Post-Christmas...

Our daughter's pup, Bo

Our daughter Crystal's boxer, Toby, and our pug, Libby acting like they are the Food Police!

When you've had enough turkey, roast and stews...Fried Chicken and fries to the rescue!

Toby the Boxer weights 70 pounds...but he refuses to be outdone in the lap sitting competition...

Well, Christmas has, yet again, come and gone.  It's my favorite time of the year.  People are kinder...more smiles coming at you from complete strangers.  Family visiting...the Christmas smells...the lights...laughter. 
We are Pup Sitting while all the kiddos go skiing in Colorado...and Larry's now sick with a cold.  I'm just trying to get the house organized again.

We had a good Christmas and hope you did to.....  

Merry Christmas!

Wishing all of you a very Merry Christmas!!!

Peppermint Bark

Peanut Brittle

Brownies

Oreo Cake

 We had all of these treats at Thanksgiving but, a re-run was a must.  Hope you all have a Sweet and Peaceful Christmas!  Love to you all from our house...to yours!

Stocking Up...and Letting go...

I baked a Cinnamon Bun Cake a few days ago.  It's for when Larry and I want something sweet and I don't need to get into the kitchen twenty dozen times a week!  Cake and frosting freeze great as long as you get as much of the air out of the baggies as you can.  Recipe HERE

These Asian fries are made a local restaurant we love to visit...thin and deep fried! 

Anybody up for French toast with powdered sugar and lemon juice?  Great combo...

You've probably already seen this one but...Find The Car!  There really is one!  Clue: Volkswagen...

And saved the best one for last...Get it?  This is the state of our kids education these days...it would seem...lol

Well, hope you're having a good week so far...I'm just about to wrap up all my "doings" for Christmas.  We are going lean this year.  We use to have tons of presents under the tree when the kids were younger but...when your children are in the mid forties and your grandkids are late teens and early twenties, you just seem to shift gears.  SO...it'll be one bag instead of stockings and tons of presents...and a bit of cold hard cash.  They are all going on a ski trip to Colorado the day after Christmas so, cash is appreciated.  Oh, I fill the bags with goodies and small gifts as well so no one complains.  It's just that they're growing older, as we all are, and making their own money so...it's time to back off the accelerator and let them begin to take the lead.  What a hard thing to do...I hate it...

Well, will be over to check on you...Any decorating tips?  It's fun to see what all of you are doing for Christmas...

Later!

Thanksgiving Eats and Being Grateful...

Family...Will, Crystal and Tim

Everett and Samantha...

"William!  Be still baby so Gamma can get the shot!  Will!!  Stop talking!!  Gotta love him!

Home made pralines...yes, I made these!  Recipe HERE

The BEST peanut brittle...EVAH!!!  If it was any better, I'd have to slap myself...Recipe HERE



Light and crispy



Dirt Cake...(Oreo Cake, full of chocolate pudding, cream cheese and powdered sugar and whipping cream) Recipe HERE



Libby dreaming of bigger things...



Toffee!!  I made the BEST toffee!  Recipe HERE



The turkey was yummy...super moist



And the family sat down to eat...we were very grateful!

Now...Onward and forward...to Christmas!

Hope you all are having a happy and peaceful week!

It's My Favorite Time of the Year...

Yes, it's UP...but the lights are off until after lunch, on Thanksgiving Day.  It's smaller as well.  We gave our 7 1/2footer to our granddaughter, Samantha.  I wanted something a bit smaller so Larry got on the internet and picked one out and ordered it!  Haystix or Haysticks or something like that dot com.  Just type in bing or google search, Christmas trees.

November 17th was Larry's mom's birthday.  Her 90th.   Larry handing over home made chicken soup.

The birthday girl...She said, "I sure do need to get to the beauty shop..."  Hahaa...yep, bless her heart.

I made a whole chicken in the Instant Pot (Amazon sells them as well as Instant Pot. ) Love it!

I promise this REALLY happened!  Drugs?  Alcohol??

