Sunday ; < sigh > I spent the morning tediously editing / correcting the typo on my Christmas e-cards ... one by one ... before the recipients viewed them. I managed to get about half of them corrected before they were viewed. The other half of our family and friends thinks that I can't spell < sigh >. Actually, I can spell very well, thank you. It's typing I can't do !
This afternoon I installed Mexican bricks as "pave stones" to close the 1 foot by 10 foot gap between the carpeted concrete floor in the Arizona room and the concrete floor / wall of the storage shed / workshop. Late in the afternoon our next door neighbour, the lady from Thailand brought over another plate of freshly prepared Thai food. WOW ... her Thai food is great ! Tonight she brought us a couple of spring rolls, some peanut sauce for dipping, and ... a couple of melted cheese between thin flaky dough thingies that are like the Thai version of Mexican quesadillas.
At 6 PM we went to the weekly Sunday ice cream social. Joanne and I ended up at different tables. She was "selling" Kaydee to a woman who might be interested in adopting her.
Monday ; Today was supposed to be another day dedicated to minor maintenance and "home improvement" projects. I spent way more time chatting with friends and neighbours than working. Taking a bag of garbage to the dumpster took me an hour and a half. HA HA HA ! I did get some work accomplished including planting four prickly pear cacti ; three in front of the shed, and one by the rear side fence between an agave and an Aloe Vera plant. The purple prickly pear with the long needles certainly did "bite" me in the finger. I suppose planting cacti is an acquired skill ! Now I want a huge, honkin' ocotillo in front of the shed as the "masterpiece" of my cactus garden.
This afternoon I took Kaydee over to the Miller's for a visit so they could see how much "transformation" has taken place in the last ten days. The Miller's actually initiated the rescue of Kaydee a few minutes before we came along and joined in the effort. They are as pleased as us to see Kaydee becoming a "happy ending" story.
It's almost 6 PM, Joanne is out shopping somewhere, and I'm procrastinating wrapping Christmas gifts, a task I have been putting off for a few days already. Wrapping gifts by myself always reminds me of my wonderful mother-in-law, who always helped me wrap gifts. I miss her !
Well, we had a very productive day in Mexico today. I was in desperate need of a haircut and beard trim for Christmas, so ... off to Mexico we went ! First stop was our dentist's where we made appointments for cleanings and examinations with our dentist, and an appointment for a periodontal examination for me with my periodontist, in two weeks. Then off for a $3 haircut and beard trim for me. Excellent work ... gracias, Fabiola. While I was getting a haircut Joanne was off shopping at the mercado. We wandered around from farmacia to farmacia comparing prices on medications I needed ( or wanted ... hey, it's Mexico ! ). We got all the meds I needed or wanted and then we headed over to Meyer Optical, the new optical place in town, for free eye examinations and free glaucoma testing. We had coupons for both. We have previously dealt with Best Optical once and Algodones Optical many times. Both were very satisfactory. But today at Meyer Optical we got better eye examinations than at the other places. By the time we were finished getting our free examinations it was getting late in the day and they were near closing time, so there wasn't time to order glasses. I had planned it exactly that way.
I wanted the examinations without feeling obligated to immediately buy glasses. I wanted to evaluate and compare before buying glasses. But ... based on the superior eye examinations, and the competitive pricing, we will return there in two weeks to order new glasses for Joanne. Her prescription has changed considerably since she last got glasses about five years ago. Mine has stayed the same since I got glasses two years ago. I'm undecided about whether or not to buy new glasses. I got a pretty significant scratch on one of my lenses a few months ago.
From Meyer Optical we headed back towards the border making a final farmacia stop for meds, and a stop at The Purple Store to buy Creminos, Nugs, and Coconugs. The line up to cross back into the United States was .. non-existent ! I don't recall that ever happening before. We thought that this close to Christmas there would be a lot of gringos down there buying booze for the holidays and there would be a long border crossing line-up / delay. Going down there late ( after lunch ), and consequently crossing back late ( after 5 PM ) like we did today might be the way to go to avoid the horrendous border crossing line-ups that can exist in mid-afternoon.
When we returned home, our next door neighbour, with his big dog Ardee ( for Red Dog ) joined us for a pack walk around the dog park with Bo and Kaydee. Kaydee has developed enough self-confidence that she actually growled at the big dog when he sniffed her where she didn't want to be sniffed ! HA HA HA ... you go, girl !
Wednesday ; This morning while Joanne went to morning water aerobics, as she does five days a week, I went to the clubhouse to attend a Tai Chi demonstration. I'm contemplating joining a ten week Tai Chi program that will start here on Wednesdays in the New Year.
This morning we included Kaydee in Bo's weekly obedience training session. Good girl, Kaydee ! She follows cues from Bo excellently ! BO, SIT, STAY ... KAYDEE, SIT, STAY ... BO, COME ... KAYDEE, COME ! Well done, pack, good dogs !
We went shopping. So what else is new ? HA HA HA ! We ordered a screen section for the front patio. Again ! Let's hope this place does better work than the last one ! We went to a "farmer's market" at Gila Mountain United Methodist Church in The Foothills. It was more of a flea market than a farmer's market. We had lunch, bought groceries, and refilled with diesel at the new Fry's "super store" in The Foothills. I picked up a special order that was waiting for me at Al's RV Service & Supplies. I returned the defective door knob and bought some other hardware at Wally's World.
