3 Thanksgivings

This year we were fortunate to celebrate Thanksgiving 3 times! Yep, with 3 turkeys. We had Rick's sister and brother-in-law visiting the week before the official date and were lucky to have them and Rick's parents over for a barbequed turkey. And all the traditional fixins! The only thing missing, according to Jim and me, was the old family secret green bean casserole with mushroom soup and fried onions. Even with the green beans missing, dinner was delicious.

Then on Tuesday before Thursday Thanksgiving we had just Rick's parents over for another traditional feast. But again the old family secret green bean casserole was missing. It was a delicious feast of (yet another) roasted turkey and all the trimmings.

The day before Thanksgiving we headed west to southern California where we both grew up and all my family still lives. My mom roasted a turkey along with all the traditional side dishes I grew up loving. On Thanksgiving day Rick and I celebrated with 25 of my immediate family members and we had a fabulous, familiar feast. We had yummy appetisers, deviled eggs to die for, home-made stuffing, home-made gravy, real mashed potatoes, fresh creamed corn, home-made buttermilk bisquits, sweet yams, fresh home-made cranberry relish (who knew it didn't grow in a can?), green beans cooked with bacon, fresh Chinese chicken salad, tender turkey, 3 different pies, AND a birthday cake. With so many in the family, everytime there's a family gathering there's a birthday cake. They were celebrating 5 November birthdays (I think?). I think I missed some Thanksgiving dish, but there were soooo many great dishes it's hard to remember it all!

I think I heard my brother Dan say he wished he could have brought the old family secret green bean casserole. Next year the casserole will surely be on the menu.

Ever wonder? What's Pickleball?

We describe pickleball as half way between tennis and ping pong. A combination of the two games. And it's a very social game with conversation and laughter. At least at the level we're playing. I've heard the more experienced players are competitive and take their game very seriously.

Pickleball is played on a court about half the size of a tennis court, with a net, with 2 or 4 players using hard paddles and a 3" hard plastic ball with holes. Like a whiffle ball. When you hit the ball it sounds like a bink, or a dink, or a plink. (Glad I don't live next to the courts.) The object of the game is to successfully hit the ball over the net without it being successfully returned by the opponents.

Hey! One thing pickleball and flyfishing have in common is that my pickleball paddle and my fly rod are both made of graphite! That's the only thing in common. And I like them both.

We've wanted to play pickleball for years. We knew we would like it, having played a little tennis, some racketball, a little badminton, and lots of ping pong. After all, a racket sport is a racket sport. Right?

We have about 10 pickleball courts here in our community, along with a number of tennis courts. And lots of other activities like shuffleboard, horseshoes, and bocce ball. By far pickleball is the most popular. Players start to arrive at the courts at 7:30 AM for round robin play and continue to use the courts throughout the day and into the evening. There are lessons on Mondays, ladies only lessons and play on Thursday afternoon, and couples sign-up each day. We can easily play game after game from 7:30 to noon, but they say come January it will be difficult to find an empty court. Reserving a court in advance will ensure you get on for an hour or so. Our high season here in Arizona is January through March so we are taking advantage of the uncrowded courts now. At least Rick is. I'm still benched with a torn muscle for another week or so.

We have a fun, active pickleball club here also. They party, potluck, and get together more than most other clubs. A few club members just returned from a road trip to Puerto Penasco, Mexico. Maybe next year we'll take our motorhome and join them.

Something I've wondered, "Where did Pickleball get it's name?" I just found an explanation on the USAPA.org website that says the game's creator had a dog named Pickles that would steal the ball when they played so they named the game Pickleball. The game was created in the summer of 1965 by a couple of dads in Washington state as a means to entertain their bored children.

There's a national organization for pickleball and information can be found at USAPA.org. There's a short video that will give you a great look at a few games actually being played. People of all ages can play, but it can be a fast game requiring quick reflexes. We were warned that playing pickleball can be addictive. Yep, it is. I used to say that going fishing was the only activity that would get me out of bed on a cold, early morning. Now I have to add playing pickleball as a second reason to set the alarm clock.

