The Blanky is Finished, The Blanky is Fnished!!!

Monday, February 26

Ahhhh back to work today, actually work is not so bad, as most of you know, I work at Gander Mountain (a retail outfitter store) the best part of the job is some of the people you get to meet and hear about where they are going and or where they have been. Today I met a gentleman who is a retired school teacher, actually I met him a couple of weeks ago when I sold him a canoe. He came back today for a rack system for his truck to haul the canoe, so as one thing led to the other, I learned he was headed to Big Bend National Park in Texas to Canoe the Rio Grande River for 3 days, as well as other trips he had planned for the future. Anyway the point is, he gave me several tips on nearby lakes in Texas and New Mexico we should check out, why you wonder why the big deal, well, we bought a couple of Kayaks earlier this month and we need some places to visit, (more on the kayaks later.) Again you ever know who you will met on any given day, and it sure is a pleasant surprise when you get to met someone interesting. One last thing, his outlook on life was was one that both Sheryl and I share, he is starting to do the things he always wanted because you never know what tomorrow mite bring....
The Blanky is finished, the Blanky is finished!!! It sure did turn out nice and gama is so proud of it, as she should be, she did an excellent job!! She tried several different fringe types until settling on just the right one. Again I hope the new mommy and little one cherish it for a long time, for all the love that went into the hand made gift.

It's been a pretty uneventful week, work for both of us, however, there is something I have noticed here in Texas or should I say our area of Texas, and that is the abundance of Soccer Moms. When I say soccer moms I don't mean the standard one you see around the country at the every kids games. I mean true hard core soccer moms, I have never seen so many large SUV's of all types (they do like their BIG trucks here in Texas) with soccer/baseball/football/etc stickers on the back windows of the extra large SUV's. each one with their kids names on them and all driven by your stereotypical barbie mom. I guess not being from this area, to us it is odd, almost to the point of being funny, you really do understand where the name soccer mom comes from when you see a barbie driving a big truck with no other purpose than to haul kids around. Just a random thought and observation to share...

February Tease and Blanky Update

Cold February finally gave way to some beautiful weather this week, it was actually nice enough to start our evening walks around the neighborhood. Sure felt nice to get out and about, besides we had dinner at our favorite oriental restaurant, China Star Buffet. Of course as usual I ate entirely toooooo much, so the walk helped to ease my pain just a bit. Tuesday was my day off for the week, and another beautiful day, nice enough to wash all the grime, dirt and general yuck off jeep. As you may can tell by the river picture from last post, jeep was looking alittle sad, so a bath was in order!! Sheryl came home from work and zoom zoom (Volvo) was looking a bit rough around the edges also, so out came the soap bucket and a good scrub behind the ears made her all shiny again.
Even with the beautiful weather, a few clouds rolled in and made for a really nice sunset shot, if you didn't know better it actually looks like a wild fire off in the distance.
Baby blanky update, Gama finally got the whole crochet thing figured out and has been going at it like a woman possessed!!! As you can tell she has made some pretty good head way, it is really nice and soft, she really has done a great job and it will be a gift our new grand baby can Cherish for years to come. She is almost finished, and she already has plans to tackle another one, will keep everyone advised on that saga when it starts.

Friday, we both came home from work and decided it was Date Night to the two of us, Cassie had a friend over for the night and they were going to the movies. So with visions of margaritas dancing in our heads, we dropped the kids off at the theater and beat it for one of our favorite Mexican restaurants. We decided on Acapulco's, we actually have three we enjoy, each with it's own ambiance, Acapulco's is a bright, fun and festive type. When we arrived the place was packed, with several people waiting for a table, we were expecting a long wait, when the hostess said they had a table next to the singer, hummm wait for awhile and be deprived of a cold margarita for who knows how long or jump right in the middle of the action and get the party started??? of course we took the table next to the singer. What a pleasant surprise, the singer was really good and personable, we were able to talk with him as well as two ladies at the next table, turned out to be a great evening, one of the better ones we have had in a while. Sheryl got adventurous and broke from her traditional margarita fare, and tried a Mango margarita, they lady we were talking to had one and it just looked so good, and what do you know, it was!! not to sweet, just the right combination of sweet and tart. least to say a good time was had by all.

