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You all know about "that road".

I had great intentions but alas, I failed.  "That road" is the proverbial road to hell which is paved quite nicely.

I'm gonna try to start this again when we leave in a few weeks for our annual  spring birding outing.

Stay tunned...I say with all the enthusiasm I can muster.

Whew...I'm tired.

And I have good reason to be. I was up at 5 again this morning but Judy beat me to the coffee making this morning. I must admit, her coffee this morning was better than mine yesterday.

I read my newspapers on line this morning and was out before sunrise washing the motorhome. It may have been cool but boy the humidity was tough. Makes a fat boy sweat. I started to call my buddy Wayne and let him know I was sweating enough for both of us but decided I really didn't want to hear about him having to use the heat pump in the mornings.

I finished up the maintenance I wanted to get done on the beast, thats what I call her when I have to wash and work on her, and was pretty much finished by noon. I sure can get a lot more done when I don't laze around in bed till all hours of the morning.

Judy is cleaning or should I say sanitizing the house before we leave so I'm kind of laying low, you know like staying out of the way. I gave Roxie a bath and for a dog that will find a mud hole to romp in or a lake to swim in I have to sneak up with the leash when I get the shampoo and towels . Crazy dang dog that I love.

We only have three things left to do. Attend church in the morning to honor God. One last stop for fresh vegetables at Krogers. Take Roxie to my sons. I dreamed about her last night and I know I will miss her but she will be happier...I hope. I bet you anything she is laying under the motorhome in the dirt right now and she just had a bath. Oh well, at least she smells good.

Next post will be from the road where we will be chasing fall. I'll post pictures during our adventure so you can get an idea of the fall beauty we hope to find.

Oh my goodness. I almost forgot. We went for Mexican food last night as we're trying to get our fill cause its hard to find good tex-mex once you get away from Texas. They had a guy singing and he was really entertaining. I finally did it, took Judy by the hand and said "lets dance". She said "where?". I said "right here between the tables". We got a big round of applause both when we started and again when we stopped. Golly it was fun. Its too bad there are no places to go dancing anymore.

More from the road. Blessings to all...

Close does count in something other than horseshoes!

I can say that because we're getting closer to chasing fall.

I actually got up before Judy this morning. I woke up at 5 and tossed until 5:30 before I decided to get up and make coffee. I hate to tell you this but it was one of the few times I've made the coffee. Hey, I can't help it she gets up earlier than me. Of course I failed to put in enough coffee so it was a little weak. I don't think its a secret but Judy loves to get up early and sit in her chair in the living room praying. Its her special time of the the day and I always try to give her all the time she wants. Of course thats a perfect reason for me to stay in bed awhile longer but you know you can smell coffee just so long and then you gotta get up.

I made a quick trip to the country this morning just to check on things. Thanks be to God, no hog or armadillo damage. I pray that continues. I'm suppose to be getting a price for fencing around the house area to keep those suckers away but my fence builder apparently is a democrat and is getting enough welfare he doesn't need to work so I've not been able to get him to give me a price in three weeks. You know, he's busy not having to look for a job. Dang liberals. Maybe I should have been one and not worked so hard but then I'm not sure I would have the "stuff" I have today. Enough on the perils of being a believer in working for what you get.

We have the motorhome just about loaded. I may need to increase the air pressure in the tires to carry the additional weight we've added over the last week. Tomorrow is wash day. I know it will be Saturday and your first thought it was bath time for me...not. I have to wash the motorhome and this is the only time I refer to her as a beast. Thirty eight feet long and twelve feet tall and don't forget the roof. I estimate it would equal washing five Suburbans. I'll try to start soon after sun up. Any volunteers?

I guess thats about it for today.

Blessings to all...

Is today Thursday?

We are busy little beavers (oh boy is that a story in of itself) this week cleaning and packing the motorhome for our upcoming meandering around searching for fall.

We'll leave sometime Monday morning heading in a northeasterly direction because thats where we heard fall could be found. We are not going to make any reservations this trip, kind of a seat of our pants type trip I guess. Like I mentioned earlier, our friends Wayne and Earlene are trail blazing for us and said the campgrounds are not near capacity but then of course some of the places they stay wouldn't be busy most times of the year. Wayne did call yesterday from someplace in Mass. just to let me know he had washed his motorhome and never broke a sweat. Now Wayne is a big ole boy and usually breaks out in a sweat just thinking of work. That is really the only reason I'm Wayne bashing is because he called to brag about the temperature. Jerk! Don't worry, I'm not talking behind his back. I used much stronger words when he called.

