John had to be at the hospital in Uvalde by 6:30 a.m. so we were up nice and early in order to be on the road by 5:30a.m.  We only had a short wait before he was taken back into Out Patient Surgery and prepped.  The anesthesiologist was in first to talk about sedation and then Dr. Conoley came in and discussed the procedure.  John was off to the operating room a little after 8 a.m. and back in the room y 9:30 a.m.  The whole surgery went pretty fast.  While John was busy getting his knee repaired, I headed down to the hospital cafeteria for some breakfast and then sat in the waiting room visiting with the son of another patient.  

The nurse came to get me and said the doctor wanted to see me.  He told me the surgery went well and that John's meniscus was completely torn.  He trimmed and cleaned it and found all the ligaments and bone to be in good condition.  John had some trouble with the anesthetic making him sick to his stomach, but they gave him some medicine to help with it.  After stopping at the drug store for a pain med prescription, we hit the road back to the fort.

John spent the afternoon napping while I rested by watching some recorded TV shows.  Thanks to the folks that stopped by this afternoon to check on John and also for the phone calls. 

I skipped my walk this morning for the first time in several weeks due to the cooler temps and very gusty winds.  The strong wind started yesterday afternoon and continued into today with some gusts reaching 20 mph or higher.  It sure felt good to sleep in a little longer.

In spite of the weather, seven guys showed up this morning for men's golf and made up two teams of three and four players.  After battling the wind, both teams ended up with scores of even par.  John manged to do some chipping and putting, but no driving off the tee.  While he was gone, I did some cleaning around the house.

 After lunch we headed over to Uvalde where John had an appointment at the hospital to get registered for tomorrow's knee surgery.  A nurse took us on a tour of the outpatient department and explained what and where everything would be done.  She then took us back to her office where she took John's blood pressure and other vitals and then had him sign all sorts of papers.  From there we went to the registration office where he signed more documents and were finally able to leave.

It was suppertime by now, so we treated ourselves to a meal at Applebee's before hitting the road back to the fort.  Once we got home, much of the evening was spent Skyping and receiving telephone calls from family checking in and offering support for tomorrow.  

It was warm and humid when I took my walk this morning, but a cold front with very strong winds is suppose to come through this afternoon.  I left the house a little earlier than usual since Tuesday is ladies' golf.

After breakfast, I headed down to the clubhouse where I met up with eight other ladies.  We had three teams of three each and I played with Mary Ellen and Natalie.  We had a fun time and all had a pretty good round.  

While I was gone, John headed over to Unit 37 and spent some time visiting with Ralph and the Sandwicks.  This afternoon I relaxed, did some reading, and made a hotdish tonight's RV park putluck supper.  John saw Tim, Paul, and John B. go by our house on their way to the third hole and decided to join them.  He said the strong winds made it difficult for the guys to tee off, but he only did some chipping and putting so the wind didn't affect him too much.  

This evening we headed over to the RV park for the weekly potluck supper.  As usual, there was a great variety of delicious dishes and everyone got plenty to eat.  Following the meal, we played "31"--I won my first game and John won his second.  We're on quite the winning streak right now. 

Our internet service was down last night, so I couldn't post a blog for yesterday.  Fortunately the service came back on overnight, so I'll just give a brief summary of Monday.

John went to wood carvers while I stayed home and took care of the laundry, changed bed linens, and did some light cleaning.  John had a late afternoon appointment with the orthopedic surgeon, so we left early for Uvalde so we could hit Wal Mart and do some grocery shopping before his appointment.  The doc told John he has a torn meniscus and has scheduled knee surgery for this Thursday.  This will be very similar to the knee surgery he had before.  It will be done on an outpatient basis and he should be on crutches for just a few days.  We thought it best to get this taken care of now so he will be able to enjoy the rest of his time here in Texas.  Right now he can't take walks or play golf.    

The temperature was 61 degrees when I left the house for my morning walk and, as usual, the sky was overcast with the humidity a little on the high side.  This morning was the regular Sunday morning routine--breakfast, showers, and then off to church.  When we came out the door after the service, we found bright sunshine and warm temps.

John and I ate a quick lunch and then called Rodger and Tootie to ask if they wanted to play some golf.  Since John couldn't play, Rodger called Gene B. to fill out our foursome.  John and Gene's wife, Jeanne, rode along and kept our scores.  Following the round of golf, Rodger offered to treat everyone to ice cream at Pico's.  We were just finishing up when Chuck, Lois, Everett, and Darlene came in, so we stayed and visited with them for a while. 

