bobanddenisewanderlust

Saturday-  What a busy day for us! We set up outside for the patio sale with a few items. We did not sell anything, so the items,except for two games,went into a bag and into the back of the Edge to be donated.

While we were sitting outside we saw the lady next door to across the street take 3-4 minutes to get to her car. Then she drove away. She returned and did not straighten herself to go into her carport. She hit the support for the roof. She then backed up and did it again. The third time, she turned her steering wheel slightly and made it into the carport, crooked. She only missed the support because of the bend in the metal from where she had hit it before. EEEK, she should not be driving!

Arizona law is very loose. You take a test, if you apply for a new license. If you are transferring a license, then no test. There is no re-evaluation EVER again. When I was working I had to send in forms for the doctors to get peoples licenses pulled. One was for a 95 year old who was legally blind ( he also could not hear) and he was still driving!

When we were done with the patio sale, we ran the two games over to a patio sale where the people sell items and the money goes to sending mail/packages to the troops.

We left at a little before 10:45 so that we could be on the bus to go to see The Duttons. The bus was leaving at 11. We took one of the last three sets of seats left! We left just a little after 11, as the last couple to arrive, arrived at exactly 11.

When the show was advertised in the newsletter in November, they had listed that the bus was leaving at 12:30. When I saw it in the December newsletter,  in one place it said that the bus was leaving at 11:30 and another place it said 11:00. So I had gone to the office to check on the actual time it was leaving. They looked at me like I was crazy and said 11:00. Okay!

I had also asked what time the show started. I was told 1 PM, but that there were restaurants right there, where we could have lunch.

The show was in Mesa, so it was about a 55 minute drive on the 101.  When we arrived at the restaurant the driver said the show was at 2 PM. So much for trusting the Activities staff! This created a problem for us, as we were meeting friends at 6 PM.

When we finished lunch, we walked over to the theater. It was across a long parking lot, but we wanted the exercise. We went in and I walked up to the gal at the ticket counter. She said that they did not print out tickets for the group, they were just going to take us in as a group. Okay with us, we would wait, using the facilities and cruising around the gift shop. She did not listen, and called one of the Duttons, who was one of the performers, to escort us to our seats. We told him we were waiting for the group. Eventually, the rest of the folks arrived on the bus. We were taken to our seats, taking up the entire second row, center.

The theater holds 600 folks and they were almost sold out. The show was terrific.

The Duttons have two theaters, one in Mesa and one in Branson. They are in Mesa from mid December to April 1, and Branson the rest of the year. They have just recorded two specials for PBS and are regulars on the Mormon channel.

They had won ‘America’s Got Talent’ in 2006. They are very good, with several who are international experts on their chosen instruments. There are seven kids in the first generation and 24 grandkids. The parents also perform. One of the grandkids has leukemia, and he came on stage with a mask on at one point.

The kids go to school in Branson and Arizona, and practice after school. These kids did not perform as much as the Hughes grandkids did in Branson.

It was a typical Branson quality show, which means it was good clean entertainment, with wonderful music, dancing, recognition of the armed services, and corny jokes.

Note in the picture below, they are all playing each others fiddles, including the brother on the end on the right, who is playing the fiddle of the one on the far left, over all of their heads. They were awesome fiddle players!

After the show, everyone was quickly back on the bus and we took off. We arrived back just a little before 5:30 and raced to the MH. While Bob walked the dogs, I made us sandwiches and had our dinner ready when Bob got back. We fed the dogs, and managed to leave by 6:10. Only a little late.

We arrived at Diane and Jim’s house just after their other guests, Bob and Carolyn arrived. We greeted and then sat down to learn how to play Pegs and Jokers. It is a fun game with lots of strategy.  We had a great time, staying late, arriving home at almost midnight! 

Sunday-  We met up with MaryAnne and Ray for brunch at JB’s restaurant on Bell Road at 9AM. We had a nice breakfast and left there at 10:30. We ran over to the big Fry’s on RH Johnson to pick up some Honey Baked Ham. They did not have a small ham or a one pound slice, although we did buy some ham salad. We picked up a few other items and returned home to watch the Redskins beat Buffalo. Yea!

While the game was going, I baked two zucchini breads to go in the freezer for Quartszite. I also baked cookies for the cookie exchange in the morning. Bob had received a notice from Kapersky for an upgrade for Windows 10. So he downloaded it to his computer and it wiped out his computer. So he spent the next few hours on the line with Geek Squad trying to get that straightened out.

Meanwhile, Linda had texted that they wanted to go to Texas Roadhouse to celebrate her finishing a quilt to get into the mail tomorrow as a Christmas present for one of the grandkids. We agreed to go, but when it was time to leave,  Bob was still working on the problem, so I left with Linda and Mike.

When we arrived they would not seat us since Bob was not with us so Mike told them he was in the bathroom. We ordered a blooming onion ( or whatever they call it at Texas Roadhouse??) and texted back and forth with Bob.