This is big news. We aren't taking Roxie with us. Sniff, sniff. She has really gotten to the point she hates traveling or more factual, she hates being left alone in the motorhome all day while we're out having a good time. My son Mike agreed to keep her while we're gone. He has two daughters that love Roxie and it'll take us awhile to straighten her out once we get back cause she'll be spoiled rotten. Thats okay, they love her. Boy I'll sure miss her though.

Well my sweat has now dried so I need to get back at it. Judy is having lunch with her best friend (no not me) today and will leave me to continue continuing. I'll go get the oil changed in the toad, thats what we motorhome people call the vehicle you tow. I think it comes from the word "towed" but somehow the spelling got goofed up.

Before I go, will y'all pray with me for the United Sates? This country is in a world of hurt and like this little signs we see around..."Prayer is our only hope".

Blessings to all...

BIG MISTAKE ON MY PART!

I was doing okay with the blog this summer while touring Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio and other great states until I got those poems and then things really changed for me. I don't have a clue what but for sure I didn't want to write anymore. It wasn't until my grand daughter Ashlyn started sending me more stories she had written and asking me to send her some things I had written did I realize the importance of this blog. I went back and read many of them and realized it makes no difference if anyone other than me and Judy ever read them because I was reminded of things I had forgotten as I read through the stories so I decided I would be more diligent in writing on our next trip. That begins next Monday.

We are going to go find fall and some of those cooler days. Our friends Wayne and Earlene are blazing the trail for us. They left a couple weeks ago and the last I talked to them they were leaving Gettysburg headed to Massachusetts. High temps of mid sixties and of course Wayne had to rub it in that he has needed the heat pumps a few mornings. That's okay, we're not to far behind them.

Y'all stayed tuned if your interested in our fall trip. I hope Ashlyn enjoys reading it as much as I enjoy reading her stories.

Blessings to all...

Some clarification please

Please read the following:

Thanks for reading the letters. Lauren also wrote them. So you have to give her the credit as well. Hope to see you soon!

love you,
Ash

On Jun 25, 2010 10:50am, Jim Sims > wrote:
> Ash...did you really write the Persuasive Letters by yourself? It made me happy and it made me sad but most of all it made me glad to know how much you love the country.
>
> Love, Pops

Out of the mouths of babes...

We are in southeast Missouri at a full service campground adjacent to a small casino. $18/night and the washing machine in the motorhome hasn't stopped.

I wrote yesterday about one of my sons and his family are spending some time at the country place while we are out adventuring. Most of you know I have the place on the market but I needed to share three poems my 11 year old grand daughter e mailed me yesterday. She titled her e mail "Persuasions". In her own words...

Poem 1
The Country is our home,
The country is our life,
I’d like to bring my kids here when I’m a wife.
If you sell it,
If you leave it,
The Sims family with never forget it.
It was our childhood,
It was our playground,
It was many, many things.
But if you leave,
And never come back,
We definitely will put our memories in a sack.
We wrote this poem,
While hearing the birds coo,
We hope this poem will persuade you.

Poem 2
I recall the memories
Of making ourselves clowns,
I recall the memories
Of putting on the gown.
I recall the memories
Of you tucking us into bed,
I recall the memories,
“Don’t you love this house?” that is what you said.
And I recall the memories
Of looking at the new house.
When I saw the house,
Thoughts swirled in my mind,
Now when I look at the pasture
They’ll be easier to find.
The new house it cool,
The new house it tough,
The new house is leaving,
I’m guessing we’ll have to be tough.

Poem 3.
Different emotions mix in my heart
I’m guessing we’ll find a new place to have a new start.
Many things have happened
Past the many years,
Now when you are leaving the house,
All you’ll find are tears.
Tell me once again why you’re leaving it,
I honestly think I’ll miss it,
More than a little bit.
New things are coming,
We still have to be strong,
New challenges we’re facing,
Are going to be endless and long.
I hope this letter persuades you,
I know it does to me.
Tears will fall from my eyes,
When I never see the trees.

Nuff said...

Blessings to all and continue to pray for your friends and for our great country. And yes, I continue to believe its great, we're just going through some trials.

I'm tiried...

