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.