On our way back home, we stopped in to visit with Tim and Mary Ellen.  Tim has been under the weather the past few days and we wanted to see how he was doing and to invite them to our Super Bowl party next Sunday.   We sat outside on their patio and enjoyed the late afternoon weather while we visited.  Our evening was a pretty quiet one spent watching some TV and just vegging out.

 

Our weather seems to be stuck in the same pattern--cloudy in the mornings with clearing skies by the afternoon.  This morning was no exception.  I took a shorter walk today so we could get over to the RV park for the Saturday morning breakfast where we ate with Chuck E. who kept us entertained with many stories about his truck driving days.

When John and I got home we called Rodger to let him know we would have to play golf this morning as there was the end of the month scramble this afternoon.  He already had a commitment for this morning, so John and I decided to go out and play a few holes.  We got to the sixth hole when John tweaked his knee and thought it best to stop playing.  Actually, I was glad to quiet as the course was very wet and the clubs and balls had to constantly be cleaned between every shot.

Once we were back home, John rested and iced his knee for the remainder of the afternoon while I did some baking and laundry.  We called Tootie and Rodger and invited them over this evening to play cards.  This time the guys were victorious. 

Even though the sky was overcast, it was warm enough this morning to wear shorts for my walk.  After I returned home, John and I ate breakfast, got showered up, and headed down to the clubhouse where we met up with Rodger and Tootie for a round of golf.  We were just finishing up the second hole when the clouds drifted away and the sun came out.  It wasn't long before the temps reached into 80's.  It sure felt like a summer day.

When we finished playing, we headed to Burger and Shake for some lunch with Rodger, Tootie, Nancy, and Randy.  John B. called while we were on our way into town and asked John if he would like to play golf this afternoon with him and Paul.  Of course, he said "Yes".  I opted to stay home to work on more finances and to get the desktop cleared off. We haven't seen it for a week or so and things needed to get put away and organized.

This evening I headed off to bingo with Tootie and Nancy.  I came close to winning a couple of times and Nancy actually won one of the games.  John relaxed at home watching several of his favorite Friday night TV shows.  Hard to believe another week is over--we are past the halfway point in our time here at the fort.  The winter is flying by.

It felt good not having a doctor's appointment this morning and be able to slip back into my normal routine.  Even though it was overcast, the temps were decent for walking and I was able to ditch the winter hat and get down to one layer of clothing.

John and I had a fairly relaxing morning.  He took some time to clean all the golf clubs and organize the golf bags on the back of the cart while I did some work on finances.  Right after lunch we headed down to the clubhouse for couples' golf.  Another big crowd turned out again this week and we ended up playing with Ken and Linda.  Ken is 80 years old and, boy, can he still hit the ball.  We ended up with a score of one over par due to the fact that we missed several putts by just inches.  Even though the morning was overcast, by the time we were ready to head out on the course, the clouds moved out and we enjoyed a beautiful afternoon and had a fun time.

We got home just in time for John to grab a quick bite for supper before heading over to Wallace's for Thursday evening wood carving.  He has started a new carving project--a seagull flying over the waves.
I took a few minutes this evening to do some straightening up and started a new book on my Kindle. 

John and I had a short night's sleep as we had to leave the house by 6 a.m. for another MRI of John's knee.  The hospital said we could come any time between 7 and 10 a.m., so John opted to leave early so he could be back in time to play men's golf at 10 a.m.  We were the first to arrive in the radiology department and only waited a few minutes before John was called in.  The technician was very apologetic about having him come back for another MRI.

We were out of the hospital by 7:30 a.m. and stopped at McDonald's for some breakfast before heading back to the fort.  Once we got home, I started on some laundry and baking more bread.  John headed down to the clubhouse and met up with the other golfers.  There were eleven men so they divided up into three teams.  John's team had an excellent round and ended up with a score of four under par.  When John was done with golf, we headed to Burger and Shake and met up with Rodger, Tootie, Jeanne, Gene, and Ralph for lunch.  It was then a quick stop at the post office before heading back home.  After relaxing for a while, we headed out and played a few holes of golf.  My great game of the other day completely deserted me today.

