The Quinn's Awesome Journey

12/27/2009 sick

2009-12-27T14:10:00.001-08:00

I'm sick...when i feel better i'll post.

12/25/2009 Signs of Christmas ….Part 2

2009-12-25T22:02:00.000-08:00

Bob and I would like to wish each and every one of you a very Merry Christmas. We hope you have a wonderful day and that Santa was good to you.

We have a busy day ahead of us so I’m going to use this space to post more Signs of Christmas from around our park. I hope you enjoy them.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

12/24/2009 Christmas Music Anyone?

2009-12-24T10:50:00.001-08:00

1. SCHIZOPHRENIA: -- Do You Hear What We Hear?

2. AMNESIA -- I Don't Know If I'll Be Home for Christmas.

3. NARCISSIST -- Hark the Herald Angels Sing-All About Me.

4. MANIC -- Deck the Halls and Walls and House and Lawn and Streets and Stores and Office and Town and Cars and Buses and Trucks and Trees and Fire Hydrants, and.....

5. MULTIPLE PERSONALITY DISORDER -- We Three Queens Disoriented Are.

6. PARANOID --- Santa Claus Is Coming To Get Me.

7. BORDERLINE PERSONALITY DISORDER -- Thoughts of Roasting on an Open Fire.

8. FULL PERSONALITY DISORDER -- You Better Watch Out! I'm Gonna cry; I'm Gonna Pout! -- Maybe I'll Tell You Why .

9. OBSESSIVE COMPULSIVE DISORDER -- Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells.....

10. AGORAPHOBIA -- I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day, but Wouldn't Leave My House.

11. SENILE DEMENTIA -- Walking in a Winter Wonderland--Miles from My House in My Slippers and Robe

12. OPPOSITIONAL DEFIANCE DISORDER -- I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus-so I Burned Down the House.

13. SOCIAL ANXIETY DISORDER -- Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, While I Sit Here and Hyperventilate

14. ATTENTION DEFICIT DISORDER -- We Wish You.. . . Hey Look!!! It's Snowing!!!

THE TWELVE DAYS OF CHRISTMAS – Irish Style CLICK HERE for a good laugh!

It was a romantic full moon when Pedro said, "Hey, mamacita, let's do Weeweechu."

Oh no, not now, let's look at the moon!" , said Rosita.

Oh, c'mon baby, let's you and I do Weeweechu. I love you and it's the perfect time," Pedro begged.

"But I wanna just hold your hand and watch the moon." , replied Rosita.

"Please, corazoncito, just once, do Weeweechu with me."

Rosita looked at Pedro and said, "OK, one time, we'll do Weeweechu."

Pedro grabbed his guitar and they both sang.....

"Weeweechu a Merry Christmas,

Weeweechu a Merry Christmas,

and a Happy New Year."

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!!!

12/24/2009 Signs of Christmas….Part 1

2009-12-24T06:27:00.001-08:00

Like you, today is going to be a busy day for us. A trip to town is in order to pick up our part of the Christmas dinner tomorrow and a few other errands have to be run as well.

I thought I’d use the space today to share with you “signs of Christmas” from around Quail Run, our winter perch. Enjoy.

We hope Santa is good to you!

12/23/2009 As I Write This....

2009-12-23T12:02:00.000-08:00

....we are sixteen hits away from 98,000. Look at the counter, is it YOU?

If so, leave a comment telling us who you are, where you're from and anything else you'd like to share.

Thank you,

Snookie

Well, we didn't hear from anyone, maybe next time.

12/23/2009 Fifty seven years ago…..

2009-12-23T10:42:00.001-08:00

….my Mom and Dad tied the marital knot. Happy Anniversary!

Four days have passed since I last posted and as I sit here thinking back about what we did its a blur. We’ve been busy, we’ve been doing stuff but no one thing really stands out.

Oh wait, I’m wrong, one thing does stand out. Saturday night Bob and I attended the Christmas dance here in the park. Our good friends Sandy and Carl provided a good time for all with the great music Carl played and the fun time Sandy always gives us. In addition to dancing we played Christmas trivia for prizes. I won one because I knew that Christmas was the 359th day of the year.

I won another prize, a wine bottle ~~cozy, cozee, cozie,~~ a bag for a wine bottle and a bottle stopper. Since we are not “wine people” I gave it to the fella sitting next to me because, well because he was drinking wine. It worked for me.

We are having delightful winter weather here in the desert. Only a light jacket is needed in the evening time and lots of us are still in shorts as the temperature has been in the low to mid 70’s. We’re sure enjoying this compared to our old hometown temps of 20’s and 30’s and the twenty inches of snow on the ground.

Do you ever wonder how holiday traditions start? I mean really, whose idea was it to bring a dying tree into the house (face it, you cut a tree down, its gonna die) and cover it with stringed popcorn and cranberries, remember this was how it all started before twinkling, multi colored LED lights. And the angel on top of the tree, how did that start? Well, folks, wonder no more on that one as I have the answer to that one for you. Read on.

When four of Santa's elves got sick, the trainee elves did not produce toys as fast as the regular ones, and Santa began to feel the Pre-Christmas pressure.

Then Mrs Claus told Santa her Mother was coming to visit, which stressed Santa even more.

When he went to harness the reindeer, he found that three of them were about to give birth and two others had jumped the fence and were out, Heaven knows where.

Then when he began to load the sleigh, one of the floorboards cracked, the toy bag fell to the ground and all the toys were scattered.

Frustrated, Santa went in the house for a cup of apple cider and a shot of rum. When he went to the cupboard, he discovered the elves had drank all the cider and hidden the liquor. In his frustration, he accidentally dropped the cider jug, and it broke into hundreds of little glass pieces all over the kitchen floor. He went to get the broom and found the mice had eaten all the straw off the end of the broom.

Just then the doorbell rang, and irritated Santa marched to the door, yanked it open, and there stood a little angel with a great big Christmas tree. The angel said very cheerfully, 'Merry Christmas, Santa. Isn't this a lovely day? I have a beautiful tree for you. Where would you like me to stick it?'

And so began the tradition of the little angel on top of the Christmas tree.

