We are In the Country!

 We left Irving at 1:30 Monday afternoon and drove straight to Hillsboro where we stopped for a late lunch.

Louis Dean used to have a big appetite but not so much anymore.

Still, he orders a giant burger and can only eat half of it.

We split the other half for supper that night.

On to Waco and the Home Depot for the fittings son Dean needed to fix the broken pipes in our shower.

We were last at the ranch on January 5th so we needed to stock the fridge for the week.

LD was a happy man!

Son Dean's beer on the left and Daddy Dean's on the right.

Made it to the gate while I could still see.

The sun was just setting as we arrived.

Remmie and Ruger were happy to see me!

They know I save bones and pieces of meat for them!

This time I brought some leftover roast beef!

Rugar is huge!

The cats were happy to be back, too.

My super cute stepson! 

I call him Son Dean.

He had been working on our plumbing issues all day and was just finishing up the last bit of electrical repair when we arrived.

He had three leaks - first the toilet, next the sink, and third the hot water pipe in the shower.

He was just about to put the wall back when, alas, he spotted a drip on the cold water pipe.

He and his dad each opened a can of beer and watched the pipe for several minutes, wishing it was just condensation or something. Nope! 

We had been using PVC pipes but Dean is changing everything out to PEX as he repairs things.

Apparently, PEX can leak, too!

We sat and visited with Dean and Sherry and made plans for Dean to go to Marlin the next day to buy what he needed to fix the shower.

By this time it was just 7:30 - but it seemed so much later.

I was totally exhausted and had not left the camper or front room neat and tidy from our last visit.

Disorder can overwhelm me and I really couldn't clean anything up until the plumbing was all done.

I decided to just go to bed and went in the camper to discover the kitchen sink had been leaking since we turned the water on. I did not notice until I stepped on soggy carpet!

Water was pouring off the shelf like a waterfall and two inches of water had pooled inside and had flowed under the cupboard and soaked the little living room area and kitchen.

My Knight in Shining Overalls soaked up the water with towels and turned the fans on the carpet to dry them out.

Poor Dean! 

He spent several hours Tuesday finishing things up!

He has the patience of Job!

Tuesday was Sherry's birthday and we met Rosey at El Charro's in Marlin for Mexican food and margaritas! The food was great and so were the margaritas.

We had the best time visiting and catching up together.

We never seem to run out of things to talk about and two hours went by in a flash!

I slept likke a baby that night!

I spent the entire day Wednesday cleaning.

To get to the shower's plumbing pipes and Louis Dean was so smart in anticipating that - he had screw nailed the wall in such a way to make an inspection door.

And the room was a total mess plus Tuesday Louis Dean had put shelves in the wardrobe Dean and Sherry had given me and all my clothes were in plastic bags. I sorted and folded and arranged everything in the wardrobe and now I can find things again. I leave linens and clothes as well as toiletries and a basic pantry of food here so we don't have to haul that stuff back and forth.

I also cleaned the area of the front room where I cook and prepare meals.

There's a lot of dirt in the country and I had to wear real shoes because there was so much dried mud and tracked in dirt! You should have heard my vacuum cleaner! It sounded like I was popping corn!

I have been making notes for chaper 39 of my book.

It's 2002 and was probably one of the worse years of my life.

As I read my handwritten journal from that year, I want to reach through time and the pages and hit myself on the head for being so naive - or maybe just stupid.

I could not write this book without those journals.

I read it and am amazed at all I do not remember!

I admit to feeling so many emotions in preparing to write a chapter and I do find little snippets of joy here and there. 2002 was a reaally hard year and I am so happy I am moving through these trying years.

2005 was the year I met Louis Dean and all the trauma and drama of life finally disappeared and, at long last, I began living a normal life.

Today we all went to Waco to celebrate Sherry's birthday.

One of her favorites is Ichiban Japanese Restaurant.

Great food and entertainment combination!

Flying food straight to our mouths!

This was all so much fun!

We did a few errands after lunch and I came right in and took a really good nap!

Louis Dean was playing the guitar and singing when I woke up.

I nearly slept through the sunset!

Glad I didn't miss these unusual clouds.

I took a break from cleaning today but will be back at it tomorrow. 

When we leave Sunday I want to have our place back in good order!

Good night, y'all!!