Sunday, January 20, 2008 (DAY 24) Today at church, Jerry continued to preach on the triune man, but with a focus on Jesus as a minister, prophet, and king. This is a great topic and could be the subject of a whole series of classes. After lunch at Chili’s, it was back to Dunn Gone for football. We were rooting against New England, and particularly liked Green Bay and New York. Kay decided to vacuum, then walked around the park; I read. It was a beautiful day, weather-wise, with a high temperature of 72, and partial sunshine. Finished 14th book of the trip.

Saturday, January 19, 2008 (DAY 23) We’re into our 4th week. We got up early today to go to breakfast with the Saturday AM breakfast group. We ate TexMex, and it was not too good. I had the standard two eggs, sausage, hash browns, and wheat toast, and all of it was cold—not cool, but cold. After breakfast, Kay went shopping with the girls and I read email, paid a few bills, balanced the checkbook, called dad and wished him a happy birthday, and began reading another novel. Kay returned and cooked a pot roast. She watched a John Grisham movie on TV and I continued to read. While we have really enjoyed our time down here, it is beginning to get a little monotonous, despite all the activities at the resort here, or at other resorts in the area. The weather somewhat offsets the monotony, but home and all of our toys and stuff are looking better and better.

Friday, January 18, 2008 (DAY 22) This 22nd day of our winter Texas trip was quiet, but COLD by south Texas standards, never getting above 42 degrees. I washed a load of dark clothes, and Kay went shopping, more for exercise than anything else. When she returned, she brought mail that our great and kind neighbors packaged up for us. We are so lucky to live near Wayne and Loretta Bodenhamer, as they are wonderful folks. Getting and opening mail is like Christmas—we spent about an hour going through mail. After mail time, we practiced a song with Jerry and Doris Hart, and Vicky Wortham, "He Made A Change", to sing at our last Sunday church service in the park on January 27. We then had a fried chicken dinner from Church’s, and watched two movies on DVD, including Patch Adams. We enjoyed them both, and particularly enjoyed Patch Adams. We didn’t realize it had been based on a true story, and after watching some of the extra stuff on the DVD, Kay looked up information on the internet, concluding our day’s acivities.

Thursday, January 17, 2008 (DAY 21) Today marks the end of 3 weeks away from home. We begin each morning with a cup of cappuccino and the Today Show, and today was no exception. We are learning to take retirement to another level. After our coffee, and with today being trash pick-up day, we emptied the trash baskets, and took the trash to the street. Kay did a couple of loads of laundry and I caught up writing this journal. Then, it was time to schedule my monthly allergy shop. I called a recommended clinic, and was told I would have to see the doctor. After much frustration, Kay began calling and was told the same thing. As a note, my allergist seems to think I can just walk into a clinic with the allergy extract and get a shot. It’s not that simple and really puts a damper on travel. Anyway, I finally agreed to see a doctor just to get the shot. His staff said to come on it, it wasn’t too busy—yeah, right. I waited 3 hours, but finally got the shot. The wedding ring finger was still swollen, and was beginning to hurt, and after soaking in both hot and cold water, with lots of soap, the ring still would not come off. Kay called a jeweler and we drove back to town to have the ring cut off. After some 15 minutes and $25, it finally came off, and the finger was a mess. It’s surprising I didn’t get gangrene. Oh well… Back to Pine to Palm and a 1½ hour nap, it was time for choir practice. With only 2 tenors and 2 bases, the male sections were pretty thin. After choir practice, we attended a "soup and dessert" 51st anniversary party for Jerry and Doris Hart. My, oh my, but there were some good soups and great desserts brought to the party. Kay and I took smoked turkey and sausage gumbo. Kay brought disposable muffin tins for us, so we could sample a number of the soups at one time. It was a very nice party, and well attended with a lot of folks there from or near Puxico, MO, attending. After returning to Dunn Gone, we watched TV for a couple of hours, and we were off to bed. Today marked the 21st day, or 3rd complete week of our trip.

