Travel Planning

We managed to do some travel planning today.  Some of what we learned was where we didn't want to go. That includes steep and winding mountain roads and long stretches with no towns or places to overnight. We have decided that Google Maps needs to add more options to its routing. For example, to limit grades, avoid low clearances, or stay on US highways or interstates.

We had been thinking of taking an inland route from Las Vegas to Portland and possibly going via Lake Tahoe. However, all our research led us to the conclusion that we would find ourselves in the mountains on smaller roads and that we would have a very difficult time finding places to stay. So it looks like we'll use the tried and true route up I-5.

Today was a lovely warm sunny day, but the wind turbine icons on the weather forecast didn't lie. It was very breezy. Read more!

Exile

Steve and Jan picked us up this evening to go to the Community Concert featuring Exile, a group of aging rockers who have reincarnated themselves as a country band. They are also songwriters and have written all their own material. They played some number one hits that they wrote but other groups made into hits. The final song of the concert, "I Want to Kiss You All Over," brought the house to its feet.

This afternoon we went to Randy's C-2 class. Hardy and Judy came to fill in if needed, but we actually had two squares of students, so they weren't needed. Randy reviewed some of the calls Darryl taught last Saturday, and then he added several new calls. We're up to twenty-six C-2 calls now. We've been reviewing our flash cards, which helps, but floor time helps more.

Today the sky was blue again, and the sun warmed us. The high was 67°, much better than the last few days. The other good thing that happened is that we actually got our Amazon Prime order on the guaranteed date.

The sad thing that happened today is that I was informed by a customer service rep of AT&T that there is no DSL service possible at our address. He said that it's not a matter of all the lines being in use but instead of our being "too far from the hub." How that can be true when we know several other people in the park have DSL, I don't know. We are looking into buying a cellular booster similar to one that Steve and Jan have. Read more!

Mall Again and Dancing

We woke up to another cold and dreary looking day, so we went to the mall again to walk. We got there around 9:20 a.m., so part of our walking was done as the stores and kiosks opened for the day and folks began gathering to shop.

We picked up Steve and Jan for Jerry's dance. Steve's knee is doing very well, but his left hand where he had a skin cancer removed yesterday was definitely causing him pain. He had it well bandaged and asked everyone in the squares to be careful of it. Jerry had ten squares! That's definitely the most we've seen there.

After the dance we stopped at Steve and Jan's to check out their Wilson cell signal booster. We need to do something about the very weak Verizon signal in our home. Right now we're taking turns using the modem--which is not a great solution.

This evening we went to Joe's dance. He's back from his visit to his daughter and family, including a brand new grandbaby. Her name is Shania, and she's the cutest thing. He had his iPad set up with a photo slide show.

We had nine squares (after Mike graciously came over to help fill that last square). As usual, we had lots of fun. We did learn some distressing news. Marion and Velma were in San Antonio on the freeway, on their way to the Valley, when someone jumped the median and hit them head on. Very fortunately they are doing well, although the other driver was killed and their vehicle was totaled.

We made reservations at the Trailer Village at the Grand Canyon today. We couldn't get in the days we wanted, so we had to shift to five days earlier, which we have enough flexibility to do. We also called Sandy Riverfront in Portland and made reservations for July 15 for a month, exactly the same as our stay in 2012 (after the Alaska cruise). Read more!

Busy Nothing Day

We woke up as expected to cold weather this morning, so we went to the mall to walk. We're becoming familiar with the layout and glad to have a warm indoor place to walk.

From there we went to Dr. George's office for followup appointments. It was another one of those hurry-up-and-wait experiences. We got to spend plenty of time sitting in various waiting rooms and exam rooms before finally seeing the doc. By the time that was done we were very glad we had packed a lunch, which we ate in the outer waiting room.

Next we went to Walmart to check out the possibility of getting an oil change. It turned out that the wait was an hour and a half. Also, we had been hoping that someone would have come out with a compatible oil filter, but no such luck. So next we went to Spikes Ford and bought an oil filter. We asked there how much an oil change would cost. We had seen a sign offering every other oil change for free. The fine print turned out to be that you had to have all your maintenance done at Spikes, which doesn't work so well for travelers like us. And by the way, the oil change would cost $125.

