Nov 22, 2009: Sunday....and another beautiful day!!

Hmmmm.....strangely, I had a bit of trouble staying asleep this morning, so by 6:30....I found myself sneaking QUIETLY out the bedroom....and putting the French Roast coffee into the coffee maker....and soon...I was reading the Sunday morning papers while enjoying that dark elixir in my coffee mug....GOOD!!!

As the morning progressed....I found myself looking outside at the blue skies...and then a few clouds...and then bright sunshine again....and soon, I couldn't wait any longer for the grass to dry out. I changed into my yard clothes.....and before long I was trimming and cutting back dead flower stems, leaves, etc.....and after the mower warmed up sitting in the sun, I was soon moving around the yard cutting the lawn for the LAST time this year.....I HOPE!!!! It took about 3 hours today as I had to chomp and mulch up the few leaves that we had on the one tree that we have left which has large leaves. Soooo, by mid-afternoon, I was finished and enjoyed a cup of hot coffee on the patio. The sun was wam....low 60's....but in the shade of the patio, it was rather cool so I found myself a light jacket so I could remain outside for awhile and enjoy my coffee in the fresh air.

As the sun began to slip down below the treeline on the higher hills to the southwest of here, I went back inside and did some online reading of a few newspapers that I didn't get to do this morning. Soon, the 1st Lady was preparing some pasta with garlic shrimp, simmering in a white wine and butter sauce.......OMG, was it ever, every tasty!!!!!! Both the pasta...linguine...and the shrimp were just perfectly cooked....she did a super job on this dinner!!!!!!

This evening, after I cleaned up the kitchen.....always my job as per my marriage contract of almost 38 years.....and then we enjoyed The Amazing Race. It is about to finish for the season and I will certainly miss that show each Sunday evening. Sort of like when I was small(er)....and would watch Wonderful World of Disney.....believe that was the correct name.....each and EVERY Sunday night. Hmmmm....also on Sunday's....it was The Ed Sullivan Show..in black and white......."Reeeally BIG Show".

And so.....that was my/our Sunday. Relaxing, no pressure, some yard work completed, a great evening dinner, and some decent show on the tellie!!

As always........

LIFE IS JUST REALLY, REALLY GREAT!!!!!.....And, I hope it is for all of you, also!!!!!

Let's get this damn bus rolling!!!!

Schlafly Beer!!! Time for the tour....

A small tour....a small brewery!!

Which beer samples would you like to try???

Enjoying the samples of the various beers!

Checking out the menu.....great choices!!!

What to eat....what to eat?????

Waiting to board the bus. On the left....Bill/Joanne Banks who just returned LAST night from a cruise around Italy, Greece, and Turkey.

Loading the bus for the trip back to F'town

Nov 21, 2009: Saturday.....a beautiful day!!

OMG.....I haven't written anything since Thursday.......sooo sorry!!! Yesterday....well, it went by in a flash! First we were planning to take care of things in the yard and around the house, and then a bit later we decided to go down to see Mike and spend some the afternoon with him. Sooooo, we didn't return to the stick/brick until about 9:30 last night....and by that time, my brain was totally downloaded and turning into mush.

This morning......well, we had to scurry around to get things ready, including ourselves so we could leave the stick/brick by 9:45am. We were going today with the 1st Lady's sorority, Beta Sigma Phi, to the city to tour the Schlafly Brewery....and we were all going to ride a local small bus that groups can charter for small little jaunts like this.

Soooo, we got out to the "meeting place"....and there were 16 of us making the trip up to St Louis for the day. Before we were out of the driveway and onto the highway, the drinks were flowing from the coolers......Bloody Mary's were the drink of the morning......and then some progressed to a bottle or two of beer. Yep.....it was a bunch of about-to-be-drunk old farts riding in a small bus....like an airplane parking lot shuttle.....on their way to tour a beer making facility!!

