Sunday, February 1
Same Sunday routines occurred until about 3ish when we wandered over to Jerry and Nancy’s for the big Super Bowl party they were hosting. About 40 or so folks showed up at the party, most of them members of First United Methodist Church where Jerry, Nancy, and Becky are members. Jerry had fried 2 ½ turkeys on Saturday and then the guests brought lots of goodies…just like a typical church covered-dish supper. Jim had roasted spicy peanuts while I chose to fix the recipe for Chocolate Éclair Cake that daughter-in-law Kelly
shared with me several years ago. Also, I had made wrappers for the Hershey mini’s for the occasion…some had the Cardinals logo and some the Steelers.Two rather interesting observations…
First…almost everyone was rooting for the Cardinals; so the Steelers candies didn’t even get eaten! And, the dessert was a great success…how do I know? One of the best cooks at First Methodist church asked for the recipe! Now, that’s success!
Next…each year at this party, the guests participate in the best deviled eggs contest. This year there were seven contestants. All I can say is that I quit judging after 3 halves of egg! Jim wasn’t much of a judge since he only ate one. However, we both did vote for the winning egg maker, Becky! Congrats, Becky! This year she e
ven got a trophy. (Just for the record, she has won each year that we have attended! Her eggs are great!)Such an accomplishment required photo shots, not only of Becky, but of her proud parents, too!
Monday, February 2
Don’t know why but we were liked caged animals today and decided that we were heading to the hills a day earlier than we planned.
First, though, we stopped by Carol and Cal’s so that Carol and I could do some birthday shopping for Jim’s mom…it will be that special day soon! While the girls shopped, the guys visited. We have this routine down really well!
We had an uneventful trip to Ruidoso and got there just in time to stop by KFC for a chicken bowl before heading to the motel. For some reason, the internet wasn’t working properly. However, since we had packed our broadband card, it wasn’t an issue. We even had cable TV…wow! What luxuries.
Tuesday, February 3
As crazy as this may sound, one of the things I packed for this trip was our laundry. I mean…imagine the luxury of staying in a motel and being able to walk downstairs to the machines! I was in hog heaven.
Have I mentioned before that the one thing I miss about our retirement lifestyle is my washer and dryer? Having to load the clothes in the car, drive to a Laundromat, and then wait there for them to finish gets to be quite a bore.
I admit, it’s just a minor inconvenience; but, I’ve discovered that when we’re on the road anyway, it’s just as easy for me to wash there where I can goof off in the room while the laundry is going. It’s a nice break in the routine. I told you this would all sound crazy!
Anyway, that’s how I started off this day…washing and drying clothes.
Basically, we just wasted the day until it was time to head for J Bar J Country Church. This time I had fixed (at home) Brown Apple Betty for dessert; so we didn’t have to go anywhere to get food to take for tonight’s covered dish supper.
Jim: As you’ve probably noticed from the journals this year, we have made several trips to Ruidoso for the Tuesday night service at J Bar J Country Church. In addition to fully enjoying the three hours of singing, eating, preaching, and praying, we are beginning to get acquainted with some of the “regulars” at the church. In fact, Pastor Charles told us Wednesday night that we didn’t need t sign the visitors book again because we’re “just one of them.”
Tonight we talked with a couple across the table from us. They have lived in Ruidoso for several years, having moved from Cloud Country, between Cloudcroft and Mayhill several years ago. In the course of the conversation, we found that they also ride a motorcycle and that she, like Barbara, would really like to have a trike. Barbara and Barradine spent a large part of the evening sharing and comparing the woes of riding behind their husbands, helmets that don’t fit right, and riding in the wind. Meanwhile, Harold and I discussed the joys of riding on two wheels, leaning into the curves on the highway, and accepting (if not embracing) the wind as part and parcel of the motorcycle experience. I guess it just takes all kinds…
Wednesday, February 4
Happy Birthday to son-in-law Andy Dondis in Richardson, Texas!!!
It was a real treat to sleep in this morning. We’ve found that there seem to be very few people who stay in the motels in Ruidoso on Tuesday evenings during the winter season. As a result, the place is very quiet. In fact, we rarely ever hear any sound from either the hallway or the parking lot, which make it easier to sleep in until after 8:00, something very rare for us.
While I did my morning ablutions so I could get to the breakfast room before it closed at 9:00, Barbara started another load of clothes. Then, I went on downstairs to eat while she started getting ready for the day.
Being the kind, loving, and considerate person I am, I fixed an extra breakfast plate and took it back upstairs so Barbara could eat while I finished getting the clothes out of the dryer and folding them.