Back at home I enjoyed the fine late afternoon weather and brilliant desert sunset while sitting in the Arizona room with the dogs, working on the computer and doing some online Christmas shopping and bill paying while Joanne went off to join the group wandering around the park singing Christmas carols. Chacun à son goût, je suppose. In the evening I retrieved, printed, and reconciled the monthly MasterCard statements before we went to put the solar covers on the pool and hot tub, a job Joanne volunteered us to do nightly for the next two weeks.
A neighbour back home at Riverside RV Park Resort sent us a picture of our lot, covered lightly in snow, with one of our two new little Douglas Fir trees decorated with Christmas ornaments. HA HA HA ... thank you, Janet.
Kaydee went to her new home today. DAMN ... letting her go was harder than I thought it was going to be !
There is an RV club / social network called Wandering Individuals Network ... WIN ... for single RV'ers. One of the residents of Kofa Ko-op is a member, and is currently attending the WIN Christmas boondock rally out in the desert behind the VFW on Hwy. 95 a few miles north of Yuma. And there she met a man who was looking to get himself a new dog for Christmas. So ... Carol Mae was right. It really does "take a village" to rescue a dog. HA HA HA !
Around noon there was a knock on the door. As I grabbed and picked up the dogs, Joanne opened the door and there stood a man and a woman. He said he was looking for the dog that was available for adoption. We initially misunderstood their relationship. We thought they were a couple. They weren't. He was shopping for a new dog. She was a friend tagging along to give moral support. As they entered our trailer, Kaydee leaped out of my arms. BAM ... onto the floor from the height of my chest. I was so embarrassed !
To make a long story a bit shorter ... before driving over here to see Kaydee, they had visited the Humane Society of Yuma. There were no dogs there that were particularly appealing to him. But ... he and Kaydee hit it off pretty well. So ... Kaydee now belongs to a single man. Her new home will be in Quartzsite, Arizona. Ron gets a new dog for Christmas. Kaydee gets a new home for Christmas. "God bless us, every one !"
Joanne began work on painting the shed door today. A previous resident had painted ... symbols and icons ... on the back of the shed door, visible when the shed door is open into the Arizona room. And she had her visitors / guests sign their names and visit dates, etc., turning the door into a huge "guest book". Yeah ... that's nice ... but dark brown paint looks nicer, thank you !
Somewhat thanks to Kaydee, we ran out of dog food tonight. We had to make a late evening "emergency" run to PetsMart. WOO-HOO ... Bo's never been to PetsMart at night ! Between where we parked the truck, and the door of the store, Bo peed four times. "MY PETSMART !"
Friday ; What a day ! I've had a disagreement / misunderstanding / falling out ( by
e-mail ) with a friend. I hope that can be repaired. And if that's not enough ... Kaydee's back !
The following paragraph has been heavily edited, censored, and rewritten. What a ***** ! What an ******* ! ! ! Twenty eight hours and he's returned Kaydee to us. By tying her up to Bo's outdoor tie-out and ... taking off without even leaving a note, while we were out walking in the dog park for about 15 minutes. What a **** ! ! !
This morning I went to Big O Tires and had a screw in metal valve stem installed on the trailer's spare tire. Now all twelve truck and trailer tires have screw in metal valve stems. Finally ! And Bo appreciated going for a drivey.
After lunch I napped with Sully and Bo while Joanne went shopping for some advertised specials at Food City, the "Mexican" supermarket in Yuma. Around 4 PM Judy and Terry came by with Spanky for our regular daily pack walk around the dog park. When we returned from the pack walk, and I was climbing back over the brick fence into our back yard ... HUH ? ? ? ! ! ! ... there was Kaydee ! To say that we were all stunned would be an understatement. And then, to discover ... < sputter > ... that he was gone without even leaving a note, well ... yeah ... we were "gob smacked" ! ! !
An hour later there was a message from him on our voice mail. From our perspective, his rationale lacked merit. I typed a lot more, but deleted it. Perhaps enough said ! Welcome back, Kaydee !
In the evening we went to see the Christmas lights displays on 55th St. in The Foothills, a street renowned in Yuma for its Christmas light decorations. Very impressive !
Saturday ; Christmas Eve ; Today I remember my father, who died on Christmas Eve sixteen years ago. Ever since his death I have felt melancholy on Christmas Eve.
This morning we went to the Kofa Ko-op Christmas Eve potluck brunch. This afternoon we installed the new section of front patio screen. "Lace on" installation was no problem. What a difference good quality workmanship makes !
After our daily pack walk, Judy and Terry joined us in our Arizona room for a Christmas Eve drink of eggnog and rompope, a Mexican liqueur known colloquially as Mexican eggnog. Bo and Spanky were both asserting dominance, and being somewhat "bad" dogs.
At dusk we went for a stroll around the RV park to view the luminaries lining the roads, one at each lot, a Christmas Eve tradition here at Kofa Ko-op. Joanne had Bo on his retractable leash and I had Kaydee in Sully's sling carrier over my shoulder. She fits in the sling carrier really well.
Upholding her family’s tradition Joanne prepared tourtière ( French Canadian meat pie ) for Christmas Eve dinner. Thank you, my dear. HA HA HA ... Kaydee loooooves Christmas fruit cake !
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