Friday November 28 - Only three days left

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving Day with our Children and Grandchildren. We were so thankful we were all able to spend the day together.

This is the first Thanksgiving in at least 20 years maybe more that Jesse and I were not hosting the meal. I was still cooking, but it seemed very strange not to be having a house full of family and friends. My thought was may be I wouldn't have to do dishes.

We arrived and Adam had the table set and appetizers for all to enjoy. He really is a great host. The turkey went into the oven, and then he and I did an inventory on what needed to be heated/cooked and set up a plan to get it all done.

The Table and Gage

Adam our host


Meanwhile we all enjoyed visiting and had a cocktail and appetizers. After about an hour the food was set out and everyone stuffed themselves. It was a very good meal.

Gramps and Kacie

The food

Beth and DJ

Colt

Ryan
Mesa

Afterwards I helped clean up the dishes to be ready for the dishwasher and we sat down to play cards and had fun laughing and talking.

Jesse is pretty sure he sold the Explorer to one of the co-mangers at Wal*Mart. He left the house this morning with a bill of sale, title and keys. Hopefully he will come home with money instead of the car. That was the last loose end we needed to get rid of and we are very happy to have it done before we leave.


It was a wonderful day and we look forward to seeing ya down the road.

Thursday, November 27 - Thanksgiving and good news

Yesterday was my last day of fulltime work. I am no longer employed; with the economy the way it is right now that is kind of scary, but wonderful all at the same time. Unfortunately Jesse has to work today from 7-11 am and tomorrow from 8-5 before he is unemployed. Also good new my blood pressure has improved with the addition of the new medicine. Thanks to everyone for your encouragement and advise.

Jesse just left for work and I just finished preparing the turkey for the oven. As previously stated we are going to our sons for the day, but I am preparing the turkey, gravy, stuffing, yams, mashed potatoes, and waldorf salad here and transporting it to Adam’s. I also made a pineapple upside down cake. The rest of the fixins for the meal are being split between Adam and Beth.

Our laptop computer has not been working right for some time now and on Tuesday the power plug quit working. Jesse looked it up on line and it would have cost us about $115 to replace it. Instead of doing this Jesse talked me into buying a new laptop. So yesterday he came home with a Toshiba L300 Series Laptop from work that cost $559. with is discount of 10%. He spent last evening while I was cooking getting it set up.

Earlier in the week we purchased a NuCool 1.7 cu ft refrigerator. It is small and will fit under the dinning table and will hopefully give us the extra space needed in keep important things cold (beer, wine and water).

I would like to wish everyone a very happy and healthy

THANKSGIVING DAY!!!!

See ya down the road.

Tuesday, November 25th - Bad News

1st I will let you know how our weekend went.

On Saturday I got almost everything done I wanted to complete, except the boys have not received their bath and grooming yet.

In response to one of the comments about the dog area I made in the truck: about belting the boys in. We do not hook them into the seat belts. We know that they are probably safer that way, but we like the flexibility of them able to move around, most of the time. I am not sure with the modification I made if we could belt them in.

I was able to clear out the two spare rooms and get it all loaded into the RV. I made a vegetable shepherds pie with ground turkey and a cherry dump cake for dessert.

On Sunday, after we had our coffee, Jesse and I got dressed and went to the grocery store to get all the fixins for our family Thanksgiving dinner. Once we returned to the house and all the groceries we put away, I fixed us some breakfast.

Then we continued to get things loaded into the RV. Jesse flushed out the water lines and sanitized them. He went through all his hand tools and decided which ones we will be taking and which ones he will be giving to Adam.

Later in the day we got cleaned up again and went out to get something to eat and then came home and relaxed for the rest of the evening. We watched the "24" movie on TV and of course "Amazing Race".

On Monday I cleaned the rig and we loaded the basement. We wanted to see how things would fit and see how many more totes we could fit. Jesse also cut down the bed to accommodate the queen size air mattress and cut out holes for the air tubes to be concealed under the platform along with the pump.

He also modified the space where the TV now hangs, so that we can put the printers in the space. (Pictures to follow)

By this time it was time for me to get ready for my doctors appointment. We also had to stop by the post office to put in a change of address, and go to the bank to set up a CD.

I got bad news from the doctor. My blood pressure is too high and she gave me an additional pill to take. I have to go tomorrow and get a blood test for my cholesterol and liver function. My body is telling me I really need to get away and relax.

Now for the really BAD NEWS. When I got into work today, Cathy the new girl came in and quit. She said that the job was too much for her and she just didn't think she could do a good job. I was in shock. This is the easiest accounting job I have ever had. I think there is more to the story, but we will never know.

I am unsure at this time as to how this will effect our December 1st departure, but we will be at Llano Grande Resort by December 15th for sure.

See ya down the road!!

