Hola From Isla

The weather is better than expected, the water is blue, the sand is white, the company is of course fabulous and the digs are good!




Here we are in the land of relaxation. It was a long day of traveling...well not really but we were up at 2am to get to the airport by 3:30am. First things first-

A nap on the beach

This year we are trying something new, staying right in the heart of downtown. The price cannot be beat, very close to the beach and even closer yet (right out our front door) to the resturants and shopping.

David sitting outside our little hacienda last night. I had to watch my feet when taxi went by....the roads are very narrow and I almost got a foot run over!

The inside of our little room. Kitchenette, living area and a small patio out back.

And Mikey guess what the very first thing we did today was???? No trip is complete without a trip to Walmart. David wants me to let you know Mikey that getting to Walmart cost us $40! Ferry to Cancun, taxi to Walmart, taxi back and ferry back to the island. I wont even talk about the money that we dropped there! We were like two kids in a candy store shopping for the deals. We plan on eating out less this year and cooking more in our room. So Walmart was sort of necessary...I guess.

Looks yummy doesnt it? Fried shrimp, garlic butter and steamed beans.

All made in the comforts of our room.

More updates to come from paradise.

A special hello to Judy Faye.

Dave and Bobbi

When Your Doctor Calls You At Home On A Sunday!

It makes you a tad bit nervous.

My oncologist called this afternoon......I did manage to get, "Hello" out but then immediatly said...."What, what's wrong"! I mean come on it is Sunday for one thing...can't be good news can it? Did the bloodwork show some additional problems? Did they find something else on the chest X-ray?

Why no, absolutly not. Very good news in deed. My type of cancer is hormone fed. The treatments that they gave was intended to throw me into menopause in order to stop those crazy hormones that cause cancer in my case. That wonderful man called to tell me that I am oficially in full menopause (it just took a little longer than was hoped) which is very very good in regards to being less likely to have the cancer return.

That is not to say that I need to stop watching etc...but it is one more hurdle that we have scaled.

When Your Doctor Calls You At Home On A

February Is A Busy Month

It is the month that Rachel was born, on this very day....just a few years ago...haha.

Happy brithday to you Rachel.

You are a wonderful mom and we are proud of all that you have accomplished.

You stand by what you believe in and we respect you for that.

I wonder if you fully realize how special you are.

Have a great day Rachel.

Dad and Bobbi

Happy Happy Birthday

To a soon to be new Daddy...and of course my wonderful son.

As always Lenny we are proud of the man that you have become.

May you continue to have a good life.....AND LOTS OF BABIES!

Have a wonderful day.

Love you lots.

Pictures Pictures!!!!

Kelly's email to me

Well guess they were correct on the due date. Seems as though I am 8 weeks and 2 days along so looking at 9/22 or 9/23 as the due date. There are 2 pictures. The first is just the general external ultrasound picture which is really hard to see. The little bugger is just a few centimeter. The doctor also mentioned that I have a tilted uterus that I already knew about. That is why it looks a bit narrow but that is ok, no reason to worry. The second picture is where they captured the heartbeat. We could actually see the motion and hear the heartbeat which was strong and in the normal range. Now you have pics to add to the blog!!!!

And the pictures to go with it.

So this is how Kelly explained it to me....there is a dark oblong area on top and under that is a round looking shape. Inside of that is a halfmoon darker shape. INSIDE of that is another lighter colored shape. The lighter colored shape is the baby!

September 23rd is Kelly's birthday!

Kelly has given me permission to blog the progress as she is not a good blogger she so says...I guess if you work on computers all day the last thing you want to do when off work is futz with them huh? So I am of course happy to oblige.

This is much more fun to talk about than what I was going to share today...but I will share it anyway. Doctor appointment went well as expected (never mind the fact that I passed out while having blood drawn!!!) and I go back again in four months.

Two babies in September.....well who knows that is considering Jen or Kel doesnt have multiples...just kidding none expected but ya never know! Little Dezbah will have cousins to boss around! Family reunions at the cabin in the fall.....how fun.

Borrowed From Another 'Supporter's' Blog

Thanks Jan

Pretty good huh Ry?

Valentie's Day

Is not only for all of you sweeties out there but it is also my pop's day of birth.

Happy birthday to you dad.

AND it is the day that my David and I celebrate making the long and ever so boring trip to South Dakota (great drive wasnt it kids and Mary???) to get married. The drive may have been boring but the wedding was just exactly the right price and absolutly no stress.

Happy 16th anniversary to my soul mate. I am thankful for you every day of my life.
Love you

Bobbi

Oh and today is also the day for me to have my checkup with my oncologist. I am expecting a glowing report this check up and all of the others to come!

And He Says That I Can't Keep A Secret!

Made a liar out of you Lenny. I have been able to keep quiet for over a month now!

It seems that my Dad will be a Great Grandad this year!

Yup Len and Kel are expecting their first baby. It may in fact come on Kelly's own birthday if calculations are correct-end of September.

