kingskids

Happy New Year! Thought I would post an update on Richard - and thanks for the well wishes for him. He got a Christmas present from God on Christmas eve. We spend several fun filled hours in the ER in the neighboring town 40 minutes away, and after the cat scan, found that he had no broken ribs or cracked ones! Surprising considering he's 63 and fell 7' and landed on his side. He even passed out briefly, but thankfully he's tough and bouncy like an old tire! As promised (finally), I have pictures of the van and the "kitty condo" here: http://s194.photobucket.com/albums/z245/gametrailgirl/Sprinter%20Van%20Mods/?start=all - you may want to view it as a slideshow. Hope you all have a safe and fun New Years! Sharon

Nice to see Alicia back on the ladies group again! Happy New Year's (early in case I can't get online) to everyone - hope you have a safe and fun time. Here's today's smile: Christmas was over, so Rudolph had a chance to do something he had wanted to do for a long time. He made an appointment with a plastic surgeon because he was so sensitive about his looks. However, it wasn't his glowing proboscis that he wanted changed. He was proud of his nose and the help he had given Santa because of it. No, he was sensitive about his long ears which were much more prominent than the ears of the average reindeer. So one week after Christmas, he underwent reconstructive surgery, and since that time, January 1st has been celebrated as ... New Ears Day.

WOW! Alicia IS still alive and among us! Great to hear from you - and I wish you a beautiful and blessed Christmas as well. Sorry to say that we won't be able to visit with you and Rick then since we won't be able to go to the ECR this coming year - we'll be "doing the west" this year. Live in CO and still haven't explored that side of the US much at all, and really none since we got the rig... Lots to see and do - including your beloved Yellowstone. You'll have to tell me the nicest time of year to go there (not looking for the hottest mind you - I'm a wimp!). I won't be around a whole lot as we're having "internet issues" here in "podunk, TX"... Be around to chat when I can. Meantime... Everyone - have a fantastic and meaningful Holy Day! Let's show the "politically correct folks" - keep Christ in Christmas!

That was a beautiful and very generous gift that Fannie made for your grandkids! She does lovely work! I would also like to say Merry Mas - it's nothing without Christ. May each of you have a blessed and beautiful Christmas!

Oh Susan - you're truly TOO sweet! And we will certainly holler at you anytime we're in the area, but we'll stay in touch so you can get those fishing lessons! The CT thing is so sad - I'll never understand why if someone wants to kill themselves, why don't they just go off themselves and leave innocent people (especially little kids) alone. Why take others out of this life just because you're unhappy and miserable. Now they're talking about taking away our 2nd amendment rights - happens every time one of these stupid and horrible events happen. Morons... Susan - when you find that nice hole to live in, email me will you - we'd like to move in next door! Speaking of Rocky and Sheri - we haven't heard from Sheri in a long time. Nor Sue, nor Heidi, and it's been eons since Suzan (Boomer's mom) checked in with us. I'd love to hear if they've sold their home yet. We're still waiting for someone to snap it up. There were only 3 homes in our entire huge subdivision sold in all of 2012. I'm so tired of waiting for someone to realize how under market value it is (the realtor and her office call it the "no brainer house" because of all the amenities it has, the type of construction, and the huge undermarket value - it's a no brainer that it's a heckuva deal!). Oh well... Raquel & Trish - when are you officially out of the S&B and into the rv for full timing? Are you getting really itchy for it!?

Working on it - ugly cloudy day today, so nothing would turn out nice anyway. The guys that built it took pictures of it, so I asked them to send them to me. I'll post them when I get them - you'll love it Aggie!! Have a great day ladies! Sharon

Where are all the chatters in this group? Had a lovely visit and dinner out with Susan & Trey last night. They had a wonderful suggestion for a lovely cajun restaurant in Austin that we would never have found. The perfect afternoon/evening visit and meal. We've gotten SO much done while in the Austin area - will have to post some pics of my new ride as soon as I get some done. Susan was our very first passenger - don't imagine too many passengers with the lifestyle and all (not much family to haul around), but the "kitty condo" will be greatly appreciated by "the boys". Have I peaked your curiosity? Ok, all you shopping gals - when you come in from all the frenzied shopping and traffic - log in and tell us what's going on in your lives! Travel safe everyone. Sharon