Saturday Nov 22, - Afternoon Post

Here is the modification we made to the truck so the boys have a nice place while we are traveling:

Before

With the seats up

Metal pulls out for storage

Four totes stored

The board cut to fit and covered with 3" foam then covered with a plastic table cloth type material and stapled underneath

With the board setting on top of the totes the space is complete.

We will put their pillows and cover loose with some material, that way I can wash it.

Even a little storage underneath

Saturday, November 22 - New washer/dryer !!

It’s been a grueling week for me at work. Having to relay all your knowledge to someone else really takes it out of you. Can you imagine having to absorb all that knowledge? I have tried not to overwhelm Cathy too much, but have little time to go over things with her. She is a real quick learner and picks up things really well. We have two more days together before a say goodbye to my working days, well my regular working days.

Jesse and I are going to have to work camp, unless someone comes up with some lost money for us. LOL. We are doing research now for next summer jobs. I am hopping to work somewhere that is not too hot for the summer. If anyone knows of something that pays well, and needs two hard working people, let us know.

Thursday Jesse took the day off from work at Wal*Mart and he and the Kram-a-lot went into Colorado Springs to Camping World to have our new washer/dryer combo installed. Jesse didn’t feel confident to install it himself (even thought I know he could have done it). It’s a Splendide 2100XCP. It added 148 lbs to our weight and $1,435.85 less to our bank account. I figure that it will pay for itself in about 2 years, rather then going to the laundry mat, and besides I like the convenience of having it right there in our home.

Today I have lots of things I want to get done. I will advise later if I get them all done, if I ever get off this computer. I have gotten very behind in my blog readings and have no idea what everyone it doing.

My Mother gave me this cactus plant many years ago for Easter. She said it was a Easter cactus and will bloom each Easter. Over the years it bloomed some years and others not. It had gone with us in our many travels as I think I have had it for almost 20 years. Now most years it blooms at Thanksgiving time as well as Easter. Here it a look at it today. (Notice the card table, that is where we have been having dinner).



Only 9 more days until full timing, can hardly wait.

Hugs to all.

See ya down the road.

Tuesday, November 18th - 1st Day of Trainning

I’ve gotten behind again!! :~( We have just been so busy getting things done for our departure. At this point our closing is supposed to be at 10:30 am on December 1st, so we should be leaving at day. :~)

It is after work and I was training the new girl, Cathy today. I had no time at work today to read or write blogs. I think she will work out okay. I am tired of talking as that seems all I did.

I have had boxes of documents to shred, that I had been saving for “I don’t know what”. That has been a long process. We have a small shredder, but after a few pages it gets hot and you have to wait for it to cool down.

We took many boxes of clothes to goodwill and Sunday and Monday. We also took several items old wood and other junk to the dumpsters at goodwill.

Jesse took some time yesterday to try and figure out how to mount our 32” flat screen TV, in the Kram-a-lot so that it is secure. He is out there working on it as I write.

Yesterday we purchased a desk chair at Staples and we will get rid of the 5th chair that matches our dinette that was used at the desk chair in the RV, because it is not comfortable for desk use.

We also went to Home Depot and got a piece of wood cut and to Hobby Lobby for foam to make the back set of the truck an easier place for the boys to be comfortable. We will be storing 4 totes under the wood, which also gives us more storage. Once it is finished I will take pictures.

Well gotta go Jesse just came in and I am going to make dinner, shrimp and pasta.

See ya down the road!!!!

Saturday, November 15 - Busy Week

It’s been a busy week. We interviewed for my position and they found and hired a lady that they think will fit the bill. She also is originally from Maryland and has been in Colorado since July. She is starting on Tuesday and I will train her.

If all goes well my last day will be the Wednesday before Thanksgiving 11/26. Jesse will be working a ½ day on Thanksgiving, then black Friday and Saturday and Saturday will be his last day.

We finally heard that the buyer is not doing a home inspection and that closing will be on December 1st, not sooner, as previous thought. Depending on the time of closing we will leave right after closing.

Last night we met Beth, DJ and Colt for dinner. (The other two children were with their Father) We had a very nice time eating and taking about our plans. Colt was pretty crabby when he 1st got there as he had not had a nap and had fallen asleep in the truck on the way, but after a short while he perked up and was his cute little silly self. We sure will miss them, however we are looking forward to our new adventures.

After dinner they came back to the house to pick up all their stuff from the house. It really looks empty now. They were also getting our washer/dryer, but decided to leave it for me for a few more weeks so I do not have to go to the laundry mat. Thanks kids you don’t know how much I appreciate that.

After everything was packed in his trailer we had cake and ice-cream, as my birthday is Sunday and this was an early celebration.

Today Jesse is working and I have to organize all our stuff, so that it will fit in the Kram-a-lot. I bought some space bags and plan to pack some of our clothes that way. It’s a little hard to do right now because we need winter clothes here and summer clothes where we are going, but I am sure I will figure it out.

