Happy Halloween

Today is Trick or Treat day.  We’ve never had trick or treater’s  not even when we lived in a stick home.  We lived to far out and no close neighbors.  Make sure you all sleep with a light on tonight because it’s a good night for the ghost and gobblins to come out.  Boooo do you know who is watching you tonight?

We woke to another very nippy morning.  We’ve been getting moving very slowly in the mornings.  After all we are retired and it’s too cold to do anything else but hibernate inside until the sun comes out and warms up. 

Once I finally got myself motivated and moving.  First on the list was to vacuum and pick up.  Next i put my nick knack's that don’t ride away.  I’m trying something different this time moving.  I put the bar stools with my table away behind the recliners and secured several of my flowers on them.  I’m getting more and more done.  I’m down to pretty much the last minute things on my end too plus the grand kids are coming Friday night so i can not put away several things they will use still. 

 

Hubby worked outside picking things up, checking the air in the truck and camper tires.  Putting the propane tanks away, checking all the fluids in the truck and etc.  It was a busy day of doing things that needed to be done before our winter journey begins.  We are down to just needing to do the basic last minute things.  It was a beautiful afternoon to be outside working.  As long as you stayed in the sunshine. 

Dinner tonight was left over Chicken.  I’m not feeling well tonight, my ears & throat are aching i have drainage and I'm hoping it’s allergies from being outside and I'm not coming down with anything.  I have a Dr Appointment Friday to get my flu shot and i need to be healthy to get it.

I’m going to take a hot shower and curl up in bed and watch some TV.  I’m starting to get that itch hitch really badly .. come on Sunday and get here .  We plan to leave Sunday if there is no rain in the forecast.  3 more days until take off!!

Our newest family Member!

It’s official we have a new family member!  I’d like to announce our newest arrival.  About a 45 lb bouncing baby girl Roo!!  We made it official today.  We have adopted Roo and she now proudly wears a official name tag with her name and our phone numbers.  Thursday afternoon she goes to the vet and gets a check up and needed shots (oh i hope she likes her new doctor)

This morning started out as a non productive day.  Hubby left to go do some work and returned home.  No one showed up today, guess the cold kept them away.  So we decided it would be a good day to run into town and get his driver licenses renewed.  NOOO it’s not near his birthday but since we are not planning on returning until June of next year his licenses do expire in April so we needed to get him legal so we didn’t have to return sooner then we have planned.  Plus we needed to get our propane tanks filled up before heading out.  Well .. the local DMV couldn’t renew CDL license so that was a strike out ..next to get propane .. can you believe we just missed the last of the 4 guys that could fill our tanks until after lunch. Another strike out!!  Back to the camper for some lunch.  I made a few phone calls and behold we found a DMV that can do it!

We loaded up and headed back into town stopped at the propane place, finally someone who could fill our tanks .. we needed one of 30 lb and our 20 lb gas grill tanks filled .. $35 for both.  I didn’t think that was bad being they were both empty!  That is off the ta do list.  Next we headed to Jerseyville to the DMV and after a bit of a wait .. hubby now proudly has another 4 1/2 years on his licenses.  I got mine renewed in July so we both are good to go for several years.  While we were there we went ahead and renewed our camper sticker another one knocked off the ta do list!  It’s due the end of December and we always get it before heading out on our winter journey.  Illinois is our home base state.  We have lived here all of our lives and no plans to change that.  We spend more time then anywhere else here in Illinois, we vote, we pay taxes, we do all the stuff that anyone with a permanent resident doe. PlUS  it’s where our grand kids are!!

 

After leaving the DMV we headed to Wal-mart to see if they have the dog tag machine, i looked in Litchfield yesterday and it was a no go .. no luck they don’t have one any more either .. ughhh so i had a brilliant idea.  Let’s head to Alton to Petco!  I love Petco and my babies love it when i go to Petco :))  So off to Alton we headed first stop was Petco and they had the name tags.  Wow .. they have gone up in price.  I remember buying them for 5 bucks!  Now their $11 a piece and some were even $20!!!  Guess they know we love our babies and we are suckers :))

After leaving Petco we headed to Big Lots as i hadn’t been to one in a longggg time .. I love Big Lots!  Wow they had some good deals too .. even better yet.  I got a new rug for 5 bucks, several new table cloths in colors that I've been looking for and they were only 2 bucks each, i got 3 different colors!  I love being able to change things around and since i can not move my furniture it’s change table clothes and such :)  I replaced a small baking pan that i have missed since leaving it in the motor home, i got a expandable spring rod that will hopefully hold my printer in place while traveling (another off the ta do list) and of course i got the babies some doggie treats!  Roo has gotten to where she knows that when we bring bags of stuff into the camper she starts inspecting them as she knows some where in one of them is something for her and the other 2 babies.  YESSS they are spoiled! 

