USS Lexington & Fun Time with Friends

Friday
April 10, 2009

Gina and I didn’t wake up until 7:30 this morning. I put coffee on and then walked our dogs. We do not like these little pod looking things that are falling off the oak trees around here. They get all in the dogs hair and then one of us has to comb those things out of their hair. It’s a real hassle for us and they are everywhere on the ground. After I came back inside we enjoyed a cup of coffee together while I typed the entry for the blog. By this time it was time to get ready for our trip with John & Brenda to the USS Lexington. We left at 11 o’clock for the ship. It was a nice day except for the haze in the air. When we got to the ship I realized that I had forgotten my wallet but Gina had her purse so all was ok.

It was an interesting tour and I got to explain all the little things on the ship to John & Brenda. Here are some pictures of our tour.

Gina & Brenda


Gina & Brenda


John & Brenda


John & Brenda (Welcome Aboard)


The Ship's Bell


The Flight Deck, What to look at first??


Looking back across the Flight Deck


F-14 Tomcat (A real Top Gun)


Just us


Those flags really do mean something


Gina had to have this picture with Navy over our head


Brenda, John, & Gina on the mess decks


John trying to read everything on the ship

They have a theatre on the ship and we watched a movie called “A Fighter Pilot”, it was a about a training exercise conducted in Nevada. The odd part was we were on a Navy Aircraft Carrier and the movie was about an Air Force pilot. Kind of strange to me but none the less we had a great time on the ship.

After that we went to Olive Garden for a late lunch. The food was good, but the service could have been a little better. It was kind of funny that they brought this big bowl of salad and put fresh grated cheese on top and then the waitress walked away. We had nothing to eat with. Well, when she came back, Brenda asked her for some cutlery. Now I thought that was interesting since I normally ask for silverware. I have never heard anyone ask for cutlery before. I joked with Brenda over that for a little while.

Once we finished our meal we left heading to the biggest HEB. It is located in Corpus Christi and we used to occasionally go there. We were near there so we decided to stop and see this giant HEB. On the way Gina made a comment about wanting a watermelon. I then told John & Brenda to stand by for some fun. It is hilarious to watch Gina pick out her watermelon. It normally takes her five to ten minutes to get the right one. Today she went quick to prove me wrong but she was teaching Brenda how to slap the melon and what sound to listen for as this picture says it best.

Gina showing Brenda how to select a watermelon

We picked up a few other items since we were there and then headed back toward our home.

On the way, we took John & Brenda by Ransom Road RV Park, this is the RV Park that Gina & I will be moving to next month. It is located in Aransas Pass and it’s the same RV Park that we lived at before (there isn’t any little pod looking things getting caught in our dogs hair there but then again they don’t have any trees either. We have always enjoyed it there so why go somewhere else, if it ain’t broke don’t fix it.

We finally made it back home and Gina put some brownies in the oven and then we sat outside enjoying brownie’s with ice cream. John and Gina had Chocolate and Brenda and I had vanilla. There’s a story behind that but let’s just say Brenda is making sure John is getting his chocolate ice cream. After that the mosquitoes were getting bad so we decided to call it a night. Gina decided to read for a while and I watched TV. That was all she wrote for us as we were out for the count. We had a wonderful day with our friends, John & Brenda and look forward to what tomorrow will bring.

Until tomorrow, Gina & I hope everyone has a pleasant and wonderful day, enjoying what our Father has so graciously blessed each one us with.

Traveling to See Friends

Thursday
April 9, 2009

I woke up this morning and worked a couple of hours after which I wrote a short entry for our blog. Gina was waking up by this time and we started getting our home ready for traveling. Considering we had not done anything to get ready it only took both of us about two hours from start to finish, that is pulling out of the campground. We got on the road at just a few minutes after 10 o’clock and pulled into “The Last Resort” at 1:45. The drive was uneventful. However, the wind was blowing pretty hard the whole trip down. We passed up the entrance to the campground and then we had to find somewhere to make a u-turn. We found our site which is right next to John & Brenda’s site. We got out and said our hello’s before I backed into our site. I told them they could not laugh at me since this was my first time to back into a site with this camper and truck. Thanks to John I got it backed in on the first try. I got the camper all hooked up and set up while Gina was visiting with Brenda. Once I finished with getting our home set up, I joined Gina and set outside visiting with John & Brenda. We watched this squirrel eating peanuts just a few feet away from us. Gina was fascinated with how close he would come.

Gina watching the Squirrel

Cute little Guy

Gina relaxing

We went inside John & Brenda’s to eat dinner. She had prepared a feast, Barbecued ribs, corn on the cob, bake beans, potato salad, and garlic bread.