We've been seeing news stories and photos about the winter weather tie-ups all across the south. Our thoughts go out to all our friends and relatives who are suffering from the chill. Ed has been delayed in New Orleans at the NADA convention. Julie says he's warm and dry in a nice hotel, rubbing shoulders with auto folks who are in the same boat. Julie and the kids are fine in Atlanta. The kids had only a half day of school today because of the weather. It's been snowing there and will probably ice over tonight.

Weather isn't so great here, either: cold and rainy. Glad we're inside. Ken went out and disconnected the water hose because of the possible freeze tonight. Good thing we have water in the fresh water tank.

P.S. How sad to hear of Pete Seeger's passing. He's got to be one of the most talented, decent human beings we've had the privilege to share the earth with. How inspiring!
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Lovely Day (But Watch Out for Tomorrow)

We had a beautiful warm sunny day today, with blue skies and lots of people outdoors and smiling. The high was 84°. A cold front is swooping down on us from the frigid north. Tomorrow's high is forecast to be 46°. Brrrr! Nearly a 40° difference.

Steve and Jan picked us up this afternoon to go to Darryl's dance. We had eleven squares, the most yet this season. Many of the couples were ones we have never seen before. I talked with some of them and found out that they are here for only a week or two, checking out the RGV.

Darryl called a class level C2 tip after the dance. Fortunately Jean and David were in our square and were a big help.

We did some travel planning today. We made a reservation at Lake Park in Lewisville and were lucky to get the only open space that would fit us, even though we called two months in advance. We also reserved spots in Tyler and Abiquiu, NM.

We didn't hear from the AT&T customer service rep today. I'm hoping that's not a bad sign and that she'll call tomorrow. Read more!

Happy Unbirthday to Us!

Today we had an “Unbirthday Party”! Lots of our friends we share our winter home in the RGV with have birthdays during other parts of the year. We don’t want them to feel left out, and hey! any excuse for a party, right?

One of the nice things about hosting a party is that it pretty much forces us to clean up the patio and the Texas room, which we’ve been meaning to do for a while, but we always seem too busy having fun. We put the lasagnas in the oven and the drinks in the cooler, and by 2:00 p.m. we were ready for the party to start.

As usual, our friends arrived bringing good cheer and good food, and a good time was had by all. We missed Sandy, who was feeling under the weather and figured the best thing to do was sit on the couch and do nothing. After dinner we sang a happy unbirthday song to ourselves and had our cake.

At 6:00 p.m. some of us went over to the hall to save some seats for the Redhead Express gospel concert. It was lucky we went early, because the hall filled up quickly. The group is popular, and this was their last appearance in the Valley. They are in Nashville now and have spent the last few months in studio with Paul Worley, who is producing their debut album. He also produced the Dixie Chicks and Lady Antebellum, and hopes are high that we’ll soon be able to say we knew them when!

The concert was high energy and lots of fun. The whole family is very talented. We saw them in February 2010, four years ago, and the little boys have definitely grown up and are contributing their musical talent to the show.

 

On our walks around the park we regularly pass one house that must have some whimsy in it. They always have a display of "pigs," and each time we pass, the group has moved around. It always makes me smile.

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Jesse Is Four!

 Today is the fourth birthday of my youngest grandchild. His mother says that he's lucky to have made it, especially since she got a message yesterday morning informing her that he had bought $100 worth of "gems" in an online video game! (Fortunately she was able to have the charges removed later.) Jesse is very proud that he is four years old now.

This morning we headed to La Hacienda for our next C-2 lesson with Darryl. Steve has been sidelined for the last few days because of his knee surgery, but today he put on a brace and danced with Jan. Well, actually after a bit he took the brace off because it was too hot. He seemed to be doing okay, but I suspect he may have some repercussions later.

We learned several new calls, including Chain the Square, Swap the Wave, Swing Along, and my favorite: Shazam. We also reviewed and extended the calls Randy had taught Thursday. We're now up to twenty one calls/concepts that we more or less have learned.

