December 1st – Dec 3rd

“Mercury Forecast Edmonton -9 degrees, Calgary -5 degrees, Mesa 20 degrees”

I lumped the weather together as I missed a couple of days. I do know it was a lot colder up north and today we are receiving a few showers after sunny days. I must have climatized too fast as it seems to be quite cool in the evenings and a heater is for sure required to sit outside.

I got busy so am just getting around to this now. It makes it a little harder as I have to remember everything I did and being busy it may look like I didn’t do much but I was busy. LOL

On Thursday while Jackie was out golfing, I printed off and did my budget sheets for Oct and Nov as we were travelling the first of November. As expected, out of range. LOL If the market would come back it would be nice. But I will say this again. You need to live life for NOW as health issues or worse come back to bite a lot of people and they don’t get to enjoy their retirement. I have witnessed people NOT going on a special trip to save a few bucks or worse go on a trip then miss all of the activities due to cost savings. Go on the trip, spend reasonably and enjoy. Retire at 65 that leaves at best only 10 to 15 years of enjoyment. I know a long term resident of Viewpoint that has decided to sell as he thought insurance was too high now as he reached 8o years old. It was going to cost him 4K as he has issues. Spend the 4K and enjoy your time now.

Fred & I took a load to the dump which was nice to get the cleanup done. I removed a lot of branches of my Palm tree. Still deciding to kill it or not.

Jackie & I have JUST ABOUT finished the Christmas decor for the block. Our 12 more sets of lights are coming on Monday which I will install, and the lights will be done. I am going to make up trusses for the signs to see if the idea works to hold them upright as the lumber dries. I want to make it easy to store for people so have to come up with a plan that works.

I golfed with my guys on Friday and had them over for drinks after the game. It was an off game for me. Some great drives, but some horrible shots resulting in two lost balls. First lost balls since coming down this year. I was the only one with a birdie though and let me tell you the glasses were filled to the brim not your typical shot. LOL

On a Par 5 hole on my second shot, I came within 10 yards of the green while someone was still putting which they didn’t like. I knew if I made it that far it would be only an ankle hit anyways. LOL

Daisy and Jackie each morning get their walks in and fun playing at the park. Too bad there only a few smaller dogs as she only has large dog friends. Good thing she is used to Hazel and Rudy roughing her up. Daisy is a wonderful dog.

Ralph & Tracy got all packed up and left early in the morning. It was nice having a golfing couple here, but they decided to sell and explore other adventures. I will say they sold at the perfect time as they more than doubled the price they bought at only 3 years ago. Hot market and they had a beautiful place.

I respect everyone’s decision in life, but it does make me wonder. As I have said numerous times before you cannot go on a three-week vacation for less than 10K and we get to spend 182 days here for that. Golf, friends, warm weather, loads of attractions to see within minutes to a few hours away, safe, inexpensive to live, card games, potlucks, dances (reminds me, I am looking forward to the NYE dance for some old woman with no teeth to kiss me at midnight) and is a nice relaxing warm way to spend the winter. For the cost I see no reason someone can’t maintain a home here and still randomly experience a 2-to-3-week adventure to Europe or Mexico etc. Our cruise is next year which I am looking forward to that we squeezed in. As far as Mexico goes I have no desire whatso ever to go there. Ireland & Scotland is on my wish list.

Ralph & Tracy have decided to purchase a brand-new beautiful home in St Albert and made the decision to give up Viewpoint for that. To me sitting inside a gorgeous home in -30 degree weather would not be my cup of tea. No exercise or socialization is not a good thing. I hear people say they want to travel to “see things” There are a MILLION things to see in Arizona, Alberta or the USA and Canada that are exceptional, and most have not seen and at one tenth of the cost.

I do hope they do not experience sellers’ remorse.

I have been killing it at Wordle the last few days getting it in three or less over and over again. Except for a 6 thrown in there with a dumb word. I love that silly game.

They say small world which is very true. Today on Facebook messaging back and forth with an old friend from Stony Plain High a person commented on our replies.

My very first car was a 1963 Nova SS with no motor or tranny. Dad had an old 283 V8 in the garage and a three-speed manual stick tranny that he literally had to pound out the shock tunnels to make the V8 ft in the car. It was a typical young kids car. Buckets from the auto wreckers, a 5-stud bolt rear end from the wreckers ( 4 bolt remained on the front) and needing a paint job. It was fast as it was light. I bought this car from Earle Shennan the same guy that painted my 1967 Camaro. I sold it to Dave Kruse who spent a fortune on it which made it a beautiful car and Darrell Desault ended up with it. Turns out this Facebook guy bought it and had it for years. Brian Stanway Always interesting.

These cars came with a 4 cyl or 6 cyl and only weighed 2600 pounds. Dad put in a V8 283 that maybe made from factory about 180 horsepower.

That is 14 pounds per horsepower compared to a 2023 Mustang at 310 horsepower having 3868 pounds which is 13 pounds per horsepower.

It was a fun car.

Just neat to see how it survived and others enjoyed it. If I could find my 1967 Camaro today, I would buy it in a heartbeat.

They said 2/10th of an inch rain today. They lied. It has been raining since 11 am and quite heavy and enough the streets are flowing rapidly and when we went thru a “dip” to the grocery store it is filled with water.

We put up the Christmas tree today and for a inexpensive option it looks just great. It is raining too hard to go outside to get the extension cord. LOL

Thought of the Day

If the #2 pencil is the most use why is still #2 ?