Once again the weekend comes to an end and the beginning of a new work week in the morning. The weekend consisted of a very very very blustery day Saturday, 40mph sustained winds, with gusts to 60. We actually had a hard time walking against the wind, it was just too funny, both of us just standing still in the store parking lot, trying to move!! They just opened a World Market here in Amarillo (kinda like a Pier One Imports) We had one in the mall in California and were expecting this one to be about the same size, boy were we wrong, it is much smaller, but still nice. Their gourmet food and wine area was fairly well stocked, we picked up some feta filled olives and a nice bottle of Argentine wine and were pleasantly surprised by both. We had eaten a late lunch so the olives and wine was just right for a light dinner meal.
Sunday we headed to the Amarillo Civic Center for a Home and Garden show, we were abit disappointed by the size, much smaller than we expected, especially for the 5.00 entry fee. We did get some good information from the vender's so all was not lost. We have a couple of projects that need doing which will add value to the house and put us another step ahead of many other homes in the area when it comes time to sell (more on these projects later). Grocery shopping was on the agenda before heading home, so off to Wal-Mart it was. We found some really nice size shrimp so we decided to dust off the grill from its winter nap and get to grilin. Grilled shrimp w/mango and pineapple salsa, grilled asparagus and ginger rice was soon on the table and WOW what a great meal, the grilled shrimp were excellent and Sheryl's Mango/Pineapple salsa was great!!! Hope you all are enjoying life as much as we are so until next time...

Diamonds, Geese and River Fun

Sunday morning, the sun is shining and the day is finally supposed to warm up, it may actually hit 60 today!!! But Alas I have to work, so no enjoying the day basking in the sun, Sheryl is on call and will more than likely be called in also. With the Valentines Day snowfall, the following morning seemed abit magical as Sheryl noticed, the sun glimmering off the fresh snow, it looked like thousands of diamonds spread in the snow. The picture does not do it justice, so next time you have a fresh snowfall, look at it in that light (OK, except for you Floridians...lol) it really is something to behold

I had Thursday off, so after my morning wake up of coffee, it was off to have lunch with my honey, surprisingly the hospital she works at has a very good cafeteria. I really enjoy our lunch dates, even if they are short, it's nice to surprise Sheryl and add a little smile to her day. After lunch, I decided to take a ride to the Canadian River area (part of the Lake Meredith National Rec Area) and see how it looked with a fresh snowfall. On the way out I found this gaggle of Canadian geese, all huddled together in an attempt to stay warm!! (didn't they fly south to get out f this burrrr chilly weather??

Made it out to the river, and wow, I was the only one out there, a foggy mist was hanging over the area, giving it a very surreal look and feel. The river is flowing pretty good now, with all the snowfall here and in New Mexico. I took the jeep around the area and played in the snow for a bit before heading back home. The rest of the week has just been work and general household putzing, so until next time....

Happy Valentines Day

Happy Valentines Day from Snowy Amarillo!!! It seems, us along with most of the country is under a blanket of white, what a day to be cuddled up with your valentine under the blanket of your choosing. Speaking of Valentines Day, here are the tokens of love we gave each other this morning. You may say to yourself, wow, not much there??? but we have learned, it's not how much you spend on your certain someone, as it is the love it is given with. Small tokens can be more valuable in a truly loving relationship, than high priced gifts in an attempt to buy affection from your wife, partner, sweetheart, etc... Our Valentines Day was as good as it could be, considering we both had to work, but we will spend some quality time this evening and just reflect on how wonderful it was just to find each other and our life together.

Update on the growing baby blanket saga!! to put in Sheryl's words AAUUUGGGGGGGG!!! I'm going to get this yet!!! LOL As you may be able to tell she is having a bit of a tiff catching on to the whole crocheting thing. I am being the supportive honey, as if I have learned nothing else in my lifetime, I have learned not to poke fun at her aggravated state, if I don't want a crochet needle in the eye, as a result!!!

The week is going by day by day, cold cloudy weather,(bgining to remind me of a typical day in England) we are looking forward to the spring as most everyone else this winter.

Received a phone call from both Kevin's kids in SUNNY Florida last night, they are both planning a trip out here in April. Wow what a pleasant surprise, they have been talking about it for a little while, but confirmed last night. Sure will be great to see them both!!!

Well, that's it for this Valentines Day 07, hope each of you had as great a day as we did!!!

Grand Parents Again!!!

The other day we found out we will be grand parents for a second time (the first being my sons little girl, born a couple of years ago). This time it is Sheryl's daughter who lives in Oklahoma City. Well the proud grandma to be has been beaming ever since we got the news and decided she wanted to knit the new addition a baby blanket, so off to the store we went!! (Photo of the proud grama to be picking out the first items to accomplish the gift of love. It was then off to various other stores to pick up the rest of the material and instructions for the new blankie. Upon coming home all she wanted to do was dive right into the project and get it started....well that proved easier said than done!! The loving gama to be seemed to have forgotten how to do the crocheting she thought she knew (in her defense, it has be 30 years since her grandmother taught her how) so today we are off to the bookstore for some more detailed instructions. More to come on this monumental blanket undertaking.

Our House

This is our humble abode here in Amarillo, we moved here from California in 2006 after my retirement from the Air Force. We have both moved around allot and decided we wanted to settle down and live the American dream of owning our little piece of America. We hoped to settle into just enjoying life and not working as hard as we have all our lives, however, the thought of being in one place for the rest of our life just isn't settling in as well as we thought it would. The idea of full timing in a RV was born from this, we had discussed it some years ago, but now seems more a reality. This blog will be our journey from now until we begin our full time RV adventure and beyond.