After class we went shopping for things we needed for the party tomorrow. We spent the evening (and into the wee hours of Sunday) making lasagna and baking a German chocolate cake, following the recipe Chris gave me for his birthday cake. It was so good that I was glad of an excuse to make it again. Of course it's quite decadent and very yummy, but we're waiting for the party tomorrow to taste it. Read more!

Dermatology

Ken rescheduled his dermatology appointment for today to allow plenty of time for the stitches to settle before he started dancing again. The doctor explained that since the problem was caught so early, she only had to remove one centimeter margin. He has to return in a couple of weeks to get the stitches removed. Meanwhile we'll await the results of the biopsy of the tissue removed today. We're expecting it to be negative, of course.

This evening we went to a concert here at Green Gate Grove by a group called the Senior Ambassadors. It's a Winter Texan volunteer men's chorus. Their motto is “Loving Life-Making Music.” They have a lot of fun performing.

One of their songs tonight was "Somewhere Over the Rainbow." It was interrupted by a visit from "Dorothy," who insisted that "she" be allowed to sing. Their repertoire includes such classics as "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" (complete with jungle catcalls1!). These folks aren't professional singers, but their singing is heartfelt, and the audience enjoyed the concert.

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Happy Birthday, Kelley! and More C-2

Today is Kelley's 26th birthday. It's hard to imagine that it was that many years ago that she came into our lives.

We went to Randy's C-2 lesson this afternoon. We were surprised to have three squares on the floor. Many of the dancers were angels (experienced C-2 dancers who graciously came to help out). Hardy and Judy were there, and they had brought Sandy. Jean was there to dance with Jan. We had a new couple of students: David and Sue Steiner. They have taken C-2 lessons before, but have not been dancing C-2. We're hoping to have enough dancers to keep Randy's class afloat.

Steve dropped Jan off at the lesson. He had multiple needle biopsies and was in pain, so probably not a good time to try to watch a C-2 lesson. We gave Jan a ride home and stopped at Walgreens so Jan could pick up Steve's pain prescription. We're hoping he'll get some relief and a good night's sleep tonight.

This evening we went to Darryl's C-1 dance. It was a mild, nice day today, but when we arrived at the dance and opened the truck doors, we were nearly blown away. A very chilly norther is blowing in.

We talked with another person at AT&T today about high speed internet. This person was very positive and said that she was submitting a case to have our address added to their system. She is supposed to call Monday morning with an update. I'm trying not to get my hopes up too high.

A disappointment today: my Otterbox Defender case, which was projected to arrive today, was delayed. It was just finally shipped today, and the new estimated arrival is next Monday. I sure hope I don't manage to damage my iPhone before the case arrives. Read more!

Propane Problem?

This morning we were cold so we turned on the blue flame propane heater in addition to the two furnaces. The heater came on fine, but would not stay lit. We had a similar problem recently when neither the blue flame heater nor the furnaces would stay on.

That time we noticed the propane tank we were using was low. When we turned on the other propane tank, the heaters worked with no problem. Today the furnaces and other propane appliances were working fine. We turned on the second propane tank, and the blue flame heater worked perfectly. We can't figure out why the stove, water heater, and furnaces all seemed to have plenty of propane, but the blue flame heater did not. It's on a propane line at the kitchen island, and we haven't had any problems with it until recently. One of life's little mysteries. We decided to give up and refill the tank that was low.

We danced to Jerry Story this afternoon. When the dance was over, I said something to Harlan about going to Joe's dance tonight. He said there wasn't any dance tonight, which had been announced last Wednesday at Joe's dance. We weren't there because of Ken's colonoscopy that morning. Good thing I talked with Harlan. Otherwise we'd have driven to Tropic Star only to find an empty hall! It turns out that Joe was flying to Washington state today to see his new little granddaughter. Guess he's got a good excuse for not calling a dance tonight. Read more!

Mammogram

Ken got his new Otterbox Defender case for his new phone today. It had been delivered later in the day Friday, and for some reason the mail carrier put it in the slot in the office wall where usually only prescription drugs are put. All's well that ends well. Now his Galaxy S4 is protected. My new case is scheduled to arrive Thursday.

The highlight of my day today was getting my regular screening mammogram. Not fun, but important.