We left the beautiful Arkansas state park this morning and drove four hours because Chuck wants to stop often and I have to stop often...diuretics you know.

Yesterday we visited the "Village" which is a really neat place. Its a group of people that live in the same community, attend the same church and own various businesses in the "Village". First stop was a leather shop. Chuck and I visited with the proprietor for some time and learned the history of the "Village" while Judy and Maggie browsed the magnificent leather items he had for sale. Excuse me, Maggie browsed, Judy bought. One hat and one purse and actually it was very very reasonably priced. We also visited a taxidermy shop and oh my. It may the most unique taxidermy shop I've ever been too. They had all sorts of game mounted. Their ducks were unbelievable but the best was a white bobcat catching a white pheasant...awesome. Of course all these places have bakeries and this one was no different except for the egg custard pie. Judy bought one for dessert last night and I don't mind telling you, the two pieces I had were magnificent. The crust was awesome and the custard was well, custard except it was maybe the best I'd ever had and Mrs Sims (my mother) made a pretty awesome egg custard pie.

Now remember the subject of this post? I'm tired. I have a good excuse. I fixed breakfast this morning for the group. Of course Judy helped. Lets see, we had eggs, bacon, potatoes, bisquits and Edith's friend John's homemade blackberry jam. You see why I'm tired now don't you? Then I had to drive 190 miles...dang traveling anyway. Good to our plan, we stayed off the interstate and dad gone we saw some beautiful country. I never knew Arkansas raised as much rice as they do. There were miles and miles of rice paddies.

As a side note...one of my sons and his family is up at the country place for a few days. We got an e mail from the grand daughters telling us they had seen the little four point buck standing in the yard today. He has been hanging around for about three months now and will not run even when I yell and walk around near him. Silly dang deer. I keep telling him he is going to get his brains blown out this winter if he doesn't wise up.

Blessings to all of you and keep those you love and care about in your prayers.

On the road again....

I gotta get y'all up to date on the goings on we have going on.

Judy and I left Conroe late Saturday morning and drove up to Mansfield, TX to overnight with Chuck and Maggie at their house. What a friend. Chuck has full hook ups including 50 amp service and provided us with a steak dinner to boot.

We left around nine Sunday morning and drove to Hope, Ar, Bill Clinton's hometown and other than a huge sign out on the interstate we never saw another mention of him Maybe they are waiting for Monica to show up with some juicy gossip-or not. We over nighted in the city fairgrounds. We located two shady spots with lots and lots of room around and settled in for some relaxation. I guess it worked because I got so relaxed I can't remember doing much. I guess that's what we're supposed to be doing anyway.

The next morning I took Roxie for a walk through the woods and when I got to a large clearing I heard that call that could only be one thing and sure enough it was. There were two eagles soaring over head and one came gliding down within maybe 75 feet and landed in a dead tree. Seconds later the other followed and settled in a tree not far away. I have seen eagles several times and my heart still races each time. They are magnificent birds and always remind me of the courage and greatness of our nation. By the way...don't forget to pray for our country, its our only hope. Back to the eagles. I watched them for several minutes and decided to go get Judy as she's the real bird lover but by the time we got back they had left the area.

We loaded up and headed for Cane Creek state park in Star City. It was a beautiful drive (183 miles) as we are mainly going to stay off the major roads this trip to see more of the scenery.

We were all set up before noon and ready to sit out and enjoy the breeze blowing in from a 22,000 acre lake. Our side by side 90 feet long paved sites back up to the lake and we sit maybe 50 feet above the lake. Typical of state parks, the distance between Chuck's motorhome and ours is probably about 50 feet. Heck, that's room for at least one more space in one of those fancy campgrounds. On the other side is room for 8-10 sites but instead they have a nice boardwalk down to the fishing pier and boat docks. Fifteen bucks a night, what a rip off.

Now the good stuff. The summer tanagers are here by the co-zillions. And noisy, man are they loud. Judy set up a feeder and I put a water drip out and the carolina wrens are enjoying the bath. We noticed something fun(kinda) today. The wrens are busy building a nest on top of one of the motorhome slides. Its late for nesting but maybe its just the perfect spot for them.

Judy is back napping right now and Roxie is in her place next to me dreaming that she's chasing something. At least she's asleep and her legs are running and she's whimpering.

