Sunday, November 23
It was a beautiful, sunshiny, and (surprisingly) warm day in Artesia. We had planned to gin around and get to church this morning, but must have been worn out from the move back here and didn’t get ready in time.
I decided that this would be a good day to take care of some maintenance issues on Big V. We’ve been having problems with the water heater and water pressure, so I dug out the system manuals (sometimes I really do check the instructions before tackling the problem) and learned as much as I could about what I needed to do.
By the end of the day I had drained and flushed the water heater, found the water pump compartment and cleaned the filter on the pump, and put everything back together [mostly] according to the specifications. At least I now know where everything is for the water system, even if I don’t know how to fix it all.
When I had done all I could do with the water system I went over to Jean’s house to see if I could get “Little Red” up and running. I had been charging the dead battery, but the engine was also flooded, so I pulled the spark plug, cleaned it, and aired out the cylinder. After getting it all put back together, I turned the ignition key and we had blast off...Jean could once again get out and ride around on her four-wheeler and enjoy the warm day (which she did as soon as I told her it was up and running). She was soon joined by Nancy, who was driving her four-wheeler and taking advantage of a beautiful afternoon. Unfortunately, neither Barbara nor I thought to get the cameras out to take pictures of them.
While I was doing all that, Barbara was busy working on Christmas projects and editing last week’s journal entry for posting to the blog site, activities that were both quite time-consuming. We’ve decided that editing, no matter what the media might be, is the toughest part of the process of getting audio, video, or print projects into their final form.
Barbara did take a couple of breaks to come outside and go through the storage bins to rearrange some things so we could get to them more easily. We have to confess that we just piled things in wherever they would fit when we got ready to leave Richmond, Toccoa, and Mineola, and couldn’t remember where anything was when we got back to Artesia.
Monday, November 24
While Barbara continued her work on some Christmas projects inside Big V, my main project for the day was to get the 18’ car hauler back in the large barn so it could be safe from the elements and not clutter up Jean’s place.
This sounds like a simple enough procedure, but those of you who know me also know that “simple” is just another word in the dictionary. The first thing I had to do was unload everything that was stored on our cycle trailer in the barn. The trailer is our version of a storage closet, so there were lots of boxes and bits and pieces of this and that on the bed of the trailer. Also, before we left Artesia on June 30, I had pulled the motorcycle cargo trailer up on the other trailer so Jerry would have more room to move around when he was working in the barn.
Unloading the trailer was the easiest part of the job…once the boxes were off, it was no problem to pull the trailer forward by hand so I could lower the tailgate and roll the cargo trailer off. From there things got a little more complicated; I backed Little Red up to the car hauler trailer, hooked them together, and maneuvered the trailer to the opening of the bay. Then, I had to get the cycle trailer pulled up on the big trailer…an act I did once by myself, but decided afterward that I’d never do again. It’s one thing to move a well-balanced, empty 800-pound trailer across a level concrete floor, but something else again to pull it up an incline.
Barbara timed her break from the computer just right and arrived just in time to help me with the hard part…I stood on the big trailer and pulled with all my might on the trailer tongue while Barbara stood at the back of the trailers and pushed with all her might on the tailgate of the cycle trailer. We finally got the job accomplished, but not without a lot of straining and speaking in tongues. There has to be an easier way of doing that job without spending a lot of money on an electric winch, but we haven’t found it yet.
After loading the trailer, I used Little Red to back the car hauler into the barn bay and get it in place (all the while following verbal directions and hand gestures from Barbara). We soon had the trailer set where we wanted it and put all the boxes and assorted paraphernalia back on…job accomplished and time to take a little break.
Later in the afternoon I grabbed a hoe and rake and went to work clearing out part of the fence line along the road leading to Jean’s house. It sure felt good to be doing some good physical labor again, especially on a warm and almost windless afternoon. Meanwhile, Barbara returned to her “office” and again worked on some Christmas projects.
Tonight we joined Jerry and Nancy to attend an Arts Council presentation of “America’s Favorite Cowboys,” Riders in the Sky at the newly remodeled Ocotillo Theater. I used to listen to Riders in the Sky faithfully every Saturday on High Plains Public Radio when we lived in Liberal and was really looking forward to their performance.