Dishwashers and Simple Living

On Sunday mornings, while fixing breakfast, I like to watch the CBS News Sunday Morning show (it was on years ago with Charles Kuralt). I like most of the stories they show and the "articles" because they're usually entertaining and not "doom and gloom". They travel to all corners of the country and always end the show with a short look at an outdoor location and I just love it when it's a river. They don't talk during the last segment and instead they turn up the volume on the singing birds and babbling brooks. For a few seconds I'm out in the wilds.

This morning they had a funny segment on the proper loading of dishwashers. They attempted to answer the long-time question of rinsing off the dishes before putting them in the dishwasher. And which direction for the silverware? Up or down? I've never felt comfortable loading other people's dishwashers because of these mysteries. And usually the people who have dishwashers have a very specific regimen they follow. And I figured I could have my dishes washed and sitting in the draining tray long before I rinsed the dishes and arranged them "properly" in the dishwasher machine. And the additional time to unload the dishwasher!

After we laughed about the dishwasher segment, I turned to Rick and said "Do you realize I've never had a dishwasher?" He grinned a big grin. I continued, "Besides never having a dishwasher, I've never owned a washer or dryer, nor a garbage disposal. And most of our life we've only had one car." And we've never felt the need to have a huge house. I like to think we live simply.

The major reason is not that we couldn't afford it, but that it wouldn't fit well in our RV. Or that we didn't find it necessary in our lifestyle. Even when we did have 2 cars, we carpooled. And like riding together when we worked, washing dishes together has never been a big deal. Rick jokes that if I cook, he gets to wash. Yet he almost always takes the dishwashing job, even when he grills. Living where we do, with multiple neighborhood centers with many washers and dryers, I've always enjoyed taking the golf cart to the neighborhood center to do laundry. (Lots to do at the Town Center.) And a garbage disposal in a motorhome or trailer? We always wanted the extra storage space in the cabinet. Rick reminded me that we bought a disposal once, but when I saw how big it was under the sink, I changed my mind.

We recently upgraded our DirecTV service and finally did get a DVR that will record TV movies and shows we miss. I had once thought "Why do I need to record TV?" This DVR is turning out to be a handy item. Being retired and living at an active resort community keeps us out and about more than ever. Now I can record the Sunday Morning show and watch it whenever I want to.

On the Injured Reserve List

One day, about a week ago, I really hurt myself playing my new favorite hobby, pickleball. We've been playing about 4 weeks and we were progressing quite well. We love it and play every morning.

I'd played pickleball the day before in some pain, very minor pain, but still, I knew my upper left leg was not as it should have been after a couple hours. But I played through it, thinking it would get better, not worse. Well the second day of playing with minor pain turned into a royal pain in the butt! Literally! A true P.I.T.A. Now, before you start laughing, this is serious stuff! Stop smiling!

After playing about 3 hours I had to quit in the middle of a game and asked Rick to take me to a doctor! I could hardly walk to the golf cart and once home I just wanted someone to take the pain away. I couldn't put weight on my left leg. I'd never ever been to a chiropractor in my life (never), but I sure wanted one now! I found one within a mile of our place, covered by our insurance, and called to see if they could see me. The receptionist said "What time would you like tomorrow?" and I said "Now." The doctor saw me immediately and after an exam, let me know I'd torn my gluteus maximus, yep, really a pain in the butt. Stabbing pain, but only when I walk. Ha! After the treatment and the relief of knowing what was wrong, I was feeling sort of better. The doctor did a minor alignment, heat treatment, and a massage. Great massage, but somewhat painful in the area of the sore muscle. All that felt better - especially when she stopped. She also grounded me from pickleball for 3 days. Bummer! So I went up to the courts with Rick in the morning and visited with the players waiting to rotate into a game. I went back to the doctor 3 days for the treatments and started to feel better. Thought I was on the road to wellness.