Monday we had a horrific sand storm here. Just eight miles away in Casa Grande a 20 car pile up occurred on I-10 due to zero visibility. Here in the park we couldn’t see the houses across the street. As if all the damaged cars and trucks weren’t bad enough two local teens, 17 and 14, siblings, were killed. I can’t even imagine……..

Tuesday brought a trip to the local VFW for Bob, you know, gotta keep that wrist exercised and I played Mexican train with the girls in the park.

Tuesday night Bob played pool and I learned how to play Hand and a Foot, a card game.

So that’s what we’ve been up to.

I hope you are all done your shopping, the gifts are wrapped, the baking is done and you have the time to enjoy the coming days. Most of all, let’s not forget the reason for the season. It’s not all about how many toys are under the tree, who sends the prettiest cards or who has the ugliest Christmas sweater. We’re celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ, son of God, the savior of all people. Let’s not forget that.

12/18/2009 Some Go POSTAL…..Bob Goes…..

2009-12-18T23:47:00.001-08:00

GRISWOLD ! ! !

It wasn’t enough that Bob wrapped each post holding up roof over over the patio up in lights.

He wasn’t satisfied with the roofline being strung with lights or the lit wreath above the picture window.

He didn’t stop at outlining the sliding glass doors with lights.

Each step had to be outlined in lights too.

The orange trees had to be adorned with a string of blue lights. (ok, ok, its blurry, work with me here people)

Our windows are decked out with big red bows.

Even our patio table has decoration in that it is encircled with a ribbon of red lights.

It wasn’t enough that the shed be just outlined in lights.,…oh no.

Our low lying cactus are draped with lights too.

He couldn’t settle for just a run of twinkling lights around the house to signify falling snow.

He moved from lights to cling-ons with Santa doing his Ho-ho-ho-ing thing across our front window.

On the other window we have a politically correct Snowman wishing viewers Happy Holidays.

Santa Claus makes his home on our sliding glass door.

On the other side rests this wreath.

One would think this would be enough, wouldn’t one? Not my Clark, er, uh, I mean BOB! Oh no, he still had lights and they had to go somewhere!

He walked from one end of the property to the other, looking high and looking low for something that didn’t have lights on it already.

He finally found it. Our ORGAN PIPE CACTUS!

Now let me tell you, this took some doing!

Sorry its blurry, it was hard to get both sets of lights “on” at the same time.

So now this cactus is covered in Christmas lights too.

And he still isn’t done! Oh no, there are still more lights to be put somewhere. He started searching again for something that wasn’t wrapped in lights.

He found something!

Do you know what this is?

Yep, its a little plastic suction cup that helps hold the strings of lights in place. Do you know what its stuck to?

Our truck! He decorated our truck! (I have no idea why he has this jacket on, it was 75 degrees today!)

As people rode by in their cars and trucks they slowed way down and just watched….in awe? disbelief?….and then they drove on.

Here it is…… take note that he even put the CB aerial up and covered that in lights too!

Word spread through the park quickly that Bob decorated the truck and lots of traffic went down our street, by vehicle, golf cart and on foot.

He still has lights. At one point he was holding two strings in his hands and looked at me and asked, “Snook, how tall are you again?” Oh no, I knew what was coming so I beat feet into the house! If I had stayed, right now I’d be standing in the yard, arms outstretched with lights and garland hanging all over me.

This is what life has become this Christmas season with ~~Clark~~ Bob.

12/17/2009 An “R” Rated Post

2009-12-17T09:30:00.001-08:00

Yep, it’s come to this. I have nothing to share so I’m going back to my email again. Sometimes I just get really good emails and I “keep them as new” although I don’t know why, I just do. Well, I now have 128 emails and its time to clean house. As I was re-reading them again to see if there were any I wanted to copy and paste and send on I thought what the heck….I’ll share them here. So if you don’t appreciate a slightly blue joke then this post isn’t for you and we’ll see you another day.

Since it is ‘tis the season, we’ll start this out with a Christmas related joke.

Three men died on Christmas Eve and were met by Saint Peter at the pearly gates.

'In honor of this holy season' Saint Peter said, 'You must each possess something that symbolizes Christmas to get into heaven.'
The first man fumbled through his pockets and pulled out a lighter. He flicked it on. 'It represents a candle', he said.
'You may pass through the pearly gates' Saint Peter said.

The second man reached into his pocket and pulled out a set of keys. He shook them and said, 'They're bells.' Saint Peter said 'You may pass through the pearly gates'.

The third man started searching desperately through his pockets and finally pulled out a pair of women's panties. St. Peter looked at the man with a raised eyebrow and asked, 'And just what do those symbolize?' The man replied, 'These are Carols.'

You know in our resort here we are having a contest for the best decorated RV and park model. As I’ve already shown you, this is our park model all decorated for the holidays.

Some of the neighbors (read that as men) aren’t too happy with Bob again this year because their wives are on them about decorating now. Here’s how one neighbor showed his displeasure at having to decorate and in answer to his wife’s nagging.

THE POTTY

A LITTLE THREE YEAR OLD BOY IS SITTING ON THE TOILET. HIS MOTHER THINKS HE HAS BEEN IN THERE TOO LONG, SO SHE GOES IN TO SEE WHAT'S UP. THE LITTLE BOY IS SITTING ON THE TOILET READING A BOOK. BUT ABOUT EVERY 10 SECONDS OR SO HE PUTS THE BOOK DOWN, GRIPS ONTO TO THE TOILET SEAT WITH HIS LEFT HAND AND HITS HIMSELF ON TOP OF THE HEAD WITH HIS RIGHT HAND.

HIS MOTHER SAYS: "BILLY, ARE YOU ALL RIGHT? YOU'VE BEEN IN HERE FOR A WHILE.

BILLY SAYS: "I'M FINE, MOMMY/. I JUST HAVEN'T GONE 'DOODY' YET."

MOTHER SAYS: "OK, YOU CAN STAY HERE A FEW MORE MINUTES BUT, BILLY, WHY ARE YOU HITTING YOURSELF ON THE HEAD?"

BILLY SAYS: "WORKS FOR KETCHUP.

BULLETIN, BULLETIN, BULLETIN

Dear Citizens,

Due to the current financial situation caused by the slowdown in the economy, Congress has decided to implement a scheme to put workers of 50 years of age and above on early retirement.