Next it was Home Depot to look for several things.  1st on the list was to get a new area rug for outdoors.  I haven’t needed one here as we are on a very nice concrete slab.  We tossed our old one when we got here as Lucy had way too many accidents on it during her last week of life.  Poor thing couldn’t walk very far with out potting and she felt so bad, of course mommy and daddy told her it was okay we could replace it.  So we did today.   I was looking for a black or maroon but they only had gray or green. I got a gray one instead of the standard green.  It will match our home better.  2nd on the ta do list was to look for some trim to trim our refrigerator in with but we couldn’t find anything that i was happy with.  I do not like the fake stuff.  In fact i want to replace the trim around our door frame with the same thing we put around the refrigerator so we decided since there was no way in this cold weather we could stain and gloss new trim we’d wait until this winter to finish that project.  Hubby looked at some new toys but decided to wait on getting what he was looking for (some kind of tool gun).  We did run into an old friend we hadn’t seen in 6 yrs or more.  We visited and got caught up on with each and then it was time to head to get some thing to eat. 

I wanted Chinese but hubby wanted Woody’s fried chicken, since we can not get Woody’s fried chicken on the road it won out.  Oh it was so good .. great choice hubby!!   We met the kids and visited for a while and before we knew it, time had flown by and it was time to say good bye.  We headed home with barely enough time to relax a bit before we say good nite. 

More Ta Do List

Since it was a cold morning it was a good day to sleep in.  Once i finally drug my weary bones out of bed.  I did my morning routine of browsing the internet to catch up on what is going on in the world.  I’ve been watching the weather channel to keep up on what Sandy is doing.

After being lazy it was time to get started on my morning chores.  Then we decided to go do the dreaded task off getting groceries.  So we  headed to Litchfield.  Dollar Store, Camper store, Rural King, Wal-mart and Aldies.  Ughhh  over $200 poorer we returned home to put away our purchases.  Now the cabinets are stocked.  We still do need to get a some meat items before we began our winter journey.  I like to travel with stocked pantry and freezer.

On the list of ta do things is installing the locks on the refrigerator so it will stay closed while going down the road.  We purchased some heavy duty closet door latches and today hubby got the needed size screws to install them. 

 

WOW .. they work great!  Just like our RV refrigerator you have to push the doors in to get them to shut and lock but hey works for me.  This is the one on the freezer door.  The refrigerator door has one just like it.  We also purchased some gutter extensions as we needed new ones on the awning side.  Water was running down inside our light.  Hubby also got those installed.  The new light outside that was installed needed caulking put around it and that was done today as well.  YES .. were getting more things knocked off the Ta Do List.

 

Dinner tonight was BBQ Pork  sandwich with some chips.  Earlier this morning i had a big family pack of pork steaks that i had bought thinking i would cook them when the kids were here.  I took them out of freezer and put them in the crock pot and they cooked while we were running around.  When i got home i poured the broth off that i plan to use later and separated the meat.  I BBQ enough for dinner tonight and the rest i put into containers to do something else with them later.  I love things i can take out of freezer and use at a later time :)

Later on Tyson stopped by and picked up Toby’s blanket and the WII remotes we forgot on Saturday.  We visited with him before he left and the rest of the evening was spent relaxing.  6 more days give or take and we should be on the road.  Of course if they are calling for bad weather like rain we will re-think those plans.

Me O My winter has arrived!

Wow, we woke to down right cold!  I do believe winter has made it way to the Midwest and unfortunately I'm still here!  I spent the last couple of days in my flannel jammies until late in the afternoon.  Staying inside has been a good thing lately as it’s too cold to go outside. 

The grands came Friday night to spend the night and enjoy some time with Papa and Grammy.  Our time is drawing near and it won’t be long that we will be pulling out.  We will miss our precious jewels while were gone but I'm looking forward to getting away from the cold.

