Thursday, January 15, 2015

• Brisk, high clouds, breezy, temp: 44, high: 54. Today is suppose to be the end of the cool, rainy weather for a while.
• Men's breakfast at Taco Fiesta. About 25 attended.
• When we got home Dan had a very low tire that he & Jim got fixed.
• We drove up to WhatABurger for lunch.
• Then drove over to Lowe's to get a magnet to re-magnetize the refrigerator door. Leaving it open all Summer caused the door sealer (a magnet) to lose its magnetism. And thus not stay closed.
• By late afternoon, the sun came out. The temp was mid 50s. Nice. And much appreciated. Suppose to have warm pleasant weather for the next several days.
• Had a nice long phone call with my son, David, who's having back problems. It was good to get caught up on his news. Thanks, Dave.
• This evening I attended a concert performance of a group called Saxsational at the McAllen Convention Center Auditorium. Candy's Mom, Irene, didn't feel up to going, so she gave me her ticket. Thanks, Irene.
• Saxsational is the work of one man, Rob Verdi, whose full time job is performing daily at Disneyland. He is a very accomplished saxophone player. He has collected a variety of unusual saxophones and plays them all. Here are some of the unusual saxophones he played:
• Slide sax
• Bass sax
• Saxophinia
• Connosax
• Plastic also sax
• Contra Bass sax (6' long)
• I counted at least 9 different saxes he played during the concert. Everything from 1920s music to classical.
• Finally, today I have a special picture for you. It's a link to a webcam watching the construction of the new Vikings stadium. To view the webcam in full screen, click the little white rectangle in the lower right corner. Watching this webcam allows us to view construction progress, but more importantly, we are able to monitor snow depths.
• Here's the link: http://goo.gl/iqq0pr
• Enjoy!

Wednesday, January 14, 2015

• Another cool morning, high clouds, light breeze, temp: 46, high: 48. Drizzle forecasted.
• And the drizzle has started (as of 8:30).
• By 10:30, it a really "yucky", drizzly, cloudy day, . . . but we don't have to shovel "yuck".
• Called Kath & got caught up on all the family news. Thanks Kath, hope I didn't take too much of your time.
• Went to regular Wednesday afternoon jam, but had to leave early for Jim to go to PT at 2.
• Regular Wednesday evening entertainment was the Gold Wing Express. They consisted of 3 guys about 50 and their dad. Very entertaining evening.
• And to continue my Christmas parade of pictures, when Dan & Dawn were here, they wanted to go view & photograph the Christmas lights at the Hidalgo Festival of Lights. But of course they had to do that after dark. So it was 9 or 10 o'clock when they'd leave. I was just too tired to go out that late. So I'd stay home. But they brought me lots of pictures, some of which are shown below. (These photos were also taken Christmas night.) Thanks Dan & Dawn for the great memories.

Tuesday, January 13, 2014

• First the big news. Jim, Diane, & Candy, all won at Bingo last evening. While Dan & I stayed home, they won nearly $50. Pretty good for a nights fun time.
• Big weather change today. Rained overnight. Morning high clouds, moonlit, light breeze, temp: 45, high: 48 (down from yesterday's 68).
• Minnesota Breakfast this morning with all our friends from Minnesota at the nearby golf course (Tierra del Sol) club house. About 25 attended.
• Very cool morning. Only 48 at noon.
• After lunch, Candy & Dan took us to the Assisted Living facility, The Gardens At Brook Ridge, where Candy's Mom, Irene, is moving on February 1st. She live's in Texas year-round, so she'll have some neighbors whereas the park empties out before Summer.
• Then we drove up to Harbor Freight to get a power washer for Jim & Dan.
• This evening everyone went to play Bingo at our own Paradise Park.
• My picture tonight was taken in Minnesota last Sunday, January 11th after Sunday brunch. Thank you, Mike & Mary, for finding time to visit with our kids. Wish I could have been there. Anyway, have a safe trip home.
• Left to right are:
• My brother, Ed (Mike) & his wife, my sister-in-law, Mary, from Pleasanton, CA. They were in Minnesota to attend the memorial service of Mary's mother who passed recently.
• Dan, my son (Dan's wife, my daughter-in-law, Dawn, was the photographer. Thanks, Dawn, for a wonderful picture.)
• Kathy, my daughter.
• Connor, Kathy's son, my grandson.
• Cam, Kathy's husband, my son-in-law.