Ken got some unwelcome news: the biopsy on a spot on his chest turned up positive for melanoma in situ. Now he has an appointment for Thursday morning to have a chunk taken out to verify clean margins. We're agreeing with our friends that getting older isn't much fun!

Today we had another beautiful day, but cooler. The flags indicated a shift to north winds, and the forecast is for even cooler weather for the next couple of days. Read more!

Balmy Day

We had a perfectly lovely balmy day today, the kind of summer day that we really enjoy. Only it's not summer, and Mother Nature is planning to rudely remind us of that fact. On Friday the high in Mission is forecast to be 49º--brrrrr!!! I know, I know, all you northerners are right now snidely saying "wimps!" But we Winter Texans can't help it. We're spoiled.

We did some more summer travel planning today, trying to block in time slots for our stays in some places where we anticipate needing reservations. We hate to be pinned down, but some of the places we'd like to stay are very popular during the summer, so we are trying to plan ahead. Read more!

Annie Get Your Gun

We went to breakfast at MiChallitas this morning as usual, except that Judy didn't come. She and Sandy have started a new gluten free diet, so they went for a walk in the park instead. After breakfast we walked the park with Jean. It was still a bit foggy, and Jean was stopped on the way to the park for speeding. Luckily, the officer ended up not even writing her a warning ticket, on the basis that as a Winter Texan she wasn't familiar with the speed limit, which is 45 mpg on a wide open highway.

We got home just over a hour before we had to leave to go to the Nikki Rowe musical, Annie Get Your Gun. This is the show that we queued up very early on a December morning to buy tickets for our group.

We got to the school parking lot just in time to walk in with John and Sandy, and we found Bob and Pat just in front of us in the line in the cafeteria. Eerily, this same thing happened in 2013, the last show we attended here. We must be really predictable!

The Nikki Rowe choir is a bunch of very talented kids. They put on a wonderful spring musical every year. We've seen a couple: A Funny Thing Happened on the way to the Forum in 2013 and Do Black Patent Leather Shoes Really Reflect Up? in 2011.

This year's performance was enjoyable, and the kids were singing and acting their hearts out, but the show was plagued by technical difficulties with the sound system. It also seemed to us that the sound mixer needed to give the voices more volume, especially on the softer songs. We were surprised to find that some of the classic songs actually come from the musical, songs like "There's No Business Like Show Business" and "Anything You Can Do."




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Dancing and Party

We had our second C-2 lesson with Darryl today. We picked up Jan and Steve for the ride to TVA. Steve had the front passenger seat pushed all the way back to accommodate his recently operated knee, still in its dressing and wrapping. He reported that it was no problem to walk, but that bending the knee or twisting was still painful, so he watched the lesson from the sidelines, imagining himself in the position of one of the dancers in a square near him.

Meanwhile, Jan danced with Hal, who had volunteered to step in for Steve. We learned six new calls/concepts to add to the six from last week, so we’re now at twelve out of seventy-two on the C-2 list. Two concepts that I’m still having to concentrate to see are the once-removed and cross concentric. I’m mainly able to recall the definitions, but it’s still difficult sometimes to get my body to actually carry them out.

This evening Jean had an “International Party” at her house. We picked up Jan and Steve again. Following the international theme, everyone brought a dish or two from around the world. We had Greek and Portuguese and mock-Polynesian and Mexican and Swedish and Polish and Indian food. It was all delicious. I especially liked the rumaki spread that G.W. and David brought. Its main ingredient is chicken livers, and it reminded me of braunschweiger, a childhood favorite. My dad liked it a lot, and he brought me some in the hospital after Chris was born. Good memories.

I made stuffed cabbage, a dish I'm really partial to but haven't made in some time. Stuffed cabbages were often served at weddings I attended in the Cleveland area. A friend's mother taught me how to make it. Yesterday I googled it and found that several countries claim some version of the dish. It goes by all different names: the Polish version is called golabki. Read more!

Oranges and Grapefruits, Oh My!

We decided to strip some of the fruit off our trees today. Ken did the picking, and I moved the fruit to the picnic table and sorted through it. Some of the oranges went in the fridge in the Texas room. Some went into plastic grocery sacks.  Some fruit is still in boxes and pails.

