Sarah Getto is an awesome performer

Tonight we went to a concert by Sarah Getto. She is 25 and blind. She was born blind and with a severe cleft palate. She went to a regular school and on to college and graduated with a degree to teach music. This gal is amazing! Her voice is indescribable! We met her dad Mike last night right after they had pulled into the park and we talked to him for quite some time. We so enjoyed talking to him and learning about his daughter and the life of music she is sharing with us RVer's. She sang Karen Carpenter songs, Anne Murray songs, Captain and Tennille songs, Patsy Cline songs and others. She is so talented. She does all of her own background music and vocals. She taught herself to play the piano at age 3 and the fiddle at age 10. This is her dad with the electric fiddle she plays. Notice how different it looks.

She was amazing to listen to. She played an instrumental song that she had written herself.  Mike, her dad really enjoys himself in the show. He backed her up in a couple of songs by playing the base guitar. And he even sang a song with her. If you ever have the opportunity to see her in concert, please do so.

Now onto some other news. Rick went golfing Monday and as he went to hit a drive off of a tee, the guys with him asked him what had just happened. This is what they were talking about. His ball broke in two. I have never seen this happen before and I don’t recall my dad ever talking about this happening either. And my dad played a lot of golf. At least now we know what the inside of the golf ball looks like.

And then we had fish on Monday for dinner. Now this is the plate of Lake Erie Perch that we brought with us from OH. So sorry Don that we did not have you over for dinner. Maybe next time. Rick took this picture but did not take one of the fish after it was cooked. And of course it all got eaten.  Yum!!!!

Tomorrow we have our Sorry Dear golf outing. This is getting more popular every month. The sign up sheet got filled up the first day it was posted. Maybe next year we will have this outing twice a month instead of only once.

Rick got a call from his sister today and his cousin’s 17 year old daughter was found dead. Apparently she was very athletic and she had gotten a bruise on her leg. Well, a blood clot developed and broke loose and went to her lungs. Our hearts and prayers go out to Jill and her husband, I’m sorry I cannot remember his name at this time. Uncle Tom and Aunt Katie, we are thinking of you at this time. We are so sorry we are not there to console you. Please keep this family in your prayers.

Monday

Well, today started out with a little apprehension. I was to go to the dentist this afternoon. I HATE going to the dentist. You see, I am a gagger. I just hate it, I tell you, just hate it. Do you get the message? And then my dear sister-in-law Trudy had breast cancer surgery this morning. We have been praying for her since we found out she had cancer. But she told me this lovely story and I hope she doesn't mind me repeating it. On the morning she had her appointment at the Jane Cancer Institute in Columbus OH, the weather was snowy, rainy, sleety, and dreary. In other words, a normal winter day in OH. The doctor told her that they had caught the cancer early and even though it was the aggressive form, he was optimistic that they would be able to get it all. When she came out of the doctors office, the sun was out and she saw a rainbow. She told me that the rainbow was God's way of telling her everything was going to be alright. I love that story. And you know what? It was true. She came through the surgery with flying colors. There was no cancer in the lymph nodes and she did not need to have any drainage tubes put in and they sent her home that very same night. God is so good. When I talked to my brother last night, he was so happy. I told him to give her a hug from us and to tell her that the rainbow was true. But we still need to keep her in our prayers because she will be going thru some radiation treatments. And we wish her a speedy recovery. We love you Trudy.

Now as for my dentist appointment, that was another story. I was in that dentist chair for 2 and 1/2 hours! Did I mention I hate going to the dentist? They had to prepare the tooth, which is in the very back, for a temporary crown and take impressions for the regular crown. Well, since it was so far back, they had trouble getting the impressions the way the dentist wanted it. By the time I got the temporary crown on, all of the Novocaine had worn off. I was hurting when I got home and as the night wore on. Even my legs hurt from not moving them very much as I sat in that chair. But this morning, my tooth does not hurt and I did line dancing to help my legs to feeling better. Rick is working the golf course today and will be home for lunch. And then after this, he will only be working half days on Tuesdays instead of the whole day. That will be better for him. His knee still gets swollen at times and he is in pain most of the time. The surgery was both a blessing and a curse. It took care of the tear but aggravated the arthritis. But working at the golf course gives him something to do. Sometimes it keeps him a little too busy. So that is all for now. Hope everyone is well. Love to all.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Well, I hope everyone survived the celebration of ringing in the new year. We did. We went over to Don and LaVon's for the evening and had a great time. Met a new couple, Norm and Lori, and they are our age also and we really enjoyed meeting them. Our original plan was to ring in the new year at 10:00 our time by watching the ball fall in NYC. that way we would be home before the drunks were out on the road. But we stayed till midnight and saw a few of the drunks on our way home. Gladly we arrived home safe. The past year has been a mixture of good times and bad. It was a real tough one for Rick. We are hoping that 2010 will be a better year for us and our families. I did get a new camera for Christmas and haven't yet figured out how to hook the camera up to the computer. It seems every time I sit down to read the manual, something comes up and I get side tracked. Someday I will read it.

There is a bug going round the park and I am trying my best not to get it. Drinking an immune drink and taking lots of vitamins. And of course, using the hand sanitizer all the time whenever I cannot wash my hands. Hopefully, you have not been bitten by this bug.

Hope everyone had a great Christmas. It sounded like our kids did. I did have a little mishap just before Christmas. I bit down on some popcorn and broke a tooth. I go in on Monday and have the start of a crown put on. And they found some cavities. Come to find out that dry mouth can cause cavities big time. I have sleep apnea and use a machine when I sleep and this dries out my mouth every night. Have to figure out something to help prevent the cavities. But we found a nice place to go to the dentist here that takes our insurance. Rick even went in for a check up and to get his teeth cleaned.

