Last Day of High School for our Caboose and Moved Sites Today

Thursday,
May 7, 2009

I just read Kevin & Arlene’s blog and I have to agree with her that it does get hard to write an entry in our blog when you basically do the same thing every day. But I still try my best to make it interesting without talking about politics...LOL I could write daily about that but then they would only be my opinions and who cares what I think. This morning was the same, I woke up early had my cup of coffee and finished putting the last few items away. So, if by chance I can move our home today, it will be ready. I gave Gina her wakeup call and then she called me back when she was pouring her first cup of coffee. We may be apart but we still like talking in the morning while we enjoy our coffee together. She didn’t have any plans and this was Thomas’ last day of high school.

Our Caboose (You think he's happy???)

We talked a couple of times during the day but I was focused on work so I could get away from there early. I called the RV park and they said I could move. That was good news, since I really didn’t want to change sites on Friday. It would have just made Friday longer than what it will be since I’m driving back to our house in Louisiana after I work a full day. It’s very rare for me to work on Friday's but I have a meeting in the afternoon. Now that’s extremely rare to have a meeting on Friday and then even more so on Friday afternoon. But the vessel that I have been working on is arriving in Ingleside, Texas on Saturday and time is critical to discuss a few details. Since it doesn't happen very often I guess that I can handle it on this occasion.

Gina went back down to my sister’s house and did a little more landscaping work and Thomas was working on extending the culvert for our driveway.

The Culvert Extension

This was an issue when I first brought our new truck and fifth wheel to our house. It was wet and I got stuck because I did want to drag our new home through the ditch. Well, we’re bringing our home back to Louisiana in a couple of weeks and I really don’t want a repeat of getting stuck or possibly damaging our home either. So he was doing that for me without me asking him to. There was a reason he took the initiative to do this. He wanted some money so he could go out to a party and celebrate with other seniors since none of them had to wake up in the morning for school. He figured I would be kind to him since he was doing something for me. Children, will they ever learn that we were there age at one time too?? Anyway we’re proud of him and rejoice that he is the caboose, so no more wake ups for school, home work, school functions and so on…. Can you say empty nest is right around the corner!!!!!!

I left work at 3:30 and got our home moved and set up by 5:15. I could have been done quicker but I always get stopped by people when I start up the truck and pull the slides in on our home. We have become friends with so many other RV’ers here that they think we’re leaving and they want to say good bye. Here is our new site at Rayford Crossing RV Resort.

Site #41

A Little Better View

That was about it for the day. There wasn't anything good on TV and I didn’t feel like watching a movie. I wrote a few emails before I finally called Gina and told her good night. It was another good day and that is always something to be thankful for.

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

It's Hot and Pictures for Joe

Wednesday
May 6, 2009

What a day yesterday was. The morning was good even though I had to work. Gina & I did the normal routine of me waking her up with a phone call and then she calls me back and we talk on the phone together enjoying our coffee together. She was back out in her garden pulling more grass in the morning and I had another meeting to go to which took up all of my morning. By noon time Gina went down to my sister’s house and decided to help her and my brother-in-law with some of their landscaping. I’m not sure what all she did but Thomas went down there in the afternoon and cut down a dead maple tree them. Gina finally finished up with what she was doing down there around 7 o’clock and then went over to my sister-in-law’s house to pick up Thomas’ senior pictures. She said they all look great. When I got in from work I took some pictures of our new leather seats that I installed in the truck and the AC unit that my dad and I have been working on the last two weekends so I could show you all what we have done. I generally do not take pictures when Gina is not here with me since there is not much to photograph. Well Joe said he likes to read what people are doing but really enjoys pictures so he can see what we’re doing instead of just reading about it. I think he referred back to that old saying “a picture is worth a thousand words” well Joe these pictures are for you Joe!!

Driver's Seat

Passenger Seat

Inside AC Unit (Evaporator)

Outside AC Unit (Condenser/compressor)

After I took the pictures I started packing up our home. I am moving sites tomorrow or Friday and I don’t want any of Gina’s stuff to get broken. This would only give her another reason to go shopping for things. She seems to find enough reasons for shopping than for me to give her more reasons. Anyway, I got it all put away but I’ll tell you I sure wished she was here to do it because I don’t know how she gets all this stuff put away. If it was me I wouldn’t have near that much pretty stuff displayed but then again I probably wouldn’t have the fifth wheel that we have either. I admire all you ladies that get those pink jobs done before us men hook up and move down the road.

American Idol was over and I talked to Gina for a few minutes before calling it a day. We still had a blessed day and looking forward to tomorrow as we rejoice and celebrate Thomas’ last day of high school. We are very proud of him and look forward to his graduation on May 15th.