This scheme will be known as RAPE (Retire Aged People Early).
Persons selected to be RAPED can apply to Congress to be considered for the SHAFT program (Special Help After Forced Termination).
Persons who have been RAPED and SHAFTED will be reviewed under the SCREW program (Scheme Covering Retired-Early Workers).
A person may be RAPED once, SHAFTED twice and SCREWED as many times as Congress deems appropriate.

Persons who have been RAPED could get AIDS (Additional Income for Dependants & Spouse) or HERPES (Half Earnings for Retired Personnel Early Severance). Obviously persons who have AIDS or HERPES will not be SHAFTED or SCREWED any further by Congress.

Persons who are not RAPED and are staying on will receive as much SHIT ( Special High Intensity Training ) as possible. Congress has always prided themselves on the amount of SHIT they give our citizens.

Should you feel that you do not receive enough SHIT, please bring this to the attention of your Congressman, who has been trained to give you all the SHIT you can handle.

Sincerely,
The Committee for Economic Value of Individual Lives (E.V.I.L.)

PS - - Due to recent budget cuts and the rising cost of electricity, gas and oil, as well as current market conditions, the Light at the End of the Tunnel has been turned off.

Now this is just STUPID!

Fearless Youth - Crazy - Foolhardy - Nuts - Idiotic - Brainless - Stupidity - you're turn...

Don't look down while you're viewing these shots...
This is a case of "photographer photographs photographer." The following photographs were taken by photographer Hans van de Vorst at the Grand Canyon, Arizona. The descriptions are his own. The identity of the photographer IN the photos is unknown.

I was simply stunned seeing this guy standing on this solitary
rock IN the Grand Canyon. The canyon's depth is 2,953 feet here. The rock on the right is next to the canyon and safe. Watching this guy with his thong sandals, with a camera and a tripod I asked myself 3 questions:

1) How did he climb that rock?
2) Why not take that sunset picture on that rock to the right, which is perfectly safe?
3) How will he get back?

This is the point of no return!

After the sun set behind the canyon's horizon he packed his
things (having only one hand available) and prepared himself
for the jump. This took about 2 minutes. At that point he had
the full attention of the crowd.

After that, he jumped on his thong sandals... The canyon's depth is 2,953 feet here. Now you can see that the adjacent rock is higher so he tried to land lower, which is quite steep and tried to use his one hand to grab the rock.

We've come to the end of this little story. Look carefully at the photographer. He has a camera, a tripod and also a plastic bag, all on his shoulder or in his left hand. Only his right hand is available to grab the rock and the weight of his stuff is a problem. He lands low on this flip flops both his right hand and right foot slips away... At that moment I take this shot. He pushes his body against the rock. He waits for a few seconds, throws his stuff on the rock, climbs and
walks away.

Whew!

I’m down to 56 emails, so there may or may not be more of the same tomorrow. Thanks to all who contributed to this post!

We aren’t doing a whole bunch today. Just hangin’ out. This evening Bob will play poker and I will play Mexican Train with friends.

Just another day in the desert.

12/16/2009 The Last Three Days and This & That

2009-12-16T20:56:00.001-08:00

The last three days have been absolutely beautiful here in the desert. You just want to be outside in the afternoons. The sun warms your skin, which means arms and legs because we’re in shorts and T’s here. Doesn’t that just make you sick? Especially if you are somewhere where the temps are below zero or in the soggy east.

Bob really hasn’t been up to too much because the lights are done. Really, honest. they’re done. He’s says he’s going to put more up but honestly, I don’t know where’d they go.

I’ve been doing my usual routine with the Diva’s and even playing Mexican Train in the evening.

We’re talking about some day trips in the near future so we have that to look forward to.

Sorry readers, I’ve hit a dry spell here for a few days. It will pick up very soon I’m sure.

I’ve decided to share some things with you from my email.

Because I care about you, I’ve added the following to that you can take proper care of your neck muscles. Thanks, Maryann!

I want you all to know that I am so thankful for good quality denim. Yes, I’m thankful for blue jean material. Its sheer strength amazes me! I will be eternally thankful if this material holds until she reaches her car before it explodes. You can only look at this and say, “What the hell?” Yes readers, this is from the People of Walmart site.

In case you didn’t get the email going around with the picture of the “redneck Santa sleigh” I’ll post it here for you. I don’t care who you are, you have to laugh at this!

Have you raised teenagers? Are you raising teenagers now? Are the teenage years still down the road a bit for you? No matter, I’m sure you’ll enjoy this all the same.

My son came home from school one day,
With a smirk upon his face.
He decided he was smart enough,
To put me in my place.

'Guess what I learned in Civics Two,
that's taught by Mr. Wright?
It's all about the laws today,
The 'Children's Bill of Rights.'

It says I need not clean my room,
Don't have to cut my hair
No one can tell me what to think,
Or speak, or what to wear.

I have freedom from religion,
And regardless what you say,
I don't have to bow my head,
And I sure don't have to pray.

I can wear earrings if I want,
And pierce my tongue & nose.
I can read & watch just what I like,
Get tattoos from head to toe.

And if you ever spank me,
I'll charge you with a crime.
I'll back up all my charges,
With the marks on my behind.

Don't you ever touch me,
My body's only for my use,
Not for your hugs and kisses,
that's just more child abuse.

Don't preach about your morals,
Like your Mama did to you.
That's nothing more than mind control,
And it's illegal too!

Mom, I have these children's rights,
So you can't influence me,
Or I'll call Children's Services Division,
Better known as C.S.D.'

Mom's Reply and Thoughts

Of course my first instinct was
To toss him out the door.
But the chance to teach him a lesson
Made me think a little more.

I mulled it over carefully,
I couldn't let this go.
A smile crept upon my face,
he's messing with a pro.

Next day I took him shopping
At the local Goodwill Store.
I told him, 'Pick out all you want,
there's shirts & pants galore.

I've called and checked with C.S.D ...
Who said they didn't care
If I bought you K-Mart shoes
Instead of those Nike Airs.

I've canceled that appointment
To take your driver's test.
The C..S.D. Is unconcerned
So I'll decide what's best. '

I said 'No time to stop and eat,
Or pick up stuff to munch..
And tomorrow you can start to learn
To make your own sack lunch.