Today was John B.'s birthday, so this evening he invited a group of us over to his place for some birthday cake.  The evening was perfect to be sitting outside and his outdoor heater kept everyone nice and cozy.  We had a good time visiting and after a couple of hours, the party broke up.  

 



 

 

We had another overcast morning with the clouds once again hanging around for half of the day.  I walked a shorter route today as we needed to get on the road to Uvalde by mid-morning for John's MRI.
We wanted to do some grocery shopping and decided to hit Wal Mart first and pick up all the non-perishables we needed.  From there we stopped at Wendy's for a quick lunch and then headed out to the hospital.  For once we didn't have to wait long to get registered and then back to radiology for the MRI.  

Our next stop was HEB for some produce and frozen foods before we hit the road back to the fort.  Tonight was the RV potluck and cards, so as soon as I got the groceries put away, I made a hot dish.  As I was putting it in the oven, Lois and Chuck stopped in for a brief visit and as they were leaving, Stan M. stopped in.  Our visit with him was cut short as we had to leave and head over to the RV park.  John and I were lucky at card this evening with me winning my first game and John winning both of his.

We were only home from Uvalde about half an hour when the hospital called and asked if John could return tomorrow for another MRI.  Seems the radiologist needs to see another angle of the knee before writing his report, so we'll be back at the hospital for a 7 a.m. appointment.  It's going to be an early morning. 

The morning was overcast with temps in the low 50's when I left the house for my morning walk.  The clouds hung around until mid-afternoon when the sun finally chased them away.

Monday morning means wood carving, so John headed off to Wallace's shortly after breakfast.  I spent some time working on my newest jigsaw puzzle and getting the kitchen area cleaned up.  Following lunch, we met up with Rodger and Tootie, played the front nine, and then decided to play the back nine.  We all were pretty tired by the time we got done.  On the front nine I had my best round ever--my putting was right on today.

After such a busy afternoon, we spent a quiet evening watching the Biggest Loser and just vegging out. 

 Wood carvers this morning

    

The temps were much warmer when I took my walk this morning--we're out of the freezing zone for right now and that makes it more comfortable walking early in the morning.

It was the usual Sunday morning routine around here--breakfast, showers, and then church.  This afternoon we played a round of golf with Tootie and Rodger and enjoyed being outside in the 70 degree weather with bright sunshine and clear blue skies.  Once we finished with the golf, we spent the remainder of our day watching the NFL playoff games.  Both of our teams won--should be a good Super Bowl.

John was still a "no show" for our morning walk, so I headed out bright and early with my trusty MP3 player for company.  Even though it was pretty dark when I started out, it wasn't long before I was able to enjoy a beautiful sunrise.  There were some interesting cloud formations which captured many beautiful shades of red and pink.

As soon as I returned home, we headed over to the RV park for the Saturday morning breakfast.  We ate with Jan, Anne, and Lyle and got a chance to visit and catch up on what they all have been doing.  This morning John went over to the driving range for some practice and went to town to pick up the mail.  We were out of bread, so I took some time to bake us another loaf and worked on re-connecting our wireless printer to the laptop.  

The weather this afternoon was just about perfect, so we called Tootie and Rodger and asked if they wanted to play a round of golf.  Of course, their answer was "yes".  We met up at the clubhouse and played nine holes.  The course was pretty busy today as everyone wanted to be outside and enjoy the great weather.  Our high temps are suppose to be in the upper 60's and low 70's for the next ten days.  It doesn't get any better than that in January.     

We had to head out nice and early again this morning so there wasn't time for a walk.  John had an 8:45 a.m. appointment in Uvalde to get the results of his knee x-rays.  The doctor told him there were no broken bones or apparent structural damage; however, he still needs to have an MRI to determine the cause of the swelling and discomfort in the knee.  She told John that the swelling is the knee's way of protecting something that is injured.  John opted for a couple of steroid injections to reduce the swelling and to make it more comfortable to walk and move around.  He is scheduled for an MRI next Tuesday and then will been seen by an orthopedic doctor.

We returned home just in time to meet the Direct TV serviceman with our new DVR receiver.  The installation took a couple of hours and once he was finished, we met up with Rodger, Tootie, Gene, and Jeanne for some golf.  John decided to give his knee a rest, not tee off, and just practiced his chipping and putting.  I played about six holes this afternoon and my back felt pretty good.  We spent a pretty quiet evening watching the Gold Rush show and just vegging out.  It seems like all we did this past week was run to doctor appointments.  Hopefully, there won't be too many more in our future.