Gabe and Kelsey came over Saturday afternoon with Caden a little boy they spend a lot of time with.  As you can see the boys get along pretty good.  They had fun playing at the park.

 

Kelsey and Hailey played Barbie’s while the boys ate candy :)

 

Earlier i made a big pot of Chili to eat on since it’s a cold winter day.  The kids love my Chili and so i thought i would make it one last time for them this year :)  Before we knew it .. it was time to get ready for the Halloween Parade.  I didn’t get to take many pictures as i was busy helping Toby pick up his candy being thrown his way.

Needless to say the kids got a shopping bag full of candy!  Oh my so glad their taking it home :)  After the parade Tyson took the grands home and Gabe and Kelsey came back to our place where we played a couple games of Yuker.  Before long it was after 10 PM and time for them to get the little guy to bed.  We had a great time with our kids.  We will probably only see them one more time before we head on our winter journey.

Remising …

Since i can not sleep and I'm up with this aching back, legs and feet I’ve been sitting here remising about the old days .. years ago when my children were little i loved rainy days.  There was nothing i loved better then to lay and sleep as the rain came falling down.  I also enjoyed making some good warm soup to munch on while  curling up with a good romance book on a windy & cold winter day.  I used to love to watch the snow fall and know that i was stuck indoors for a few days.   Since that tragic day December 26th, 1996, i dread to see rain or cold days as i know that with rain or cold comes pain.   My life has changed so drastic since then.  It’s amazing how one tragic event can change your entire world upside down.

Instead of laying and loving to hear the sound of rain on the roof top, i lay in bed on heating pads and wish for the rain and esp the pain to stop.  When the cold starts coming it’s time for us to pack up and head to warmer climate.   It makes it hard as this kind of weather is hubby’s favorite time of the year.  He lives for Spring and Fall.  Hubby enjoys the cooler days and he loves walking in the woods with the rain misting.  We try to find a happy medium for us both.  That is why we are still in the now chilly and raining Midwest of Illinois.  Hubby wanted to enjoy some fall weather.  It’s looking like he is going to get to enjoy some winter weather as well. (Although hubby doesn’t take the cold as well anymore either, his aching bones do not like cold anymore then mine do) I know what is ahead of me with the weather were going to have and it’s not good.  Although i will endure and suffer through to allow my hubby to enjoy his seasons that he loves.  All i would have to say is let’s go and he would pack me up and take me out of this cold but for my husband i will endure a week of winter.

While remising of the old days it has also made me realize how we take for granted the simple pleasures of enjoying things you come to appreciate it once you lose the ability to enjoy them.  Although on the bright side had that tragic event not taken place we wouldn’t be enjoying our lives today getting to travel around the country and see what other parts of the world have to offer.  There is always a bright side to all things in life.  Sometimes we just have to dig dip and look hard to find them.

So tonight as lay in pain I'm trying to remember that “this too shall pass” and be thankful for what i do and can do.  I’m not sure what the next will hold for me with the weather predictions.  I know that I'm so thankful that i have most of my packing part done.  All i have left to do inside is take a few things down and those last minute preparations.  We have several things outside to get rid of and hopefully this weekend the kids will those things and put them in storage as we will not need them this winter (grands bikes, toys and etc).

Our last warm day in Illinois

It’s looking like this will be the last warm day we will be having here in the Midwest.  We woke to warm temps and so the afternoon was spent taking advantage of it. 

the truck needed a bath on the outside and so hubby went to work on it.

 

the finished product .. looks really good .. well it will until the rain appears in a few hours

 

As you can see the leaves are falling, just last week this tree was beautiful and full of colorful leaves. now it’s getting bare.

my rose bush has a beautiful bloom

Oh MY!  The rain and cool front is on it’s way and as you can see the wind really picked up and leaves filled the air.

 

we went from 81 degrees to 57!  Me O My it’s going to be cold the next week.  It was time to come inside and it was getting colder so i was ready and dinner needed to be started. 

 

YESSS .. i cooked tonite .. sloppy joe and mac and cheese was on the menu.  Tomorrow high predication is a high of 52!  Can you say brrrrrr

A Beautiful Day in the neighborhood

We woke up to a absolutely beautiful day!  The sun was shining and temps were perfect!

Friends Wanda and Jim came out to the lake to work on getting their camper ready to winterize.  We had another great time visiting.

