The last trips to the beach and to Progresso.
Marion and Milo Christiason from Cedar Falls,
family friends from the 1940's. the jetty goes
out about a quarter mile, the pelican is hungry.
I caught it on the last dive. Just what I have
enjoyed this winter....I might have to come
back before November,, I love Mother Nature and
her great artistry...........
HO HO HO......Only two days left in the Valley for
this season. I have to pack the rest of the stuff on
Thursday, Friday, return the cable stuff so I won't
be charged for the next 6 months. I am having a steak
on the grill Thurs night, then throw out the last
of the charcoal. Where did the winter go? December
was full of getting adjusted, I caught a virus, went
to the doctor, was OK for Christmas, Marian was sick
so Milo and I had dinner together. January was rain
nearly every day......no golf......February, back on
schedule, golf at least twice a week, Greg came for
his birthday, we golfed five days, overcast skies, but
we golfed. In the meantime, I went to the beach.
March, I went to Indianapolis for the big 10 BB
tournament. Marlys came from Colorado, Greg and I
went to visit them two times. March saw a lot of
trips to the beach and the two club golf course to
work on the short game. NOW, it is April, time to go
back to my real HOME......i hear there is snow....
First stop on Sat, Austin, TX. Second day, Muskogee,
Oklahoma, next stop, Forsyth, MO., for 2 days with
my Kenworthy Drive neighbor Shelly and her husband
Dan.
I hope the snow is gone in one week when I did the
Interstate for the last road trip. I am about 7 hours
from the Ozarks to Ankeny.......then unpack, start
work on the class reunion, two golf outings, three bowling
events, one a trip to North Carolina in May......
class reunion in July, Colorado in Sept and back to
Texas via Arizona........
I will miss this beach scene......
Girls just want to have fun........travel......enjoy
On the Road again.........Just can't wait to get on
the road again........C
what a tease........I watched Pinochio for about three
hours today. first we feed, fly away, return in about
5 minutes, do this for about 40 minutes. THEN....I
noticed Pinochio was sitting on my cactus, resting,
warming up to feed again. this lasted most of the day.
The last time I caught Pinochio was about 530 PM....
Just sit and warm up and stay out of the rain.....
Mother Nature is wonderful...........
I drive by Stan's Alligator Bar every time I
go to the beach. However, I have NOT stopped
for a cold one. If I had someone to drive
along.....to be the designated driver..........
It would be fun to check out Stan the Daddy's
other source of income........
Pass it along......
My hummingbird, whom I named Pinochio,
was entertaining me this morning. I had
to find some odd jobs while taking video
and still pictures. My neighbor Adrian,
whom I guess I will call my adopted grandson
to keep up with Marla, well, he came over
to visit, along with the new born puppies.
The brown and white one is BETTY and the
bald one is Stormy.......At the beach......
if I chose the best photo, they use a kite
and a surfboard to fly across the water...
I will miss these distractions when i make
the trip back north. My hummingbird was
teasing me today. After feeding, he would
rest on my cactus. I took video and was
tired holding up the camera. What an awesome
sight. My garden in Ankeny will change this
summer, to attract more hummingbirds...
At least one more run to the island is on
schedule for this week........
I turned on the A/C a little while ago, 88 outside, stuffy inside.
Rough day. my new refrigerator arrived. The man said keep the
door closed for 3-4 hours, that's how long it will take to cool
down. Well, after two hours, it is cooling down, so I put everything
inside, except for the beer. I had to drink the frozen strawberry
daiquiri and fix a batch of choc chip cookies, they were thawing.
The meat will be OK, it didn't thaw all of the way through.
One more batch of cookies, then I will go outside and wash the
sea shells I brought home yesterday. I don't know what to do
tonight, no BB until Saturday. I have some movies and LOST
is on.......maybe I can work on my picture frames.....
I turned on the a/c and opened the back door to close the
windows. I saw something move, it was a big ugly lizard. Must
have been living in the a/c unit. It went under the mobile.......I
hope it leaves the vicinity soon.........
All kidding aside, the last week has been fun, great
weather. I checked the dashboard at 5 PM today, Alamo
was 86 and Ankeny was 82 and Phoenix was 78. I am happy
for IOWA. Karen and Merle brought home the great
weather for ya'll.
I made my travel plans, April 15, hopefully by 8 AM,
I will start my journey back to Iowa. I am stopping
in the Ozarks for two days to visit Shelly Mynatt
Johnston and her husband Dan. I am planning to be
home in time to golf on the 21st at woodside, aka
Woodland Hills. Then I have to get ready for the
state bowling tournament and buy an airplane ticket
to North Carolina for national bowling. I should have
my tax refund by that time, I hope.