We were told at the beginning of the program that Joey, the Cow Polka King, would not be with the group tonight as he had to leave the tour a few days ago due to the death of his father. However, the rest of the ensemble, guitarist Ranger Doug, bunkhouse bassist Too Slim, and Woody Paul, “king of the cowboy fiddlers,” entertained a full house with great renditions of traditional cowboy music, yodeling, stories, and some of the funniest (and squeaky clean) humor anyone could ask for.
Tuesday, November 25
Birthday Greetings go out today to son Jimmy Clint Colwell in Lubbock and daughter-in-law Carol Colwell in San Antonio!!!
We had told Barbara’s sister, Carol that we would come to Roswell this morning so the two of them could visit and go shopping while I stayed at the house with Cal. We planned to get away from Artesia by 9:00, but by the time we were ready to leave, it was later than that.
When Jerry heard that we were going to Roswell today, he asked if we'd stop at one of the mortuaries there and pick up some things for him. In the past, we have stopped to pick up boxes of cremains (the term used for the remains of a body following cremation) to return to Artesia, but this time Jerry also needed some special boxes, so we took his Suburban instead of the Vibe.
We had a great time while we were visiting Cal and Carol. While Cal and I stayed home and talked (between us we have about a million stories), Barbara and Carol hit the stores to do some shopping and then went to Cici’s Pizza, one of Carol’s favorite eating places.
Barbara: Carol and I were in complete agreement on the first stop we'd make on our shopping excursion...Dollar Tree! We both love browsing and it's a perfect place to do just that! We each went our own way once we were in the store, but it was fun to pass each other at the end of an aisle and say, "Hey, I know you!"
Once we finished there, I dragged Carol from store to store trying to find some rewriteable disks that my DVD burner will accept...finally found them at Target rather than a speciality store...go figure!
Our final stop (where did the time go????) was Cici's where we enjoyed a leisurely lunch with lots of chattering! What a fun day! I can't even remember the last time the two of us have gotten to go off alone like that! Boy, do we owe Jim a big thank you!
Jim: When the girls returned to the house, we all did some more talking and Barbara tried unsuccessfully to fix a couple of problems with Carol’s computer while I chowed down on pizza that they had brought me. (Cal isn’t eating well right now.) All too soon it was time to say goodbye again, so we got back in the car to leave.
Our first stop was at an RV parts store where we were looking for some items for Big V. We couldn’t find the showerhead we were looking for and weren’t sure of the size of faucet cartridges we needed (just way too many choices), but we did find a replacement filter for our drinking water, so that in itself made the trip worthwhile.
After a stop at a plumbing supply store, where we still didn’t find what we wanted, we went to Anderson-Bethany Mortuary to pick up the cremains and the boxes that Jerry needed. With that accomplished, we returned to Artesia.
Back at the mortuary, where we unloaded the Suburban and dropped off the keys, we found that things were a little slow, so I ended up shooting a few rounds of pool in the backroom with Michael (one of Jerry’s employees) and Jean. While Michael was busy destroying me in a game, Barbara made a Sonic run and brought back some drinks for all of us.
Then, it was back to Big V for the night after a full day of driving, shopping, and visiting family and friends.
Wednesday, November 26
Happy 33rd Birthday to son Mike Little in Richmond, Virginia!!!
We had put off washing clothes as long as we could stand it, so today was earmarked as LAUNDRY DAY. After gathering up all the dirties we could find, we piled them into the Vibe and headed to the laundromat in town. Jean and Nancy both had offered in the past to let us use their machines, but we decided that it would be better to get everything done in one fell swoop rather than dragging it out all day.
When we got to the laundromat, Barbara decided that we’d probably use four washing machines, so she poured in all the requisite detergents and boosters and we started filling them with clothes. Now, I’m not saying we had lots of dirty clothes (including linens and towels), but her original estimate was a little low. By the time everything was sorted and set in place, we had six washing machines going; boy, were we ever glad that we decided to get this done all at once!
Barbara stayed to babysit the machines while I ran some errands around town. By the time I was finished, the clothes were too, so we loaded everything back in the car, headed back to the place, and started putting it all away. That’s when Barbara noticed that we didn’t have one of her bras with the clean clothes. Neither of us could remember seeing it in a washer or drier, so we came to the conclusion that it had dropped on the parking lot when we were getting things out of the car in town, and was now gone.