Raquel, I was wondering as I was reading if you got it into YOUR driveway! I was reading it to hubby, and when I got to the driveway part (BEFORE you mentioned using the neighbor's place) - I added to him that was really impressive as you've posted pictures of your driveway, and that looked to be really, really challenging! Then I got to the neighbor part and heaved a sigh of relief! Nice looking rig - bet you gals have already gotten quite a few comments about ladies driving such a set up! Davena - hope you get your computer info back and get everything back to "normal" - it's tough when the electronic brains/entertainment go south on us! I've been thinking more and more about something like Carbonite for back up - and your experience just helped me move it up the list. My best wishes to you on getting everything set up again! When ours last happened, we threw up our hands and said "that's it, we're done with PC's - we're going Apple". Never have regretted that decision - best computers we've ever owned! Nice to be able to get someone who speaks english when needed too! Well, we've found a nice quiet place to spend the next two months fishing - so Sunday we'll be moving out that way. We'll have a VERY quiet Christmas. Hope everyone here has just the kind of Christmas they love best - whether it's with a bunch of others in a clubhouse somewhere, with a small or large family gathering, or just the two of you quietly celebrating together. Perfect is truly a subjective term isn't it!? The "perfect Christmas" is so different for all of us - but in case I don't get back over here to wish everyone a blessed and beautiful Christmas - consider this your Christmas wish! So what's in store this unique day of 12-12-12 - something special, weird, or nothing at all... I always find numbers interesting - like when you get up to go to the bathroom in the night - when it's something like 12:34 or 3:33... Just my own little oddity - one of the many that I possess! Travel safe everyone! Sharon

Ditto on the wishes for a wonderful time with whomever you get to spend Thanksgiving with - whether just the two of you, or extended family. Hope your day has been and continues to be a blessed time. No matter one's political viewpoint, we as Americans have SO very many things to be thankful for! At the top of the list I think are the brave men and women who put their lives on the line every day to ensure the freedoms we have. We pray for their safety and for their families. Sharon

A man in Phoenix calls his son in New York the day before Thanksgiving and says, "I hate to ruin your day, but I have to tell you that your mother and I are divorcing. 45 years of misery is enough." "Pop, what are you talking about?!" the son yells. "We can't stand the sight of each other any longer," the father says. "We're sick of each other, and I'm sick of talking about this, so you call your sister in Chicago and tell her." Frantic, the son calls his sister, who explodes on the phone, "Like heck they're getting divorced," she shouts. "I'll take care of this!" She calls her father immediately. "You are NOT getting divorced. Don't do a single thing until I get there. I'm calling my brother back, and we'll both be there tomorrow. Until then, don't do a thing, DO YOU HEAR ME?" The old man hangs up his phone and turns to his wife. "OK," he says, "they're coming for Thanksgiving and paying their own way. What are we going to do for Christmas?"

Another praise for Deer Run - the owner put a LOT of money and work into the place just for our rally, with even more improvements yet to come after we all left (before the next rally). Great place with a really nice small lake there. Terrific staff too.

This week's birthday greetings go out to: 11/15 - Ute Czetli 11/16 - Michal Bagley 11/16 - Alana Sue Guthrie 11/18 - Davena Szmyt Hope each of you has a very special 39th birthday !! Do something fun, celebrate the fact that you made it another year and you're still doing ok!! Sue, you asked about my rocks. If you have seen nice jewelry - things like tiger's eye, turquoise, lace agates, malachite, great looking jaspers, semi-precious stones, etc... you've seen the type of rocks I work with. For years, we've taken LARGE pieces of "jewelry grade" material, and put it on the large rock saw to make "slabs" that are 1/4" thick, the thickness that most jewelry makers prefer. Most artists have tiny trim saws, not the big "boulder saws", so there's a need for someone to cut big rocks into the size that jewelry makers can use. So I have a lot of rock cut up and ready for me to spend some time to get it up on ebay and other sites... Something I'm really longing to get back to - I love working with these beautiful materials... So now you know. That's one of the main reasons for getting the new van (trading in the suv). I can carry 2-3,000 pounds inside the van, plus haul the boat and it won't mind. I'll be looking forward to seeing your progress on your "new" truck when you can post pics. We both wish you guys the best on it!

