HAPPY THANKSGIVING 2011

Thanksgiving Day - Friends Pam and Joe had invited us to Thanksgiving Dinner at their new home, along with several other couples. We had a great time and more than plenty to eat!! We started with drinks, wines and appetisers.

New acquaintance, Alice, brought bottles of Nouveau wine. which she said is available only in November.

I told her I had read an article about the "Day of the Wine" celebrating the release of Beaujolais nouveau wine on the third Thursday of November in Beaujolais, France, and because of the fermentation process should be drunk within six months. I had tried to find the wine but had no success. Alice knew Trader Joe's had "Two Buck Chuck" Nouveau wine released in November and bottled in Napa Valley, CA. We all enjoyed the wine and never noticed is was not from Beaujolais!!

The turkey is ready for carving!!

The guys slaved over the stove preparing the dinner!! Joe, Jeff, Bob, Ken, Pete (real name Anthony)

The ladies enjoyed pie and campaign! Clyde, Alice, Pam, Pam, Faye. (Note the new short, short hairdo!!)

Thank you Pam and Joe for a great Thanksgiving Dinner.

STICKY BUNS WITH CLYDE AND JEFF!

While enjoying the evening at Pam and Joe's, Clyde mentioned she would like to have us all over for her famous Sticky Buns. We decided Sunday morning would be ideal! And again there was more than plenty to eat.

The star of the morning, Clyde's Stick Buns, along with fruit bowls, fried apples, sweet cakes and quiche.

Jeff, Chuck, Joe, Helen, Clyde, Julie.

Pam, Joe, Alice and Pete.

Pam, Bob, Ken, Faye.

Again, everything was wonderful!! When's the next event???

MORE FRIENDS COME TO TT PALM SPRINGS

Nov. 21 - This morning some new players came over to the Pickleball courts. Unfortunately, they were a few days too late to be in the Saturday tournament!

Pat and Bill. Roger and Linda with whom we had spent the better part of the summer at TT Verde Valley in Arizona.

Welcome guys! Glad you're back.

After pickleball this morning, plans were made to meet for dinner at Del Taco's just down the street. They have a Tuesday special of 3 Tacos and Senior Drink for $1.00!! What a deal!!

Here's the group around the table! Roger, Bill, Matt, Faye, Matt's wife Connie, Bill's wife Dorothy, Roger's wife Linda, Jack's wife Diane, Jack and Ken.

We had just met Matt and Connie and Bill and Dorothy. They are friends of Diane and Jack whom we knew from the East coast!

PALM SPRINGS TOURNAMENT AND HAPPY HOUR!

Nov. 19 - Today was another day of Pickleball because we had another Saturday Pickleball Tournament at TT Palm Springs. Rick and Shirley divided participants into two divisions -- A and B flights. The format was Round Robin, Luck-Of-The-Draw. A good time was had by everyone who played.

Here is some of the action (names are below the pictures):

Linda sprints to the back court as Ken reaches for an overhead!

Paul and Bob.

Susan and Barb.

Rick and Diane.

Tom and Linda.

Barb and Pam.

Faye with Bob.

Bryan and Jim P.

Ken and Jessie.

Tom and Jack.

Bob P. and Clint.

Jim M. and Tom.

Ken and Rick.

And the winners were!! For the B Flight: Bob P. First Place; Susan Second Place; and Bob S. Third Place.

Winners for A Flight: Tom First Place, Jim P. and Linda tied for Second Place; and Jim M. won Third Place!

Congratulations to the Winners and all participants!!!

A little later in the afternoon, Rick and Linda hosted another Happy Hour at their pad. Rick prepared a turkey and ham for sandwiches and everyone brought a side or dessert. It was delicious and a lot of fun!!

Here is the turkey!! UUMMMMM!

Chef Rick carving the ham and turkey.

Here's Marge and Tom. Later when awards were presented for Tournament play, Tom took the opportunity to thank Dennis and Judy for not playing so he was able to win First Place!!

Carol and Clint.

This is Judy and Bryan.

Shirley and Jim P.

Rick and Linda, our hosts.

Diane and Jack.

Then Diane gets with Paul!!

Anne and Bob P.

Bob S. and Pam.

Barb and Dennis.

Ken and Faye!

During the evening, Jim P. was cutting up with some of the boys!! Ken was snuggling with him behind the hat.

Rick grabbing his leg!!

Thanks Rick and Linda for a great day and even greater Happy Hour!!!

