RV Living, Conger Style

Congers in Paradise

2009-07-25T16:29:00.001-05:00

If you want to follow our lives after RV living, check out our new blog, Congers in Paradise.

We Have Moved In!

2009-05-21T14:21:00.004-05:00

Woo Hoo! We're done building and have moved into our new home. It is so-o-o exciting. This will be the last post on RV Living, Conger Style since we are no longer in the RV. Notice that there is no sign of the trailer in this slideshow of the finished product.

Belated Update - Close To Finishing Our Home

2009-04-11T09:53:00.007-05:00

Good grief, it has been a month and a half since we last updated our blog!

We have been working hard and are nearly at the finish line. Shelves are installed in all closets, mud room and utility room, the deck railing and benches are installed, cabinetry has been installed and finished, and painting is complete.

This week we begin tile setting and then we'll stain and finish the concrete floor. The following week the Mongolian Hordes will descend upon us to finish out the electric, plumbing, propane, HVAC, and central vacuum.

Then, woo-hoo! we have our final draw inspection and move in. We expect to be in our house before the end of April.

Here are the latest pics.

VIEWS FROM THE FRONT

DECK AND BENCHES

MASTER BATH

KITCHEN

2009-02-26T10:05:00.002-06:00

These pictures are similar to the ones on the January 27 blog entry -- hopefully you can see the progress we've made.

What you can't see is that the insulation is installed and the sheetrock will be completed by tomorrow afternoon. Next week will be taping, bedding and texturing. Additionally we have a couple of retaining walls, a rock grilling area, and a set of steps in progress.

VERY EXCITING

Out of Juice

2009-02-11T12:20:00.001-06:00

Last Thursday the 12-volt circuit in our RV went out; this circuit controls the small lights around the interior perimeter, the refrigerator, the switch for the water heater, and the thermostat for the air conditioner in the living room. We emptied the refrigerator into the one in the shop, made do without perimeter lights, and used fans and the bedroom A/C to try to stay cool in unseasonally warm temperatures. We were able to get the water heater switch fixed on Saturday but had to have parts ordered for the rest.

Everything got fixed yesterday so we're back to "normal" -- I'm beginning to realized that I have NO idea what "normal" means!

We've been told that RVs are not built to be lived in and we are definitely finding that to be true. . .

Only two more months. . . . .

Invisible Progress

2009-02-11T11:16:00.001-06:00

A lot has been done on the house that doesn't show up in picitures:

1. Plumbing topout is complete;
2. Kitchen and bathroom fixtures are ordered;
3. Kitchen and bathroom faucets are purchased;
4. Touch-up paint (nail heads and seams) is completed on siding;
5. HVAC roughin is complete;
6. Ceilings and cedar trim on deck and front porch is complete;
7. Attic stairs are installed;
8. Cabinets are ordered;
9. Propane plumbing for tankless water heater and cooktop is complete;
10. Tile for kitchen countertop is bought;
11. Central vacuum system is ordered.

We believe we'll be able to move in by the end of March -- not a minute too soon!

Waiting On Metal Roofing

2009-01-27T17:15:00.004-06:00

We are really getting excited! We now have windows and doors, and as you can see, the siding is nearly all installed. The roof is waiting on the metal to be delivered, and the plumbers were on-site today beginning their top-out. It also rained a bit today but not enough to do any damage.

Siding is up and the roof just needs some metal.

Here's the Watts Enterprise team. Linda bought T-shirts for us. So we donned them and went to dinner to celebrate.

Getting Near To Drying

2009-01-19T20:47:00.014-06:00

Well we are approaching the point where we close in everything so we can stop worrying about weather. As you can see, the roof trusses were delivered, the crew we hired erected them and are beginning to put decking on the roof and put up soffits. Linda and Sharon installed hurricane straps on the roof trusses. Carl is inside the trailer working on the computer to try to pay for the help, and Maxie is continuing to manage the project. We are very excited about the progress.

All Boxed In

2008-12-29T16:55:00.006-06:00

When we broke for the Christmas Holidays, we had all the walls done, the OSB attached to the external walls, and all the headers installed for the doors and windows.

From top to bottom:
1. Standing in the back door coming out of the living room;
2. Standing in the front door;
3. Peering out my kitchen window.

Since we broke, we have bought all our kitchen appliances and selected our garage door.

We're starting back to work on January 12 at which time we'll start installing the trusses. I'll be a much more efficient carpenter as Carl gave me my very own "Fat Max" tape measure for Christmas!

FRAMED!

2008-12-16T11:48:00.004-06:00

At day's end on Friday, we completed 10 straight days of construction (WHEW!. We now have all the interior walls built and several of the headers for the windows. We start up again tomorrow and plan to complete the headers and install the Tyvek before we break for the Christmas holidays.

Before we actually started construction, I had visions of being involved in the process -- primarily in the role of "go-fer". I had no idea how much I would learn about construction , the number of power and hand tools I would learn to use, and how much constructing I would actually do.

I also had no idea how rewarding and enjoyable the work would be or how draining it would be on me physically, mentally, and emotionally. More important, I had not idea how thrilling it would be to see my dream house come true in front of my own eyes!

Day 7 of Framing

2008-12-09T18:06:00.003-06:00

This is at the end of Day 7 of framing as well as the end of 7 straight days in a row of working my "tutu" off!

We have braved the elements (heat, cold, wind, and rain) and equipment problems and have all the OSB on the outside of the house and about 1/3 of the inside walls installed.

We are having a ball!

Day 4 of Framing

2008-12-07T18:10:00.005-06:00

The house is now completely framed and about 1/2 of the OSB is mounted to the outside wall. It's looking more and more like a house!

Day 2 of Framing

2008-12-04T21:18:00.001-06:00

Happy Thanksgiving!

2008-11-26T14:31:00.002-06:00

I love all holidays but I truly believe Thanksgiving is my favorite: Texas is beautiful in the fall, there is very little (if any) hustle and bustle associated with the holiday, and the whole purpose of the day is to reflect on one's blessings. My blessings are too numerous to list here so I will lift up my top five: my parents (though deceased I am who I am because of them), my husband, my extended family, my friends, and my health.

To celebrate the holiday, we're going to Big Bend National Park with our best friends. We're having Thanksgiving dinner at the rustically-chic Gage Hotel in Marathon, TX then we'll stay inside the park in their pop-up trailer for the next four days. We're looking forward to hiking, bird watching, playing Mexican Train dominos and just relaxing.

Here's wishing all of you a blessed Thanksgiving holiday!

My Birthday Week

2008-11-24T18:11:00.006-06:00

My actual birthday was Tuesday, November 18 but the celebration started Monday evening when my sister and brother-in-law presented me with a beautiful gift from Brazil: a beautiful, 6" long sculpture of amethyst crystals in the shape of a clump of grapes (purple is my favorite color and grapes are my favorite decorating motif). See picture

The celebration continued on Tuesday when we went to Austin to have lunch with a friend. She took us to a quaint Italian restaurant downtown where the atmosphere was charming and the food delicious. The best gift however was when our friend told the waiter it was my birthday. Without missing a beat he quipped,"So you're turning 25 and your insurance premiums are going down!"

