Useless Statistics for 2007!

A friend of ours always blogs about his "statistics" for the year (thanks Rod) and I thought I'd blog ours as well! :-)

In 2007...

Don and I traveled 11,327.4 miles...these are all motorhome miles! I don't keep track of our car! <--- We are actually very surprised by that number since we've spent so much time this year in AR while building the house! We actually drove 152.1 miles MORE than in 2006!

We slept in 14 different states - AZ, NM, TX, LA, AL, FL, GA, AR, OK, NV, CA, MO, IN and TN.

We bought $5,888.57 worth of diesel (1981.869 gallons) paying an average of $2.674/gallon. We paid the most in Wakarusa, IN - $3.049/gallon (9/13/07) and the least in Orange, TX - $2.239/gallon (1/12/07). The most we spent in one fill up was $340.74 in Flagstaff, AZ and the most we put in at one fill up was 130.213 gallons in Olive Branch, MS (MS isn't listed above because we only traveled through it and didn't spend the night!) BTW our fill up in Olive Branch was NOT our most expensive fill-up, but came in a close second! If you do the math, this means we averaged 5.71 mpg. This number is not accurate since our Aqua-hot (hot water system) and generator also use diesel and we have no way of differentiating between them!

We spent $5,396.69 on campground fees which averages about $15.16/night! We spent 25 nights in repair facilities :-( which included Monaco Service Centers, Detroit Diesel (Florida and Arizona), Josam's (alignment - our choice) and Buddy Greggs (some of the nights were weekends waiting for Monday)! Our nightly fee includes our "free" nights and rallies that we've attended throughout the year!

Now that you've seen all our useless statistics, have a wonderful and safe New Year! :-)

Do you see what I see?

Yes, I know that Christmas is over, but what a perfect title for this entry! :-) So, do you see it? It's SMOKE - coming out of the chimney! Now everyone around knows that Don really is a little bit "off"! :-)

He's been bugging our contractor, Troy, for a long time asking when he could put a fire in the fireplace! Don has had wood inside the house for a while now...even before they were done hooking up the chimney just waiting for the right time! He's had that piece of wood sitting on the grate since they placed the fireplace!

The kids came up the other day, but it was just too cold to sit inside and have a fire since the house still wasn't completely shut in! Yesterday, I asked Don if he wanted to do something "spontaneous" (get your heads out of the gutter!). Friday the drywallers only work half a day so we stopped, got lunch and brought it to the house! Don cut up some kindling, gathered up some "fatwood" (that he got for Christmas), brought in some newspaper that he's been saving up...and tried out his Boy Scout skills!

Hmmm, guess he needs to work on those skills 'cause he didn't do very good on the first or even second try! :-) I do want you to know that the wood was wet...you could hear it sizzling as it was burning! As you can see by the last two pictures - he did get it going! It felt pretty good even though there is no door to the study (where we had the fire). You could walk into the room and feel the heat!

One thing I have to say...the chimney had a great draw! There was NO smoke in the house at all! In Canyon Lake, Don was notorius for having a VERY smoky fire! :-)











You can still check out our building progress at www.picasaweb.google.com/vickileith

A Winter Wonderland!

A day late for a "White Christmas" and no snow in the forecast caught everyone unaware! What started out as rain, turned into snow! It was our first snow of the year and the first snow we had had in Arkansas!

So what did Don and I do once it started to snow? We headed out the 14 miles to the house to see it snow there! We almost turned around when we had only gone about 2 miles and had to stop. Seems that someone had already gone off the road and was sitting sideways - stuck! It was only the first of many we saw along the way! It only took a few minutes before the volunteers (fire department?) were there directing traffic and working on getting the truck unstuck!

We had about 5 miles to go when it started to rain and there was no evidence of snow! By the time we got to the house it had just begun to snow! It took some time, just like it did at the campground before the snow started to stick, but before we left it was starting to accululate! We didn't stay long since we didn't know how long it was going to snow and we are complete novices when it comes to snow! Headed back to the campground where it was still snowing. It became very apparent to us that the area from Fairfield Bay to Shirley gets more snowfall than Greers Ferry.