I'll quit my rambling by telling you about dinner last night. Fried green tomatoes, purple hull peas, fresh tomatoes, macaroni cheese and Maggie's bread and butter pickles. It would have made a bull dog break his chain. Tonight will be more fresh veggies along with bread pudding and egg custard pie. I don't know what the bull dog will do about this meal!

Judy just came in, Roxie rolled over with her feet in the air so I guess I better listen to them. I'll talk to Judy and rub Roxie on the belly or maybe talk to Roxie and ...

Blessings to all and continue to keep all our friends in your prayers. God knows who they are.

Packed and ready!

What a shame...

I realize its been several months since I've made a post on my blog and I have several excuses. All of them are excellent too.

We've traveled several miles and have experienced everything from Landon's Eagle Scout Court of Honor to watching a Caracara along side the road in south Texas and meeting the state Ornithologist at Rockport that took us to see the pair of Whooping Cranes that were still at the Aransas Wildlife refuge. We were privileged to watch the bird banding of the Neotropical birds at Quintana. We've spent many nights in state parks and private campgrounds and we still agree, state parks are the best. We have friends that love a fancy smacy rv park in the Woodlands, TX area and pay about twice what it cost to stay in a state park and of course have the neighbor close enough to shake hands good night while lying in bed. Of course since we have lived in the wide open spaces, the best neighbor is at least 500 yards away.

We are preparing to hit the road for several weeks with another couple. Two different motorhomes by the way. I will try to update this blog on a more timely basis.

Blessings to all and keep our good Texas Boomer friends that are having health issues in your prayers.

Its been way to long...

We've been busy.

Getting two houses ready to put on the market and adjusting to married life takes time, energy and effort. Now that both homes are listed, we can concentrate on continuing our great adventure. We did manage a five day trip about a month ago to Pedernales Falls state park. The birding was great.

Tomorrow we are going to Landon's Eagle scout court of honor. Wow! What an achievement. I first met Landon a little over a year ago at a RV rally and learned that he had been working towards his Eagle scout badge but was kinda stuck. Well, I tried and I am going to take a little credit for unsticking him. He is a fine young man. He's involved in his church, makes good grades and has been accepted into Texas A&M University. Gig'em! I thought and thought about an appropriate gift and finally decided to have a flag flown over the US capitol in his honor. He will get a certificate and of course the flag once its been flown. Wouldn't it be interesting if it is flown the day the congress passes the obamanation health care bill.

I'll try to get back on track here because I've got stories to tell. Water lines freezing, record snow falls in the country, the dreaded hogs and some great adventures Roxie has had.

Blessings to all....

Time marches on...........

Wow!!!! Its been over a month since I blogged and what a difference a month makes.

Since my last post the most important thing that happened was we had another opportunity to celebrate the birth of our Saviour, Jesus Christ.

Second most important was a republican won the senatorial seat in Massachusetts. For the first time in a long time, I have a positive feeling that maybe we the people can wrestle our republic back from Obamnation and his henchmen. The man (Obamanation) make me ill sometimes. I just heard him speak while in Ohio and he literally stood in front of an albeit partism audience and say that "jobs" and creation of "jobs" had been his major agenda last year. Today is the first time I've heard him comment on jobs except maybe quit yours and come to work for ACORN or the federal government. Either the man is a liar or just plain stupid and I don't think he's stupid.
Enough on politics...

I'm adjusting to "married life" but we're still struggling with where our stuff is. You know, the country house, the city house or is it in the motorhome. We seem to end up with three jars of mustard and they are all at the same place. I did find my cell phone charger, finally. I just keep buying underwear and socks and someday that will end up all at the same place. Oh my! Thirty pairs of shorts or none. What a revolting situation that could be.

We've only been out in the motorhome once since the Christmas rally. We spent the New Years weekend with friends on Lake Conroe at a great park. Fifty amp, water and sewer-$10/night with the Golden Age pass. I wonder when the henchmen will take that away? Nope, I ain't gettin back in to politics.

I don't know if I've told you that Judy is really into birding and she is getting me indoctrinated. While at the park on Lake Conroe, we saw several Red Cockaded woodpeckers. Just so you know, they are on the endangered list so it was pretty darn exciting to see them. Actually they are easy to locate because they love to feed on "stuff" under the bark of pine trees. If you see bark flying from the trees, start looking cause its one or maybe two of those little suckers chunking bark. They also have a very distinct call. Did you hear it? I just made the sound but didn't know how to type it.