Ankeny friends Mary Beth Justice and her mom Mona
and their friend Rita, and I went to Progresso for
Winter Texan day. The businesses give away small
sombreros that they either pin or staple to your
shirt. They give away food and cut prices on some
liquor. We had pony Coronas for a dollar, but at
the next bar the strawberry margaritas were two for
$7, normal price $2.50.......We stayed with beer.
I have to figure out which day I go back to the
beach, probably on Monday or Tuesday. Early is the
trick, the college kids are still in bed and the
families won't be there, only the winter Texans
that haven't left for home. Gas is up to $2.36
a gallon.
I have been hoping for a lot of upsets in the
tournaments, like Drake over Tennessee, didn't
happen. My pre season pick to win, the Okie
women lost today, so I have to cheer for the
Lady Vols and Pat Summitt. I think they are going
to hire her to replace Slick Alford....
Carry on my friends......
The powers that be finally have
my picture posted on a billboard.
Thank goodness I did my exercises,
see next blog entry......
this little bird was teasing
me the other day. I sat inside for
about an hour, waiting. It came
around every five minutes
before taking off. You have
to be fast....
i shimmied.........I was shaking........a wiggle here
and a wiggle there.....after about an hour.....my love
handles were gone. success at last in the valley......
I heard an oldie on the radio the other day.....Sly and the Family Stone,
Can you dig it?
I can dig it you can dig it we can dig it they can dig it you can dig it........
Can you sing it that fast? I did it, good memory or what? I can dig it!
Can you dig it baby? The sun beaming down between the trees.........
Just like Texas........great sunshine...........cloudy today.....that's OK....
Can you dig it?????
The first in line when the
college plates were sold. I don't know who the owner is,
but they are in the RGV, shopping at Fiesta Village,
Mission, Texas.There are many Iowans in the Valley,
some Ankeny folks live down the street in Alamo Palms.
They had an Iowa party, 160 people attended, just in their
park! GO HAWKS
This is the finished product of my
walk way from the cement patio to
the garage, aka "shed". Nothing
spectacular, but I like it. Step #4
covers up the electrical line that
runs from the pole to the mobile.
What do you do after all of this hard
work? Clean up and fix hors deouvers
and a cocktail and relax and watch
Mother Nature entertain. Enjoy.......
She is found, alive and living with a man and his wife, in
AZ. Debe's mom joined in the search and found a neighbor of
Aunt Dutch's that had a phone number of a cousin on the other
side of the family. He lives in Chicago. Cousin Mark called him
and received the address and phone number. He called her
either that morning or the next day, talked to her and she
seemed fine, except for her hearing. Her aide was in the shop
getting fixed.
SO, all if well with my only Aunt that is still alive, she is my
mom's sister. On to other things to keep the winter exciting.
95 today in the RGV, I actually turned on the A/C for the
second time this winter.......gotta love it!
Back to the beach after a week in Indianapolis, I
discovered some interesting sites. It wasn't too
busy for the first week of spring break, a Thursday.
I bet the college students were not happy with few
pickings, maybe things picked up over the week end.
They walk in groups of 3 or 4, first come the girls
followed by the guys. Two big display areas were
set up, this one is by the TROJAN group, also one
by the National Guard. Finally, when you're hot,
sometimes you're NOT........no problem, no one knows
that guy and he is having fun!
More later....
I was raised on DRAKE basketball. First at Vets
and Maury John and his belly button defense, on
to the final four, losing to UCLA even though
Dolph blocked a shot by Lew Alcindor. Along
came the women's teams, after I graduated from
college. JFK was a pioneer with college women's
BB. the old days in the field house had few
spectators, but moving to the Knapp Center and
bringing along Lisa Bluder changed everything
and sent Drake to the next level.
We met Amy Stevens at the luncheon when she and
Dr Tom joined the DU family. We teased her that
she is taller than Dr Tom!
The tradition continues in the NCAA's with
few players. Just like the Hawkeyes, the bench
is short due to injury and now a player is sick.
I don't think she will be healthy enough to
play vs. Tennessee. Getting into the tournament
like DU did, of course, gives you a 16 seed. Now
they have to beat the greatest coach in history.
do you think Candice will dunk one on us? I hope
so, that will get her some air time and the world
will get to see the Bulldogs on TV, over and over
again! she did it two times in one games last
season in the tourney.
Best of luck to the Bulldogs and Coach Stevens
and her staff.
Alamo really bloomed while I was in Indianapolis for
the tournament. This is a flower that has popped out
of the cactus at the front window. Of course, my
tomatoes have started, but I don't think I will have
any to eat before it is time to travel back north.