December 4th–6th

“Mercury Forecast Edmonton -1 degrees, Calgary 1 degrees, Mesa 19 degrees rain “

I said the weatherman stretched the truth and boy did they. 2/10th of an inch turned out to be a LOT. It rained most of the day yesterday and last night. Water was flowing heavily down the streets and the “dips” were filled. Not too often we get rain and rarely for two days but again today off and on and grey all day with it not reaching 20 degrees.

I was surprised that no one’s fuses, or breakers clicked off with the amount of water and with the open-faced plugs.

Here is our DOLLAR TREE decorated Christmas tree. The lights are the funniest but what can you expect for $1.25. You get 3 ft LOL So we are light on the lights, but it looks pretty good. Ornaments for $1.00 how can you go wrong.

Now to fill the bottom with presents. The kids are bringing their socks down so everything should be set.

It is cool and wet outside so not much going on today except for plans to visit Fred & Terry and win a few crib games.

I have to throw this in here.

Much too cold for me. I cannot fathom the difficulty with temperature like this. We have been so spoiled for the last 8 years coming to Arizona. Having said that this year is a little cooler than the past which I don’t care for only reaching 20 or so degrees each day and getting down to the single digit at night.

We had an amazing supper at Fred & Terry’s place. My top 5 meals that I enjoy the best are turkey/chicken with mashed potatoes, steak with fries or baked potato, spaghetti w/ meatballs, hot turkey sandwich, or hot beef sandwich. Tonight, we had a roast chicken with mashed, gravy, peas, corn, and salad that was fantastic.

Then on to the serious stuff. Fred & I just managed to squeak out a victory at crib winning 3 to 1. Too many really close games. The girls played excellent but luckily, we did better. Then on UNO 99 which is a fun game. The girls were eliminated one by one, and it came down to Fred against Larry. Hard fought battle but Larry pulls off the win.

Fred poured rums all night. LOL I managed them quite well, but Jackie blamed them on me snoring too loud. I didn’t hear a thing.

A trip to Harbour Frt and Home Depot and I was set again for our street. 12 more sets of lights to hang. I will say I am now officially done for this year and nice as I am getting tired of hanging lights. Today we only had two homes where the trees were brutal to hang the lights. Our block is looking great. Fred helped me with a idea to hold up the NOEL signs by using chain. Depot for the chain and Harbour for the cutter. We installed them on the houses that needed them, and I will do the balance on a need basis.

We whipped to Auto Zone and picked up a funnel and tranny oil for Fred and installed it. It appears the service guys left it about a quart down and it had a hesitation that now is fixed.

Tonight, we got picked up by our UBER cart friends Russ & Carol and headed to the billiard hall. Guys against the girls. We played 5 games with the guy’s wining 3-2. It was very scary as every game came down to the 8 ball. You can’t get any closer than that. It was a lot of fun and long time since we have played pool. A way too many missed shots. Of the four of us I was impressed the most with Jackie sinking balls left and right. Next time I am hoping to get a few more shots down. Fun night Russ & Carol coming over for drinks after.

You have to love the lifestyle.

Christmas lights with a sunset is pretty nice ! This is taken on the 9 holes golf course cross path. That Palm tree is looking lonely but mine will is already 7 ft high so slowly catching up.

I fixed up an accounting issue at Mom’s place. We played Wordle with of us ending in a tie the last few nights. We watched a funny Christmas movie, re-organized the shed again and fit in a lot of other stuff.

I whipped to the bank for cash to pay Fred & Terry for our NYE tickets. Filled up my screw packs of the screws needed for any additional clips if needed. I bought a Frap and London Fog from Starbucks which was excellent.

Some great hockey on with the Oilers losing and Flames winning but the Flames are still a point behind. In our hockey pool Keith has moved up to 5th spot, I have moved up to 15th and Jackson is 16th. First time ahead of him. There is a Mary one spot ahead and one spot behind. I need to have a couple of good days to move ahead but I am sure most people have very similar team make ups.

Thought of the Day

When French poeple swear do they say ” Pardon my English ?”

December 7th

“Mercury Forecast Edmonton -3 degrees, Calgary 2 degrees, Mesa 18 degrees”

Wow! Edmonton one of the coldest places in the world on Tuesday and look at today. I think the Calgary chinooks are heading up north now. That is 30 degrees plus change in temperature. I am sure many are suffering from headaches and pains due to the pressure change. Nice though to be December and around zero. Today it was overcast but still nice and warm.

I was up and out of the house by 7:30 for my men’s league today at Aquilla. Today I was golfing with a two Americans, and a guy that is a member at Canyon Meadows. Some pretty nice golfing today. The youngest guy of the group by far was the longest hitter landing 10 to 20 yards ahead of myself and Mike. I have throttled back my driver. still hit longer than most, and today not one slice. The scores were good, but we ended up only with a tie on one Triad so only won $15. Mike scored a 76, Karl scored a 72, I scored an 85 and Buckley scored 93. I had one birdie but missed at least 5 birdie chance putts. I NEED TO IMPROVE MY PUTTING. Today was with not one slice, a few miss hits, some ok putts but good golf overall except the putting overall. I think I will spend some time on the green practicing different things. Having said that it may be the putter. lol

Another fun day on the course, with joking, laughs, fun golfing on a nice course with nice poeple. I enjoyed it.

I got home and we found a place to rent a van to head to Disneyland. Much better being all together in a Hutterite Van and we should have a fun travel. We need to pick it up on the 19th and have to return it on the 26th. The only risky part is it is not from a “brand” rental, so they have slightly used vans. I will say van rentals are not cheap.

I think tonight I will play wordle, hopefully win, watch a bit of TV and relax.

Thought of the Day

Why do fat chance and slim chance mean the same thing ?