Carl and I agreed we would go out for our celebration on Wednesday since we were still full from our lunch. So on Wednesday he surprised me with (1) dinner at The Vineyard which is definitely a celebration-type restaurant -- see picture; and (2) a Nikon Coolpix camera. The latter blew me away as I would have NEVER suspected a camera from him. He said he thought I needed one to carry in my purse so I can take pictures of the things I see in my shopping expeditions for our house "stuff." It's a kicked-up "point & shoot" as there are custom settings but they are all on a menu -- just the perfect camera for me. Is Carl good or what?!!?!!

On Saturday, we went to our best friends' house for dinner where they presented me with a case for my new camera -- it's even the same color!

I LOVE being 60!

Update on Construction

2008-11-17T19:23:00.002-06:00

Since the last update, the following has been accomplished:

1. tons of trash to the landfill;
2. all the rebar left by the foundation contractors moved to the back of the shop;
3. all the brush we cut down moved to a brush pile at the back of the property;
4. we purchased a used full-sized refrigerator which we put in the shop (YEA!);
5. we emptied one of our storerooms which is saving us $50/month;
6. we completed the 12' x 64' deck;
7. all the lights, plugs, and switches plus a motion-detector light were activated in the shop.

The plan is to start framing the house the Tuesday after the Thanksgiving holiday.

Stay tuned! :-)

Costa Rica and Panama Revisited

2008-11-17T18:44:00.002-06:00

Pura Vida! (This is the Costa Rican version of "Aloha")

We returned on Tuesday, November 11, from our 14-day trip to Costa Rica and Panama. We spent 5 days touring Costa Rica via bus, 3 more days touring Costa Rica via small cruise ship (78 passengers), and 6 days touring Panama via the small cruise ship.

We've not had time to get our gazillion pictures in shape to post so I'll just lift up some of the amazing things we experienced (in no order of importance or interest):

1. the tropical rain forest via aerial tram, zip line, and numerous hikes;
2. relaxing in hot springs fed by an active volcano;
3. snorkeling with sharks, and Carl saw a seahorse skittering across the sand;
4. going through the Panama Canal;
5. two indigenous peoples -- the Embera's and the Kuna's;
6. breath-taking views of little islands, reefs, mountains;
7. the best fresh pineapple in the universe;
8. planting trees with 3rd graders in Costa Rica to help them with their reforestation project;
9. a Costa Rican rodeo;
10. a tour of a coffee plantation;
11. sightings in the wild of 3 varieties of monkeys, a boa constrictor, coati mundi, many exotic birds, and 2- and 3-toed sloths;
12. learning about the project to preserve butterflies of Costa Rica;
13. touring the tropical mangrove forest of Panama via zodiac boat; and (Carl and I only)
14. experiencing the expertise of the Costa Rican medical community (I slipped in the shower of one of the hotels we stayed in and had to have 5 stitches in my head).

It was an amazing trip, we met great people on the cruise, and we met wonderful folks in both countries we visited. This is a trip we would highly recommend!

JJ & Grover Meet a New Neighbor

2008-10-26T16:06:00.002-05:00

The pups are a interested, but a little tentative about playing with this new neighbor.

Workshop Complete

2008-10-26T15:34:00.004-05:00

Here are some pics of the workshop. Note Linda working "high steel."

Carl putting the finishing touches, adding the ridge vent.

Update on Construction

2008-10-21T11:46:00.002-05:00

It's been almost a month since I updated the blog due to a combination of (1) my laptop being in the shop for over a week; (2) being out of town for over a week; and (3) being so tired at the end of a day of construction that I can hardly wiggle.

Here's where we are:
1. Completed foundations for house, deck, and workshop;
2. Completed driveways;
3. Built 24' x 30' metal building for workshop;
4. Built small bedroom and potty room inside workshop;
5. Completed plumbing and wiring for workshop;
6. Connected washer & dryer, as well as full-sized refrigerator, inside workshop; and, FINALLY
7. Moved RV from RV park to property!

It is wonderful to be living on this beautiful piece of property, even though we are still in the RV; I can only imagine how wonderful it will be once we get into the house. . .

Work on Workshop Begins

2008-09-28T21:55:00.006-05:00

We have begun erecting the steel building that will be our workshop. The important thing right now is that we will use it to move our household goods from rented storage buildings and then can move our travel trailer to the site. We are going to construct a bedroom in the building for Maxie and Sharon to stay in while they are here to help us.
Being at the site will save time and money. Plus we are just so excited about actually living on our property!

By the way... in the last pic, you'll notice that we have allowed Linda back up on ladders.

Beep Beep!

2008-09-28T21:33:00.003-05:00

One of the delightful scenes at the building site was this Paisano strolling across our foundation. Mr or Mrs Road-Runner has been wandering around the neighborhood for weeks, and this was the first opportunity for a picture. He/she didn't seem too disturbed by our presence.

Deck Construction a la Linda & Sharon

2008-09-28T21:22:00.003-05:00

Now that Maxie and Carl have completed the substructure for the 12' x 64' deck on the back of the house, the real test of construction prowess begins. Linda and Sharon are hard at work installing the deck flooring.

Meet Marshmallow

2008-09-27T15:52:00.002-05:00

This is Marshmallow, a beautiful and HUGE white rabbit who lives with his owners a couple of RVs down from us here in the park.

Every evening Marshmallow's owners put her in a baby carriage and take her for a walk. This particular evening Grover and J. J. met her. They all got along quite beautifully!

As Easy as Falling off a Ladder. . .

2008-09-27T15:22:00.002-05:00

I've heard this metaphor all my life and never really understood it. I now understand that it is VERY easy to fall off a ladder; it's not so easy, however, to recuperate from said fall!

On Wednesday, I was up on the top step of a 5' ladder installing the tin on the roof of the workshop; the next thing I knew I was on the ground and Sharon & Maxie were asking me if I could move my feet (Carl was at the dentist, so he didn't see me fall -- THANK GOODNESS!) Evidently, the ladder broke and I fell from the top step; I'm told I was out cold; that I stared into space for 30 seconds or so and then started babbling nonsensically; and slowly began gaining consciousness.

I am so fortunate that I did not sustain more serious injuries; I have a puncture wound in my head (lots of bleeding but no stitches needed) and some significant bruising on my left side (I'm now beautiful shades of dark purple, green, yellow, etc). I have a dull headache and I'm VERY sore (Thursday morning I waked up feeling like a 600-lb. gorilla had been tap dancing on my left side all night). However, I was able to work on the workshop Wednesday afternoon and all day Thursday and Friday (I even regained my ladder privileges on Friday!).

The ladder is a cheapo we bought to keep on our RV and we were using it because we needed another ladder. We have since bought a good quality ladder and I'm going to keep the cheapo to remind me of how fortunate I am. . .

The Skinny on My Skin

2008-09-16T18:42:00.002-05:00

For years I have been plagued with periodic outbreaks of dry, scaly, itchy patches on my forehead, nose and ears. The past couple of years the outbreaks have been almost consecutive so, with pressure from my husband and my best friend, I finally made an appointment with a dermatologist.

I now have a diagnosis: I have seborrheic dermatitis -- no prevention known and no cure, but it can be controlled. I got a prescription for a topical lotion (a mild steriod) that I use only when I have a flare-up and a recommendation for an over-the-counter anti-fungal shampoo to use as a face wash a couple of times a week.

I am VERY happy to report that I am scaly and itch free after only a couple of treatments.

Just amazing what a visit to a professional will do :-)

Work on Workshop Begins

2008-09-13T18:40:00.004-05:00

The third part of the foundation project is that for our 24 x 30 metal workshop. The crew began laying the forms for it last week, the plumber is supposed to add the plumbing this weekend, and they plan to pour on Tuesday.

