Happy Birthday M...A Week Late

Last week was M's Birthday. We didn't do much to celebrate other then going out to dinner. No cake, No card, just dinner. A week later, Hank & Lillie, saved my ass...they made a very cool Birthday Cake for her. Note that the decoration is a Pegs & Jokers board. VERY COOL. She loved it.

We have played Pegs & Jokers several evening since Hank & Lillie have arrived for the winter. The girls have been playing against the guys. Up til tonight its been pretty even, tonight Hank and I won 4 straight, we are now ahead by 3 games. Lillie couldn't stand it any more, she had to switch partners. She was finally on a winning team...mine. Its been great fun to have friends around us here in Casa Grande.

The Mission Royale community has 2 yard sales a year. It a great chance to get out and meet the neighbors. And to get some things for the house. This year we bought some cabinets for the garage and snowman. We now have a passenger for the golf cart.

We lost our air conditioner while we were in Alaska, it had sprung a leak, lost all its freon. The repair cost about $70, the adding of freon was another $640. M's candles didn't like the heat in the house.

Just before we bid our fairwells to The Boy and The Kid, we had to have one final picture of the 5 of us. As you can see Amelia looks pretty tired. It had been a very busy day and week with the family & friends Meet and Greet of Julia.

The Boy Introduces The Kid

Yesterday, our 22nd granddaughter was introduced to the world at a family and friends 'Meet & Greet'. My youngest son, James (The Boy) and his wife, Amelia, celebrated the birth of Julia (The Kid) at Amelia's sister's house.











Left: The Meet & Greet
Right: Our granddaughter Alexis with her dad
















Left: Grandpa with the boy
Right: Me with #2, daughter (Jill) and #4, son (James)














Right: Grandma getting her grandbaby fix


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The Grandparents:
Far Right: Charlett (my ex-wife)
Near Right: Rita (Amelia's mother)

Can you buy 'class' ?

Can you buy 'class' ? No. Trailer trash will always be trailer trash. M thinks that if she drags me to a community theatre, she can learn me 'culture'. Another couple invited us to the play "Seven Year Itch". I stayed awake through most of it. It had to be the worse play I've ever seen. If we hadn't rode with John & Peggy, we would have left at intermission. M agreed. M's hasn't done very well when it comes to dinners either. It seems that we almost always get poor meals at the nicest restaurants. I keep on telling her, I really like her cooking. She knows that I'm cheap, so she isn't really sure if I mean it. She's beginning to see the light, but she hasn't given up on going out. A couple of days ago, we went to the Boat Shed with Bert & Martha Johnson for yet another expensive meal. She warned me in advance to not complain about the prices. Now that's scary......$50+ later, the meal was pretty good, the company was better.



Tomorrow we start heading south for our home in Casa Grande. We've been in the Bremerton area for a little over a month. It's been great seeing our friends and M's daughter Cori & granddaughter Gabbi. Our next stop will be in the Bay area of CA to meet & greet our newest granddaughter Julia. We will also get to see her parents James & Amelia and my daughter Jill. And maybe my ex-wife Charlett.......

Another Week, Another Damaged Car

Last night M had cat duty (taking care of a friends cat). On the way home she got rear-ended. Now we have to deal with a wrecked rental car. Our Honda HAS BEEN in the shop for 3 weeks (rock damage), we may never leave the Bremerton area. We got an estimate for repainting the rear cap of the coach, $4,758. Total rock damage from the Alaska trip is approaching $15K.

Its been another busy week eating out. This week Ron & Carol Darling took us out for a nice meal. M had given them both a haircut last week, they insisted on taking care of the bill, I didn't fight much (actually, not at all). Thanks Ron. We also met up with John & Peggy Ebert and Chuck & Mary Boros at my local favorite restaurant, King Wok. It is Chuck & Mary's 1st visit to the NW, they are full-time RVers we had met at an RV rally a couple of years ago.

Pegs & Jokers Report: Tim & Dee weren't cowards after all, they were secretly practicing (my story). They came over few nights ago. They set us up. They let us win the 1st game then won the next 6 games. They are now $2 ahead. Does the word HUSTLER come to mind?

A Really, Really Sad Day

Most of you know Priscilla. Today we had to put her down. She had been suffering from pain in her back for several years. This last year the pain had greatly increased, making it very difficult for her to walk. She had became senitive to even the lightest touch. M decided yesterday it was time. A very, very hard decision. She had promised Priscilla that she would not allow her to suffer. This morning her suffering is over. She will truely be missed.

Slow Week in Bremerton

Only one dinner out this week. We were invited to Dale & Pat Finholm's for HAPPY HOUR and dinner. Another great couple, M has known Dale forever and I have for almost 30 yrs. Maybe I've known Dale longer then she has. Dale has always made a great drink. As for dinner, he served everything I don't like. A fish soup (there is some fancy name for it) in a red sauce, a green salad and sourdough bread. M thought it was great, she's Italian, her kind of food. Hey, the dessert was good; ice cream. On a sad note: this year they lost 2 of their 3 dogs. They weren't that old, one got hit by a car and the other was found dead in the yard with no apparent injuries. They recently added another dog to the family to be company to Junie (the remaing dog). His name is Daubie.

We were invited to spend the Holiday weekend with Tim & Dee at Lake Cushman. As usual, Tim kept us well feed and provide enough power (30 amp) to keep my 'puter and telly operating.

Pegs & Jokers Report: We are now $8 ahead. Those cowards haven't wanted to play much lately. They claim to be busy, I'm not so sure......

Dinner With Friends - Bremerton

It was a very busy 1st week back "home". It appears that everyone wants to either feed us or go out to dinner. The day we arrived, we met Tim & Dee McIntyre for dinner at a local casino (no pics). Next we went with John & Peggy Ebert at another local casino for fish and chips. A day or two later, Ron & Carol Darling invited us to their home for dinner and blueberry picking. The following day, Royce and Laura Fisher invited us to their home for a chicken and steak dinner. We also had a prime rib dinner at Bert & Martha Johnson's home (no pics). I recieved a couple of compliments that I had loss a few pounds since the last time they saw me, I wonder if they would say the same thing after this last week of dinner engagements.

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Pics: Top Left - John & Peggy; Top Right - Ron & Carol and Ron's sister JoAnn; Bottom Right - Royce & Laura

Cori and Gabbi (M's daugher and grandbaby) came over from Des Moines to take Gabbi to the local fair. Grandma really enjoyed the afternoon with them. She was really impressed how well behaved Gabbi was.

The Boy finally was able to bring The Kid home from the hospital, all is well with The Kid. The Boy was pretty good about sending pics of The Kid but posted a lot more on his Facebook page. M said if I want to see them, I had to join Facebook. I now have a Facebook account, I already have over 40 friends. If you want to be my friend on Facebook, let me know. The Boy did send me one picture, he is learning The Kid how to work Grandpa (read the bib). Click on the pictures to enlarge them.

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We have continued our playing of Pegs & Jokers with Tim & Dee. We are currently 1 game up on them, $2 ahead..smile...