Monday, December 21, 2009

We mostly just sat around and bided our time this morning as we waited for lunchtime to arrive.  After lunch we pretty much had our afternoon carved out for us today.

I had another Doctor's appointment at 1:30 so that would take up most of our afternoon.  By the time we drive up to Mesa, go to the appointment and then drive back, the afternoon has been spent.  The Doctor said that my ear problem is almost cleared up and he suspected it should be cleared by this weekend.  That's good news after putting up with this thing for two months.  We'll see.

On the way home from Mesa we stopped at the grocery store to pick up a few things that we need for Christmas Dinner in a couple of days.  Sharon also needed potatoes for tonight's supper.  We would be having Meatloaf with Fried Potatoes and corn.  I like Meatloaf a lot.

After Dinner I discovered that the Christmas re-runs were now in full swing.  We couldn't find a thing that wasn't a re-run and had to settle for that for the night.  Even though there were a couple of good shows on, they were just re-runs.  It gets kinda hard even staying up until 10, under these conditions.  Oh well, I guess I'll just have to wait until January now.

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

We decided last night that we would give the Golden Corral Buffet Breakfast a final try before we move on to Apache Junction tomorrow.  We did and it was quite good indeed, although I was done eating by the time Sharon waited in line for an omelette and finally got it.  She said after a while that she had so much time invested in the omelette she couldn't give it up.  It looked very good and she said it was.  I was up for my usual Eggs, Sausage, Hash Browns, Biscuits and Gravy and Pancakes.  I had 2 quick plates and then it was over.  I didn't even have room for the glazed doughnuts this morning.  I'll regret that later in the day.

On the way home we needed to stop at Fry's for a few groceries but when they didn't have 2 things that Sharon wanted, she dropped everything else and decided to try somewhere else.  So we went to the "new" Fry's up by our campground and she found everything she wanted.

On the way home the wind started to blow pretty hard and it was picking up dust that was filling the air.  As I sat in the parking lot at Fry's I saw a couple of Police Cars, 2 Fire Trucks and an Ambulance go by on Pinal Street headed South.  We didn't find out until later on this afternoon that there was a big pileup on I-10 which apparently cost someone their life.  By all reports there was a Brownout on the highway caused by the dust storm that was gathering momentum all morning.  Then afterwards there was another multiple car accident near Picacho Peak which is about 15 miles further south on I-10.  The dust had certainly taken its toll today.

Later on in the afternoon we also received a forecasted rainfall which settled all the dust.  By evening the skies were clear and the wind had stopped blowing.  We don't usually get rain here so we had an unusual day.

Christmas re-runs were lined up to play on TV tonight and until after the New Year.  Winter Surfing is now going to be the sport of TV watchers everywhere.  Discovery, History and TruTV have new shows which are debuting this month, so maybe life is looking up for a change.

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

We took our time this morning to get on the road.  We'd only be traveling about 60 miles to Apache Junction and I didn't want to do it through the early Phoenix traffic.  We hit the pavement rolling about 10:30 and by the time we got to Phoenix the traffic had almost cleared.  It was still a little hectic but nothing I couldn't handle.  We used to drive through an avalanche of traffic 10 years ago without giving it another thought, and now I just prefer to avoid it, if possible.  I'm sure the traffic will get it's retaliation on us when we leave next week.  We were in and settled before lunchtime and I got in my chair after lunch and tried to take a nap.  I had been up since 4:30 this morning, but a nap was not to be.

Sharon called Dennis and Mary Ceshker (from Sparta, WI) and told them we'd be over in a little while from then, which was about 1:30 by now.   We also had to stop by the Post Office an pick up our installation discs for the computer.  They were finally mailed out from home and now maybe I can fix a couple of problems with the computer.

We stopped over to Dennis and Mary's and we all decided to go for Mexican food for Supper tonight.  After we sat around for a couple of hours drinking a couple of beers we went to a place called Tres Banderas and the food was excellent.  The Pulled Pork Burrito that I ordered was so big I took HALF of it home.  And it was only $5.75.

After Dinner we decided that we would drop Dennis and Mary off and come back home.  We sat around watching the Telly til about 10.  We had some shows taped so we watched a couple of them until the bewitching hour rolled around.  I was still plenty tired when I hit the feathers and fell immediately asleep.  I woke up Thursday morning about 7:30.

Thursday, December 24, 2009CHRISTMAS EVE 

We had nothing to do this morning so we just did our usual thing.  I was plopped in front of the TV and Sharon was out walking.  This afternoon we would be going over to Dennis and Mary's to have Dinner tonight.

There was a "Man vs Wild" Marathon on Discovery today and I sat and watched a couple of hours of that before lunch.  I was having a very exciting day so far.  I had already escaped from a couple of jungles with the help of Bear Grylls. I worked up quite an appetite for the Chicken Sandwich that I enjoyed at lunchtime.

After lunch I took my Chicken Sandwich to my recliner and relaxed for a nap before we took off for the Ceshkers to have Dinner.Sharon took a nap also so there was nobody awake at the hacienda to nag me into taking my shower and getting ready.  I managed to get my stuff together and we left at about 3:15.

We sat around for awhile just watching the FoxNews Christmas Show.  They seemed to have everyone on the channel present for the party.  During the show we sat down and at some snacks while we waited for Dinner to be ready.

Dinner was Grilled BBQed Chicken Breasts, Potato Salad and Corn on the Cob topped off with a Marie Calendar Chocolate Pie.  Very good indeed.  By the time the pie hit bottom we were all pretty well full.  We sat around talking while the girls did the dishes.