December 8th -9th

“Mercury Forecast Edmonton -3 degrees, Calgary 4 degrees, Mesa 19 degrees”

We have a week of cooler weather. Now when I say that it is pretty nice as 19 degrees is 67 degrees which is a nice summer day in Calgary. But it is the coolness at night getting down to those 5 degrees. Going for our walks it means dressing warm. Pools are heated and warm though.

I confirmed our gift for Mom and hopefully she likes it. Numerous calls and planning take time. Got a few gifts booked on Amazon. Paid bills.

My niece just announced she is pregnant so Darlene will finally become a Grandmother at 64 years old. It is funny as we know people that became one in their early 40’s. Having said 64 both of Jackies brothers will be first time grandparents in the early to late 60’s.

Jackie was golfing with her group today and came back to have a after gathering. Jackie had a great game with a 44 on the nine hole. I left and went to visit Fred while they were gaggling.

Our group of about 14 golfers is shrinking with hurt players and players leaving for Christmas at home. We will short for a few weeks then get back to a full sheet in January. Right now, we will run with 8 on Mon, 4 on Tues and 6 to 8 on Friday. Fun group that I really like golfing with.

Keith’s birthday !

Yes, the unbelievable has happened. Mr ( I say that loosely) Keith Harry is turning 65 years old.  Yes, this guy is OLD. I could make fun of all the things that he is experiencing but as I don’t have the knowledge of these things, so I won’t.  I haven’t shared my fountain of youth. I do worry about him as older men living vicariously through their cities sports teams and experiencing so many losses and disappointments can be prone to impotence, along with depression. I have known Keith now for 47 years and have had many, many fun and interesting times with him. Here are some facts, events and things experienced that I have stated or told stories about before but always worth a revisit. Hopefully the odd new tale or picture included.

1. I have to mention the hemorrhoid situation again as you all have heard it before, but I love the story. It is something that I cannot get out of my mind. To walk downstairs and see Keith bent over, standing on his vanity with butt checks spread was a sight. It still haunts me.
2. His driving right into his parent’s garage door just to prove a point and to try to teach Jenny a lesson. Fail !
3. Keith being my first friend to actually buy a Ford. It was a hard pill to swallow but I did love the looks of his not only his Mustang but his F150 green machine.
4. Keith towing my Corvette home and stumping my Dad with ” Body by Fischer, Powered by Ford” Rare for my Dad to be stumped but very funny. Perhaps Keith’s greatest moment.
5. Each year before we were married, on Christmas Eve we would quit work early and go to a strip club, drink too much, and then pick up Jackie at work downtown at the bank.
6. The hours we spent installing green velour curtains in his truck.
7. The many more hours spent diamond tuffing the velour party van I had.
8. Keith and Jackie buying all of the furniture for my new house when I was out of town. I was just married, and I leave for a sales trip to Ft Mac and come home and all of the furniture is bought for the living room and kitchen by Keith & Jackie.
9. Many large parties at his parents’ house. 100 + people. Amazing parties and lucky the house wasn’t destroyed as they were huge.
10. Keith sneezing 20 plus times in a row after a moonshine night party. I had to borrow towels from the party house as I thought he could puke but he just sneezed and sneezed at the A & W in the backseat
11. Playing Plinko in his basement. Awesome large wall Plinko that was a lot of fun
12. Numerous camping trips. We had some adventures on these. A picture taken at midnight that turned out like a day picture and having to set up camp on the side of the road as the campground was full, and almost burning down the forest when a friend threw the lantern into the bush.
13. Numerous golf games at many courses in Alberta, BC and Arizona with many close games. Once his driver head flying farther than the ball. Another time a thrown club sacking the golf cart bending the shaft.
14. Losing Keith at Corey’s stag event. Yes, losing him and he could have frozen to death. He left the Dixon’s Pub as we got kicked out because Keith fell asleep at the table. Jeff & I searched in our cab ride for him but to no avail. I arrive at home and explain to Jackie which phoned his cell over and over again with Keith finally answering. He didn’t know where he was but gave a brief description and Jackie KNEW exactly where he was. Sleeping under a tree at the local 7/11 store. We rush to pick him up and took him to Amanda’s place and dropped him off. Amanda didn’t hear him banging on the door so poor Keith slept in his truck in freezing cold with snow on the ground. Lucky, he didn’t freeze to death or lose a toe to frost bite.
15. At Justin’s stag getting caught smuggling beer into the party bus. Not one bottle but at least 10 bottles in every pocket, underwear, sleeve etc. Keith leaving me to fend for myself trying to make it back to my camper as my life flashed in front of my eyes being lost in the wilderness near Banff with no light and nothing to defend myself and a 10k walk in the forest.
16. The only guy I know that could light his farts on fire. Keith could take a lighter and fart and it would light right thru his pants.
17. An amazing mind for facts, math, history and events. This man could win any trivia contest or song contest and excels at games. Clever, clever mind and amazing memory
18. A food fight in an Edmonton restaurant at 2 am-Johnny’s Inn must have hated us. Keith thought someone stole ONE fry from his plate and then fries starting flying everywhere in the restaurant.
19. Keith & I lost our driving licenses at the same time. We decided to party downtown so rode our pedal bikes. We had to drive drunk with bicycles from a bar downtown to the west-end. I do not know how we made it. LOL Lucky I guess.
20. Keith has been a collector his whole life, records, cards, paintings, kids etc
21. Irish whisky causing NONE OF IT. His favorite saying one camping trip when we were talking about Nunavut NWT
22. He had an addiction of showing off his butt. We all saw his bare ass too many times
23. He could never keep a secret from Jenny and I don’t ever believe she was surprised by anything. Except getting pregnant the 4 times they had sex.
24. Watching Bad Grandpa outside on Netflix at Birch Grove Campsite
25. Sinking a rented boat on Shuswap Lake.