Just a short time before we headed out we lost our satellite signal. We didn't really think too much about it, I didn't even think about snow accumulating on the satellite, just figured that the weather was affecting the reception which often happens when we have very heavy rain. When we came back...still no signal. I decided to try putting the dish down since it had stopped snowing and it should have worked. Guess the snow had accumulated on the dish and then froze to it! I tried putting it partway up hoping that the angle would let the snow "slide" off. Seems like a decent idea to me. Well, didn't work! I put it up and down several times, angling it this way and that by manually positioning it, but nothing worked! For those that know Don well, you know that he LIVES by the t.v.! Not tonight! We ended up watching a couple of DVDs that we hadn't seen before! There's only so much solitaire you can play on the computer! I have LOTS of things I can do when I don't have Internet or t.v. so I wasn't worried about it!

The next morning the snow was already melting away! When we went to the house you couldn't even tell that it had snowed there at all! The satellite dish still wasn't working so I had Don go out with a hose and rinse it off! Next time it snows and we are in the motorhome I'm going to put the dish down early!

Don and I both know his dad is looking down at the Cadillac thinking my poor car! It's always been kept in a garage and now here it is covered in snow! Hopefully it won't be long before it's in the garage and not getting snowed upon! :-)

Merry Christmas!

To all our friends and family...

Wherever you might be this year, whoever you may be with - we wanted to wish you and your family a very Merry Christmas! Hope that Santa brings you everything your heart desires!

Merry Christmas To All and To All A Good Night!

Insulation, Drywall and Siding!

The walls have been foamed, insulation has been blown in (except for the ceilings), and the drywall has been delivered! A funny story (well, I guess you had to be there) Don and I were at the house while they were blowing in the insulation. Remember that the house has been (and really still is) open and rather cold inside! When they were insulating the game room Don and I were both thinking that it was already warmer inside, that is until we went outside and realized that it was warmer outside as well! Here's hoping that it's much warmer when the transom over the front door gets put in, the ceiling gets done and the doors into the garage get here and get installed!!

Tess is really going to miss having the "open" walls! Not only for running through the house, but also trying to play "keep away" from us when she has something in her mouth that she's not supposed to have (and that's often around here)! I love the pictures here of her where you can actually see her paws OFF the floor! She was running through the game room, kitchen, and dining room over and over!

The drywall was delivered the other day. Three truckloads! The first two trucks each had one guy and they arrived together! They should have waited until the third truck got here 'cause they had to unload it all manually! When the third truck (three guys) got here, they had something to unload it! It was awesome to watch the guy with the remote pick up the load, swing it around and get it into the front door! They spread the drywall throughout the house so the drywallers don't have to cart it all over! The drywallers really put that stuff up pretty fast! It's amazing how much the house changes when the dry walls go up! Don thinks it shrinks! If he had to do it over...I believe he'd have a 6000 sq. ft. house! Of course, he's also slight off kilter!

Today was busy with the siding guys working on the fascia, eaves and finally actually putting siding up! The bricklayers were back working on the front and courtyard of the house! The drywallers were finishing putting up the ceiling and walls! I think they'll have everything up by the end of the day tomorrow. Then they'll begin

mudding and taping (or is that taping and mudding)!

They also finished connecting the fireplace and chimney! Don is anxious to have his first fire in the fireplace...he already has a log in the one in his study! He'd better wait until they open up the top!!

As always, you can check out the pictures of the house building at www.picasaweb.google.com/vickileith. I'm on Part 6!

Baby, It's Cold Outside!

That's NOT a reference to a Christmas song, it's a reference to the weather! It was 26 degrees when we got up this morning (and we're NOT early risers). I think it got up to 32 degrees today and tomorrow we're having a HEAT WAVE! :-) The forecast is for highs in the mid 50's! It wouldn't be bad if we were nice and toasty INSIDE but since we go to the house everyday and we're still waiting for it to be closed up...that's not the case! :-)

Today there was LOTS of activity though with plumbers, electricians, carpenters, the guys that put up the siding and the multi-purpose guys (not sure what to call them since they will put up the garage doors, connect the fireplace ducts to the chimney and today they were putting in the central vac)! We hope to have the final windows in by tomorrow and hurray, hurray...our front door finally arrived today! Bad news though...the transom above the door DIDN'T make it! The guy at the store thinks he forgot to order it! Supposedly, it's being expedited! Sure hope so since we've been waiting for a long time for the front door!!!

