Attack of the Lady Bugs

As we were breaking camp for our trip north, we slid our camper slide in. In doing so, we found the source of our lady bug (or Japanese beetle) problem. There were at least one million and one - maybe a BILLION and one - lady bugs above the slider. The problem with that was they were now in our camper! Three adults fought the attack of the lady bugs armed with vacuum cleaners.

When we were young, VERY young, there was this movie called The Birds - have you seen it? Imagine that, but replace the birds with a bazillion beedles. Kinda freaky; I swear I still feel those lady bugs on me.

We started that mess late this morning, and we finally thought we had enough of those critters vacuumed up that we could get on the road. We left at 5pm. As I type this we are now 4 hours into our trip and it is pitch black - and I am typing on my iPhone, because I miss you dear blog. We will stop soon and rest, that is if we don't have the battle of more lady bugs to deal with. You may get lucky and see pictures soon but not tonight. I think I may have a
lady bug in my nose.

My dear grand daughter got a big bowl full of lady bugs - it was her only request when her mom came to help us. Thanks for the help Steph, and I hope you enjoy our donation of lady bugs to our little insect lover. I am glad she did not have to be traumatized by seeing the billions we sucked up.

And with that, we're on the road again!

It's CHRISTMAS!

We are trying folks!  Living in a camper has its disadvantages... no room for a tree being one of them.  While we were out shopping for gifts we have no room for, Steve rescued a little tree, some ornaments and some lights.  We came home and decorated; now we have a Barbie sized Christmas Tree and all the trimmings!

You Singapore girls are loving this, aren't you?

We Barbie sized tree skirt:

And a Barbie size Snowman village:

We have a welcome snowman:

And we have a warm, flickering welcome light:

 I have a pile of wrapping paper :

Do you see a pattern there?

I have started a small pile of wrapped gifts:

And I am going shopping today with a friend.  Guess what?!

It's beginning to feel a bit like Christmas!  

It better be!  We are packing up and pulling out in FOUR days to go north!  Oklahoma, I am counting on you - give snow!

Santa Paws Parade

What do you do for entertainment in a small town?  You decorate a wagon float and the dog (yes, you decorate the dog, too!) and you have a parade around a block with no one watching... well, maybe a few other pet lovers that decorated their doggies as well... but it it is just for the fun of it, right?

We started with this:
 

 

Decorated with this:
 

Tossed a dog in:
 

Added a kid:

December 4th - please note the bare feet, summer look... this is not in Singapore.

Put them into the truck:
 

Plop them to stand on the street corner:
 

 Enter them in a parade:

To walk behind Santa and Mrs Claus:
 

Stroll around the bare personless bystander block:
 

And win first place!
 

Some were not impressed:
 

 But they survived.

After they were judged, the excitement was over; they totally forgot about the parade, pets and prizes - oh wait, there weren't any prizes.

And they danced:

Bribed Papa:
 

Listened to a friend play the Sax:

And ate pie:

And it was good - 

Really good - but over.  Big... ummm... little city fun.

She looked for more fun - honest!

In fact, they both did!

Spider Sniffing

What is spider sniffing you ask?

Years ago, we went to camp at an Arkansas State Park.  At the parks there, they have nature programs for everyone to enjoy and we went to a night one.  We had no idea what to expect, but we were asked to bring our flashlights.  When we showed up, we found out we were going to be trained to be spider sniffers... and we would become 'official' spider sniffers with a certificate showing we know how to find spiders in the dark.

How do you do that?? 

Go out into the pitch black night, turn your flashlight on and put the end of it on your nose (hence the sniffing part) with the light facing out. 

Look out at the grass and trees - you will see little sparkles of glitter all around - they sparkle just like diamonds. 

Now keep your eyes on the sparkle, the light up close to your nose, you walk straight to the sparkle - and don't take your eyes off of it. 

Walk very slowly until you get to your sparkle, carefully keeping the light on the exact spot you saw it. 

Get closer... much closer... so close you see... A SPIDER!  (or maybe a dot of water - if it is very dewy outside).

If you found a spider, it was the light glistening off of the spider's eye that glittered!  

Last night punkin' and I went spider sniffing.  We found LOTS of critters; one was a very BIG spider, one cricket and one something-else-we-are-not-sure-what-was... lol... and one very large cat!  The cat sparkled green eyes and he was fishing in the dark by our little lake - he was not amused at all by our spider sniffing! 

There were campers (the people kind) outside sitting by the campfires; one couple got up and went in when we found a 10th spider by their campsite - I think the lady didn't like spiders and I doubt she will ever walk outside again at night.  Another couple was interested and couldn't believe we could find spiders that way. We left them spider sniffing too!  There was a little guy that tried to bribe us out of our flashlights to play with - not to spider sniff - and there were many campers too afraid to ask what we were looking for. 

Spider sniffing is great!   You don't have to pick them up - just find them.  You, too, will be amazed at how many there are out there - or maybe you won't ever walk outside again... lol... 

