Category Archives: Life at Bass Lake Lot 205

Family and Friends, Life at Bass Lake Lot 205, Pictures of the Adventure

Let’s focus on something else, OK?

Leave a comment

Yes, today is Tax Day. The TV is telling me, Facebook is telling me, and my phone calendar is telling me.  But let’s not dwell on that!

Instead, let’s think about some of the delights from this past week!
Just a week ago, we had an unexpected visit from my niece and family, who live in Michigan. The kids were on Spring Break, so they had traveled to see Mike’s family in Texarkana! And in the overall scheme of things, compared to Michigan, Texarkana is just about next door!
Untitled
Can you tell they made a stop at Buc-ees before they got to Lindale? =)
We had such a sweet visit. which included a quick game of Skip-bo! Of course!
Untitled
What a treat!
Then over the weekend, we had a picnic with our Waco gang – more beautiful family time!
Untitled
We love having at least some of the kids and grands just a couple of hours away, and we’ve found a sweet ‘in-the-middle’ spot that shortens the drive for both of us. Life is pretty busy for this family, so we were happy to find time to connect before we head to Vermont for the summer!

Untitled

We rounded out the week with dinner with a nearby friend (that we don’t see nearly often enough)
Untitled
and some time in the sewing room (dare I call it a studio??) where I was able to finish up a wall hanging that I’d had in my UFO (UnFinished Object) pile for about 25 years!
Untitled
It’s a very well traveled wall hanging. (And now it has traveled to it’s forever home in Waco!)

Tax day or not – it was good to look back over the blessings of the last week!

Thanks for stopping by!
Steph

Email, RSS Follow
Pin It
Family and Friends, Life at Bass Lake Lot 205, Pictures of the Adventure

Last Week…

2 Comments

…was Great!!!
It started on Sunday, the 15th, when we connected with our Waco kids and grands at our favorite midway point – Corsicana. We celebrated Taran’s 11th birthday
Untitled
and enjoyed some lovely visit time with the whole family!
Untitled me
Certainly, a great way to start the week!
Shortly after we returned from that deliciousness, our friends Don and Jenny arrived from South Dakota!! They were on their way to Galveston and hung around in the SOWER RV lot until Friday. Jenny and I took long walks, made a trip to Tyler to connect with some mutual friends,
Untitled
had a pedicure date
Untitled
and generally just enjoyed being neighbors! The guys did a bit of RV service work
Untitled
and took naps as needed!
Somehow I failed to get a good picture of the four of us, but as they were heading out, I was able to snag this one of Jenny and me!
Untitled
When some of your dearest friends live in South Dakota, you relish any chance to connect with them! We were so thankful they stopped and spent those days with us!
They left on Friday, just as we were driving to Tyler for Gary’s cardio tests, prompted by his little (non)episode earlier this month. The tests (nuclear stress test and echocardiogram) went well, and now we wait for the next doctor’s visit to have the results explained to us! We have copies of the results, and while they used a lot of words beyond our understanding, there were no trigger words like Blockage or Abnormal or Get-thee-to-the-ER, so we feel confident that all is well. And we thank God for that!

It was a beautiful week of family and friends and life! Thank you for stopping by and sharing it with me!
Steph

PS – I also got our taxes done (which included a nice refund), so that was a great box to check off too!

Email, RSS Follow
Pin It
Life at Bass Lake Lot 205, Pictures of the Adventure, The Adventure

And so it begins…the slippery slope

3 Comments

When we first moved here, I was struck by how many folks planned their days around their doctor appointments.   Our previous doctoring experiences were a check-up once a year, and an occasional Urgent Care visit when needed. Plus, being new to the area, we didn’t even have a doctor, let alone appointments! (Please know that we are both so very thankful for our limited need for doctoring! We do not take that blessing lightly!)

But last week, as Gary was getting out of his Oh-So-Comfy recliner to head to bed,  he experienced some sharp pain in his left arm and then some tightness in his chest.  Yep – Off to meet the good folks at the local Emergency Room. Honestly, by the time we got there, the pain was gone, and he was feeling just fine. But – better safe than sorry, we said, so we got him checked in. An EKG, bloodwork, and chest x-ray later – everything looked fine.  They sent us home (after waiting 3 hours for a second round of bloodwork just to be sure) with the promise of a call from a cardiologist for follow-up the next day.