Also part of my treatment is for me to apply ice to the affected muscle. I've seen my sister use a bag of frozen peas wrapped in a towel as an ice pack for boo-boos, so I looked in my freezer for frozen veggies and right there on top were the frozen chicken patties I'd made for grilling. Hmmm... We were planning to eat them for dinner. And I did need to defrost them. So I took the frozen ground chicken patties and wrapped them in a dishtowel and placed them where it hurt. They were the perfect size and shape for my ice treatment. And I'd have them defrosted in time for dinner. Multi-tasking is a knack of mine.

I even took Sunday off from playing and made it 4 days without pickleball. And then on Monday I just dinked the ball over the net and didn't do any running. Only did that for a few minutes. My butt still hurt, but the doc had said just 3 days of no play, so I'd probably feel better Tuesday. Makes sense, right? Wrong.

On Tuesday I warmed up with Rick and it really hurt so I sat for 30 minutes and watched a game. Then I wanted to practice my serves and I did that for another 15 minutes, and it still hurt. It was getting worse and I knew I couldn't play through the pain to make it go away. So I decided being off 4 days and going to the doctor 3 times wasn't going to fix my gluteus maximus muscle. I limped into the doctor's office for another heat treatment and massage and told her "I'm really serious about getting over this and what do I need to do to play pickleball again?" And now she's grounded me from pickleball for 2 weeks! I can't do anything that causes my muscles to hurt or strain.

I need to take it easy, rest the muscle, do light stretching, and NO pickleball! I'm on the Injured Reserve List. I've been benched. Thank goodness I have the photo books to work on. I have one completed and I'm half way done with a second one.

Free photo book offer deadline extended

The offer by Oprah and Peter Walsh for a free photo book from SnapFish.com has been extended for another week. I just received an email saying that I had until Nov. 22 to complete my order. You should log on through the Oprah.com site and click the link to SnapFish.com. (find the Peter Walsh "Get Organized" episode) I'm not sure if SnapFish has extended the deadline to only complete the book or extended the date to log on to get the credit. Originally you needed to log on and get the credit applied to your account by today at midnight.

The reason for SnapFish extending the deadline is that their website is experiencing extemely high traffic due to the offer. Here's the email I received with some tips and hints on how to navigate the site and create your book. And although the book is free, you still need to pay a shipping charge of $6.99.

FREE photo book offer - for a very limited time

I got "grounded" today (more on that later) and was watching afternoon TV, Oprah specifically, because she was talking about organizing and de-cluttering your life. As a way to organize printed photos she announced an offer for a FREE 20 page photo book from SnapFish.com. BUT the offer is only good for 48 hours and you have to get your coupon before the offer expires at 11:59 PM PST on 11/14/08. I believe you will then have 2 more days to finish your book.

The book is a $30 value and you can choose from a few different styles. Some styles let you place multiple photos on a page so upload your favorite photos now. I also noticed a feature where the site will organize the photos in the book for you and then you can tweak them. You'll have to pay shipping and tax.

If you log onto her site at www.oprah.com you will find a link to SnapFish and the FREE photo book 'coupon'. You will need to establish an account if you don't already have one. And like I mentioned, this is for a limited time. The way I read it, if you go to SnapFish before midnight on Friday and get the coupon you will have until Sunday to finish the book and submit your order. Read through it to make sure I'm right. Go get your coupon and start uploading those photos!

SnapFish is a website that you can upload photos to, make your albums private, share with friends, order photo items, and much more. Have fun!

Comments to Comments

I've read that it's proper blog etiquette to respond to comments we receive. I try to reply to comments as soon as I read them, although it sometimes takes me a couple days. But I try. And everyone can see the published comments and replies under each posting, if you're interested. I welcome comments and appreciate the few that we get. (Thanks Polly!)

Although I write on this blog for myself, it's nice to know that others read it and get something from it. I started it so that family members and friends could keep up with us and know what we're doing. It's turned into a way to get the thoughts out of my mind and recorded. And a way to share my photos. The blog has turned into more of a journal for me. But like I said, if someone reads it and gets a smile, a fishing tip, a travel hint, or a shared life lesson, that's what I'm hoping for.

