It's been a while

I know. It's been a while since I have written. It's different when we aren't traveling and are just sitting in one spot. We don't see or do many new things, but we ARE warm.

We made one big decision this year, though. We are leaving our camper down here when we leave. It only costs $35 a month to store it, so the yearly cost of storage is actually about a third of the cost of hauling the camper down here with the cost of diesel like it is. And I know Lynn is serious about doing it because he actually already traded his pickup truck in on a 2012 Dodge Journey (it's white and we got the basic one) http://www.dodge.com/en/2012/journey/ So when we head home this time we will both be driving a vehicle and not dragging a camper behind us. Makes me happy!

And when we want to come back down here next winter, all we have to do is call them and they bring it out and set it up for us (for a fee) and when we leave, they put it back in storage. What a deal.

It's pretty interesting to buy a vehicle in AL and get it licensed and insured in NY. But we had fantastic help from the dealership here and from Sidney DMV and our insurance agent in Sidney to get everything all nice and legal. 

I am still practicing with the resort chorus. Our next Variety Show is this weekend. I was going to do Amazing Grace but on Monday, the director/pianist asked if I would save that one until the Patriotic Variety Show in February. So we changed my solo to "Just a Closer Walk With Thee." I like that hymn, too. We have one more practice on Saturday morning, then the performances on Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon.

I have also been keeping busy making jewelry for the upcoming Craft Fair here at the resort on February 4th. They don't charge a table fee for anyone camping in the resort, but if other crafters come in, they do charge them. They open the fair to the public, of course, so I am looking forward to see how my jewelry does. Hopefully it will go well, so I can make even MORE! In case you can't tell, I really enjoy doing that.

We went to a Brat Fest here last night at the resort. The majority of people staying in this resort are from Michigan and Wisconsin so bratwurst is a big deal for them. They made the brats and sold tickets for them, and those attending brought a dish to pass. Pretty good stuff. There were probably about 100 people there. 

Lynn continues to ride bike now and then and I go to the pool now and then. We have volunteered a couple of times on the food distribution day at the church we attend down here. Trying to stay busy. It really is different to just sit in one place rather than travel around. But we are both pretty much all traveled-out, so we will be staying down here in the winters from now on, but probably not for 4 to 6 months at a time. It's just too long to be away from home if we aren't traveling and seeing and doing new things... 

Camping World brought some RVs, campers, and vans to the resort a couple of weeks ago so everyone here could go through them and check them out. We went through all of them and found out that we are perfectly happy with the one we now have. Whew! That saves a lot of money, right?

We went to an event called "Walking Through Foley" which was put on by the Foley Chamber of Commerce to promote their town. It was really a great idea. They had it in the Civic Center and had a few of their attractions / businesses set up, such as their Railroad Museum, the Rose Trail, their arts programs, etc. You walked around and talked to those people and then they had coffee and donuts for everyone (no, I didn't have one!) and then you went to a table where they had a bag of coupons, maps, drinking bottle, etc. for you to take. There were some really good coupons for area restaurants and businesses. It was a great idea. They also had a Bingo Sheet game where they had nine squares with business names in them, and you had to go to each one and have them stamp it to prove you were there, then you put your contact information on it and left it at the last location you went to. It was then put in a drawing for a Kindle. 

We didn't win, but we have used a lot of the coupons. If any of you reading this are a member of a Chamber of Commerce, it's a great idea to pass on, I think.

We have enjoyed watching the football playoffs even though neither of our teams (Lynn's Redskins and my Jets) are in the running. We both really like to watch football, doesn't matter who the teams are.

And how about Syracuse University men's basketball this year, eh? Wow! 20-0!!! 

We are looking forward to seeing our friends, Chuck & Vikki and Ed & Gail, who will be here from Jan 30 - Feb 10 and then our friends, Russ & Joanne, are planning on coming down Feb 16 - 23, so that will be exciting to see them all!

Well, I guess that's enough rambling on for now. I will try to do better about writing more often in the future.

Here is how I know God exists

He sends me signs when I ask for them. Let me explain. For the second time in my life when I have asked God for signs to show me the way I should go, he has answered me. The first time is when I (finally) decided that I was no good at choosing the right men in my life, I turned it over to God. And said "okay, God, I give up -- it's up to you to bring the right man into my life. But I am not sure I will know when you do unless you show me a sign. How about when the right man is there you somehow show me a .... turtle." And he DID. When Lynn first invited me to his home he was showing me some travel brochures because that was always his dream -- to travel once he was retired. When he was showing me a brochure on Nova Scotia -- there it was -- a picture of a turtle! And I knew right there and then God had brought me together with the right man.

