I'm Sorry I Vented

That's right, I am sorry about laying it out
on the line about my truck problems. It is only
money, compared to what I found out today....

It all started in High School. Bryce and Dale
were 2 and 3 years ahead of me, but Ankeny was
a small town then and we all knew everyone.

In 1989 my mom had her stroke, Oct 20. At
Thanksgiving time, I moved her from Mercy to
Younkers rehab Center. At the same time, Bryce
had his son Matt in the same facility. He had
suffered a neck injury in AHS football.

Mom came home for four years, Matt went on to
live in a care facility in Waterlo. Due to the
stress, Bryce died of a heart attack about 5
years ago. At the first of December, Matt died, he
was 33. That left his mom and two brothers.

Yesterday, about 24 hours ago.......brother Al
died. He ran out of gas while driving on the
interstate around Hickman Road. A busy stretch
of road. He called his mom for help and she
came with Dale, probably with some gas to get
him home.

Why these things happen, we will never know or
understand.

Al ran across the interstate to his mom's vehicle.
9 PM....its dark....lots of traffic as is usual.....he
misjudged the truck's speed. No reaction time
available for the pick up truck driver, he
clipped Al with his right side mirror, then a
vehicle following the pick up also hit Al, he
died at the scene, even though a car load of
nurses were on the scene and tried to save him.

Mom and uncle saw the whole accident...........

What a horrible end of the year.......

Screw my truck problems and financial set backs....

The Hanke family needs my prayers.........

Carry on my friends and say a little prayer for
long time friends..........

Hauoli Maki Hiki Hou..............

A Day In History

I don't have a photo to post....today is the anniversary of
my Mom's death. I didn't think about it until I signed a form
and dated it. Then I was watching Private Practice and they
dealt with the death of the wife of one of the Doctors...........

We made sure we took mom to Texas, after she
had her stroke, for about 6 weeks,Dec thru
Jan. Jeff had vacation and work shut down, then Greg would go
for two weeks and I would go for two weeks and bring her home.

1994 was not the year to go south. It still breaks me up. The
worst day of my life. Two funerals, one in Texas, fly back home
and have another service and burial the day after Christmas.

This is the reason I don't get too excited about Christmas.
We have to keep up the spirit for Greg, he is still a youngster.
He still needs the surprises even though he has to work all
day long, race home, clean up, open presents about 4 PM and
then have a great dinner.

I have shed a few tears today. Tomorrow I will make a trip to the
Port Isabel grave yard and find someone who does not have any
flowers.......since I can't be home to do this. Put up the wreath
adorned with poinsettia flowers..........

Moving right along...........take good care and smile......

Grounded

Remember in high school when you didn't follow
the rules and were grounded? Only happened once
to me, I was with my boyfriend at a track meet,
I didn't want to leave to meet my mom for the
ride home. Two weeks grounded! Here in Texas,
it better not be that long or I will have
serious issues with my former employer. They
used to be so serious about customer service,
what about me, don't I count? My license plates
for BIG RED were sent out on Monday, the 11th.
they were a NO SHOW on the 15th, which means,
no tags, no drive BIG RED. Why should I get a
ticket? Can I play dumb? I don't think so.
When will USPS help me out? that brings us to
the age old question.........

WHAT CAN BROWN DO FOR YOU?????

Feliz Navidad Parade SPI

It was a windy night for a parade,
but I heard that Ankeny had to have
their tree lighting and parade
INDOORS. The parade down Padre Bl
began about 530 PM as we stood for
the Coast Guard ROTC that presented
our national colors. There were 60
entries and the funniest was "who
had the number for the Humane Society
Group?" Yes, it was a Great Dane who
was as big a some of the floats. I was
on the way back to the campground by
620PM and a taco dinner.

On the Way to the Mailbox

Sometimes the mail isn't in the mail box
when I get to the Park Office. Does that
sound familiar? so, I have to make a
detour fo check out the sights. First you
get to see my petunias, potted and
catching rays on my picnic table. The
other shots are from the parking lot of
the KOA campground, looking south
towards Port Isabel. Moving right along,
time to go pay the rent......

While You are Working.......

While you are working, this is where
I have my lunch. The first photo might
be where I start or finish, at the
jetties, look on down the beach from
one of my usual beachin' spots and
then you can see the fishermen. I
have lunch, read a little, take this
walk, on Friday it was over an hour,
about one mile each way. Finally, I
people and pelican watch for late
afternoon entertainment. I think
I hae a shot of a pelican hitting the
water.........carry on......