We had another chilly morning with the temps in the low 30's when we left the house.  John decided to try walking with me, but could only go about 10 minutes before deciding to turn back--I continued on by myself.

After breakfast, I took care of a few little chores around the house while John went over to the driving range to try out his new golf club.  Today was couples' golf, so following an early lunch, we headed down to the clubhouse.  Twenty-four couples showed up to play and we were matched up with Charles and Vida.  Our putting was just awful this afternoon and we missed many opportunities for birdies which gave us a final score of one under par.  Even though we all played poorly, the day warmed up rather nicely and it was perfect weather for being outside and playing golf.  For supper, John and I were invited to
join some of the couples at Daddy's Grill.  We had a fun time visiting and talking over today's golf games.  When we got home, John gathered up his tools and headed over to Wallace's for some carving and I spent my evening watching a couple of my favorite TV shows.

John and I had a long day today, most of it was spent waiting.  With the temperature at 25 degrees this morning, I decided to skip my morning walk and sleep in a little.

Following breakfast, John and I got cleaned up and headed out the door to Eagle Pass and my doctor's appointment with the spine specialist.  Our trusty Garmin led us to the hospital.  After much driving around looking at addresses, we finally went to the main entrance of the hospital seeking information.  There in the lobby was a sign pointing to Dr. Dennis's temporary office in outpatient registration.  When the doctor's office called and made the appointment, they just gave me a street address--they didn't tell me he was seeing patients at the hospital.  Oh well, we were an hour early and planned on lunch before my appointment.  When I dropped off all the paperwork they sent me to fill out, the receptionist said they could take me back after a few minutes.  That was the beginning of the waiting saga.  We waited to be called into the exam room, waited for the nurse, waited for the doctor, and we waited for the doctor to check the MRI with the radiologist.

When looking at the MRI, Dr. Dennis couldn't see the problem reported by the radiologist who read the MRI and wrote the report.  Since I am free of pain right now, he wanted a more extensive set of x-rays of my lower back and to see me in one month when he's back in Eagle Pass.  At that time he'll go over the results and then we'll decide on a course of treatment.  Our waiting began once again as we waited to register, waited to be called in for the x-rays, and then, finally, had the x-rays.  It was a very, very, long day.  Since we didn't get a chance to eat lunch, we treated ourselves to a meal at Fuddruckers before hitting the road home to the fort.     

 

John had a fasting blood test scheduled for this morning at the clinic in Uvalde, so we were up and out of the house a little before 7 a.m.  The temps were on the cold side and that cool air hung around the entire day.  

We arrived at the lab just as the doors opened and it didn't take long before John was called in, his blood drawn, and we were out of there and on our way to Burger King for some breakfast.  From there we drove to Wal Mart where we gassed up the Honda, did a little grocery shopping, and walked around the store until it was time to check out and head back to the clinic for his doctor's appointment.  After examining his knee, she scheduled an MRI and x-ray for his knee and set up an appointment with an orthopedic doctor.   We need to find out the root cause of the swelling and stiffness and this was the place to start.  We went across the parking lot to the hospital and it didn't take too long to get the x-ray.  John will see her again on Friday and she will have the results of the x-ray and blood work at that time and should also be able to tell us when the MRI can be done.

When we returned to the fort, John headed off to the driving range and then played a couple of holes of golf.  As hard as it is to believe, golfing does not bother his knee at all, it fact, it feels perfect when he plays.  While he was gone, I made a hotdish to take to the RV potluck this evening.  A few more winter Texans arrived this afternoon and we had a pretty good crowd this evening.  As usual, we played cards after the meal.  John and I both lost tonight.

We are having another cold spell here in south Texas with daytime highs only reaching into the low 50's with some pretty cold temps overnight.  It was 37 degrees when we left the house for our morning walk.  John decided to give it a try, but only went about a block when he thought it best to return home.  I continued on alone with my MP3 player for company.

Right after breakfast John headed off to wood carvers.  While he was gone, I did some laundry, changed the bed linens, and took care of some finances.  When carvers was over, he stopped in to see how Ralph was doing and to tighten a leaking faucet.  John said Ralph was much improved.  He also said there was a full crew of carvers  as most of the winter Texans have returned.

