A Celebration of Two Events!

Hello, Everybody!

We actually can't believe that we haven't posted since Father's Day! We decided that we better get busy, and talk about some of the things that we have been doing.
You know that we spent quite some time on Ellen's patio extension. Just when we think we are finished, we find another block that needs to be leveled. ARGGHH! We took this picture yesterday morning, and we think that we will be done with that! It really is pretty, and we are proud that two ladies of our age have been successful without either of us having a stroke or heart attack.
On Saturday evening, we were invited to the Coronado Country Club for a wedding reception for a former student of Sharon's. Actually, we have been friends with the parents of the groom for years. We anticipated seeing many old friends, and indeed we did. The first surprise of the evening came when we saw this family as we finished the receiving line. They are the Gasser's from Arizona. Their son, Matt, and the groom were in the same third grade class of Sharon's. We actually traveled to Arizona when Matt graduated from high school. Matt is in the service and couldn't come. He was missed. His younger sister, Staci, was here. Sharon also had her in third grade. Staci is in college in Colorado. It was great to see them again.

This next picture shows Priscilla Foster and her two daughters, Lauren and Kellie. They were members of an Odyssey of the Mind team. Lauren is also a former student. Both girls are in college.

The lady in the following picture is Katie, the mother of the groom, in deep conversation with other guests.

Here we have Liz and Mark Daw, who are friends since Sharon had their son Bryan in third grade. They have been special people to us for many years.

Finally, we have the bride and groom, Anne and Sean. Their wedding was actually last week in Shreveport, Louisiana. Because many people from El Paso could not be at the wedding, the McCrory's threw a wonderful party for them here .

We had a wonderful time. Ellen has a story that she must share. When dinner was over, there was a power point presentation of the bride and groom. As Gary put it, "We wanted to embarrass them just a little!" Three of the pictures of Anne, when she was a child, included a familiar face. It was Sr. Genevieve, a Daughter of Charity! As soon as Ellen saw the picture, she leaned up and told Sharon, "I lived with her!" We were at Hotel Dieu Hospital together, here in El Paso. Afterwards, Ellen spoke with Katie and asked if she knew if Anne's family was related to Sr. Genevieve, or how they knew each other. Katie immediately took Ellen over to Anne's parents and said, "You're not going to believe this!" When Ellen explained that she had been in the Daughters and that she lived with Sr. Genevieve, they told me she had been a dear friend of their family for a long time. In fact, their first daughter is named after her. She was an instructor at the school of nursing in New Orleans where Anne's mother attended. Anne's dad was a resident at the hospital during that same time. Sr. Genevieve is now in her 80's and survived Hurricane Katrina. What a wonderful surprise to see that smiling face again!

We saw so many former Polk students and their families. It was quite a trip down memory lane. But even better than the memories, is seeing them become such wonderful young people. It brings to mind why we both love being in the field of education!

Until next time. . . . . .

Our Fathers Would Be Proud!

Hello Everybody!

Both of our fathers were "handymen" when it came to building things and fixing things. We thought this might be a good weekend to tackle a project Ellen wanted to do. We were going to expand her patio, using the 16 x 16 inch paver bricks. Ellen had already purchased fourteen of the bricks. Why fourteen? Because that is how many will fit in the trunk! Any more than that would probably be too heavy for the tires!! Here we are unloading these babies! This is a picture of the trunk of Ellen's car.

Little did we realize that this weekend the weather was going to be hot, hot, hot! The temperature on Saturday got to 104! The picture below is after we had several of them placed. Mind you now, these things are HEAVY!!

We stopped when it just got too hot out there, even though we had shade from the tree. We went to Hollywood Video and rented "The Bucket List" with Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman. It was a good movie! Sharon took a few little naps, but she got the gist of the story. Sharon spent the night on Saturday. On Sunday morning ,after moaning and groaning while attempting to get out of bed, we put on our work clothes and went outside before the sun had a chance to get too high. We are a team, and we could not have done this by ourselves. One of the men at Lowe's couldn't believe that these two old ladies were doing the work. (Anyone who knows us, knows that anything is possible when we do it together.)

Here it is after a little more progress. You have to be sure the ground is level under each brick, or you end up rocking back and forth.