Brenda's Feast

Eating with John & Brenda

The food was delicious. We really enjoyed arriving and not having to cook. Gina & I really appreciate and thank you for the meal. Brenda you did a fantastic job considering how picky I am with what I eat. (haha) We then set around talking until about 8:30 until we had to leave and take our dogs for a walk. We came inside our home and set down and Gina asked me, “Did we say good bye”? I don’t think so. Anyway we went back over to John & Brenda’s to tell them good night and confirm our plans for tomorrow. We are going to the USS Lexington, a decommissioned aircraft carrier that is now a museum in Corpus Christi. Gina & I walked back to our home and we both said let’s just go to bed. It had been a long day for us and we were just tired. So we called it a day. Another beautiful day that we were blessed with along with some wonderful friends.


Until tomorrow, Gina & I hope everyone has a pleasant and wonderful day, enjoying what our Father has so graciously blessed each one us with.

Feeling Better

Wednesday
April 8, 2009

Today was a much better day. Gina and I both seem to be getting over our colds. I went to work and Gina went to the pool to read for a little while. When I got home I dropped Gina off to get her manicure and pedicure. I then headed to fill up the truck with Diesel. After I picked her up it was off to Wal-Mart. We picked up some much needed items since we had not been to the store this week except for my quick trip on Monday to pick up some root beer for Gina. When we got back home I put some hamburgers on the grill and fried some French fries. It was nice to have a normal dinner. We had been eating ham and eggs the last two nights so the hamburger tasted real good. We watched American idol. We were impressed that the guy voted off tonight was sight impaired. We were highly impressed with his artistic ability and how far he made it on the show. After that we got in bed and called it a night since we’ll be getting up early in the morning to head down to Rockport.

Until tomorrow, Gina & I hope everyone has a pleasant and wonderful day, enjoying what our Father has so graciously blessed each one us with.

Flowers & Heritage

Tuesday
April 7, 2009

I slept in a little this morning and I feel a lot better than yesterday but Gina was still feeling pretty sick so she stayed in bed again today. I did get to work for 8 o’clock this morning. I expected a slow day which for the most part it was. I got home around six this evening and fixed Gina some something to eat and then got online. Ashley, our daughter had sent me an email earlier today saying that she liked what Gina had done with the Garden and liked the pictures of the wedding. I replied back to her that I would get online tonight so we could video chat. My son-in-law’s parents are flying down to Grenada tomorrow to spend a week with them during spring break. I got Gina in trouble with my daughter because she has been on Gina to quit drinking diet sodas and I wrote in the blog yesterday that I went to the store to get her some root beer. I guess I’ll have to watch what I write so Gina can stay out of trouble. She wasn’t really in trouble but she couldn’t deny it when Ashley asked her about it either. It was worth a good laugh for all of us.

I wanted to post a picture of a flower that Gina had planted in the Garden back in November of last year. She is so proud of this flower.

From Photo's 23 Mar - 4 April

Now let me explain. The flower is called an amaryllis. It's a pretty flower but this flower you see here has some history to it. Gina received it from Aunt Nell’s garden. She received it from her Mother’s garden and then her mother received from her mother. This specific flower was first planted sometime around 1920 and now Gina has a piece of it. I'm sure one day she will pass it on to Nicole or Ashley since Aunt Nell doesn’t have a daughter. Both she and Uncle Jim treat Gina as though she was their daughter. Gina and I find it interesting to know that there is a living item that has this kind of heritage.

From Photo's 23 Mar - 4 April

This area of the garden is comprised of only flowers and plants from Aunt Nell’s garden.

Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day for Gina. She is supposed to go get a manicure and pedicure so that should make her feel better for sure. We will get our home ready to travel so we can get on the road Thursday morning heading for Rockport, Texas. It was another good day Gina was still under the weather but I’m getting better.

Until tomorrow, Gina & I hope everyone has a pleasant and wonderful day, enjoying what our Father has so graciously blessed each one us with.

Slow Day since We are both Sick

Monday
April 6, 2009

Well Gina and I are both sick this morning with full blown colds. I still got up and went to work since I had an all day meeting that had been planned for a month. If it wasn’t for that I would have stayed home in bed which is exactly what Gina did all day. The meeting finished up at 3 o’clock and then I left work. It was just one of those days that I shouldn’t have been there but my commitment forced me to be there. A little while after I got home Gina wanted some root beer so I went to the store and got some for her. We then decided that we would have grits and eggs for supper and call it a day. After Gina ate she was right back in bed. I sat up to watch “House” and then I got in bed to surf the internet for a little while. I was going to watch “CSI Miami” but the NCAA final was on. Congratulations to North Carolina (I’m sure Jim & Dee are happy). I’m not a basketball fan but I kept flipping between the 9 o’clock news and the game. Not a very exciting day since we are both sick. I’m sure I’ll feel better tomorrow and hopefully Gina will too. She wants to get her toes done before we leave on Thursday for Rockport, Texas to see John & Brenda. Something about her toenails, sandals and warm weather. I’m sure all you women understand that. Even though we were sick, it was still a beautiful day. It is supposed to get cold tonight, like 36 degrees. What happened to the global warming thing? This is South Texas and its April. They say it will be 80 degrees by Thursday. I’ll be wishing for cooler weather real soon.