Just save the raging appetite,
And wait till dinner time.
We're having liver and onions,
A favorite dish of mine.'

He asked 'Can I please rent a movie,
To watch on my VCR?'
'Sorry, but I sold your TV,
For new tires on my car.

I also rented out your room,
You'll take the couch instead.
The C .S.D. Requires
Just a roof over your head.

Your clothing won't be trendy now,
I'll choose what we eat.
That allowance that you used to get,
Will buy me something neat.

I'm selling off your jet ski,
Dirt-bike & roller blades.
Check out the 'Parents Bill of Rights',
It's in effect today!

Hey hot shot, are you crying,
Why are you on your knees?
Are you asking God to help you out,
Instead of C.S.D..?'

Names in the News: Tiger Woods. I am so disappointed in him. Aren’t you? I’ll tell you, he was the LAST one I expected this behavior out of. All the same, the jokes are funny!

Apparently the police asked Tiger’s wife how many times she hit him. She said, “I don’t know exactly but put me down for a five.”

What does Tiger Woods have in common with baby seals? They both get clubbed by Norwegians.

Ping just offered Tiger's wife an endorsement contract pushing her own set of clubs. They are said to be named Elin Woods: "Clubs You Can Beat Tiger With."

What’s the difference between a car and a golf ball? Tiger can drive a ball 350 yards.

Why did Tiger's wife use a 3-wood to bust the window? She didn't like the driver.

What were Tiger Woods and his wife doing out at 2.30 in the morning? They went clubbing.

Tiger Woods crashed into a fire hydrant and a tree. He couldn’t decide between a wood and an iron.

Tiger just changed his nickname but still kept it in the cat family--his new name?: Cheetah

Since Tiger drives an Escalade, can he blame the accident on his caddy?

Heck who amongst us doesn't hear a car crash and immediately grab the closest golf club we can find??!!!

Ok, that’s it…hopefully, I’ll have something to share with you soon.

12/13/2009 Our Weekend

2009-12-13T16:22:00.001-08:00

It’s been a great weekend! Saturday we were back in shorts as it was back in the 70’s. Yay!

Friday Bob went for his physical at the Veteran’s Center and for the most part,,,all is well. A few little issues to take care of but nothing out of the ordinary. We are thankful.

Saturday brought us puttering around the house during the day, a trip to get my nails done for me and dinner and a movie to round out the evening.

Bob and I have had dinner with good friends Kathy and Lyell at Olive Garden Restaurant.

This was the first time either one of us had ever eaten at this restaurant, not just this Olive Garden but ANY Olive Garden, and our meal was delicious! I had the manicotti and it was to die for! I don’t know what Bob had but he raved about it. We both enjoyed the endless salad bowl and the breadsticks were very good. Of course there was NO room for dessert. We will definitely be going back there again, and again, and again.

After dinner we took a short ride to the movie theater situated in the same complex. Bob and I haven’t been to the movies in two years, the last movie we saw was Bucket List. This evening we saw The Blind Side.

If you haven’t seen this movie as yet put it on your to do list. We had heard that Sandra Bullock was a definite contender for an Oscar nomination in this role and we certainly agree! In fact, we can see her winning. This is a movie based on a true story that makes you laugh, tugs at your heartstrings, makes you cheer and is an all around feel good movie. Seriously, put it on your to do list.

There was no popcorn or candy during our movie viewing as we were still full from dinner.

A delicious dinner, a very good movie and fantastic company, we couldn’t ask for anything more.

Sunday brought partly sunny skies and warm winds. Bob spent his afternoon with our friend Richard and I played Mexican Train with friends.

A really nice weekend, we hope yours was just as good.

A Chuckle for YOU!

A Russian couple was walking down the street in St. Petersburg the other night, when the man felt a drop hit his nose. "I think it's raining," he said to his wife. "No, that felt more like snow to me," she replied. "No, I'm sure it was just rain, he said."

Well, as these things go, they were about to have a major argument about whether it was raining or snowing. Just then they saw a minor communist party official walking toward them. "Let's not fight about it," the man said, "let's ask Comrade Rudolph whether it's officially raining or snowing. "As the official approached, the man said, "Tell us, Comrade Rudolph, is it officially raining or snowing?" "It's raining, of course," he answered and walked on. But the woman insisted: "I know that felt like snow!" The man quietly replied: "Rudolph the Red knows rain, dear!"

12/10/2009 Decorated for Christmas

2009-12-10T09:42:00.000-08:00

Bob was busy all day putting still more….you guessed it….Christmas lights up. I dread our electric bill!

While Bob was busy outside I was busy inside making cookies. Warm chocolate chip right out of the oven……Mmm, Mmm good!

So here’s the latest picture of our outdoor Christmas decorations.

Take note that the entire front of our shed is covered in lights….and yes they are done in such a way that he can still open the door.

Green garland has been added to the stair posts.

…..and red Christmas balls have been added to the garland.

I think I mentioned before that there is a Christmas Decorating Contest here in the park. Kathy, Marlene and I took around a walk around the park this evening to see all the decorations.

Here’s few that really stood out for me.

Do you know Bob is already thinking about NEXT YEAR’s light display.

12/9/2009 Again? Already?

2009-12-09T21:46:00.000-08:00

FASTER THAN A SPEEDING BULLET, AN EXPRESS TRAIN OR EVEN SANTA'S SLEIGH (8.3 MILLION MPH) THE NUMBERS ON THE COUNTER ARE TURNING. 41 HITS TO 96,000.

YOU KNOW THE DRILL...LEAVE A COMMENT WITH YOUR NAME, WHERE YOU'RE FROM AND ANYTHING ELSE YOU WANT TO TELL US.

THANKS!

Snookie

WOW! With this post we've had three readers introduce themselves to us. We are always glad to "meet" who reads us. We're glad you are enjoying the trip!

12/9/2009 The REAL Chicken of the Sea

2009-12-09T21:45:00.001-08:00

I didn’t do much of anything today. Bob, on the other hand was busy putting up more lights.

We did have to make a run to town for another string of icicles. We thought we had no casualties from the storm, and in fact it may not be storm related, but a small section of a string isn’t lighting. Of course its on a string that goes right across the front of the house so there is no choice but to replace it.