The list could go on and on. We have had a lot of fun times and hopefully many more years to come. Hopefully in the Arizona and during the summer in Alberta. He just needs to take more time off work. 65 and works like a 20 year old. I have NEVER seen him complain about his knees, fingers back etc. I would bet he may have missed 5 days in 50 years of work.

His wild red hair could be seen for miles. He even had it permed before metro sexual was even invented. When I first met him, it was almost waist long and bright orange.

We all knew he was farting. At my wedding he walks away to be discreet.

They couldn’t figure out why each time they had sex Jenny got pregnant. Good thing Keith controlled his libido. This is Amanda when she was first born.

This was about 1978 or so. Cowboy up! Notice the chocolate milk. Lots of fun trips and even threw in the golf game a way back then. I have no idea why we bought the hats but they do look cool.

I don’t remember Keith at this age without his beard. I know it is about 1980 -82 as it is at our house. Short hair and no beard is something I just don’t remember.

I always tried cheering up Keith by telling him size doesn’t matter. This is his pride and joy fish he caught.

The toilet covers says it all. Homemade bidet he was thinking.

​He is jealous I know. That is a pole!  Although I notice it is Keith’s hand not Jenny’s on it holding it up. Same old story.

I see this a lot. Keith wondering where did his ball go ? You can tell he is disgusted with that hand on his hip. More money in my pocket.

He was always a bad influence on me. Making three finger drinks. Here is evidence of getting Jenny a MINOR drunk on one trip we took to BC. In fact two minors as Jackie is there. Exhibit 1

On a professional course like the one above Keith kills it. I am taking a guess at 54 putts at least to finish these 18 holes.

Somehow Keith convinced us all to go (Jenny, Jackie and I) to a whipped cream wrestling match at Chez Pierre’s. And how lucky for him he gets picked to participate in the wet tee shirt contest.

He is made for the desert. White socks to protect him from snake bites and plenty of pockets for beer.

Here’s to the next few years now that you have reached 65 where you start collecting pension, slow down working, and start golfing more.

Happy 65th Birthday and cheers to our lifelong friend. Here is hoping Jenny makes this SPECIAL birthday a SPECIAL one.

I cannot remember the weather being so cool here is Arizona. Next week the highs are mid teems. Now that is still short wearing temperatures, but it is cool and if in the shade or late afternoon you need to wear a light jacket. In fact, last night for our walk, I used my hoodie with a fall jacket and pulled a Keith trick of having socks on with sandals.

I am hoping when our company arrives, we hit the better highs. The pools are still warm but the walk or ride home is a little chilly plus no one will get sunburned at 15 degrees.

Thought of the Day

Why do we press the remote button harder when it is battery going dead. How many of you push the elevator button over and over thinking it speeds it up ?

December 10th- 11th

“Mercury Forecast Edmonton -11 degrees, Calgary -10 degrees Mesa 21 degrees ”

Ok a bad game had to happen. I was pleased with just about everything but took two bad holes resulting in not only me losing money but scoring high 80’s. Two 8’s kill the score but at least not in the 90’s. Good thing for the many par’s.

It was a warm day and a lot of fun. I enjoyed it very much as playing well (except for two hole) and with friends on the course was a blast. We finished in less than 4 hours which on any day is awesome.

An after gathering at Barry’s place and a lot of changes coming up as many are heading home, have company or have plans for Christmas. It is amazing how fast Christmas is coming.

Today we headed to the Mesa Market Place. I love this place, but it isn’t what it used to be. There are a lot of vendors that have left but still one unique place. Terry had some golf clubs she wanted to get regripped, so we dropped those off. Jackie was able to a few socking gifts for the kids which is good.

We had a bit of running around getting a few things for Christmas this morning. Other than food for the meal we are getting close. I still need to go out for Jackie.

Fred bought another golf cart that he thinks he will bring back to Canada, so he is letting us use it while the kids are here. That is awesome as it will come in handy. It is much appreciated. I have never wanted and still don’t have any desire for one. I look up golf cart in the dictionary and it states ” high maintenance and costly”. This is a good cart though and Jackson will love driving it with us plus the quick trips back from the pool versus walking in the cool air.

This afternoon we had a rematch with Russ & Carol in the pool hall. Tonight, the guys were on fire winning every game. Still close calls. I thought I played a way better than the last time which was good. I enjoy the games and the pool and did improve. Fun time.

There appears to be a lot of concentration here . Both girls checking every angle.

Walks with the dog and enjoying the many lights out.

Here are a couple of things I find funny and interesting.

As soon as the Elk changed their name they started to suck. Most likely the worst team in the CFL. But they have very loyal and committed fans that will do anything to promote the team. Here are two friends showing that support. Gary Leedahl and Fred Keys.

I think with this kind of continued support they are going to get a lot better. The team needs to hand these out to everyone.

The square body Chevy is getting more and more attention and the pricing is going thru the roof. This is a picture of the truck that Alfred sold to Graham. It has stacked frames, a 454 plant and 44″-inch tires. Not only does it look great, but it performs extremely well. They were out tree hunting with it with this year. Love the truck. Alfred said he wore his safety coat in case he got lost.

The weathermen down here are confident. They predict 100% chance of rain tomorrow. That is confidence. I think a better way would have been to say 99% chance to have an out. But not them.