Well, thought I'd say a FEW words to let you know  there hasn't been ANY bites or falls lately and that's a Good Thing!  I really was getting sick of it all...
Yesterday was Larry's mom's birthday so we went visiting.  Ninety!  Amazing...but she is now really dependent on Larry's dad who is 93...Both are hard headed and won't accept help easily but we keep trying.
Yes, we put up our tree early...first time EVER in 45 years of marriage.  And if you asked why...I couldn't say.  Nostalgia?  Who knows.  We just did it.  Lights off until after lunch Thanksgiving though...it's just ready to go.
Well, I'll keep this short.  Just checking in...Have a sweet and peaceful day!

Would You Believe it?

Twenty eight mosquito bites...I'm also allergic apparently...because so many bit me at once.

Talk about ITCH!!!!!  It was a miserable nine days...and I do Not have fat ankles...normally...Hahaaa

Campsite at Medina Lake RV Resort...

Old truck in New Mexico that I photographed and toyed with...

Lake Medina RV Resort #55

Lunch I fixed yesterday...Hamburger patty, sautéed onions, bell pepper and asparagus...mozzarella and cheddar cheese, melted on top.... 

Well happy hello guys!  Yes, it's check-in time once again and once again, I'm whining.  We've been on a two week trip to Zapata, Texas.  Two weeks...and as usual, I take center stage...Everything goes great as we head out going south from Waco to Bandera...spend a couple of nights at an RV place there and meet the creepiest RV site owner...ever.  Just imagine "Lurch"...that's him.  And seems to pocket all cash payments...and doesn't understand percentages...as in, What's 10% of 60?  He thinks it's 5...NOT going to argue with Lurch...I hightail it back to the motor home...yes...Larry sent ME to deal with check-in...
Then it's on to Zapata!  Great to meet up with the gang...All eight of us laughed it up and enjoyed the guys making fun of each other remembering old high school days...the girls, of course, were Angels in high school...
I never imagined that all the time we were visiting, I was being chewed on by mosquitos! 28 bites...Talk about miserable!  And I have an allergic reaction...
We stayed there two days, enjoying our time with our friends...touring Zapata...seeing drug lords mansions...listening to stories about all the headless bodies washing up on shore...(NOTE:  Our RV camp is right on the lake).  Gunboats patrol, border agents galore...drones.  We spoke to a retired agent here in town who says the border patrol agents are quitting faster than they can be hired...so much death and extremely dangerous.  BUTT...our friends insist they are safe where they are.
We stayed two days and headed back north to Medina Lake RV Resort outside of Lakehills, Texas.  I booked it for a week so we could visit with our other "pack" of friends (another 8 of us) who love to meet up at a Mexican restaurant called La Cabana, for breakfast, four days a week.  I love visiting but the four times a week...guess you get use to it.
Tom and Bev came to see us at the RV park and were charged $8 dollars just to get in to see us???  Boy, that's a never!  I quickly gave Bev the eight dollars back and vowed to alert others who do not know about this rule.  I could not find it, anywhere in my reservation papers. 
We cut a day off the RV park reservation  to head back to Waco.   I needed medical attention and antibiotics.  As we entered town, Larry drove the motor home and parked it right in front of the urgent care clinic and I walked right in.  PA took one look at all the swelling and redness and wrote out the prescriptions.  Done...Went to the pharmacy...then, finally, home!  I was SO glad to finally get some rest and relief from the incessant itching.  It all was finally over yesterday...Ahhhhh.....
So that's the end of another Donna Saga....God knows what it'll be, next time.
Coming to visit you and praying you all had better luck...

Limping Forward...

Did I FINALLY decide to do it???  Yes...I think the story below helped me make up my mind.  Life's too short and I'm tired. 

  Hi again!  Just popping in to check on you all and to let you know I'm still around.  We went on an impromptu visit out to see our friends in Eagle Nest, New Mexico.  We were there for a few days, then, after that, long story short...we headed home.
We arrived, stored away the motor home...packed up the tow car with our groceries from the refrigerator and came to the house.  I unlock the back door...head in to the dark playroom...try the light switch on the wall, doesn't work, so I rushed in to head to the other wall where there's another switch...wrong move in a dark room...There was an empty, opened suitcase on the floor about six feet into the room...My foot goes into it but my body lands on the floor in the opposite direction.  Needless to say, when you feel a pop on your ankle, you know what's happened.  Larry comes in shortly behind me...heard me moaning and decides to ask, "What the hell you doin' down there...?"  Seriously???
  Quick trip to Urgent Care confirmed a better scenario than the one I imagined...It was only a hairline fracture and not a full blown break.  So, I've been hobbling around (No Crutches for me! Hate the things)  using my trusty cane.  It's been three weeks now and it's healing up pretty well.  Nothing like getting an injury, to help a person put things into the proper prospective...Life's too short to run around chasing your tail...I'm tired.    

