Christmas.............A Happy Time

We have been here in Tomball, TX now for about four weeks and have been enjoying our stay. We have visited with the other kids and their families, seeing the grand kids playing and having a good time. Tonight we will join our oldest daughter's family for dinner at one of our favorite Mexican restaurants. Should be fun.

Sherry and I decided to build a Christmas gift for one of the kids and we finished it up yesterday. Now getting it over to my daughter's place could be another thing. I can't say what it is because I am afraid that they may read this post.

The Christmas shopping is done and so is the wrapping. Depending on the gifts, wrapping in an RV can be quite the challenge. But none the less it is done. Now that that project is finished I can start on the other one.......Laying down new wood laminate flooring in the trailer. We have purchased the flooring so I must get it done before we leave here. No Pressure, No Pressure at all!

Once the carpet is up and out of here, laying the floor down should be pretty easy up to the angle part. I am not going to say that I am bad at angles, but I want to make sure I do it right with the least amount of waste. Right like that's going to happen. I have a game plan and I will start ripping the carpet out in a few days. Sherry will be taking pictures along the way so that way I can give you a post about the whole thing.

As the title of this post, Christmas should be a Happy time for all. But as we know it isn't always a Happy time. We will meet at our eldest daughter's house and the other kids will be there as well. We will all have a good time and then go home, put the kids down to sleep and wait for Santa Clause. Should be fun.

Some families will continue with their regular traditions and some will start new ones as like my third oldest daughter, with her new husband. The families in Newtown, CT will have a hard time I'm sure this Christmas. I can only hope that they will have a wonderful Christmas and know that the world will be with them in thoughts and prayers on Christmas Day. Especially knowing that God will be with them to help them overcome this.

To all of our armed forces serving our country and won't be able to make it home this Holiday season I say, "Thank you, be safe and have a Merry Christmas this year."

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all of you.

Until next Time................Be Safe.

Christmas..... Full Time RV Style

When one decides to go full time Rving some sacrifices will have to be made. Downsizing, possibly sell the "sticks and bricks", and what to do about the Holidays.

We have met some real nice people on our journey. One couple comes to mind that we met in San Antonio this past Thanksgiving. When I asked her what their plans were for Thanksgiving she said,"Oh probably just go out for dinner." I guess that's OK for some but not me. I love Thanksgiving and love to cook. I used to deep fry a bird but that was one of the sacrifices.

Christmas time around here is like any other house, but smaller. Since we travel with our daughter Brianne, and being 10 years old, we feel she needs a regular Christmas. Now do we go out and get a Christmas tree that is 6 feet tall and 5 feet in diameter? No. We still have to be practical even when it comes to the tree.

We started out with a four foot tree in front of the TV and decided that didn't work to well. Next Sherry came up with the idea of a table top tree and we have been using it for two years now.

See what you think.

Not bad. Sherry and Brianne decorate it like any other tree but smaller. Bri had a good time putting the ornaments on. I like this tree because I don't have to mess with any lights. This tree is small enough to fit into a box and is kept in the belly of the trailer.

Sherry continues to decorate the trailer to give it that homey feeling just like at our old house. One year Brianne asked us how will Santa get in since we don't have a fire place. Mom told her that there will be a "Golden Key" hanging just outside the door.(old skeleton type) This way he can use the key to get in to deliver your presents under the tree, on the table, on the floor, under the table.......Well you get the idea.

We have found that you really don't have to give up any of the Holidays just because you full time. This year starts a new tradition with us. We work in the later part of the summer and the fall and take the month of December off for the Holidays. We will go back to work sometime in January.

All things are possible with a little imagination and thought. Have a wonderful Holiday Season.

Until Next Time......................Be Safe.
 

How Does a Smartphone Get So Smart?

Quick update on what's been happening. We left San Antonio and headed for Houston and arrived at our favorite county park in Tomball. We got there on the Monday after Thanksgiving. It is our favorite because it's free. We left there the following Saturday, the first, and went to Corral RV Park also in Tomball.

When we were at our job in south Texas one problem we have is that our bank is no where around. So we usually open an account at a local bank. No problem until we decide to close it and they have no cash to close us out.

We saw a commercial from our bank on this mobile banking thing. You use a smart phone and take a picture of your check and Boom it's in your account. We started to think, "Would this work for us?" I did some research and talked to our bank about it and they said that it should not be a problem. The only thing is how much we can deposit in one month but overall still a good thing.

When we got to Tomball we have a list of things that we need to get and a Smart phone was one of them. I asked my oldest daughter about which one to get and she recommended the Samsung Galaxy S III. So now I have a phone in mind and was told that this was a good one to get. I have no clue about these phones. I have seen people with them and have seen some aspects of what it can do, especially pictures.

So into the AT&T store we go to get this thing. I told the guy we already have an account with them and he started to go to work. In a nut shell we walked out of there with the phone, my same number, some instructions on how to use it, and gave them over $300 dollars. Is this a good deal??

I figured out how to download the bank app and was able to do that. Then is came time to turn it off and couldn't figure out how to do it. So I texts my son-in-law and asked him how to do it and he replied back saying, "In a soft voice say, Pleas turn off". So I thought well it's a smart phone I guess this will work. I did and it didn't. Then he texts back and said "No not really I'm kidding." Then he told me how to turn it off. Boy I felt like an ass.

I even had a hard time making a phone call, but was able to work it out. We got our mail and our last check was in it. So I followed the instructions on taking pictures of the check and it was deposited into our account. Yahoo it worked. This will definitely will work for us on banking and I can figure out the rest of the stuff later.

Until Next Time.......................Be Safe.