I am planning to bring home the tomatoes. I will get
some big pots to put them in and hope the weather will
be good enough to keep them alive. Guess they will go
INSIDE the motel room and night #1.
The trees are shedding their brown leaves and are
budding. I need to make a trip to the big birding
park very soon, for photos and to witness Mother
Nature at her best, spring time!
Here I am with my young friend Kallie at the Mall in Indianapolis.
No games in the big 10 on Saturday, so I hooked up with the Mitchells,
we did the big sporting goods store and the mall and out to eat at a
fabulous BBQ place.
Weather has been great and is good for take off on Tuesday morning to
take me back to Texas for five or six more weeks.
I am using the wireless hookup in the parking lot of the Holiday Inn.
My hotel hook up is lousy, they claim the company sent a modem for
residential instead of commercial....go figure. Oh well, I will just
have a stiff back from sitting crooked in the front seat trying to type
and read and just to be able to read the screen.
Can't wait to get back to Texas and my shorts and my beach. I am
already planning on going to the beach on thursday. Weds I will have
to get my stuff back together, go to the grocery store, et. Thurs is
good since I need exercise and the Iowa men don't play until Friday!
Lots of great BB again this week heading up to selection Sunday and
the NCAA's start in less than two weeks. ISU women will probably make
the NCAA's. Iowa women maybe the NIT. Iowa men same and maybe UNI men.
the rest, Drake teams, UNI women and ISU men are probably all done
until next season. I hope LIsa gets a shot at the NIT, she needs some
redemption from last weeks ugly game.......carry on, keep your head
down and follow through.........
Time to get on the airplane and head to Indianapolis
to see my friend, the coach, son Davey and the Iowa
Hawkeye women play in the Big Ten Tournament. We have
a first round game vs. Indiana whom we beat during the
season, on their home court. Iowa won in a big way on
Sunday, getting ready for this game. If we can have
Megan ready, our 6'6" center, the Hawkeyes will prevail.
Second round vs. #4 Ohio State and all american Jessica
Davenport. I am anxious to see the team again. They won
every game when I was still up north, so maybe I will
bring them luck again. Two games should get us into the
NIT, win four and it will be back to the NCAA's.
I took this picture of Lisa and Davey in October at
Carver Hawkeye on media day. Lisa is a great person,
a person that I admire. I took part of this picture and
entered it in the Ankeny photo contest. If you are in
Ankeny in March, go to the Art Center and see if you
can find Davey's hands on display.
i also entered a still life photo of a perfect grapefruit
and an awesome photo on the beach....Maybe this year I
will win something......besides the tee shirt.......
I will try to post something next week while freezing
in INDY, carry on my friends and stay warm. 85 on Weds
and 90 on Thursday......did I really buy that airplane
ticket?
When it turns to 102 degrees,
you have to hit the beach. The
wind is always blowing to keep
me cool. the Beach Patrol was
practicing on Monday, eagerly(sic)
awaiting the spring breakers.
It was great for fishing, I think
they caught enough for dinner.
blue skies smiling at me..........
I ran him ragged, golf, Mexico, nap time, golf at Palm View in his
birthday outfit, new golf shirt and shorts. It is quiet since he left,
no snoring! will find some more pix to share about my new life in
the Rio Grande Valley.........Fore.......
The sport is race walking and
I am definately a rookie. This
was my third event in 2007 and
I had a goal, missed it by almost
five minutes. We have two high
school boy twins that are nationally
ranked. They recently competed in
NY and finished 3 and 4th places
against college age walkers. They
did one mile in just over 6 miutes.
Next event is April 7, the day I was
going to head towards Iowa. NOT NOW!
I will participate again before
driving away from Alamo. It's just a
walkabout.........
Through several phone calls and numerous e mails....cousin Mark and I
found our lost Aunt Dutch. Alive and well, though hard of hearing, he
had to yell on the phone since her hearing aide was in the repair shop.
she knew who Mark was on the phone and asked about his family, so
we at least know she is still alert. However, she is living with this crook,
the scam man.....living quite comfortably........
NOW, onto more fun things, like taking the bicycle to the repair shop
for it's one month free check up! A one hour workout while they work
on the bike.....a dreaded trip to the grocery store. As I mentioned to
someone earlier, the local people are really rude at the HEB grocery store.
You can't get down the aisle, they use the middle as their half of the
aisle, stare at the shelves and ignore you if you want through......
Ain't it grand? Life is full of small miracles and annoyances........
Carry on my friends...........64 and cloudy in the RGV at 11 am.........