I received a nice comment from someone named Roberta. This photo is for her.

More on our Bobcat visitor

I'm still amazed about the visiting bobcat. What astonishes me is that these bobcats are hanging around this community with so many people. In such an inhabited place.

Years ago, 23 years ago, when this and the surrounding communities were being built, we displaced snakes, hawks, and many others animals. It used to be fairly common to see raccoons while on an evening walk or to have skunks saunter through the patio at happy hour. Numerous snakes had to be removed from yards. The roadrunners became almost tame taking raw meat from the neighbors. I remember realizing when the hawks were becoming scarce. The golf course lakes and green grassy areas must be attracting more and more animals back into our fenced community.

The rabbits came back to eat the pansies and petunias we plant. Some people put out bird seed to attract the quail. The rabbits and quail attract coyotes, and now, bobcats. I'm happy the original inhabitants are making their way back into the neighborhood.

It's a Zoo in our Backyard

In our small desert RV community it's common to see coyotes, roadrunners, quail, rabbits, and even a javelina once in a great while.







When we returned home a couple weeks ago we were told bobcats had set up residency in our park. Bobcats! How cool is that?!?! Cool, unless you have a small dog or cat I guess. Anyway, some people have snapped photos of the bobcats, seeing 3 together at one time. Ever since we've been home, and we learned they were here, I've wanted to see one something terrible! Everyday I've said to Rick "Wish I could see the bobcats."

Some of the residents of our park have complained that there are too many rabbits and they eat the flowers they plant. And the shrubs. And the cactus. The rabbits eat almost everything. Well, the resort personnel have asked the residents to not bother the coyotes or bobcats because they are starting to get the rabbit population under control. That's one way to deal with the cute pests!

This evening Rick's parents were having dinner at our place and Rick's dad says "Hey, there's a bobcat out front." What!! I couldn't believe it! I only caught a quick glimpse of it, but I was hoping for more. I saw it come into our front yard, heading for the backyard and I ran to get my camera. I got a quick shot of it passing through our side yard and I ran to the bedroom. Rick and his parents went into the living room to watch it. The bobcat was right below the bedroom window! Standing right below me! I could tell it was getting ready to jump the 6' wall and I snapped another quick shot as it lept to the top of the wall. I thought it was going over, but it was my luck that it sat on the wall for a minute and I was able to get a few more shots. I was about 4 feet from it, inside the house.

As I watched in amazement I kept thinking, "What a beautiful wild animal!" The bobcat sat on the wall, surveying the yards on the other side, looking for movement in the bushes perhaps. I like to think that it knew I was inside, watching, fascinated, marveling, getting the photos I wanted so badly, before it jumped over and trotted after it's rabbit dinner.

Comments are easy

The folks at Blogger have made some nice changes lately and I wanted to share one with you.

Have you ever read a blog, maybe this one, and wanted to leave a comment? Maybe to add something more, correct something, agree, ask a question, or just share your thoughts on the issue? Now it's so easy!

At the bottom of our blog posts you will see a link to "comments". It might show "0 comments", but if you click on "comments" you can leave us a message. You can enter your name and if you have a blog or webpage you can include it. Or you can be anonymous, but it would be nice of you to leave us a hint to who you are. You have to type in some squiggly letters, aka letter recognition, but that's easy. We read and approve all comments before they are published. If you want to make it private (unpublished) just say so.

We'd like to hear from you, I think.

FREE Annual Credit Reports

You could say that this is another PSA or Public Service Announcement.

Every 12 months you can get a free credit report from each of the 3 credit reporting agencies = EquiFax, Experian, and TransUnion. The Internet website is https://www.annualcreditreport.com/cra/index.jsp

I think the easiest method is on the Internet, but you can request the reports by phone or in writing. We spread them out throughout the year with Rick getting his from one agency and I get mine from another agency. Supposedly the 3 agencies share information between themselves, so we feel we're keeping a closer eye on our data by spreading them out.