Susan - I meant to write the other day and express my thanks to our heavenly Father for saving you guys from a terrible accident! Must have been a frightening moment! Really glad you were spared all the bad things that would have gone with the accident. Aggie - we really thought once the election was over, that someone would have snapped up the house. Have (supposedly) two couples who are both interested enough to have had at least a second visit to look the house over and analyze it. Since it's way under market value just to make it go away, and still looks like it's brand new - you'd think someone would be smart enough to know they won't find this deal again anywhere in a setting like it's in. My signature picture is literally our back yard - we're surrounded completely by 14,000 foot mountains. Such a QUIET place - which I DO miss - especially after 10 days in Goshen, IN - almost ON the stupid train tracks (and they have to honk the dumb horns forever, all night long!) The west (as you've noticed by now) doesn't have much train activity - not like here in Indiana! We were in Elkhart getting Mor-Ryde all set up on the coach, but the hydraulic pump went out, and the last two nights have been a bit cozy not being able to pull out the slides! Even the cats seem to say "let's don't keep this smaller, cramped house - let's go back to the other one that we used to have"! So today, we're sitting over here in Goshen again - at Lippert now, to try and get the hydraulic pump fixed. Then back over to Elkhart again to Mor-Ryde to double check that everything was done just right. Have to say, from behind the coach, when he went over the railroad tracks, it looked like it was smoother. I sure hope so - before we had a bit of the "back of the school bus syndrome" going on. Remember how much fun the back was!? Oh, Richard just let me know they're done with the pump and everything works fine. Looks like we're headed back to Mor-Ryde now. Talk to you gals later - have a great day! Edit: All done with repair related things for suspension, hydraulic, and whatever. NOW off to find some fun. We've been gone from home for 39 days so far, and really the only fun we've mustered up was the week at the rally. Too many other "obligatory trips" and repairs have filled the time. I really need to have some "quiet time" to be able to pull stuff out of cabinets, thin the stuff, and organize what has become a bit of a mess. That and work on my rocks. Hope you gals are finding fun along the way... Suzan - if you ever wander back over this way - have you sold your home yet? I'm cheering for you as for us... Heidi - did Robert get Richard's truck questions via email? Haven't heard from you guys in a while... Later ladies, Sharon

Heidi - is the van the "smart for 6" vehicle?? Think how strange it must feel going from the semi to a smart for real!!

Sue, I tried to talk Richard into the "swish and swosh" shades - but $4500 for something that sooner or later will have problems wasn't in his vocabulary! We are however, planning on getting Hunter Douglas pleated/cellular shades to replace the day/night ones that came with the coach. Since we have the "window silks" on the coach, we have no need of the "day shades" since you can't see into the coach in the daytime. All we need is the night time shades. We have Hunter shades in our S&B house, the kind where the shade pull never gets any longer or shorter - always stays the same length - and absolutely loved them. Easy to operate, helps a lot with temperature transfers from the windows, and though costly ($3600 for the 10 windows we have in the coach), nothing to go wrong like motorized things tend to do. We will just for frugality purposes, wait till the house has sold though before chunking that kind of money at the windows when what we have still works fine - after all, it doesn't make the truck go forward, can't feed us, and won't pay the house payment! I do think that the swish and swosh are lovely and so handy though.

Where is everyone in our RDBE group!? We have over 100 members, yet only a few of us here - wassup?? Heidi - glad you like the sanitizer. What a nice chocolatty (sp?) b'day! We went out for my day and had a nice lunch in an Amish restaurant, went for a nice long drive without cats, boat, or rv, then topped off the evening with dinner out as well. The waitress came into the small room (the restaurant had several different rooms instead of one large one) - with a candle on a piece of cheesecake and announced to the whole room: "attention everyone, pay attention, swallow what's in your mouth, and let's sing happy birthday to Sharon"! I was as red as a beet! Nice relaxing day with no chores or computer work... C'mon RDBE gals - come back to the group - we are a fun bunch and we would love to have some new voices on the thread... Davena - haven't heard from you in a while, hope all is well. Sue - still looking for that "before, during, and after" thread on the progress of your truck. You've been very quiet lately, hope you and that horse haven't run off together! Susan, we'll be down in the Austin area just after Thanksgiving getting the van. Are you guys going to be in town at that time? Raquel - I'm working hard also to get all our papers scanned and "filed" so I can shred and be done with them. I have a large bin of old stuff that still has to be done. We use the ScanSnap 1300 scanner that does both sides at once (if desired, it's optional), and it has a program called Rack2Filer that literally looks and functions as binders with tabs sitting on a bookshelf. Very cool, easy to use, and is really tiny so it's not a space hog. I love getting it done, I even really like the process of doing it - just when so much volume is staring at me, it's not quite as much "fun". But the end is actually in sight - the light at the end of the tunnel has been proven not to be an oncoming train as once thought! Happy trails gals. Have a terrific weekend.