As for punkin' and I?  We are spider sniffers - we love getting out there and finding critters.  Give it a shot - you might surprise yourself and you will surely impress a buddy!  Better yet, go to Arkansas and have a great time learning at their State Park nature programs - they do have some great ones!  Our kids and nieces had a great time - at least I think they did.  If not, I sure did - and I can impress the heck out of my grandkids!

One Month Update :-)

We have been back in the states for a month now.  I figured it was time for an update.  

I am doing much better than my last update;  my depression is lessening, we are adapting to living in the camper, I have caught up on all the foods I missed except milk, and I cannot get enough of that yet.  I have spent very little time with my friends, still not sure where I stand there - I know my old normal, but have yet to find my new normal with friends.  I know their lives have gone on so I don't want to intrude, but I don't want to neglect them either.  Guess I will figure that out soon as well.

Since we didn't have a house to come back to, we are still living in the camper.  Our little campground is nice, but a bit expensive.  It is over $400 a month - nearly as much as our house payment was.  I can't get over feeling that is wasted money.  We have a nice laundromat and I was telling Steve I will not know what to do when I get a normal non paying washer and dryer that I don't have to chunk money into every time I use it.  We were using a laundromat for 18 months before we went to Singapore, we used a Barbie washer and dryer the 2.5 years we were in Singapore and now we are back to the laundromat again.  It will be a different feeling when we have our own appliances again.  As I said before, we still have a Barbie stove and fridge, so I have finally realized *this* is our new normal.  Until further notice.

Walking into Wal Mart and the malls is not as difficult for me as it was when I first came back.  I finally figured out I was extremely overwhelmed with the selections! I need to start walking there again though - I am going entirely too much, and my butt shows it.  I really have to get a grip on the food and exercise again.  I will start that tomorrow... 

 

Our camper is great for camping, but for living in, we have had to make a few storage adjustments.  We have put the bar stools in storage, put iris carts (drawer carts) in their place.  We put adjustable shelves in the storage closets in the back and I have stored the Christmas gifts in storage boxes stacked by the sofa and wrapped a bit at a time in the Barbie sized living room.  I hope you girls are laughing - and I deserve it! 

Another thing we have realized is how little insulation the camper has!  YIKES!  The wind blows over and under and there is always a chill in it if it is cold outside and warm if it is hot outside.  We have had to buy a stand alone heater to help keep the chill out, and we bought a mattress warmer for the bed. That works really well once you get IN the bed, but it is made not to heat unless there is weight on it.  A lot of darned good that does - I HATE getting into a FRIGID cold bed.  I need a critter to climb on it to warm it up  ;-)

My car is a 2000 Toyota Camry.  It has always run well and still does; however it has its issues.  The fan belts are slipping (LOUD squeal), the tires need rebalanced and it needed a huge cleaning.  Normally that would not be a problem, but we live in a campground... no water hose or way to clean it myself, and we all know the inexpensive places we take them to don't do as good of a job.  I can get it done for $250, but come on!  I need the car genies in Singapore to visit, please?

Internet is still a problem.  I have mine tethered to my iPhone, but I pay for data transferred after an alloted amount.  I have no idea how data is figured and if my 5G of data will be used in one day or one month.  I am afraid of running over, and I watch my usage by checking it, but I still don't have a feel for it.  Steve, on the other hand, is having problems.  He finally went and got a MiFi, but it doesn't stay connected for him and he was on the phone with Tech Support for hours today - and it still doesn't work.  He transfers AutoCad files so he needs LOTS of data transferred.  Gotta figure this out... things we didn't know how to figure out until we were here are still not easy and temporary solutions seem to be a problem for us.

My side... I am going to one Dr who is working with me on it.  She thinks it is chronic pancreatitis, and treating me as such.  I started taking something for ulcers on my own.  One or the other seems to be helping a bit - my pain is at least coming and going now.  We shall see.  If I could remember to take my pills for the pancreatitis with every meal I might have my answer.  I remember for about 2/3rds of the meals and say "Oh damn" 2 hours after the others.  There has to be something to remind me of it, but I have yet to figure it out.  Guess I am too anxious for that bite of the foods I have missed... lol... And I am sooo tired all the time.

Finally, I know you are wondering... we have not yet heard where he will be.  Since he is working on the job in Pascagoula we are not in a rush - and obviously the company is not either.  The check keeps coming in and I keep telling myself in due time we will find out. , but until then we will just keep on campin' - living the adventure.  So that is where we are there... 

And that is my update.  What keeps me going are the notes from my friends in Singapore and encouragement from those here.  I may not answer (you can thank my internet - or lack thereof for that) but I try to read everything (even in pieces when I have a moment of internet), and every morsel of information I can get - from here and I seem to crave it from Singapore.  Funny, I think it was that way when I was there - craving information from here. 

The world keeps on twirling no matter where we are doesn't it?  I don't feel like the grass is greener on the other side; I think it is just as green here as there - just a different kind of grass and a different shade of green, you know?  

