, neck and ears. Poor Baby! I walk into the rig and there is my baby just crying. I look at Paul and ask WTF? OK, he bellows, I made a mistake. I swear after dropping the poor baby on his head, letting him fall off the table and other misdeeds, I told him he must leave my baby alone! He is a hazard to Mack’s health!

For the next hour I tried to get out all this sticker things. Mack’s fur is soft and these suckers wouldn’t budge. Out came the scissors and whack, whack there goes my baby’s pretty little fur coat! He looks like an escapee from a puppy prison! I had to clip almost all the fur off those lil’ chicken legs. He looks pathetic…but, it will grow back!

We stopped Thursday afternoon in Naples, just down the road from the place we stayed in two years ago…at a place called Kountry Kamping…an older park with older seasonal rigs that were not gosh-awful but will be soon. Off season, it was $3l per night (!) in season….$65! Jeesh! Pricey here in Naples…but I LOVE Naples…it is so clean and well kept…well maintained landscaping and buildings…I am sure there is a slummy part, but I haven’t found it so far!
We slept in on Friday, and Paulie and I went out, grandpa wanting to stay in the park. We were walking through the Tin Can Mall, my phone rings and grandpa tells me that my puppy LOVES the pool! He took my little puppy to the pool and threw him in!!!! I told him through gritted teeth I think, that if anything happened to my puppy he’d better start hitch hiking back to the RGV!

While shopping I found the deal of the century….SILK Capri’s and SILK tops (all washable silks BTW) on sale, marked down from $70 to $15 each. I could only buy one pair of bright lime green Capri’s and one kinda celadon top. Wow…I wish I would wear a size 4…I could have gotten a new wardrobe for under a $100 bucks! And NICE stuff…I told Paulie I couldn’t find this kinda deal at Wally World…Capri’s and top for $30! He just stared at me…and the sales clerk then castigated him to my utter delight…she told him I was a bargain shopper and just hit the jackpot. Riiiigggghhhht. LOL!

Later in the car going home, we had an argument to beat all arguments…for those of you who know us…arguing with Paul is my favorite past time…he gets so flustered when I nail him with facts that he sputters stupid words in order to refute me. Silly man. Anyways, this was a corker. We finally stopped to grab a bite to eat at, what else, Taco Bell. Local delite abound in Naples and I hafta eat fake tacos? Arrrgggh! We finally get home and I have a headache and a tummy ache from the tacos so I lay down for a while. We just spent the evening watching TV…

Saturday
We slept in again after deciding to stay at KK for another night. I wrote my new article for Bella, did some emailing and started to update the blog. Paul wanted to have lunch/early dinner at a local place called Cracklin' Jacks. Grandpa had fried oysters, Paul had fried catfish, and I had fresh fried grouper. Oh my. Very good. I ended my meal with a slice of homemade Key Lime pie...not too sweet, not too tart...icky plastic whip cream...what's up with food service places lately. The whipped cream is "stabilized" now...it is like marshmallow fluff mixed with Cool Whip...its really disgusting! Give me the can of Ready Whip and I am happy. Ugh...I never order anything with whip cream nowadays...even Dairy Queen is using the plastic make believe stuff. And forget about buying a cake in the store bakery. UGH UGH UGH. The butter cream is crisco and marshmallow fluff. Looks beautiful as it stays firm and doesn't melt. However it cannot be DIGESTED either! What happened to bakeries? God I miss Chicago and it's neighborhood bakery shops. A dying figment of my childhood I guess. I am gonna look up how to make real butter cream and start making my own cake. Then I can put raspberry filling in it and pig out to my heart's content...yellow cake, raspberry filling and creamy buttery icing. Ah. The stuff of my dreams!

Sunday
We are now on the road…I75 moving towards the Tampa area. We plan on staying at the SKP park in Bushnell. It is about an hour from Tampa but we may park for several days there. Grandpa is flying out of Tampa around 11 am tomorrow, Monday. I hate to say this, but I am glad it will be just the two of us again…there is too much tension with him around. Paulie waits on him hand and foot…he seems to want to make him an invalid and the old fart is far from that stage. He drinks beer and smokes cigars daily…he’s NOT an invalid! He is a bit demanding also. Well, I won’t burden you all with my complaining…I am just about done with taking care of old people…its been over 8 years since grandma got bad and it has been a LONG 8 years. Thank goodness I have three sisters to help with my mom. We had just ourselves to care for Paul’s folks. Oh well.

So, that’s it up to now. Paul is very down on himself for throwing in the towel. I told him to grow up and deal with it…and he better get his ass to the doctor…those replacement shoulders should NOT be a source of agony for him…that’s why I thought he had surgery…to relieve the pain!

hugs to all

dee

Here are some photos of the site...I just snapped a few shots last night before we lost the sun...this is the front of the lot looking out towards the bay(Sugarloaf) . The grassy area is the "people park" and just down the street is the puppy park. Quite a lovely view.

The third shot is of the side of the rig looking towards the Tiki Hut. Paul and Gene having a beer. The last shot is Gene fishing...caught nothing but a lot of fish stories.

Tune back in later...more pics I promise.

dee

Oh boy...it's Thursday already! We arrived at Blue Water Key RV Resort yesterday around 4. A incredibly long day I might add!