We're hoping our friends will take some off our hands. Whatever is surplus we'll try setting out on the side of the road leading to the nearby colonia, in hopes that the residents will eat or juice the fruit.


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Doctors and Dancing

We're getting old and joining the rest of the Winter Texans in scheduling our days around our doctors' appointments! Today we both had two. In the morning we went to a dermatologist. Her name is Dr. Norma Magee, and she is and M.D. and board certified. Also, she is highly rated by her patients.

We liked her and thought she seemed competent, friendly, and communicative. She froze several spots on Ken and biopsied one. We'll hear the results of that in a week or so. She called in a prescription for me for the rash around my eyebrows. Unfortunately Caremark refused to authorize it, so we'll have to try again.

This afternoon we had our annual eye exams by Dr. Fuentes. We went to her last year also and like her. She said that our eyes are about the same, so that's done for another year. I need to make an appointment with a retinal specialist to follow up on my macular degeneration.

On the way home we stopped at the new 99 Cents Only store. It was mainly a disappointment. It's no longer actually 99 cents only--many items were higher priced, including some that weren't marked. Darn!

This evening we went to Darryl's C-1 dance, where we had nine squares on the floor and one couple out. Jan and Steve weren't there because of his knee surgery yesterday. We missed seeing Jean and Hardy and Judy and G.W. and David. Bob was there without Pat: she had her chemo today, but has only one more week of one especially toxic component. We did see Harlan and Jean, who are newly arrived in the Valley.

After the dance Darryl called a class level C-2 tip. This time some C-2 dancers stayed around to help out, so we had three squares dancing. We did pretty well (with a little help from our friends). Read more!

One of Those Days

Any day that starts with a colonoscopy is going to rate as "one of those days" in my book. This time it was Ken having the procedure done, and I was the designated driver. Most of the rest of the day was spent in recuperation. We missed both dances today, but tomorrow we should be back on track.

I'm sending my new iPhone case back. It turned out to be the one for the iPhone 5 and not the 5s as advertized. Bummer.


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Jello, Broth, and Sparkling Cider

Hey, why not have some sparkling when you're on a liquid diet? Ken's colonoscopy is scheduled for tomorrow morning, so today is his prep day--no one's favorite!

We did get a chance to spend some time trip planning for the summer. I picked some oranges and Ken cut them up to put in the fridge, but we have tons of extra citrus fruit we have to figure out what to do with.

My new iPhone case arrived today. It's an Otterbox Defender, and now that my iPhone is safely ensconced in it, I feel much better. Having a naked iPhone really made me nervous! The only teensy problem is that the cover makes it very difficult to access the fingerprint ID (and impossible for the thumb). Hey, that was the coolest feature of the iPhone 5S! Read more!

Today

Today was foggy early. Ken went to get his lab work done. Then he dropped some things off at UPS and stopped at the Ford quick lane where he found out there was a three hour wait to have the coolant additive checked, so he came home.

We went for a walk around the park, seeing lots of new folks and enjoying the sunshine. Our north neighbors have finally arrived.

We went to Darryl's C1 dance this afternoon. There were lots of new people there, which always leads to a somewhat lower-level floor because people haven't done much C-1 dancing over the summer, but everyone had fun. We did a lot of laughing.

After the dance Darryl called a class level C2 tip. We got through it, but I'm still mostly floundering. This evening we printed cards for all the C2 calls. That will help us review what we have "learned" more easily.

On the way home from the dance we stopped at the Ford quick lane again and waited a while only to find that the young man assigned us as a mechanic didn't know how to check the coolant additive and said he didn't have what he needed to do the check.

However a woman came out with the materials needed. She tried to convince us that at 30,000 miles we needed to flush and replace our coolant. This was ridiculous since the manual suggests that this needs to be done at 105,000 miles. We left and decided that we would do some further research. Maybe we'll find a better equipped Ford dealer in Lewisville.

Tomorrow is Ken's colonoscopy prep day. This evening I made some Jell-O and found the broth and apple juice for him.