 

later in the afternoon they left to go home and i decided to take some pictures of the work Wanda did on my flowers for me .. thanks again Wanda (your the best)  This top photo is of my succulents they were in the next picture pot and were crowded so Wanda loaned me one of her pots and now they have room to grow

 

then Wanda replanted this Geranium in this pot.  It’s a purple one she had at her camper this summer.  It’s really pretty and i just couldn’t see letting it die :))

 

then she went to work on my Rose bushes .. they needed a good pruning and i am always afraid of cutting on them. 

 

before i knew it, it was about time for the sun to end and so i snapped this picture of our home nestled in.  See how the trees are loosing their leaves?  Their going to be bare before no time.  The smoke is from my neighbor Jim burning his leaves.

I enjoyed a beautiful Indian summer day and it’s looking like tomorrow will be our last day of warmth we will have here in Illinois.

Another Ruff Night

It was another ruff night of sleeping for me.  My back and legs were screaming with severe pain.  I couldn’t get comfortable and trying to sit, stand or lay down was just impossible.  I took several pain pills and finally around 3.30 AM I gave up and took a sleeping pill.  Finally around 4.30 AM it was finally lights out for me.  I was back up by 8.30 AM with a screaming back and legs.  Ughhh I'm so tired of living with this pain.  The rain arrived and finally the sun came out.  Needless to say i did absolutely nothing other then a few dishes we had.  Got a load of laundry going and spent the rest of my morning laying on the couch on a heating pad.

It turned out to be a beautiful afternoon and my friend Wanda stopped to see me and we had a nice time sitting outside enjoying the sunshine.  While she was here she did a few things for me.  Transplanted one of my plants for me into a bigger pot and trimmed my rose bushes back for the winter.  (Thanks Wanda :)

We went to the dinning hall for dinner and said good bye to friends Archie and Carol who are leaving in the morning to head home to Ohio for the holidays and then to Texas for the summer.  Dean and Mary are also leaving tomorrow but not until after lunch so we will say good bye to them then.  We are going to be the only RVer’s left in campground.  The leaves have really started falling off the trees the past few days and it’s beginning to show signs that winter is around the corner. 

If it wasn’t for family and a few more things we have to do we’d be on our way out of here too!  I’m counting the days until i can be where it’s warmer.  Next year we are not staying this long .. hmmm i hope not anyway .. the rest of evening was spent watching the tube and doing nothing.

Warm Rainy Morning

We woke to warm temps and the wind blowing.  The leaves are falling off the trees.

 

I tried to capture the leaves falling but not sure you can see them.

around 9 AM the dark clouds started rolling in and it wasn’t long the down pour started.  It rained most of the morning.  I could tell it was going to rain as i was awaken early with a screaming back.  Yep your right i didn’t do much today.  I did straighten up the camper from the kids and did the dishes. 

 

The rest of the day was spent doing nothing but resting the back.  As you can see i wasn’t the only one who took advantage of a rainy day.  The dogs curled up and snuggled together on this rainy day.

One Month has passed

It was a month ago today that our beloved Duke and Dixie passed away.  Even though you are not with us here on earth you are always with us in our heart and spirit.  Mommy miss you both .. Rest in peace my beloved.

Cleaning and Family

We woke to nice temps and once the sun came out it was a beautiful day.  Since we are not going to have many more if any high 70’s day we decided to take advantage of it and wash the camper.  It was filthy and needed a bath big time.

Roo wanted outside but she has learned to stay at the door until her leash is on here.  Good Girl!

 

The grands arrived this morning to spend the day and we decided to go for a ride while Papa worked.

 

apparently our neighbors all got new decorations some time this weekend.  Gene and Georgia left the crabs.

 

Elmo was jamming at Billy and Emily’s place

 

Jim and Wanda are airing out their shoes .. no wonder i kept smelling such a stench.

 

As we were riding around the lake i thought these mums were beautiful

 

the lake is beautiful today with the sun shining on it.

 

I snapped a complete picture of the barn with the new toppers .. nice looking huh?  Hard to believe at one this barn was a hide out for Al Capone.

 

Grammy and Toby .. he wanted his picture taken with Grammy

 

Toby driving ..

 

Hailey driving

  

Later in the afternoon Gabe and Kelsey showed up and we cooked out on the grill

  

Gabe is an awesome griller and our h.burgers and hot dogs turned out great .. Thanks Gabe .. after dinner we play yuker with Gabe and Kelsey while the kids played WII.  Then before we knew it the grands had to go home because of school tomorrow.  The big kids had to go home for work and school tomorrow.  We had a great day spending it with family and one more ta do is marked off the list.  Oh yeah we told the kids our new departure date and let’s just say it didn’t go over well :))

It was COLD and then .. The Sun finally came out!