On a separate note, I don’t know about you all, but, I would like to know what happened to spring here in Texas. It seems to me that winter stuck around longer than normal and now summer is here earlier than normal. This morning I woke up to 75oF (23.8oC that’s Celsius is for you Brenda!!) and the high today is forecast to be 92oF (33oC) with 80 percent humidity. This is just too hot for being the first part of May. When I walked outside it felt like a sauna and it was only 5:30 in the morning. I know I’m whining so I’ll leave it alone since I cannot do anything about it. I just wanted to complain a little bit, you know us men if we’re complaining then you know we are happy. Not really but I used to hear that saying all the time.

Now about the picture below, this was the picture JB took back in March when a bunch of us RV-Dreamers had our gathering. I was just missing everyone so I decided to post this picture here for Joe since he likes them pictures!!LOL

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

A Maintenance Day

Tuesday
May 5, 2009

Happy Cinco De Mayo!!! It was another normal day for me and Gina. I went to work and she went outside to work (play) in her garden. I went by the Volvo dealer and picked up the part I needed along with an air filter for the rear AC unit. The filter that was in there didn’t look like it had ever been replaced. I finally made it home at 5:30 and cooked some dirty rice for dinner. While dinner was cooking I decided to go outside and re-caulk two areas on our home that needed it. I talked to Gina and she was finishing up her re-staining job. She decided to re-stain both swings outside along with a few other items since the weather over the last year had taken it’s toll. I guess you could call this a maintenance day for us.

After dinner I watched American Idol and Gina and Thomas put a movie on. After American Idol went off I went to bed to watch Fringe and ended up falling asleep. Not an exciting day but Gina and I got some needed tasks accomplished.

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

A Turtle Gave Gina An Exciting Day

Monday
May 4, 2009

I got up early this morning to catch a ride into work with a friend who just bought a new H2 Hummer. It is very nice but just not something I would ever own. At work we park in a garage which has height restrictions. He wasn’t sure of the height of his hummer so he went very slow careful into the parking garage. They have these steel beams before you enter that states maximum height 7’ 6” and one would expect that if you were too tall that you would hit them. Well he cleared them with about 6 inches to spare. So off we go into the garage. He made it up the first incline and then when he was turning the rear bar on his luggage rack got caught and in the process got ripped off along with a clearance light. Apparently the steel beams outside of the garage aren’t accurate.

I did my usual wake up call to Gina to tell her good morning. She didn’t really have anything planned today. She was looking forward to a mellow day. She did call me back around 10 o’clock telling me that there was a turtle in her garden and asked what to do. I said go get a shovel and pick it up and bring it out to pond in the back of our yard. She said it’s too big! I said it can’t be that big but if it is then just push it out there. She said it might bite me and I said I'm sure you can move faster than it can. There were a more words exchanged than what I have written here but let's just say she got it on the shovel and she did managed to get it out of her garden. I which I could have watched it in person but the story was still worth a good laugh. Although, she wasn’t laughing. Anyway, that was her excitement for the day and my laughter for a few days.

I had a meeting with the US Coast Guard to discuss the project that I’m working on. Overall it went alright but there were a few surprises. I had to call the Volvo truck dealer here in Houston to see if they had a height leveling control valve. Apparently while the truck was sitting in Louisiana it decided that it wanted to develop an air leak. I guess she was feeling lonely and it was her way of getting back at me for leaving her there by herself. I told her I wouldn't leave her in Louisiana again by herself. So today I’m going by the Volvo dealer to buy the part and will replace it later this week.

I got home and helped the friend that gave me a ride this morning to see if we could fix his luggage rack. We got it fixed except for the clearance light which he’ll have to replace. I heated up the leftover roast & gravy for dinner which was still delicious. Gina is a wonderful cook. I guess that is a good thing since us RV’ers seem to always talk about food. It was getting late so I called Gina and talked for a little while before I said good night and headed off to bed. Another good day but it could have been better if Gina was here at home with me in Houston but we’re still enjoying a wonderful life.

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

A Busy Weekend

We got up Friday morning and did our coffee thing outside before we got started on our agenda for the day. First thing on Gina’s list was calling the doctor to get an appointment to check out her poison ivy. I watered and fed the ducks. Then my attention was all focused on the installation of the AC unit on my truck. My dad stopped by around noon and we discussed the remaining brackets that needed to be fabricated and then we went to home depot and bought a breaker box and some electrical cable and connecters. We got the wiring hooked up on the outside unit and called it a day. Gina saw the doctor and he gave her a shot and a prescription for some cream and told her to keep the rash covered.

