Monday, December 19, 2016

After having eaten and showered and gotten ready this morning, we got in the car and headed north for Apache Junction to see if I could get in to see the dentist.  We found the office quite easily with the help of the GPS.  We entered the office and Sharon filled out all the paperwork for me while I sat and watched.  I hate filling out those forms.  Surprisingly we only waited about 15 minutes before they called me in.  By the time Sharon finished the forms, they were ready for me.

I didn’t expect any good news after the doctor read the x-rays and came into the cubicle. And as expected, I didn’t get any.  The tooth that was infected would have to go.  But because I wasn’t pre-medicated (penicillin) it would have to wait until Friday.  We got back in the car and headed home.  It only took about an hour to get taken care of and back on the road again.

We were back home again by about 1PM and on the way we dropped off my prescription at the Walgreen’s just up the street.  They told us it would be ready in 15 minutes so we came home and had lunch in the meantime.

After having her sandwich, Sharon left and went to pick up the drugs and then she decided she would go grocery shopping also since the store was just across the street from Walgreen’s.

She was back in about an hour and I promptly started taking the penicillin, hopefully getting ready for Friday.

By this time, The Five was on TV and we settled in to gaze at the tube.  It would shortly be time for Dinner which I didn’t feel like eating but I had some Potato Soup that Sharon had made yesterday.  It was soft and I didn’t have much chewing to get it down.

I was more than content to just sit and watch the TV for the rest of the night.  We had a couple of our regular shows on tonight and they weren’t repeats.  They managed to keep us up until bedtime along with the help of a movie that I had recorded.

Tuesday, December 20, 2016

We were on the road this morning late but it really didn’t matter.  We only had about an hours drive to get to Apache Junction.  We had more of a chore getting going this morning, than actually getting on the road.  First I had to dump the holding tanks since we had about 11 days on them since the last dump.  Then we had trouble with the jacks and had to fight with two of them to get them up.  We also knew we have to stop for gas this morning before we left Casa Grande.  The gas station was actually on our way north so it wasn’t out of the way.  We found gas for $1.85 which was a good thing, since gas in most of Arizona is close to $2.

The traffic today was busier today than it was yesterday, and it was a noticeable difference.  We arrived at our campground, Carefree Manor MH & RV, in Apache Junction, about 2PM and settled in without problems.  Me and the Mrs. Got to decorating for the holidays almost immediately after setting up the dish.  She likes to make it look all Christmassy and I’m her helper. It only takes about an hour to get it all done inside and out.  And besides it makes her very happy, except for the two times she knocked over the tree, and the mini-ornaments went flying.

We got it all done successfully but our two foot tree is now crowded with ornaments and we may have to get a bigger one.  We’ve picked up ornaments from all the places that we’ve visited, and now our tree is too small.

We threw together whatever we wanted for Dinner tonight.  Mine was Potato Soup and Ritz Crackers.  Sharon opted for another Yogurt and we were both happy with our choices.

We settled in for our usual night’s entertainment tonight.  It was Tuesday and we had regular shows on tonight even though they were re-runs.  We’ve got movies on the DVR but we’re not that desperate yet.

I pooped-out early tonight and Sharon stayed the course.  I’ve not been feeling good since I’ve been on the penicillin.  I go to bed at night not feeling good, and get up in the morning, not feeling good.  It’s not so bad that it incapacitates me, and I’m hoping it’ll only last until I get the tooth pulled on Friday.

Wednesday, December 21, 2016

I got up this morning to a nice relaxing day until Sharon appeared on the scene.  I was quickly engulfed in her plan for the day.  The first item on the agenda, was a haircut for yours truly.  Appearance of the electric clippers.  I wanted to go shopping for Christmas this morning, but I was overruled with the appearance of the electric clippers.  Apparently the length of my hair was more important than the birth of our Lord and Savior.  Well, maybe not!