Thought of the Day

Weather poeple are always right. It is just the timing that is off .

December 12th

“Mercury Forecast Edmonton -18 degrees, Calgary -14 degrees, Mesa 15 degrees RAIN”

Rained most of the night. Cool and damp enough Daisy didn’t want to go for a walk. The golf was cancelled for today, so Fred & Terry are coming over for the guys to whip the girls at crib.

Here is Daisy meeting her Doddle friends.

She has a lot of BIG friends. LOL

We watched a Ryan Gosling movie last night that was awesome. The Gray Man. He makes a perfect spy and plays a tough guy very well. A good movie.

I was complaining about the coolness of our weather here then I looked up Edmonton and Calgary’s and I feel much better. When I see -30 degrees and with Edmonton even being worse it makes me feel a lot better. I did require socks last night for our walk though.

Jess & Tor are leaving the COLD just in time on the 19th. California runs about the 18 to 20 degree mark in December so should be nice. Funny as you need pants and shorts as you just never know what kind of day you will have.

I will go a little political here and say I am glad Smith is shaking up the tree. Maybe some NDP nuts will fallout. LOL

Thought of the Day

Isn’t odd how many people carve their name in trees and picnic tables. It makes me think what a huge number of people carrying a knife on a date !

December 13th -14th

” Mercury Forecast Edmonton – 7 degrees, Calgary 1 degrees, Mesa 12 degrees”

Wow looking at the temperatures for this and it makes me shiver. Starting next week, the lows are in Edm/Cal showing minus 30 to minus 34 degrees for many nights in a row. That is brutally cold. Lucky for Jess/Tor they are leaving right then but they better remember to button down the latch and make sure their stay-at-home cars are prepared for it. Even here in Phoenix it is cold. With us hitting a high of 12 or 14 for a few days in a row. Good thing they changed it from Global warming to Climate Change otherwise they would have a few less believers.

I had to wear my fall coat as I worked outside most of the day today. I was helping Fred with a lighting project so cutting mdf and wiring up lights. My hands were on the cool side being outside. A wonderful homemade soup for lunch.

I looked up the weather for tomorrow’s golf as my tee time is 8:30am it will be 4 degrees. Remember this though that is a dry 4 degrees so will feel like 4 degrees. Pocket warmers will be required and a layer of clothes. Should be a good game for me as some of my older player friends should be seized up.

I forgot to expand on our game day. Fred & Terry came over as it was cool and damp out. What I can say is I laughed and laughed. This was not caused by Fred’s three finger drinks as I made my own Caesars, beer and ryes. It is about being TRICKED.

We played crib for quite a while with our traditional format of guys against the girls. The girls won which was unfortunate. Fred & i are still ahead but just hanging on. A skunk didn’t help our cause. I like crib for the thinking, the math and the strategy involved. A dementia exercise really.

The we move on to UN099. This is a fast-paced fun game again using math, strategy and thinking. It is one of the few games you keep playing as people drop out. I was doing very well having 3 lives left with Jackie & Fred during the game being out. Here is a rule that bit me. If you accidently deal a out player in, they get to have another live. It was my deal and right then Terry starts asking me all kind of questions and is very interested in what I am building in a way of fence. She was very CONNIVING. I was distracted and dealt Fred & Jackie back in to fight again. Tricky Terry but talk about funny. I was in disbelief that I could be fooled. And easily. Luckily Karma was on my side and won the match killing everyone and being the last man standing having to fight to many round due to my opponents being TRICKY.LOL

A fun stay in the house day.

Up at 6:30 this morning for my men’s group at the Aquilla Golf Course. Driving into the course I thought for sure we would have a frost delay. It is rather odd as Whirlwind always had these and Viewpoint does the odd time but not today which was shocking. We were told to stay off the course and drive only in the rough. I will say it started off QUITE cool but warmed up quite fast. Having said that it only hit 12 degrees, but it was a warm 12 with the sun hitting us. I did need to use pocket warmers for the first five holes, and I had three layers of clothes on but after a while it wasn’t bad at all.

I didn’t have a stellar game today but again mostly putts. On in two and three putts. On the one Par 4 hole on in one and three putted. Having said that it just seemed to be a struggle on most shots. I could blame it on the cold, the extra clothes but some players had awesome score today. I did drive very well going long on a lot of holes, but I need to finish better. Always a work in progress.

I came home to a upholstery factory. Jackie decided to take apart the chair cushions and restuff them. I am impressed with her job. She removed the covers, filled with extra foam and re-stapled each one. Not an easy job but exceptionally well done.

When I got home, I whipped up to Fred’s place to help him install overhead lights in the kitchen of his neighbor. Fred came up with a great idea to surface mount LED lights to fill the holes left by the recessed fluorescents.

We got that all done, and I like it. I am sure they will love the amount to light and like the looks. A little bit of paint and done.

Daisy had her haircut today and she looks lovely. It isn’t her normal guy for cut so I assume a little stressed, but she is fine tonight and most likely feels wonderful. I know she smells nice.

Jackie wordle in 4 and I struggled to get it in 5. A unusual word with 3 vowels and a duplicate and the word wouldn’t pop into my head. Makes you think. LOL

Thought of the day

Sometimes life doesn’t allow you change anything. There is always a haircut that could change you drastically.

December 15th -16th

“Mercury Forecast Edmonton -5 degrees, Calgary 0 degrees Mesa 13 degrees”

Well let’s talk about the weather like an old person. First Alberta is having very nice weather for December and then it is blowing up in a couple of days. Minus 18 as highs and lows in the -30’s for a week. Lucky for the girls the timing is great to get out dodge. Mesa weather is continuing to be a way colder than normal with today only reaching 13 degrees. In the sun and no wind, it is very nice but not what I like and again lucky for the girls as on arrival the temperatures are going up to average or greater bring 18 to 22 degrees. Perfect timing.

