Tuesday, December 18, 2007

It's been almost a week since I've had time to write. We haven't had a moment's rest since we "acted like real people" last Wednesday. Thursday we were working along nicely in the office when we had a visit from the manager. She was VERY angry at us and voiced her displeasure. I voiced my displeasure with her in a really loud voice. Things have been great between us since then. Thursday night we were scheduled to go to a new steak house but we didn't go. Friday morning I worked in the office. Bruce and one of the workampers went to town to retrieve the Christmas tree for the Children's Christmas party. Two other workampers were over in the hall getting ready for the preschool children to arrive. The manager told them that we were supposed to be feeding the kids cookies and hot chocolate after the performance. We didn't know that until then. Luckily Bruce had taken his cell phone with him to town so I called him. He raced to Fry's and grabbed 60 cookies. The workampers made hot chocolate. The kids sang. Bruce and Oscar arrived just in time to throw the cookies on a plate and serve the children. Whew. We survived that one. The kids spilled the hot chocolate all over their pretty Christmas clothes and I would imagine that their mommies were not very happy about that but oh well, the manager got her way. Bruce, Bud and I went to the golf course for a nice lunch and to set up the Christmas tree. After lunch we worked in the office without any incidents. After work we drove to Sun City West with Bud and Shelley for Evita. The singing and dancing was good but not as good as we had hoped. It was a nice diversion though. Saturday morning Bruce cleaned the carpets and I did something but can't remember what. After lunch we went to Coolidge to see Aunt Delores and Uncle Roger. We enjoyed a good visit. That evening we enjoyed the Country and Western dance at the park. I got to practice my line dancing and Bruce and I practiced the two-step, waltz and the rumba. We had a good time. Sunday morning we visited the Lutheran church up the road from us. Nice church. After church we had breakfast with two current park residents and two former park residents. They are both from Rochester, MN and they both invited us to stay with them on our next visit to Mayo Clinic. Nice people. Sunday afternoon we cleaned the RV and did way too many loads of laundry. Sunday evening we attended the workamper Christmas party hosted by the manager and her husband. We again danced all night. Bruce asked me if I was the energizer bunny or what because he was worn out from all the dancing. Poor thing. Monday we both worked in the office all day. At 3:30 we headed off to the Arizona Opry. We arrived was too early so we got to sit in the parking lot for a few minutes. It was all worth it because the show was GREAT. One gentleman played 18 different instruments. One of my favorites was the 90 pound contra bass saxophone. He also played a Bavarian alp horn, one of Herb Alpert's trumpets, one of Doc Severance's trumpets, one of Boots Randolph's saxophones and many many more We enjoyed every minute of the show and arrived home about midnight. This morning we were off to facilitate the resident meeting. One of the residents told us they thought the meeting would be a blood bathe. Several residents wished us luck. Well, luck was with us. Bruce set the ground rules. The manager made a few remarks. I made several announcements concerning upcoming activities and we waited for the Sheriff's deputy to arrive as he was to be the main event. Well, he never showed up. When we got that call, the manager started taking questions from the floor. People were very business-like. The meeting went off without a hitch and the manager has suggested that we do it again every month. I stayed after the meeting and attended line dancing. Bruce worked in the office. After lunch I prepared egg casseroles for tomorrow's volunteer recognition breakfast. At 3:00 we tried to head to Coolidge to see Vince and Shirley who arrived today. I got caught by the manager and we talked until 3:45. At last we were off to Coolidge. We had a good reunion with Vince and Shirley. We all went to KFC for dinner and then to Safeway so we could get the food we need for the chili supper on Saturday. I've got pictures to post but I'm going to bed so I can get up early and get ready for the breakfast.