Dec 27th to Jan 1st - Mesa

Dec 27^th – Sun

Time for another casino trip after morning coffee & games. We went to Wild Horse and for a change played a long time and lost very little. Actually, I did well enough that I was able to give Terry money which doesn't seem to happen that often.

We continued the lazy streak and stopped at Subway to pick up sandwiches for dinner.

Dec 28^th – Mon

We made a trip to WalMart to exchange one of the pairs of pants that we bought for Terry and of course had to wander around to pick up a couple of items. MCY with music by Rockafella. It was not too hot in the sun and not too cold in the shade – very nice couple of hours with friends.

We went to Howie & Gina's for dinner. They are leaving soon for Mexico so this was goodbye for the rest of the season.

Dec 29^th – Tues

Another fairly uneventful day. Danced a lot in the courtyard with music by Ricky Ricci. Not our favorite singer but with electronic gizmos keeping the beat we can dance just fine.

Bob & Bobbie (line dance instructors) went to Florida for a short trip so Ron taught line dancing. It was in the Fiesta multipurpose room and luckily there were fewer people than usual as the room is smaller than the ballroom where we usually have lessons. Ron had decided to teach the Clogger which is done to a polka beat and in a circle. There were enough of us who knew the dance that we could form 2 circles and have “teachers” in each one. Ron had a good method to teach the steps and most of people did really well while a few managed not to get run over too much. We reviewed other dances as well and got quite a workout in just under 2 hours.

Dec 30^th – Wed

We decided to have fondue for dinner tomorrow so back to the grocery store after our customary morning goofing off.

We got in our line dance workout in the courtyard with Midnight Moon. Ron asked them to play a polka and his 2 circles of Cloggers did a great job. Except they played several songs right together so we got our exercise again. And then we did it one more time right at the end of MCY. Fun afternoon again.

Dec 31^st – Thurs

We did some rearranging and set up the garage as our party room with the large round table and 6 patio chairs. While we were doing it, Terry checked out the upper bed which will only be used for storage and came up with an idea to corral items so they don't shift when we are moving. A project for another day.

I put together a potato casserole and a couple of dips for dinner. I was short 2 ingredients so we took the motorcycle to Fry's. What a zoo! Every checkout open and still long lines. We used the self checkout which had a line but it has 4 registers so moved fairly fast. Filled the bike with gas & headed back on Main. A guy came up beside us honking his horn and let us know that the side compartment came open and said a green bag blew out. Luckily the helmet was still there so we turned around because my helmet-hair hat was in that green bag. We found the bag – empty – and then saw the hat on the other side of the street between 2 lanes. Of course there is a median the whole way at this part of the street and tons of traffic but we turned around again and picked up the hat which was little worse for wear. Just a few dirty spots that I sponged off.

Dennis & Gloria and Duane & Sue came over for dinner & cards. The fondue was a great hit – the first time I have used the convection cook top for this purpose. It came with a large, shallow pan and an insert with slots to hold fondue forks. Gloria brought steak & bread, Sue brought chicken & salad, I did shrimp, potatoes & sauces. I even had a dessert in the fridge from another occasion when we were too full for dessert. Lots of fun and tons of laughs. Oh yeah – the ladies won the card game.

Our guests left before midnight so we took the bike to the Fiesta activity room and joined a small gathering hosted by Chris & Anne and Bob & Trinette. They had been trying to do some line dancing so were happy to see us so we could lead a few dances. We stopped for a nightcap with Ralph & Elsie on the way back. Terry said it was after 2 when we got home. I didn't even look at the clock on the way to bed!

Jan 1^st – HAPPY NEW YEAR!

My body told me this morning that I had way too much fun yesterday! Terry had to leap out of bed and throw on clothes to take out the full recycle bin when we heard the truck on the next street. We are lucky that they usually pick up on Third St before our street and the truck is quite loud so we have a chance to get the bin out if we have forgotten to do so the night before.

The fondue was great but there was a definite smell of grease in the rig. Will have to do it again when the weather is nice and have it outside.
Brian came over to see if Terry was ready to move Dennis & Donna's motorhome from storage to their site across the street.  They went home for a month and stored their motorhome but it had to be out of storage today and they are not back for another week or so.  Seems like it took me longer to send a text to Donna than it took Terry & Brian to move the rig.

Terry figured that since we did OK at the casino the last time that we had to go again. This time I was his turn to win and keep our losses low. We had a sandwich for late lunch/early dinner at the casino. He went to Home Depot and bought lumber for the storage “frame” and I helped him stain it. We were supposed to ride to Bike Night in downtown Mesa but when Jac showed up at 5:20 his wife Karen wasn't with him so that meant that I didn't have to go. It was way too cold and I knew I had to catch up the blog.