The golf course was closed today, so this afternoon John headed over to the driving range and spent some time working on his swing.  I spent my free time working on the computer and catching up on emails.  This evening we watched The Biggest Loser before calling it a day. 

The temps were about 25 degrees cooler this morning when I left the house for my walk.  That meant bundling up again with winter hat and some gloves.  I took along my MP3 player this time so I could listen to some music while getting in some exercise.  It sure helps pass the time when walking alone.

Once we ate breakfast and got cleaned up, we headed off for Sunday School and church where, following the service, we had a delicious potluck dinner in the fellowship hall.  As soon as we got home, we changed clothes and headed off to the clubhouse to meet up with Rodger and Tootie for a round of golf.  The air was a little on the chilly side this afternoon, but with an extra layer of clothing and the sunshine, we managed to stay warm and enjoyed playing, getting exercise, and being outside.

John and I managed about a hour's rest after golfing before heading over to Tim and Mary Ellen's.  She made a movie of their trip to India and invited some folks over for snacks and to see their latest adventure.  Their pictures of India were just beautiful and we all learned a lot about that country and its people.  It was a very entertaining evening, especially hearing Tim's impression of their trip.

 

John's stiff knee once again kept him from our morning walk, so I ventured off by myself.  The temperature warmed up quite a bit overnight which created a nice foggy morning with some misting.

 Early in the morning you couldn't see

 the golf course right across the street.

 

As soon as I returned home, we hopped in the car and headed over to the RV park for the Saturday morning breakfast.  We ate with Natalie, John, Mary Ellen, and Tim.   We had plans to play golf with Rodger and Tootie this morning, but it was so wet we decided to put that off until after lunch.  John and I took a ride into town to pick up the mail and some milk.  On our way home, we stopped in to see Ralph--he is doing much better, but still needs to take it easy and rest.

After lunch, the humidity cleared out and the sun made an appearance.  We met Rodger and Tootie at the clubhouse and headed off for our golf game.  When we got done, they invited us over to their place for a supper of homemade potato soup, which was delicious.  They then taught John and I a new card game called Euchre.  We played several games, with the ladies coming out on top.  It's a fun game and we're looking forward to playing it again.  

John and I started out on our morning walk together, but we didn't get too far down the road before his knee started bothering him and he decided to head back home while I continued on by myself.  His right knee has been stiff for about a week so he has been icing it several times a day which seems to help.

Right after breakfast, John left to take Ralph to his doctor's appointment.  The good news is that he has a severe case of bronchitis and not pneumonia.  The doctor felt he had made enough improvement over the past 48 hours that he didn't need hospitalization and could remain at home, rest, and take his meds.

While John was gone, I spent some time on the phone with Direct TV trying to find out why the service technician didn't come this morning and install our new DVR.  It seems they had an incorrect phone number and couldn't get a hold of us.  After much back and forth, we have settled on next Tuesday afternoon for installation.  

Gene and Jeanne Bevins invited a group of us over to their place for happy hour this afternoon.  About 20 folks showed up and brought snacks to share.  I made a batch of brownies and didn't have a single one left to bring home.  The rich chocolate was a big hit.

This evening I went to bingo with a couple of the gals.  We didn't win anything, but had a great time.  John stayed home, iced his knee, and watched some college basketball. 

 

Sunshine and warm weather at last!  The sky was nice and clear with the sun coming up when we took our walk this morning.  Even though the temperature was 31 degrees when we left the house and we could see frost on some of the roofs, the day soon warmed up and turned out to be just beautiful. 


When we returned home from our walk, John made us a nice breakfast of bacon, eggs, and toast.  He then headed into town to pick up the mail and stopped over at Ralph's to see how he was feeling.  The meds have kicked in and he is doing better, but still a little on the shaky side.  He has an appointment to see the doctor again tomorrow and at that time it will be determined whether he has improved enough to avoid a stay in the hospital.

This afternoon was couples' golf, so after lunch we headed down to the clubhouse.  Due to the big improvement in the weather, there were 24 couples signed up to play. We were paired with Wallace and Lou, and even though we all had a poor round, we had a good time. 

This evening John headed over to Wallace's for Thursday evening wood carving.  I spent the evening doing more work on my puzzle and watching a couple favorite TV shows. 