And so it begins…
Cardiologist today (everything looked fine, but let’s run some tests to be sure…)
Primary Care tomorrow
Stress Test and Echocardiogram – in two weeks.
Follow-up on tests- two weeks after that.
And just so I don’t feel left out –
Dermatologist removed a small bump on my leg following a ‘let’s get acquainted’ visit
Yep – Squamous cell carcinoma
Returned so she could burn and scrape it out (nothing big – a regular band aid covers it!)
Follow-up in three months

The calendar is beginning to fill up…

It’s a slippery slope indeed! But thankfully, these are small things.  Done in the interest of not having Big Things happen. We have been very blessed with good health during our years of travel, and we are so very thankful for that! To God be the Glory!

Keeping warm here in Texas (and finding our way around the local health community), praying you are also! (staying warm, not the health care stuff!) =)
Steph

Email, RSS Follow
Pin It
Life at Bass Lake Lot 205, The Adventure

Baby, it’s cold out there!

Leave a comment

Don’t get me wrong. I know it’s cold almost everywhere – and in many instances, colder than here in East Texas. I may be new to Texas, but of this I am VERY sure – Texas is not OK!
We got less than an inch of snow. At least it was pretending to be snow. It’s actually a layer of ice, covered with about a half inch of snow, covered with another layer of ice. So, essentially, a snow and ice sandwich.  With a side of Bitter Cold.
Winter at bass lake
Very crusty, and very slippery! Of the many things I thought I’d experience in Texas,  legitimate Snow Days were not on the list. The weekend was pretty much canceled. Our community scheduled a worship service here Sunday morning since virtually every church had canceled its services. But then even that service was canceled due to icy conditions!  Senior Citizens + Ice – TROUBLE!
But you know what? My complaints are few. We only lost power for about five minutes in the last four days. Our house is toasty, we have no place to go, and I have just enjoyed three full days of guilt-free sewing. Today the Big Melt continues, and by the end of the week, the temperature might make it up to 50!
And the birds are very happy we got that birdfeeder hung before the storm!
Winter at bass lake

Stay safe and warm, friends!

Steph

Email, RSS Follow
Pin It
Family and Friends, Life at Bass Lake Lot 205, SOWER Projects, The Adventure

Sixteen for Dinner

1 Comment

Yep – Sixteen. In our Little Lindale House!!

It started quite innocently.  Four SOWER couples were working at a nearby SOWER project, and since we had previously worked with three of them, we wanted to make sure we connected before they left the area.  Surely we could host those good folks for burgers, right? We checked with all parties involved, and set the day and time  – it was a go! But wait – what about the active SOWERs that live here in our community? Maybe they would like to come and meet these guys. OK, that’s only 2 more couples – we could still fit, couldn’t we? Oh – I forgot – there’s an Alumni SOWER parked in our SOWER RV lot. I bet they’d like to come too! And so it was – including the old SOWERs who live in the house, there were 16 of us for dinner! It was a pseudo-structured potluck – burgers, rolls, and fixin’s were covered. The rest was a delightful surprise! Thankfully, the weather was mild enough that about half the gang was outside at any given time,
Dinner party
Dinner party
so while the fellowship was very sweet, it didn’t have to also be “close fellowship”!
Until we all squeezed in for a traditional SOWER Group Picture, that is!
Dinner party

I loved the way the plan came together!! It’s an encouragement to me to get back on the entertaining bandwagon, but also to keep a close eye on the weather!! Yesterday it was in the high 50’s. Not too bad for January. Today it has rained all day, and the temps are plummeting as I type. Starting tomorrow morning, we’re being promised 90+ hours of below-freezing weather. Like in the teens below-freezing.

Screenshot

Oh, and some sort of wintery mix – rain, sleet, freezing rain and maybe even snow. We’re stocked up on our bread, eggs, milk, and TP so I think we’re ready!  (Oh, and maple syrup for that French Toast!)

Needless to say, we got that dinner party in just under the wire! Pretty sure we won’t be budging from the house until next week sometime. (Unless the power goes out and we need to find a neighbor with a working generator!)

Texas isn’t the only location under a Winter Weather Watch – so stay warm and safe out there, friends!! Maybe you should stay home too!!

Steph

Email, RSS Follow
Pin It