We picked up the last couple in Farmington.....and by 11:45 AM, we were in Webster Groves, or at least that area of the city.....and pulling into the parking area. OMG....the place was packed with people as a large portion of the parking area was being used by a Winter Farmer's Market.....which we didn't get to visit.....our tour was to be at 12 noon.

We had a super young man as a guide....so personable and full of knowledge...and if he didn't know the answer to a question, he certainly was up front and honest about telling us he didn't know that answer!! At the end of the tour.....we then went into the bar....and sampled many different kinds of their products.....BEER. I am NOT a beer drinker....however, I did find a couple that I believe I would enjoy drinking.......surprised the hell out of me!!!

Then....we gravitated to the dining room.....which had a table reserved for all of us....a long table for the 16 old farts!!!! More beer arrived.....and then we ordered...and a wonderful surprise......this food was VERY good!!!!!!!!! Following the late lunch....several people had desserts....and OMG,...OMG....what incredible desserts they served!!!! WHEW!!!! Just marvelous!!!

Soooooo, if you are ever looking for a place to have a great little lunch at reasonable prices, followed by an amazing dessert.....go to Schlafly's Brewery....on Southwest Avenue. You won't be sorry!!!!

Back into the little bus we tumbled.....laughing and joking and being a bit obnoxious, but such great fun!!!! And then the ride home proved to be just as fun.....we played Travel Trivia.....and, of course....the guys beat the ladies!!!!!

All in all.......a wonderful day. I believe this is the best sorority outing with spouses that I have attended.....ever. Such fun.....and, as always with a bunch of old farts.....we are all old enough to have a great time and not give a shit about what others think......the beauty of being OLD!!!!

And sooooo, as always.......

LIFE IS JUST INCREDIBLY GREAT!!!!!!......And, I hope it is for all of you, also!!!!(Get out there and have fun.....Life is tooooo short not to do so!!)

Thursday, Nov 19, 2009: FABULOUS.....I had to wear my sunglasses today!!

Yep......I had to run around the house looking in all of the various little drawers and desk shelves....and finally found those sunglasses that I suppose the 1st Lady had put away, thinking we might never need them again. It was certainly great to HAVE to put them on....finally.

This morning I had my truck at the local Ford dealer's service center to have a different switch installed.......a recall for many of Ford's products. It took at the maximum....15 minutes....soooo short of time that I didn't even get my cup of coffee finished in the waiting area. Really something that all of these car salesmen were there in their little glass cubicles....and I didn't know any of them......AND, no one came in at all during the short time I was there. Then......I went up to Park Hills to Griffon's Trailer Sales to see about getting my storm damages on the RV fixed.

A couple of months ago I got the estimate, received the checks from the RV insurance company, and then informed Bruce Griffon that it would late this fall before I could get these damages fixed. And sooooo, he has already received from Cedar Creek the front decals that have to be replaced, he ordered the rear window while I was there, and hopefully the week after Thanksgiving I can get it all taken care of, including a chip in the front fiberglass from the storm.

Bruce stated that his business has really slowed down...and that if it wasn't for the service/repairs that they do.....it would be rather touchy. BUT.....let me assure all of you, I have used their service guys for both my Jayco trailer and for this Cedar Creek, neither of which they sell.....and you just can't beat these guys for detailed service and repairs!!!! IF you ever need some rv repairs made.......let me urge you to check with Bruce about having his service guys handle the job......they will certainly do you right!!!!!!

Returning to the stick and brick......the 1st Lady and had another cup of coffee/tea...and then we both went about doing some of the necessary things that we needed...and still need...to do around the house. We both are enjoying being back here for a few weeks before we leave again......and sooooo love our remodeled home......since we are not here very often, each time we are here it is just like being in a new home!!!! Granted, the calendar year of 2006 was THE year that we were in such a horrific mess inside the house as walls were torn down, new walls built, all new flooring in various aspects installed/refinished/new carpets/new lighting, new furniture and all new kitchen appliances, new windows.....to two-thirds of our home. And.....each time I watch HGTV, which is often.....I think to myself that what we did to our home is sooooo much better than the remodel/redecorate jobs that I see being done on these various tv programs/episodes!!