I got up early and went to breakfast.  I wanted to say good bye to friends Jackson & Anna and new friends Boyd & Diane.  They are heading to KY to work at Amazon.  Good luck guys and have a safe and good winter. Man O Man .. it’s so COLDDDDDDD!

This morning hubby first emptied our gallon jugs of water in our fresh water tank then he went to work on installing my porch light.  It had to have a new complete light set as some of the wires broke in the old one.  While he was doing that i worked on cleaning out  all the jugs for fresh water.  I hadn’t refreshed them since coming home from Florida.  So it was that time to empty them out, bleach the containers and add fresh water.  I like to travel with several jugs of water for that just in case.  We do not use water from our fresh water tank to cook with, it’s basically cleaning and personal use.  I carry water in jugs for cooking with and we buy drinking water.

After lunch the sun finally came out and it warmed up enough i could stand to be outside working.  Hubby dug out our generator to do some maintenance work on it .. gotta make sure it’s working for when we start our journey. 

 

I decided to work on cleaning out the truck.  It was horrible and needed cleaned up.  The grands had food in the back seat and all that good stuff that has collected over the months of being here.  While i was cleaning i had the doors open and Roo’s chain reached far enough for her to join me.  She was making sure she wasn’t being left again. First she was patient, then she started squirming and finally ….

 

she gave up and just laid down.  She was like i’m not getting out because i’m not being left again!  We are hoping that her mom doesn’t come get her as she is fitting into our home very well.  We love her so much.  So if her mom doesn’t call, were not telling her when were leaving.  Once we leave Roo will officially be part of our family and there will be no return.  She has gotten to where she doesn’t try to run off and you can even let her off her chain outside and she runs inside instead of away.  I think she has decided that she has found a good home and wants to stay in it.

 

Dolly and Lexi were looking at Roo like hey if your going so are we.  They both barked at me as they couldn’t get to the truck.  They were disappointed when they realized that our home wasn’t moving yet. Once we both had some things marked off our ta do list it was time for dinner.  We have decided that if we can get everything together and done we may be pulling out on November 5th. That is the new departure date we are looking at.  It’s not written in stone and could be sooner or delayed at any time.  Our lives are written in Jell-O and I have the right to change it at any time :))

 

The rest of the evening was spent just relaxing and trying to stay warm.  Oh Me O My it’s getting cold again.  With these cooler temps I have to limit my activities with the cold because it doesn’t take this back long before it starts screaming at me.

Day/Night Nightmare!

I had a really ruff night of sleeping.  My back was screaming and it was around 4.30 AM before i got it to calm down enough to get some sleep.  YES .. i slept in this morning.  The rest of my day was spent doing absolutely nothing but laying around watching tv and Yes a few naps here and there.

Later on after dinner hubby decided to tackle our day/night shade that has been broken for some time and I've been using a curtain rod to hold it up with during the day.  Well since hubby is working on his “honey do list”  and he is struggling to get all it done as soon as we can so that we can move up our departure date.  Neither of our bodies is liking this cold weather.  YESSSS .. we were born and raised in the cold Illinois winter but neither of us can take the cold anymore.  Were wimps!!

What a nightmare!  Who invented these things?  We took the valance off, np all went well.  We took the shade down .. all went well and from that point on it all went down hill …  I paid bucks for this kit as it had a how to cd included .. yeah right .. it had every one but ours .. grrr.. while i looked at the cd hubby tracked where the cords went.  Finally i got online and looked up our brand and found some what of some directions.  What helped the most was the chart i found for the cord.  Well it would of if someone would have listened to me!!    NOOO .. he has to do it himself and of course it didn’t work right .. so once again we took it apart and FINALLY someone is willing to listen to me.  After all it’s only almost bed time and my back is screaming.  YES your right by this point I'm not the nice person i usually am :)  Hubby finally gets the string right and we hang it up and the bottom bracket is on wrong.  We have one side hung back up and i say “Um this doesn’t look right”  I get the look and keep my mouth shut and when he is done he says “that isn’t right .. why didn’t u tell me me” EXCUSE ME!!  I just smile as i help him take it back down.  We turn the rod around and behold it works better then it ever has.  YES finally the day/night shade nightmare is done .. sure hope the rest of them never break!

