Thursday AM:

The weather is cool and windy today.  It looks like a good day to stay home and be retired.

Yesterday we traveled to the Astrodome, which is a part of the new Reliant Stadium complex.  Houston is in the beginning days of their big Livestock Show and Rodeo. The show goes on for three weeks.  It is a really big deal here.  Imagine if the 4th of July under the arch lasted three weeks.  That would be comparable. As you can see I am trying to fit in.  Is this a good look for me?





 

 I guess it will be okay for Texas and Arizona.  Maybe I need some snakeskin boots.

It was military day at the Rodeo so we were able to get a few extra pins for my USO hat and Lela's USO vest. We were fortunate to meet the gentleman in the picture below.  He is 92 years old but still pretty sharp.  That is his daughter with him. We always enjoy meeting the WW II vets.  He is holding the Life Magazine which featured him on the cover.
 Life Magazine October 28, 1940 : Cover - U.S. Navy sailor Joseph John Timpani of Cranston, Rhode Island.

 The USO also had a presence using their mobile unit.  We had a nice visit with their local director and toured the unit.

The picture doesn't do it justice.  It was quite impressive. The shaded windows you see are TV screens.  The window on the left is the galley's food bar.  Inside is a nice lounge with TV and several gaming stations.

We returned home just ahead of the traffic (if there is such a thing as ahead of the traffic in Houston).
Noel prepared fish tacos for dinner as we awaited the "Duck Dynasty" watch party.  We have become fans of the show and last night was the beginning of the new season.  You should check out the show.

We are beginning the process of "breaking camp" as we will be pulling out Monday AM. for Ft. Stockton TX.  This will be our longest travel day.  We will have two nights on the road before we arrive at our destination in Arizona.

Monday Afternoon:

Sorry for not having an update for a few days.  It seems like we haven't had time at home to log in and do it.

Thursday we were at Noel's for Chinese food. We usually don't leave there until late in the evening, and Thursday was no exception. We enjoyed ourselves and the great food.

Friday started out rainy and cold, but improved by noon.  Lela and Noel went to Old Town Spring, Texas for a day of antiquing and shopping.  G'pa stayed at home and worked on some DVDs to give to Drew, which concern his "Early Years".  

Saturday, we had the crew over to our place for dinner and a movie.  They had not seen "The Long Long Trailer" so we watched it again with them.  It is still funny!  We finally got the whole family together so we got some good pictures.  I had to put out all our decorations for the occasion except the red, white and blue carpet.

 The "compound"

 

Patrick, Shelby, Drew and Noel

 

 

Drew

 Shelby

Sunday we went to 8 AM Worship at Woodlands Oaks C of C and returned home.  Later we went to Noel's to visit with the children. Drew and his girfriend Natalie, and Shelby kept us entertained and Patrick cooked some burgers on the grill.  We paired the burgers with some leftovers from the night before and waited for Noel to get home from work.  The evening consisted of good conversation and "Duck Dynasty".

 Drew and Natalie

Today we stayed close to home for most of the day, but are getting ready to visit the daughter-in-law of an Irish Lady we met years ago, with whom Lela corresponds.

It is hard to believe that this is our last week in Texas.  We will be making ready to leave for Paul Jr.'s place in Phoenix next Monday.

Wednesday AM:
Today is a cool and wet day in Magnolia TX.  It looks like a good day to create some DVDs from my VHS captures.  Forcast is for 62 with 50% chance for rain.  Tomorrow's forcast is for 74 with 80% chance of rain with some thunderstorms.  I looked at STL and see that it is 18 Degrees.

Yesterday we did some necessary shopping and then spent the day in the sun at a local park.  We had a picnic on the bank of a beautiful lake.

The attached picture shows that we had some guests join us for the crackers.

Curt, as you can see, there was no gun necessary if I was in the market for a tasty dinner.

We walked three times around the lake, (about 45 minutes), on a paved trail.  When the wilderness trails dry out I think we will try them. all in all, it was a very enjoyable day.
After the park, we went to the driving range and hit a bucket of balls while DW looked on.  I don't know if the practice helps, but it is great to be in the sun.

Noel will be off from work for the next few days beginning tomorrow, so it looks like we will be having more family time.

Here is a site you won't see very often in MO.  Houston's big Rodeo is coming to town, so some of the roads have wagon trains and horses and such coming into town.  We had to detour around short train.

Sunday AM:
Yesterday was a great weather day, about 72 degrees.  We spent the day in Old TomballTexas.  It is similar to downtown Saint Charles, but on a smaller scale.

We rummaged through countless "antique" shops.  My best buy was two baseballs made in Haiti of horsehide.  DW purchased a blouse which caught her fancy.

We had lunch at a local place named "Southern Comfort".  Good food!

Then back to the Silver Star for some BBQ and a movie.

We got up early this morning to make it to the 8 AM worship. Now, we are waiting for 1:00 to meet the kids at Lupe's Mexican Restaurant for lunch.  It is Lela's favorite place. Activities after lunch are yet to be decided.

