CHRISTMAS COOKIE BAKING DAY

Tuesday, December 4 – Saturday was Christmas cookie baking day. This is an annual event for Marsha. Paul thinks it's one of those women “nesting” thingies! Marsha and Carrie planned on baking some cookies for Carrie's Christmas party coming up in a couple of weeks and for us to enjoy.

Unwrapping the Peanut Butter Cups and Hersey Kisses.

While the girls baked, Paul's job was to wash dishes, take pictures, help whenever assigned a duty, and test the cookies as they came out of the oven. If any cookies were slightly overdone or broken, Paul had to consume them. Tough on a guy's waistline, but a man has to do, what a man has to do!

The gals baked several types of cookies, Chocolate Chip, Peanut Butter Blossom, Funfetti, and Rugelach, an Italian cookie and Paul's favorite! All in all, they baked 444 cookies....HOLY SMOKES! They still have cut-out cookies to bake in the near future...WOW!

Everything tastes so delicious, Paul is having a difficult time deciding which one to eat first.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y'all back real soon. Have a great day!

HANGIN' AROUND HOUSTON

Monday, December 3 - We met Carrie at Memorial Park on Saturday afternoon for some Frisbee Golf. The weather was beautiful with temps in the mid 80's.

The park contains many bright displays of artwork.

We played here several years ago and lost all Carrie's Frisbees :-(  We planned on playing a little less aggressive and keep the discs out of the Buffalo Bayou.

To get to one of the targets, we had to throw the Frisbee over the Bayou. We inched the Frisbee up until we were on the edge of the water and then threw it hard to the target.

As you can see in the photo below, the course is surrounded by water, very easy to lose a Frisbee or two.

Marsha's yellow Frisbee is headed for the target.

There is quite a bit of construction going on in this beautiful downtown park; new walkways, walls, bike paths, and landscaping. The skate park was busy and plenty of people were out riding bikes and walking with friends.

Looks like the sign designer overdid it just a bit.

Just another example of the saying, "Everything is bigger in Texas."

Texas leaf….other state's leaf. WOWSEY!

Enjoying the park with the skyscrapers in the background is pretty neat.

We enjoyed our game of golf and didn't lose a Frisbee....yeah! After walking a bit along the stream, we headed to a local sports bar to watch the Alabama vs Georgia championship football game.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y'all back real soon. Have a great day!

BUSY WEAVER

Saturday, December 1 - Paul was a “busy weaver” again on Wednesday. Marsha needed more lights above her sink in the bedroom. (Women need to examine themselves very closely under extreme light conditions.... :-) ).

This was another job of fishing wires through walls and ceilings. In this case it was 12-volt wiring for 12-volt RV style lights. Paul wanted to wire them to the switch that controlled the lights already over the sink, so one switch will operate all the sink lights. Marsha can turn off the new lights at the fixtures, if she prefers less light.

Paul began by removing the bottom, inside one the overhead cabinets.

There he found the wiring to the halogen puck lights already installed above the sink. He stripped back some wire insulation and spliced new wire runs.

He then fished the wire up the wall and into the ceiling and through a hole drilled in the ceiling at the new light location.

He then fished a wire back through the ceiling to the second light location. It was then a simple matter of attaching the wires to the new lights, screwing the lights to the ceiling, and “Walla” - new lighting and BRIGHT too!

Before…dark

After…Marsha is so happy.

His final job was pretty simple but a nifty addition to the screen door. Who invents these RV doors anyway – someone who doesn't use them, that's for sure.

In order to open the screen door, we have to slide open a small door in the screen, reach through and press down the EXTERIOR latch. CRAZY. Like rolling down your car window to reach the exterior door latch to open the car door. JEEZE LOUISE!

Paul saw a little plunger type retro-fit that you can add to the screen door to eliminate this CRAZY procedure. He drilled a small home in the sliding plastic door, fit the plunger mechanism in the hole so it strikes the outside latch when pressed, and PRESTO a simpler and better way of opening the screen door.

Inside

Outside

Now, what will Paul find to keep himself busy and out of trouble next? Ya'll come back and check it out!

Marsha wasn't sure how much space she would have on our maiden voyage in the 5th wheel. She only brought a few Christmas decorations, so today she put them up. Not much but it is nice all the same.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y'all back real soon. Have a great day!