Love and Hugs for now, until we see ya down the road.

Wednesday, November 12 -

Jesse and I have been busy with all the odds and ends that need to be done before going fulltime.

Our buyer has until the 14^th to do a house inspection, and as of today we have heard nothing about scheduling this event. Maybe he will not want one, as the house is only two years old and he went through it very thoroughly.

Jesse is going to de-winterize the RV this weekend and move it in front of the house so we can start to load it.

We have taken several loads of clothes to Goodwill and I also have taken some of our better clothes to a consignment shop. Maybe we can get a few dollars from them.

I have been packing pictures for storage at our son’s house. He will be the keeper of pictures and other personal items we will be keeping.

We are still trying to sell our Ford Explorer. We have put it on Craig’s list and we also have been displaying at the Wal*Mart in the “cars for sale area”. We have had several calls, but no sale yet. We hope it sells before our anticipated departure on December 1^st.

We have reservation for LLANO NORTH LAKE PARK RESORT starting December 15^th through March 1, 2009.

See ya down the road.

Saturday, November 8 - Thanks, Thanks, Thanks

Thanks for the well wishes. We are so blessed to have so many good folks pulling for us to live our dream of hitting the road.

After 19 months our dream is finally happening.
OH NO, WHAT TO WE DO NOW !!! (Just kidding)

Our plans right now are as follows. We will move into the Kram-a-lot on November 23, because the buyer is hopping to close on the 24th of November. The contract says December 1st, but we don’t mind moving it up. We are sooooo glad we had the auction and all our stuff is gone.

I still have some stuff (craft items and clothes) and I am going to start that today.

We will probably move to a campground that is just about 2 miles from the house, as I have committed to my boss that I would help him train someone for my position. We will be here for as long as that takes.

Then we are planning to head to the Rio Grand Valley in TX. We are not exactly sure where yet, but somewhere in the area that Ed and Marilyn will winter. In the spring we will be head towards Maryland. We had hoped (mostly me) to be going to Maryland now; however, financially it just wouldn’t be prudent and the weather is also a concern.

We are babysitting for our new grand-dog this weekend and he is very sweet. Our boys are not sure what is going on. They are all doing pretty good together but they have had their moments. I forgot how hard it is to have a puppy around. Here are some pictures.

Nap time is very peaceful

Time to get into what ever I can.

That's all for today.
Looking forward to see ya down the road.

Friday, November 6 - SOLD - SOLD - SOLD!!!

Finally!!!!

We signed a contract last night to close by December 1st. We are very happy to be out from under the house, we have lost money on the sale, but it's SOLD!

The average house sale is down 12% and that is what we lost, so we are happy, as it could have been more.

Thanks to all of you for the GOOD VIBES!! IT WORKED!!

More later

See ya down the road (This time I mean it).

Wednesday, November 5 - A Second Looker

Just thought I would let everyone know we have the same people as yesterday looking again tomorrow (Thursday). They are very interested and are a cash buyer.

Keep all the good vibes coming!!!!!!

Tuesday, November 4th - House lookers

Our weekend was very uneventful. I rested and did very little around the house. I played games on the computer and watched a lot of HGTV and TLC.

On Sunday we did go to Colorado Springs to visit the Select Comfort Mattress store. We need and new mattress very badly. We thought the pillow top version felt the best. Our prior mattress was a pillow top Vera Wang mattress, so we liked that the best.

I decided to call Bob and Lynda Soady to see if they still liked their new mattress and Lynda said they did. So we called Tami the person they recommend and ordered a new pillow top air mattress. Thanks Bob & Lynda for your help and advice!!

Today we were back at work. I got a call from our Realtors’ office that someone wanted to see the house at 1:00pm. So around 12:15 I left work for the house to get the boys and straighten up a few things. I left the house at 12:50 the boys and I decided to just drive over to the next street until they were finished with showing the house. By the time we were in a position to watch the house the prospective buyers were there and waiting for their Realtor to show up. She showed up on time and they entered the house.

I began to think they were preparing lunch as they were there for about 1 hour and 15 minutes. I hopped that was a good sign.

Once they left I took the boys back home and went back to work. I received another call from our Realtors’ office saying someone else wanted to see the house between 5-6PM tonight. They said the people earlier were very interested and wanted to know what our utilities cost.

As soon as I got home I looked up that info in quicken and called Robin back to give her the information. She said she would let them know and hopefully would be contacting us again. Well we have not heard anything else yet, but we are keeping an open mind. :~)

While out of the house tonight we went to get fuel in the truck and paid $2.96 per gallon. We went to Subway (eat fresh) to get a sandwich then back to the house again.

We watched a movie Jesse rented and then flipped channels as we were keeping an eye on the election returns.

Hopefully we will see ya down the road soon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!