Addendum: Barb had taken a few pictures at the party. Later, when I opened up my e-mail, I had a message from Barb which included this JiberJaber production staring Faye and Ken,Tom and Marge and Dennis.

http://sendables.jibjab.com/view/MynjIo8jfdGmhUKyHh4C

So funny!!

GRANDSONS MAKE FAMILY PROUD

We recently got some really neat pictures of our Grandsons!!

My Grandson Thomas (Raleigh, NC) all dressed up for a big formal affair! Sooooo Handsome!!

With hat and shades!! Soooo Cool!!!

Thomas on his horse Domino!! "Tall in the Saddle!" Notice the ribbons on Domino's bridle!! Soooo Neat!!

Ken's Grandson Russell (Chula Vista, CA). First String Varsity on his High School Football Team -- Go Lancers!! Soooo Powerful!!

We love you guys!!!

LAST STEAM LOCOMOTIVE CHUGS THROUGH INDIO, CA

Nov 17 - We read on-line that about 500 people gathered in Indio at the site of the future transit center in anticipation of the arrival of Locomotive No. 844, the last steam engine built for Union Pacific. The "Living Legend" was recently renovated and this was her maiden tour from Wyoming, through New Mexico, Arizona, stops in California, up to Las Vegas and Utah before, heading back to Wyoming.

Pickleball friend Roy and his wife Sandy mentioned they were going to go to see the last steam locomotive as it passed by. We asked if we could join them. And we were off on an adventure to see a piece of history. It seemed like a good idea!

We stopped at a small shopping strip across the highway from the train track, and started waiting for Old No. 844 to pass by. And we waited; and we waited.

Ken and I finally crossed to the median of the highway to be a little closer to get better pictures when the engine passed. And we waited some more!

We crossed back over the highway and waited a little longer. Finally, Sandy got excited -- "Here it comes!!" I jumped up, grabbed the camera and took my pictures!

The first one between the trees and the traffic, but you can see the steam rising!

The second behind a car and SUV, but you can see the Engineer at the window and another RR worker standing at the stairwell!!

My third picture - No. 844 had passed and Roy was in the foreground!!

Fortunately, Roy got a really good one!!

It was really nostalgic to see that old Steam Locomotive go by! Just took a little longer than we anticipated. We learned later that the train was an hour late getting to Indio, causing our long wait!

Thanks Roy and Sandy for including us!

TWO WEEKS OF FUN AT TT WILDERNESS LAKES!!

Nov. 16 - We have been a TT Wilderness Lakes for two weeks. It has been fun playing Pickleball every morning. The other day, we only had eight players, four couples!

Here are the girls: Pam, Pam, Julie and Faye.

And here are the guys: Chuck, Ken, Walt and Bob.

Walt and Pam are relatively new Pickleball players; just started at TT Palm Springs a couple of weeks ago. One day Walt mentioned that he and Pam enjoyed preparing Jambalaya. Did we ever have pot-lucks?? Do we ever??!! That is all we needed. A pot-luck dinner was planned immediately with everybody bringing something to serve with the Jambalaya.

Here we are enjoying dinner: Around the table: Pam, Bob, Ken, Nancy, Julie, Chuck, Mike, Faye, Pam, and Walt.

Looking the other direction.

The Jambalaya dinner was so successful, this is all that was left!!

Pam and Walt will fit right in with the Pickleball crowd!! Play Pickleball and eat!!!

Thanks guys!!

MORE VISITS TO THE DERMATOLOGIST!!

Our Dermatologist, Dr. Leslie Radentz had this warning in her Comment on our Blog in October:

Skin cancer is the most dangerous Cancer under the sun! You can still have fun and practice Safe Sun! Wear sun protection and avoid the mid-day sun.

It was very hard to include these unflattering pictures on our Blog (don't we look ancient), but I decided that the message from Dr. Leslie was important enough to share.

Actually, we were both very fortunate; our skin pre-cancer cells and Squamous Cell cancer

were found early and easily treated by our Dermatologist.

I, myself, had a skin examination and several pre-cancer cells treated by Dr. Radentz back on October 12, and then I had a Squamous Cell cancer removed on October 17 (previously reported on this Blog.)

After my experience, we decided that it would be a good idea for Ken to have a skin examination as a precaution too, and on November 8 he visited Dr. Radentz. She treated some pre-cancer cells and in one instance she did a biopsy. Fortunately, the result of the biopsy was benign.

On November 14, I had two more Squamous Cells removed -- one from my right thumb and the other from my temple!! Tissue evaluations showed the margins were clear. All evidence of the cancer had been removed. Thank God for that!

We hope you learn from our experience: Practice Safe Sun, Wear Strong Sun Protection, and have periodic skin examinations!