MARSHA HAS TO BE DOING SOMETHING ALL THE TIME!

Thursday, March 11 – Marsha is getting antsy looking at all the leaves and weeds. She went over to the office and ask the Campground Manager if she could do some weeding. The Manager had to check on liability but told her later it would be OK. Matters of fact, she told her anything wanted to do around the campground would be appreciated. Marsha came back with a big rake and tons of big plastic bags. Away she went to the laundry room to weed the front. It was a mess. I wish I would have taken a picture of the bed before she started to weed. Here are few pictures of her weeding.

The weeds you see around the fern were everywhere in the flower bed.

 

One part of the bed looking soooo good!

Saturday, March 13 – Kelly came down to visit today! It was good to see her. We last saw her over the Christmas holidays. We took several walks around the park to show her the different area and to get some daily exercise. We then took a ride around Livingston to see what little is here. Next it was dinner time, and we grilled some sausage and Marsha prepared some fried potatoes and glazed onions. Very good.

After more talking and visiting, we watched a movie in our new DVD player and it was time to hit the sack.

Sunday, March 14 – Carrie arrived pretty early this morning. Surprise! We had a wonderful day just sitting around and talking with one another. The girls wanted to teach Marsha something new on the computer. They had more fun laughing than teaching.

We grilled some chicken and Marsha made her potatoes the girls like. Lee stopped over to meet the girls. They really enjoyed his visit. Kelly hit the road around 2:00 and Carrie around 3:00 so they could get their home chores done before work on Monday morning. Actually Carrie will be the only one going into work. Kelly is on Spring break.

We sure have two wonderful girls. They are so delightful to be around. We sure enjoy visiting with them and miss them when we're gone. Marsha made plans to go to the Rodeo with them next weekend, and we made plans to get together for Easter. Sounds like some more fun coming up!

Kelly                          Carrie

Monday, March 15 – Marsha is working out each day at a place called the Sweat Shop. She takes two classes, one for toning and one step aerobics. She hopes to get her youthful figure back. Of course, I think she looks just fine as is but you know woman! Before she got back to the motor home, she stopped at the office and came home with another rake and 15 bags. I said, “Oh no, now what?” She was in the leaf raking mood. She raked and I held the bag. We did all the laundry area and all around the motor home. When we were finished we had 4 huge black bags filled with leaves and 6 clear bags. Dwayne came to pick the bags up and told Marsha to slow down. He had to make three trips on the golf cart to get rid of all the bags. It sure does look nice!

She also took this picture of me. Can you guess if I am reading or sleeping? I will never tell.

Thanks again for stopping by. Hope to see you again soon.

HOUSTON RODEO

Wednesday, March 10 – In the last post, we mentioned that the Houston Rodeo is going on right now. It is really called the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo.

They say everything is bigger in Texas and this is just another example. First of all, it is held in Reliant Stadium, home for the NFL Houston Texans, which can be configured to utilize a 125,000 square foot space for general sessions, catered functions, exhibits, concerts, and much more. The Houston Rodeo runs from March 2-23. Each day has a special focus. Examples are SALUTE TO OUR TROOPS, GO TEJANO DAY, VALUE DAY WEDNESDAY, SPRING BREAK STAMPEDE, etc.

There is a concert everyday with the biggest names in music. Here is just an example of the lineup of entertainers……Alan Jackson, Dierks Bentley, Kenny Chesney, Mary J. Blige, Jason Aldean, Jonas Brothers, Tim McGraw, Darius Rucker, Rascal Flatts, Brad Paisley, Toby Keith, Blake Shelton, Black Eyed Peas, on and on. Wednesdays are Value Days with all tickets only $10.00.  Regular tickets range from $16-$300.00. The cost of admission to Reliant Stadium, Reliant Arena, Reliant Center and the carnival is included in the Rodeo ticket cost.

Carrie went to the Rodeo this past Saturday and heard Jason Aldean. She said it was FABULOUS! They have the Rodeo and then set up for the concert. Marsha and Carrie hope to go to the Rodeo on Saturday, March 20. It is the Super Series Championship. Brooks and Dunn are in concert.

The country music duo of Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn announced that after 20 years of making music together, they were going their separate ways, following a 2010 tour appropriately titled "The Last Rodeo Tour." The reason they may not get to go is that Carrie’s new furnace may be ready for the new catalysts. Since she is the Chemical Engineer in charge of the project, she has to be there for the installation. She is hoping the timing will be right so she and Marsha can go to the Rodeo and concert. Marsha is so fired up about this. She loves Brooks and Dunn. And to see their last concert together would be so sweet for the two of them.

