Tuesday, September 4
Today was just a “normal” (whatever that is) day for us. I did sleep in a little later than usual and woke up to find that Barbara had fixed Mother’s coffee and delivered it to her while I was still sleeping. For someone who has never made coffee before, Barbara has become quite proficient at it. (I’ve warned Jim not to get too used to that service! I learned for his Mom, but I can quickly forget!:) )
Together we fixed breakfast…egg and potato burritos. Mother joined us in the dining room and feasted on breakfast burritos, orange juice, yogurt, and coffee, before returning to her room.
While Mother was getting settled into the recliner in her room, Barbara and I started on a grocery list; there were some staples that we were running low on, plus some other foods that we wanted to prepare for lunch while we finish out our week here. We talked to Ernie and found that he and Billee would be returning from Arkansas on Friday, so we had a couple of additional days to buy for.
After going to the post office, we went to WalMart to get groceries and then returned to the house to put things away and start on lunch. One of our purchases was a garlic roasted chicken which we supplemented with asparagus, carrot salad, and assorted other goodies. For dessert, Barbara had fixed a wonderful new recipe of banana pudding; actually, she gave me some of it last night, but no one else got any until today.
When lunch was over, we took Mother to a local furniture store where she looked at new recliner chairs. It’s really difficult for her to get out of the one she has, and she settled on a new chair that has a built-in lift device to help her up. The man who waited on us said he didn’t have that particular chair in stock, but that he could get it tomorrow and deliver it to the house sometime after lunch on Thursday.
After taking our afternoon nap, we told Mother that we were going out to our lot to do some mowing. It’s been over two weeks since we did that task, but when we got there, we found that it’s also been at least two weeks since there has been any rain. Needless to say, we had a dry and dusty task ahead of us.
When we returned to town we just went back to the house, had a light supper, and settled in for the night. I worked on my part of last week’s blog, hoping to finish it so Barbara could post it to the blog site, but a serious case of “too tired” hit me and I shut the computer down and went to bed early.
Wednesday, September 2
We both woke up early this morning (as in 4:00 am early) and couldn’t’ seem to get back to sleep for the longest time. I decided that it would be a good time to finish off last week’s journal and get all my photos organized so Barbara could more easily post them in the text of the blog.
Other than the unnaturally early start, this was just another “work around the house day.” Barbara has been doing deep cleaning of all the rooms, and after breakfast, tackled Mother’s bathroom while I worked in the kitchen washing and putting away the dishes before facing the computer, the internet, and the daunting task of registering for Medicare benefits; that’s right folks, this is the big year for us, with 65 just around the corner…seems like only yesterday that we were 64.
When I got kicked off the website for making too many unsuccessful attempts to sign in to the Medicare site, I shut the computer down and we started cooking lunch. Today’s menu was chicken-fried steak, mashed potatoes and gravy, collard greens, carrot/raisin/pineapple salad, and more of that delicious banana pudding.
T.J. pitched in to help with the dishes, and then went home to take a nap (while we stayed here and did the same). She came back at 2:45 to pick Mother up for a beauty shop appointment.
With Mother out of the house, we tackled her room. Barbara vacuumed and then dusted wile I fired up the carpet shampooer. It was another dirty and daunting task, but we had the room shining and smelling good by the time Mother and T.J. returned a couple of hours later.
When I talked to Sheriff Elliott in Guthrie, Texas, Monday, he gave me the phone number of Travis Adams, the highway department employee who turned my wallet and saddlebag cover in to his office. We’ve been trying to contact Travis to thank him, but had no luck until late this afternoon when we were able to catch him at home.
After thanking Travis profusely and getting his mailing address and the name of his supervisor, he shared the name of another highway department employee from Dickens County who had turned the things over to him. Now we have another person to thank, and are grateful to be able to do so.
The rest of the evening was spent with Barbara doing all the things it takes to publish the blog and me working on the current week’s journal. The housecleaning is over (we think), so now it’s time to catch up on some of our personal business.
Thursday, September 3
This was just another work day for us. After eating breakfast, we both got busy. While Barbara stayed here at the house to work and watch after Mother, I went out to the lot to finish some mowing and get Big V ready for travel.
When I got back to town I checked in with T.J. to see about a problem she was having with her shower head, and then went to the post office before returning to the house.
When I got back to Mother’s, I found that Barbara had put together a large lunch spread for the three of us. We ate, got the kitchen cleaned up, and then laid down for a short rest before going to WalMart for a few items.
The furniture store delivered Mother’s new lift chair, a recliner with an electric motor that puts the chair in full reclining position and also lifts the seat up and forward to allow her to get up easily. I’d never even heard of such a thing until we went shopping for a new chair on Tuesday. It’s an amazing piece of furniture, and Mother’s face lit up like a 5-year old on Christmas when she sat in it for a “test drive.”
Later I did some simple plumbing work to stop a leak in the toilet tank, we helped Ladd carry Mother’s old recliner over to T.J.’s house, and then we drove out to the lot to move Big V over to Bob and Mary Royar’s lot to hook up the trailer. Bob and Mary are on a trip out west and told us we could temporarily store our rig under their cover.When we got back to the house, we had supper and then started packing things away and getting ready for our trip to the east coast as soon as Ernie and Billee return tomorrow.
Friday, September 4
We were both up early this morning to get ready to meet all the challenges of the day. First on the hit parade was to get Mother’s coffee ready and into her eager hands so she could officially begin the new day.
Next, Barbara and I drove the Vibe out to Holiday Village so we could pick up Big V and the trailer and bring the rig back to Mineola to be parked in the WalMart lot while we took care of our business. While I was diving Big V, Barbara took the Vibe back to Mother’s house; then she came back to WalMart and we transferred some of the bags and baggage that we had been using during the week from the car to the motor home. When that was done, we drove back to the house and got Mother ready for her doctor appointment.
T.J. and I took Mother to see Dr. Bankhead and Barbara stayed at the house to do the laundry and finish up the odds and ends of packing and made a WalMart run for
a few necessities. When we returned to the house after the appointment (Mother and T.J. were just having some tests run, but those things take time), Mother went to her room to rest a bit and we made the bed, did some final cleaning and straightening, finished packing the car, and then went to work fixing lunch for the three of us.I called Ernie to see how far along their return to Mineola they were and, after finding they were only three or so hours away, called T.J. to let her know we would be leaving around 3:00 to start our trip in Big V. Mother said she was just fine and would rest during the afternoon, so we kissed her goodbye and told her how much fun it had been to stay with her, Then, it was off to WalMart to put more things away, load the Vibe on the trailer, and make all the final adjustments to everything before pulling away.
We have no reason why, except that God knew we already had enough stress going for this day, but getting the Vibe on the trailer, usually an exercise in frustration, went more smoothly than ever. In fact, we had it so perfectly centered that both forward chains had exactly the same tension, something that has NEVER happened.
With car loaded, trailer firmly attached, and tires and fluid levels on Big V checked, we climbed aboard and began our (almost) annual trip east and life on the road for the next two months.
And that, dear readers, is how we conclude this journal edition and blog entry, with the rest of the day to be written as part of our trip.
“I don’t care how poor a man is; if he has family, he’s rich.” – Colonel Potter in M*A*S*H
From the parking lot of WalMart in Mineola, Texas,
Jim & Barbara
