SLIDING INTO THE CHRISTMAS SEASON

Wow, the time has flown by since we have been back.  Seems that there is something happening all the time.  Almost everyone is back so the place is jumping, so to speak.  There was the poker tournament, which Chuck and I both played in.  Chuck managed to hang in there for third place, as for me, well, not so much.  But it was fun, lots of laughs.  It was only a 20 dollar buy-in so nothing to get too excited about.  Then there was Thanksgiving, and we hosted a table, which meant it was up to us to set up the table and cook the bird.  Decided to try smoking it this year.  But we were a little afraid that it might not get done in time, so cooked it the day before.  So of course it cooked in just 6 hours….lol.  Turned out very good, not too smoky, very mellow.  Of course there has been bridge, which we seem to play a lot.  The group is getting bigger, so hopefully we will end up with some good games. 

We have been seriously thinking about getting a small travel trailer, which we would use for short, quicker trips.  Also we are giving some serious thought to making a trek to Alaska come 2014, and would want something smaller for that.  One that we could park just about anywhere.  Found one that we really like, and what makes it special is that it has a Murphy bed in the living room area.  Plus it is only 23 feet long, but because of the bed, seems so much bigger.  The bad part is it is new to the market, so there are no used ones basically out there, and hate to spend the money for new.  No rush, we will just take our time and what will be will be.  Which means we will probably end up with the new one.  It is what it is.

Last Monday was the parks craft sale and soup luncheon.  Bought a beautiful Christmas quilt, and 20 minutes later Chuck’s name was called for the one they were raffling off. What a surprise. One of the volunteer soup makers fell ill and they put out a plea for replacement, an being the good soldier I volunteered.  Little did I know that they wanted me to make 16 gallons!!  Had no idea how to buy enough, but what I ended up with could have made 26 gallons.  So figure there were 5 of us making different soups, and it all either got eaten or went home with people.  That is a lot of soup.  You know us Escapees, we travel on our stomachs.  Next day we decorated the hall for Christmas.  There were many boxes of decorations, most in need of repair, but with a little glue, wire and fluffing, we managed to make everything look down right cheery. Today was the wine, fruit and cheese get together to meet the candidates running for the board of directors.  It was definitely different as they split us into groups of 12 or so, and had the candidates come to us one at a time.  Lot more personal, good idea.

We have a few parties coming up before Christmas, then there will be New Year’s eve.  Have nothing special planned till the middle of January, then we are making a quick dash to Vegas for a few days.  Our daughter and SIL will be coming for a convention, which makes it a great excuse to go.  Plan to just stay in a hotel, drive the car.  About the middle of February will probably make a trip into Arizona. Had hoped to make Casa Grande in early February, but have some bridge classes that are weekly, and we will have to wait for those to be finished.  Right now we are busy getting all those pesky doctor appointments out of the way.  So far so good.

Seems like we are so busy, the time just flies, yet when I go to write about it, nothing really much comes to mind.  But we are loving it here, every day we are sure we made the right decision to buy in to Jojoba Hills.  Will post some pictures later of the quilt, have to take them first.