Hello again, dear friends!  We are hoping this finds you all well, happy & healthy!!   And SAFE!  Here's what's going on with us:

Bobo (Dick's mom) fell, broke her hip & has been in a rehab hospital about a month now.  She went back to the surgeon today, and with any luck, she'll be instructed to start gentle walking any day now.  Long term plans are that she'll give up her apartment and move to Betty's (Dick's sister) house in Alabama.  We'll see if she follows through and really does that.

Papa (Dick's dad) fell down the steps at his old folks' home in Alabama and broke his back.  Yup, you read that right - he's broken his back.  Today was supposed to be outpatient surgery to glue it back together, but check out the next post for more info on that!

Tornadoes blew through Alabama, and Betty's area was particularly hard hit.  Several people were killed and last we heard, there was still a couple from her church that are unaccounted for, so they really don't know where they are or even if they are safe.  They've been without electricity for several days now, but they still have each other and their house is standing, so all is well.  They are taking showers over at their son's house, because he has a gas hot water heater.  They're cooking outside on the gas grill, and I believe they are using the car charger to keep their cell phone charged up.  WiFi is "borrowed" from hotels about 25 miles away, so they aren't exactly keeping up with their email.  Needless to say, Papa's surgery was most likely not performed....poor fella.  He's in a lot of pain.

Carl & Denise (friends from Branson) sent us pictures of the city campground we worked at with them back in 2007 - our very first workamping assignment.  It's TOTALLY under water!  Last week, the first 4 rows of sites were underwater, but more water was released from Table Rock Lake and now the campground is fully engulfed.  And, according to the weather channel tonight, they're in for a beating tonight.  Hope they are up at the RecPlex, high & dry...and hope they've got their roof leak fixed!

We, on the other hand, are sitting here, still no rain.  It's been hot & dry, but a cold front moved in last night & it got downright CHILLY!  Woke up this morning & had to shut windows!!!  And just yesterday, we had to turn on the A/C!    I've been to a new primary care doc - yup, you guessed it - new meds.  Oh.My.GAWD.  They turned me into a mush-head with nausea & dizziness!!  After the 2nd dose, I couldn't get up off the couch, and after the 4th dose, I gave up on taking them.  Just no point.  So, now I'm back on the pain meds that work, but I have to ration them carefully, since I don't have enough to last me thru till the next dr appt. 

In addition to all that, we've done some work around here....re-did a couple of flower beds, hung the Mexican sun, Dick clear-coated all my turtles and now they're out in the new flower beds, painted the fountain and got library cards!  The library here is actually very nice, and HUUUUUGE.  Well, it's huge compared to all the po-dunk libararies we've been visiting!  Oh, and guess what ELSE!  Today, we bought a hot tub!!!  With any luck, they'll deliver it on Thursday - yes, THIS Thursday!  Soon, we'll be soaking in our own, private & CLEAN hot tub.  Whoooohooo!!!  So, overall, we are definitely the luckiest of the bunch!

Oh, I almost forgot!  We bought a new convection microwave.....it all started back before we bought our current camper.  When we first saw it, it didn't have an oven.  Yeah, crazy, right?  Who puts in a stove, but not an oven?  Well, there was a convection/microwave/oven.  But, doggone if I was gonna do math in MY retirement...heck, we were lucky I was willing to COOK, but I sure wasn't gonna have to do math!  (yeah, who knew I'd start quilting!!) Sooooo, we spent an extra $500 and lost 2 BIG drawers, and they put in a gas oven. It didn't take too long for me to figure out to just knock the temp down a bit & shorten the cook time for fast bake, but if I really didn't want to calculate new time & temp, just hit the BAKE button, and lo & behold, it was a CONVENTIONAL oven too!!!  Soooo, the only time we used the gas oven I insisted on was when we wanted to make (broiled) garlic toast.  Oh, and to store baking dishes.  What a waste!!!  But, I did learn to love my convection oven...so, when we got here, I decided that the stove's oven was just tooooooo big & heated the house up too much to use.....but, if on the other hand, I had a convection oven with the microwave, wouldn't that just be the coolest?  Sooo, yup, that's what we did.  And here are the installation pictures, along with what we've done with/to the front flower beds.  And Dick finally got a moment to hang up the Mexican sun we bought!  Enjoy the slideshows!!

https://picasaweb.google.com/kcallander989/UpdatesUpgrades?feat=directlink

https://picasaweb.google.com/kcallander989/InstallingTheMicrowave?feat=directlink 

'Till next time, stay warm & dry, stay healthy, and stay SAFE!