HTBT: Where the Love Light's Burning........

Home!

Texarkana, 2011

(Ok, so I revised the words to the Simon and Garfunkel song.) Our December in Texarkana was wonderful!! Lots of exciting moments and visits with treasured family and friends! Enjoy the ride.

11-29-11: Hot Diggity! I drove the rig for an hour and 8 minutes today! Previous record was 15 minutes about a year or so ago. Today was on the Indian Nations Turnpike -- traffic was mild and I didn't have to make any turns. But I'm getting there!

Piney Woods at Lake Wright Patman

When we arrived Texarkana, we could see a lot of evidence of the big drought. Lots of brown trees mixed in with the pines.

near our campsite at Clear Springs

Lake Wright Patman is the lowest I've ever seen it. We are staying at Clear Springs and YAY - they now have sewer hookups!
We took Edith to Applebee's and visited with her awhile. So good to be home!

Gus and me at Cracker Barrel

11-30-11: Met Gus for breakfast at Cracker Barrel. He looks great and so does Bailey!
Really looking forward to being with my son again!

Carol - our fave hairdresser

Afterwards we went to David's haircut appt and reunited with Carol, our fave hairdresser! Really wish she could travel with us cuz we've had some crazy haircuts since we've started fulltiming.

Anyone have a name for this?

Rocky and me

Becky and Rocky
Joy and Beaux D

Beaux D

He stops long enough to pose for the camera

Rocky and I went for a great walk at the lake then I met Joy for supper and Chili's. It's been so long since we've seen each other, so we had a LOT of catching up and laughing to do. After eating, we went to get Beaux D and the 2 of them came out to the camper. Beaux D and Rocky got acquainted. Beaux is a BoShi - Boston Terrier/Shitzu.

Playing Pennies: Cranford and Becky

Kathey strategizing

David picked up the pile!

12-2-11: Cranford and Kathey came out for burgers and a game of Pennies. Evidently they are a little rusty on how to play, cuz Kathey brought a heavy bag full of Pennies! LOL!!!

Edith w/sister-in-law Ann - haven't seen each other in a few years and they wore same nail polish!

Ann, Jimmy, Sharon, Edith, Becky, and David

12-3-11: Had lunch with Edith, and some of her family: Ann, Sharon, and Jimmy. They are so sweet and so much fun. Really glad we got to see them all and I know their visit seemed to give Edith a new energy!

Pretty Bailey

12-5-11: Had lunch at Carino's with Linda and Kathey. Exciting time for Linda as she is expecting her first grandbaby - a girl. Supper at Gus' new digs. Very nice place and my granddog, Bailey, get's prettier and prettier!

12-6-11: Ran into some light sleet today on the way to one of our dr appts. Woohoo! And a dusting of snow this evening. The Facebook tip is that if you wear your pj's inside out, it will snow.

My peeps at Amigo Juan's

Is Garry asleep?

Jarrett, the robot

12-8-11: Supper tonite at Amigo Juan's with Gus, Cranford/Kathey, Jakeb/Lacey, Marlyse/Garry, Diane/Don/Brad, Laurie/Marshall, Crystal/Jeff/Jarrett/Audrey. Lot's of catching up, got to meet Laurie's new beau, and got to watch Jarrett and Audrey steal the show. LOL. And it's the night before Jakeb and Lacey go in to be induced for Baby James! Lacey isn't even nervous! I'll soon have another great-nephew!

12-9-11: Lunch at Cobbler Shop with Edith. Pam, Lacey, and Jakeb joined us there. Then Edith and I took lunch to Gus at Cooper Tire. (That's a big ole place!). Played cards tonite at Cranford's and Kathey's. The guys beat the girls by nearly 25,000 points!! OMG!! I've never been beat that bad. And they aren't even all that good! It's on now!

Our newest Goff - James Madison

The proud Grandpa Bill and Pop Jakeb

12-10-11: The newest Goff arrived this morning about 10:30! James Madison Goff is adorable!! And his daddy, Jakeb, cannot stop smiling! Happy family! David and I were stuck in Cracker Barrel when James was born, but got to the hospital about 30 minutes later. Bill and Pam were walking in their sleep!

Pam and Macie

Miller and the Goff bunch

Visited with them a little while afterwards and Walter"s and Odestine's where we got to see all the rest of the Goff's.

Tonite, a nostalgic evening watching Rudolph on TV. And the Flight Before Christmas - a new one for me.

Kay and me

Edith and me

Kay and Edith

12-11-11: My longtime friend, Kay, took Edith and me to McAlister's and the FBC Christmas musical tonite. Really good program with Babbie Mason and Doyle Dykes. But the best part of the evening was hanging out with Edith and Kay!

My former walking buddy, Annette and me

12-13-11: Visited LEMS this morning for the first time since retiring (except for a quick flu shot once). So wonderful seeing all my peeps there! It nearly made me miss working there. Hahahahahaha!

Linda, Bec, and Kathey

Kathey and Linda invited me to meet them for lunch at the The Collins Bldg with their UCRC group. Love that cool old bldg. Still lots of glamour and charm there. And it brings back such fond memories of going caroling there as a kid with CCC when it was a home for women.

Edith with Baby James, and his parents, Jakeb and Lacey

Edith and James

James' pretty nursery

James with Great Aunt B

He's excited!

James and Aunt B

James with his 2 great grandmothers: Odestine and Edith
and w/ Aunt B

David and I took Edith to see Baby James. What a sweet, beautiful baby!

Sherry and Billy

12-15-11: Sherry and Billy came out for chili tonite. Billy is hilarious! Great visit and so much laughing!

