TOO BUSY OR TOO LAZY?

It has been a busy week, with lots of work projects and medical appointments in between! There is not a whole lot of anything to write about, unless you want to hear about my upcoming dental surgery... nah it is too scary to talk about. I am highly allergic to pain and suffering, which I always relate to any dental visit!!

I know I should post more, but by the time I get home from my day of work (and/or medical appointments) and read all my favorite blogs (about 18 of them), then it is time for bed..... :)

Cheryl and I have been thinking a lot lately about our transition into fulltiming and a timetable. The out of pocket dental expenses and upcoming trip to South Carolina will affect the timetable a little, but not that much. I always figured there would be variables in my plan. Now I need to decide how soon we need to buy the fulltime RV? We both wish we had it to take on the trip to SC. :)

Oh well, I guess we will get the travel trailer ready for the trip and be happy with what we have. I do need to clean it up though, the roof is due to be cleaned and treated again. I also need to clean the black streaks on the sides. Does anyone know the best way to clean black streaks on aluminum sided trailers? I have used different cleaners and solutions, along with some hard scrubbing, until I am losing paint in some areas. Do the smooth sided RVs get black streaks as bad as the corrugated aluminum sided ones? I heard that RVs that have automotive type paint do not streak as bad.

Well I guess I best sign off for now, Cheryl wants to go and visit with the G-kids for a little while. That always brightens my day!! :)

Until next time.......

ROUTINE STUFF, WORKING AND DENTAL PROBLEMS.....

Hi Everyone. We are still here, staying really busy with mundane, boring everyday things and still working. I guess that is really a good thing, considering that is what I need to do to reach my ultimate goal of hitting the road fulltime and debt free! I have even come to terms with being passed over for the other job. I am focused on the ultimate goal of becoming debt free and getting out there with all my fulltime friends!

I had a lot of my annual medical appointments this past week and found out that getting older is not for wimps! According to my cardioligist, I need to cut out stress, change my diet, get more exercise and lose some wieght. Sounds like a prescription for fulltime RVing!

Then came the dentist, she was the bearer of some unsettling news, I have a bad infection in my lower gum. My being a diabetic makes this a more serious problem than if I were not. She suggest a dental surgery which is going to set back my plan to financial freedom a couple of months. Sure wished I had some dental insurance!

Well there is not a lot more to report, maybe we will do something a bit more exciting this week! Until then, here is some more pics from the past.......

CHALLENGING WEEK

Hi Everyone, yes I am still here. I know I am getting behind on posting, been a busy week at work... :( ... This week was depressing for me until I reminded myself what is important at this stage of my life.

The week started out with my finding out I was eliminated from a list of applicants for a new position I was seeking. The position I applied for is one that I hold all the qualifications for and also have experience in the field. I was knocked off the list of candidates due to a technicality involving time in grade requirements for federal employees. What a bummer! Then to top things off, I find out the likely candidate has none of the other qualifications, and no experience, but he meets the time in grade requirements. Wow, sounds like the system is broken! On top of all that I was given a project that involves a lot of work skills (use of Autocad and PrimeVera software) that is not usually required of someone in my paygrade! Does it sound like I am tired of working?

I started letting these events depress me, then I was reminded, my career is reaching the end. My purpose in life is changing. I no longer have to climb the corruption ladder, oops I mean corporate ladder, in order to provide for my family. I am ready for the next phase in my life, which I am hoping is to travel this great country. :) ... I am soooo ready.

Well that is enough of my griping and complaining about me. I think I will reflect on the happier times, like the time Cheryl and I spent at Shady Pines RV park in Texarkana. They have a little pond for fishing at the park and we had a ball hauling in the "panfry" size fish. :)









THIS WAS BEFORE I GOT MY STABLE TABLECLOTH!!

HAS IT BEEN A WEEK?

Wow, another week gone by in the life of Don and Cheryl! It was a week of trying to control my emotions as I dealt with unreasonable requests. Has Don lost it? If not I sure have come close! I have been working around the government long enough to realize, they don't care how you make it work, just make it work. Well enough of my griping. :)

It was good to reach the end of the day on Friday and just sit out on the pool deck, sipping on an iced tea, watching our family of hummingbirds. :)









AND FINALLY:




Ok, it is Saturday morning and Cheryl and I are debating on either a road trip or late afternoon fishing trip..... hmmm air conditioned car or river bank at about 100 degrees? I don't know, will let you know later......... GBY

JUST WANDERING--- A DAYTRIP

After the lousy week we both experienced, Cheryl and I decided to load the Toyota with some essentials (cold drinks, GPS and camera) and hit the road! We didn’t have a specific destination in mind, just needed to get away for a little while. We started out on I20 and headed toward Texas, every bit of a 10 minute drive from the house. After crossing the state line, we stopped at a rest stop (I know 10 minutes driving and we stopped), mostly so Cheryl could pick up some of those prized travel brochures. :) Since we were so close, we decided to check out Ellie’s RV Park. I had been seeing it advertised on websites and blogs a lot lately. We were not impressed with Ellie’s. It is right on the interstate, sites are close and facilities are minimal. It may be a good overnight stop to rest a few hours on the long haul?

We then decided to head for Lake of the Pines and check out the RV campgrounds. It was a beautiful day and the drive through the Texas countryside was relaxing. It was getting hot outside, but with the help of Mr. A/C we stayed cool enough (a little of Tioga George writing style). :) The first campground we visited was a Corp of Engineer park named Buckhorn. We had been there about 4 or 5 years ago, but man it has changed! They have added sites and it seems a little more compacted. There are sites that still have space between and the views are great. There were plenty of folks out enjoying the water on this hot and humid day.



We then went across the dam and visited another COE campground, Brushy Creek. The sites here are a bit close too, but again you can find a couple with adequate space. I kept noticing the picnic tables and the various ways folks were securing their tablecloths :) , man they need the stable tablecloth, I should have brought a few with us! :)






After checking out those campgrounds, we started back across the dam to head into Jefferson, Texas. Before we got across the dam, we spotted some people fishing in the spillway and decided to drive down to check out the action. We saw a few people fishing, no catching, just fishing.



I spotted this one guy holding a bow and arrow, watching the water intensely. Suddenly he drew back the bow and cut loose with an arrow! He then reeled in a large fish, couldn’t tell what kind from where I was standing. I wish I had caught that on camera! He had a line on the arrow, attached to a reel on the bow. I watched a while longer and he took one more shot, but missed.



This family was also catching a few “mini whoppers”. :)



We didn’t watch the fishing too long, it was long past lunchtime and my stomach was growling. We drove into Jefferson and began our search for lunch. Jefferson, Texas is a quaint little southern town with mostly turn of the century buildings, vintage style lamp posts, elegant old churches and some of the streets are brick. The architecture around the community is Greek Revival, Neoclassic, Victorian and Italianate. Now before you get too impressed with my abounding knowledge, I read all that on a sign. :)





We passed a few little café s in the downtown area, but it wasn’t until I came upon “The Hamburger Store”, with the parking lot packed with cars, that we decided, “this is the place to eat”. The Hamburger Store at 101 North Market is a unique little café specializes in hamburgers of course, but not only the regular run of the meal burgers, they also serve specialty burgers such as avocado bacon burgers. Of course you know what we ordered? We had the chicken fried steak (always have to be different) :) They also have homemade meringue pies with the meringue mounded on the pie like a small mountain! I had to steer clear of those, but they did look delicious!