If you haven't checked out the pictures lately, be sure to check them out! I think I'm on Part 5! Lots of changes lately! It's finally looking like a real house! Next week the insulation is supposed to be put in and by the end of the week the drywall is going to be started! The cabinets will start to get built next week as well! The plumbing has been picked, granite has been chosen, carpet has been selected and I've begun to look at lighting! Appliances have been purchased, the majority of our furniture has been bought and I have this HUGE "thing" of paint colors to look at! I can't believe the choices that have to be made and the details that you have to think of when building!

www.picasaweb.google.com/vickileith

I've missed a couple of picture opportunities lately...the other day one of our carpenters fell off the deck! I was the only one that actually saw him fall! I told Don, "Michael just fell off the deck" and ran out and around the house! That's the unfortunate thing about not having a back access yet. We have a door, but the deck is only a frame and there are no steps down! Anyhow, when I got there, Brian was talking to him (he said that he heard the unmistakable sound of a pouch being turned upside down)! I made him lay there for a few minutes but then he wanted to get up. Don and I were worried about him though because he didn't know what had happened. He didn't remember being up on the deck and didn't know he had fallen off. The guys were pretty calm and unconcerned. I told them to make sure they told his wife what happened. The next day, Michael was back at work with only a headache and sore. Today he was fine. I'm pretty sure he was knocked out (I know he was) and had a concussion (would be willing to bet on that one) but they weren't too worried! If I had of had my cell phone on me...I would have called 911 while I was running to the back of the house!! Yesterday they weren't working at our house, but at our neighbor's...Lewis and his wife, Pat live a couple of houses away and are building a new house about 8 houses away. We asked one of the guys how Michael was and he told us fine. He asked if we had heard about Art. Art is another of the guys on the framing crew. Seems that the day before he put a nail right through his thumb (with the nail gun)! He was extremely lucky since he missed the bone completely. I saw his thumb and I'm not sure how he managed to do that!! He had Brian pull it out and kept working! Yesterday it was swollen and he said it was throbbing, but today it was much better! These guys are definitely crazy!

What do you think of the picture I took of the cardinal above? I got a new zoom lense for my camera (it's my birthday/Christmas present from Don...I got it a few days early!). The other day as we were getting ready to leave I saw the bird in the trees and grabbed my camera out of the car! Walked over and got a couple of pictures before it flew away! I thought it was pretty cool! I've seen a few very blue birds at my moms. I haven't been able to get "close enough" so now hopefully with my zoom lense I will be able to! :-)

Girls With a 'Tude!

Have you ever been with two 6-year old girls who are soooo excited to be having a "first" and then placed them in a room with THOUSANDS of other excited girls ranging in age from 4 - 17? Do you remember one of my previous blogs where I mentioned Hannah-Montana? Does SOLD OUT ring a bell? Well, right now I rank right up there with one of the best, most awesome grandmas around! :-)

On Saturday afternoon, Ashleigh and I, along with her friend Bryce and Bryce's mom, Georgianne went to the SOLD OUT IN TWO MINUTES Hannah-Montana/Miley Cyrus concert at the Alltel Arena in Little Rock! Although tickets were selling on eBay for OVER $1,000 these tickets costs face value!!! Imagine that! All it took was a little bit of luck and knowing the right person! :-)

A few weeks ago, Alltel Arena announced that there would be more tickets available. They were going to open the buying at noon a few days later. Unfortunately, I wasn't going to be home then and neither was Kim. I had still been watching eBay, but the tickets were going for absolutely crazy amounts! I figured that there was just not going to be a chance of taking Ashleigh to this concert! Last week I got a call from Kim...she was "giddy" and said "guess what I just scored"? I immediately said "No way, Hannah Montana tickets"?!? Seems like Bryce's dad had also been trying to get tickets for her to go. He got on the computer minutes before noon, entered all his information into the screen and at exactly noon...he hit enter! He was able to purchase (4) tickets! Bryce's mom had to work so the "catch" was that I would take Bryce and Ashleigh and she would meet us there! Trust me, we got the best end of the deal! :-)