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Sunday Hike

We had a crowd for breakfast this morning (all the regulars plus Sue and Arnie, who are new regulars). We weren't the only large table. Mi Challitas was full and the wait staff were running. After breakfast some of us went to walk in the park as usual. Jean and Judy stopped to pick up Sandy. We met them and Arnie and Sue at the park.

It was sprinkling as we drove south, but stopped by the time we got to the parking lot, so we had a nice day for a hike. We walked down to the Hawk Tower.  People started out wearing jackets, but they came off pretty quickly, so our new fashion statement was jackets around the waist.

Judy and Jean decided to walk down to the river with Arnie and Sue, who had never been there. Ken's back was beginning to bother him, so we walked out with Sandy and gave her a ride home--very easy since they are renting at Green Gate Grove this year.

We finally got all the Christmas stuff packed up and put away. That led to my cleaning and reorganizing the shed....

Chris called. They have a new dog, Talulah. She's a rescue dog, a two-year old Treeing Walker Coonhound, a breed I had never heard of before. They went to Seattle to pick her up and are very excited to have a new family member.

I made a reservation to fly to Atlanta to visit Ed and family during their spring break week, the first week of April.

We're continuing to play with our new phones, figuring out how they work. It's an ongoing project.

We are getting slow but more reliable internet now. Ken moved our router into the Texas room, where it presumably will be less affected by the canopy or whatever may be interfering with the cell signal in the rig.

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Darryl C-2 Lessons Begin

We headed north this morning, to La Hacienda, for our first C-2 lesson with Darryl. We had three squares dancing, including some angel couples. We started at 10:00 a.m. and went until a lunch break at 11:30 a.m. Then we danced from noon to 1:30 p.m. That gave us three hours of lessons.

When we started out we didn't have even numbers, so Darryl had us in two-couple sets to learn the first call on the list: Catch. That was number one of 72. We were introduced to the first six today--only 66 to go!

After the lesson we went to the Verizon store. I was ready to demand that they take back my defective iPhone. Nothing I did would increase the in call volume.  I googled the problem and found that other users were complaining of the same thing. I tried a couple of the solutions offered, but no joy.

Imagine my embarrassment when the nice Verizon employee pointed to the protective plastic cover on the screen, which I had left on pending the arrival of the screen protectors I had ordered. The thick plastic covered the earpiece. As soon as it was removed, suddenly I had all the volume I needed. I was feeling embarrassed, but also very relieved that my phone was okay.

Ed and Julie are moving this weekend, but the weather hasn't been cooperating. It's been raining heavily in Atlanta the last couple of days. They're hoping to get the big stuff moved tomorrow. Read more!

Freddie and Sheila

This was our fifth Freddie and Sheila Show since we've been coming to the RGV. We missed in 2010 only because Ken had just had back surgery. You can probably tell that we are definite fans of this couple. Their show this year is billed as " 'Singin', Pickin' and Grinnin'." The audience joins in with the fun. We love the personalities of this duo, but most of all we appreciate Freddie's very talented guitar finger picking, Sheila's clear folk voice, and their versatile musical styles.

Today the weather was back the way that Winter Texans like it: sunny in the afternoon with a high over 80 degrees.

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More C-2

Today was our second C-2 lesson. We had five couples. Jan and Steve had hoped to make it, but they ran into delays and didn't leave the hospital after Jan's endoscopy until 12:30 p.m., at which point she was HUNGRY! The two new couples were Anne and Blair (from Canada) and Tim and Gayle (from Florida).

Randy started over again, this time using Darryl's teaching order, which he handed out. Most of the calls taught today were new, but a couple were repeats from last week which are beginning to sound familiar. The real toughie was a new concept: once removed. I kind of thought I understood it, but now I'm totally confused. I trust that things will become clearer with practice.

Tonight we went to Darryl's C-1. Steve and Jan were there, but Hardy and Judy were not. We missed Jean and the guys too. We did still have eight squares plus two couples sitting out. I tried wearing the new shoes I ordered online, again, hoping that maybe the problems I had with them last time were a fluke. No such luck. By the second tip my hip was aching. They'll have to go back.


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New Phones!

