Windmill of Distinction

We have the distinct honor of having the only windmill in Jellystone RV Park, thanks to our nephew and niece who gave it to us for Christmas.

We have thoroughly enjoyed the windmill for its (1) artistic presence; (2) conversation-starting ability; and (3) work ethic. Re #3, the windmill never gets tired, it never is sick, it never is lazy -- it's always on the job!

It has earned its keep the last several days with wind gusts up to 50 mph!

We LOVE our windmill -- all 5' of it!

Getting Closer by the Minute. . .

For those of you who are following the grueling, frustrating, tedious process of building our house, we are approaching a milestone.

We now have all our permits, plans, and estimates necessary for the budget part of the construction loan application; and I spent last night and this evening completing the "Assets and Liabilities" section of the application form.

Who do they think can fill out these forms? The squares are 1"x1" and, on my best day, I couldn't write in the information they ask for in that amount of space. And, since I fractured my hand, I can't write that much information, no matter how large or small the squares. So, I say to myself, I'll create it online. As it turns out, they have a .pdf form to use but you can't fill it out partially, save it, and come back to complete it. Being the problem solver that I am, I created a spreadsheet with all the information (no small task) and Carl is going to enter the information into the .pdf form on line.

Ain't nothing easy these days, but we ARE moving forward!

Carl and Grover's Big Adventure

We're walking down to the Ranger Station -- Carl with the dogs on their leashes, I on my own. As we approached the Station, we immediately noticed a GI-HUGE-ANT dog chained to a tree (with owner nearby). Carl decided to take our dogs around the back to of the Station to avoid the BIG DOG. I went into to Station to do my business and, all of a sudden, I heard major barking. I looked out the window and I saw (1) Grover flying through the air; and (2) Carl falling on his back.

I flew out of the Station (along with the folks who work there) and learned that the GI-HUGE-ANT dog had escaped his chains and had attacked Grover. When Carl realized that Grover was in GI-HUGE-ANT dog's mouth, he yanked on the leash which sent him falling backward.

The good news:

• Grover is perfectly OK and, honestly, has no understanding as to why we were so upset;
  

• Carl, too, is OK. Now he was impaled by a rabbit's ear (a concrete rabbit) but he, too, has healed.

I am so pleased with the outcome because I couldn't imagine taking Carl to the emergency room and telling the folks there that he had been impaled by a rabbits' ear!

Barbershop Kicked up a Notch

On Friday night, we attended a show at the Midwinter Conference of the S.P.E.B.S.Q.A (Society for the Preservation and Enjoyment of Barbershop Quartet in America) and, frankly, it exceeded my expectations.

The opening number was a chorus, led by the director of the Vocal Majority, which performed a tribute to Texas with "Deep in the Heart of Texas" and several other Texas favorites.

Following were this past year's 3rd, 4th, and 5th place quartets who performed "traditional" barbershop numbers along with some Hank Williams, Ray Stevens, and Bill Monroe adapted to barbershop harmony.

We also heard the Collegiate award-winning quartet as well as the Senior award winning quartet.

The other fun thing about the evening is that, once we got back to the hotel which was the headquarters for the Convention, there were quartets bursting out in various parts of the lobby, in front of the elevators, and in the halls of the various floors!

It was a delightful evening! I think it's always interesting to find out the number of people who are interested in a certain art form or hobby. . .

New Bling In Jellystone

When Carl and I got engaged, it was not with a ring. Because it was not the first marriage for either of us, I did not find that unusual. Over dinner shortly after I'd said "yes" he expressed his anxiety about picking out a diamond for me. I assuaged his fears when I said I didn't care about an engagement ring but rather wanted a REALLY wide gold wedding band (I have REALLY long fingers so I can support such). We found that we had to have such a ring custom made, and so we did. I've worn that gorgeous wide gold band proudly for 15 years.

Recently, however, I realized I had a one-carat diamond sitting dormant in my jewelry box (it was on a pendant which I wore when I wore suits to work -- it was on a 22" chain and I augmented it with other gold chains (it looked fabulous with my boat-necked silk blouses and business suits).

I presented the idea to Carl that I mount the diamond atop my wedding ring and he agreed. So here it is:

And we both LOVE it!

A Family Affair

Last night Carl and I went to San Antonio to have dinner with his cousin, David and wife, Sharon. Carl's dad and David's mother were brother and sister and Carl and David haven't seen each other since Carl was 19 and David was 17!

David and Sharon live in Vincennes, Indiana and are in San Antonio for the national Senior Barbershop Quartet competition. David has been a long-time officer in S.P.E.B.S.Q.A (Society for the Preservation and Enjoyment of Barbershop Quartet in America) and, clearly, he belongs to a group that is talented enough to make the national finals. It was great for me to put faces and personalities with folks I've been sending holiday letters to for years; more important, it was great for Carl to spent some time sharing family memories with long-separated kin.

I think it's always special to make additional connections to family. We're now looking forward to attending the concert of all the competition winners on Friday night.