Today continued cloudy with showers.  John and I were able to take our morning walk even though it started sprinkling when we were half way home. 

Following breakfast, John headed into town to pick up the mail and then stopped over at Ralph's to see how he was feeling as he has been under the weather for the past several days.  John had just returned home when Ralph called and said he felt he needed to go to the doctor's and asked if John would take him.  Since Ralph didn't have an appointment, it took quiet a while to get in to see the doctor, and then he had to go over to the hospital for an x-ray which showed he has pneumonia on one side.  Next stop was Wal Mart to get several prescriptions filled and then they got on the road home.  Ralph has to see the doctor on Friday so she can see if the meds are working and if he is feeling better. 

I spent my day working on my puzzle, doing more laundry, and a little cleaning up around the house.  By early evening, it looked like the clouds and rain were moving out, so hopefully we'll have some sunshine for couples' golf tomorrow. 

We were up at and out the door bright and early for our morning walk.  The skies were overcast and we could see that there had been some rain overnight.  Around mid-morning it started misting and by  noon we had a full fledged rain in progress that lasted into the evening hours.

Since we were house bound for the day, I worked on my jigsaw puzzle and John did some reading.  Late this afternoon, I got busy making a hot dish to take to the first potluck of the season at the RV park.  Following a delicious meal, 13 of us stayed to play cards.  As usual we had a good time and shared a lot of laughs.  Tomorrow is suppose to bring more rain which is greatly needed in this area.

The temps were a little warmer this morning when we left the house for our walk.  The fort is settling into its winter routine now that the holidays are over and school is back in session.

Following breakfast, John headed off to wood carvers and while he was gone, I did some work on the finances and laundry.  Most of the winter Texan carvers are back and they had a full group this morning.  When carving was over, some of us met at Burger and Shake for lunch.  Tim and Mary Ellen arrived last night, so this gave us an opportunity to visit with them and catch up.   They have rented a different place this year, so we stopped over to get a tour and to drop off the items they stored at our place over the summer.

Since the golf course was closed today, John got his golf fix by going to the driving range and working on his swing.  The jigsaw puzzle I won on Ebay arrived in the mail today, so I spent some time this afternoon working on it.  We planned to watch the Notre Dame game this evening, but with a score of 28-0 at half time, we gave up on that and watched something else before calling it a day. 

After several days of cloudy, cold, damp weather, today dawned bright and clear.  When we left the house for our morning walk, the thermometer read 31 degrees, but once the sun came up, it didn't take long to warm up.  We ended up with a beautiful day to be outside.  

John and I followed our usual Sunday morning routine and were home from church a little after noon.  On our way home, John B. called and asked John if he would like to play a round of golf.  The guys decided to meet up at the clubhouse at 1:15 p.m.  While John was gone, I cleaned up the kitchen, did some reading, and watched the Colts/Ravens game.  When he returned home, John asked if I would like to go out with him and do some chipping and putting after he teed off and played the fairways.  We played nine holes before calling it a day.  With the warmer weather and sunshine, there were plenty of golfers out today.

We spent a pretty quiet evening watching more NFL, a few of our favorite TV shows, and just vegging out.

John and I were up and out the door for our walk before first light.  The morning was cloudy and cold, but by afternoon, the clouds moved out and the sunshine returned.  The temps remained on the cold side even with the sun--high's only reached into the upper 40's. 

As soon as we got home from our walk, we gathered up plates and eating utensils and headed over to the RV park for the weekly breakfast.  We ate with John and Natalie T. from Walker, MN.  They arrived back at the fort the early part of December, but this was the first we had a chance to visit with them.  Attendance at the breakfast was down this morning due to the cold temps.

Before heading back home, we made a quick stop in town to pick up the mail and then spent the rest of the morning doing a few chores around the house.  Following lunch, John met up with John B. and Paul E. for a round of golf.  I opted out and stayed home to make some buns and watch the Texans played the first wildcard game.  This evening we're watching the Vikings game.  

John and I slept in a little later this morning and didn't leave the house until 8 a.m. for our walk. We had thunder, rain, and some sleet overnight that left some big puddles and muddy paths on the golf course.