Real Construction Begins!

2008-09-13T18:35:00.005-05:00

Carl and Maxie have the substructure for the deck almost complete! We think we'll be laying the deck flooring Monday or Tuesday! YIPPEE!

Footings for the Deck

2008-09-13T18:26:00.003-05:00

Once the house foundation was completed, the crew started on the footings for the deck. The deck will be the length of the house (65'), 12 ' deep, and about 8 ' tall -- quite a structure. Here's a portions of the pouring project:

All In A Pickle

2008-09-07T20:40:00.003-05:00

We got home from Camp Meeting with LOTS of eggs! I made egg salad, we had fried egg sandwiches for breakfast and we STILL had eggs. I had heard my sister talk about pickling eggs so I decided I would do that.

I went on the Internet and found a recipe that (a) seemed fairly simple; and (b) called for ingredients that I had on hand. The only exception was something called "pickling spices" so I looked further on the Internet for what that meant. I learned that it was a combination of things such as peppercorns, cinnamon sticks, mustard seeds, bay leaves, cloves, etc . etc. I went to my larder and found that I had peppercorns, bay leaves, and cloves, so that's what I used.

The next problem is that I didn't have a container in which to make my pickled eggs. Carl went down to our local resale shop, coerced the employee to sell him something after they had closed, and came home with a great looking glass gallon jar (with an orange lid which goes beautifully with my decor in the trailer) so I am all set.

I made two dozen pickled eggs and now, a week later when they are ready to eat, I have to say they are delicious!

Who Knew!

Making Room for VIPs

2008-09-07T20:21:00.003-05:00

My brother-in-law is our builder of record (definitely a VIP) and he and my sister will be staying with us during the building of our house. Our long-range plan is to wall off a 9x12 area in the metal workshop and put a bed and window unit it in for them to stay in. That is still a great plan BUT until the foundation for the metal shop is poured and the metal shop is built, they will be staying with us in the 5th Wheel (aka "trailer" and "RV").

After they stayed with us on Friday, I realized we needed to make some more room in the trailer. So I spent most of Saturday going through every cabinet and piece of furniture and packing up every item that we were not using. Then Carl came up with the idea of taking out the table. We then went to the trailer's storage hatch; cleaned it out; and freed up even more room.

Today we made a run to (a) deposit "stuff" into our store room; and (b) take more "stuff" to Goodwill. We also went to Home Depot and found "over the door" hooks to install so that my sister and brother-in-law will have a place to store their "stuff."

I think we are officially ready for our VIPs to show up on Tuesday :-)

Vacationing in Our Own Back Yard

2008-08-31T13:15:00.001-05:00

Yesterday Carl and his best friend, Bill, played their weekly golf game at a beautiful course about 30 minutes west of where we live. Bill's wife (and my best friend), Susan, and I decided to go with them and lay by the pool. The pool area is gorgeous: surrounded by huge oak trees and beautifully appointed. We had the pool to ourselves, there was a gentle breeze blowing, and it was like being on an island somewhere far, far away.

We read our books, talked, snacked on mini-corn dogs and played two rounds of Trivial Pursuit (both of which I lost by 1 pie).

It was relaxing and very enjoyable girlfriend time.

Workshop Arrives!

2008-08-29T18:30:00.004-05:00

The foundation for the house is complete and work begins on a footing for our back porch deck (the first picture).

The exciting thing is that the steel building materials have arrived and as soon as the shop foundation is poured we can erect it. We plan to move all of our household goods from rental storage into the workshop and then move our RV to the property. We'll live in it until the construction has been completed.
Carl worked his tush off helping to unload the steel and slept very well that night.

Live Music in the Most Unlikely Places

2008-08-24T18:28:00.002-05:00

We went to my sister's place on Lake Buchanan this weekend as that is where our freezer is located and we needed to get some meat. When we got there, my sister said she'd like to go to the Lost Creek Winery to get a hostess gift for a friend they are visiting next week. We got to the winery and found wonderful live music happening in a beautiful setting outside the equally beautiful tasting room. We were on a schedule so we vowed to come back at a later date.

Our schedule was to meet our aunt and uncle at a local restaurant in Tow, TX to hear some live music. We walked in and found a table reserved for us with a bottle of wine and a "Welcome Back, We've Missed You" card for my sister and brother-in-law who've been in Las Vegas teaching school from August, 2007 - June 2008. We then were treated to THE BEST chicken fried steak I've every had (and I'm a Texas) and some wonderful live music from two local guys (old country like Bob Wills and less old country like Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard, etc.)

It was delightful and we'll definitely go back!

Free Timing with Free Cell

2008-08-22T13:36:00.002-05:00

I love playing free cell on my laptop and, being every-so-slightly left-brained, I decided some time ago to play the games in order starting with game 1. My rules are that (1)I can't go the next game until I've won the game I'm playing; (2) if I've not won a game after 5 times, I put that game number on my "replay" list and move on to the next game; (3) each time I log on I start with the games on my "replay" list -- if I win it mark it off the list, if I lose I move to the next game on the "replay" list; (4) once I'm through the "replay" list I go the next new game.

As of today, I was playing new game #736 and I still hadn't won game #598. I thought I had approached it every possible way (obviously I hadn't because Carl has won it) but I FINALLY won it today!

OK, so this doesn't rank up there with an Olympic medal, but, for me, it was a victory!

Now That's A Foundation!

2008-08-18T09:47:00.005-05:00

Well, the last update on the foundation left you with us awaiting the steel to be installed. While we were away at Bloys Camp Meeting, they installed the rebar and when we returned they poured the slab. Linda took pictures of the operation, which was amazing.
Click on the slide show below and you'll see that 126 cubic yards of concrete make for a pretty tall foundation. The last picture in the slide show is of Linda and Carl at our front door (or where it will be).

A Belated Birthday Celebration

2008-08-17T19:36:00.002-05:00

My brother-in-law's birthday was on Friday, August 15, but we celebrated it today. We asked them to meet us in Johnson City at the Silver K Cafe for a brunch and music by John Arthur Martinez (JAM is a musician from Marble Falls who came in 2nd in the first Nashville Star competition).

The company was the best, the venue is great, the food was delicious, and JAM's music was enjoyable, as always.

A great time was had by all!

Beads, Beads, and More Beads

2008-08-17T19:25:00.002-05:00

My friend, Susan, and I have been dabbling in beading (we're not bad at it and may, if we have the time, actually make some money at it!). She was wanting some silver wire to make some bracelets and hadn't been able to find it, so we went to a "Bead Show" in San Antonio on Saturday, August 16.

Three observations of the "Bead Show":

I had NO idea of the number of beads that could be in one place -- it was a space of 10,000ish square feet and it had beads of porcelain, metals, woods, glass, crystals, gems of every size, color, shape, and style imaginable. Thankfully, both of us were so overwhelmed that we weren't tempted to buy!
I had NO idea of the number of people who were interested in beading and would attend a "Bead Show"! We were there fairly early in the day and the place was PACKED!
I had NO idea how many men would attend a "Bead Show" -- I'm estimating that 1/3 of the folks there were male.

Susan got exactly what she went for (and at a price far less than she expected to spend) but it was WAY too many beads for us to look at!