In any event the haircut was the first item to start the day this morning.  She was preparing me for a visit to our friends, Dennis and Mary Ceshker’s in Mesa today.  Mary is a long-time friend of Sharon’s who grew up with her in Kingsford, Michigan.  We were invited over to their house for lunch today.  We’re about15 miles from where they’re “new” house is located.

After the haircut and a couple of showers we headed out to our friends for the afternoon. As I said they were about 15 miles away so it took us a few minutes to get there.  In fact the GPS in our phone wanted to take us a different way than our Garmin did.  Both methods were getting us to the same place so we turned one off.  We managed to get there anyway.

We had a delicious lunch of a Broccoli, Chicken, Cheese and Wild Rice Casserole with a side dish of Corn.  Along with a green salad and rolls with sorghum molasses on them.  Mary wanted to keep the meal soft with regard to my sore mouth.  She did a very good job of it.  We finished off the meal with a slice of Chocolate pie.  It was all quite good.

After Lunch we just sat around talking and catching up on the last year.  Quite a lot has happened between our two families since we were here last year.  We talked for awhile when we first got here, and now we were just catching up on the happenings of the year.

We left their house before it got dark but by the time we got home it was getting fast to twilight.  The auto-headlights on the car were on by the time we pulled in to the campground.

We settled in front of the idiot box to have our usual entertainment for the night.  We had some of our regular shows on tonight so even though they were re-runs, when your old, you’ve already forgotten what the story was about.  We enjoyed them all over again.

Thursday, December 22, 2016

We got up this morning expecting a visit from old friends, Bill and Jan Dieckman, who were formerly from Kingsford, Michigan, our sister city at home.  They moved out here to apparently be in a warmer climate for the whole year instead of just in the winter.  As we waited for them to come down from Sun City, Sharon was after me to take my shower and get ready.  I always seem to wait until the last minute, but I’m always on time.

We got a phone call before they arrived saying that they ran into some road flooding and traffic problems on the way down.  They didn’t say they’d be late but we found out later that they left home at 9 this morning, and got here around 11:15.

After they got here we sat and talked for a couple of hours just catching up on the last year.  We covered everything from soup to nuts and it was a very pleasant visit.

We took off for a place called Souper Salad for lunch today.  It was, of course, a soup and salad place.  I’m not a soup person, but we’ve been here once before and they had a fabulous Tortilla Soup that day.  They didn’t have the Tortilla Soup today but they had an equally good Enchilada Soup.  It might have been the same soup with a different name.  Along with the place being very busy at 2 in the afternoon, the food was all very good and we had a very nice lunch.

On the way home we discussed which highway would be the best for Bill and Jan to take back home.  There’s a couple of roads that eliminate going through the busiest parts of town on the way to Sun City.  They stopped in after we got back and perused the map and came up with a plan.

They stayed for an hour or so after we got done eating and we sat and talked some more.  But soon they wanted to get on the road back home.  We said our good-byes for at least another year, unless they come to Iron Mountain.

Having eaten lunch so late today we ruled out anything for Supper tonight.

So we went straight to the evening’s entertainment early.  We had enough to watch because of the “faded memory” thing that seems to have beset us.  But it seems to be a good thing when it come to television.  We haven’t found the detriment yet.

We were up until I made a move toward the bedroom about 10:30.  I have to rest up for my dental extraction tomorrow.

Friday, December 23, 2016

Today is the day of the tooth surgery.  I got up relatively early and got my Journal written before I sat down to a Breakfast of 2 pieces of toast.  I didn’t feel like eating much more or even feel like eating Lunch so I didn’t.  The assistant told me the other day I could have Breakfast and Lunch before coming in, but I didn’t really feel much like eating either, but I had Breakfast anyway.

We arrived at the Dental Office just before 1 and they took me in immediately. Almost exactly an hour later, I was done and on my way home again.  I got my instructions and followed them to a tee knowing if I behaved myself today I might be alright to go to the Mesa Marketplace tomorrow.