Our first stop was Home Depot, hoping we could get the lights there rather than having to brave the Walmart parking lot. They had the lights but only an 10 foot string and we need 15. Next stop was right next door to Lowe’s. They had the right length but the lights weren’t exactly the same as what we already have up. No choice but to go to Walmart.

We found a parking place waaayyy out in nowhere land in hopes that a runaway cart won’t find our doors or fenders. The parking lot was a zoo! So we get inside, find the right lights in the right length and make our way to the other end of store so I can pick up a loaf of bread and head of lettuce. Oh how I wish I had had my camera with me or at the very least my cell phone so I could take pictures. You’ve all seen these people, you wonder what in the hell are they thinking going out in public dressed as they are. Do these people not own mirrors? I saw a half a dozen people today that I could have snapped pictures of and submitted to the People of Walmart website. Haven’t visited that site yet? Oh, the sights you will see, click HERE. Bet ya can’t stop at page one. Bet ya have to go through all the pages!

Back at home, Bob replaced the broken string of lights, added lights to the cactus and tweaked some others.

Here’s our first really dark outside picture of the light display.

…..and he’s still NOT done! Bob is getting lots of compliments on his work.

Bob cooked dinner tonight. He made us deep fried halibut, french fries and green beans. This was my first experience with halibut. I am not a fish eater. (except tuna fish mixed with mayo, onion, salt and pepper spread between two pieces of white bread) Well, it tasted like chicken. I’m not kidding one bit. I had been told that time and time again when we were in Alaska and darn if it doesn’t. I was simply amazed. Halibut really is the chicken of the sea. So now I eat tuna and halibut.

Friends, Wilf and Marilyn stopped by for a visit this evening. They’ll be leaving this coming this weekend, flying home to Canada for Christmas and they are concerned about the weather they are going home to. Its waaayyyyy below zero!

While I am typing this the news is on the television. I wasn’t really paying attention to the news that is on but then I heard WILMINGTON, DELAWARE mentioned. Our hometown! It seems as though Delaware has gotten an abundance of rain and the streets of downtown Wilmington were flooded so badly that people were moved from the downtown area in boats and it made the news here in Arizona. I’ve been reading a lot of entries on Facebook by friends back home about wanting the rain to stop, and when is the sun going to come out again, but I had no idea it was raining that much.

I wonder what tomorrow will bring.

12/8/2009 We Wrapped, and Wrapped, and Wrapped

2009-12-08T22:28:00.001-08:00

Our day started with checking to see what damaged we sustained during last nights wind and rain storm. NO damage to report. Not so much as a cracked light bulb on the Christmas lights.

Yes, we did have a window leak but that can be fixed by pulling out dried out caulking and putting in new. An easy fix.

After line dancing I got our laundry for the week out of the way.

This afternoon Bob went to VA Hospital in Tucson, with our friend Richard, to get his info updated in the military healthcare system and to get a new ID card made. He is now updated in the system and will receive healthcare at no cost to us because of his 33 years of service to his country. Well, no cost to us until Social Security kicks in which will take us over the financial limit for “no cost to us”. At least our co-pay will be very reasonable.

While he was in Tucson I joined 14 other Quail Run residents for an afternoon of wrapping Christmas presents that will be given to the children of Arizona City next Saturday at the Christmas party.

We gathered at Val Champa’s house in Arizona City and lugged huge boxes of toys of all types to our work stations.

Val and her elves started shopping in early October and have bought nearly 600 toys. Dolls, footballs, building blocks, games of all sorts, bats and balls and trains, tool belts with matching hard hats, toy robots and microscopes,,,,you name it, we wrapped it.

Each box held toys for either boys or girls and then they were further broken down by age group. Each box was assigned its own wrapping paper so that on party day it would be easy to tell what sex/age group the gift belonged in.

We got right to work when we arrived. Jean B. wrapping the first of many.

Sharing the workspace with her was Jean A.

As games were wrapped the words, “I had this game!” were heard more than once. Some of the wrappers, such as Kathy here, took the time to check the new toys out.

Ann, a returning workamper from last year, used the top of the hot tub for her workspace.

Dale had a smile all day long as she worked on her pile of presents.

Val looks on as Carol W. wraps.

Marlene wanted this tool set for herself!

All the while we were wrapping there was Christmas music playing on the radio and quite a few times we all joined in and sang while we measured, cut and taped the paper.

How many Quail Run’ners does it take to wrap a package?

It was time for a break. Val provided lots of snacks and drinks to give us energy to keep going until the very last gift was wrapped.

On party day, next Saturday, a local moving company will show up at Val’s house early in the morning. They’ll load up the large boxes of wrapped Christmas gifts and take them to Duffer’s Restaurant located at the Arizona City Golf Course. They’ll be unloaded and put in place by the elves who will hand the appropriate gift to Santa Claus, Quail Run’s own Al Winters, to give out to the little kids who will come for the party. Duffer’s Restaurant donates the space for the party and Sysco Foods provides the snacks given out to the kids and volunteers. It takes a lot of people to put on a party of this size. Besides Santa, there are the elves, the gift wrappers, the shoppers, the movers, the decoration makers, those who run the golf tournament fundraiser and the personnel at Duffer’s and probably more that I don’t know who they are or what they do, and we all follow the directions of one very special lady. Val. Without her, none of this would happen. We applaud you Val and we’re happy to help you!

Val shared with us that many individuals and groups have come forward and volunteered to do the wrapping of the gifts. Each is nicely turned away and told that all the wrapping is done by winter residents from Quail Run and that that won’t change until we don’t want to do it anymore. I don’t think that will ever happen.

When the day was done, this group of fifteen snowbirds wrapped five hundred and ninety six toys. In three hours. Are we good or what !?!

This is the third year I’ve been involved in this and its a day I look forward to. Is it because its such a “feel good” thing to do? Sure, it is. Is it the time spent with friends that makes it so special? Okay, I’ll go with that. So what does make it so special? I’m glad you asked. The answer to that question is ……VAL’S COOKIES! They are to die for!

12/7/2009 Wicked Wind in the West

2009-12-07T20:28:00.000-08:00

Wind. We, in the desert, don’t like wind. It makes the sand blow and it gets in the air and it isn’t comfortable and you can smell it and we just don’t like it.