When we started our walk this morning, the sky was pretty much covered with light, fluffy white clouds. By the time we finished, the sun had burned most of the cloud cover off, and we had taken our jackets off.

We danced twice today. This afternoon we danced to Jerry Story. We had eight squares on the floor and lots of fun dancing, but we missed our friends. Steve and Jan had medical appointments. Tonight they picked us up for Joe’s dance, where we again had eight squares (but only after Mike Hall came to be the 32^nd dancer). Steve was really tired, but he toughed it out until the end of the dance.

In between the two dances we went to the Verizon store, where we took the plunge. We signed up for a new two-year contract and got new phones. I got an iPhone 5s, and Ken got a Galaxy S4. We’ll be spending some time learning how to use them.

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Mall Walking

We started our morning  by going mall walking. We've been walking at Home Depot or Lowes when it's too cold (for us) to walk outside, but this morning we decided to try the mall, which our friends have told us about. We got there about 9:00 a.m., an hour before the stores opened, and there were few other walkers, so it was easy to walk somewhat briskly.

We got to see all the store window displays and the decorations and stuff in the open areas. We haven't actually been in the corridors of this mall before, so we had plenty of things to notice, which does slow us down a bit. I couldn't resist taking a photo of this enormous bank of gumball machines.

After our walk we went over to the Verizon store to check out our options. We thought we wanted to change to a senior 2-line share plan, but the sales/tech person convinced us we'd be better off keeping our current plan and taking the promotional 6 Gigabytes of data per line for exactly the same price we're paying for our unlimited data.

But wait--how is that a deal? We're both eligible for new phones, but we can't get them without a new two-year contract. Ken's Galaxy S has been causing him problems, so he's really wanted a new phone for a while. He's looking to get the new Galaxy S4. I'll trade in my iPhone 4 on a new iPhone 5s. We have to back up all our data before trading the old phones in.

Tonight we picked up Steve and Jan to go to the next concert in the Community Concert series, the DePue Brothers Band. They describe their music as "grassical"--a combination of American roots music and classical. They put on an extremely enjoyable show, with humor, energy, and talent to spare.

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Cold Spell

We hate to complain. The rest of the country is locked in bitter cold, and the worst we are expecting is a possible freeze tonight with 80% chance of sleet/rain (but "Little or no snow accumulation expected"). But we are not like the residents of Milwaukee, whose mayor was interviewed on the news tonight. She said they were tough and prepared for wintry conditions. We're not tough--we're wimps, and this weather sure feels cold to us!

Meanwhile we are hoping that our family members in the really cold areas are staying safe and warm. Sam KIK'ed me earlier to say that they are off school today and tomorrow because of snow days in Atlanta! I remember how overjoyed we were when our elementary school closed due to snow. A whole day off school to play in the snow!

We tried to do battle with AT&T over the DSL issue today, but our phone calls got us no more real information than before. Verizon has a limited number of DSL lines available, and they're all in use. We just have to check back regularly.... Bummer. We've been tearing our hair out over our slow and unreliable Verizon wireless signal (well, technically Ken doesn't have any to tear out, but you get the picture). Today we signed up for three days of the local WiFi distributor, LinkNGo. Turns out it's even worse!

Meanwhile, we are also looking into changing our Verizon Wireless cell service. We've been reluctant to give up our unlimited data plans (no longer available, but we're grandfathered in), but Ken really wants one of the newest smartphones, so we're checking into our options. One thing we found is that we're eligible for Verizon's special plans for seniors. Meanwhile, Ken is researching smartphones. We stopped at a Verizon counter today, but it turns out you have to go to an actual Verizon store. The nearest is in McAllen, so we'll probably check that out tomorrow. Read more!

Happy Birthday, Terri!

Today is my wonderful daughter's birthday. Wish she were here so I could make her a cake and celebrate in person, but it was great to have her visit before Christmas.

We decided to sleep in this morning and skip breakfast with our friends. We have a lot to do. Ken ordered some flowers for his sister and got off a card to her. We took some lemons up to the clubhouse to offer for free--but our box joined another one that was already there. We gave John some oranges when he came over to borrow one of our long handled brushes to clean his rig.