Here's a HAPPY BIRTHDAY greetings for all our November gals: Heidi's was the most recent - yesterday. We should have mentioned the birthdays earlier so we could wish Barbara and Pat greetings as well. Hope you three had a great day! So happy B'Day to all the following November gals. If you have a birthday this month and aren't on this list, then that's because Davena doesn't have your birthday date and she needs that info to update the membership list! What an amazing coincidence that we're all 29 this month (or is it 39)? 11/1 - Barbara Mohr, 11/2 - Pat McFall, 11/4 - Heidi Springfield, 11/9 - Sharon Agan, 11/15 - Ute Czetli, 11/16 - Michal Bagley, 11/16 - Alana Sue Guthrie, 11/18 - Davena Szmyt, 11/25 - Margie Parr, 11/29 - Danielle Mayer. Happy Birthday Ladies!

Who wants a recipe for making your own HEALTHIER hand sanitizer for pennies on the dollar from the "chemical factory" versions you get in the stores? It's "uber" simple: half and half of aloe vera gel and rubbing alcohol (91% is better than the 70%). After making two batches, I have tweaked it because I found that the "lumps" in the aloe vera gel made it difficult to get a nice blend that didn't clog up the container I used for it. So here's the way I did it... I took all the aloe vera gel that I wanted for the batch size I wanted to make and HALF the rubbing alcohol that I needed and put it in the blender. Mixed it till all the "lumps" went away, then poured it out into a container, then add the last half of the rubbing alcohol to clean out the blender and get all the last of the gel out. If you want something other than a "fresh clean" smell, you can add several drops of an essential oil such as lavender or something that you like. I did on the first batch, but thought that the second batch was just fine with the "clean and fresh" smell without any additional scent. Pennies on the dollar compared to the stuff in the stores. FYI - did you know that hand sanitizers use pesticides to kill the "bugs" (germs are basically bugs) - so is that really what you want to keep putting into your body (everything you put on your skin gets into your system to some degree)!? Oh, both ingredients should be readily available at a grocery store - got ours at a Safeway. Ok, now for the pun of the day: Paints were a very precious quantity in the good old days, and British merchants could make a small fortune supplying paints to the colonies. One company sent a clipper ship full of red paint across the ocean. It had the very bad luck to collide with another ship full of blue paint. As a result of this disaster, both crews were ... marooned. Have a great weekend ladies. We're spending our day tomorrow doing some much needed cooking ahead for the upcoming week. That and more fun than one can stand - scanning old paperwork and shredding - YUCK - this is something I'll be glad when all of it is done! Soon.... but not soon enough for me!

Heidi - have you gotten enough info on your windows yet? You didn't get a lot of answers here, but hopefully they were helpful... Maybe more of the gas will chime in on the "crank out" vs "lift up" style and why they prefer whatever they prefer. Aggie - the really funny thing about what you said about 70 degrees feeling colder is that us "desert folks" have always said that about how it feels to us when we go east and get into humidity! Till you wrote that, I honestly never knew it "went both ways"! Funny how us humans are when we get used to something - no matter what that something is! Take traffic noise for example... One lives in the city and hears it all the time, then goes to the country where it's totally quiet, and they can't sleep - and the same is of course true in reverse. We are funny, yet amazing beings... My mom liked to say "one can get used to anything but a rock in their shoe". I feel so bad for the thousands in the northeast who are without power, food, water, can't get anywhere, and the roving packs of thieves have the elderly too scared to come out and try to get the things they need to survive. God help this country if we ever have a catastrophe any worse than this. People don't seem to want to help others like they did when we were all young.