Needless to say they are excited as are we.....HEY that means that I will be a biological grandma...woo whooo.

Chrissy, tell Lisa that she was right. We were at pool one night and the waitress wanted to know if Kel was pregnant because she 'Had that look in her eye'! Both Kel and I almost fell off of our chairs.

2008 just keeps getting more exciting.

Get Off The Roads

Cuz I'm back on them as of today! Finally got my driving privileges back. I feel like a new person.....one really takes the privilege of driving for granted.

So thanks to all of my recent chauffeur's. Without you I would have become a hermit.

Stay warm.

They Say No News Is Good News

I so disagree!

David still has not yet heard a date, and he may not for a month or so.....we are so antsy. It's hard to stop ourselves from boxing stuff up and MOVING.

And I am still not a driver! The paperwork is apparently making it's way through the system.

Ah I say again...state bureaucracy...gotta love it.

However, this is where we will be in just a few short weeks. I guess life isnt too bad huh?

It's Amazing How Things Can Change So Quickly!

Do you see these two smiling faces? They are the faces of two people who just found out that the north land will be home sooner than we expected.

The events as they have progressed-

We ALWAYS go north on Memorial weekend. This year, for some reason however we decided to stay home and have a garage sale with our neighbor who has a successful one every year. The thinking was it would be a good idea to start getting rid of stuff so that it isn't so overwhelming when we retire in a year.

I have been cleaning and purging 'stuff' for about a month just to get a start. David planned on doing the garage as soon as we return from Mexico. We've been collecting boxes to put stuff in.

Our neighbor told a co-worker at work the other day, "I better get David to do this for me before he leaves"...thinking she has a year for him to work on the project.

Last week David calls me saying that he would be able to get an MOU. An MOU is a process that allows state workers whose jobs are at risk because their facility is closing down to maintain a job at another facility as long as there is a person who is wanting to quit early. It is a very complicated process but that is the gist of it. The very very best part is...well other than he is able to retire a year early...is that our health insurance is paid (except for a very small portion that we would have to pay) until David is 65. At which time he would get Medicare and I would be able to continue on the state insurance by paying my premium. He will have to take a penalty in his retirement draw for retiring early but the insurance piece of it well outways the retirement reduction.

David called the person who is losing his job at the closing facility. Yup he is very interested in taking David's job.....

David talks to his bosses asking their support of which they will give fully.

Now we wait and see once the MOU 'bidding' process is completed.

Today we went to our retirement person to see what sort of money we will be drawing IF this should happen sooner than Feb 1 2009. Not too bad we say, we can live on that in the north land.

On our way home David receives a call from a fellow co-worker. Jeff gave David a number that he was supposed to call...and Jeff then said, "Congratulations I bet your excited". I don't think David caught that last statement from Jeff but I sure did. My thought was that the caller had told Jeff what he was calling about and the number just happens to be the same area code where the closing facility is at.

David is excited I can tell by the look on his face. But does he call the person back immediately...NO. He decides that five more minutes is not going to matter so we pull into the tire shop so he can get his new tires. I about burst at the seams for goodness sake! And Mikey you wont believe this...he gets back in the car, starts driving home and he FORGOT that he was suppose to call this guy!

Why yes the person is the guy who wants David's job and he is going to take it........oh my god oh my god! Neither one of us can hardly believe it.

Now David reminds me that something could still happen where by it will not be this soon.....so we are still keeping everything we own crossed and hope that you all will do the same for us.

I CANNOT BELIEVE IT!!!!!!

Yet Another Reason To Celebrate 2008!

Our Corpus Christi Texas kids are expecting their first baby! The Woelpern clan grows.

Will it be a boy

Or a girl

Or perhaps one of each!

Congratulations Ry and Jen.

Jan, This One's For You!

We spotted this on one of our north land drives this past week......

Happy New Year everyone. 2008 marks the last year of his reign. Nuff said.

Christmas In The Northland

Our first 'real' Christmas alone in the north land was quite relaxing.

David plowed snow as I sat by the campfire!

Making deer jerky...yummm it turned out very tasty too.

And of course looking for deer, can you see them in the woods?

And an abandoned barn in the winter wonderland

One only knows what excitement we will find ourselves in on New Year's Eve!

By the way, I am STILL not a driver....danged state bureaucracy

A Beautiful Winter Wonderland

This is what we woke up to this morning after a night of snow in the north land

Very pretty.

However our friends Mikey and Jan who point their motorhome AWAY from the snow probably think we are nuts to head north into the snow.....but it is beautiful.

An Early Christmas

Our blended families got together

For a fun day of cards-

Guess who ended up as 'The Biggest Loser'- in cards that is-as he leaves the table to pout

Gift sharing-

Santa's little helper-

Tackla loves to open presents-

Do we think he actually likes the hat I made for him or is that his typical smart ass grin?

Dezbah on the rocking horse that David (and I even though it was a small part) made for her as a keepsake. Rachel is a wonderful mom.