Another aspect of this unique little café is that every wall in the place was covered with one dollar bills that patrons had pinned to the wall. The waitress told us that started back with the evacuees from hurricane Katrina were sheltering in the area. It seems that a pastor that had a group of evacuees there had taken a love offering for the owner of the café for his kindness and help. The owner would not accept the offering, feeling the evacuees needed the money more. The pastor being persistent brought his group in and they all pinned money to the walls. Now customers are writing messages on the money and still pinning it to the wall. I started to pin the tip to the wall, but didn’t have a pin, besides if I did the waitress probably wouldn’t get it.:)





The local "tour bus"



The town meeting place:



We were on the way out of Jefferson when we spotted one more RV campground. We thought this one was especially unique (check out the bath house). :)





I would have taken some pictures of the RVs parked in the campground, but there weren't any that I could find. :)

Until next time, remember each day of life is truly a gift from God, unwrap your gift slowly and enjoy every minute.......... :)

LONG SAD WEEK

Hi everyone, yes I am still here, still working and still dreaming. :) It has been a week of sadness though, we lost some brothers at arms in the B52 crash at Guam. Five of them, the regular crew members, were from Barkdale AFB where I work. One of them, the Flight Commander, Major Chris Cooper was the fiance of one of Cheryl's good friends that she works with at Barksdale Federal Credit Union. She attended the memorial service with her yesterday. It was a beautiful, but sorrowful ceremony with many remembrances of the crew members and thier lives. Please pray for the family and friends of the these men who served to defend our freedoms.

Today is Saturday and in spite of our grown children all having different plans for us today, we are going to take a daytrip. We feel like we are in a "depression" with all that has been happening this past week and need to get away. I am taking the camera and hope to have something interesting to post by Monday! :)

Until then remember.... life can be short and the time we have is a gift from God.. Enjoy your gift :)

ANOTHER GREAT DAY...IT'S FRIDAY!

I guess it is about time to catch up on what’s been happening in my day to day life. I am finding that making time to post can sometimes be difficult. It sure will be great to be able to slow down and smell the roses (that is on a day when my sinuses are not clogged!). It seems that all I am able to do is get up at “o dark thirty”, get ready, go to work, dodge the boss all day, get ready to go home, cut the grass, trim the bushes, clean the pool, eat some dinner, and go to bed to get ready for the same routine the next day! Sound gloomy?
There is hope! It is Friday and the long awaited weekend has arrived…:) whoopee!!! I get to sleep to about 8am and hang out in the pool! Also we have been planning a weekend camping trip for the near future… more hope. I found out there is a “get-together” of some of the RV-DREAMS family in March, in Texas… close enough for me to attend …. :) absolutely more hope!



This past week I received notice of a community meeting scheduled to discuss the offers that are expected from an oil company. It seems there is a large pocket of oil that was discovered beneath a large portion of our region. They call it the “Haynesville Shale”. It seem s folks are expecting to make a lot of money on mineral rights and selling property. Now there is some hope. Let them offer to buy my property! I will be out of here so fast it will make them dizzy and I will even throw in the furniture… :)!! I have a puny ¼ acre lot with a sticks and bricks, but because of the mineral rights; I will be asking above appraised value. Most likely, they will only offer to buy the mineral rights; then drill within a mile or two from our community. Who knows what the future may hold?
lately I have been burning the candle at both ends (so to speak)… :) When I start feeling that way it is time to remember each day is a gift from God and not to be wasted, but enjoyed. I found a quote which conveys that idea rather well; I think it was George Carlin who said,

“We drink too much, smoke too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get too angry, stay up too late, get up too tired, read too little, watch TV too much, and pray too seldom.

We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values. We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too often.

We've learned how to make a living, but not a life. We've added years to life not life to years. We've been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to meet a new neighbor. We conquered outer space but not inner space. We've done larger things, but not better things.

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.”

Until next time…………………

TABLECLOTHS ANYONE?

It has been a week since I posted and I have probably scared off everyone with boring pictures. :)... I will not have another family picture day for a while, so hang in there.