Here's one more "belated Halloween" joke: An enterprising journalist decided to get the scoop of the day by photographing the fearsome phantom that lived in the spooky old mansion house at the edge of town. When he entered the house, armed with only his camera, the ghost descended upon him, moaning and wailing and clanking chains. "I mean no harm; I just want your photograph," the journalist said bravely. Pleased at this chance to make headlines, the ghost posed for a number of shots, and the happy journalist rushed back to his computer and began uploading the photos. Unfortunately, they turned out to be so underexposed that nothing could be seen in them. He was distraught, and went to a local pub to drown his sorrows. Meeting his friends there, they asked what was wrong. Not wanting to tell the whole story, he simply explained with a single sentence: "The spirit was willing, but the flash was weak."

Relieved to hear that everyone is ok so far. Do we have any of our group up in that area not accounted for? I don't know who lives up that way and who doesn't... Sitting here in Indiana (Michigan border), the weather isn't menacing like Sandy is producing elsewhere, but it downright unpleasant. Cold, cloudy, dreary, and a wind with an attitude. I'm ready for warmer climes! Aggie- loved the "F" in sex joke and Davena - I'm always up for good puns like the ones you posted. I never answered the question of how long till time to roll - for us, probably closer to 30 minutes - including the 2 cat transfer. Don't forget to weigh in on Heidi's question about the windows! Remember, she wants to know if you have the "slider type" or the "crank out" type - which do you prefer and why... When I have a few minutes, I have another joke for you gals to lighten your day. Later... Sharon

>>>> Here's a Halloween joke for you ladies - to make you smile >>>>>> A man was walking home alone late one foggy Halloween night. Suddenly, from behind him he heard: BUMP! BUMP! BUMP! Walking faster, he looked back and through the fog he could see an upright casket. It was banging its way down the middle of the street toward him: BUMP! BUMP! BUMP! Terrified, the man began to run home, the casket bouncing quickly behind him: BUMP! BUMP! BUMP! He ran up to his door; fumbled with his keys; opened the door and rushed in. He slammed and locked the door behind him. However, the casket crashed through the door, with the lid of the casket clapping: Clappity-BUMP! Clappity-BUMP! Clappity-BUMP! The terrified man ran up the stairs to the bathroom and locked himself in. His heart was pounding; his head was reeling; his breath was coming in huge gasps. With a loud CRASH the casket broke down the bathroom door, bumping and clapping toward him: Clappity-BUMP! Clappity-BUMP! Clappity-BUMP! The man screamed and reached for something, anything! His hand closed around a bottle of cough syrup! Desperate, he threw the cough syrup at the casket and ... the coffin stopped. Pretty bad huh?

Heidi - As you might remember, we do have both types of windows. When you talk about "flip up" - I believe that you are referring to the "crank out"/"awning" style VS a standard "single hung" (a slider that goes up and down rather than side to side). My opinion on the two types is summed up with the rain issue. The crank out has the huge advantage of NOT letting everything get soaked if a rain comes up when you're not in the rig (or are asleep). Yes, the "lift up" does allow more air in, but the crank outs are not slackards in the air moving arena. Plus for a larger window, there's more security with the crank out - picture someone trying to get inside that - the "lift up" style could conceivably allow an intruder in, or a child out. I could really get more air with the crank outs if I would open them wider - but having been in Colorado for so long, the dust is also an issue. We have more dust than we do heat in the summer (as you noticed), so we generally tend to only open the windows a small amount as the area is always windy and more wind comes in than I want even with them only open a little bit. So given all this - I do prefer the crank out type - for looks, security, and rain. Hope this helps. You've been asking some great questions! Sharon

Hey Jim & Jack - since this isn't the right thread for the west coast rally info (hate to threadjack here), would either or both of you mind posting info over here: http://www.rvnetwork.com/index.php?showtopic=101379 We have our own thread for the WCR (or get together)... And Jim, thanks in advance for checking on it!!

Yeah! Davena is still alive and with us! I know you're looking forward to getting back home again... Drive safe and update us when you can. Sue - if you'll look to the left of everyone's post you'll see how many posts they've made - (as of this writing, yours said 12 posts - I tried copying the image, but it won't post the message with it!). So you'll never have to wonder again how many you've done Sue. Be sure to post the link for the "show and tell" thread when you guys get it up and running... Aggie - why not "Mrs Furball"?!?! Vickie... calling Vickie... How's Kurt doing? Updates on him and what you guys are up to...? Haven't heard from Suzan lately - has "Boomer's Mom" had any good news on her house? I sure haven't had any on mine yet...