I fixed dinner this evening and while it was not a gourmet cuisine meal, OMG....it was soooo damn good....even if I do say so myself....hahaha!!! We both love this one meal dinner: brown long grain organic rice cooked for a bit over an hour in chicken broth(about 3 cans), and then steamed cauliflower, broccoli, carrots, fresh cut grape tomatoes, and shredded cheese on top of this one large platter of great tasting food!!! The rice which we both love is a wet rice....NOT dry and pasty......but very juicy......and tonight it was better than usual. I hadn't used the organic long grain brown rice before.....and this just added another layer of flavor.....WOW!!!! Oh SOOOO good!!!

Tomorrow I am hoping to get out in the yard and run the mower over the few leaves that we have in the yard, cut the grass back to a very short length for the winter, and enjoy being outside once again. Hopefully.....the sun will decide to stay with us for a few more days....and dry up some of this mud that is all around everyone.

And sooooo, another day of nothing to really ramble around about.......nothing to engage your mind with my verbage.......just little thoughts that I am putting down on here, so that tomorrow I can look here to see what I did today......this is a wonderful tool to use for those of us who have that thing known as short term memory loss!!!!! It will soon be five years that I have been doing this rambling.....WOW!!!!! Hard to believe the time has flown by so swiftly!!!

But....nevertheless......as always.....

LIFE IS JUST REALLY, REALLY GREAT!!!!!.....And, I hope it is for all of you, also!!!!

Wed, Nov 18, 2009: More rain and...more rain!

WHEW.....these rain systems just seem to love to hang over Misery!!! Well....things seem to be looking better after tomorrow....YEAH!!!

Up at 6AM.....UGH....and was in Festus at the Jefferson County Medical Center (?) by 8:45. My appt was not on time....as usual....but, by 10:15 I was out of the building and walking in the rain to the truck. However, I didn't really feel the rain....as the urologist that I have been seeing every 6 months stated that I can now quit taking the Avodart....as things have shrunk and returned to a normal size....and...my PSA is lower than it has ever been.... .039!!! Soooo, that is great news.....and he was quite impressed by how my problem had reacted to the Avodart......"quite a good example" he stated. He and I have developed a good rapport and so we had some laughs as well as a discussion about the Riu Vallarta Hotel in Puerto Vallarta....where he was supposed to have gone last summer for a week or so with his family.

After getting out of the rain and into the truck...I called the 1st Lady to see where she was...on the highway heading south....and she said she would be in STL in an hour and a half. So.....about that time, after I had made a couple of stops and purchases, we met out on Manchester Road at a furniture store. A few more stores....and then we went to Panera Bread for a very good lunch....and then it was on to a couple of more stores. She decided that she wante to shop for some Christmas presents and that I could just go on down to F'town.......so, I did!

Getting home about 5pm....I had a bite of supper...and then did some thinking about a biography of myself that I am late in getting it written....and MUST get it done this week!!!!! She returned about 8PM.....having driven through the rains and fog...and was not a pleasant drive down here!!!

Watched tonight's episode of "Glee".....an amazing show...one of the best shows I have seen on the tv in several years!!! While I am CERTAIN that there are many people who think this if a bit over the top for high schoolers.....believe me....I have dealt with these same exact situations for years.....they do exist in high school when working with young adults in your classes...especially the music classes as you get to know them soooooooo well with all of the hours that you spend with them in rehearsals. This is just an incredible tv show!!!!!!

Tomorrow....??? Well...I have to have the truck in the Ford dealer's service bay in the morning to have some work done on it through a Ford recall. No cost to me....and I do want to get it done so I set up this appt. Don't know how long it will take to get done....shouldn't be too long, I think.