The other night there was an awesome sunset. I kept
shooting about every 20 seconds. These are some of the
best full sun shots that I have ever taken, so enjoy.
Greg has come and gone back home to Iowa. We played golf five
times while he was here. These photos are from Palm View, McAllen,
Texas. the whopping cranes come from Canada to the valley every
winter. Last week when I played Palm View in the Olympics, there
were about 50 birds, only about a dozen today. Pretty good follow
thru for Greg. He has a fast back swing and lifts his head too
soon, which leads to topping the ball and a long hole.
Greg only had two great days in the Valley this year. Day two and
the day we went to the beach. It was very cloudy, we could only
see half of the bridge in the distance, driving over to the island.
Spooky so I didn't ride my bike. We sat out on the beach and about
2 PM the sun came out. Greg likes to go find some cheap tee shirts,
so we left the beach at 3 PM so we can start the drive home by
4 PM, to beat the rush hour in Harlingen. You have to stop and
wash the salt off of the car also. The rest of the week, we went
to Mexico and golfed in mid 40 to 50 degree weather, not much
wind and the courses were full. He can't wait to come down when
he retires.
I am going back to the beach on Weds.........Thursday.........Friday
80's all week long...........
Lots of great photo opportunities on the beach.
Frost advisory tonight, so I covered the
tomatoes. We golfed today, started late, waited
for the sun to shine and the temp to rise. It was
48 and sunny when we teed off. Greg and his trick
shots, first one UNDER the fence onto the highway.
A few holes later he hit the steel post it came
back towards us, hit another post and flew forward.
I told him he could have overs........I miss the
Briarwood greens, so smooth........
While working in the yard on an 80 degree day last week,
they were also burning the sugar cane. These black things
on the cement next to my flowers are the ashes that flew
to my yard and mess up the deck, the cement patio, etc.
About two hours later, the wind almost cleaned it all up.
The petunias are blooming, the tomatoes are growing, almost
double their starting height. New project is to build a
rock path from the cement slab to the shed.....building...
I think these are the pelicans that were at Saylorville
Lake back in the fall. Snowbirds they are! Greg and I are
playing the same course on Monday, I will take the
big camera for some close-ups. Fly away....fore........
Greg needs a workout for his NOT beer belly. I think I
will have him working out all week long at the Summitt
Club and on the deck on the ab machine. We went to the
street market in McAllen and DonWes Flea Market for a
couple hours. Out for dinner at El Dorado for shrimp
wrapped in bacon, Greg loved it. I had chicken
Monterrey, chicken and onions and peppers smothered in
mozarella cheese. He also received a pumpkin pie instead
of birthday cake. Golf Monday morning. Fore........
This is the picture that didn't come through on an earlier
posting. Look out for gators on the island? NO........I was
LOST..........new shows start this week.........
This is a destroyed glasses case. I went to the HEB
grocery store, put on my sunglasses on the way out.
I must have dropped the case out of my purse. I went to
Wally World to get something, no glasses. After driving
back to HEB, talking to a clerk, looking through empty
grocery carts.....I went to the spot where I parked......
Someone, maybe ME, drove over the case and flattened it.
I found the case, my heart sank! I
opened up the case....OH MY!
I took out the glasses, one lens popped out and they were
pretty bent up. However, the great lady at Wally World
did her thing and bent the glasses back into shape. She
saved my a bunch of money!
Another SENIOR moment..........moving right along.......
For Groovy Granny in Minnesota. These are the two frames
I decorated. Plain wood frames painted with paper or
sponge to get an uneven look, so the brown shows thru
to give the look of sand. The left one has mixed colors
of shells, the one on the right has only white shells
and will get a picture of Greg on the beach. He comes
down next week for his birthday. The photo on the left
is from a store that I shop at by the lighthouse. The
shells are tied together with thick brown string to
give it a weather beaten look. Or use fishing line to
hang the shells from one stick for the wind chimes.
Let your imagination go.........Sticking together.......
The participants: Marion Christianson, 82, Michelle
McFarlane 60ish, and Cyndy ? she wrote down the
wrong age! Need some road work before next
year's event!
My first Olympics, as a participant!
Wow, what a shocker. Those Winter
Texan walkers are serious! I did my
one mile in 16:16, four minutes
faster than on the treadmill, but I
still have my mail carrier walk.
Even paces, be SAFE, but the officials
told us, don't look down, move those
arms, it is good for the heart!
Marion was probably the oldest.She
walks three miles a day at 4 MPH on
her treadmill! A pro!
I went to the top of the lighthouse.
Windy is the norm for Texan, but
75 steps UP, it was much breezier.
Is that a word? Hold onto your wig!