Monday, January 12, 2015

• Calm, cool, clear, moonlit morning, temp: 43, high: 63. Nice.
• Went to Coco's for breakfast with our Canadian friends.
• Beautiful day, clear, calm, but rain tomorrow.
• Had lunch on the veranda in the shade from the very warm sun.
• After lunch, with the temp at 66, a beautiful clear blue sky, a light breeze, & bright warm sun, I biked nearly 3 miles traversing every road in the park.
• Diane drove Jim up to McAllen for his PT appointment at 3:00 PM.
• After supper, J&D rode with D&C over to Paradise Park in McAllen to play Bingo. I stayed home to watch the Finals of the College football playoffs.
• Cooled off very quickly after supper. At 8 o'clock, the temp is already down to 55. Guess we're now due for several days of light rain & coolness.

The picture today is of the Sweet Adelines chorus that we saw in concert yesterday. We enjoyed their performance. The second picture is our clear blue sunrise today.

Sunday, January 11, 2015

• Warmer this morning, clear (there is a moon!), calm, temp: 41, high: 54.
• At lunchtime, we biked over to the Armando's Tacos Restaurant on the other side of Cage at Hall Acres.
• Mid afternoon, we attended a Sweet Adelines concert at the Hall.
• Weather this afternoon finally broke and became very nice. Clear, blue sky. No wind. Biked my 2 1/4 miles.
• Late afternoon, we went to an Ice Cream Social at the Hall.
• This evening at the Hall, we saw the movie Jersey Boys. It's a great movie even though I had seen it before.
• Today's pictures were taken last evening at Pharr South and are of the Bingo hall where we usually go for supper at 5 PM and Bingo at 7 PM. Their suppers are great and they have the best homemade ice cream bars served at Bingo break. I don't play Bingo, but read. And I don't miss the break.

Shows Bingo machine & caller. Jim, Diane, Candy are in center (Dan was ill)

Large hall. Perhaps 100 playng Bingo. Earlier in the week, it seated about 300 theater style at a Jam.

Saturday, January 10, 2015

• Real storm in the middle of the night, very high winds, hard rain. But this morning it's settled down to just rain. Temp: 36, high: 37.
• Pancake breakfast served biscuits & gravy. Very tasty.
• The Jim & I made a Lowe's run to pick up some light bulbs for the house.
• Started raining hard again just as we got home.
• No biking today. Suppose to rain all day.
• Diane & Candy went to a craft sale & didn't buy a thing. Way to go  ladies!
• On their way home, they came by the flea market. Said there was hardly any cars there. Must be the weather.
• Late morning, the rain stopped. Hope it lasts. It didn't.
• After lunch, Dee Miller ask for help on how to send a picture of her & her husband (57th anniversary) to her kids using her new iPad. We did it.
• Got a short phone call from Dan. Thanks, Dan.
• This evening we went up to Pharr South for taco dinner & Bingo.
• And again, when Dan & Dawn were here, they wanted to go view & photograph the Christmas lights at the Hidalgo Festival of Lights. But of course they had to do that after dark. So it was 9 or 10 o'clock when they'd leave. I was just too tired to go out that late. So I'd stay home. But they brought me lots of pictures, some of which are shown below. (These photos were also taken Christmas night.) Thanks Dan & Dawn for the great memories.

Friday, January 9, 2015

• Cool morning, high clouds, light breeze, temp:44, high: 48.
• Rode along with Diane & Jim for his 3rd PT session.
• After, Dan & Jim went over to a Polka jam at Enchanted Village while Diane went to H-E-B. I napped.
• The afternoon turned out to be not very nice outside. Temp is only 46, it's blustery & windy, and it raining quite hard. Yuk!
• This evening, with Dan & Candy home sick, Jim & Diane drove over to Paradise Park of McAllen to play Bingo. Good luck!
• When Dan & Dawn were here, they wanted to go view & photograph the Christmas lights at the Hidalgo Festival of Lights. But of course they had to do that after dark. So it was 9 or 10 o'clock when they'd leave. I was just too tired to go out that late. So I'd stay home. But they brought me lots of pictures, some of which are shown below. (These photos were also taken Christmas night.) Thanks Dan & Dawn for the great memories.