We made two more trips to Lowe's to get additional bricks. When all was finished, we had laid down 42 bricks in all!

There are a few spots that need to be filled in with single pavers and some rock. After Ellen left school today, we went to Home Depot to find them. Lowe's did not have them in the red color. We got those pavers, but they are still in the car tonight. It was 106 degrees here in El Paso today! The heat is just unbearable. We both have refrigerated air conditioning, and boy, are we ever glad! We happily pay the electric bill!

After it is all finished and the pots of flowers are placed just right, we'll post a few more pictures of the finished product.

We thought it was a nice tribute to our dads. We hope they were watching us and were proud of our work.

After seeing the movie on Saturday, we decided it was good to have aches and pains from working too hard and accomplishing our goal. We think we will start our own "bucket list" and see where it takes us. . . . . .

Until next time. . . . . . . . . .

Just A Few Pictures !

Hello, Everybody,

Remember, we told you about Ellen's ottoman finally coming in? Well, we finally got around to taking a picture of it. This first one shows how it looks with the rest of the furniture.

This second picture shows you that it has some storage capability in it. The best part of the ottoman is how comfortable it is! When we put our legs up, it feels heavenly! We definitely are going to make good use of this addition!

This last picture is one of Sharon and one of her former students. His name is Gerardo (Jerry), and he was one of Sharon's third graders six years ago. (At least, Sharon thinks that is how long ago.) He will be a freshman at Franklin High School this coming year. It is the first time she has seen him since he left Polk School. He is a cutie, and his manners were impeccable. He kept saying things like, "Yes, ma'am", "Thank you, ma'am", and he was so sweet to Nursie Pooh and Mrs. Peeps.

The hardest part about the last day of school is saying good-bye to the kids because you don't know if you will ever see them again. Thanks, Jerry, for coming by the school. Good luck to you at Franklin.

Until next time. . . . . . . . .

School Is Almost Over!!

Hello, Everybody!

We decided that we had better get this post published or school would be over, and we would have to change the title.

Wow, these weeks are just flying by. By the end of the day, school will be over for the kids. Summer school begins on the tenth. Ellen barely has the weekend off. This is the end of her fifteenth year with the EPISD. Sharon remembers the day she walked into Polk School just like it was yesterday. WOW! Fifteen years already.

It is hard to believe that a week has gone by since we last published. Life seems to be super-busy during the month of May and this first week of June. There is something we must do every afternoon after school or in the evening. You may have heard how hot it has been in El Paso. Yesterday it was 104 degrees already! The heat just drains Sharon and her blood pressure plummets when she gets hot. Ellen keeps her upright when she can, and makes her go down when she knows she must. What is that saying about aging gracefully?? We've decided that there just isn't much "grace" to aging!!! Oh well, we guess it's better than the alternative.

We have so many little projects to do. Getting our flower gardens all in bloom seems to be at the top of the list. We are also going to extend Ellen's patio a little bit. We will both be getting new roofs, thanks to all the hail and wind damage from several months ago. Oh, the joys of owning a home!

The ottoman (that Ellen has been waiting on) has finally made the trip to Sierra Valle yesterday. We will take a picture to show you how nice it all looks now. We also found a really pretty pedestal on which to put her gorgeous arrangement.

Last evening was the Fifth Grade Completion Ceremony for the kids who are "moving on up." It was a nice affair, but gym bleachers are not exactly comfortable for any of our elderly citizens. Both of us had lots of trouble getting up into and out of those bleachers.

When Sharon got home last evening, there was a big box which FedEx had delivered. Paula and Jason had sent a nice surprise in the mail! You can guess what it was when I tell you that it was heavy and from a small winery close to Paula and Jason's home. Wow, that made our day worthwhile!

Have a great Friday!

Until next time. . . . . . .

Sharon's New Toys!

Hello, Everybody!

We hope you had a terrific weekend. We did! Yesterday, we cooked out at Sharon's house. We had burgers, kielbasa, potato salad, baked beans, and all the trimmings. We haven't done that in ages. While the food was cooking, we sat out on the patio with a glass of our favorite beverage. It was fun.