An Extraordinarily-Special Camp Meeting

2008-08-17T18:53:00.004-05:00

This site has been very silent for a couple of weeks. We were in the Davis Mountains from Wednesday, July 30 thru Monday, August 11. Once home, Carl had to play catch-up with work and I had to play catch-up with laundry, unpacking, mail, bills and all the other things you have to catch up with when you've been out of town for almost two weeks. I'm back on track now and plan to stay more current with my updates. I'll start with our week at Camp Meeting.

We went out early in order to continue to make repairs to our camp caused by a 300-year-old oak tree falling on our cook shed and taking out our bunkhouse, our storage facility, some plumbing and some electrical work. And, of course, there are the perennial leaks, shortages, stoppages, and other plumbing, electrical, and sewage problems that occur when you use an facility only once a year.

Everything was in tip-top shape by the time the majority of our campers arrived and we had an extraordinarily wonderful camp meeting!

It was my 60th and Carl's 18th time to attend;
My cousin and his daughter from Alaska were there and it was the longest time I've ever spent with them.
My nephew and his wife were there for the entire week; they brought a friend of theirs with them that we thoroughly enjoyed being with;
The Methodist preacher on staff has been newly-appointed to New Braunfels and we really like him and his wife (she's been coming to Camp Meeting as long as I have and we decided we most certainly attended Sunday School together out there!) so we are eager to visit their church;
As always, we had a wonderful time re-connecting with old friends and meeting new friends.

However, the event that made the week extraordinarily special was when our cooks walked out on us in the middle of breakfast on Thursday. I know this sounds like a deal-breaking event but our campers pitched in such that we finished cooking breakfast for everyone, we put together an amazing lunch (90 lbs of meat loaf, just to illustrate the volume we serve), we had roasts in the oven for dinner that night, and briskets in the smoker for lunch the next day. We had folks falling out to wash dishes, clean off tables, and handle all the details for serving lunch. Then we learned that we were hosting the camp preachers, the camp music staff, and their families for lunch -- we were asked if we wanted to reschedule, but we said "no" and lunch was FABULOUS!

All of us agreed that we had fun pitching in to help and I truly believe our campers are more invested in the process. It was a very special time!

And, the good news is that we had a new crew on board by 4:00 that afternoon and they are SO much better than what we had! What a blessing in disguise. . .

Visiting and Packing

2008-07-29T17:53:00.003-05:00

We had a delightful weekend at my sister's place at Lake Buchanan: my younger nephew and his wife were there with 3 of their friends, my sister's friend from Las Vegas was there with a friend of hers from Austin, and I got to visit with my cousin and his daughter from Alaska as well as another cousin I haven't seen since Christmas.

Yesterday we met my sister, brother-in-law, and friend from Las Vegas in Gruene for lunch and shopping.

Then it was time to start packing for our 11-day trip to the Davis Mountain (we're leaving tomorrow). This is not as easy as it sounds as we need to pack tools (always a need for construction and repair out there), clothes for hot and cool weather plus clothes for painting and other dirty work, plants to spruce up the cabin, books to read, household items (mops, etc.), food, and a variety of other odd items.

We'll be gone until Monday night, August 11 and I'll be off the blogwaves until then.

More Foundation Progress

2008-07-26T09:13:00.003-05:00

This past week, the plumber and electrician added their entrances to the foundation prior to the installation of steel rebar. Bug-A-Meister, the termite man, followed up with treatment around the newly-installed drains.

The day after the plumber finished, Hurricane Dolly hit the coast of Texas about 300 miles south of us. Storm clouds began forming so the contractor quickly came in and lay plastic tarp over the base fill. He said that they wanted to prevent any washing away, but more important was preventing excessive settling of the fill. If the fill settles then it means more concrete would have to be poured. We had a couple of days of good rain, which was very much needed because of the drought.

The steel has been ordered and installation should begin next week, followed by the concrete pour. Soon we will be seeing a real foundation!

Playing Catch Up

2008-07-22T10:23:00.004-05:00

We learned on Wednesday that Carl's best friend's sister died; on Thursday we drove to Kilgore in far east Texas and drove back home on Friday after the funeral. Even though I was born in Texas and lived here my entire life (except for two years in Oregon), I know very little about the eastern part of the state. We drove through country I'd never been to so it was a lovely, but long (7 hours each way), trip.

On Saturday my sister, brother-in-law, and a friend of theirs from Las Vegas came down and we took a kayak trip. It was relaxing and uneventful until I turned over going through a chute and lost my kayak, my paddle, and my shoes. Everything was recovered and I suffered only minor cuts and bruises. We ended the day enjoying a shrimp boil at our friends' house.

As far as progress on the house: we now have foundation entrances for electrical and plumbing; we expect the foundation steel to be delivered in the next couple of day and the concrete to be poured this weekend.

Until later. . .

Foundation Progress!

2008-07-15T18:56:00.006-05:00

Well, in the last couple of days, amazing progress has been made. On Saturday we went by to see what had been done and saw that they had begun "bagging" for the concrete beams in the center of the foundation.

This is a view from outside the garage, down the length of the house.

We went back on the property on Monday, but all that had been done was that seven or eight more loads of base fill had been delivered.

Today (Tuesday) we visited and were amazed at what had been accomplished. Seven workers were making bricks out of plastic sheets while another guy brought in more fill with a front loader. We watched for about 15 minutes while they built about three feet of beam walls.

Later in the day we went back and they had nearly finished all of the beams. There is just a little more to do in the garage area, and then the plumbing and electric entrances will be laid.

Here's what it looks like now after about a full day's work.

Kayaking on the Guadalupe -- Pictorial Version

2008-07-15T11:57:00.002-05:00

More Foundation News

2008-07-13T20:35:00.004-05:00

We are getting to the point in our foundation that we actually believe it will be level at the end! We had a surveyor come out to place the forms for the house foundation on the survey that was submitted to our lender. Once that is received, we'll be able to get the money for the work that's been completed.

Kayaking on the Guadalupe

2008-07-13T13:14:00.004-05:00

My nephew and niece-in-law came up yesterday and the four of us enjoyed a relaxing kayak trip on the beautiful Guadalupe river, and then a fun afternoon in Gruene.

This was the maiden voyage of Carl's and my kayaks; we bought them a couple of years ago when we moved down here -- the first summer the river was so low it was practically dry and last summer the river was closed to kayaking because it was so high! Feast or famine for the water sport industry around here. . .

Pictures will be on another post as soon as I get them from Bekki. . .

4th of July -- Round Top Style

2008-07-11T10:37:00.001-05:00

This post is a week late but I wanted to learn how to include a slide show of the Independence Day parade we attended.

Our cousins invited us to come to Round Top for the 4th of July Celebration; we enjoy their company and had nothing else to do, so we went. Round Top has a population of 81 so we expected a quaint, small-town celebration with a parade of 10 or so vehicles and a few booths set up around town. Imagine our surprise when we couldn't find a parking place when we got to town! The celebration started with entertainment by the Round Top Brass Band -- a group of 10 - 12 musicians. This was followed by speeches by the mayor and county judge, an original essay presented by the Class of '08's valedictorian, music sung by a local, VERY talented musician, and a shot from a real canon. The parade had over 100 entries and we enjoyed it very much. We learned that Round Top has the oldest, continuous Independence Day celebration west of the Mississippi -- this was the 158th celebration!

Below is a selection of the wonderful entries of floats, longhorns, vintage and antique cars, old fire engines, etc.

Enjoy!

