No Plans for New Year's

This year we have an opportunity to go to the club house for a New Year's bash but we decided to stay home. First of all, most of the people going to that are people that have been coming here for 15-20 years, and it's like a huge reunion for them. The perimeter spaces at this Thousand Trails are reserved for seasonal people that pay big bucks to spend 6 months here. Those are the people that are here year in and year out, and there are about 100 spaces like that. We don't mind going someplace where everybody is a first timer, but this would make us feel strange and uncomfortable. With all of the working we have been doing it will be nice to just relax at home.

We finally finished the one set of 3 horseshoe pits (there are 2 sets) and I was assigned the duty of preparing the Rec Room floor for the big New Year's party tonight. That meant stripping the whole floor so it could be waxed. I spent the whole afternoon doing this and only completed about half of the room. It is a huge room and will hold about 200 people for the party. My manager said he would get the rest of it done this morning with some other helpers. The real problem is moving all of the furniture and bookcases that are in the room so that you can clean the floor. It is a lot of work for one person.

It is beautiful outside - temps in the low 70's today - and is a perfect place for bringing in the new year. We hope everybody has a great time tonight, whatever you are doing...

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Getting Ready for Next Year

Since yesterday was the last day off until the new year, it was spent mostly getting things that we need for the new year. We use mileage log books for both vehicles to keep track of our mileage and service, and also to track gas purchases throughout the year. We have been doing this for many years because of taxes, but now we do it for our own information and because it was a good habit to record our miles every day. The other thing we needed was a weekly/monthly planner. I have been getting a high quality desktop planner for free from local Title companies while I was selling real estate, but now I have to buy my own. Of course, I bought the "cheap" desktop planner for around $10 whereas the ones I've been used to getting for free would cost me around $25. It will hold the same information. I guess we are ready for the new year - at least from a record keeping standpoint.

The day was otherwise spent just hanging out at home. Josie did some laundry and we talked about some different options for our Workamping future. We would both like to cut back on the time we work and we think we might be able to do that when Josie begins collecting her early Social Security in July. Of course, it all depends on health care costs for her. Who knows what direction the government is going with that issue, but we know it won't impact us for at least a couple years. By then, Josie will probably be on Medicare and it won't matter as much.

It's back to work for me today. Two more days and then I get New Year's day off. The time sure flies by when your not working. It doesn't seem like I had two days off, but when I look at the calendar, it says I did. Until tomorrow...

Nice Visit With Family

We left right around 9:45 AM yesterday to go to Aliso Viejo where our niece Debby lives to spend some time visiting with her and her family. When we arrived shortly after noon, we were dissappointed that Debby's children, Taylor and David, were not going to be there as a result of her ex-husband having them for the day. We still had a very nice visit with Debby, George and Cheryl, and had a terrific lunch that Debby made. Below is a picture of them as we sat around and chatted for nearly 4 hours:

It was great seeing them again and we hope it's not too long before we can get together again.

We thought we might catch the rush hour traffic going home, and we did to some extent. Thank goodness for car pool lanes. We had just about made it home when Josie pointed to a (guess what) - casino. There was a casino (Agua Caliente) about 3 miles from our home that we haven't been in before. Of course we had to go in to check it out and we spent some time there before finally making it home at 8:30. Fortunately, we played just long enough to win a little money so it was worth it.

Today we will probably hang out close to home and do some chores -like laundry - UGH! Whatever we do, it will be better than a work day...

A Couple Days Off

It's nice to have a couple days off. As was mentioned yesterday, we will be visiting our Niece Debby and her family today. It is a 116 mile drive (according to Mapquest) so we will leave around 9:30 and plan to arrive around noon. We hope the weather improves since right now it is cool and dreary like it's going to rain.

It seems like both of us have to do some serious dieting in the new year. It is so easy to lose control of your weight - especially if there is no exercise equipment around. We haven't had the use of an exercise room in any place we've stayed since we started in May. We have been relying on the exercise we get from working. We found out that it doesn't work that way. The job I now have will help, but the older you get, the more stubborn the pounds are to leave. It will be a major goal in the new year. It is that time of the year when you set your goals for the coming year so we will kind of do that over the next couple days. Right now, that's all that's on the list. We will also try to set some goals for working less and enjoying more free time together. Josie will be eligible for early Social Security in July next year so we are looking at that very seriously.

The bacon smells good that Josie's cooking so I guess we are about ready for breakfast. Until tomorrow...

Not So Exciting Work

The job that was so much fun in the beginning is turning into very strenuous, not so exciting work. Yesterday was spent mostly working on the horseshoe pits backstops and I mixed and poured concrete for the bases of these pits. Needless to say, I was exhausted at the end of the day. The only other thing that I did was level another trailer and replace one of the jacks that was broken. Josie was right when she told me I have only worked office jobs my whole life and this outdoor, physical stuff is new. Another problem is that we only get a half hour for lunch and no breaks during the day. Oh, well.

Josie's first day alone at home was not so boring. She went shopping, to the post office and to the bank. The day after Christmas truly is the best time to get bargains. She bought a bag full of clothes from Kohl's, and with all her discount coupons and items on sale, spent only $14. How can you beat that?

Today is another work day for me and then tomorrow we are taking a trip to Aliso Viejo - near the coast - to visit my niece, Debby and her kids. George and Cheryl are also there so we are looking forward to spending some relaxing time with them. I hope it warms up a little as the temperature this morning was 37 degrees. That is way too cold for Palm Springs. The good thing though is that we have had no measurable precipitation since we've been here. Take care...

Celebrating Christmas

Since we had no visitors coming on Christmas day, we took advantage of a sleep in day. Santa did a quick fly-over and must have been low on gifts, since our pile was barely visible. Christmas is not suppose to be about gifts so we enjoyed the day with just a few.

I did get a shot of our tree and the Nativity scene:

As we were both very busy working right up until Christmas Eve, we will do some shopping for each other this weekend and early next week when I get more time off. Prices will be better anyway. We talked on the phone with our family and spent an otherwise quiet day at home.

There wasn't a lot to report from yesterday so this will be a short entry. We hope everybody had a great Christmas...

Waiting For Santa

There were a couple pleasant surprises as Josie left work at 4 PM yesterday. First of all, the owner, Brent, paid her for her hours worked with a little extra plus he gave her a Christmas card with an additional bonus inside. He has requested that she come back for Valentine's Day week and said he would call her in on an "as needed" basis between now and then. Also, the full time designers have told her that Brent has never asked a seasonal designer to come back so Josie should feel proud for the impression she made in such a short time. I know she deserves the accolades.

The work day for me was much of the same - respond to rental trailer problems, fix plumbing leaks in the lodge and do more work on the horseshoe pit backstops. Everybody has the day off for Christmas but there are a couple of people on-call in case of emergency.

We made a late run to the post office to pick up a package that Patty had sent. We both have been working so much that we haven't had time to do those kinds of things. We knew that the post office would be closed, but hoped there might be someone still around at 4:45 to help us. We lucked out. There were two clerks still in the back when we arrived and they were able to give us the package.

We went to the candlelight service at church and it was a very nice service. This is a small church that is only about 2 miles from us and will be the one we will attend when we can. It was back to the fifth wheel, wind down and wait for Santa...