Each night the Nightly News on Channel 2, Houston channel, has an update live from the Rodeo. Yesterday the youth brought their steers to the show. The reporters were talking about how much last year’s auction brought for each of the Champions/Runner ups, etc. in all the categories. Now listen to this….The Grand Champion Junior Market Steer sold for $300,000.00. YES, you read right. Marsha and I looked at each other and couldn’t believe it.  Marsha said….”That can’t be…..$300,000 for a steer?!?” So of course, she had to go on line and see if we heard correctly. We did. She found all the winners from last year. Click here to see all the results, but let me just list a few. 

Reserve Grand Champion Junior Market Steer…$100,000
Grand Champion Market Turkey…..$95,000
Grand Champion Market Goat….$120,000
Grand Champion Market Barrow (pig)….$140,000

This is just amazing. Check out the link, you will find a ton of other winners.

She then had to go a step further and see what a the Grand Champion sold for at the Stark County Fair (Canton, OH…our old stomping ground) last year. It sold for $6.50/pound.. .weight: 1,405 pounds, so that is about $9,132.50. Compare that to $300,000. She then went to the Ohio State Fair. She thought that might be more apples to apples comparison. She found that the Grand Champion Steer sold for $65,000….better. The Grand Hog sold for $31,000 compared to $140,000.

The judging of the livestock for this year is on Friday. We can’t wait to report what this year’s prices are. Again, Texas does it BIGGER.

Paul is doing great. Still some pain and stomach pains but getting better each day. The weather is absolutely beautiful. Marsha will share some photos of the flowers in the next blog.

Thanks for stopping. See you again soon.

RECOUPING FROM BACK SURGERY

Thursday, March 4 – Home from the hospital today. Marsha picked me up about 10:00 for our trip back to Livingston. It's good to be home. I feel pretty good. I enjoyed sitting outside in the beautiful sunny afternoon. Hopefully that will be the case for most days. Texas is warming up....It's Spring in Texas!

 
Friday, March 5 - Boy! Sleeping in this brace is going to take some getting use to! I feel like one of those circus clowns in the Bull Riding Contest wearing a barrel.

 

Just about impossible to lie in one position for more than a few minutes. Constant changing of position.....betcha' Marsha is lovin' all the moving around all night! I end up taking a bunch of short naps all night and then all day. Sitting in a chair reading is not bad at all

and even walking, although tiring at this point in the game, doesn’t give me any pain.

Hopefully sleeping will come after a few days!

Eric and Karla, a couple we met in the desert of Quartzsite this winter, arrived at the park today. Eric was one of my morning walking companions. They've been in southern Texas at Port Aransas. They weren't too pleased with this year's weather down there......a constant wind. We've heard this about south Texas. We considered going there for a winter, but if it's always windy, we may have to re-consider the idea.

Eric & Karla are on their way to Eunice, LA to experience the Cajun lifestyle and stopped to visit for a couple of days. They are originally from Michigan. We plan on traveling around Louisiana on our way East, so we’ll have to follow their travels for some ideas.

Saturday, March 6 - It is Texas rodeo time in Houston. This is a big event. It runs all through March.  They even have a group of trail riders that rode in from other parts of Texas on horses and wagons.  Every night on the news they have a Rodeo report. It is held at Reliant Stadium. They have all the typical rodeo events like bull riding, and bronco riding and then of course concerts by many popular country singers. We had plans on attending some events but may have to wait until next year due to my back.

Marsha, Eric, Karla, and Lee went out to eat at Florida's Kitchen. It is located on 796 FM 350 S, in Livingston. I wasn't feeling well and stayed home. The group had a good meal and a good time talking. Marsha did bring me home a carry out and it was great.

It doesn’t look like much from the outside, but boy is the food good inside.

Inside Florida’s. It is huge.

Part of the kitchen.

From left front around the table are…Lee (IYU), Me, Karla, Eric

Some one was hungry…LOL

Sunday, March 7 – Pretty quiet day. We did some BBQ chicken on the grill. Excellent! Attended the Ice Cream Social. We sat with Eric and Karla. Eric and Karla are leaving tomorrow. We really enjoy taking with them. Well, another week bits the dust.

Thanks for stopping by. See y’all soon.