It also won’t let you go to sleep at night when its blowing at 50 miles an hour and your Christmas decoration lights are banging against the side of your park model. You worry, are they going to get blown off and away? Is each little light breaking as it smacks against the siding?

And then the rain started. It was coming in sideways with the fifty mile an hour winds. Around one I got up for a ~~drink,~~ ~~something to eat,~~ potty run and looked out the sliding glass doors to see what was going on. As I turned to go back to bed I heard water splatter. I couldn’t imagine where it was coming from and started to investigate. I kneeled on the sofa to check the window and when I put my hand on top of the back it was wet. Hmmmm….water on top of the sofa,, and on the windowsill Not a good thing. I got Bob up to let him know something was leaking. We were hoping it wasn’t the roof. As best as he could tell it was coming in through the window but he couldn’t tell where and with wind at 50 mph and rain flying sideways he wasn’t going outside! That was for sure. We laid towels out and just hoped for the best.

It was hard to get back to sleep with all the noise and worrying about the leaking window. Then all of sudden, it was quiet. No rain beating on the roof, no howling wind, no Christmas lights banging on the side of the house. Just quiet. And we were thankful. The storm had passed.

12/6/2009 Cool Day in the Desert

2009-12-06T20:13:00.001-08:00

It was a chilly morning today! Not many were out and about, everyone was staying in where it was warm. Bob didn’t venture out until mid afternoon to work on the lights. Surprisingly, it warmed up pretty good by late afternoon,

.....and he added more!

…..and down the side. Not finished on this side yet. Take note the satellite dish isn’t lit up yet either.

The stairs have the lights but not the finishing touch yet, its still to come.

The sliding glass door now has decorations.

The snowman who is selling snowballs for five cents each.

……and he’s not done yet.

12/6/2009 29 HITS TO GO!

2009-12-06T12:32:00.000-08:00

Round and round it goes

who's going to land on it nobody knows...

If the counter says 95,000 right now,,,,, IT'S YOU!

Leave us a comment if its you, tell us your name, where you're from and any thing else you'd like!

Snookie

We know who it is! Remember Ken from 94,000? He hit it again! Thanks for the comment and letting me know it was you! Curiosity satisfied.

Snookie

12/5/2009 Electric Light Parade

2009-12-06T12:30:00.001-08:00

Oooohhhh,,,a cold chill has settled into the desert and we don’t like it! We’ll be back in the low seventies later next week but right now we’re dealing with high 50’s to low 60’s during the day. NOT shorts weather! It isn’t bad at all if you are in the sun but step into the shade and you shiver!

Since it was so chilly today and the light hanging is in the shade at this point Bob opted not to work on the lights today. Instead, we went to town in the mid-afternoon to pick up some more Icicle lights for the side of the house.

Lights bought, it was off to the Promenade shopping center to get a new jacket for Bob. His lightweight jackets are nothing more than logo’d windbreakers and his heavier jacket is a lined leather, too warm for this weather. He needed an in between one for these cool Arizona days and evenings. We found a really nice one in Kohl’s at 50% off, at least that what the sign says but I have my doubts because I would NOT pay $100.00 for this jacket! It’s $50.00 nice,,,,not $100.00 worth of nice!

On the corner of the Promenade shopping center was this young fellow. We had a red light so we had time to watch him spin this sign every which way but loose! What a show he put on.

Here its spinning on his head. These signs are for Ashley Furniture and kids this age are on every corner doing these spinning shows with these signs. I don’t know if they are just supposed to stand there and just hold the sign or engage in this showmanship in order to draw attention. He was entertaining enough, for all I cared the sign could be for Joe’s Bail Bond’s.

Ahhhh,,,,he saw the camera!

From the Promenade it was off to the Elk’s Club situated on Florence Blvd. the main drag through Casa Grande. (For you Delawarean’s, think Concord Pike.) We went there for the secure parking and a place to spend some time before the real reason for coming into town started. This evening is the Casa Grande Electric Light Christmas Parade.

The Elks Club was quite busy and we’re guessing it was because of the parade. We set our chairs up outside on the sidewalk to reserve our space and went back in and had some drinks to pass the time away. As it got busier more people were just pouring in. One couple started to sit down at the table next to us and since we were at a table for four and they were getting ready to sit a table for four and tables were needed,,,, I asked them if they would like to join us. The gladly accepted our invitation and we learned, once again, just how small this world is. Turns out they are former Quail Run residents and still have friends in the park. His name is Harold and during our introductions when it came time for her to give her name the table behind us laughed very loudly and drowned her voice out. We just let it go and now I find I don’t know her name. Regardless, they were lots of fun. Harold started telling this one story about what him and one of us his buddies did when they were here. He hadn’t gotten very far into it when I practically jumped out of my seat and said, “Mud Fish!”. I had heard that story and have told it several times. For you long time readers, you’ve read about it on the blog but you can refresh your memory HERE. Needless to say, he was surprised we knew the story. They told us of more of their antics while here and the practical jokes they played on another and I was wishing they were still here, they are just tons of fun!

Five o’clock came and the Elks kitchen started serving turkey soup. Oh, was it good! Soup done, it was time to move outside. It was very near dark and soon the parade would be starting.

We were glad to be in this spot because we were at the beginning of the parade and the parade “officials” were situated on a flatbed truck and announced each entry so we knew who each one was. There were about 95 entrants all told so it was quite a parade.

Local businesses decked there company trucks out in lights to participate. Here’s APS the local electric company.

Most all of the RV parks in the area had a float in the parade. Quail Run did not, but I don’t know if that’s because we are in the unincorporated town of Arizona City and not in Casa Grande proper or not. Bob and I thought it would be great fun for QR to have a float so we’re going to look into it for next year.

Sundance is an RV park in the area and where Harold and his wife now spend their winters.

Los Colinos is another RV park.

I forget who this float belonged to, one of the local churches I think, but they went all out!

There were several marching bands from the area schools. Even the kids were lit up and their instruments too. The had strings of lights and battery packs. Unfortunately, with them moving the pictures turned out like streaks of light.

Here’s what a fire truck looks like when it is covered top to bottom and front to back in lights.

It was a great parade! We're glad we went!