We are back in the country, wonder if I have socks here, and waiting for the realtor to show the house again. We've had lots of "lookers" but nobody has yet to show up with a large case of hundred dollar bills. Maybe this will be the one or then maybe not. Only God knows for sure.

And a blessing of the cold weather. Roxie hasn't gotten a tick since the hard freeze. See, we do serve an awesome God.

I'm going to stop this mindless wondering, proof read this diatribe and then hit enter. I do pray that 2010 will be the most blessed and wonderful year of our lives.

Ya'll don't know my friend Dianne, but she lost her husband a couple weeks ago just five months before they were turning in their time cards for their life long dream of becoming full time rver's. We never know when the Lord is going to come get us. We should live each day as it is our last. If you're so inclined, remember Dianne and her family in your prayers.

Blessings to all... from the country (sock-less)

Last week was a whirlwind...

The last time I posted anything was about "baby, light my fire" and boy did I not realize the truth to that statement. You see, I got married on Thursday and henpecked on Friday.

We'll start with the getting married part. Judy arranged for her minister to marry us in his office Thursday afternoon and then we needed to get ready for the Texas Boomers Christmas rally that was starting on Friday. When we told people we were getting married, they all had two questions, what is Judy wearing (nobody was interested in what I was wearing) and who is going to be at the wedding. So ya'll know, Judy wore a nice pair of slacks with a blouse and jacket with a pearl necklace. She was beautiful. I would tell you what I wore but since that was several days ago, I don't have a clue. It was just us, the minister and a witness from the office. No big deal.

We went back to Judy's and starting getting things ready to go to the rally the next day. We did take a break and go to dinner at one of our favorite restaurants, Carrabba's. I hadn't been to the Woodlands location for several years and was surprised that one of the assistant mangers that had been there was now back and remembered me. Carrabba's is well known for their good food and their outstanding customer service but you'll never believe this, they have one of the best steaks in Texas. I always have a filet and it's always prepared to perfection. Of course being a "use to be regular", they provided us with a complementary shrimp scampi appetizer that was a meal in itself. I don't know how they can do it, but somehow I only managed to pay for about seventy five percent of the meal. They didn't charge for the wine, dessert or coffee. Now you know why we go back often.

Friday morning was time to load the motorhome for the rally. The weather was threatening but so far so good. We got to the rally grounds, checked in and started setting up. Its nice to push a few buttons a be level and the slides extended. The next project was getting the Christmas decorations put up...here is where the henpecked part comes in. I've never put up Christmas decorations in my life. I'm not sure I've even ever helped. But here I am, stringing lights, arranging candy cane lights, getting the snow man at just the right spot to hold our "just married" sign, wreaths hung on the motorhome and the big red bow Judy had made attached to the front of the motorhome. It was fun. I can't believe I just typed that! It was all worth it though. We won first place.

The rally was great. Its always fun being with our Texas Boomer friends and of course meeting and making new friends.

Sunday morning, we packed up a drove back to the Conroe house. We stayed there until Monday afternoon and then headed to the country. We left fog and drizzle in Conroe and arrived in the country to blue skies. Each morning we get up early, have coffee and then dress in warm clothes for a walk around the property. Oh boy, on these cold brisk mornings it feels so good to breathe in that cold dry air. We usually walk for about forty five minutes, unless we spot something that we want to just stop and admire. The birds have been awesome. American gold finch, chipping sparrow, yellow bellied sapsucker, dark eyed junco, pine warbler, and eastern bluebirds by the hundreds. Its really fun to study the different behaviors birds have.

We'll be going back to Conroe tomorrow. We'll have Christmas with my children and grand children Friday night at my son Craig's house. That should be fun. Deb is making shrimp creole and Judy is making coconut cream pie and two different kinds of cookies. Yum! I can't wait to see all those grand kids and of course their parents.

Blessings to all.....

Oh baby, lite my fire...

Yep, gets your attention doesn't it. Its not that fire I'm writing about, its a real wood smoking wood burning fire in my fireplace.