On our walk around Green Gate Grove today, we spotted these critters all bundled up, trying to stay warm, like the rest of us.

The winds have gathered strength here today. They get under the slide toppers and really make some noise sometimes.

I finally talked with Terri later today, after playing phone tag for a while (her phone was evidently not ringing). She’ll be going back to Tokyo on January 14, and Molly will be going with her. Molly will take a couple of online courses during spring semester and return to school at Arlington next fall. We got a chatty email from Kelley this evening--always good to hear from her. It sounds like she's doing well, except that she's bored with her job and needs to find a new one.

Downton Abbey Season Four started tonight, with a special two-hour program. Great excitement! We are really hooked. Read more!

Romaine

 We found out today that Ken's sister, Romaine, has entered a hospice in Muskegon. Although we have been expecting this since she found out that her ovarian cancer had returned and spread, it was still saddening news. We actually found out when Romaine's daughter-in-law Tamra posted the news on Facebook. It took some detective work to find up to date contact information for Romaine's kids. Gordon's daughter, Shellie, had phone numbers. Ken finally talked with Romaine, who sounded in good spirits. She likes the hospice. All of her kids were in the room with her.

This evening Jan and Steve issued a spur of the moment invitation to come over to play "silly games." Jean's daughter was out for the evening with her friend, so Jean joined us. We played Wizard and Farkel. We had never played Wizard before, but it seemed a lot like Twinkle, a card game my mom liked a lot.

Today was a windy day, but mild and sunny enough that we made it to the hot tub for a bit. We also attended a brief presentation by a dermatologist on the various types of skin cancer and their symptoms and causes. We got mini screenings an advice to schedule an appointment, which we have been planning to do anyhow.

While we were out walking today, one of our neighbors stopped to talk. She said that she lives in lot 385 but had seen us at Bentsen Palm Village and has been a regular blog reader. We're always surprised to find that other people are interested in our travels. Read more!

Sunshine

Today was a sunny day for a change. The gang went to Mexico, but we skipped this time. Ken had an appointment with Dr. Alhalel's P.A. to get a referral for a colonoscopy. We had to wait quite a while. The office was stressed because their computer systems were down.

This evening we watch an old movie, Madame Curie, starring Greer Garson and Walter Pidgeon. It was interesting, but hardly realistic. In fact it was rather quaint. The art of film making has come a long way! Read more!

Learning C-2

Today was our first C-2 lesson. That's Challenge 2, the next level of square dancing after C-1 (Challenge 1), which is what we are dancing now. Randy is having the lessons on Thursday afternoons in the Pharr South Activity Building. We had four couples of students: Dick and Mary Ann Drake, Carl and Jo Beth Dausch, Steve and Jan Spaulding, and us. We're hoping to have more couples join us, especially once Darryl starts his lessons on January 11.

Steve and Jan were a few minutes late because of a doctor appointment, but Mike and Bonnie filled in until they arrived. Randy taught several new calls, but explained that he would be repeating them next week so that he and Darryl could be in sync. Our heads were spinning.

This evening we danced to Darryl. We had seven squares, including lots of new folks. Tom and Annemarie were there, wearing their Aladdin badges. They've bought a house there, so I guess we can expect to see more of them this winter.

We spent some time today organizing the shed and the Christmas stuff, but we're not finished. Always more to do. Read more!

Dancing into the New Year

We started the new year off right today by dancing to Jerry Story this afternoon and Joe Saltel this evening. Both dances had four squares plus, and we had a lot of fun. Some of the Canadian couples have arrived. We're glad to see and dance with them again.

After Jerry's dance, we walked around El Valle del Sol, just for a change of scenery. It's okay, but nowhere near as nice as Greengate Grove.

This morning we watched the Rose Parade. What lovely floats! Very impressive, and the commentators were charming. We were especially impressed by the African Safari float and the little green men arriving from outer space! The bands were terrific too.

We've decided to skip the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade from now on. We're disappointed to see that it's turned into a series of ads for New York shows and such. Pasadena certainly looked bright and cheerful with sunshine and temperatures in the 70s.

We watched part of the Rose Bowl too, even though Michigan wasn't in it. It was Stanford against Michigan State. Read more!