In fact I/we made most of our gifts this year from the rocking horse to many knitted items, personalized picture trays and my own gift bags! It was fun doing it but next year I know to start much earlier.

The four generations-oh and Peeko too

The proud Grandpa

And my 'three' generations-

Pop

Lenny and his wife Kelly

And me

Oh wait a minute that isn't me...or is it...

It was a nice day with lots of fun and of course some fabulous food. We missed Ryan and Jen and Dezbah's dad Melvin but they were thought of to be sure.

Off to the north land David and I go to spend the actual day of Christmas just the two of us and our dogs.

Happy holidays to you all and a very bright and happy new year.

David and Bobbi

I Passed!!!!!

With flying colors. I do not yet have my driving privileges back. The statement from the doc that says I am now physically fit to drive, will be faxed to DMV today and then we have to wait for DMV to get it through their bureaucratic paperwork...but hey, at least I am now physically fit (to drive anyway)!





It just so happened that the instructor and I hung out at the same establishments back in our day as I found out when we passed two of those establishments and me being who I am said, "I used to spend a lot of time there in my day". He laughed and said that so did he in fact we were probably there at the same time! That broke the ice.

Sharing a picture taken yesterday of the creek behind our house. The trees full of beautiful frozen mist.

The Week Studying

Nope I didn't go back to school....I have been studying to retake my behind the wheel driving test.

Did you know that we now are supposed to drive with our hands at either 8 and 4 or 9 and 3 as opposed to the old school 10 and 2? With about 35 years worth of building sloppy driving habits the test next Monday should be interesting.

No no no I didn't get a DUI (can you imagine me drinking much less drinking and driving...scary!). It seems that the docs are concerned about my dementia and concentration in regards to my driving skills. My doc reported to the DMV that I was no longer physically fit to drive (all of a sudden now after having driven for a year or so after chemo) and to prove I am safe I need to take the behind the wheel test again. She also wanted me to re-do the cognitive testing to assure that I havent gotten worse...David and Lenny you shush I sure don't need your help here...LOL...but I talked her out of it..too expensive.

It feels a little strange to not be able to run to town for milk etc. Poor David has a honey do list a mile long and most of it involves hauling my butt here and there.

The test is Monday at 8am. Gees I get a bit panicked when I think of it even now! And after I have passed it (yes damn it I am going to pass!) I then have to go to the doc with the passing paper, she needs to write a letter to the DMV stating that I am now physically fit to drive, and THEN we wait for the DMV to get to my case and issue a letter saying that I now have driving privileges again. It could be another month or more!

You know, I have to laugh about it...doesn't pay to be pissed..yet anyway...

Chauffeur can you come get me please.

Fa la la la la la la la la

The Perfect Charlie Brown Christmas Tree

During the last couple of trips to the north land the dogs and I spent a lot of time in our woods searching for the perfect tree to bring home. There were a few to choose from but I think we got the perfect one. And here it is from beginning to end.

No that isn't what's his name from the Texas Chainsaw Massacre movie....although with that look on his face (he is a bit of a scrooge) one wonders!!!

Here my lumberjack is happily sawing away!

Out of the woods my tree comes.

Decorated with things that were also gathered from our woods

Leaves and cranberries (OK so I bought the cranberries!)

Pine cones

Birch bark

And a home-made tree topper.

Yup, the perfect Charlie Brown tree! Wouldn't you all agree...Lenny you shush!

The REAL Great White Hunter

So I have been reminded by two people now that I have not blogged in a while...meant to but you know how it goes!

Anyway, a picture of the REAL great white hunter and it sure doesn't look like David.

We had our first measurable snow fall while we were north and the dogs and I had a blast putting this guy together while David was in the woods. He melted the very next day though...not David...the other hunter.

This is how you get a deer out of the woods when your 4-wheeler has been stolen and your too old and achy to drag the big boy out!

David got the 7 point buck on the morning of my birthday. a very nice present in deed. This fella was harvested on our land...sorry Mikey and Jess.

We are now home and patiently waiting to go back.

Hunting Report

Well the weather was great, the company wonderful and the harvest pretty good!



Lenny and Kelly joined us and the Draegers/Fenskes were in the north land as well. Thus far David has won the money for our annual biggest buck contest much to Lenny and Steve's dismay!

Here is a picture of the beauty that we captured on our stealth cam. This shot is our resident buck scenting a rub right on the corner of our woods

He is still safely in our woods as David saw his track last night. He and his does are busy marking the trails in our woods. Needless to say, David didn't get his deer in our woods but in a public woods else where. That should make you happy huh Jess?

And here is David's big boy. The biggest deer he says he has ever gotten. Lenny was able to put his body inside the spread of the rack.

And here he is hanging beside the much smaller first deer that David got.

We are here the rest of this week and so enjoying ourselves. Can you believe that David left his tools at home so that he wouldn't do any work! Sounds like a good week to me.

More from the north land the next time I get to town for supplies!