I need to bring a copy of my MRI to my doctor's appointment in a couple of weeks, so since it was cold and rainy, we thought this would be a good day to drive over to Uvalde and pick it up.  I called the hospital's radiology department first thing this morning and they said I could pick up the report and disc around noon.  We got to the hospital right after noon and I only had to wait a few minutes to get what I needed.  From there we went to Wendy's for a quick lunch, and then on to Wal Mart to pick up a few items we missed yesterday.  

John and I arrived back at the fort just in time for me to drop him off at home and then head back into town for my haircut appointment.  That pretty much sums up our day--not much happening around here on a cold, rainy day.  Weather is suppose to improve next week.  

John and I bundled up once again for our morning walk.  The cold weather continued again today with high temps only reaching into the upper 40's.  Add to that were cloudy skies and dampness which made the day a pretty miserable to be out of doors. 

Since we didn't plan to play couples' golf this afternoon (not sure anyone played due to the cold), we decided to head off to Del Rio and do some shopping.  We arrived in town just in time for lunch, so our first stop was Wendy's.  From there we went to Home Depot to pick a 20 amp circuit breaker.  The current 15 amp breaker keeps kicking out when our little heater runs when the TV and lights are on in the living room.  We stopped to gas up the Honda and then made a final stop at Wal Mart for a few groceries, fresh produce, and a few other miscellaneous items.  We were back at the fort a little before 4 p.m. and spent the rest of the afternoon and evening staying toasty warm in the house.  Tomorrow's weather is suppose to be even cooler than today. 

Today was cold and cloudy, but at least the strong winds of yesterday died down.  We were up and out the door at first light for our morning walk.  John and I took the shorter route around the golf course this morning.

After breakfast, John headed down to the clubhouse for men's golf.  Due to the chilly temps (47 degrees) only six guys showed up so they had two teams of three each.  John said he played a good round and his drives were nice and straight.  John B. and Paul E. were among the six who played this morning and, along with John, decided to play again after lunch.  John asked me if I wanted to go along to chip and putt, but I opted out.  It was just too cold to sit in the cart while they played the fairways.  I stayed nice and warm at home reading and watching a Closer episode on my Kindle.

It's suppose remain pretty chilly here over the next couple of days, so most folks are hunkered down inside and that makes things pretty quiet here on the fort.

 

After a late night, we still got up early for our morning walk--there was no sleeping in.  We must be gluttons for punishment.  The temps remained on the chilly side today with some weak sunshine and strong winds.  As we were eating breakfast, this big guy came through our yard.

 During the party last night, the guys made arrangements to play golf this morning.  We all bundled up against the elements and, with the strong winds, everyone pretty much played a lousy round.  When the golfing finally got done, we headed down to Burger and Shake for some lunch.  Darlene and Everett were already there with Chuck and Lois who just returned late yesterday afternoon from visiting family for the Christmas holidays.  As usual the conversation was interesting and lively.

When we returned home, John headed over to Ralph's to install a new kitchen faucet.  Once he was finished with that chore, he went to the driving range to practice his swing.  He said he hit the ball far and straight and doesn't know why he struggled so much playing this morning.  While he was gone, I watched the final episode of the first season of Downton Abby on my Kindle and did some reading.  Our evening was a pretty quiet one spent watching the Rose and Orange Bowls. 

December 31, 2012 - Due to the late hour last night, yesterday's happenings are being published this morning.

The temps were 20 degrees warmer this morning when we left the house for our walk and it felt almost balmy.  We started out with winter hats and gloves, but soon had to take them off.  

Becky called as we were eating breakfast to say that wood carvers was canceled because Wallace was under the weather.  John called Gene B. to let him know and, since there was no carving, the guys decided to play a round of golf.  John also called Rodger and Tootie and that made a nice foursome.  

While John was gone, I did a little laundry and some cleaning around the house.  As John passed the house on his way to the ninth hole, he stuck his head in the door and said we would be eating lunch at Burger and Shake when the they were done playing.  It wasn't long before we were headed off to meet the group for lunch and an hour or so of conversation.

This evening Rodger, Tootie, Gene, Jeanne, Darlene, Everett, Paul, and Melinda gathered at our house to see in the New Year.  Everyone brought snacks, drinks, and games to share.  We had a fun night with much story telling and laughter.  The game playing went on until after midnight when the party finally broke up. After our guests left, John and I gathered up the empty cups and dishes, put leftover snacks away, and called it a night.  It was a great way to see in the New Year.  HAPPY NEW YEAR!!