12-16-11: Ran errands and had lunch with Edith. At 92, she is such a trooper and still loves to get out and about! Wish I could keep up with her. :)

Becky w/the precious Graves kids

didn't have to ask them twice to make a face! :)

Playing Pennies w/the Graves

practicing our poker faces

Played cards with C and K tonite. They beat us again, but not as dramatically as before.

12-18-11: ACC choir Christmas program this morning. Just, WOW! It was beautiful and powerful and I believe we will be seeing little Kyler Harris' name in lights someday! So thankful David and I were in town to experience this worshipful program!

Adrian and Jim

Edith's niece, Adrian and husband Jim visited this afternoon. Great seeing them and receiving one of her awesome candles. She makes the best!

Finished off a great day with supper at Gus'.

Hey Lisa, let's do a Zoolander face! (sucker!)

bff's Lisa and Becky

12-19-11: Lunch with Lisa today at Chili's. And a loooong visit there. My BFF. We always pick up right where we left off and spend most of our time laughing! Thanks, my friend!

Angela must LOVE roosters!

Angela, David, and Bill in the new rig

Bill, Angela, me, David

Then David and I drove to New Boston to visit with Bill and Angela, see their new motorhome and their farm. Bill, back in the day I used to say to myself "I'll bet he'll be a farmer someday". LOL.

look at the cute little cow with black ears and feet

Bill's longhorn and baby

Farmer Bill at work

Rocky and their donkeys

Fun seeing them and their cute cows and longhorns!

my sweet Uncle NJ and me

12-20-11: Visited my Uncle Norman this morning. What a blessing for me. He is struggling with Alzheimers, but remembered me and many family details. And such a sweetheart! I am so glad I got to spend some time with him. He looks great and still a class act!

Alicia, Lia, and Dolan

Got back to the lake and found out Russell and Alicia and kids are camped near us with their new rig. Very happy we got to see them!

Tonite: cards with Cran and Kathey. Girls won!!! Finally!!! Yay, us!

my babies

12-21-11: David and I did laundry on the AR side, lunch at Cobbler Shop, did a little shopping, dressed up the family graves, picked up Laura from the airport, and delivered lunch to Gus at Cooper, took Laura to see Edith, then chilled the rest of the day at the camper. Good day!

I held this angel for 2 hours

12-22-11: I dropped lunch off at Jakeb and Lacey's. When I arrived, they told me they'd had a sleepless night. I offered to stay a couple of hours while they napped. I held sweet little James the entire 2 hours -- except for one diaper change. I loved all his cooing, squeaking sounds! I could live here!

Edith, Laura Lee, me, Gus
Christmas Eve at Edith's

Christmas Eve: David and me

Spice

Edith supervising me in the kitchen! I always need guidance there

12-24-11: David, Laura, Gus, and I went to Edith's for Christmas Eve. I took some brisket and cake, Edith did the rest. She is such a wonderful cook and classy hostess!

Playing Pennies with Edith

We ate, played cards,

Edith and Gus on Christmas Eve

Laura Lee on Christmas Eve

Oh! Is this a dress?

Ok, this looks better

Laura Lee w/gift from E

Is Gus asleep?

Edith trying on her gift....

Ah, a neck warmer

Gus supervising the gift exchange

Gus and Mom

Sigh

Laura and Mom

swapped gifts, and played more cards. Wonderful night! And I was in bed listening to the rain on the camper by 10.

Ornament from Andrew

12-25-11: Such a relaxing Christmas Day! Slept late, made some lotion, and did a little dab of cleaning. Laura and Gus watched the 1st Sherlock Holmes movie with us tonite at the camper. Had to watch it so we can go see the 2nd one at the theaters. And most importantly, reflected on Who we are celebrating today!

Laura's leavin on a jet plane

sad

12-26-11: Sadly, we took Laura back to the airport this afternoon. So thankful she spent Christmas with us! This was the first Christmas since we started traveling that David and I got to spend with family.

Debbie, Mike, and Blake at Sherlock 2

He, Gus, and I went to see the 2nd Sherlock tonite. Ran into Mike and Debbie with their Blake, so we sat together for the movie. It had looked like we weren't going to get to connect while we were in Texarkana, so very excited that we got to share that movie with them!

Chloe

After supper at Amigo Juan's, Gus took us to see Emily and Chloe. Their new home is so beautifully decorated for the holidays and Chloe is precious!!

David and I went to Edith's to finish up a game of Pennies and start another. Really hard to say goodbye to her. She's so sweet and we really had fun with her this month! Will miss her greatly.

12-27-11: David and I got up early to go get Kenelog shots - hopefully, this will keep us from getting sick from the Hill Country cedar allergies that kicked our butts last winter!

Picked up Gus (who had done our laundry for us!!!) and met Cran and Kathey at Zapata's. Said our goodbye's to them - what awesome friends they are!

Pam, me, and Bill Boy

Met Bill and Pam at Edith's for a quick visit. Happy we got to see them once more before we hit the road.

Gus spent the evening with us at the camper watching one of the movies he gave us for Christmas. Good evening, but I really hate saying bye to him!

Bye, Texarkana!

12-28-11: Bye, Texarkana!! We didn't get to see all the folks we wanted to see in December. But our hearts are full from seeing so many of our family and friends. Saying goodbye is the part I do not like about fulltiming. But the hellos are always a blessing!

Heading to the TX Hill Country for a couple of months. If any of you get down that way, lmk. Would love to cya!

Happy 2012 to you all!!

The Wanderers and Rocky Tin Tin

PS - a few pix at the campground below: