Thursday, November 22, 2012

Nov 18th to 21st - Mesa

Nov 18th – Sun – Mesa
I worked on the cards for Trish & Moe before calling Marg.  I was still on the phone with her when Trish came by with some paperwork that needed to be copied so she & Moe sat outside and chatted with Terry until I was done.  We got the copying & cards done and then we all went out for a late breakfast at Mickey D’s where Terry loves the biscuits & gravy.
We did laundry even though it could have waited a day or two.  Mondays at the laundry room are often busy and who knows if we will have time to do it tomorrow anyhow.  I walked back while the clothes were washing and made devilled eggs for later.  Terry turned on the TV outside and let it lull him to sleep very quickly.
We didn’t have too much time after putting away the laundry before we went to the bocce courts for another heavy appy gathering of 35 people.  Gloria did the work reserving the court and giving “invitations” to people since most of us can’t remember times & days!!  We had a good time eating & playing bocce ball.  It definitely cooled off about 6 and the propane firepit felt good.
We went to Ernie & Dianne’s to play Ponytail Canasta.  By 1:00, the guys won the first 2 games and the women finally won one.

Nov 19th – Mon
We were a little slow to get going today.  After coffee we went to Costco to order contacts.  Luckily I put my prescription in my pocket as the last person I dealt with at Costco had entered the expiration year as 2012 instead of 2013.  We made a stop at Best Buy and then came home to put away purchases from Costco and to make lunch.  When we were driving back we saw a group of bicyclists with safety vests and realized that we forgot about the Monday morning bike ride!  Before lunch we took a quick tour through the Country Store in the ballroom but didn’t have to buy anything. 
When we were at the ballroom, Chris asked Terry if he had a brother in the park as he had seen someone that looked a lot like Terry.  Just as we were finishing lunch, Chris came by and told us the site number of the lookalike so we had to get on our bikes to see for ourselves.  The guy wasn’t home so we stopped to chat with Neal & Judi and then went to see Dan & Carol’s recently purchased home in Ranchos which is the area of the park with larger manufactured homes.  They showed us the place and we sat and talked with them for a while which gave them a break from working.  We made another loop by the lookalike’s MH but still not there.  Karaoke was just starting in the courtyard so we stopped and had a beer with Larry & Julie and Larry & Suz who we met at the dance on Saturday.
We couldn’t stay long (some of the singers weren’t great) as we had to join Dennis & Gloria and Ernie & Dianne at Moe & Trish’s for happy hour.  Then we all went for dinner at the Eastern Super Buffet which lives up to the name all the time.  Back at the park, we sat outside with Dennis & Gloria – then joined by Joe & Stella – to watch DWTS.  It had cooled off a lot so I got jackets & blankets for Gloria & me.

Nov 20th – Tues
Terry golfed at Dobson Ranch this morning and I first worked on the computer while the freezers were defrosting and then puttered around doing anything I pleased including reading.  Terry and the other golfers had stopped for lunch so I didn’t have to come up with anything for him to eat.
We went to the courtyard to listen to Curtis sing.  He had some problems with his sound system so he entertained us past 5.
I added a salad to a couple of leftovers for an easy dinner and we went to line dance lessons.  It was moved to Fiesta so we got a ride with Moe & Trish instead of riding our bikes in the dark.  We had a busy enough day that we were ready to crash when we got back.

Nov 21st – Wed
We joined a large group of people (120) in the ballroom just before 11 for a Poker Run here in the park.  We picked up colored ribbons to divide us into 5 groups and then we travelled by bicycles and golf carts to 5 stations in the park where we learned about the facilities and had to perform tasks such as a hole-in-one at the miniature golf course, rolling a bocce ball through chair legs and hitting a target in shuffleboard.  When all members of the group completed the task, we each got an envelope with a playing card to make a poker hand.  We returned to the ballroom for hot dogs, potato salad, chips and a brownie for lunch.  We also each received a ticket for a glass of beer.  The first place poker hand was a flush and the winner received $70.  Reduced amounts of money were paid to the next 4 best hands.
Trish joined us for a trip to Fry’s for groceries and diesel.  It was not as crowded as I thought it would be but my list wasn’t arranged too well and I kept back-tracking.  I put away the groceries and started to make a cheesecake for tomorrow.  I figured there wouldn’t be enough time in the morning to bake and chill the cheesecake.  It was still in the oven at 3 so Terry went to the courtyard and saved a chair for me to listen to music.
We left the courtyard right at 5 and went to Brian & Bev’s for dinner.  Bev is from Newfoundland and makes a seafood dish called cioppino which I would describe as seafood stew or soup.  She also made scalloped cod, some sautéed seafood and dessert.  Also at dinner were Moe & Trish, Bob & Darlene, Ron & Terri, Brad & Clare, Joe & Stella and Jamie.  The group had a lot of fun after we ate and we were rather loud.  Luckily the immediate neighbors were part of the loud crowd.

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