Round Top 4th of July Parade

2008-07-11T10:27:00.002-05:00

Some More Foundation Progress

2008-07-09T21:19:00.004-05:00

We went up to the land today (July 9th) to see what has been done in the last two days. Not as much progress as we had hope, but at least a lot of new fill had been delivered.

We hope that we can get the rough-in plumbing and steel laid within a couple of weeks, so we can begin the concrete pour. Ohhhhhh! We have waited so long!

But time marches on...

Foundation Update

2008-07-05T21:45:00.004-05:00

Work continues with the tall, back wall of forms being more strongly reinforced and braced. They still have more bracing to do, as seven and a half feet of concrete is pretty heavy.

This week hordes of workers came in to begin laying the inside portion of the wall forms. This is done by placing thick-mil plastic down, packing it with fill and then rolling it back away from the outside form so that it acts as a "brick" that is held in place by more fill. This way the inside part of the form becomes a part of the fill and does not have to be removed.
We are amazed at the amount of fill that has been removed from our driveway, and yet we still have such a long way to go to complete the forms.

Continuing the Retirement Celebration

2008-06-30T10:58:00.000-05:00

We went to Austin yesterday for a day of pure fun. We went to a matinee musical, "Altar Boyz" which stars the five apostles of Pop: Matthew, Mark, Luke, Juan, and Abraham (he's Jewish). They raised our spirits with their spectacular music, irreverent humor, incredible dance moves, and fantastic 5-part harmony -- it was clever, original, entertaining, lively and thought-provoking; we thoroughly enjoyed it!

We then spent a couple of hours doing one of our favorite things; wandering through Williams-Sonoma and Central Market.

To finish out this fund, relaxing day we met friends for dinner at Flemings restaurant where we had a fabulous, celebratory dinner.

A perfect day. . .

A Technological Situation

2008-06-30T10:16:00.000-05:00

Saturday started out to be such a wonderful day: we ate breakfast at IHOP (I need my Harvest Nut Grain pancake fix at least once a month!) and did some fun running around. We got home about 2:00 p.m. and things continued to go well for several more hours -- Carl doing some IBM work and playing with his new deck design software; me reading my book. Then a situation occurred -- a technological situation. We lost our internet connection! By using his finely-honed trouble-shooting skills, Carl determined the problem was our wireless router -- a very fixable problem.

We headed to Office Depot (a 30-minute drive) and realized when we got there that neither of us had brought any money! So 1 1/2 hours later we are back at the RV with our new wireless router. Of course, as is true with any technology, it did not install easily and Carl's patience was wearing quite thin.

This story has a very happy ending -- we have a working router and Carl is back to his very happy self; however, it is sad to me that a technology problem can cause so much stress and put a downer on such a wonderful day. What a crazy world!

Retirement Party

2008-06-26T19:58:00.001-05:00

Well, Carl's retirement date is coming really soon!
He recently went on an IBM business trip to visit a software company IBM just acquired and several neat things happened:
1. The manager from the newly-acquired company presented Carl with a very nice bottle of champagne, along with their congratulations.
2. He met, for the first time, several people he has worked with for a long time, including his manager Robin Edstrom. (The wonders of the modern business construct of remote workers.)
3. His manager and her manager, Michelle Ginther, held a dinner in his honor for retirement. It was pretty special. He was presented a bound album of letters from IBM teammates, past and present. Included was a page of Carl's epigrams that he has at the bottom of his emails, collected over time. Example: "What's another word for thesaurus?" Last but not least, there were bowls of personalized M&Ms on the table in blue and white. They were labeled "Retiring.. Not!" and "Congrats Carl."

And it goes on and on. Carl's going to stretch this retirement for all it's worth. Although June 30th is his retirement date, he figures he can get at least another couple of months out of it.
Last night's party was just between Carl and Linda. Since he is retiring from "Big Blue" his present from Linda was wrapped just right.

An iPod Touch! How cool!

More Foundation Progress

2008-06-25T10:38:00.000-05:00

Our visit on June 24th found more height added to the forms. In these two pictures, it may look as if we are erecting a skyscraper.

We learned that in order to have a reasonable slope driving up into the attached garage, we are going to have to lower the garage foundation about two feet. Not a big deal, but our original plan was to have everything on the same level. Oh well, it is what it is.

JJ and Grover spent a little time with the workers at lunch today, begging for scraps of tortillas.

Foundation Progress 6/20 - 6/23

2008-06-23T21:10:00.001-05:00

Well it's been a couple of days since our last update. Here are some pictures of the progress on 6/20/ and 6/23.
It has been really hot here (95 - 100 degrees) until Friday. I talked with Sergio, the jeffe, and he was grateful for the respite from heat beginning on Friday.
They've made a lot of progress as the pics will show.
We still can't believe that the slope is so steep...

The last pic is of our two inspectors, checking out the quality of construction. They approve.

Open Mike In Sattler

2008-06-23T18:47:00.000-05:00

Last night, Carl and I experienced another flavor of the rich culture here in the Canyon Lake area: we attending "open mike" night at our local pizza parlor (tag line "One Location Nationwide and We're Proud of It").

The musicians spanned the spectrum of age, genre, and musical ability. Our favorite was a duet (apparently normally a trio)which called itself Beaver Creek. The woman played the guitar and was the lead singer; the man sang harmony and played the harmonica; the missing person plays lead guitar and, I assume, also sings harmony.

It was a beautiful summer evening and we had a delightful time with our Tuscan pizza and some pretty good music.

Carl's thinking about taking the mike at some point. . .

The Foundation Marches On!

2008-06-19T13:19:00.001-05:00

Sergio and crew continued their work this morning and began erecting forms for the north wall of the foundation. The lower corner is the tallest point of the foundation at about seven feet. We plan to build a covered, 12-foot deck extending down the hill from the foundation. That means the far corner of the deck will be about 10 feet off the ground.
Linda is involved in every conversation because she wants to learn everything she can about the construction process and techniques. Who knows? She may find another career here.
We have sown some bermuda grass seed in the septic spray zone and are watering everyday. We hope it takes, but the temperature is bouncing off 100 degrees and no rain in sight.

2008-06-18T22:07:00.000-05:00

Well we have finally started building our foundation. It is going to be huge! Mainly because of the slope of the land, the rear corner will be about seven feet tall. Notice Linda next to the first structure to build the forms.
Not TOO expensive considering the increased cost of fuel, concrete and steel. Oh well, we move on.
We aren't too sure what these structures are, but we figure they will reveal themselves soon.
Seven feet???? Good grief!
On the left of the first photo is our foundation contractor, Kirk Svoboda, and to his left is his able crew, led by Sergio.

Boyles Law (Contributed by Carl)

2008-06-18T14:50:00.000-05:00

The following is supposedly an actual question given on a University of Washington chemistry mid term. The answer by one student was so 'profound' that the professor shared it with colleagues, which is why we now have the pleasure of enjoying it as well:

Bonus Question: Is Hell exothermic (gives off heat) or endothermic (absorbs heat)?

Most of the students wrote proofs of their beliefs using Boyle's Law (gas cools when it expands and heats when it is compressed) or some variant.

One student, however, wrote the following:

First, we need to know how the mass of Hell is changing in time. So we need to know the rate at which souls are moving into Hell and the rate at which they are leaving. I think that we can safely assume that once a soul gets to Hell, it will not leave. Therefore, no souls are leaving.

As for how many souls are entering Hell, let's look at the different religions that exist in the world today.

