February is gone! How did that happen?

There hasn't been too much going on around here.  Just been getting Johnny caught up on doctor's visits so long as he is here in Austin.  He got his custom shoes and brace on Valentines Day and so far it is working out well.  He's getting used to walking with it and it seems to be working.  He had another appointment with a different orthopedic doctor who thought it would be even better if his brace went above the knee.   So we're working on getting that done.   He's also working on a referral to a specialist who is one of only about 3 doctors in the US who does some sort of Russian procedure that might be an option to rebuild his shin bones.  So we will see how all that works out.

While that is all going on, we're waiting on the trailer being fixed and trying to get some stuff done around the house.  Oh and doing a bit of motorhome shopping.  We've found a Travel Supreme in Florida that looks really good and is a better price range for us.  Only problem is that it is in Florida and we're in Austin!

I've been working this week with a very nice real estate client and trying to figure out options for working on the road.  I've talked with a couple of agents who found they really didn't enjoy actually working with clients and ended up leading teams of other agents who dealt with clients.  While I really enjoy working with clients, I'm exploring this as an option that I can continue once we are traveling full-time.  It's looking like it could really work and would leverage my experience and investment already made.

The weather has finally gotten very nice this week, so I'm hoping to play some golf and get some work done in the yard.

Happy Valentines Day!

I feel bad about not posting more often.  We've had a run of bad luck the past week or so...  It's not much fun to write about the bad stuff, but you can't really ignore it either -- much as we'd like to!

Before we left Austin my friends, Rhonda and Michael, hosted a wonderful 6 course birthday dinner for me complete with wine pairings.  My date Johnny had more wine that night than I think he's had the whole time I've known him! Dinner was absolutely fabulous!  Thanks guys!

  

Our wonderful hostess, Rhonda.  Somehow we missed Chef Michael on camera!

Things started to go wrong when we hooked up the 5er to head down to Louisiana to visit the kids and grandkids.  For some reason we just weren't entirely in sync and Johnny tried to back the truck up before I pulled the hitch pin.  Oops!  Recovered from that, got things hooked up and headed now the road.  

Eight hours later we were unhooking at Lakeside RV Park in Livingston, LA.  I think Dee and Jim would like this park.  Nice large, level rv spots and not too many trees to maneuver around!  Apparently, we still weren't quite in sync.  Normally I put the front jacks down on the trailer before I pull the hitch pin and Johnny pulls out.  For some reason we tried to make sure the pin would move first.  It jammed and when it finally came loose the trailer rolled back a couple feet and dropped on the truck bed.  Scared the cr@p out of us, but thankfully the only damage was to the truck bed and later we learned to the bed slide mechanism in the trailer.  Oh well, we were taking it to the shop later in the week anyway...

Over the next couple of days we had a good visit with Johnny's kids and grandkids.  We met the newest grandson, Barrett Andrew.  Played with big brother, Bennent Anthony, whose current favorite phrase seems to be, "You no hold that baby, you play with me!" 

Paw Paw Johnny and Barrett Andrew

We also had custards with the older boys, Conly and Preston and got to see Preston play basketball.  Unfortunately they lost, but Preston played well.

On February 10th I celebrated my 50th birthday Johnny's daughters, Keri and Kelli, Kelli's husband Shane and their older son, Bennett at Hello Tokyo Sushi and Hibachi Grill.  Johnny was skeptical about the whole idea of raw fish, but went along since it was MY birthday.  He found out he really likes Japanese grilled food!  I knew he would, but had to find a big enough reason for him to go along and try it.  Seems my 50th was an occasion he couldn't say no to... I resisted the temptation to order him some sashimi.  lol

My Junior Birthday Date, Bennett

No, the hat isn't for me...

On Friday morning we headed out to Houston to drop off the trailer at Bob Jones RV Repair for some needed repairs.  (Thankfully, our ineptness from earlier in the week seemed to have worn off and got on the road incident free.)  We had to get the bed slide mechanism taken care of and also some ice/water damage from when we were up in the Arkansas rain, snow, sleet and ice in early January.  There's some debate about whether the ice/water damage will be covered by insurance.  Keep your fingers crossed for us!  By the way, if you ever need RV service or a repair and are in the south Texas/Louisiana area, we highly recommend Bob Jones RV.  They are great!  Not cheap, but they have things done when they say they will, they're done correctly and they will work with you to find a good solution.

The trip through Houston, dropping the trailer and the remainder of the trip to Austin was smooth.  Right till we stopped at Chuy's for some local Tex-Mex  before heading to the house.  That's when the transmission in the truck went away.  We just found out it will cost $5750 for the replacement transmission.  Oh joy!   Nothing to do but fix it.

On the upside, we've had a very nice Valentines Day together so far.  The weather is lovely.  I gave Johnny the watch I had picked out for him a couple of months ago.  He showered me with a variety of fudge, a pretty nightgown and robe and a blue topaz bracelet.  And the very best thing is we picked up Johnny's brace so we can see how that is working.  So far so good.  He needs to work up to wearing it full-time, so we're in the process of doing that now.  An hour or so a day to start with.

Tonight we're going to a local sushi and Japanese grill -- Johnny's request this time... I might have created a monster!  That's okay though, cuz now I get sushi without having to wait for a girls night out... lol

I keep telling him the presents are beautiful, but all that really matters is that we are able to spend the day together.  I love him more than I thought possible.  Sure hope he knows that! 

Baby, It's Cold Outside!

The weather widget on the phone says it's 20 degrees here in Austin.  We've been having "Rolling Blackouts" since about 6:30 am here.  We know that's when they started because the tv modem back up battery started beeping and the smoke alarm started going off.  I don't know why the smoke alarm keeps going off, but I finally got them to stop by disconnecting the upstairs one.  I have new ones to replace them and just haven't gotten to it.  Now is the perfect time!


I'm a little confused about the definition of a "Rolling Blackout."  Between 6:30am and noon that seemed to me 10-15 minutes of power followed by 30-45 minutes of no power.  Thankfully we have gas hot water and range.  At least we can cook on the stovetop.  The heat is gas too, but with no electricity for the fan or thermostat -- there's no heat!  The electricity has been on for a couple of hours now, so hopefully that means they have sorted things out.  We don't have any ice or wind and in the 17 years I've lived in this house, we've never had this sort of power issues!  I know it's nothing compared to other parts of the country, but still makes it uncomfortable.


Monday we managed to convince the VA to do a brace for Johnny's leg on shoes he already had instead of waiting 4 weeks for the custom shoes to come in.  He has an appointment on the 15th for his first fitting.  Assuming the brace works (keeping all the fingers and toes crossed for that), they will transfer it to the custom shoes when they come in.   All that means he should have a working brace in 2 weeks rather than 6.


Otherwise not much too report.  Stay warm out there everyone!