When Ashleigh found out that she was going...she was ecstatic! She was soooo excited! She called me on Friday before the concert to tell me to make sure I went to bed early so I would have plenty of energy! :-) On Saturday, she called me several times to find out where I was and when I would be at her house! We had lunch at Kim & Tim's before leaving for the concert and I have NEVER seen her eat so fast! I quick trip a few blocks away and we picked up an also very excited Bryce! :-) They talked non-stop the entire trip to the arena! You would have thought they were on a sugar high instead of just very excited! We aced a parking spot very near the arena and we were on our way! Lots and lots of girls, teen girls and women and VERY FEW men or boys, although there were a few! Inside we found our seats first and then headed out to get something to drink. There were lines everywhere! Ashleigh and Bryce both wanted t-shirts but Bryce was waiting for her mom. I told Ashleigh that once the concert started, if she told me now, which one she wanted I would come out and get it so there wouldn't be sooo many people! We got in line for drinks and waited for about 20 minutes! Into another line since they both wanted cotton candy. We had been in line for about 10 minutes when I spotted a guy walking with cotton candy heading into the arena. I snagged the cotton candy and we headed back to our seats! Glad they were both willing to wait on the t-shirts 'cause the line for that (although there were many) was even longer than the two previous!! Watching everyone attending was something else! Little girls, big girls...everyone decked out for Hannah-Montana! Lots of Hannah-Montana wigs, t-shirts, hats, etc.!

The concert started at 4:00. Before it started, any time there was movement on stage screams resonated throughout! You can imagine how loud it actually got once it officially started! The Jonas Brothers (you have to be a Hannah fan to know who they are) opened the show and they weren't that bad! They had been playing for about 10 minutes when Bryce's mom, Georgianne got there! That made it much nicer since we had bigger kids in front of us and being 6-years old, Bryce and Ashleigh aren't all that big! They spent the majority of the concert either standing on our legs or standing on their chairs (when security wasn't making EVERYONE get down). It was hard for us to enforce that when the kids in front of us kept standing on their chairs and they were bigger! In front of them was a rather large woman and her very young daughter who she put on her back to see! It just kind of has a domino affect! If I thought the crowd was excited to see the Jonas Brothers...you can imagine the excitement when Hannah Montana came on! I didn't know any of the songs, but the concert was still fun! It was well worth it to see Ashleigh's face and feel her excitement the entire time! After Hannah-Montana she came back as Miley Cyrus (her "real self") and then the Jonas Brothers came back for a couple of songs with her. All in all, it was a pretty good concert!

Afterwards, we left with the hoards. Bryce and Georgianne were going opposite of where our car was parked so we parted outside after saying good-bye and giving our gracious thanks! We spotted Miley's bright pink bus outside and detoured to take a quick picture in front of it. We should have taken more time since once we got to our car...we didn't move for at least a half hour! I can see now where it might be worthwhile to park farther away and walk!! Almost forgot to mention that the only pictures I was able to take inside were with my cell phone! Cameras with detachable lenses (like mine) weren't allowed! I wish I had of known that because I would have brought an old digital camera that we have!! Oh well, pictures on the phone aren't that great, but the memories in my head and I'm sure Ashleigh's as well are wonderful! :-)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Wanted to wish everyone a SUPER Thanksgiving Day! This year I'm thankful for our friends and family, especially my husband who has given us the opportunity to travel and meet so many wonderful people! I'm thankful for the opportunity to be building our new house. I'm thankful for the many men and women who are or have given us all the opportunity to live in this great country of ours where we have so many freedoms and privileges. I'm thankful for our good health and I'll really be thankful when I can finally take a nice, long, hot Jacuzzi in my new super duper, snazzy tub! :-)

Tess & The Black Pipe!