Most east Texans practice this well know little secret when building fires...use the east Texas pine knot. Have you ever used a piece of pine knot to start a fire? If not, you are in for a treat, just don't catch the chimney on fire. You can buy "flat wood" from places like L. L. Bean for some outrageous price or you can do what we east Texans do and go for a nice peaceful walk in the woods and gather it on your own. I scavenge pine knots two different ways. First, find a pine tree that a wind storm blew over say sometime last year. That way it won't still be green or old enough that the termites have eaten away the best parts. Side note...I once had a neighbor in the country tell me, "if you lay a board down while you go eat lunch, the dang termites will invade it and you'll have to cut another one". But then again, thats another story, back to the pine knots. Second choice is to find a stump where a pine once stood. Maybe a stump left during logging, that would be the preferred one. Then you just take your saw and cut it off near the ground, hopefully this will leave you with a 6-8 inch log. Perfect. When you get through strolling around in the woods taking in God's handy work, go on back to the house and I use a double bit axe to split off little "sticks" from the log. You want to get the heart of the log. That's the center that still has lots of pine sap in it. It may even still be a little sticky, thats okay. You just want that good golden color and boy does it smell good too. You want them to be about the size of my index finger, so the next time we shake hands be sure an check out my fingers.

Now comes the fire building part. Get you one or maybe two of these sticks and place them on the grate in your fireplace. I usually add a few pieces of other kindling and then some nicely seasoned firewood. My choice is red oak. Strike you a match and not like we use to see in the movies on the butt of your jeans, strike it on the striker part of the matchbox please. Lite those little pieces of pine knots and stand back to admire your fire building skills. Once those knots get burning you'll get a roar going up the chimney and thats why you can't use too many or you'll burn the house down. And I don't need anybody blaming me for a house fire.

So now you know about pine knots. If you are ever near the country place and I still live here (on and off), drop in and we'll go pine knot looking. A word of caution however, if you go walking through the country place with me you may start negotiating to buy it before we get back to the house and get a fire built.

Blessings to all....

Tis the season with a reason...

Thanksgiving feasts are over, my pants are tighter and I'm sure my cholesterol level has increased but what matters is we are coming up to the season for celebration of our Saviour's birth.

There has been so much said and it seems much more than usual this year about not using the word "Christ" in any advertising, greetings or any sort of commercial endeavours. What ever the ACLU wants to do they seem to do without much opposition. Christmas is my second most favorite holiday with Easter being first of course. For any that read this that aren't Christians, Easter is when Jesus rose from the tomb and ascended into heaven. All this just so we (thats all we) can be forgiven our sins and also have everlasting life. If you believe that, you too will have everlasting life.

It saddens me that we can't celebrate Christmas like we could just a few short years ago. I truly believe when Madalyn Murray O'Hair was able to have prayer banned in the classroom, the demise of our country began. That's also about the time teachers began to have less ability to teach because they had no discipline. My, my. Where will it end?

Pretty lousy blog...I guess blogs are suppose to be more about where I ate breakfast, who I saw a Wally World or if I got my hair cut today. Toast, Rusty and no, I didn't get a hair cut. What I did however, was awaken about 6 and got a head start on the day. Since we are back at the country house, the moonlight was bright enough to illuminate any deer or heaven forbid a hog. That's always nice to wake up to. We went for a long walk around by the hugging trees, the rubber band frog place and the quiet forest. It was such a beautiful morning. The quietness here is deafening sometimes. We didn't see any deer but a lot of tracks...including the dreaded hog. I know they are part of God's creation, but I don't get it. Destructive suckers!

We've had four people look at the country place and all are still interested. Three are looking for a weekend place and one for full time residency. All four are cash buyers. I'm pretty sure that none of them got money from Obamanation or his henchmen so I guess they did it the old fashion way, earned it. Of course thats pretty unique in today's time. Maybe these prospects will get into a bidding war. That would be nice.

I told my friend Johnye the other day, when Judy and I build our house, it will be my fifth last house I was ever going to build and by golly, its going to have it all. I want an outdoor cooking and entertainment area complete with a fireplace and air conditioning. No and I mean no, swimming pool. We have some unique and beautiful antique furniture that we want to build the house around. Do you remember a TV commercial where the couple met with their architect and handed him a kitchen sink faucet and said, "design around this", thats what we are going to do.

Its beginning to get cool again in the house so I need to go bring some firewood up to the porch and get ready to build a fire. We had a great fire last night and tonight we get to enjoy another with company. Judy is making stew and cornbread for dinner. Yum! I helped...peeled potatoes, onions, carrots and it seems like something else but I can't remember right now what it was. I just hope it was suppose to go in the stew.

Remind me to tell you about pine knots some day.

Blessings to all of you and please remember, it is a season with a reason.