Meanwhile, Nancy called to see if we wanted to come over around 1:00 to play some board games with her and Becky. Since we had the big chores done for the day, we said that would be great. Meanwhile, Barbara continued looking for the lost items, but all she found was that there were several more missing. So, while I was busy installing the new water filter under the sink, she made a quick run back to town to see if we had somehow left some clothes there. Sure enough, we somehow had…an entire washer load that hadn’t even started washing. There was nothing left to do except for her to stay in town to wash and dry that final load while I went over to Jerry and Nancy’s house to play a couple of board games.
Barbara got back to the house in time to play a couple of rounds of Scattergories with us, and then we left to come back to Big V and put away the rest of the clothes.
We spent the rest of the afternoon with me printing Journal 4 (I was only five months behind) while Barbara worked on the never-ending Christmas projects at her computer. While I was running the printer I also started a loaf of bread since we planned to take several loaves to the kids this weekend when we go to Lubbock. Barbara had decided to surprise Jimmy Clint with a strawberry cake…instead she got the surprise when she opened the oven and found that for some reason it had oozed all over the oven! However, with some sampling later at Jean’s, we found that the remaining cake was edible…so it will make the Lubbock trek!
Jean called and invited us to come over for barbecue sandwiches and chips, and since our place was a total wreck, we took her up on the invitation. When we got back to Big V, I found that the bread had finished baking, so I turned it out of the pan, only to find that my new recipe gave me something that could be eaten as a heavy cake, or could be used as a doorstop. I don’t know what happened, but I felt certain that I couldn’t even feed it to the birds, because they’d never be able to gain any altitude!
After that little failure, I decided to shut down the printing department and go to bed with a good book. Surely tomorrow would be better.
Thursday, November 27: Thanksgiving Day
Happy Thanksgiving to all!!!
We spent most of this very special day working in Big V and continuing with our various projects. Barbara was working on Christmas things and I finally finished printing the last of seven copies of Journal 4…all that was left was to get the copies to the printer on Monday to have them covered and bound. I’d feel much better about the printing if it was July, but knowing that I’ll be doing all that over again in January for Journal 5 took some of the bloom off the rose.
We had been invited to join the Terpening and Francis clans for Thanksgiving dinner, so we headed over there around 11:00 and joined Jean, Jerry, Nancy, Becky, Susie, James, Karen, and Karen’s boyfriend, Connor for a few hours of fellowship, fun, and fantastic food. Susie and James’s friends, Rhonda and Neil, also joined the clan.
While we were standing around talking and snacking before the meal, Connor stole the show by presenting Karen with an engagement ring and asking her if she would marry him. Since he had formally asked her several weeks ago, we all knew the answer would be “yes,” with the only unanswered question for Karen being the when and where of the ring presentation.
Following the traditional meal and the traditional clearing of the table and washing of the dishes, everyone more or less went to their own places (or corners) for a few hours to rest up for the second round of food and football. We went back to Big V to oversee the bread that I had been baking and make a couple of batches of sausage balls that Leah had requested.
Around 6:00 we returned to Jerry and Nancy’s house to tackle the leftovers from lunch. Our part of the bargain was to bring the bread, chips, and salsa. (How simple was that????) When we got inside, Nancy asked where everything was, since it was time to eat…seems as though we had bought and brought everything, but we had failed to get it out of the car and bring it in so everyone else could share…what were we thinking?!!!
But, we quickly solved the problem and soon everyone found their way through the buffet line and to the dinner table for more food and conversation. After cleaning up, we all gravitated to either the living room for football or the dining room for board games; either way, a great time was had by all, and we felt especially blessed once again to have been “adopted” by such a special family.
Later in the evening, Barbara was definitely surprised to be presented with a birthday carrot cake with a candle on top. We really enjoyed a loud round of laughter when Barbara realized that the candles weren’t the ordinary kind…this candle, which looked like several, was really just one shaped out of the word, “OLD!” What a grand way to begin her birthday celebration.
Friday, November 28
Happy Birthday to Barbara Ann Perry Colwell Little!!!
We moved around pretty slowly this morning, but in time we had our email checked (Barbara had lots of e-card greetings), the house straightened up, and our packing finished. By 11:00 we had stopped at Sonic for breakfast and were on the road again, driving to Lubbock for our third Thanksgiving celebration in the last two weeks…we really do have a lot to be thankful for!