For some time, I've called Tess a MORON! She's a sweet puppy when she's not being head-strong and independent! For such an independent dog...she sure is a wuss! We've seen it many times before whether it's a leaf blowing, that hole covered with a grate and many other things but today...the black pipe topped the cake! :-)

The propane company is at the house installing the pipes to supply gas to the stove top, hot water heaters, fireplaces and dryer. They had drilled a hole in the great room fireplace frame and had a pipe sticking through it. It happened to catch Tess' attention as it was turning (they were connecting it down below the house). You would have thought she saw a ghost! She began barking and stretched out her entire body trying to figure out what in the heck it was! She wouldn't let her attention off the pipe! It had her baffled for sure! At one point Don or I tapped the floor and Tess jumped about a mile - straight up! Oh my gosh! Don and I were both laughing so hard, yet telling Tess it was o.k. Didn't matter to her! She was not going to let it out of her site! The guys working below told us that they heard her barking! Even 10 or 15 minutes later...she was still wary of that darn pipe! It may have been one of those things that "you just had to be there" but I wish you could have seen her!

BTW I still think she's a moron! She eats everything she finds around the construction of our new house! The workers aren't too great about picking up trash...especially after lunch! She eats wrappers off "things", instructions that come with "things", cardboard, plastic off of everything and now even picks up the wire that's cut off where the electrician is wiring!!! When we try to get her and tell her to "drop it"...she runs from us! She's not dumb (well, maybe you would classify eating wire as NOT SMART) but she's smart enough to go around so we can't catch her!

Some Interesting Neighbors!

These are actually some neighbors of ours. No, not where we're building the house, but near the RV Park we are at! The camel isn't always out, but the buffalos are! Today, when we spotted the camel, I had Don turn around so I could get a picture! I kept waiting for it to spit especially since it was "foaming at the mouth", but it never happened (and I was VERY thankful)!

I wouldn't have been surprised since Tess was in the back of the car barking non-stop! I wander what she (Tess) would have done if we had let her out of the car!

I have a funny (well, to me anyway) story that has nothing to do with the animals! Last weekend my mom, Ashleigh and I went to a holiday boutique. The local radio station was there having a drawing for tickets to a sold out "Hannah Montana" concert on Dec. 1st at the Alltel Arena in Little Rock. Being the good grandma, I signed up! The next day I got an early morning phone call from Ashleigh "Grandma, did we win"? I had to tell her that the drawing wasn't held yet, it was being held on the 17th. Saturday morning she called, "Grandma, did they do the drawing"? I told her that it was between 2 and 3 (after reading the website...I knew that if we didn't get called before today...most likely we weren't the winners). This morning, another phone call from Ashleigh "Grandma, did we win"? I had to tell her that "no, we didn't win". Being the good grandma that I am...I looked online at tickets (above I mentioned that they are "sold-out" through normal channels). Well, we won't be going to the Hannah Montana concert! Two tickets would cost over $400! Good I am, crazy I'm not! Ashleigh and I can listen to a whole lot of Hannah Montana CD's for $400!!!

Brian Turns Three!

Today was Brian's 3rd birthday! The unfortunate part is that he's in So. California and we're in Arkansas! Brian missed his Grandpa's birthday by just a few hours! Grandpa wasn't very happy about that! That's o.k. with Grandma though...he could miss it by as many hours as he wanted to! He came when he was good and ready! Brian is the happiest little boy! And he is ALL boy! He loves everything sports - even at three!

HAPPY 3RD BIRTHDAY BRIAN! WE MISS YOU!

Happy Birthday Don!

On November 14th, Don officially became old enough to collect Social Security! We spent the day with our friends, Glenda & Ray Roe. We had a great dinner of steak, salads and potatoes (don't ask about the squash that I forgot in the microwave)! For dessert we had carrot cake! We were also joined by friends of the Roe's, Donna & Al who joined us at the RV park in Shirley on Tuesday!

It didn't take us long to get acquainted with Donna & Al! We had them join us at the house for "happy hour" and also brought my mom along! After our happy hour...we all had dinner at Bentley's, a local restaurant!

Today, we once again went over to the house for happy hour, but we started by going to El Jefe's...for their all you can eat from 11-3! It was a little colder today so we had happy hour out on the "as of yet, uncompleted deck" (that doesn't make much sense does it)! Seems like you would want to be on a solid floor with some walls and windows instead of precariously perched on boards out in the elements! :-)

After that we stopped by the boat storage to show off the boat! The ladies took a quick glance and then headed to Dollar General for a quick look around!