Saturday morning found me getting up early to drive 30 miles to Campers World to pick up some electrical components. I bought a 50 amp receptacle just like what’s on the side of most RV’s and a 50 amp cable that you use to connect shore power to the RV. From there I headed to Lowe’s for more bolts since I had ran out yesterday. I made it back home by 10 o’clock. I called Rickey & Dana (my sister and brother-in-law) to come down and have a cup of coffee and discuss our summer trip to the Grand Canyon. They stopped by and we sat outside and discussed our itinerary. We believe it is good enough to get started with. Right before they left, Nicole stopped by which surprised us and she said she just wanted to relax. It was a beautiful morning so we just sat outside talking and relaxing. Between the water sounds and the birds chirping you can just let your mind relax and soak up all the sounds of nature. By 12 o’clock Gina & Nicole went over to Debbie’s house to choose and order pictures of Thomas. When they left I got started on finishing up the AC installation when my uncle stopped by. We visited for a little while but I had to get the AC installed today since I had to drive my truck back to Houston tomorrow so I can move my camper on Friday to another site. My dad finally made it down around 3 o’clock and we started on the electrical side of things. We got the breaker panel and the shore power connection mounted. I would like to say that the power cable I bought this morning was complete but they do not sell it that way. You have to buy the female plug and cover separate along with the cable. We got all of this assembled along with the remaining braces for the outside AC unit. Gina finally made it back from Debbie’s and then she worked outside in her garden pinching off the dead flowers and plucking out the single grass stalks that seem to always come through her mulch. She then watered all her plants and we finally made it inside around 9:30. I sat down on the computer to write but was just too tired to think. I decided that I would just get up early Sunday morning and write an entry about “Our Garden”. Gina soaked in her Jacuzzi to relax her muscles and I took a shower to get cleaned up. After which we both sat down on the couch to watch the news. Neither one of us remember much after that until we both woke up at 1:30 in the morning deciding that we should go get in our bed.

Sunday morning found me on the computer writing an entry but mostly it was uploading pictures to Picasa to use in the blog. While I was writing Gina prepared bacon, eggs, and biscuits for breakfast. Once our bellies were full we headed outside. I cut the grass inside of the garden. I don’t know how to say this but Gina was removing grass outside of her new flower bed. She doesn’t like the weedeater because it throws grass in her flower bed so she does it by hand. She hasn’t had time to do this on her new flower bed so today was the day. Once she does it the first time it’s easier to maintain that nice sculptured look. I helped Thomas finish the duck coop since they are getting too big for the cage they were in and we wanted them out by our big pond which will be their home once they become adults. The weather was looking pretty bad and I wanted the grass cut. I went and hopped on the lawnmower and cut the grass and finished up right as it began to sprinkling. It didn’t rain much but we got the ducks moved to their new pen. It was time for me to prepare for my trip back home to Houston. I jumped in the shower as Gina was folding my clothes. Thomas helped me load up the truck and I got on the road about 4:20 and made it home at 9:30. I was starving so I heated up and enjoyed the roast and gravy Gina cooked all day Saturday. It was a busy weekend but we got a lot accomplished. All our attention now is focused toward Thomas’ graduation and his departure for the Marine Corps boot camp.

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

Our Garden

In 2004 Gina created a sitting area with a swing and a few plants and bird feeders. In 2005 we decided we would expand it. Well we started tossing around ideas on what we wanted and we kind of had some things wrote down on paper. We decided our garden could wait so instead we spend the summer in Rockport, Texas having fun fishing and catching crabs. Also, if you remember 2005 was the year of hurricanes Katrina and Rita. We received damage from both of those storms and on October 1st I took a job in Houston. In January 2006 our oldest son caught our house on fire and did some major damage. We had planned on remodeling our house around 2010 but instead we decided that we should go ahead and do it now since there was no reason to just repair the fire damage and then remodel in four years so for the remainder of the year we worked on the house every weekend non- stop. Needless to say Gina’s garden didn’t happen. 2007 found me working down in Rockport, Texas again so this didn’t leave any time for us to start Gina’s garden. On September 16, 2007 our oldest son was killed in a accident. Gina and I decided that we both would quit working and spend some time at home together. About two weeks after the accident, the teachers that Gina worked with got together and gave Gina a fountain, bench, navy seal, and an angel with her finger over her mouth all made with concrete. We decided to get started on Gina’s garden one morning in October while sitting outside. We hired a man to build the two pergolas in November. In December we put the picket fence up around the garden and planted a red maple tree on our son’s birthday. In January I got the pond and stream completed the night before Gina’s birthday (it didn’t look pretty but it was a waterfall and a pond). In March we started on the plants and from there Gina has kept evolving it to what it has become today. The garden is so peaceful and a wonderful place to meditate and most of all it provides Gina with wonderful therapy. There is a lot more detail to this story but that’s the highlights. Gina & I have put all our love into this garden as a memorial for our Son, Rollie Joseph Thurston. I’ll just let the pictures speak for themselves.

The Beginning (January 2008)

We hope you have enjoyed these pictures and everyone is welcome to come visit us and spend time here.

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