Afterwards we came home and plunked in front of the TV again.  I had recorded all our favorite shows so we wouldn't miss them tonight while we were gone.  They were all re-runs but they were good shows when they first came on.

When 10 rolled around we were "gone to the feathers" for the night.  It had been a very relaxing day, but a long one none-the-less.  Everybody will be at our house tomorrow for Dinner.

Friday, December 25, 2009MERRY CHRISTMAS

Me and the Mrs. headed off to church this morning as soon as we both were ready to go today.  We ended up at St. George Roman Catholic Church on 15th Avenue.  It was a beautiful church and held at least 500 people, probably mostly the snowbirds who make this place their home in the winter.  We didn't see many Mexicans in the church which I thought was very unusual.  Another unusual aspect of the church was that it was named after St. George, the Dragonslayer.  I don't believe that I've ever seen or heard of that before.

On the way home we looked for a restaurant that was open to have Breakfast, but we couldn't find one.  We weren't picky we would have chosen any one of the fast-food places but none seemed to be open.  So we just mosied on home and ate there instead.

Sharon was busy for the rest of the day getting Dinner ready for tonight.  She was Broiling Cornish Game Hens in Red, Green and yellows peppers with red potatoes.  It was going to be a culinary extravaganza to say the least.  She also made a Raspberry/Lemon Pie that we've had before today and was it fabulous.

In the afternoon we got a call from Dennis and Mary and they couldn't find the campground.  Actually they just didn't come far enough on Delaware Avenue to get to the Campground.  They arrived about 15 minutes later and we sat around for a couple of hours until Dinnertime snacking and having a few drinks.

At about 5 o'clock Sharon was ready and had the Dinner on the table.  It looked terrific and tasted just as good.  All that was left of the birds was a pile of bones when we got done.  It must have been good.

Sharon and Mary did the dishes when Supper was over with and afterwards we just sat around digesting our food.  It had been a good day indeed.

After Dennis and Mary left we got around to watching shows that I had taped earlier.  We had enough shows to make it to 10 and sleepy-bye time.  Sharon went first but I followed shortly afterward.

Saturday, December 26, 2009

We were ready and waiting, for Dennis and Mary this morning, as we all had planned to go to the Mesa Marketplace shopping today.  They picked us up about 9:30 and we were at the Flea Market by 10.  It was only a short drive from our campground to the market  at Signal Butte and Baseline Roads.

It was a little nippy when we arrived with a slight breeze blowing which made it even cooler.  Sharon bought the only warming item that was purchased.  It was a beautiful suede jacket for $25 that I thought she would have bought anyway even though she was a little chilled.  Besides, not having given each other Christmas presents this year, I think my honey was in a spending mood today.  And to be perfectly honest, she looked fabulous in the jacket.

Moving on, I picked up a dozen eye screws for my jack pads which I've been meaning to fix for a couple of years.  I'll get to them this year hopefully.

By noon we were all hungry and sat down to lunch.  We love the Chili/cheese Hot Dog with fries that they have here, and chased that down with a glass of beer.

After lunch we picked up a Firefighter Wind Chime that we'll use at home, and a couple of pincers (tongs) to use for cooking.

It took us 4½ hours to get through the whole marketplace.  It cost me $45 at $10 per hour for an electric scooter cause I couldn't walk through the whole thing.  It was actually a bargain since other forms of entertainment would have been more than that.

After we got home we knew we had to stop at Wal-Mart and do some shopping cause we needed bread for sure.  McDonald's was across the street from Wal-Mart and we stopped there on the way home and picked up our supper.  We were close enough so we just took it home to eat.

We both were exhausted by the time we finished supper and just sat down to gaze upon the idiot box.  There was absolutely nothing worth it's salt on tonight so we just surfed until we happened on a show on TruTv called "Locked Up."  We actually watched episodes of that until 10:30 when we folded up our tent and closed the Big Top down.

Sunday, December 27, 2009

We had our day all planned out for us for a change.  Sharon was off to church in the morning and I was in charge of the Belgian Waffles when she returned.  And, as a matter of fact I managed to find enough good berries out of the two baskets of Strawberries and Blackberries to make a sauce for the waffles.  The berries were from Mexico and molding since they were given to us by Mary a couple of days ago.  But we had enough toppings even without the berries, which were very good.

After our "brunch" we checked out the football games on TV to get the best channel that was reporting the non-televised games so we could keep track of the Packer game today.  Actually Green Bay did very well beating the Seahawks 48-10 which garnered them a Playoff spot over the next couple of weeks.

About 4 PM Dennis and Mary picked us up and we left for Organ Stop Pizza in Mesa, AZ.  Organ Stop is a unique Pizza Place where hundreds of people sit in a huge room and a guy plays a magnificent organ while everybody eats pizza.  It's quite an experience and the Organ player is excellent.

Afterwards we left there and went to the Mormon Temple in Mesa where the entire property was decorated for Christmas.  It was absolutely gorgeous and we walked around to gaze at the lights for about an hour.  Every Bush, Tree, Railing, Rock, etc. was decorated with different colored lights and they even had 3 camels and tenders in the front of the buildings.  It was all very beautiful.

Afterwards we came home and planted in front of the tube for the rest of the night.  There were okay shows on even though they were re-runs.  At this time of the year if it's not taped than your destined to watch re-runs.  It had been a busy day so watching anything was acceptable tonight.  Besides most of the night was gone by the time we got home anyway.