I exchanged US dollars today and all I can is ouch! Maybe OUCH ! Today’s rate was 1.39995. Take a 1000 bucks and you end up with $600 it hurts. Now things are a lot cheaper here but not 40%. ie gas is now 3.75 a gallon versus Canada 1.31 a liter which is about 5.25 even though gallon sizing is a bit smaller. Cheaper but not 40%. Thanks Trudeau!

Jackie is making cookies, going to a coffee shop with a friend, I am catching up on things and not have a real active day today. Too cool to sit outside unless I go to the back patio. Doing nothing sometimes is nice.

One more trip out to get ready for the girls. Amazon even delivered my Tim’s original blend coffee today for the girls to help me drink as the stores were sparse and had Dark Roast only.

December 17th -18th

“Mercury Forecast Edmonton -18 degrees, Calgary -18 degrees, Mesa 15 degrees”

The coolness is continuing for another day or so and then we get much better. I like those 20 degrees.

I had my men’s golf group today and I wore pants and had my light jacket on. Warm enough but not warm enough to not wear a light jacket or overcoat.

Every once in while a bad game pops up due to errors. Today it was a struggle. Still finishing mid-eighties but a hard-fought game to get there. A lot of fun and we finished in 3 1/2 hours which is fast for a Friday.

Our cart ran out of power half was and we had to wait for a guy to replace it. Electric !!!!

First time using Fred’s cart and I have to say today it came in handy with me using it for to get to golf and Jackie using the car for our Christmas party stuff.

The guys all came over to my place for a after gathering. You can still have a poor game and win MONEY if the cards fall right. Here is proof of my 100 smackeroo’s won today by me. Anytime money come my way I am happy.

These are my cohorts today. A semi nice day and as usual funs guys to play with.

There is my 100 smackers sitting right in front of me. My friend with the Bentley was the previous owner of that bill. That makes me smile.

We had our Christmas get together tonight. It turned out fantastic. We decided to have it in Dwight’s carport as it is huge and three sided. I brought my heater over and Dwight had one. It was nice and warm for everyone, and we had a great turnout. We had 22 poeple which when you consider how many have gone home for Christmas from our block was excellent. It may it so much easier for seating and layout. Our theme was a SOUPER fun get together with about 4 ladies making homemade soups and the rest bringing the side dished like cheese, pickles, sandwich wedges etc. Everything was tasting wonderful. We had Cheeseburger soup, Potatoe and sausage soup, Chicken & Bean and Chicken Noodle soup. Jackie made homemade soup for the first time ever and it was delicious. We found the recipe online and did a bit of modification. Over 60 and becoming domesticated. LOL

We had two people with birthdays to add to the celebration. A few of us stayed later and the Burbon came out. It tastes like brandy that my Mom used to give me when I was sick. Hot brandy with butter. Warms the cockles of your heart. Not my favorite. Remember I dumped $100 per ox Cognac under the table at a fancy restaurant years ago at a manager meeting.

A fun night.

Shopping, cleanup, a wonderful BBQ supper thru in there and live is good.

Thought of the Day

Party like a block star !

December 20th -Dec 28th

On our way to DISNEYLAND in our Hutterite Van. 9 people in LONG FORD white van for 6 hours. FUN ROAD TRIP. Here we come just like Griswalds.

We are back and I will state right here that it was a very memorable, fun trip. Words to describe it would be wonderful, exciting, fun, enjoyable, memory making, hilarious, exhilarating, humorous, enthralling, memorable, and on and on. I will keep the verbiage to a limit not to get carried away.

It all started with us trying rent a van for 9 people as SUV’s only carry 7 or 8 as does the Flex. I had originally planned to use two vehicles as I couldn’t find one but just by chance, I found a used van rental place. For $2000 a week we could all go together, save on gas and parking so all is good. It turns out our “slightly used Hutterite Van” had 250,000 miles on it, lots of rattles, had to slam the doors, could see light around the doors, but drove like a brand-new vehicle. 75 miles per hour was like a dream with no pull or shake. And I thought quite good on gas as it only took about $200 worth of gas to go 900 miles and we saved $20 a night parking for a second car.

You could tell it was used for mule rules to Mexico as every vent cover was missing, and dirty carpet plus the desert sand ground into the paint and wheel wells. I am sure if we were spot checked there would have been drug residue somewhere. But the old Ford Hutirlimo was awesome. Parking that thing as it was a 15 passenger XL was always interesting.

Interstate 10 is a disaster. Instead of spending money on war they need to build roads. It is the roughest highway ever. And this is the main road from LA carrying goods with semi after semi. Large potholes, rough surfaces and uneven pavement.

We had a lot of fun on our adventure. The traffic in LA is ridiculous. 16 lanes wide freeways just packed no matter what time of day. Without GPS and a navigator (Jackie) it would be impossible to get around.

We managed our way to the hotel. Having said that GPS needs to tell you turns and exit from which side much sooner as if you are caught in the left lane and need to exit right that is 8 lanes of heavy traffic to try to get thru. LA poeple are not the friendliest. Good thing for a large van as I turn on my signal and just squeeze over. Works fairly well as the Benz or Tesla don’t want a scratch.

I forgot to mention on our trip we passed a car carrier with a load of LUCID cars. Beautiful looking cars which I had to look up when we arrived. A California company electric car that is around $150,000 usd. Nice cars though. I actually talked to a guy that owned one at Disney a few days later as he had the shirt one.