After packing our clothes, loading the car, and checking out, we went up to the Travel Center for a bit and then headed back out of the mountains toward Artesia, where, when we arrived at Jean’s pace, we unloaded the car, and got everything put away in Big V.
Later, Barbara whipped up a supper that we shared with Jean. While Barbara stayed in Big V to watch a couple of her TV programs, I went to Jean’s house to help her watch the Duke and Clemson basketball game. Jean and I are both Duke fans, so the uncharacteristic blowout by Clemson was a painful thing for us to watch. And, when it was officially over, I returned to Big V where we watched the news and then headed for bed.
Thursday, February 5
Today was spent organizing all of our paperwork for income taxes. While we had done some preliminary work earlier, we decided to get down to the nitty-gritty of it and see if we could set a new personal record by getting our files sent off early.
Later in the afternoon, I took out one of the two batteries that provide DC current for Big V when we aren’t plugged in to a 50 amp outlet. We discovered that Big V Wouldn’t start because of a dead battery…it seems that one of the marine batteries was completely dead, and when we tried to charge the primary battery, all the current was going into the bad battery instead of being stored as it should be.
That situation necessitated a trip to Wal-Mart to exchange the bad battery for a new one. Fortunately, the battery was still under warranty, but it took over an hour to complete the 15-minute exchange. It is a long story, but I’m sure you all have stories of your own about Wal-Mart experiences, so we’ll just conclude the story by saying it was a “Wal-Mart Experience.” All’s well that ends well though, and I soon had everything put back together and running the way it should.
Tonight was another basketball night for Jean and me…this time watching our Celtics take it on the chin from the Lakers. Some weeks there just isn’t any justice!
Friday, February 6
Barbara and I both woke up early this morning, which was good for me because I was supposed to be at the First United Methodist Church men’s prayer breakfast at 6:45. I was actually on time for once…I swear that they must have their church clock set about five minutes early!
When I returned to Big V, we both piddled around the place for a while and then I decided I’d go to town to find a trickle charger to attach to our battery series. Barbara had done some reading about causes for battery depletion and found that the primary battery is responsible for providing enough charge to keep the slide-outs and levelers at the proper tension. With all that energy being focused on those areas, and with the cold nights we’ve been having, our primary battery just can’t maintain enough charge to start the engine after a couple of weeks; seems like we’re learning something new all the time.
After I installed the trickle charger and got the compartment closed up, I turned my attention to hooking up the new digital TV converter. I had played with it before, but couldn’t figure out how to get everything set so we could watch the current analog channels and still have the box hooked up.
While I was doing that, Nancy and Benjy stopped by to see if Barbara could come out to play. Since what I was doing was basically a one-person job, Barbara went out for a walk with them. Soon after she got back, I had everything hooked up and put back together. We still don’t have the greatest TV reception with our antenna, but we hope that will change whenever the local channels go digital.
Tonight we visited Jean for a few minutes and then returned to Big V to watch a couple of episodes of Monk (our new favorite show…Susie loaned us several seasons of the show when she found out we had never heard of it).
Saturday, February 7,
Today was just another Saturday, with nothing serious accomplished except for getting all our tax records sent off to Liberal; that, and a couple of trips to Wal-Mart, just to make it an official day.
Jerry called during the afternoon to see if we wanted to attend an Artesia Arts Council concert with Nancy and him tonight. He had four tickets, but Becky and Jean opted out, so he wanted to know if we would be interested in seeing and hearing Sourdough Slim, a nationally recognized cowboy entertainer. Since our social calendar was pretty much open for the evening, we accepted the invitation and said we be ready at 7:00.
We went over to Jean’s around 6:30 to visit a bit and then Jerry and Nancy picked us up there and drove us downtown to the Ocotillo Theater. As we walked through the door, the first thing we saw was a sign letting us know that tonight’s performance had been cancelled. It seems that last night in Alamogordo, Sourdough Slim fainted, fell, and broke his wrist…a really bad thing for a guitar player.
So, Kevin, the theater manager, arranged for a local guitarist/singer to perform for about thirty minutes and then he showed an old movie, Roy Rogers and Gabby Hays in Young Buffalo Bill, one of Roy Rogers’ earliest movies.
Of course, the movie was a hit with the “mature” crowd that was there, and there was much reminiscing over attending the Ocotillo in the “old days,” when we could watch a Saturday double feature movie plus a Batman serial and a cartoon (not to mention the Movietone News) for fifteen cents. With another dime, we could get a large bag of popcorn and a Coke. Aahhhh…those were the days!
All in all, it was a great evening for entertainment and reminiscing…a wonderful and fun way to finish the week!
“Our troubles seem small when we remember the greatness of God.” …Our Daily Bread
In Artesia,
Jim & Barbara