I wanted to tell everyone about my newest "undertaking". While at the RV Dreams Rally in Branson, I saw the tablecloth Howard and Linda were using and naturally I wanted one. I went back into the journal and found the link they had posted for obtaining one. Howard is so good about giving those sources out to us wannabes. :)... Anyway, long story short, the guy who was selling them has retired and he gave me a link to the only other place he knew to get them. The company was located in Canada and would not ship to the United States. :( ... However after a little more research, I found the inventor and after making a deal with him, I now have more tablecloths than I can use!! :) ... So I guess I am going from posting boring pictures of my family to selling "STABLE TABLECLOTHS". :)

I don't envision making a million or two on this business venture, just want to make these available to fellow RVers and campers that would like to have them. These are made of heavy duty vinyl and have water fillable jackets along each seam that really makes it tough for them to be blown off the table.




The tablecloths are available in red, blue, gray and biege. I am selling them for $14.95 plus shipping cost. You may use the Paypal link at on the right side of the page, specify the color you want in the comments or email me for alternate arrangements.

Other than the new business venture, which started with my yearning to own the new tablecloth, nothing new is really happening. We keep listing things we need to get done and so far we have a lot of lists! Not much work towards completing those list though. It seems that by the time we get home from working, we only want to relax. The weekends seem to be the only time we can get anything done. Anyone else have this problem? Oh well, if I sell enough tablecloths, Cheryl and I can quit work, buy that $300,000. motorhome and travel!! :) ....... When that happens satan better start shopping for cold weather gear! :)

LAZY SATURDAY

After all that excitement yesterday, we were worn out! :) Cheryl and I both slept in until almost 9am, that is rare. We prepared some eggs and bacon with our regular fix of coffee. We finished breakfast and then went to the pool deck to watch the hummingbirds and finish our coffee. The pool looked so inviting, we decided to take a morning swim. No pictures were allowed. :)

I know a post without pictures can be more boring that usual, so I went back into my archives and found some more pics of the family. I figure this will help introduce them.

My son, Matthew and oldest grandson, Anthony:




"The Teenager", Anthony:



"The Son-in-Laws", Ron and Harrison, Harrison is the hairey one! :)



My oldest daughter, Sheila:



Papa with Brendan:



Nana with Brendan:



Princess, aka: Hayley:



Anthony:



Crystal and Hayley:



Harrison (in the background), Crystal and Nicholas:



Nicholas:















ok, are you still awake out there? Well I guess that is enough of that! :) Until next time, remember, "Live every day like it is a gift from God" :)

CELEBRATING AND RELAXING

Our holiday weekend began with Cheryl and I sleeping late, until about 8am. Two of our grandsons spent Thursday night with us and of course they awoke hungry. We had a nice pancake breakfast complete with coffee for Nana and Papa. Cheryl and I finished our coffee on the pool deck while the boys watched some morning cartoons on TV. The excitement never ends around here! :)

A little after noon or so, my two daughters, their husbands, our granddaughter and youngest grandson arrive. My son shows up later (just in time for the food) to complete the family gathering. We spent the day grilling brats, burgers and playing in the pool. About 8pm we gather everyone together drove downtown to the river front for the fireworks show. It was a pretty good show, but I mostly enjoyed watching the kids enjoy the show.

Here is most of the family:



We found a nice site to park ourselves and watch the show. My youngest grandson was more interested in the "choo choo" that passed on the nearby tracks. :) As the show got started he seemed annoyed at the noise.



This is Nana and Papa's "Little Big Man", Nicholas, the next to the youngest grandson:



Papa's "Little Princess", Hayley tells Nicholas something astounding?



Nana and Papa's "Little Man", Brendan, our youngest grandson:



Our oldest grandson, "The Big Guy", Anthony. He is one of those (teenagers)! :) My youngest daughter, Crystal, and her husband, Ron.



My oldest daughter, Sheila, seated next to Cheryl and wearing a red shirt. My son in law, Harrison is always hard to catch in a picture, because he moves around too much! :)






Just a big kid at heart:



Well that is how we spent Independence Day, celebrating and relaxing. Until next time let me leave you with this advice, "enjoy every day as a gift from God!" :)