Happy New Year 2009

Happy New Year to all our family and friends. We are currently in Lake Havasu City, AZ.

We did make it home in October and time flew by. Duane and I looked for a job to no avail. I did get hired by Mervyn's for their final weeks before closing down. With no work we played some instead. We went to Disneyland with Shannon, Karen and the boys the day after Halloween to see the decorations and for Brandon's 6th birthday, which is on 11-5. Two weeks later Duane and I went again to Disneyland by ourselves. We did all the "Mountain" roller-coaster rides and other "grown-up" stuff. Two weeks later we went to Disneyland again with Russell and Brenda Peterson who came in from Nevada City, CA. We also went to Knott's Berry Farms Craft days. They had a special rate for seniors. Five dollars to get in, but no rides included.

During this time we parked the motorhome in front of Karen's for a few days and then put the rig into service for the gray water tank leak that was supposed to have been fixed back in February. They had it for a week. We picked it up and moved in front of the Albee's home for a week. Then it was back into a different service to have the body repaired that happened back in February when the parts driver backed into it. We got it back just in time for Thanksgiving and went back in front of Karen's.
We went to Shannon's to have Thanksgiving dinner. After Thanksgiving the motorhome was once again back in service for a vibration. They replaced the parking brake drum, but still had the vibration. They next balanced the driveline and tires to no avail. We went ahead and picked it back up on Friday 12-26 so that we would be able to come to Lake Havasu for the New Year. We were without the rig for the whole month of December. But don't feel bad. The first week we were at Karen's and the second week we had friends whose parents were not able to use their week in a timeshare condo in Capistrano Beach. It was across the street from the beach and was wonderful. The sunsets were beautiful. The last night we were there we had the Albee's and O'Brien's down for a night of dinner and Uno Attack. We went back to Karen's for a week and then the O'Briens offered us to stay in their home while they were away to Logan, Ut for the holidays. Then it was off to Lake Havasu.

In between all this fun we did get lots of other stuff done. We got our dental work done, including cleaning, fillings and new crowns. I also needed gum surgery to clean out an infection above the root of a tooth. Duane had several doctor appointments to get ready for his hernia surgery. At his appointment with the surgeon he was told that he had two hernias, one on each side. He also needed to see his cardiologist to get clearance for the surgery. He got the green light and was told that he could go off the coumidin forever not just for the surgery. Yeah!!!
Wednesday 12-17 we were at the surgical center at 6am for the surgery. All went well and we were back to Karen's by noon. That evening at about 8pm Duane and I were watching TV and talking when he said that he didn't feel so good. I asked him if it was something I needed to be concerned about. He looked at me funny, so I asked him his name and he had a blank look on his face. Karen called 911 and off to the hospital Duane went. It was determined that Duane had had a stroke. He was in the hospital for 2 days and had a slew of tests done. The MRI showed that he had 3 small strokes. He was very blessed because only his speech was affected. The doctors have said that he will make a complete recovery and he will need to be on coumidin the rest of his life.

All this time Karen had been working on getting her daycare license. When we got there in Oct. she had turned in all her paperwork and only need one class and then the inspection of her home to be licensed. So we thought!!!!!!!!! They came out for the inspection and because of the neighbor's pool, the chainlink fence on the lower slope needed to be childproofed. Duane and I attached corrugated plastic to the links and then the wait was on for a re inspection. Karen was originally told that she could email pictures in of the fixed fence and she would be licensed. Oh no!! The inspection finally happened but we were told that the cactus on the slope and all my rose bushes needed to come out. The kids might poke themselves. So out it all came with the help of Bob Tripp. Duane was recovering from his surgery. To help not hold up Karen getting her license because we were there Duane and I went and got our fingerprints done. Mine went through in a week but we are still waiting on Duane's. He passed the FBI but Homeland Security is holding him up. I didn't know he was a terrorist????????. It was now 12-31-08 and still no license after 3 months because of Duane. Karen contacted her caseworker to see want needed to be done to push this through. Duane had to write a note, and fax it to the caseworker from Havasu. We aren't even around there anymore. Karen called at 4pm on 12-31 to say she is finally licensed. YEAH!!!!!! Boy was that alot of work.

The New Year is off to a quiet start but who knows what is in store...........