Backing Waaaayyyyy Up

To before we left for our trip, we had an early Christmas at Lenny and Kelly's. Christmas really is about kids and it was fun this year to make and shop for our girl's gifts....Grandma and Grandpa Claus were pretty busy this year.
Julia seemed to like the chair that Grandma made for her

And yes Bugsy you were right....

Julia and Grandpa spent some time laughing

Tigger sitting under the tree made a great picture
Len and Kel put on one heck of a spread. There was shrimp lasagna rolls, stuffed mushrooms, mahi tuna (is that right Kel), beef something or other and yummy jalapeno sausage wraps. It was all very good. This picture is so not for you to look at the people but at the table of food!
Auntie Kelly gave Julia a 'build Elmo' Leggo kit. Her and Julia put together one evil looking Elmo...well Kelly put it together and Julia watched wondering what in the heck she was doing to her favorite Elmo!
After all of the gifts were opened Julia ran around with an empty bag on her arm...tell me again why we buy all of that stuff for little ones when they are just as happy with an empty bag :)
It was a fun day, thanks a ton Len and Kel for the hospitality.
Next post will be back on the trip track again.

Getting Caught Up

Well we made it safely to Texas yesterday and pulled into an RV park just south of Fort Worth. It was a balmy 40 degrees and was windy but we were warm and comfortable in our little home. Once settled David and I took a trip were....well to Walmart of course to pick up a few groceries. We all (dogs included) got a good night's sleep and are now on our way to the Bellville area where Ryan lives.
As we drive we both just shake our heads wondering why...why do so many Minnesotans come to Texas for the winter (sorry Ry). We have never really been big fans of Texas, there just is not much to see or it seems to do. Unless you are in a development area or a large town the terrain just is well it is not that pretty...in our opinion. We did however just pass an old wooden place that had hand painted road signs advertising that they had soda, groceries etc. Once we got close to the 'store' I could see that they had a smoker going outdoors and I bet they served fabulous food. Those are the sort of places that we like to explore.
So we look forward to spending time with Ry and we wonder what kind of adventures we may find ourselves in:) I may have to eat my words in regards to not being a big fan of Texas after our Ryan time!

The Joys Of Traveling With Dogs

We made it to Topeka Kansas last night. Finally got out of the crappy road conditions after Iowa...that was not fun. Anyway, when we hit Kansas it was still 15 degrees or so with a low of -5 that night. David thinks...well we can turn the heat on in the camper and it will be fine. I on the other hand think that we will look for a pet friendly hotel. I won. We stayed in a flea bag (Mikey you would not have liked it at all) place in Topeka. Price was right, we had a shower and walked to Arbeys for supper. Our wonderful little Peeko, who has to have the exact right spot to poop, had not yet found that spot the entire day. He had not found the spot by the time we settled into our flea bag. At 3am he pawed me for about the third time. Knowing that he had to poop David took him out and we decided to hit the road since we were awake. So here we are on the road...yes Jan driving in the dark. We are on the lookout for deer. I have not had coffee yet and my Blackberry will not turn on....crabby......but this too shall pass. And by the by...it seems to be getting colder the farther south we get. When we left Topeka it was a whopping 11 degrees. After almost an hour on the road it is now 7 degrees.

I know you have probably already seen the pink glove dance. But it is so damned good that it bears watching again.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEdVfyt-mLw

And We Are Off

We left the Leonard hotel this morning at around 8am. We wanted to see Julia off to school before we got on the road. When I get a chance to download the pictures from our early Christmas I will post another entry then. But now I just wanted to say..........SHHHHHIIIIITTTTTT.
We had not even gotten to Waseca when we did a little fishtail due to the icey roads. Did another little one a bit farther on. We stopped for a much needed stop some damned place in Iowa for fuel and a bite to eat. We are now on the iciest god damned road that we have hit yet. Cars in the ditch all over the place and people still passing us like crazy. The winds are horrible and the snow is blowing and I am a bit freaked out but am not trying to show it. Poor David..... After we left our pit stop we hit a damned ice patch in an over patch that was windy and pure ice...we almost biffed it totally as well as wiped out the car that was in the left lane of us but good ole David pulled us out of it.
K, closing the computer down and am going to try to be calm :) We'll get out of this damned state yet we will!