Wednesday, January 16, 2008 (DAY 20) A trip to Mexico was the main event today. We crossed the Progresso International Bridge about 10:30 AM (see photos), paid our quarter, and began shopping. Pharmacies and dentists were everywhere. We finally arrived at the Canada store, and found their prices to be a bit better than anywhere else we had looked. We checked the price of some meds like penicillin ointment, amoxicillin, and Z-paks, found them to be competitive, and decided to return after lunch at Arturo’s. We both had the lunch special—enchilada, taco, tamale, rice, and refried beans. Then, it was off for a pedicure before finalizing our shopping. Kay negotiated for both of us to have a pedicure, hers with polish, for $18 total. It was a first for me (see photo), and gosh, did it feel good. On the way to the Canada store, Kay bought some silver jewelry. At the Canada store, we bought a bottle of tequila for Ron ($10.50/liter), 4 bottles of vanilla ($3.50/liter), and some mesh bags. As we crossed back into the US, we had to pay 30 cents to Mexican officials to leave Mexico, and $1.25 in Texas liquor tax on the tequila as we entered into Texas. After a dinner of smoked turkey and sausage gumbo, we attended a show at Pine to Palm ($3 each)—Myrna Hunt, the Redneck Comedian. Although we had heard a number of her jokes previously, she was funny, and sang very well as we particularly enjoyed the gospel songs she sang. For some reason, my wedding ring finger began to swell, and I attempted to get the ring off, but with no success. More to come on this? We received some very sad news after returning to Dunn Gone from Mexico; our dear friend, Judy Minardi, had passed away. Judy was a beautiful redhead, full of life, when we met her and Ray, her husband, over 3 years ago. She and Ray made a wonderful, fun loving couple. Our last visit with her was during a bowling night several weeks ago when she was having the time of her life, and Ray was setting the lanes on fire—so much laughter. Judy had had several bouts with cancer, beginning some 25 years ago when she and Ray met, but was unable to overcome this last battle with bladder cancer that returned a little over a year ago. Judy, we will miss you and think of you often. Save us a place in line in Heaven! (NOTE: This is part of growing old that I don’t like, as more and more of our relatives, friends, and acquaintances pass way.)

Tuesday, January 15, 2008 (DAY 19) Dance lesson 101, session 2 was today. It felt much better on the dance floor today as we practiced the waltz—the boxstep, the balance step(?), i.e. six steps forward, six steps back, six steps to the left, six steps to the right, and the traveling step (?). Anyway, it’s going to take lots more practice. It was funny, but sad as well, to see so many men out there, but their not wanting to be there. Actually, I kind of had fun. After the waltz lesson and lunch, it was back to the dance floor for country western dance lessons: the two step, the country waltz, the swing, and the country polka. We actually did pretty good, at least a step above the brand new beginner. After a brief rest, it was off to a "marriage enrichment" seminar led by Jerry and Doris Hart. Jerry and Doris did a great job, with an appropriate amount of humor. Much of the material was the same as had been presented in other leadership seminars I attended or gave while working, but theirs was enough different to be worth it. At the conclusion, we were given a personality profile questionnaire (created by Fred Littauer) to complete before the next session. I’ve been to so much self-help stuff the last few weeks, you all won’t know me; guess I’ll be more the man Kay wants me to be—just kidding, Kay!

Monday, January 14, 2008 (DAY 18)  Today was cleaning and laundry day. While Kay attended the 9 AM general meeting, I emptied and flushed the gray and black tanks, cleaned the area rugs, vacuumed the floors, and began the laundry. This may sound like an unequal pairing of jobs, but believe me I much preferred the cleaning and laundry to attending the meeting. Monday nights are always "pancake dinner" nights at Pine to Palm, with about 500 people eating dinner. We enjoyed pancakes, strawberries, link sausage, and coffee, with music by Vicky’s band—the band members were all dressed in red, with red cowboy hats and shirts, and the band consisted of two keyboards, drums, guitar, trumpet, and trombone. I finished reading the 12th book of the trip tonight.

Sunday, January 13, 2008 (DAY 17) We were up early this morning to practice our special, Stand by Me, and attend choir practice. The Pine to Palm Christian Fellowship congregation really enjoyed the bass lead song and the Canadians seem to really like southern gospel. Jerry Hart preached a great sermon on the Triune, i.e. soul, spirit, and body; this is a subject I’ve got to learn more about. Following church and fellowship, we ate lunch at Luby’s. After lunch, I didn’t feel well, so we just hung around Dunn Gone for the afternoon, reading and watching football. After an Allegra (antihistamine), the stuffiness went away. The park sponsored a concert by the Bacons from Branson, MO, in the evening, and it was great. The younger son of the Bacons performed with Paul Braschler, our former music minister who lived with Kay and me for several months last year.

Saturday, January 12, 2008 (DAY 16) This was a shopping day. Kay and I shopped at the Don Wes flea market, and they had everything, from junk to junk. We purchased some paring knives for my sister, a swim suit and visor for Kay, and some 4/$3 chamois cloths for drying Dunn Gone and the other autos at home after washing. We drove across the street and bought some oranges and a pineapple at the fruit market. Next, it was a trip to the outlet mall, where we found a pair of size 11, 4E cross-training shoes for me. It is so hard to depart with comfortable shoes, but the time had come. We ate Chinese at the food court, then drove back to the park for shuffleboard both in the afternoon and evening. We also practiced the song, Stand by Me, with Vicky which we will perform on Sunday.

Friday, January 11, 2008 (DAY 15)  Kay and I enjoyed a quiet day, reading and enjoying the peace and tranquility. I turned in 4 books and picked up 4 more. We "shuffled" in the afternoon, then attended a "jam session" in the early evening; Kay sang a great rendition of "Moon River."