Now, I have been feeling a calling from God but I have not been able to discern exactly what he is calling me for. I do love to preach, but I do not want to become a minister because I don't want to be told where my church would be, and I don't want to give up traveling in the winter with my husband. So I am happy to continue preaching as a Lay Speaker. So that can't be what he was calling me for. The other idea I had was to start a music ministry because I love to sing, but that is the only musical talent I have -- I can't play any instruments, I can't read music, and I can't conduct music. So, that couldn't be it. Then the idea of holding a weekly Bible Study in my home (once the renovation is done) came to me. So in my prayer journal I asked God to show me a sign if this is what he wanted me to do -- to show me a ... red fox.

On my way home this evening as I came across the bridge off Route 357 and turned towards Unadilla, across the road ran a young ... yes! ... red fox! He crossed the road in front of my car and stopped on the other side of the road -- I looked at him and he looked at me... and I whooped out loud "God, you are so good!!!!" I was so excited!!! So, that is how I know God exists.

Even if nonbelievers think it is merely coincidence, I know it is a God incident! Thank you God for your continued guidance in my life.

Our home renovation continues apace. I awoke this morning to some strange sounds that I could not identify. It turns out it was old shingles sliding down a plywood ramp into the back of a dump truck. There were about five guys on the front roof tearing off shingles. By the end of the day, the front roof was completely re-shingled. I can't seem to get the right angle to get a picture of it though. The back roof will need to wait until the addition is framed up before it can be done as the new roof will join to the old roof. They also started putting the sills on the foundation and have the lumber ready to floor it.

I went to Lowe's today and bought the paint for the bedrooms along with all the assorted paint rollers, brushes, tape, etc. So, you know what I will be doing this weekend. Lynn does the taping and the edging and I do the painting. We have to do the ceilings in both rooms as well. Every day we get closer to our finished product.

Lynn and his friend Jerry went to Empire Farm Days today. http://www.empirefarmdays.com/ They picked the right day -- the weather was beautiful today. And since it was the last day, they got some good deals on hats and t-shirts, etc., because the vendors didn't want to pack them up and take them back home. Plus they got to look at lots of farm equipment. Which they enjoy.

FOOTBALL HAS STARTED! YAY! Only pre-season, I know, but I really enjoy football! The Jets first pre-season game is 8/15, but I can watch other teams until then.

Our church (Unadilla Center) has a Hymn Sing and Ice Cream Social this coming Sunday (14th) at 7 PM. There will be congregational singing interspersed with solos by a Praise Band and various people from the congregation (I am doing "Joyful Joyful We Adore Thee"), with times for requests by those in attendance. And after everyone is invited downstairs for FREE homemade ice cream. I will be making strawberry smoothies. So, if you aren't busy and you love music and ice cream, come on over! We would love to see you.

I am hosting an AARP Create The Good House Party http://houseparty.com/party/529726 on Friday, September 9th at 4 PM to collect paperback books (anything except romances) that will then be mailed to our troops. I haven't gotten all the details yet, but I will be working through Operation Paperback http://www.operationpaperback.org/. I am excited to get this going. So if you have any paperback books you are looking to pass on, please let me know and we will figure out how to get them to me so I can get them sent out.

Lots going on right now. I'm loving life!!!

Shopping

Today we went and priced stackable washers and dryers. There are a lot of choices out there, in a lot of price ranges. Fortunately, Lynn does the research on things like this -- he has the patience, I don't! The top three manufacturers seems to be Bosch, Samsung, and LG. We have considered all three. Also Whirlpool is next in line and that's what we found the best price on so far. We haven't fully decided yet on what to get, but our new laundry closet upstairs (so I don't have to go downstairs to do laundry any more - yay!) is now plumbed and wired all ready and waiting for whatever we get.

I went shopping the other day in the new TJ Maxx in Oneonta in the Southside Mall. I always liked shopping at that store when I lived in Ithaca. They have some great bargains on clothes. I bought three new blouses. I am returning two things I picked up because I don't like the way they look (no, I don't try them on in the store -- I dislike dressing rooms very much!). I decided I was tired of wearing t-shirts all the time so I am getting rid of about 10 of them and slowly replacing them with things a little more dressy. Don't know why. Just feels better I guess.