Northern Minnesota deer hunters say they caught Bigfoot on camera | Grand Forks Herald | Grand Forks, North Dakota

As my friend Bugsy wonders....are we feeding this guy? Or perhaps is he watching our place this winter while we are gone? The supposed Bigfoot sighting is very near where we live. And I have been afraid of the bear! Our bear are nothing compared to this fella (or gal) :)


Northern Minnesota deer hunters say they caught Bigfoot on camera | Grand Forks Herald | Grand Forks, North Dakota

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It's December

And this is how it is supposed to look in December in Minnesota.But not in Texas...especially when we are heading there in a week. Ryan has been ordered to assure that all of the snow is gone by then :) The picture is from Ry who took it I am sure just to needle me.

The last time that we were at the Leonard hotel we had a game or two of Wii bowling. David 'got into it' so much that we all wondered if he was going to go through the TV!
It seems that Julia was concerned about it as well with this look on her face!
Julia decided that she too should bowl. When it was Grandma's turn, in my arms she went and bowl we did. She had so much fun that the next day she ran around with the Wii remote saying, "bow, bow". Too cute.
And now that she is walking all over the place she thinks that she can pick up and carry the cats. Gotta give her points for trying. The cats are actually pretty patient with her and she has learned to be gentle with them as well.This coming weekend we have an early Christmas at the Leonard hotel and then off to points south we head.

On This Day Of Thanksgiving

I am thankful for so many things. For the first time that I can remember I woke up on Thanksgiving day and my first thoughts were of the things that I am thankful for. There are so very many things, too many to actually list but here are a few in no particular order. As I looked through my many pictures tears came to my eyes realizing what a rich life that I have had. It is not to be taken for granted.

As Lenny was growing up I knew and liked his many friends. As they became adults I was able to keep in contact with those friends and for this I am grateful as well because they are all wonderful adults. I am also thankful for the friendship that I have been able to develop with Lenny's Dad and his bonus mom Alisa...it was a long time comin but life is much better this way.This one is a tough one because I miss her so but I am thankful for having had my mom as long as I did. She passed much too early in our lives but the impact that she made will never ever be forgotten. Damn it I miss you mom and sometimes life is just not fair. Anyway....Mom gave me some great memories
From Isla Mujeres Mexico

To Ambergis Caye Belize
And Jamaica
She loved to travel with us as much as we loved having her. She was one of a kind.

I am thankful for our family and our grand kids. I so enjoyed raising Lenny, adding my bonus kids(Ry and Rachel) and their spouses to my life and now am thankful for the ability to have our grand babies as well. What a joy they are.



For my constant four legged companions who love me unconditionally

I am thankful for our ability to have worked hard all of our lives which then gave us the joy of purchasing and building our little slice of heaven.
And where we are able to enjoy views like this daily




I am thankful for my very good friends. I so love you guys and my life would not be as rich were it not for you all.





And mostly I am so very thankful for my husband who has been with me and supported me through many difficult times. The most recent being my many hair changes which of course was due to chemo treatments which were necessary due to my breast cancer.....which we beat.
And now David and I are about to embark on another much awaited journey. When we began thinking about this our friends Mikey and Jan were 5 years from this goal and David and I were 8 years from it. Three years ago Mikey and Jan began the journey of traveling full time in their motorhome. During those three years it was their job to 'get the bugs out' so that when we went on the road it would be smooth sailing. It seems that they have gotten many of the bugs out and we cannot wait to join them. We will not be full-timers we will be well I guess third timers:) And I am very thankful to have this opportunity to travel with my husband in our 5th wheel living life on the road for a few months.
Happy Thanksgiving to you all. May your day be blessed and filled with good turkey, stuffing and all of the trimmings...yummm.