Most of these religions state that if you are not a member of their religion, you will go to Hell. Since there is more than one of these religions and since people do not belong to more than one religion, we can project that all souls go to Hell. With birth and death rates as they are, we can expect the number of souls in Hell to increase exponentially.

Now, we look at the rate of change of the volume in Hell because Boyle's Law states that in order for the temperature and pressure in Hell to stay the same, the volume of Hell has to expand proportionately as souls are added.

This gives two possibilities:

1. If Hell is expanding at a slower rate than the rate at which souls enter Hell, then the temperature and pressure in Hell will increase until all Hell breaks loose.

2. If Hell is expanding at a rate faster than the increase of souls in Hell, then the temperature and pressure will drop until Hell freezes over.

So which is it?

If we accept the postulate given to me by Teresa during my Freshman year that, 'It will be a cold day in Hell before I sleep with you,' and take into account the fact that I slept with her last night, then number two must be true, and thus I am sure that Hell is exothermic and has already frozen over. The corollary of this theory is that since Hell has frozen over, it follows that it is not accepting any more souls and is therefore, extinct......leaving only Heaven, thereby proving the existence of a divine being which explains why, last night, Teresa kept shouting 'Oh my God.'

THIS STUDENT RECEIVED AN A+.

Planting the First Seeds of Our Dream

2008-06-17T18:12:00.000-05:00

We went up to our property this evening to sow Bermuda grass seeds on the spray zone of our septic system. In order to pass the final inspection, there needs to be evidence of vegetation growing on the spray zone -- we're hoping that we'll get some seeds to germinate. The package says to plant them in the spring while the temperatures are between 70 and 90 degrees. Well, it's spring but the temperature is more than 10 degrees higher than the upper range. Our contractor told us that, even if the seeds don't germinate, we should be able to pass inspection just by sprinkling some seeds on top of the soil -- the idea is to demonstrate that we are attempting to grow vegetation. I hope he's right. . .

Grow grass, grow!

Campmeeting Work Week Surprise!

2008-06-05T15:24:00.000-05:00

Well, on Wednesday we drove 430 miles to Bloys Camp Meeting in the Davis Mountains of West Texas, to prepare for our annual work week. We have a lot of damage to the kitchen area that needs repair.
As we neared the campground we observed a beautiful sunset. As we got closer, Linda said it was so pretty it almost looked like the hills were on fire. Then, we realized that they were on fire. A wildfire had burned several ranches and was heading up the hills toward the campground. We were stopped by State Troopers before we reached camp so we had to find a place to stay for the night.

A Stimulating Idea

2008-06-03T17:16:00.000-05:00

Carl and I consider ourselves good American citizens so, when the President announced the economic stimulus package which was -- and I paraphrase -- not to be used to pay off credit card debt or to be put into savings, we agreed that we would comply.

The long-awaited stimulus package arrived electronically into our checking account and, I'm embarrassed to say, we almost missed it. We received $188.05 which we immediately agreed would not be very stimulating to the economy.

So, we developed Plan B: we put over 3000 miles on our vehicles during the month of May (this is in addition to the miles we drive in our daily lives). We were in our diesel pickup for more than 1/2 of these miles and diesel is selling for almost $5.00/gallon (in fact, we actually saw it for $5.15/gallon in Sanderson).

Just to be clear: we didn't just set out to drive these miles -- we actually had reasons:

round trip from New Braunfels to Fort Worth for AAUW gig;
round trip from New Braunfels to Wichita Falls for AAUW gig;
round trip from New Braunfels to Houston for Camp Meeting business coupled with visit with family;
round trip from New Braunfels to campground (west of Fort Davis) for Camp Meeting business;
round trip from New Braunfels to College Station for AAUW gig.

All in all, we are feeling quite smug that we have done our patriotic duty in helping to stimulate the economy. . .

Rockiness Starting to Make Sense

2008-05-29T20:29:00.000-05:00

After 6 full days of rock hammering, we finally got to the bottom of it! A hole large enough to hold a 3-section, 18,000 pound septic tank. The equipment used for all this work is unbelievable -- who designed this stuff? I keep using the word "gi-hugant"! Once the tank was lowered into the hole, they dug the trenches for the pipes, installed the sprayers, and covered the entire area with soil. We now need to spread buffalo grass seed atop the soil and apply for a county inspection,

Linda's Starring Role in Las Vegas

2008-05-28T18:19:00.000-05:00

Posted by - Carl

We spent a weekend recently in Las Vegas visiting Maxie & Sharon (Linda's sister) and had a great time! We saw several shows, ate, laughed and generally acted silly. One of the shows was a group called Toxic Audio. This group had three young men and two young women who were amazing vocalists. They used their voices as band instruments as well as for singing and we were treated to a terrific mix of music.

At one point, one of the group strolled into the audience and pointed at Linda, asking her to join the group on-stage. Three chairs were brought forth and Linda was seated at the one on stage right, next to the two women vocalists, with the men standing behind them. They all peered intently ahead and the woman on the left held up a TV remote, pressed a button and they all said "CLICK!" Immediately they began vocalizing the theme song from a popular TV program like Gilligan's Island. She pressed the button, they all said "CLICK!" again and she handed the remote to the next women. "CLICK!" again and another theme song burst out. "CLICK!" and she handed the remote to Linda.

Here's where it got to be really fun. Linda caught on to the routine, held the remote out and pressed the button... "CLICK!" and the most gosh-awful erotic sounds emerged. Heavy-breathing, screams of YES! YES! and the remote was snatched from Linda's hand by one of the guys who pressed the button "CLICK!" then silence while all of them looked at Linda with horrified expressions on their faces.

After a pause, the remote was passed back to the first woman and the routine began again... "CLICK!" > theme song > "CLICK!" > silence > "CLICK!" > theme song > "CLICK!" > silence and then very slowly, with much scowling and trepidation, the remote was handed to Linda again. "CLICK!" and the erotic sounds erupted once again. The remote is grabbed, "CLICK!" and angry faces looked at Linda. She was reacting perfectly, as if she were in on the script.

Once again, the routine began. When the remote got back to Linda, there was a great deal of resistance to giving it to her again. She asked to be given just one more chance. Finally, they reluctantly gave her the remote... "CLICK!" and the sounds began once more, only this time the men tore off their shirts and posed for the attached photo taken with a hidden Polaroid camera. What a great joke! We laughed until our sides hurt.

A Memorable Memorial Day Weekend

2008-05-27T11:25:00.000-05:00

We returned late last night from a wonderful weekend in the beautiful Davis Mountains; the weekend was, at once, relaxing, productive, romantic, and fun!

We basked in the 60 - 80-degree daily temperature range; we made significant progress on the remodeling work on our cabin; we visited with several new groups of very interesting people; we ate breakfast at the Drugstore in Fort Davis (one of the best breakfasts in Texas, in our opinions); and we celebrated our 16th wedding anniversary with a delightful dinner at the historical and classy Gage Hotel in Marathon.

All in all, VERY NICE!

Off to a Rocky Start

2008-05-14T20:45:00.000-05:00

We have officially broken ground for our new house. When you view the pictures, you may think you are looking at a limestone quarry; but, no -- it's the piles of rock that is the result of excavating for the driveway and the septic tank.

We don't have to worry about our foundation shifting!