12/3-12/4/2009 A Little of This, Little of That

2009-12-04T21:55:00.001-08:00

12/3 Thursday

Today was a rough day for Bob. He had to deal with that leak again. He decided to replace a section of the copper pipe which meant digging down deep and for a distance in this rock hard ground. To make matters worse, we have a garden trowel. That’s all. I guess if he had really wanted a bigger shovel he could / would have gone to a neighbor to borrow one. Maybe the small hand shovel gave him more control, I really don’t know. I knew better than to ask too many questions. I played it smart and kept to myself and asked if he needed anything everyone once in a while. Over the years I’ve learned when to leave him alone.

So the new copper pipe has been braised or soldered, whatever needed to be done, and properly wrapped before being lowered into the ground and buried. This episode is over and we’re hoping we don’t have anymore leaks to deal with.

Our carpeting is still wet. Well, maybe “pretty damp” is a better description. Bob walked across the carpet and his socks were wet. Not soaked but by no means dry. We had the carpets cleaned yesterday so I’m not a real happy camper right now. Two of the ladies in the park walked by and warned me that the carpets are left pretty wet but it had seemed to me the water was being sucked out and I had the windows and doors open with the ceiling fans going and I was told they would be dry in two hours time. I left soon after the carpet guys left and just didn’t think much about it since I had shoes on until evening time. When I walked across the carpet in my bare feet and felt how wet they were (this was Wednesday evening) I called my friend Kathy to see if hers were still wet because she had hers done too. She has a different type carpet so hers had dried. Next time I’ll call Stanley Steamer.

12/4 Friday

Mini Golf season started! Approximately 40 of us joined together this morning and hit little white balls along lanes covered in green indoor/outdoor carpeting. Some had a great day on the “links” and some had a not so great day. Bob and I did pretty well on this 27 par course. Bob shot a 26 and I came in not too far behind at 29. I played with my yard sale putter and it feels pretty good so I think I’ll do ok this season.

I spent the afternoon visiting friends in the park and Bob spent the day working on his Christmas lights.

It seemed see strange to see him hanging lights and listening to Bing Crosby sing White Christmas on the radio while wearing shorts.

The tools of the trade…..all kinds, all sizes.

Friends, Carl and Sandy, gave us strings of lights and decorations they no long have use for since they have cut back on their decorating. We have string after string of lights now! Thanks guys!

We have so many extension cords that they have their own storage box. This is what we have left so far and I have a feeling we’ll be getting more before the decorating is done.

Bob ponders his next move…or where that string of lights is going to plug in.

So here’s where we are on day 2.

…..and there’s so much more to do!

12/2/2009 I am the QUEEN of Grocery Shoppers!

2009-12-02T23:15:00.001-08:00

It’s been a busy day at the Quinn household today. Our day started early this morning by taking all of the furniture except the sofa out of the house to the patio. Today we get the carpet cleaned. We don’t know if this has ever been done or not but I’m sure at some point over the last 10 years one of the owners got it done. I can tell you its been awhile. It was in need of a good cleaning. There is a fellow who is in our park nearly every day washing/waxing rigs, cleaning carpets and heaven knows what else. I just know he’s busy in here. So we put in a call to Rafael a few weeks ago and got on his busy schedule.

We had the bedroom and living carpet done, the window seat cushion cleaned and the sofa done too all for a very reasonable price of $75.00.

This is berber carpet and I hate it. It isn’t all nice and cushy, its hard. I want new carpeting. Shhhhh, I haven’t told Bob yet.

It didn’t take Rafael long to get everything cleaned at all.

As soon as Rafael was done I went to town to the local Fry’s Grocery Store. It was senior discount day and I just had to go. I’m really glad I did because I cleaned up!

Just before I left one of the maintenance came over because we have a leak in our yard. When I left he was fixing it, or so I thought.

This is my grocery slip from today’s shopping trip.

And this was my total savings after coupons, senior discount and in store specials.

My bill started out at just over $300.00 and I ended up paying $160.20. Damn, I’m good!

I got home just a little after four and found that we had no water. It seems that a copper pipe has corroded underground and sprung a leak. Copper pipes should be coated with a clear plastic or paint and then carefully installed so as not to damage the coating which will result in said corrosion and therefore leak. We were told this was our responsibility and of course I had truck which had the tools Bob needed. From the looks of this pipe there doesn’t seem to be any preventive coating on it at all so we’re hoping we don’t have to repair or replace all of the underground piping. It’s always something.

Bob started putting up our CHRISTMAS (not holiday) decorations today.

Our reindeer made from palm tree leaves.

Not even a quarter of the lights have been put on so far.

Definitely a work in progress.

11/30 - 12/01/2009 DIVA FOR A (ONE ONLY) DAY

2009-12-01T19:34:00.001-08:00

Monday brought cooler temps and slight breeze. It also brought LaVon to our park. LaVon was one of the Divas today. Just today. Never again. Not once more in this lifetime. She has been banned from Diva-ville. Her crime against the resident Divas? She won. Time after time after time. Because she was seated to my right and we played in a clockwise direction she was always one play before me. She screwed up more plays for me than a few! Time after time after time. Every time I reached for a snack that was in a bowl that was sitting between us, her hand was always got to the bowl first. Time after time after time. I thought I was going to starve to death.

If I had heard one more time “Oh, Snookie, I am so glad you invited me to be a Diva for a day, I am so having so much fun” I was going to choke her! Well, actually, I did hear it once too many times…..

You know, now that I look at this picture I take notice of how red LaVon’s face is and now that I think about it she did kind of “gurgle” rather than speak clearly. Oops. Sorry LaVon. My bad.

Monday night brought Ladies Pool League for me and I won my first game! Now don’t go getting all excited for me I won because when my opponent made the last shot of the game, getting the 8 ball in, and the cue ball followed. She scratched and I won that way, but hey, its a win, I’ll take it! So now I’m 1-5.

Bob planned all day. Our Christmas decorations will start going up tomorrow and he spent the day planning where everything is going to go. Now remember, Bob has won the last two years when we were in the RV and he’s got lots of competition in the park model arena. He’s really got his work cut out for him.

Tuesday was still on the cool side but the breeze has died down considerably and it was warmer than yesterday. We’re in shorts, let me put it that way.

