Wes and Jan see the US Wanderings and Side Trips

Time flies... Sep 14, 2007

Wow, has it already been 10 days since the last posting?!! I apologize to those of you who check in every day or so. We have been pretty busy the past week or so. Padraic and Willie have been visiting and we are having dinner together every evening. Padraic makes delicious stir fry and fried rice - actually just about anything you can cook in a wok. I think Padraic has his box removed from his truck and is getting ready to do some fiberglass repair work and painting. Then he is going to build a new box. Willie is always busy working away at her "on the road" job. They seem to like it here at the farm and we are certainly enjoying them being our "neighbors" for a few weeks.

We spent three days in Aurora with our daughter, Suzy, and her family. We went to get some shopping done, but mainly to get my new cell phone and a new camera. And, of course, to visit the best massage therapist in the business - Delephine Standard. I spent a couple of hours at the Verizon Store on Mississippi Avenue in Aurora and Heath was our customer service rep. This is the best Verizon store in the system! Their employees are polite and sincere and want you to have a good experience. This is really important for "oldies" like us who are technically challenged. We removed Wes from our daughter's family plan and added him to my plan. That was easy enough and we were able to reduce our minutes based on both of our histories of use. That will save a little money each month. It was/is time for my "new every two" phone and I have seriously been considering a Palm Treo since my Palm died. I had LOTS of questions and, of course, Wes had to know how much money it was going to cost him. Heath answered every question in detail and explained everything so I had a clear understanding. He even suggested I could order my phone over the internet and save an additional $100.00. So, I will be able to get my $500.00 Palm Treo for $150.00 if I order it from the internet. I'd say that is a pretty good savings, but Wes is not convinced yet. We will see what happens, but I came home without a new phone.

Next to the camera store. I knew what I wanted, but just needed to get some prices together. A Nikon D40X is my final choice with 2 lenses. Guess what?!! It was on sale! I could save about $200.00 on the whole package! Well, you guessed it - Wes wasn't sure! So, I left without a new camera either!! We can still order it on line through Saturday and get the sale price.

Are you seeing a pattern here? I sure enjoyed my pre-retirement life when I had my own income and I could pretty much buy whatever I wanted. It is sometimes difficult to have to get approval from Wes when I want something - and it is also difficult to have to watch our money so closely. But the trade off is - retirement and being able to do what we want.

We enjoyed the three days with our kids. We attended our grandaughter, Zoe's, track meet and Suzy and Mike's coed softball game. We did all the paperwork we needed to do for our trusts, bought parts for my Tahoe, and grocery shopped for fresh fruits and veggies. I love those Colorado peaches, so I was able to get another box to bring home. And Rocky Ford cantelope too.

I believe we may lose our dog, Sophie, to Padraic and Willie. She loves them! Even while we were gone, she followed Padraic around like she does Wes. They may have to take her with them when they leave :-)

Shan Stewart is my second cousin and he does all our farming and watches over our place when we are gone. His son, Shea, and his wife Jordan had their first baby on Sept 11. It is Shan and Myra's first grandchild. They are still walking on air! Congrats Stewart family!!

Our concession trailer is ready to be sold. We just need to get some temporary plates so we can take it to Denver. And our large enclosed trailer is cleaned and empty now. So - I am busy cleaning out and sorting through all our stuff in preparation for a garage sale on October 6. We will put everything in the enclosed trailer and take it to Wes's sister's in Ulysses, KS about 70 miles away. We are combining our garage sale with her and her daughter. People in that town are more supportive of garage sales and don't mind paying a little money for things. I am also learning about EBay, so will maybe be able to sell some things there for a better price. We also have an antique store here in town, so will be setting up some of our more valuable things there for sale.

On top of all this we are spraying weeds, mowing and replanting some grass. And we still have to paint the house and other buildings. I hope winter doesn't get here too soon.