Too much to do and too much time to do it...HUH?

What a whirlwind since my last post. Prospects looking at the country house. Beginning to prepare Judy's house to put on the market, getting prepared for thanksgiving, getting my house in shape to move from, buying wedding rings, arranging for Pastor Alan to perform the wedding, getting rid of things at the country I won't move, buying Christmas presents and on and on and on.

There's plenty of time, we just need to prioritize and organize. Well, thats what I keep telling myself anyway. Lets see. I'm waiting on a call from the realtor. A prospect looked at the place last Monday and brought his wife back today for a noon appointment. It's now after 3 and not a word. Did they not show? Are they still there? Are they deciding how much to offer? Heck, I don't know. Maybe they just went ahead and moved in. I hope they'll make sure the cats have food. You know, a person could get themselves in a knot pretty quickly over this kind of stuff. I think I'll change the subject!

Christmas! Its time to celebrate the birth of Christ and not get caught up in the other stuff. I pray daily and thank God for the blessings I receive and yesterday started some shopping for the grand kids. I had asked my children what the grand kids would like...mistake, big mistake. My son Craig was actually proactive and sent me a message about what Sarah and Allison's interests are...oh my. Sarah wants the Barbie RV set and Allison may not get anything after I saw what the RV set cost. I called Craig while standing in the toy aisle hyper ventilating. What were you thinking Craig? I told him he should get Sarah's rich grand parents to buy it and he informed me thats why he gave that item to me. Blah!!!!!! Yes, I bought it.

I then moved on to shopping for Lance. What in the world happened while I wasn't looking with Legos? Holy cow, they are expensive! Obamanation should be pleased with my one man economic stimulus activity. Heck, I'm not even going to claim a deduction for these gifts like Tim Geithner and most of the congressmen and senators probably will. Sorry for that rant.

Still haven't heard from the realtor. I can see it now. Packing during the Christmas holidays. Praise God I have a home to pack and the ability to have another.

Blessings to all of you...

I'm coming down...

I've been on an adrenaline high most of the day and now I'm paying for it. Exhaustion!



The realtor came back out this morning and we finalized the listing. He brought one of his associates with him that has a client who is looking for place about like ours. Just my dang luck, this place will sell immediately and then what will I do...the nearest bridge is already occupied with a small family of beavers. Oh well, I'll cross that bridge when and if I get there.

I rode them around the property in the Suzuki and what a morning to be out. The temp was mid 60's with a breeze out of the north, just right. The sun was shining brightly on the leaves as they fluttered in the wind and the sound of the birds singing and the squirrels chattering, it again reminded me of how much I love and will miss this place.

He took gads of pictures to put on the web and also they have nationwide magazines that will have all the homes in. I sent him some pictures of the huge and many deer that were in my yard about this time last year. Oh my! Sigh!

As they were about to leave, I asked if they would join me and Judy in prayer. I prayed just a simple prayer to thank God for letting me use this place and asked that He send a buyer that will love, enjoy and take care of it as much as we have. You all do know don't you, its not ours, its God's and we are just the stewards of it. I hope I've been a good steward.

We are back in Conroe and Judy is in a whirlwind around the holidays coming. My goodness, she doesn't have her thanksgiving "stuff" displayed and the dinnerware on the dining table is for fall not thanksgiving. I suggested paper plates in something white would be appropriate all year round. Wrong! Hey, it makes her happy and it does look nice so why not. I hope she doesn't get around to reading this til after thanksgiving.

Well, thats my story for today and I'm sticking to it.

Blessings to all...

A weekend to remember...

Yep!

We went to a Texas Boomers "rv" rally this weekend in Belville; ate too much, laughed way more than I should have and proposed down on one knee to Judy in front of the whole group.

It was great to be amongst friends and well wishers for this momentous occasion. I still remember some of the first couple rally's I attended when if you weren't there with friends you were kind of left to figure it out on your own. That's okay. I was able to figure it out and now try to make sure that the today newbies don't have the same experience. Whew...glad to get that off my chest.

Other than proposing to Judy, the most important and meaningful thing that happened was Mike asked me to pray before dinner Saturday night. What an honor and privilege. Judy and I hold hands and pray before every meal whether we're at McDonald's, at home or the Ritz. It was such an honor and I hope we can continue to offer grace before each meal.

Thank you father for this weekend and continue to lead us in the right direction.

Blessings to all...