Wasted days and wasted nights. . .

I guess you cannot say it's a wasted day when you do nothing, but that was all you planned to do, eh? Hah! Like Dad says. . . I planned to do nothing, but didn't get it finished. So today's another day. . .

We had some cool weather, but followed by warm weather. . . no rain, windy occasionally, but totally enjoyable days and nights. Can't beat that. Right now the weather is a little erratic. Yesterday and today in the 80's, before that 60's and some of that to follow in a day or two, but climbing back up after that.

Today was the first time in two weeks Terry and I didn't wake up coughing. That's a good sign. This Texas crud may be about over. We get it every year. So does everyone else. Not sure who spreads it around. . . we stayed home when we were sickest.

We have some things on tap for the this week. Tomorrow is our "street" dinner. Every year the residents of each street put on dinners and invite the public. Ours is a pork loin dinner. Tenderloin with gravy, mashed potatoes, vegetables, roll, dessert and coffee or tea--all for $6. The work starts in the morning with peeling potatoes, then we come back in the afternoon to mash them and put them in roasters. The meat is also prepared in the morning and roasted all day to make it luscious and tender. We come back in the afternoon and start serving. It is over at 6 o'clock and then we clean up. It is a long day, but everyone pitches in. We use the proceeds from the dinners to add to the park account and by doing so, it keeps our assessments down. We only pay $225 a year for our assessment. That keeps the pool and the hall running and various maintenance items around the park covered. Last year we weren't here for any of the dinners because we were in Houston while Terry had treatment at MD Anderson. BTW, he is doing very well and his tests and reports are all in the normal range.

Last week we submitted our plan to the architectural committee for our Texas Room. Initially we had been told our plan would not be approved because it violates the park's covenants. Being the researchers we are, we know that not to be true. What might be true is that it violates some people's "interpretation" of the park covenants. We weren't surprised by this as our neighbor recently did some concrete work (with the properly signed permits) and word was some people intended to make him remove the new concrete. So we just submitted our plan and waited. Sunday two men came by to talk and later one of those men returned to tell us we would get approval. Seems the person who objected got the opinion of the developer as to what was intended on the original covenants and things were cleared up in a hurry. We were careful not to get angry or talk a lot about our plan because we could make adjustments if necessary. And if we never get to build the room, it's not really a big deal. As luck would have it, yesterday the signed plan was delivered and we were wished good luck with the addition and all is well. We also have an existing shed on the lot which has to be moved and a man came by yesterday and wants the shed. The only stipulation is that he needs to move it. We are giving it away free, which is about the right price for him and he is going to get some men to help him move it. It is a stick built 8 x 10, but Terry has appliance carts for under each corner and it will roll through the park in a couple days on its way to its new home.

Our room will be started the end of the month. Not sure how long it will take to build it. John, the man who built our shed will do the Texas room. We planned about six weeks for the build. It will have a full bath, a laundry area, a kitchenette and a "great room" which will double as a living room with ability to sleep family who come to visit. There will be storage. I told Terry we cannot have too much storage because we will start to accumulate things which we really don't want to do. But right now south Texas is great weather and we see ourselves spending winters down here with Mom and Dad for several more years, so it will make things comfortable for us and any other family who wish to visit.

The end of the week will find us hopefully at South Padre Island. Terry bought us tour tickets for a two-hour dolphin tour followed by dinner at a local restaurant. We can go any time, but the weather this weekend promises to be good and we want to go before the spring breakers hit the island.

Till next time. . .

Dale