We have been very busy lately and realized that we have been here for 3 months and have not done any site seeing at all. So we have plans to start doing that. I think in Feb we will go to Lake Havasu City and see the London Bridge. That trip is an overnighter.

We did go to Tucson on New Years Eve day to see our friends Kelly and Ann. They are only here for a short time before they start heading back east. They have a new Montana 5th wheel that is absolutely gorgeous! The colors are great, the layout is great and they are very happy with it. We went out for lunch and had a nice visit. Just sorry they are leaving so soon. They came out for the holidays with Kelly's kids. But it was great seeing them again. Hope to run into them again real soon.

Well, that is all for now. I will put pictures up sometime, not sure when. You know how it is. Hopefully everyones new year will be a great one.

Busy

I will be posting soon I hope. Been busy and tired. Trying hard not to get sick. Getting ready for Christmas. Hope all is well with all our friends and family. Love you all.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL

We hope that everyone has a great Thanksgiving Day. We hope you stop and reflect on all that you have to be thankful for. We are thankful for our health and our families. We are thankful that we are in the position to meet so many great people. We are thankful for the kindness and patience of our Lord when it comes to our everyday lives. Our prayers go out to all that cannot be with family at this time of year. But know that you are in our hearts everyday. We will start tomorrow out by hopefully sleeping in. Then we will be off to Rick's uncles house to visit with them. His Aunt Mattie and Uncle Tom are in from PA. It was good to see them the other night. Plus Rick's cousin Kelley will be giving birth here within the next week. Keith and Mary are so excited! We will visit and eat a little and then come back to the park here for Thanksgiving dinner. Then we will probably be resting for the rest of the day. (From eating way to much!) The weather has been great. Cool at night and then in the 70's during the day. Tomorrow it should reach 80. Then on Sunday we get a cool down and it will be in the 60's during the day and into the low 40's at night. Jeans weather, not shorts. But that is to be expected at this time of year. At least it won't snow on us here. One of the guys here in the park is putting up a Christmas Village. It takes him about 3-4 days to get it up. It is on his patio. I will take pictures of the progress. I forgot to get a picture today of the very start. It sounds really neat. He even has a Quail Run Rv Resort complete with campers and everything. I do want to ask for prayer for a young man named Sam that was shot 3-5 times in OH. He is a friend of my daughters. A robber was chasing his girlfriends son and he stepped between them and was shot. He saved the life of that young man and now he is in ICU fighting for his life. God be with him. Well, I don't know how many of you are going shopping on Black Friday, but we are not. I have to work anyway. But if you are, be careful and make it back home in one piece. LOL!!!! And do not run over any little ol ladies! Again, enjoy your day tomorrow. Love to all.

RAIN Yea!!!!!!

Last night it rained enough to get the dust out of the air. Rick was upset because we had just washed the truck a couple of days ago and now it looks like it hadn't been washed in months. But we needed the rain. It is also cooler this weekend than usual. In the 60's. Not bad. But the clouds remind me of the snow clouds from back home. Thankfully, it does not snow here. This morning was a slow one at work and we were supposed to close the office for lunch and participate in the Welcome Back luncheon at the park. We were so slow, that after lunch we did not have to go back to work. Yea! But during the luncheon, it started to rain again. This time it poured. I mean it was coming down fast and furious! It even came in under the doors around the Carnival Room where we were eating lunch. It rained hard for a bit and then it let up. By the time the luncheon was over, it was only sprinkling. But there was water setting everywhere. I had to tiptoe thru some good sized puddles to get home. Not very pretty when you are wearing sandals. Rick was out on the golf course in the neighboring town. Haven't heard if he got soaked or not. But it really cooled down after the rain. But now the sun is back out and it is back up to a whopping 61! Tomorrow we are dog sitting for the gal I work with in the office. Beth and John are going up to Phoenix to the races and we are going to let their dog, Digger, out while they are gone for the day. He is a little cutie. I will take a picture of him tomorrow to put on the blog.

My how time flies

This past week has flown by. Just one more day and back to work. Where did the time go? We played golf, visited with friends, went to the Mesa Flea Market, church, more visiting with friends and the list goes on. Today Rick is working at the golf course and I went up and did the line dancing. One full hour is such a great workout. Two of the ladies had pedometers on and we walked a mile while dancing. And then it was time for horse shoes. I was on a team with Lil and we won! 103 to 98. I even had a ringer!!! Yea!! And I am tired. Cleaned up some paper work here at the house, (cleaned house yesterday, ) and got caught up on e-mails. I even had time in all of this to go shopping yesterday and I actually bought a Christmas present. I am on a roll! We love this life style and we have been so blessed to be able to do this at our young age. Yes, our young age. A lot of the people call us the youngsters because they are older than us. We have to laugh about that one. More and more people are coming into the park everyday. Another sign that winter is just around the corner. Glad we are here where the sun shines 99% of the time. We could use some rain though. Everything is so dry. They did not get the rain this summer like they should have. A little bit of rain would help keep the dust out of the air. But we will enjoy the sunshine while it is here. Talked to my mother this past weekend and she is doing well. She was working outside trying to clean up the leaves when I called her. My brother and sister-in-law will be heading out that way on Thursday for a few days. Mom will enjoy that. Trying to get that same brother to come out here for a little bit this winter. I haven't taken very many pictures this fall so far. Not sure why, just keep forgetting to take my camera with me. LaVon, it's catching!! Oh no!!! LOL!!! Hopefully I will start taking pics again soon. Take care and hope this finds you all well.