It wasn’t long and i was taking a very hot shower, pain pills and off to bed i went .. sorry no pictures .. i wasn’t sure if one of us was going to make it out alive .. I’m proud to say that we both made it out alive and with no scars :))

Windy Day

We woke to cool temps and a very windy day.  Yep, I would say winter is on it’s heal to arriving here in Illinois.  I did my regular morning routine of checking blogs i follow and of course face book to see what was going on with my family.  It’s amazing how we are now a society that uses the internet to keep family informed of what is going on in our lives.  My sister Rosie became a first time proud great grandma today and YESSS .. I’m a first time proud great great aunt today of a bouncing little girl.  Welcome to the world Aubree Lin.  Then i picked up our home and got some laundry going.  I decided to take the day off from cleaning out cabinets.  I have been doing 1 cabinet a day.  Reaching above my head is very hard on my back and with these cooler temps it’s best to do absolutely nothing to aggravate it. 

Later in the afternoon we went to our youngest son Gabe’s home in Jerseyville and got to see our grand dogs.  YES as always they were excited to see Grammy and Papa.  Then we went to see the house our son and daughter to be are trying to buy.  It’s perfect for a first home and the wonderful part is that I love the basement that i am thinking will make a great mom and pop apartment :))  My son say’s it’s going to be a man cave .. i have another idea and best part of all is my daughter to be agrees!  She says she could enjoy coming home to dinner ready, her home cleaned by pops and a built in dog .. oops babysitter :)

These men do not have a chance with the women in this family .. we stick together!  Their drive way is big enough for our home to fit into and the yard beside the driveway with some work of removing some trees and some gravel could easily be made into a nice parking place for our home, but I'm loving the idea of making the basement into an apartment :)  Oh YES ..I can see it now .. our investments may be starting to pay off with some serious mooch docking in the near future!! 

After we looked over their cute home to be we took the kids out to dinner at Hardees(their choice).  We spent more time visiting & discussing plans to their new home and of course WEDDING plans.  July 6, 2013 our baby is marrying a wonderful girl that we are proud to call our daughter.  We are hoping that the kids can get all the paper work done and be moved in by the first of the month.  We’d love to move our departure date up but there is a few things that will need to be done to the house and hubby will help our son and his father in law to be do the work.  So right now our departure date is up in the air until the kids find out when the repair work can start and our son can get moved in.  Unfortunately time flew and before we knew it 8 PM had rolled around, so it was time to head home.  The kids have to work tomorrow. 

We got home just in time as the rain arrived.  I was tired and my back was starting to scream so it is pain medication, a hot shower and off to bed I’m going. 

The toppers have been installed

I woke up this morning and temps were not too bad.  The sky was clear and the around 11 AM the clouds started rolling in.  By 1.30 PM the rain and cooler temps had arrived.  I had to rewash my bed covers as i had them hanging out yesterday and they were smoked by my fire.  Ughhhhh  I ended up washing them in my washer and drying them here at the campgrounds laundry room.  I also needed to get a couple of zucchini peeled and shredded to put in the freezer before they went bad.  I decided while i was at it i would make some zucchini bars. 

Last Tuesday the toppers for the silo were installed and I managed to get out of bed early enough to see one of them installed.  The first one was set in place with the truck still hooked up when i arrived.

 

This has been an on again off again project going on all summer here at the camp. 

     

they look really nice and the plan is to put rock climbing walls in them.  Of course you won’t see me climbing them :) 

 

Around 6 PM the down pour rain arrived and it’s nippy outside.  Looks like the cooler temps have arrived.  We had to run to wal-mart to pick up our med’s and dog food.  Once we were back home i made chicken and rice for dinner.  That was as productive as i got today.  With this kind of weather it’s weather to snuggle up in bed with a good book. So YES … It’s another night of resting the back...  as it’s screaming what are you doing to me???  You know that I do not like this kind of weather.  Unfortunately this is hubby’s kind of weather.  He loves the fall with the cooler temps, the fact that no one is around.  So instead of doing what I'd prefer which is ………. 

I’d love to head out sooner but we have several things we must do before our departure date.  Although I’m happy to tell you that we are discussing the options of moving it up.  Not sure yet but i will keep you informed.