May 1 Until Today

2008-05-11T19:09:00.000-05:00

My last post was May 1. Since that time here's what's happened:

We spent 4 wonderful days with my sister and brother-in-law in Las Vegas;
I did a lot of AAUW Convention follow-up tasks;
I went through everything in our RV and sorted -- much AAUW stuff will go to my successor;
We actually cleaned the RV;
I installed the incoming officers of the NE Tarrant County Branch of AAUW;
I worked with my boss on establishing an abbreviated work schedule;
I, along with Carl, walked our property with our septic tank/driveway contractor and came up with a final design;
We attended the birthday party of our god-granddaughters: Teaghen, 8; Tinsley, 7, and Tatum, 3; and
We drove to Wichita Falls, as I'll be the speaker at the Scholarship Banquet of the local branch of AAUW.

Tonight we are in the Hawthorn Suites in Wichita Falls; we just returned to the room after a wonderful dinner at the Thai Orchid Restaurant.

Until tomorrow,

Ways to Maintain A Healthy Level Of Insanity

2008-05-01T11:44:00.000-05:00

1. At Lunch Time, Sit In Your parked Car With Sunglasses on and point a Hair Dryer At Passing Cars. See If They Slow Down.

2. Page Yourself Over The Intercom. Don't Disguise Your Voice.

3. Every Time Someone Asks You To Do Something, Ask If They Want Fries with that.

4. Put Your Garbage Can On Your Desk And Label It 'In.'

5. Put Decaf In The Coffee Maker For 3 Weeks Once Everyone has Gotten Over Their Caffeine Addictions, Switch to Espresso.

6. In The Memo Field Of All Your Checks, Write " For Smuggling Diamonds"

7. Finish All Your sentences with "In Accordance With The Prophecy."

8. dont use any punctuation

9. As Often As Possible, Skip Rather Than Walk.

10. Order a Diet Water whenever you go out to eat, with a serious face.

11. Specify That Your Drive-through Order Is "To Go."

12. Sing Along At The Opera.

13. Go To A Poetry Recital And Ask Why The Poems Don't Rhyme?

14. Put Mosquito Netting Around Your Work Area And Play tropical Sounds All Day.

15. Five Days In Advance, Tell Your Friends You Can't Attend Their Party Because You're Not In The Mood.

16. Have Your Co-workers Address You By Your Wrestling Name, Rock Bottom.

17. When The Money Comes Out The ATM, Scream "I Won!, I Won!"

18. When Leaving The Zoo, Start Running Towards The Parking lot, Yelling "Run For Your Lives, They're Loose!!"

19. Tell Your Children Over Dinner, "Due To The Economy, We Are Going To Have To Let One Of You Go."

20. And The Final Way To Keep A Healthy Level Of Insanity.......

Send This To Someone To Make Them Smile.
It's Called ..... therapy

Money and Las Vegas

2008-05-01T10:34:00.000-05:00

"Money" in this case doesn't refer to gambling: actually it refers to the fact that WE CLOSED ON OUR CONSTRUCTION LOAN yesterday! Our property appraised at almost twice what we had estimated and our building project appraised at about 17% more that we had estimated -- both good news on many fronts! Additionally, we got an interest rate of 4.25%! We can actually start building!!!!!

"Las Vegas" refers to the fact that we are leaving this afternoon for Las Vegas for a week's visit with my sister and brother-in-law -- we'll be enjoying some welcomed down-time and we'll be celebrating the loan closing, a successful AAUW Convention, and our 16th wedding anniversary.

There may be some gambling, as well :-)

Allergens and Asthma

2008-04-29T23:37:00.000-05:00

As many of you know, I have suffered with a chronic cough and congestion for the past 3 years. A couple of years ago my primary care physician referred me to a pulmonologist. He prescribed a chest X-ray and a CT scan for me; tried several different combinations of antibiotics; and, finally, took a sample of the junk I was coughing up and was able to customize an antibiotic. It worked beautifully in the short term; however, once the prescription was used up, the cough came back.

Time passed; I've continued to cough, continued to be congested, and several times I've been bad enough to go to the doctor. Each time a round of antibiotics has been prescribed and I do well until the round is used up.

A couple of weeks ago was my annual check-up with my pulmonologist; I was congested and was coughing. I told him I thought I needed to go to an allergist and he agreed.

Today was my appointment with the allergist; I learned that I am highly allergic to all trees, grasses, molds, dusts, and ragweed (as well as to cockroaches). But, even more interesting, I learned that my doctor wants to treat me for asthma! One of the first things I did was to take a deep breath exhale into a monitor; they then gave me a puff of ambuterol and re-tested me. As it turns out, I did 20% better after the ambuterol which indicated to the doctor I probably have asthma which is triggered by my allergies.

I have an arsenol of meds for both my allergies and asthma; I go back in 4 weeks and Dr.l Gupta assures me I will feel SO much better when she sees me again. . .

I'm looking forward to that!

AAUW Convention: A Home Run

2008-04-28T21:05:00.000-05:00

After months (read, "years") of discussion, planning, deliberation, and sleepless nights, the 2008 AAUW TX Convention was held this past weekend and (to use a sports analogy) we scored a home run!

We celebrated the 100th anniversary of the Dallas and Fort Worth branches; we recognized the 2008 class of AAUW TX Women of Distinction; we heard from speakers who shared their insights, experience, trials and triumphs; we networked; we celebrated the formation of a new branch; we elected new officers; we laughed and had fun; and we renewed our commitment to the mission of AAUW.

It has been a joy and a labor of love for me to serve as President of AAUW TX the past two years and it is comforting to me that the incoming Executive Committee will continue to ensure that AAUW is alive and well in Texas!

Thanks to the members of my Board and congratulations and best wishes to the 2008 - 2010 Board!

It May Actually Happen1

2008-04-17T19:43:00.000-05:00

Notwithstanding any alien intervention, all signs point to the closing of our construction loan at the end of this month!

I may, after all, not have to live my remaining years in an RV!

Serendipity, Polygamy, and Atrocity

2008-04-15T20:06:00.000-05:00

Serendipity: I finished reading "Escape," by Carolyn Jessop the first week of April. Jessop, was raised in a FLDS (Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints) family; at 18 was the 4th wife of 50-year old Merrill Jessop; had 8 children in 15 years; and escaped the organization when Warren Jeffs came to power. Imagine my surprise to hear that the compound that Warren Jeffs created in Eldorado, when the pressure got to him in Arizona, was seized by law enforcement.

Polygamy: The FLDS know that multiple marriages are against the law; therefore, they have come up with the idea of "celestial" marriages for those after the first marriage. Under Warren Jeffs, marriage is required for younger and younger girls -- once a girl has a menstrual period she is eligible for marriage -- children are the ultimate goal of the FLDS.

Atrocity: It it abhorrent to me that this type of female abuse is going on in the USA in the 21st Century -- and particularly that the abuse is being done in the name of religion.

Pampered Chef Goes Co-Ed

2008-04-13T20:38:00.000-05:00

I have always loved Pampered Chef (PC)parties: I love the food, I love the gadgets, and I just love a party. However, Carl and I just attended the best Pampered Chef party ever: it was a couples party and, rather than the PC rep doing all the cooking, we all got to do it! The host made a base of ground meat, onion, and garlic and there were three stations set up with the ingredients and the recipes to use: one was to use the base and make a chili, one used the base to make hoagy sandwiches, and one used the base to make stroganoff. It was SO much fun because we actually got to use the tools; plus we got to eat three different dishes and we laughed a lot!

I LIKE co-ed parties!