If you've never gotten a report for yourself you might find some interesting information. It's easy and it's free. Give it a try and protect your private information.

Silly Me

Where have these silly posts come from? Why do I allow the fish to be part of my postings when I'm no where near water?

As I go about my daily routine, I think about fly fishing. I needed a haircut and I see fish with hair. I go to the dentist and those sharp teeth in the mouth of a brown trout are felt once again. I don't turn on the radio because I still hear the river burbling in my ears. The weather is turning cool, but I feel the cold river surrounding my legs. I look at the clouds floating by in the sky and see trout sipping bugs off the river's surface.

When we left the river, and our summer spent concentrating on fly fishing, I just couldn't leave the fish behind. They creep into my thoughts, my postings, my dreams, my future plans.

Some people have bad habits. I have the good habit of thinking about fly fishing. I'm one crazy woman! I'll try to share some of my more saner thoughts, sans trout.

Stand in Line?

It doesn't matter who you voted for, I just hope you exercised your rights and voted.

If you stood in line at your polling place to vote, but wished you didn't have to, read on. (Uh-oh! Sounds like another PSA.) The television is showing very long lines of patient people waiting to cast their votes, but it doesn't have to be that way for you.

You probably know this, but just in case you don't, I'll share this with you. You can request an absentee ballot, sometimes referred to as a vote-by-mail ballot, and avoid those election-day lines. You can complete your ballot in the comfort of your home, at your leisure, and mail it.

What if something happened on voting day and you couldn't get to your voting location? I like to think that voting is very important to you and if you can do it the easy way, why not? We've used this method for years and love it. We don't miss shuffling our schedules or standing in line in order to vote. Or the check-in process, with someone verifying who we are. And heaven forbid, you go to the wrong polling location and then have to find where you really should be.

Give it a try now, go on-line and ask for your mail-in-ballot, while the memory of standing in line is fresh in your mind.

How long between hair cuts Ms Fish?

How long do you wait before getting your hair cut? Whether you're in the work place or on the retirement highway, you don't want to start looking like a hippie. (or maybe you do!!) I guess one of the freedoms of being retired is not having to conform to the expectations of the corporate workplace.

I've cut Rick's hair for the past 32 years (yes, that's why it looks the way it does) and he likes to have it cut about every 4 weeks. Or at least he hopes for 4 weeks. I like to cut his hair, but I've never tried to cut anyone else's. We still have the same Wahl clippers that we purchased some 30 years ago! Whenever I cut his hair, like outside at a campground, it usually attracts a small crowd of looky-loos.

When I was a teenager my hair was long and straight. Sometimes I'd have bangs sometimes not. Long and straight was easy to maintain and didn't take any thought. Not long after meeting Rick I started getting shorter and shorter hair styles.

When I was working I went to get my hair cut about every 5 weeks. Sometimes I'd wait a little longer to try to stretch out the haircut, but this usually only worked well if I'd received a shorter-than-expected cut.

It's now been 5 months since I've had a hair cut. FIVE MONTHS! The last time I had it cut was the end of May in Oregon. I had it cut rather short then knowing I was going to be in the wilds of Montana and not sure if they had hair salons where we were going. (Just kidding! Sort of!) Anyway, it's been 5 months and I've let it grow out, making it very easy to pull back and put under a big fishing hat or ball cap. Almost back to where I had it as a teenager. Only thing is now I'm a little older, OK, older, and I'm seeing people who know me with short hair. They're all saying "You have long hair" so I know it must look quite different. And I'm at that age, won't put it in writing here, when most women start cutting their hair shorter and shorter. Really short.

There are style websites where you can upload a photo and see how different hairstyles would look on you. I've tried some "before and after" looks.

And I even tried blonde and short.

Now that we're back in Arizona, I've stopped in at the local drop-in hair places to check them out. Now I just need to figure out how short I want my hair to be. One thing is for certain, I want it to be no-fuss, no-muss. Not having to do my hair every morning at 4:30 AM is a big benefit of being retired.