And finally, pR came in the other day and had a couple of duck friends for Number 4!!  She wanted him to have company - isn't that sweet??  So I leave you with only one picture today - ya know, I have to pay for that data.  But, I think you can agree that Number 4 seems quite content now.

My pets make me smile.  Life is good.

Projects Ahead

As I said yesterday, we went to the Christmas lighting ceremonies in a nearby city to enjoy the festivities.  One of the girls loves entertaining papa, and she had  no problem going right back to doing so.  She was trying to hide from him here... somehow I think he knew where she was  ;-)

The girls got gift bags:
 

They drank cold chocolate milk, because that is what you do when it is hot outside:

No way should this be possible at the Christmas lighting ceremonies anywhere but in Singapore:
 

But in south Louisiana, it is often the case as well:
 

This was pR's face when she saw Santa coming!

I love this picture, even though the quality isn't great:

As most of you know, I celebrated my birthday yesterday!  I got ooodles of cards:

I got my traditional Hallmark Snowman from Steph and pR (which I LOVE):

And a quilt cutting guide and quilt rotary cutter  :-)

Some very special ladies gave me a gift card through my daughter - it will buy LOTS of quilting supplies:

What in the world did I do to deserve this?  You are are amazing!  Now how can I return the thoughts?!  Thank you soooo much!

And Sue?  Are you listenin'?  My hubby ordered me the Canon PowerShot S95!!!  Whoot!  That is my gift from him!  I can't wait to try it out!  Thank you, dear - and thank you Sue for trying it out and loving it!  :-)

pR and I have been very busy.  We have done a lot of projects, trying to make up for lost time I think.  She is so fun to do things with.  I wish we were closer to the boys so we could do projects with them... it is so difficult these days when kids/grand kids/grand parents are scattered all over the world.  Sometimes I wish we could go back a few years where family felt the needs to live near each other - I would have loved living in that era.

Anyway, our projects?  pR's grandma sent this project for her to do - we had fun doing it together!
 

And I had bought these while we were out a few days ago:
 

And we put together a little foam gingerbread house:

Punkin' was proud of herself:
 

And finally the answer to the question you have been waiting for... what did I buy at the Black Friday sale in the middle of the night?

Are you ready for this??

Hold your breath!

Here it is:

One container of gum.  Yup, you heard that right!  I just got gum!  I have people that can vouch for me... lol... Told you I was not a shopper!  I was a basket guard-er!  Lol... But yes, I was out on the dreaded black Friday in the wee hours of the morning.

So now you know about all of our projects - and we have MORE planned!  I am going to help Steph finish some gifts... Lovin' that girl time. 

Thanksgiving Holidays

What did we do for Thanksgiving?  We missed Todd of course  :-(  We were all kinda bummed that he wasn't there with us.  What is a holiday with family members missing?

But we were brave and we made the best of it.  We smoked turkey in our very own smoker, not on the grill:

The dogs monitored it closely:

Despite their interest, they didn't manage to get it.  We were lucky enough to have smoked turkey; moist, tender and delicious - just like Steve's always is.  He is an awesome grill man!

Steph made home-made rolls just like the old school ones.  They were just as delicious as they were beautiful:

Punkin' and granny chopped veggies:

She helped a lot and was very careful with the knife:

When she was finished, she had all ten fingers left and not one scratch!  And who thinks a 7 year old cannot help?  Not granny!

She even set the Thanksgiving table, complete with a pocket for the silverware:

We had decorated the Christmas tree - there is a story to why we did it so early.  Steve's mom has asked us all to come to her place in western Oklahoma for Christmas.  Of course, punkin' wanted to be at home for the holiday, but she was really sad she was going to miss the Christmas decorations and not get to see them but a short time.  Granny talked with her and we agreed we would put up the decorations one month ahead of time so she gets one full month of her own house fully decorated.  So we did it and lit them 'officially' on Thanksgiving.  So here is a tiny taste of her tree:

Decorating the tree is always such a special time for Steve and I.  We reminisce about the special ornaments and this year was no exception.  We love seeing the new ornaments, the old ones and the really old ones, and we chat about where they came from: 

This one is from Todd's mom from when he was young.  I wonder who pR looks like?

Such fun to see his old ornaments - from when he was in school!   We have every ornament hung; his, Steph's, punkin's and the tractor ornaments are even on the tractor tree.  Talk about making for a LOT of ornaments!

We even took time to decorate the outside of punkin's house.  She was super excited and is officially in charge of turning the lights on - a job she takes quite seriously:

I even got a cool picture - check out the bokah on this one!

Finally, we took the girls to the lighting ceremonies of one of the nearby cities:

 

Then we all ganged up on Papa to play UNO!

I am honestly not even sure who won.  We had a great time though.  Love the new 'rules' incorporated in the game this time!  Talk about making everything fun - we were all laughing and we had NO idea who was going to win!

Finally, punkin' went home with papa so she could sleep on the sofa sleeper in the camper.  She was super tired, and the big girls were headed out to shop.  Yes, we shopped at midnight on Black Friday!

What did I buy?  I will tell you that tomorrow!  Lol...