Last week, Sharon went looking for a new dishwasher, washer, and dryer. Of course she went to her favorite store--Daw's Home Furnishings. They always treat us just right. Ellen has bought most of her furniture from them. Now Sharon has bought all of her appliances from them. They are a wonderful family. This past weekend, we just had to take advantage of the tax free weekend on Energy Saving appliances. It saved us quite a bit of money.



This morning, they were all delivered and installed. This first picture shows Andy Flores and his son working on installing the dishwasher. They, too, are a nice family business. They take great pride in their work.

Here is that new dishwasher. It is a Frigidaire and very quiet when it is running.

This next picture shows the new washer and dryer. They, too, are Frigidaires. The washer is a front loader. Sharon had to look to see if it was running. That is how quiet it is. Both the washer and dryer are up on pedestals. That makes it very easy on one's back.

Tuesday brings a half-day of working for Ellen at the school. Then we both will go across town to Nursing Services where we will take the class for re-certification for Vision and Hearing Screening. (Can you believe that Sharon has been retired for five years now?) Usually, volunteers must get their certifications through Region 19. Since Polk is not a Title One school, we do not get help with all the screenings that must be done. The person who is now doing the nurses' re-certs is also doing the main volunteers for the non-Title one schools. Isn't that great?

We will be good for another five years after today. (Ellen isn't even thinking of retiring just yet.)

Until next time... . . . . . .

Ruidoso Remembrance!

Hello, Everybody,
We just wanted to share this little picture of the bear that Sharon bought in Ruidoso. She bought Ellen one several years ago to put out in her backyard by the tree. She always wanted one for herself to put in her backyard. Finally, we stopped at one of the places along the highway. It took us a little bit to find this one. They are all so expensive! We got this one at "Bears R Us".
We hope you have a "beary" nice weekend. If you are going somewhere, be careful. Happy Memorial Day on Monday.

Until next time... . . . . . . . . . .

Bikers, Babes, and Betting

Hello, Everybody!

From the outset, let us say that this is going to be an unusual post for us! This is true because we had an unusual weekend doing some unusual things (at least unusual for us). Sharon had made the most delicious Turkey Cacciatore Burgers a couple of weeks ago. As she normally does, she made extras and put them in the freezer. We bake Portobello mushrooms, and then put the burgers on them. The one Portobello on the left was just too cute to Not take a picture! It looks just like a little baby's behind, don't you think? :o)

The finished product with a little salad....yum!

Of course, dinner is not complete without a good bottle of wine.
Ellen is making coffee for the morning.

Sharon and Ellen trying to focus on the tripod and beat the count down timer! (Sharon was afraid she was going to fall off the couch!)

Yes, that is snow you see on the mountain! Can you believe that in the middle of May, there was snow on the mountain? It looked so pretty.

When we arrived in town, there were big signs that said, "Welcome Motorcycle Rally"! There were motorcycles EVERYWHERE! We had seen some on the way up, but little did we realize that there was a Rally going on. Guess where the gathering place was? It was at the convention center.....which is right next to our hotel. :o)

We could not get a good picture from high up, but here are a few from ground level.

There were motorcycles everywhere you looked. The bikers were all very nice. We were able to walk around and look at all the motorcycles and take pictures.
More bikes!

We saw several bikes of this style. Needless to say, the people riding these were mostly older folks! We really liked this one.

Here are a few of the biker boys! We asked them if we could take a picture of them.

And here are the babes with the biker boys!!! The guys were from all over the States and several countries. The one on the left is from Lubbock.

As you can tell, this couple is more our age. They even offered to give us a ride.

Our hotel is in the background. Can you believe more bikes??

Have you ever seen so many bikes at the same time?
This is a motorcycle! We don't think we could sit on that seat for a very long ride! It was Sharon's favorite one. (Wonder why?)

I don't know if you noticed the beautiful blue sky, but shortly after our photo take, the clouds built up and the rain came pouring down!! We were eating lunch in town and were able to enjoy the downpour while staying dry. It was so nice and smelled absolutely wonderful.

The next thing that we did, which was a first for us, was going to Ruidoso Downs! The Preakness was run on Saturday, and we thought it would be fun to go bet on the race. We had a great time. It has been years since Ellen went to the races and for Sharon, it has been years plus! Ellen remembered (mostly) how to do it. We were waiting for the Preakness to start, but then decided to bet on a couple of the races before that one. It was such fun, and we won a little bit. Of course, for the Preakness,we bet on the favorite, Big Brown, so when he won, we didn't win much $$; however, that was okay, because it was a few hours spent just enjoying the experience and having fun.