I believe everyone here in Misery is hoping very strongly that this weather will move out of our state....and keep moving. Wouldn't want to wish this on anyone east of here!!!!! I do have some yard work to do, but.....it may be several days before I can get into the yard without sinking up to my neck in mud.....UGH....perish the thought!!!!!

And sooooo, even with this terrible weather.....

LIFE IS REALLY, REALLY GREAT!!!!!....And, I hope it is for all of you, also!!!!!!

My ONLY source of Vitamin D on this gloomy day in Misery!!!

Nov 17, 2009: Misery remakes Missouri....again.

Once again, here in southeast Misery(MO), we are suffering from lack of Vitamin D.....a result of very small dosages of the sun for the last few days!! And.....with the news that Vitamin D can result in more men having heart attacks......well, it is time I got the hell out of here!!!

It has been another damp and gloomy and depressing day......which by the way, another study recently released re-states that depression can be caused by lack of the sun.....sooo, which comes first? The heart attack or deep depression???? I should be packing my bags and loading the RV right now as I type this, shouldn't I??? And.....having just been in Puerto Vallarta on the beach last week.......those warm and sunny days there in Mexico are just making this type of damnable dreary weather in Misery that much more difficult to accept......UGH!!!!

Soooo, what did I accomplish while living under these heavy, dark gray clouds today?? Not tooo damn much. I did do some research online and then made some phone calls down to the Gulf Coast of Alabama as I will need an RV park/facility in which to store our RV for a week during the time we will be in Mobile the first week of March for our son's wedding on the 6th. There are too many planned social events that week to be driving in and out of the city from our little house-on-wheels.....so, we will be staying downtown in a hotel that week. I do believe that I located a place....and...OMG, if I understood the lady I discussed this with at an RV park east of Mobile about 30 miles.......she will only charge me $7.50!!!! Yep....you read it correctly....seven dollars and fifty cents. Well.....I will reconfirm this with her on Thursday.......because that price even beats the $10 we paid in Loveland, CO, this past August to store our RV there for a week!

Some things around here needed measuring......like the width of the door to the RV as we would like to replace that "stock" rv sofa that came with the 5er with a new Lazy Boy sofa....and have found one in Cape G., but.....the damn thing will not go through the narrow 27" doorway. Soooo, we will have to get it up here before I have the rear window on the RV replaced.....which is to be done in the next week or so......as it was damaged during the May 8th inland hurricane which struck F'town. With the rear window being taken out.....I can put the new sofa in through that opening very easy....at the service center. All these little things that should be soooo easy are never quite that way....i.e. my truck does not have enough space between the tailgate and the 5er hitch in the center of the bed for the sofa to fit when the tailgate is up! OK.....I can have it delivered here to the house but....now I will need to find a different truck to get it up to Park Hills to the rv service center. Always.....always some difficulty that makes my Life sooooo damn interesting!!! Ahhhh....

Tomorrow.....I must be in Festus for a dr.'s appointment....my six month check-up so that I can get my "peepills" renewed....for the little "growing" problem as the TV advertisements call it. Always an interesting appointment, to say the least.......haha. I will not plant any visuals into your mind by my descriptive verbage.....you can just take it from this point!

The 1st Lady then plans to return tomorrow from her Mom's home....and so, we will meet in STL to do some shopping. A dress for the wedding in March is on the MUST list of things to purchase......as we are not quite certain that we can find something suitable in the Rio Grande Valley in Texas....and I sure as hell do not want to have to take a couple of days, or more, to either go to San Antonio or Houston to find just the right dress(es) while we are in the RGV. And....I am certain that tomorrow will not be the day that we find just what she needs/wants for the wedding AND the other social events during the week prior to the wedding!!!

And sooooo......I am already feeling an extension of the gloom and dampness for tomorrow after seeing the forecast. But.....you know....it could be that dreaded word....SNOW.....so, I will just bear with the rains.....the lesser of the two evils!!

Even with this god-awful weather........as always......

LIFE IS JUST REALLY GREAT!!!!!......And, I hope it is for all of you, also!!!!!