Tomorrow, the Roe's and Donna & Al will head out. Glenda and Ray heading towards Las Vegas and Donna & Al to Texas. It's been a very quick visit but we were glad to be able to share our new adventure with them! I'm hoping that the next time they're through here that the house will be finished, but I'm NOT holding my breath! :-)

You can see the latest house building pictures here:

www.picasaweb.google.com/vickileith

A bird in the hand...

Don and I went over to the house today to "clean it up" a little before we had our first official guest! It's amazing how messy the workers can be during the week!

When I walked into the game room I was startled by a bird! Yes, a bird! It was perched on the window sill...except it wasn't outside, it was inside! It didn't attempt to fly away even when Don walked up to it. Luckily he had brought along some gloves so he put those on and gently picked up the bird. It was obvious that the bird had flown into the window. We needed to put the bird somewhere that Tess wouldn't get it so he took it outside and placed it on some tree branches that Don, Lewis and Bill (our neighbors) need to cut up for firewood! I watched it for a while then left to do something. Later when I looked...the bird was no longer there! Don't know if it flew away or fell to the ground, but it was gone. Later I went out to the garage to investigate something Tess was barking at. At first I thought it was a frog (that was from across the room) until I got closer and saw that it was another bird! It was the same species of bird and this bird didn't survive it's crash into the window! I hope they get the garage doors and the rest of the doors and windows in pretty soon so we aren't responsible for the decline in the bird population around Greers Ferry!

After a quick stop at the grocery store...we headed back to the motorhome. We were waiting for our friends, Glenda & Ray Roe to arrive for a visit! Luckily we arrived at about the same time they did! After they got pulled in and settled, we packed up the car with some chairs and a drink (or two) and headed back over to the house! We officially welcomed them as our first guests (sorry Rick & Joanne, Bill & Kathy, Kim, Tim, Ashleigh & Mom...when you all came over we only looked around and never sat down and made it "official")! We enjoyed our visit and the sunset but once
the sun began to go down...we needed to head home! The house is starting to really come together and we enjoyed having our first official guests visit! Hope we have many more friends and family stop by!

You can check out the progress of the house here:

http://picasaweb.google.com/vickileith

Fairfield Bay - Tricks & Treats!

In Fairfield Bay, where my mom now lives, they had a Trick or Treat Party for the kids on Saturday! They had lots of things for kids to do! First they took the kids pictures and printed them right there...for free! A hay ride around the nearby area, and games on many of the holes of the miniature golf course!

Ashleigh had a great time hitting a funny little bean bag with plastic golf clubs into the hole; shooting baskets (again with something other than balls); ring around the Pepsi (notice the ring around one?) She actually won the liter of Pepsi...you would have thought it was a million bucks! Musical chairs (she was next to last), pin the nose on the pumpkin (that's her nose right above the marked area); fishing for treats; bowling and tattoos! It was great, since ALL the kids were winners and got both a treat and a toy!

There was also a costume contest, but personally...I think it was rigged! Now I know that I'm biased, but I think a hand-made costume is far better (and cuter) than almost any store bought costume! :-) In Ashleigh's age group (4-6) a store bought "Arial" won for best costume (NOT)! Most original was very cute but I can't tell you who or what it was, funniest was a Tigger costume (another store bought), scariest was a witch (and it was well done). There were about 200 kids and they did divide the kids into various age groups, but I definitely think it helped to have people "know" you!

After the costume contest, there was a "Trail of Terror" that you could go on. It cost a couple of $$, and Ashleigh wanted to go on it. I told her that I didn't think she would like it, but she kept saying that she wanted to go and she wouldn't be scared! I finally relented and bought two tickets! You had to wait for your group to be called and the wait was about 1/2 hour. Just before our group was called Ashleigh said to me "I can't do it, I'm too scared"! I once again tried talking her out of her decision, but she said she was too scared and couldn't go through the Trail! I have to say, that we were behind some teenagers that were discussing the screaming we could hear and talking about someone getting chased with a knife (don't think so, but try telling that to an impressive 6-year old)! I was able to get a refund and we headed over to Nanna's house for a late dinner! Ashleigh had a full day and after dinner, while Grandma was trying to help Nanna clean up, she curled up in the chair and fell asleep! Grandma had to wake her up for dessert!