Bushes and Keepsakes

Last week my bougainvillea's were not
very colorful. This week, a growth
spurt. I named them and you can see
that (first on right) Mark is making
a challenge to Granny (first on left).
In between is little Bucky and in the
back is Louie, both are just starting to
bloom.

In the Christmas tree photo, these items
were in a box under the bed in the
mobile home. My mom made them, I love
the candle. There was also at least a
dozen bells made of beads and hand
knitted small wreaths and a Santa.

Last photo is a gift name tag. You can
see the name "John" on it, my dad. On
the back is written by Aunt Jean, Found
these tags in Hawaii, arent' they cute?
The tree has a little piece of foam
behind it to make it 3 dimensional.

I threw out a lot of Christmas boxes,
wrapping paper, bows, ribbon, garland.
I have all of that stuff at home and
if I am going to keep living in the RV,
I don't have room for all of the extra
stuff. I did keep some lights and found
one pair of scissors, some sewing needles,
those are keepers. I don't think there
are any more surprises to find. I
opened the dresser drawers and looked
underneath the drawers to see if mom had
hidden anything.......money? No luck so
far. I threw out curtains also. Found
out that we have a lot of towels and
bed sheets......for the next owner.....

The Pelicans

It's hard to pick out a good picture
of my friends the pelicans. I hope
they are good and you enjoy. Will try
to get a shot of one crashing into the
water for food.

Long Road Trip

The BREEZE was supposed to arrive around
Oct 1, 2007. She arrived on Halloween with
some problems of course. No wiring for cable
in the living room/kitchen area, one chair
was shipped without any wrapping and came
in with black marks on the arm rests, dealer
found a staple in one tire, that's about all.
I took her home on Nov 7 with plans already
made, to hit the road on Nov 14. I have been
sleeping in the BREEZE since Saturday the 10th.
Tried to get her broken in...little did I
know what awaited me on the road. Getting in
and out of gas stations went OK, but I thought
gas bought in Missouri was bad, as the Black
Hearse started to clank. At 60-65 mph, no noise,
but at the lower speeds, big bad noise. First
day on the road no less......Parked at a Wal Mart
in Vinita, OK. The clerk in the store gave me
the address to the Dodge dealer. The guys were
great, they told me I had a blown engine and I
was not going anyplace soon. By one PM that day,
I had a new ride. Things went fine to the next
stop at a KOA in Mt Pleasant, TX, My head was
so messed up, I forgot to turn on the gas and
had no heat for the night. I awoke at 4 AM freezing.
Next stop was Victoria TX., at another Wal Mart
and finally into the Island by 130 PM the next day.
Naturally, I wasn't done with all of the
problems....one by one, can't unhook, can't level,
fridge isn't level, big colony of ants by back
door, shower won't do it's thing in a steady stream,
satellite won't work.....
All is settled, except after the Directv man was
here, I don't have any lights in the bedroom.....
Not a fuse problem, so I picked up a small lamp
that my mom had on her sewing table. another phone
call to the dealer........
In the morning, I ride the bike to pick up my
newspaper, almost a 2 mile ride. The morning goes
by fast and by lunchtime, it is time for the beach.
I take my lunch, a couple bottles of water, a camera,
a chair and off to the beach for the afternoon. After
lunch I take about a two mile walk down to the
Sheraton and back to my chair.
Another bike ride to pick up the mail, giving me
about five miles a day.
Life is a beach...........I am loving it and am
getting my tan in shape. Now I have to get work
done on the mobile home and get in some golf and
go to Mexico for a booze run or twelve......
Retire as soon as you can, get out of the rat race
and come on down to the beach.......
Mele Kalikimaka and Feliz Navidad mis amigos

Sunset and The Lighthouse

the sunsets are gorgeous and the light house
is all decorated up for the holidays.

Life On The Beach, early December

This is a view of my new home away from home,
on So Padre Island, TX. 600 units will be in
the park, about 100 of us now. They will start
arriving between Dec 26 and by the first of the
year, we will be full. So, don't laugh too hard,
you have to learn how to use your new equipment,
so I decided to make some cookies. after just
8 minutes, at 350.....burned. 2nd batch I lowered
the temp and watched carefully, same thing, burned
cookies. last on the show today, the thing I want
to come back as.........a pelican. They are so
graceful, flying low across the water, or
circling around looking for dinner and crashing
into the water. This pelican was looking for
fish being caught by the fishermen. They are so
much fun to watch and they keep me entertained
every day on the beach.