He finally arrived and we ordered dinner. We had a great dinner and fun time. We returned home, and watched some recorded TV.

Monday- It was 43 and sunny, so I went to water aerobics, after starting the sheets in the washer/dryer. The wheel on my closet door had broken, so Bob dropped off the towels at the laundry and continued to Ace Hardware to pick up a new wheel.

He stopped at the laundry and moved the sheets to the dryer, then walked the dogs. He put on the wheel and returned to pick up the towels. Meanwhile the sheets are still drying.

At 11:30, we went to the cookie exchange. Well, they messed up again. It had been listed at 11:30, and we arrived, as did many others. Then they changed it in the newsletter in December, but did not put in an article. They just put it on the calendar that no one, including us, looks at. So we showed up an hour early. Oh well! We were not the only ones. The Activities staff need to proof read their newsletter. In addition, they send out an email blast daily and they did not put it on that either.

We returned at 12:20 and sat with our friends. There were only about 12 people, plus the staff. Guess if you forget to advertise, then you don’t get attendees!

While we were there, we had a text about the screen tent and folks were coming at 2:30 to look at the tent. Paul had also called and wanted Bob to re-measure the doors, so he did when he got back.

I took off to go to mail an item I had sold on Ebay, and ended up having to go to the 99cent store for an envelope as the Post Office had run out of envelopes. We have a little contract Post Office close to us, so we use that instead of the regular Post Office which is so busy.

I returned before 2:30 and Bob was already showing the folks the tent. I collected the money and sent them on their way. We left and went grocery shopping to get the rest of the items we need for the week.

Tuesday- My ankle was bothering me so I did not go to water aerobics this morning. We left early and went to the WVGL to work on Genealogy. We took sandwiches with us, and spent five hours working on our families. It is so interesting! When you open a window into  a person’s life; where they were born, where they were married, where they died. Their parents, their siblings…you start to feel a real connection to the person. Why were they living where they were, why did they stay or move? It fascinating! So many mysteries to solve….We returned home and had a quiet evening.

Wednesday- I went to water aerobics this morning. The temp was 53, but cloudy. I returned and we went to Walmart to pick up prescription and a few items. We went to the dollar store for a bucket for boondocking in Quartszite and then Carumbas for lunch.

We returned and I went to Mahjongg at 1. I played with Diane and MaryAnne. I returned home at 3. We picked up Linda and Mike and met MaryAnne and Ray at Bucca d’ Beppo for dinner. We each ate separately, instead of purchasing the family style items. We had purchased two $50 gift cards at Costco, for $75 and we used one for dinner. We had the awesome antipasto salad, chicken marsala, and a side of pasta with marinara sauce. We took half of it home for dinner tomorrow evening. We had a great time and Linda declared her lasagna the best she has ever had!

Thursday- I was off to water aerobics again this morning. The temp was in the low 50’s and cloudy again. The sun peeped out for a few minutes, but was gone again rapidly. At least the water was nice and warm.  Bob cooked dog food while I was gone.

I returned, showered, then we left to go to Walmart for recordable CD’s. One of the ladies had given me copies of two of the CD’s that we use in class. Both Linda and I want these CD’s and cannot buy them. We have tried everywhere. The CD’s were recorded in 1984 and are no longer available. On Amazon it shows that the ‘cassettes’ are unavailable!

I returned with the CD’s and tried to copy them. Hmmm, I can get them to load to my Itunes, but cannot then burn the CD. We tried on Bob’s computer, which does not have Itunes installed, and it did not work on his either. We think it is the Windows 10. At least I have the CD;s on my Ipod shuffle.

We had a nice afternoon, ate leftovers from Bucca d’Beppo, and watched a recorded movie.

Friday- Merry Christmas!! We had a nice morning. I cooked a trial breakfast casserole. I say trial, as I am trying the recipe out for on the the pot luck’s in Quartszite. Bob declared it one we could do again, so it stays in the recipe file.

We cooked some ham and side dishes for lunch, fell asleep in the recliner, walked the dogs, and I baked a corn pudding casserole for the Christmas pot luck.

We went over to the ballroom at 3 PM to assist with set up. Then returned to the MH as the casserole was baking. We packed up the casserole and went to the ballroom for the pot luck. There were less people this year, only 42. So we ate at the round tables, which we all liked better anyway. It was easier to eat at the round table of 8 than the long table of 16. We put all the food on four tables and ran a buffet of all the food.

There was enough ham and turkey for a battalion, plus the usual potatoes, corn, sweet potatoes, salads and lots of desserts.

We sat with MaryAnne and Ray, and Linda and MIke, with Linda’s stepmother,Barbara, who she brought over for dinner from the Assisted Living. Barbara seemed to have a good time. Linda asked me if she should tell Barbara about my role in getting her into the Assisted Living and I politely ( ha ha) declined. We decided not a good idea to upset Barbara!  Barbara is doing very well in the ALF.

We returned home, fed and walked the dogs, and settled in to watch a recorded movie. It is nice having the Showtime for three free months!

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