Friday Afternoon:
I haven't had much to report this week.  We have been pretty close to family all week.  We did laundry at Noel's house, fixed dinner for Drew one night, Had mexican food one night, and watched a lot of movies at home yesterday on the Valentine's day movie "Love Fest" network.

We had to order a mattress as the one we were sleeping on seemed just fine when we were just on weekend outings.  On an extended outing such as we are on now, it was killing us.  We needed what is called a short queen size.  Evidently you can only find that at an RV store.  We ordered from Camping world and received it on Tuesday.  All I can say is that it is like night and day. Much more comfortable although a bit "pricey".  DW (dear wife) is now a happy camper (worth every penny).

70 degrees yesterday and again today.  I haven't gone to play golf since I last reported, but I did hit some balls today.  I have plenty to work on as my swing pretty much sucks.  Everything seem to go to the right.

After hitting balls I drove into Tomball TX.  It is just a short distance from us.  It looks like there are a few antique spots in the "Old Town" area,so I think that is on our agenda sometime next week.

I also located a park about 5 miles from here where there are walking trails that go through the "wilderness". 

I walked a couple of them and am looking forward to taking Lela there. 

She is shopping with Noel today.  We are cooking out at their house tonight.

I talked to Judy and Michael this week. They gave me the info on everyone back at home.  I can report that Joey had his tonsils out this morning and is back home now recuperating.  I hope his recovery from that surgery goes better than mine did.

That is all for now. I know that people are looking at this blog as I have had over 800 views already.

Saturday Morning:
There is nothing on the agenda today except to visit with Patrick, Noel, Drew and Shelby.

The Regional Wrestling did not go as we had hoped.  In Drew's first match he drew the #1 seed again.  The guy was the defending state champion from 2012.  In the second match, drew fought well but was defeated.  His wrestling career is at an end.  He enjoyed his time on the Woodlands Team and learned many valuable lessons including self discipline, work-reward, and sportsmanship.  We were proud of him.

We are watching the blizzard of  '13 in the northeast on the news.  We are very thankful that we are warm and comfortable.

Wednesday Afternoon.
It is raining here today.  The forcast is for 2 to 3 inches.  I can't help but think that in Missouri that might be 24 to 36 inches of snow!  Houston has been unseasonably warm up to low 80's.

We got our exercise today at The Woodlands Mall.  It was dry inside.  The mall reminds us that it takes all kinds to make up the world.  We saw some pretty strange people.

I got out on the golf course yesterday for 18 holes riding.  I played pretty well (45 - 40 for an 85). That was much better than my first outing.  I even had a birdie on a 199 yard par three.  3 wood to about 4 feet. 

The temperature at the course was 81.  Lela and I are not missing the cold weather, but we are missing the family.

Tomorrow we will have dinner at Noel's and spend the night there.  We need to leave early Friday morning to go to Clearlake TX for the regional wrestling tournament.  If Drew does well there he could go on to "state".

 

Sunday Afternoon, second post today.
Yesterday was Groundhog day, which you may know is our annual get-away weekend.  However, we are now on a permanent weekend.  Everyday is Saturday.  We marked the occasion with a wonderful dinner at a Mom and Pop Italian restaurant near the Woodlands.  Our meal was delicious.  The restaurant had all the ambiance you could expect including Sinatra music.

 

 



 

This afternoon is The Superbowl.  Lela and I are taking some steaks and some Ravens paper goods to Noel's house to watch the game and have some eats.  We are rooting for the Ravens over the 49ers because we like Michael Oher #74 from the movie Blindside.

 

 

 

Sunday Morning.  I see it has been almost a week since I posted here.

We have been keeping pretty busy with Noel and her family.  We have spent a couple overnights in her guest room while Patrick was at work and Drew was gone.

The biggest thing that happened this week was the District wrestling tournament.  It was at Klein H.S., about 10 miles away.  The Woodlands team took 3^rd in the team competition out of 9 teams.  The team had 5 kids in the championship matches in their weight class.  Only one actually won 1^st place.

Drew was the 4 seed and wrestled the 5 seed first.  He pinned him.  Then with the surprise of the day he wrestled the #1 seed and pinned him.  That created quite a buzz around the auditorium. The 1 seed was probably the most surprised kid at the meet.  Needless to say we were all quite proud of Drew. 

The championship match was a very good fight.  The #2 seed and Drew were friends from church, so they knew one another pretty well.  At the end of the first round it was even at 4 – 4.  Drew gained advantage and lost it as did the #2 guy.  With 30 seconds left in the 2^nd round, #2 gained an advantage and Drew was pinned.  He was very disappointed at the time, but now knows he and his team had a great day.

 

So now having qualified for regionals, we are heading to Clearlake, TX next Friday for the regional tournament.  That will determine if he can advance to the state tournament.

 

Here is a link to his first match vs. #5 seed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xCnDUYYHIJ8

 

Here is a link to the 2^nd match vs. #1 seed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJ4Xl_KsXYg

 

As soon as I can upload the championship match, I'll post that link too. My connection is not too good.

Here is the link to the championship match.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8MJ30vn7e8&feature=youtu.be