Simple Pleasures

2008-04-07T17:02:00.000-05:00

Can you imagine what your car would look like if you didn't wash it for 2 years? If so, then you can envision what our RV has looked like since we've been living in it. Using park water to wash RVs is not allowed here at Jellystone, so Carl had purchased some low-water solution along with the requisite bucket and rags. But, no surprise, he has had no time to wash it.

Then, a couple of days ago, Prince Charming (aka Joe, the portable RV washer) knocked on our door. He comes to the RV site and brings his own power washer, supplies and water tank. In about 2 1/2 hours, he had washed and waxed our RV and it looks like new.

Oh, the simple pleasures in life!

A Newsworthy Event

2008-03-28T19:46:00.000-05:00

It has been 3 weeks since I have had something to say.

With the exception of two weekends (March 14 - 16 and March 21 - 23) my life has comprised working for Hudson Energy Services and spending jillions of hours on the AAUW TX Convention -- not interesting blogging material.

The two weekends I mentioned were amazing: we spent them at my sister's lake house on Lake Buchanan along with extended family that brings us great joy.

I have to say that this lull was changed last night when Carl and I went to eat at a local Greek restaurant. We were seated by a 20-something waitress wh0, when seating us, looked at me and said, " You are just darling!"

Now, to a 59-year-old, this is newsworthy. . .

Flu, Blew, Blue, Achoo!

2008-03-06T20:16:00.000-06:00

This pretty much describes the past three days for me: I thought I could treat it myself but finally gave in today and call my doctor. He couldn't get me in but he did call in a prescription for a Z-Pack. Carl picked it up for me about 6:00 this after noon; I took the first two capsules; and expect to be back to my normal self by morning. . .

Too Much Like Camping for Me!

2008-03-03T19:27:00.000-06:00

I got home from the gym this morning, jumped into the shower, and NO WATER! On my personal scale of things-that-are-too-much-like-real-camping-for-my-taste, this ranks alongside waking up to find that your water pipes have frozen or waking up on a cold morning to find there is no heat because we ran out of propane during the night.

Even though I live in an RV, I DO NOT consider myself a camper: we have a microwave, full shower, indoor toilet, 2 televisions, 2 DVD players, a CD/AM-FM stereo sound system, two air conditioning units, queen-size bed . . .well, I think you get my drift.

All Dressed Up?????

2008-02-27T19:11:00.000-06:00

This morning after my shower, I decided I was tired of wearing jeans to work; so I put on a tan corduroy skirt, a nice t-shirt, tights and flats. You cannot BELIEVE the reaction I got from my co-workers:

"Were you feeling spiffy this morning, or are you going somewhere after work?"
"WOW, you're looking fancy this morning!"
"You really dressed up today; what's up?"

Even though I usually wear jeans to work, they are nice jeans which I send to the laundry and I always were nice tops. However, I think I'll wear a skirt more often!

From Ectasy to Agony

2008-02-19T20:29:00.000-06:00

Well, here we are back from 3 full days and 4 nights aboard the Carnival "Ectasy" to the "agony" of e-mails, snail mail, laundry, cooking, making beds, etc :-)

We had such a GREAT time: music by son-in-law, Brian Burns, and his friends Bob Livingston and Tommy Alverson; snorkeling in Cozumel; great food; playing the "Rich Piggies" slot machine (at which I won $40ish!); and time with friends and family.

Happy Valentine's Day to Us!

2008-02-13T18:42:00.000-06:00

We are leaving in the morning for a 3-day, 4-night cruise to Cozumel. What makes this cruise particularly special is that we'll be sharing it with friends and family. Our "Texana" singer-songwriter son-in-law (Brian Burns) and a couple of his musician friends will be performing in one of the lounges each evening and there will be a special reception for those who are on the cruise in Brian's group.

So, in addition to Brian and our daughter, Veronica, there will be our younger daughter, Erica, with husband, Allen and our best friends, Bill and Susan, who are practically family as they watched Veronica and Erica grow up.

Valentine's Day is about love which is appropriate since we will be with people we love; doing things we love (listening to Brian's music, dancing, eating, relaxing, cruising, etc); and being at a place we love (the ocean and the beach).

Happy Valentine's Day to all of you!

Like Fine Wine -- We're Better with Age!

2008-02-12T19:32:00.001-06:00

A couple of weeks ago, Susan and I (along with Bill and Carl) went to Fort Worth where Susan & I attended the 1st-ever reunion of the "girls" who worked at Texas Electric Service Company (TESCo) before it merged in 1985 with two other electric utility companies to become Texas Utilities.

It was GREAT: first of all, I recognized everyone there (quite a feat since it's been well over 20 years since I've seen some of these women; and second, we had SO much fun -- we laughed, we reminisced, we caught up, we mourned some sadnesses, and we enjoyed being together!

One sobering moment: we were remembering the "matriarchs" of the company when we first came to work and suddenly realized WE were now the matriarchs!

How special to have this type of relationship with folks you once worked with. . .

Like Fine Wine -- We're Better with Age!

2008-02-12T19:29:00.001-06:00

Here I am with Jerry King, one of my mentors after I
was selected to enter th Management Training Program
for Women College Graduates.

Like Fine Wine -- We're Better with Age!

2008-02-12T19:25:00.001-06:00

Here I am flanked by Merry Hotopp, left, (who I worked
for the first year I was with TESCO), and Debra Ferguson
who worked for Carl at some point. In fact, when she first
saw me she asked "How's Carl?" Debra, what happened
to "Hi, Linda. How are you?" (grin, grin)

Like Fine Wine -- We're Better with Age!

2008-02-12T18:55:00.000-06:00

Susan, far right, and me with Cherry Richardson, one of
the reunion organizers.

Our Friend John Arthur Martinez

2008-02-05T22:10:00.000-06:00

John Arthur Martinez is one of the most talented singer/song writers around. In the first Nashville Star competition (the country music answer to American Idol), John Arthur won 2nd place! He is from Marble Falls so we feel like he is almost kin!

Carl and I have followed John Arthur for years and became acquaintances of his when he performed for a fundraiser that we hosted in 2004. Since that time we have made an effort to attend as many of his performances as possible.

For a real treat, check out his website, www.johnarthurmartinez.com. Buy his CDs, attend his performances -- you will be glad you did!

An Unexpected Family Reunion

2008-02-02T21:39:00.000-06:00

We knew that my sister and brother-in-law were coming in from Las Vegas today and would be staying with their son and daughter-in-law so we called to find a time today to visit them. Imagine our surprise to get there and find their younger son had driven up from Houston to join the fun. It was a great time to spend with family!

We loved seeing Max (and Weston) enjoying the Wiggle Worm Gym we gave Max.

Windmill of Distinction

2008-01-31T19:21:00.001-06:00

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. . .

2008-01-29T18:49:00.000-06:00

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

2008-01-28T21:14:00.001-06:00

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

2008-01-27T20:25:00.000-06:00

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

2008-01-23T20:33:00.000-06:00

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

2008-01-22T18:41:00.000-06:00

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

2008-01-20T18:49:00.000-06:00

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. . .

2008-01-16T20:14:00.000-06:00

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

2008-01-15T18:08:00.000-06:00

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

2008-01-13T22:36:00.000-06:00

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

2008-01-12T19:14:00.000-06:00

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

2008-01-10T19:24:00.001-06:00

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

2008-01-09T19:11:00.000-06:00

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!