I wasn’t actually bothered much by the aftermath of the extraction.  But I still felt that if I didn’t abuse my mouth I’d be okay for the market tomorrow.  It will be our only day to go, so if we miss tomorrow we won’t be able to go this year.

I mostly sat around watching TV and wondering what I could eat today.  I knew it wasn’t going to be anything firm or hard cause most of the day I sat with folded gauze in my mouth.

I managed to drink down a Bisque of Tomato Soup and a couple of pieces of Toast for my Dinner tonight.  The mouth was getting along just fine.

After a few hours of TV tonight we headed for the slumber room and I was optimistic as ever about going to the Market in the morning.  I hadn’t been bothered a bit by the ordeal of today.

Saturday, December 24, 2016CHRISTMAS EVE

We were planning this day for the past week and the surprise was whether I would be feeling okay to pull it off.  And when all things were considered, I was fine and we were off to the Mesa Marketplace for shopping today.  We dressed up warm and hit the road for the Flea Market which is located about 2 miles from our campground.  We were thinking that it’s either going to be very busy, or not busy at all, on the day before Christmas. But as it turned out, we arrived early and the parking lot was only about half full.  It got a little busier as the day went on.

We stayed at the market for about 21/2 hours and the rental on my scooter came to $20.  We were in a hurry today cause the Packer game was coming on at 11.  As it turned out we didn’t make to the end of the shopping before the game came on.  So I watched some early pieces of the game on the app on my phone before we got home.  Green Bay was already waxing the Vikings tails by the time we got home to the TV.  It was a pleasant site to see another opponent fall by the wayside on the way to the title.  We have another week to worry about, however.  Next week they have to defeat Detroit in order to get in the playoffs.  Here’s hoping.

On the way home we stopped at McD’s to pick up some burgers for lunch.  We sat and ate while we watched the rest of the game.  I had finally felt like eating something after several days, and the burgers went down real good.  For the rest of the afternoon we just sat around and basked in the glory of a game well played.

We spent the night watching TV, a movie called “The Martian” and wrapping presents for tomorrow.  We don’t buy each other much anymore but we always manage a few trinkets to open in the morning, in the spirit of the Holiday.

We finished out the night with pieces of programs after the movie ended.  There was nothing really to watch tonight anyway, and it was a good thing we had a decent movie to get us through.  We timed our exit to come right about 10:30 with Sharon having to get up early tomorrow to cook.

Sunday, December 25, 2016MERRY CHRISTMAS

The alarm went off this morning and Sharon just laid there.  It didn’t seem to me that the sound was loud enough to wake anybody up.  So I just laid there for a few minutes and then woke her up.  She had to get up early in order to get her cooking done for today.  She had a little trouble with her meal, but got it straightened out in a hurry.

Dennis and Mary Ceshker would be coming over today for a late lunch for their Christmas Dinner.  Against the advice of me and the kids, Sharon was making Pasties for our Christmas Dinner today.  But actually given the, choice of several meals, Pasties was the one who won out.  Pasties are a mixture of Meat, Diced Potatoes, Onions, Salt and Pepper and folded into a crust.  They’re pretty good indeed.  They come from the U.P. of Michigan and were brought there by the Cornish miners from England.

The Ceshkers arrived about 11:45 and we got immediately into the “catch up” conversation even though we had another one several days ago when we first got into town.  It lasted for about an hour or so before we sat down for DinnerThe Pasties were very good along with a salad and cooked carrots which really didn’t go with the meal, but they were very tasty. Sharon has a recipe that she cooks in Brown Sugar and Cinnamon.

Dennis and Mary stayed for a while after Dinner but left before it got dark.

We settled for the night in front of the Telly until Sharon caved and went to bed about 7:30.  Apparently she had enough food and adult beverages for the day.  I watched a movie for the next couple of hours since I wasn’t ready to hit the sack yet.  I finally gave it all up around 10:30 and joined the Mrs. In the slumber place.