The home renovations are going very well. I am very impressed with how clean the work area is at the end of every day. Since the dumpster was taken away yesterday, they brought in their own dump truck today for trash. After the rest of the crew had left at the end of the day, our contractor moved the dump truck and then went around and picked up all the scraps that missed the dump truck when they threw trash out the window. Pretty impressive. He had it in his proposal to "remove all waste generated daily. Floors to be broom clean daily," and he has definitely lived up to that. I would recommend him to anyone for any project. Ed Fraizer from Cohen & Frazier Builders.

New York Jets update: The New York Jets have re-signed unrestricted free agent safety Brodney Pool, signed guard Trevor Canfield and tackle Pete Clifford, and waived cornerback Jeremy McGee, guard Tom Ottaiano and tackle Jeff Wills. The announcements were made by general manager Mike Tannenbaum. Yesterday they had released Jerricho Cotchery per his request. I will miss him. He played hard even when battling injuries. Only 10 more days before I can see "my team" play a preseason game. YAY, FOOTBALL IS BACK!!!

Coupon Shopping is Awesome

Coupon shopping is the only way to go as far as I am concerned. Went grocery shopping today at Price Chopper in Sidney. They had some special sales where if you bought x number of dollars worth of certain brands you would earn x number of cents off per gallon of gas. Needless to say, with all my coupons, I took advantage of two of the offers: $25 of Unilever products earned 30 cents off per gallon of gas; $10 of Dole products for 10 cents off per gallon. And with the 10 cents off per gallon I already had previous to this plus the additional 10 cents off per gallon I earned on the rest of my groceries today, we are at 60 cents off per gallon. And if I had only known before I checked out, I could have added something worth 21 cents and I would have been up to 70 cents per gallon. Oh well, next time!

The cents off per gallon really comes in handy for Lynn's truck which takes diesel, and you know how much THAT costs now! Plus you can get up to 20 gallons at a time with the discount and my car doesn't hold that much in the tank. But Lynn's truck sure does, and then some!

Anyway, back to the deals. A couple of the best deals I got today were: Wish Bone salad dressings were on sale 2/$3 and I had a $1.50 off two coupon, so they ended up costing only 75 cents a piece; Price Chopper brand nonfat whipped topping was on sale for $1 and I had a 50 cent in store coupon, so that only cost me 50 cents. All in all, I spent $81.32 but SAVED 15 cents for using 5 of my own shopping bags (3 cents a piece off), $35.91 in Advantedge Savings (their store discount card) and $23.75 in manufacturer's coupons (all the less than $1 ones were doubled by Price Chopper). Not bad, eh? I generally don't buy anything unless it is on sale and I have a coupon to go with it. I think I bought only five items for full price today ($6.89) and the rest were sale items plus coupons. Not bad...

Our contractor and his crew sure do get lots of work done in a day. Today they got here at 7:30 AM and are still going strong (it's about 2:30 now) -- not sure when they will call it a day today, but I am sure happy with their work ethic and quantity and quality of their work! I guess they were worth waiting an extra week for to get started.

Lynn went to the Otsego County Fair today. I didn't go because 1) it's too darn hot for me to walk around in the sun with no shade, 2) I needed to get some groceries, and 3) I wanted to be on-call in case the contractor had any questions about how we wanted things done. But Lynn had a good time and saw a lot of people he knows and/or is related to. I am sorry I missed seeing them, but heat and I just do NOT get along very well!

The NY Jets lost WR Brad Smith to Buffalo. Too bad, I always liked him. Still no word on Braylon Edwards that I know of, it's tough to keep up sometimes. I do like the way the NFL network lists the free agency changes, though. They do it as a sidebar one team at a time and show by team logo where they are going for the 2011 season, of if they have not signed, it just shows an NFL logo. Makes it a little easier to follow, at least for me.

I didn't realize this, but according to the NY Jets website: The National Football League has implemented flexible scheduling for the last eight (8) weeks of the 2011 regular season excluding Week 16. For the Jets, games in Weeks 10, 12-15 and 17 are subject to flexible scheduling and may be moved from their original time slot to either 1pm, 4:05, 4:15pm or the NBC Sunday Night Game at 8:20pm. Game times will be confirmed a minimum of 12 days in advance (except in the last week when it may be confirmed six (6) days in advance).

In case you can't tell, I am REALLY looking forward to FOOTBALL SEASON!!!

Last night's First Place 4 Health meeting was good, we have two returning members and two new members to bring our group up to 29 members! God has truly blessed us.

Guess that's all for today....