Here's a brief recap since I last posted on Saturday.



Sunday...Paul had made contact with Tommy, his friend from St. Louis who had been living in New Orleans. We would stop outside Slidell, north of NO and visit with Tom and Sue at their retirement/lake home near Picayne, Ms. They have had the lake house for a while, but are now living there after selling their house in Gretna, a suburb of NO. We found a nice campground SunValley RV Park, and got settled around 4. Both Paul and I showered and off we went, GPS in hand to find the lake house. We arrived and had a nice visit and Sue, a fabulous cook made a to-die-for(!) meatloaf dinner with buttered noodles, broccoli and brownies for dessert! It was heaven after two days of junk food on the road. Such great folks. We will stop by again on our way back who knows when, LOL!



Monday....We all slept in!!! It was ten by the time we were up and about. We were packed up and on the road by 11 am, heading towards Alabama and the panhandle of Florida. I was getting a bit snarky like I always do when relegated to the back of the rig...the old man had planted his boney arse in the co-pilot's seat and refused to give it up. Cripes, I thought that his freakin' back hurt and the sofa and chair were "best" for him. Fibber. Paul insisted on driving and he and I had words several times. He just doesn't get it. If one is not sleeping on the sofa, there is little to do or see in the back I don't mind spending my share of the time in the back mind you...I just wish there was a reciprocal attitude yanno? I had mentioned to the old fart that I wanted to drive and he was quite serious when he said he didn't WANT me to drive...he would be uncomfortable. You know my answer to that...I won't post it here but it was not nice and had a few cursy type words in it. We decided to try to get to Ft Lauderdale as there were a couple of campgrounds there. Unfortunately we were on the FL turnpike and the campgrounds were off I95. It is now getting dark, I can't read the jumbled up mess of a map for the Miami area to find anything and the FL state map is just as bad. Grrrrr. The gps is useless finding a campgound by the way...We finally find the campground and get settled in around 8:30. Again, Paul pushes the envelope and along with it, my nerves.

Tuesday...We hit the ground running from Ft. Lauderdale and continue to head south. The winds that are leftover from Ike are starting to get stronger. We finally get out of the lovebug infestation we've been traveling in for the last thousand miles or so...since outside of Houston, actually. Gosh those things are disgusting. Ick. Ick and Ick again! Paulie's arms are killing him from cleaning the windshield.

The drive on US 1 is quite nice. The water is a aqua tone that is really neat. We are in touch with Rita, the Site Administrator and she tells us to stop in Marathon if we want groceries. We do and then top off the tank with some diesel...only $4.59 a gallon here in the Keys! The cheapest fuel we found was $3.89 at Flying J somewhere in the Gulf Shores area. We finally pull into the Resort and get set up. We are in Site 3, one of the rentals. We would normally be in Site one, which is the workampers site, but our other workers are there. Rita takes us around for a quick tour...she has two golf carts that are in great condition! What a pleasure...

I was very tired and I went to bed around 9 pm. Paul would be working with the gardener, Javier from Bolivia on Thursday. I will just recoup til Friday when I will begin training. I'll be getting trained on Campmaster so it should be fun.

Well, that's about all. I didn't take pictures of the park yet...I'll try to get my arse out there tomorrow. Oh, we did take a ride into Key West around 4 this afternoon. Same old laid back place, but pretty deserted still...lots of shops and places shut down for the evacuation from over the weekend. Glad we are not in Corpus Christi this week!

later

dee

Saturday update...

We are currently at the Paradise Cove Rv "resort". I am not sure why this place is called a resort. It is mostly seasonal or permanent residents it looks like...no amenities to speak of other than a three tub wash-it-eria. I am such a snarky person when I am tired, LOL!

We are about 20 miles out of Houston. We left Weslaco at 12:45 p.m. this afternoon. We made one stop in Odem for a quick "lunch" at a Subway around 3. This way we won't have to do dinner...we can just do snacks.

We are tracking Ike...it now appears that the storm has weakened somewhat, but according to most of the weather stuff we watched, Ike is still scheduled to hit the Keys. We will check the weather channel as we continue our trek around the Gulf.

The kids were so-so on our first leg. Pepe still thinks all the food and water is his and gets really ugly with both Mack and Snickers when they want a nibble or a sip. Since he bit me yesterday, I have been a tad po'd at him so my sympathies for him have diminished greatly. He bites me one more time, it is curtains for the little SOB. He will find himself living at the first rest stop we come to...and I'll tell grandpa he was last seen running from a giant armadillo.

I am not sure how far we will venture tomorrow. We will probably be up and about by 8 and on the road soon thereafter. I have a "hankering" for some eggs and bacon with biscuits and grits, but I need to convince the two gomers that we should do this...they tend to gobble those doughy bagels...too many carbs for my taste....the biscuits are carb heavy also, but hey, ya gotta eat, right?

Well, I have had a long day...I am trying so very very hard to be kind...you know this traveling situation is certainly NOT my idea of an fulfilling experience. However, Paul was quite firm that he would not go with out his dad. Grrrrr. I will say no more.

hugs to everyone...
more soon...
dee