The Weekend That Was

We awoke Friday morning to learn that the water heater in our RV had gone out. Carl called the RV repair folks who live about 3 spaces down from us here in the Park (how handy is that?????). They came to check it out about noon, made the diagnosis and went to get the part they needed. It still wasn't fixed by 2:00 (and we were planning to leave for Houston at 3:00) so I headed for the public shower here in the Park (FYI, it was raining and about 40 degrees here on Friday afternoon; also public showers are made of cement and are the same temperature inside as it is outside). The ONLY time I was warm was while I was in the shower. Shortly after I returned from this Arctic wilderness experience, the guys showed us with the part so Carl was able to enjoy a shower inside a toasty RV!

We drove to Houston in the cold rain, met friends at Vincent's (in our top 5 favorite Italian restaurants), attended the AAUW gig on Saturday and returned to NB. En route, we received an invitation from best friends, Bill & Susan, to come have home-made beef stroganoff with them DELISH!

Today, Carl & Bill played golf and Susan & I went shopping. It was a gorgeous day for both activities!

A Not-So-Interesting Day in the Life of the Congers. . .

• Carl got his truck back: it acted up during the holidays (during which time we had loaned it to Sharon & Maxie), but cratered last Thursday. The repairs were all covered under warranty, and there was a minimum of "inconvenience" factor as Susan & Bill loaned us their Subaru.
• J. J. threw up: he has a VERY sensitive stomach (in fact, at one time, we had him on "sensitive digestive" dog food; unfortunately, he doesn't understand what he can't eat.
• Carl got a temporary crown put onto his tooth; he looks much less like someone out of the film "Deliverance".
• Carl fixed rib-eyes on his new grill; I helped him out with a salad and roasted new potatoes.
• We are watching "While You Were Sleeping" -- a second choice to "An American President" which we could not find in the RV (aaarrrggh -- where do these things go????)
  

I think this is what life is all about: Carl and I are absolutely content with this type of routine in our lives -- I'm thinking that's what love's all about . . .

A Welcome Rain

After several months of drought, a welcomed day of steady, slow rain appeared today -- and more is forecasted for tomorrow.

I am incredulous that we are having a moisture problem since we almost drowned during the winter, spring and summer.

Mother Nature -- she never wants to be known as "predictable"!

New Grill, How Exciting

Well, we went to Camping World and bought a new grill! We are really excited because it has been difficult to entertain folks here when trying to cook on a 12-inch Weber grill. We tried out the new one tonight and what fun!
Here's a comparison of the old teensy grill and the new atomic grill.

Meet Max Watts

At 9:19 this morning, Max Andrew Watts made his long-awaited appearance at a husky weight of 8 lb, 9 oz and a respectable length of 21 1/2". Max is our grandnephew (the son of my nephew, Jeffrey, and his wife Mandi); brother of Ruth and Weston. He was named for his grandfather, Maxie Watts (which has rendered him giddy) and his great grandfather (my dad) Lee Andrew Burnett.

Max had a little bit of a rough ride getting here but he appears to have weathered the storm with no scars. We were so happy to meet Max and we're looking forward to spending lots of time with him.

Grandchildren in Black & White

To the right is a picture of our grandchildren as they leave to attend the Black & White dance at their school.

From left to right: Ryan (grandson), his friend Emily, Amanda (granddaughter) and her friend Justin.

I would LOVE to take some credit for their cuteness, but they have NONE of my blood.

Maybe they've just absorbed some of my really cute personality?????????????

The Shaggy Dog Gets Sheared

Because I have a haircut that is fairly unforgiving, I like to find a stylist who does a good job and stick with her/him. However, I have a dilemma: I have a stylist who does a good job, but I can't stand to be around her.

So, in the spirit of New Year's Resolutions, I decided to eliminate the people in my life (to the extent possible) who drain energy from me. My stylist was at the top of that list.

However, my hair (which grows like it is fertilized) got totally out of control before I could find another stylist. So, on January 9, I broke my resolution (can we talk NO willpower) and went to "my" stylist and got my hair cut.

I have to admit that the pleasure of having my hair manageable outweighs my guilt of breaking my New Year's Resolution on January 9!

Snapshot of a Holiday

Here's a snapshot of the past couple of weeks:

December 21 - 23: Our kids and grandkids spent the weekend with us for our Christmas get-together
December 24: Travel to my sister's house on Lake Buchanan
December 25 - 27: Balcones Springs (between Marble Falls and Austin) for the annual Burnett family reunion
December 28 - 30: Back to my sister's house along with her two sons and their families
December 31: Shrimp boil & champagne at our friends' house for New Year's Eve and Susan's birthday celebrations
January 4: Back to my sister's house
January 5: To Belton for my niece's baby shower
January 6: Take sister and brother-in-law to Austin airport; get home about 6:00 p.m.

Some holiday highlights:

• We played dozens of games of Scrabble during which time I learned that "ai," "zed," and "dunch" are words.
• I cooked in a commercial kitchen.
• I was brought into the 21st Century by Carl who gave me an ipod Shuffle.
  
• We had king crab and salmon fresh from Alaska, courtesy of my cousin.
• I avoided contracting my annual post-holiday "croup."

The major highlight, however, was the quantity and quality of time we were able to spend with family. It was possibly the best holiday season ever!