Our hotel was perfect. About 4 city blocks away from the entrance but what was the best was the rooms. Huge, themed rooms with the Hicken’s getting the Star Wars and us the Frozen one. Turns out Jackson was freezing at night as we didn’t have enough covers the first night which is fitting for the Frozen theme room. LOL

A free buffet every morning included was amazing as it was $22 per person if someone hadn’t bought the package. Love this.

The first night we arrived we went to Disney Downtown for a look around and supper. Like I said I could have gone on a two-week cruise in the Mediterranean for the cost of our Disney trip, but I was surprised when I got the supper bill of $460. I knew then it was even more expensive than I thought. We had a wonderful meal though that was excellent. It was a fun trip around the park at night. The girls got some shopping and spoiling of the kids in with gimmick toys and clothes.

Disney is hi-tech now. If someone struggles with technology, they will have a difficult time at Disney. We elected Jackie as our “Mom” and she loaded everything on her phone and prebooked our rides and meals and used it for locating washrooms.

The first day we struggled a bit but later in the day and the next we were golden. The ride wait to use the app was no more than 5 minutes and the ride wait for standby was 20 to 80 minutes. We found that we would book a ride and then squeeze in a standby ride in between. This worked perfect for us. We hit just about every ride in the two days with every one of them being a blast. What was amazing is Atti is only five years old and he was allowed to go on every ride. They base it on height and have a measuring stick as you enter each ride.

The kids were awesome and brave. The first ride to ease them into it was the Pirates of the Carribean which is one of my favorites and an easy ride. The kids loved it. Then off to some “scary” rides with them being tentative but willing.

A couple of mixed pictures here. First is Santa bringing up the end of the parade and as everyone knows the parades here are wonderful. Look at the fancy drink Jackson received. The food at the park was pretty decent with some nice eateries.We managed to find many places to eat at much much less level than our first meal. But it was fun and great food.

Space Mountain is a blast. Fast, quick turns, dark and loads of fun with lots of screaming. I tried to scare the kids, but they were pretty steadfast and besides the screams loved the thrills.

They loved the Haunted Mansion, and I thought that may get them but again they handled it wonderfully. My favorite and was the most fun again was Splash Mountain. I wanted to get the kids up front for the pictures they take and was successful. Auggie, Atti and Jackson were soaked. Penny had to hold Atti in his seat as he wanted off. After getting soaked and off the ride he states, ” That is the stupidest ride ever” You have to laugh as that was brilliant.

We went on Thunder Mountain Railway at night with everyone liking that one. You can’t beat the old rickety train track rides. More rides like Astro Orbiter, Autopia, Astro Blasters, Finding Nemo Subs, Guardians of the Galaxy, Indianna Jones, Matterhorn and even the Jungle cruise. I may have missed some, but you can see we were busy. Our guide on the Jungle cruise was hilarious and made a “fake” jungle cruise a lot of fun.

Only one incident. We waited in line 45 minutes for a Star Wars Resistance ride and then it broke down. So close but they had no idea when it was up and running again so we left.

The kids were spoiled with their parents buying them light sabers, clothes toys etc. I can say that they will definitely remember their trip. Atti being only 5 years old won’t but with the stories told he will know he had fun.

Besides the rides Disney, with the characters, fireworks and parade, does it first class. I was impressed Jess found us amongst thousands of people to watch the fireworks. The parade with its Christmas theme and Santa Claus was excellent. The lights and decorations spectacular.

On our last day we headed to Huntington Beach which was amazing. The sand there is perfect with no gravel or pebbles in it. Perfect and HUGE. Miles long and nice sized waves for the surfers. The boys loved it finding a full bag of shells and even a turtle shell. Atti played in the mud and Auggie and Jackson played in the waves. Loads of surfers out today. What was amazing in the four hours we were there the tide had to go out at least 100 yards. It is not like Venus beach with weirdos but is a very nice place. I found it interesting it is right on the Pacific Coast highway

We found this small beach side cafe which was amazing. Good food, drinks and sights of the beach and people. Not like Venus beach with weird people but more beautiful with the waves and guard towers etc. In the 5 hours or so we were there I would say the tide moved out at least 1/4 mile. Neat to see.

WOW as I said the traffic in LA is unbelievable. The GPS due to heavy traffic took a strange way including going thru two TOLL highways but it was faster than coming and the traffic was a lot busier as it was the Friday night before Christmas. The highway all of the way home was packed. I had to pay the toll when we got home but it saved us a lot of time.

As we didn’t get home until almost midnight, so Daisy stayed another night with her god parents Fred & Terry. She loved it there and was very comfortable and when I picked her up, she was excited but no more than when we are going for a day golfing or out. I think Fred & Terry secretly love her. LOL

Jackie and I had a blast with the whole family on the trip. Quite, the adventure overall with the van, hotel, Disney and the beach.

The girls went out shopping for some last-minute stuff. I say last minute stuff, but I should say for a last-minute semi load of stuff. Spoiled kids. LOL

We readied everything. Jackson drove everyone around in the cart to the pool etc. The kids and grandkids spent a lot of time at the pool and even turned a light color for them. Jackson is an amazing driver and made no errors in driving. He had fun, enjoyed it, and we had a ride thanks to Fred & Terry.

Penny’s Dad and sister came over for a nice visit which for Penny was nice as she hadn’t seen Heidi for a few years. Heidi has a wonderful personality and is a hoot. Tom is always interesting to talk to.