The drive was an easy one today and by shortly after 3:00 we were at the kids’ house where we were greeted by Jaycie, Jimmy, and Cathey. No visit is official without a trip to Wal-Mart, so while Barbara, Cathey, and Jaycie made it an official day by going out to buy groceries for our meals, Jimmy and I stayed at the house and watched TV.
When the girls got back we pitched in and helped get everything put away and then settled in to fix some supper and wait for Leah and Ryan to arrive from Liberal. Since they had gotten a late start, we told them we’d go ahead and eat, but that we’d save some for them.
Leah and Ryan arrived shortly after 8:00 and we spent the rest of the evening snacking, talking, and watching TV, finally going to bed around 1:00 a.m., w-a-y late for us old folks.
We had been so busy talking that I forgot all about tuning in the Artesia/Goddard semi-final playoff game tonight. I fired off an email to Jean asking how it had gone and she had to let me know that Goddard pounded the Bulldogs for the second time this season, winning by a score of 42-7. So, it’s the end of the football season for Artesia, while Goddard will advance to the state championship game next weekend.
Saturday, November 29
It was another Thanksgiving celebration for us. In spite of our late night, Barbara and I were up early enough to fix a late breakfast for everyone. I made a batch of breakfast burritos while Barbara heated up a bunch of the sausage balls that we had made in Artesia. She then put together all the makings for a crock pot roast and got it cooking.
Barbara: Another cooking project that Jaycie and I worked on while Gramps worked on breakfast was to fix a banana split cake. Once we began, we got all kinds of requests, like don’t put bananas on my piece, I don’t eat pineapple, no cherries please; and, of course, Jaycie’s special request for mounds of cool whip on her section! So…we diligently complied with every desire. As we finished up, I told Jaycie the story of Eric (the chef in Toccoa) having me smell the cool whip to make certain it was good…photos follow to tell the rest of the story! 
Jim: Jimmy, Ryan, and I spent most of the day glued to the TV and watching football games…the first time in many years that I had done something like that. We started at 10:00 a.m. and didn’t turn the set off until after OU finished beating up on Oklahoma State. With Ryan and I pulling for Texas to advance from the Big XII South and Jimmy cheering for Texas Tech, we had a common interest in having OSU beat the Sooners, but it just wasn’t to be.
Sometime during the Texas Tech/Baylor game I went outside to fire up the grill and barbecue chicken and Polish sausages to go along with Barbara’s crock pot meal and the loaves of Jalapeno and honey wheat bread that I had baked in Artesia. When everything was ready, we once again went through the food line and began eating as if we hadn‘t eaten in a week or so…good food and good family fellowship…what a wonderful combination!
Barbara: While the guys were enjoying their TV bonding sessions, Leah, Cathey, Jaycie and I found a variety of things to do to keep us busy. One of our activities was to help Jaycie plan her science fair project. She chose to grow crystals using different types of material to attach to the seeds…(fishing line, dental floss, etc.) This decision required going to Dollar Tree which is just one of my most favorite browsing stores (have I said that before?)…sometimes one can find a jewel among the clutter!
Of course, my birthday celebration continued throughout the day with calls from family and friends as well as more e-cards, etc. Each was greatly appreciated and helped to make my day special.
One of the traditions that we adhere to firmly on any big, special family celebration is that we take a family photo…life is short…enough said on that. Anyway, as the clan gathered tonight, while I set the camera timer, the girls instigated a photo rebellion! See collage below! However, we were not diverted from our objective and captured, not 1, but 2 priceless photos of the occasion! (Obviously, the rest of the collage documents Jaycie’s endeavors on the beginning processes of her science project.)
Jim: During the evening Ryan and the girls played games while Jimmy and I watched more football and expressed our expert opinions on play calling and officiating.
Occasionally we would make a hap-hazard guess to the girls and Ryan, but never seemed to quite get the right answers! Imagine that! 
Barbara: Leah and Ryan had brought a new type of Pictionary game which left me in the dark since I don’t know any movies, TV programs, celebrities, etc. Guess I live a sheltered life! However, I think I got to draw t
wice; but once only because Ryan gave up his turn. He and Jaycie seemed to be the king and queen of that game!
Jim: When the last football game was over and it was time for the news, Barbara and I decided that we’d gone about as far as we could go and headed for Jaycie’s room (our Lubbock home away from home) for some well-deserved and much needed sleep.
Celebrating life with gratefulness for family and friends from Lubbock, Texas,