I had line dancing and horseshoes this morning. Oh, horseshoes was bad, really bad. I couldn’t have hit the side of a barn with a horseshoe this morning let along land it around a a foot long pole sticking out of the ground. I lost both games but darn I had fun doing it!

Well, as I said, the Christmas decorations started going up. I’ll get some pictures of this work in progress. It will take him at least a week to do it all if not more.

Bob had Men’s Pool League tonight and he won his games. He is now 6-0. He and I need to go practice together so that he can teach me.

We found out who turned the counter. Ken Bol was the one and he and his wife are fellow RV'ers. Glad you are enjoying the trip Ken!

December 1st. All I can say is….its been a decidedly delightful December day in the desert.

11/30/2009 It Could Turn Today

2009-11-30T09:46:00.000-08:00

If you hit the 94,000 mark, let me know its YOU!

I'm going to be having a giveaway here real soon so be sure to stop back in the next few days!

Snookie

11/29/2009 Our First Grey Cup Party

2009-11-29T21:24:00.001-08:00

A cold front has come through the desert and things have cooled down. I don’t think we saw 70 today but the weatherman says we’ll be back in shorts in a few days time. We better be!

We stayed in today and I made Lemon Poppy Seed cupcakes and a Devils Food Cake for a party we’re attending this afternoon.

I did venture out long enough to snap pictures of our orange tree. They are turning more orange every week.

Bob pointed out these humongous grapefruits from our tree the other day.

Around one this afternoon the clouds moved in.

The skies got much darker than this and the wind picked up with sand and dust blowing everywhere. Then the skies opened up and we had a cleansing rain. It took care of the dusty smell in the air and it was so fresh and clean afterwards.

It was still raining at four so we drove over to Wilf and Marilyn’s place for the Grey Cup Party. For those of you who don’t know what the Grey Cup is,,,,it is Canada’s version of our Super Bowl. I was wondering why they were having their last game so early in the football season but the Canadians in attendance explained that their season starts in July because soon the weather will be 30 below and they can’t play in two feet of snow. Well, that made sense!

All the announcements prior to the game to include singing the national anthem had to be done twice, once in English and once in French.

So we gathered with approximately 20 others and we ate our way through the late afternoon into the early evening. Everyone brought something to share and Marilyn, Al and Carol Winters and someone else, but I don’t remember who, made pots of chili.

We quite haven’t figured this out yet but we noticed all the women were in one room and the men in the other. Granted, the ladies may not have been paying as much attention to the game as the men but we did look to the TV every time we heard cheers or groans.

Us Americans did take quite a bit of ribbing from the Canadians about our football. It seems they think our teams play “sissy football” because their field is longer than our 100 yards and they only get three downs versus our four.

I hung in at the party until seven when I left to go home to catch the next to the last episode of Amazing Race. When I left, the team we were all rooting for from Saskatchewan was winning. Bob tells me they lost in the last seconds of the game. I’m sure we can all relate to having our team have big win snatched away in the last remaining time of a game. It just hurts more when its the championship game for the whole season.

So this was our first Grey Cup party and we’re hoping it won’t be our last. Not that we really care who wins……its just the eats are so good!

11/27-28/2009 Craft Sale

2009-11-29T09:22:00.001-08:00

Did you go out and brave the crowds on Black Friday. NOT ME! Oh sure, I saw some things in the ads that were good buys but none so good that I was willing to risk, life, limb and a truck fender for. I can wait.

Friday we didn’t do much of anything once we woke from our turkey induced comas. It was a lazy day. I ventured out for a short bit to go visit Marlene but that was about the extent of it. I don’t know if Bob went out at all.

Saturday brought the Craft Fair and Bake Sale to the park. I have to say it wasn’t as good this year as the past two years. I think it was the day it was held on. Many from the park were away for the Thanksgiving holiday, there are still some that have yet to arrive but will be coming in soon and the vendors just didn’t sign up like in years past. Again, I think a different date would have been better suited. I had scheduled this last year when I was the Activities Director but I guess the powers to be thought it best to change the date. The turnout just wasn’t here and its a shame because a lot of work goes into this.

Here are some of the tables that were here.

Our friend Carol makes jewelry and she did quite well with her clearance sale as she wanted to get rid of some inventory. I bought a bracelet and three necklaces. She’s changing the clasps for me so when I get them I’ll be sure to share a picture of them. She makes some very nice jewelry!

This lady is a winter resident here in the park and sold Novelty Nuts and gourd birdhouses.

Ahhh..the potato bag lady. I have two of these little treasures and just love them! Potatoes in the microwave come out perfect every time when cooked in one of these bags.

She added something new to her line this year. Curling iron covers/carriers. They are lined with burn proof material so there is no need to wait for it cool down.

If anybody wants one of these or a potato bag….let me know, I can get it for you.

The plastic canvas lady certainly keeps busy making her inventory!

Our friend Lorraine is quite the artist and set up a table for this year’s sale.

Jane and Phyllis keep busy with their crafts through the summer months.

Phylis’ husband, Jerry also keeps busy making these two tier shelves. Add a piece of glass and you have a nice little table for the patio or anywhere for that matter.

Our friend, Dale, is also a jewelry maker.

She also did very well at the sale and took lots of orders.

It was nice sale and I hope all the vendors did well.

By afternoon the wind had picked up and dust was flying everywhere. I ran to the pool hall to practice some more. After the four games today….I still need lots of practice!

11/26/2009 Happy Thanksgiving

2009-11-26T09:01:00.001-08:00

Thanksgiving Day. Once again we have so very much to be thankful for.

This is our fourth Thanksgiving away from “home” and I have to admit that on this day I get homesick. I wish I was home because my mom makes just the best turkey stuffing and her cole slaw is second to none. Of course it isn’t just the food, its being with family. It’s remembering past Thanksgiving’s when grandparents were with us and aunts and uncles who have passed sat at our table.

Today is about being thankful. Its being thankful for our health and the opportunities that Bob and I have been graced with. Its about being blessed with the most wonderful friends anyone could ask for.

We’re thankful we live in the United States of America. We are oh so thankful that we are getting to see this great country up close and personal like.

Today, as you count your blessings, please say “thanks” for our service men and women who are stationed all over the world. Please remember them as they are not with their families today.

Bob and I wish you all a safe, Happy Thanksgiving. May God bless everyone of you.