I picked up Chinese food for the night. Chinese is like KFC everyone absolutely loves it but only for two or three times a year max. This was great food, and I ordered the perfect amount to have such a small quantity of leftovers.

Great gifts for everyone. I think one of my “sock” gifts to Jackie is priceless though. I got her a recipe book for POTLUCK DINNERS. LoL

It was nice to not be rushed as we planning to have supper later in the afternoon. I didn’t have to start cooking until after noon. We have great cookware here but as always, we are missing something and not enough cooking surfaces. I used our slow cooker pan and had all the burners going plus the oven with the turkey and ham inside. We made this meal on the simple side. Turkey, dressing, ham, mashed potatoes, gravy, corn, and carrots. We had originally planned for 9 people, and I always plan our food based on qty to buy based on the people plus the potential of one or two more guests. I have always hated going somewhere and having to check how many more people have to spoon out and limited the qty I really want. Leftovers are wonderful. It turned out we had 15 poeple attend but luckily, we had enough food to cover off everyone. You never know if people take less than wanted to preserve food for others, but I believe everyone had their fill.

We all went for a ride on the resort train to look at the streetlights. There are a couple of great streets. This is the first year for our street and I would put us in third or fourth spot for the decorating contest.

Opening presents on Christmas morning is always a blast. We were lucky the kids semi slept in so not early of a rise. Watching kids’ excitement on Christmas morning is fun. Little Atti goes from one present to another. AND they received plenty of presents.

We had a visit with Fred & Terry that was awesome. The amount of work those two do for a visit is amazing. Great friends. The food was amazing, and we had a nice visit. Look at the food Terry makes for a short visit. They are the hosts with most.

More pool time for the kids today. Jackie & I whipped to pick up some groceries and Starbucks and we drove to the pool to deliver them to the kids. As we came around the corner and with myself being in the passenger seat, I opened the window when I saw Jess & Tor and cat whistled. It turned out only about 10 ft away from our kids was a young woman with her kids wearing a bra and panties that were see thru. A good thing except she may have thought dirty old man. Oh well! Our kids laughed.

The meal turned out great and it was very nice sitting outside eating. After dinner we had crib games and a new game called ” She said” which was on the naughty side but a lot of fun. Heidi’s kids are so nice. It is amazing since we saw them last how much they have grown. The oldest daughter is now 18 and is a young lady. Heidi is always a fun person with a great sense of humor as is Penny’s Dad Tom. The games were fun. We ran out of propane only after we had gone in so that was good.

We watched a movie and then went scorpion hunting. We took the kids down to the entrance where they are supposed to be with their UV black light flashlights. The kids will say they saw some, but I will say I doubt it, but it is fun to believe. I think it was too cold for them to be out. They started off being very tentative and slowly more brave searching under the trees etc. It was a fun adventure

More pool time and more cart driving.

I always tease people due to my great skills at crib or uno etc. that my middle name is such. I started to play UNO with Atti and Auggie. Atti wins a game and says out of nowhere. ” You know what Papa? My middle name is Atti UNO MASTER” That is hilarious. This is the same kid that after getting soaked on Splash Mountain gets off and says ” That is the stupidest ride ever”

The end of a wonderful, great fun family get together, a once in a lifetime trip. Everyone had a blast. You put 9 poeple in 900 sq ft for 9 days and to get Nine (German) disagreements, arguments, hissy fits was amazing.

Today we will start the ” clean up” to get everything back to normal.

Thought of the Day

It is tragic to treasure a moment in time more than an entire lifetime, but this Disney trip breaks that argument. It is THE moment of time we will treasure forever.

Dec 29th to 31st

I am lumping these three days together but with very little verbiage or pictures as nothing of importance was accomplished. It was 3 days of cleaning, resting, organizing and getting things back t normal. We didn’t leave the house really other to finish off cleaning and fixing up our neighbor’s casita that graciously let us use it for our visitors.

We have a couple of cooler days being overcast but the sun is back.

A fair number of golfers away either headed home for Christmas and not back yet, illness, injured or other things on the plate that hopefully come another week we will be running full steam again.

I finished off my pic in review and I will say another good year in the books. It was a blast with a few milestones. A new baby Silas joining the family tree, Mom’s 90th birthday, my 65th birthday, Dave and Keith’s 65th birthday, my second hole in one, and as I said the best trip ever to Disneyland. I would love to finish a year saying I caught a pike over 20 pounds but not in the cards as of yet. Next year.

We lost a lot of important people this year. Pope, Barbara, Queen etc. When I thought about the Queen it is funny what pops into your head.

I have to throw this in. My blood line indicated a 92 % English DNA with the balance Wales or Scottish. 1% other. England has been invaded by another army 10 times in its history and I remained at 92%. This means my family was not raped, did not intermarry, did not breed with an invader and we are pure ENGLISH. No Roman, no Viking, no French, no Spanish, no Dutch. To get such pure English genetics is rare as the Neolithic/Bronze Age migration (which replaced 90% of Britain’s gene pool) and the Anglo-Saxon migration (which happened a few thousand years later and replaced 30-40% of Britain’s gene pool, particularly on the male side) and to find a pure English DNA like mine amazing. I should be KING. Just my thoughts. LOL

I didn’t quite make 100 golf games this year, but I did manage to lower my average score by one full stroke plus I did get my hole in one, so no complaints. And it was my lowest average score since 2007 so on the right track. Putting and chipping need to be just a little better and I could lower by two very easily. I will try!

If we haven’t said it or you don’t feel it, trust, we appreciate all of you and look forward to our adventures next year.

HAPPY NEW YEARS TO EVERYONE. GOOD HEALTH AND WELL BEING FOR 2023.