SO much swelling!!  Halfway up my leg!!  Ouch!

Believe it or not, as we were driving down the highway from New Mexico, we started seeing onions all along the highway!  We couldn't believe it.  But as we were driving in a motor home, you can't just pull over.  We waited until we found a rest stop and could only hope the truck they were falling off of, was stopped...no such luck, BUT!!!  I did find about ten huge onions in the rest stop parking lot!  Did I jump out and grab them you ask?  Oh yes mam!  And they were beautiful.  Big and sweet.

Steak finger plate enjoyed while traveling at Harry's Roadside Restaurant in NM.

Larry cooked after we were home...Pork ribs and garlic potatoes.

We went to a Chinese restaurant that had been in the area for years (Kitoks)  and had hamburgers and oriental french fries.

And cinnamon buns... (I made). Well, Guess that's about it for me.  This coming Friday will be my last day on the job.  I don't mind filling in for them occasionally but I am so done with full time!  Hope you all are doing well...I'll be hopping over to check...Enjoy your day!

A Late Ten Year Blogaversary...

Morning!  Again, I'm overdue for a posting.  I really don't set out on a daily basis, intending to not post, it just ends up that way.  I also can't believe I've had this blog for ten years!!  Where has the time flown off to?   My first post is Here ...but I must admit it's been fun.  I've gotten to know a lot of people from all around the world.  Some of us have remained in contact to this very day and some have gone off into other directions.  We've had heartache, laughter, shocks and many passings.  The latest is Brenda's (What's Up Down South) grandson Zach, whom she and her late husband, James, had raised.  He went swimming last Saturday and swam out too far, trying to rescue a child's inner-tube but was exhausted when trying to make it back to shore.  A man tried to find him but to no avail.  He was later found...deceased.  SO heartbreaking... but when you love so many people and befriend them, even in this virtual world, then you share in all ways.  I wouldn't have it any other way...
  I took the above photo a few years ago of myself.  I NEVER do selfies, but another blogger buddie tagged me...and literally, insisted I play along so, I did.  And the bluebonnet shot is several years old.  Since our daughter and family moved away, Larry and I have found the "empty nest" syndrome...sucks big time!  Yes, Our oldest granddaughter still lives locally but it's just not the same.  Those of you that "hear" me, know what I'm talking about.  We are still working on getting out of our funk but if wishes were horses...and all that.  We have a trip planned to get back out to New Mexico to see friends who live in Angel Fire, NM.  Gorgeous country.  
Well, I hope this blabby little post sort of catches you all up on my world.  Larry and I are doing ok physically...the furrbabies are fine...I'm still working but may be taking my retirement soon.  I'll be turning sixty six this Wednesday so I'm thinking it's probably about time.  We want to travel and a job seems to be a hindrance to that.  I best decide soon!
Enjoy your day people...

Can You Say Boring?

There has been absolutely nothing exciting going on here!  Unless you count Larry changing out the awful little sofa in the motorhome with two nice and comfy recliners.  He's also going to install another air conditioner in the bedroom so then we'll have two rooftop A/C's.  Here in Texas...in the Summer...one just isn't enough to cool things down during the heat of the day especially when you can't park under trees at a campsite.

 But I must say, we found a neat little site locally called Airport Park.  It was right by the lake.  
Of course I still got up everyday and went to work but it gave us a change from the daily ho-hum.

Back at the house, I whipped up some Italian Sesame bread...which was a great little recipe and extremely easy to make.

Sami brought her little Josie over for a visit to play with our Buddy and Libby.

 Here's Sam out at the lake with her boyfriend Everett, doing some fishing...She caught three in a row!
Well, that's been about it for now..lolol.Sorry!  Hope you all are staying safe and cool or warm where ever you might be...