If you're on the retirement highway how do you handle haircuts?

Flossing with Fishing Line

Being back in our hometown after 10 months living in the motor home means catching up with annual doctor appointments. The routine health maintenance visits that we believe in. Including a 6 month visit to our dentist. This is starting to sound like a PSA = Public Service Announcement.

We're lucky, I think, to really like the employees and the dentist that we have been going to for years. We know them and they know us. When we walked into the dentist office, the office manager, Staci, said "There's 2 of my favorite people!" They're just a friendly, warm group of people.

Rick and I had our teeth cleaned, Rick without instance. Not so easy for me. The hygienist and the dentist collaborated and agreed that I needed an old silver-color filling removed and a crown installed to replace it. No, not the type of crown to wear on my head to show to all that I am queen. The type of crown that will save my #2 tooth. I didn't like the news, but eventually I agreed with them.

What choice did I really have? Like a commercial we've seen on TV, I could wait until my tooth falls apart when I'm far from home. Funny, I've not had any pain from there, but it was cracked they said, like an ice cube. I said to the hygienist, "you mean like a diamond." Oh yes, she agreed, "a diamond", humoring me.

It seems Rick and I are having to deal with replacing the few fillings we had done as children. No, not from eating too much Halloween candy! For the past few years the old silver fillings have been falling apart or causing our teeth to have problems. The old fillings have lasted 30, 40 years or more, and dentists don't use that type of material anymore. Thank goodness neither of us have very many old fillings. And no other dental problems. Whew!

Anyway, while talking with the hygienist and telling her my brushing and flossing habits, she said I need to try to brush my teeth every 4 hours regardless of if I eat or not. What? Every 4 hours? I hadn't heard of that routine before, but she said the bacteria needs to be moved around so the plaque doesn't stick to my teeth.

Makes sense, I guess. But I told her I fish all day and I didn't see how I was going to be able to bring out my toothbrush (rechargeable electric) on the river and buzz buzz buzz my teeth. She didn't understand how I could fish for 6 or 8 hours and it took her a few minutes to grasp that I was standing in a river, not on a boat. I don't usually stop to sit on the river bank and take a break.

I'm sure it's written somewhere in the Official River Etiquette Rule Book that no electric toothbrushes are allowed to disrupt the quiet of the river. I would be laughed at and it might scare the fish. She didn't quite understand the Rules of the River and she said I could buy small, travel sized toothbrushes with pre-applied toothpaste. And she said I could floss! With fishing line if that's all I had with me.

Hmmm... 5 pound or 10 pound line??? I'll have to make sure no hook is attached!!!

Laughing at myself

I admit I sounded like a dud in the previous posting about Halloween. Yep, a dud. Admitted. But those are my thoughts and this is a blog, one where I get to write my thoughts so they don't keep circling round and round up there.

Today I received an email from a good friend, someone we got to know pretty well over the past summer. It's always good to hear from him. When I read it I laughed, actually had a good laugh, and thought he was also having a good laugh at me. That's OK. We learned to understand each other's sense of humor after a short while and my first thought was 'he's poking fun at me.' Even Rick had a good laugh at the email.

But then I said to Rick, "Perhaps this is honestly true?"

Mic,
I had errands to do yesterday and I found very conspicuous signs saying "Please Remove Costumes Before Entering" at the bank and a convenience store. Sad state of affairs.

I do like the Mexican tradition of celebrating "Dia De Los Muertos."

Steve

I'm not able to see his face through email, and you don't always get the feelings a person is trying to convey through email. I can't see if he has a grin on his face or if he's serious. But he did get me to laugh at myself. Thank you friend!

On a sad note, I did read about or hear about crimes, some tragic, that were committed on Halloween. I'm not sure the crimes were so out of the ordinary or if they made it to the headlines because they involved a Halloween costumed bank robber or a child out trick-or-treating. But as my friend said, it is a sad state of affairs.