Until next time.... . . . . . .

Happy Anniversary To Miss Ellen!!

Hello, Everybody!

Today is a special day for Ellen because today marks one year since her knee replacement surgery! It is almost impossible to believe, huh? Remember this poor baby knee?
This is one of the last pictures taken of her new knee. This past week we went to her surgeon for her one year check up. She had x-rays taken of both knees. The good news is that the new one is doing a wonderful job, and looks great in the x-ray. She can walk and RUN with no pain. She loves being able to chase after those little ones who are trying to get away!

The bad news is that there is a narrowing of the cartilage in the right knee. It doesn't give her too many problems YET! We know, however, what is to come.

The other good news is that she has worked up to twelve minutes on the elliptical trainer. That is a wonderful feat. Sharon goes ten miles every morning on her recumbent bike, but she can only do four minutes on the elliptical trainer. Her leg muscles are like steel, and she can't even come close to what Ellen can do on the elliptical. Why is that?

On Monday, that sweet little Joey took us to dinner at Carino's. The food was scrumptious! We had a great time, but we didn't take a camera. Sorry! Thanks, Joe! The evening was wonderful. It was nice to be treated to dinner! We loved it!

As a celebration of all the stress that we both went through a year ago, we are going to Ruidoso this weekend. It will be a happy celebration. ( Wonder what kind of trouble we will get into up there?) What happens in Ruidoso............

Until next time.. . . . . . . . . .

Happy Mother's Day To Us!

Hello, Everybody!

If you are a mother, "Happy Mother's Day" to you! If you are not a mother, we know you had a mother. Last year, we saluted our moms. This year, we decided we would salute ourselves. We both are very good moms. (At least, we think we were when they were growing up.)

This first picture is of Nichole and Joey in 1989. This was our backyard and yes, they did climb the trees!!!
Nichole was the flower girl in a wedding when she was four. Ellen was young and skinny back then! :o)

Here we are, many years later. This was taken in St. Louis when we were there for Jeff and Jana's wedding. All of Ellen's pictures from when the kids were small are in big containers in the garage. After seeing a few of these, she is getting the itch to dig into those boxes! There is no telling what she will find. Thank goodness for digital pictures these days. It makes storing all those memories so much easier!!

Below is a picture of Sharon with her daughter, Paula. According to the back of the picture, Paula was just a little over one year old when this was taken. What a cutie she was when she was growing up. She was such fun to have and to watch as she went from phase to phase in her life. (Oh, my, would you just look at all of that hair of Sharon's?) Life passes us by in such a hurry. It only seems like yesterday when this picture was taken. Sharon has been going through old pictures, scanning those she wants to keep, and throwing away those "must keep", unmarked photos of scenery that nobody remembers. Honestly, we can't believe the pictures that we took in earlier years. The photos are beginning to lose quality.

This last picture was taken last fall when we were visiting Paula and Jason in their new home in northern Nevada. We have changed so very much! It is nice to have a special day to remember our moms. We both have raised very special children who have each found their niche in life. We are very proud of them.

So, Happy Mother's Day to us, and to you all! We must also say, "Thank you" to our children, for without them, we would not know the pleasure and happiness of being a mom!

Until next time. . . . .. .......

Happy Hands !!

Hello, Everybody!

We promise--this will be the last blog about Sharon's hands. (At least, we hope that it is!) We just wanted to remind you what they looked like not so very long ago.) We even hurt just to look at the picture that the doctor took in his office.
Today, Ellen took a picture of them. Don't they look MUCH better? They still hurt, but they feel so much better than they used to feel. We just thought we would share our joy with you. Ellen wanted to take a picture of them before Sharon got too frisky and did something else to injure them. (If you know Sharon, you know there is always a new project just around the corner.) Best of all, now when we go for our manicures, the lady can actually massage Sharon's hands and arms instead of just touching the fingertips and nails!

We want to thank you for your many expressions of concern. It has been a terrible experience, but that is all in the past! Yea!!

Until next time. . . . . . . . . . .