Until tomorrow, Gina & I hope everyone has a pleasant and wonderful day, enjoying what our Father has so graciously blessed each one us with.

Driving to Houston

Sunday
April 5, 2009

Well Gina and I must have been tired since I woke up at 9:45 and she didn’t wake up until 11 o’clock this morning. I couldn’t tell you the last time we slept that late. We are both feeling under the weather with our head colds. This weather has been beautiful but it must be getting the best of us. We did get our coffee drinking in while we sat outside watching the hummingbirds and fish. Gina loves this little sitting area for her morning coffee. Here is a picture of the area and you can see the hummingbird feeder at the top of the photo and this is right next to the pond.

From All Because Two People Fell In Love

Gina's Sitting Area

From All Because Two People Fell In Love

Another picture which shows the edge of the pond

This morning or what was left of it, we continued with the last few loads of laundry and packing up the truck. Now I know Gina brought a lot of shoes and clothes home but she bringing back twice as many as what she just brought home. When I asked her about it, she said, “I brought home my fall and winter things and now I’m bringing back all my spring and summer stuff”. I said ok, but at some point she is going to have to decrease what she has but she will probably tell you she already has. We finished loading the truck up and got on the road to Houston at 3 o’clock. It wasn’t long before Gina climbed in bed to rest a while. That was until she said, “I need a potty break”. We stopped just long enough for her to use the bathroom. I decided to take Highway 90 in Beaumont since I didn’t feel like sitting in construction traffic. We stopped at HEB in Houston and as soon as she opened the door she said “it’s cold and I didn’t bring a jacket”. See if she just carried all her clothes with her she wouldn’t have this problem. She got about twenty feet from the truck and turned around came back to the truck and said “please give me your sweatshirt”. She got that on and continued on into the store to get her a watermelon and some milk. We finally made it home at 8:30. We were both hungry so we heated up some jambalaya and white beans and watched the remaining country music awards.

We got in bed at 10 o’clock to watch the news but Gina was out within five minutes. We had a pleasant and safe drive back home and Gina was happy that I kept her home clean while she was away for a few days last week.

Until tomorrow, Gina & I hope everyone has a pleasant and wonderful day, enjoying what our Father has so graciously blessed each one us with.

A Wedding in a Beautiful Garden

Saturday
April 4, 2009

Gina and I woke up at 6 o’clock this morning and we both were coming down with a head cold. We took some medicine but we still had some work left to do today and we were not going to let that slow us down. Around 7:30 two men showed up to start cooking a big pot of jambalaya. We showed them where they could set up. Then we set down to drink a cup coffee before we went to Lowes to find six more plants Gina needed to finish the last bedding area. She found them then it was off to the race to finish before anyone arrived. We finally got finished around 10 o’clock with everything so now it was cleaning time.

Gina jumped in the shower at 12 o’clock which was the same time the bride showed up here. I showed them where they could put their stuff. I still had a few other items to finish up outside which I did while some family members were arriving. I jumped in the shower at 12:30, but, then forgot that my clothes were still hanging up in my truck. Thomas went and got them for me so I could get dressed. Gina and I were ready just before 1 o’clock and then we headed outside. Everything looked beautiful. Gina has done a wonderful job outside. She busted her butt all week and you could tell. I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves. If you want to see more you can go to our picasa web album.

From Wedding

From Wedding

From Wedding

From Wedding

From Wedding

From Wedding

Gina and I wish Charles and Gwen the very best in their life together.

The good thing about all of this was the bride and groom’s family picked up everything and did all the cleaning. Here are some pictures of Gina's finished garden after the wedding.

From Wedding

From Wedding

From Wedding

From Wedding

From Wedding

From Wedding

From Wedding

From Wedding

Now Gina and I were ready to relax so we put a pot of coffee on and called Uncle Jim & Aunt Nell over to our house to sit outside and enjoy some wedding cake and coffee.

From Wedding

Then my dad stopped by and joined us. We had a great visit. Uncle Jim brought over some ham that he had smoked yesterday and it was delicious. I’ll be eating some ham sandwiches this week.

All in all, it was a wonderful day to see our garden looking so beautiful and the wonderful weather provided the finishing touch for such a wonderful day. We both headed inside and Gina started washing clothes and packing for our return trip home to Houston. We were both tired, but felt good about the day. Again, we say thank you to Our Father for blessing us with so much. It is both fulfilling and refreshing to know he is always there blessing us. Today was just an expression of that love and beauty he created for all of us to enjoy. We called it a day and went to bed.


Until tomorrow, Gina & I hope everyone has a pleasant and wonderful day, enjoying what our Father has so graciously blessed each one us with.