A New Controversial Medical Recommendation

A team of experts have now found that women under 50 who are not 'at risk' do not need mammograms and those over 50 only once every two years. At risk is typically a person (I say person because men can and do get breast cancer) who has a direct relative-parent or sibling- that has had breast cancer or who has the breast cancer gene). WTF......I was 48 when I was diagnosed and I am not an 'at risk' person. Had I not had my mammogram that found my breast cancer I would not be here today. My cancer is one of the most aggressive and fast growing ones there is...I would not be here. They say that mammography causes too many false positives. I had a false positive many years ago, a benign lump in the very same breast of my cancer years later. I have no problem 'putting up with' an extra test to prove it is a false positive as opposed to not being able to have a test that will prove a positive and save my life.
The real concern here is of course that because of this new study and recommendations mammograms will no longer be covered under insurance for those under 50.
So apparently Dr Susan Love is one of the experts that came up with the new recommendations. She is a very well known and respected breast cancer expert. When I was diagnosed I was given her book by friends Mikey and Jan and found it very informative. I guess that I am really surprised by her thoughts now. However she is saying that we need to find a new test that is more reliable. I agree with that but man oh man do not downplay the only test that we have available to us UNTIL we find another method of detection....ahhhhhh. I wonder if how many of these twits making this decision have had breast cancer......crabby, makes me crabby.
I am going out on a limb here....go ahead no more mammograms for those under 50.....and what the hell, don't have your flu shots or immunize your children (another controversial thing in the news.) and we might as well have all of the old time diseases come back and take us all.....I know I know there are friends of mine that do not believe in immunizing themselves but I care about you and I say get your shots.
My next post will be more upbeat I promise and I may even add a few pictures :)

Yup It Was My Birthday

And a nice day it was. Along with all of the birthday wishes that I received (when you all have a birthday don't let Mikey and Jan know as they just may flex their vocal pipes on your answering machine....and it is ear splitten!) there were a few very fitting cards and a nice day spent with David. We took a long drive on the WoodTick Trail my camera in tow...not a shot to be had however...to Hackensak for breakfast. David got by pretty good as it was Veteran's Day and he got his breakfast free. Later the dogs and I took a long walk in our woods and then David and I headed for the casino for supper and a little table play. Nope Ry we didn't play Texas Hold-Em that night but we did play three card poker and came out of the place $125 ahead....see Mikey and Jan we won two times in a row. Still way better than your jobs :)
I do have to share a gift that I received from a good friend of mine who has a great sense of humor...Karen. I opened this up and laughed until I cried. The only thing better is if it would be on a T-shirt!Opening of deer hunting just wasn't the best, for David anyway. Lenny shot himself a nice doe Saturday morning and unless David gets something this weekend it will be the big skunky poo for him. The first time since we have been together that he has not gotten a deer...IF he doesn't get one this weekend! The excuse has been, the full moon so the deer run all night, the weather is too warm it messes up the rut. OK ok so all of this is true but really David.
While David and Lenny spent the days in the woods I spent the days in the house with Kelly and Julia. That little girl talks constantly and is all over the place. She does listen to no no however and I didn't have to put much of anything up out of her reach. Momma sort of cringed when Grandma 'helped' Julia climb up on the back of the couch to look out the window with Peeko. I can't wait for the days of, 'What happens at Grandma's stays at Grandma's'. David and I would have all three of the girls spoiled rotten and have a blast doing so.
So again, thanks for all of the birthday wishes.

The Hunt Is On

It is the season opener and it is just not right. The temp is 54 degrees, the sun is shinning and the grass is green! Deer hunting is supposed to be danged cold with snow covered ground! Hey I'm not complaining but the hunters may be. This warm weather makes it difficult to track a deer that has been shot and it just messes with their regular rutting patterns.
Len, Kel and Julia arrived Thursday night. On Friday morning David and Lenny took a drive to scope out an alternate hunting spot and to check for signs of deer at that spot. They had not been gone 30 minutes when Kel spotted a nice doe in our back yard. I saw a second doe run through the woods and a bit later there was a nice buck drinking out of the pond. After he left another buck came through the back yard obviously after a doe. I got the binoculars out and saw that his neck was quite thick and he was...well he was salivating...I am sure that there is a hunting term for it but what do I know!
Here is the first buck that we saw.
And of course this morning neither Dave nor Lenny saw a single deer. Dave says he spooked some out of their beds when he was going to his stand but do we believe him???
Since the day was gorgeous yesterday we all took a walk in the woods (the season started today so we were safe in the woods:) Julia loved the woods and would have preferred to walk without holding onto daddy. Here is Julia peeking around a tree at grandma.

And here she is trying her walking legs out on our driveway with a good tight grip on the leaf.
More later with a better deer report...we hope.