Grandkids . . . Ya Gotta Love Em!

Our days are kept interesting with frequent visits from the various grandkids. More evenings than not, we have someone stopping by to keep us company, and we enjoy every minute of it.

Nick & Hunter always like to 'double up' on us, which is fine with us, as they keep each other entertained. They are good about 'switching off' when it comes to sleeping on the couch. It's not unusual for one of them to inform us that "it's ok with Mom & Dad if you want to invite me to spend the night!"

Lately we've been working on our spare bedroom, trying to get it cleaned out and 'ready' for overnight visitors. After much shopping and deliberation, we finally purchased a high end futon, that will double as a queen size bed and/or a couch for the kids to use when hanging out here. Now we have to get our TV updated in that room so they can get the channels with their favorite programs. It also works well when Hayden spends the day and needs a quiet place for his nap. Pop in a "Veggie Tales" video, a sippie cup of milk, and he's soon 'out' for a 3 to 4 hour nap. That boy runs on high speed every waking minute, and, like a young puppie, has to 'recharge' his batteries often.

On Sept. 20th he turned 2 years old. We celebrated with a party at the local park, and his 'favorite' present of the day was a Little Tykes 'coupe'. It's 'foot-powered' which suits him just fine - unless he can get sis - or one of his big cousins - to provide the 'motion-lotion'.

He also loves to hitch a ride on Nick's scooter. He climbs aboard and yells "Go!" . . . and Nick better do just that!

Our driveway has become a 'favorite' as it is a great place to ride their 'wheels'.

Our oldest grandson, Wes (13), is a skateboard fanatic, and has spent many hours trying to perfect his latest trick. However, about 3 weeks ago he banged his head on the concrete, which resulted in a mild concussion. Hoping that would slow him down a bit, but it did not. Mom & Randy decreed that a helmet was now - not an option. So back on the board. Then just last Monday, while at a local skate park, he took a tumble, only to dislocate his right shoulder and crack his upper arm in a couple of places. At least they didn't have to cast it, but he will be in a sling for the next 6 weeks - and undergo some pretty intense physical therapy to strengthen the muscles, so it doesn't 'pop out' again.

Of course he doesn't get a lot of sympathy from this Grandma, but I did loan him my ice pack!

The Oklahoma weather continues to be beautiful. Think we've seen the last of the 90's, and that is just fine with me.

Roger's latest 'hobby' has been waging war on our gopher population. This neighborhood is plagued' with them. We've tried poison - with no success - so he broke out his 22 rifle. After mowing, it doesn't take them long to start building their mounds again. He sits on the porch in his lawn chair, and when he sees one starting he gets his rifle and 'stands guard' over the mound. It's not long before they show themselves, and he patiently waits for them to get braver and bolder. So far he's got two 'notches' on his belt! We just call him the 'great white hunter!'

Guess that pretty much brings you up to date with the 'happenings' of the Hughes clan. Until next time!

Back To The Operating Room

Well, just as we thought . . . it's back 'under the knife' for Twylah, hopefully for the last time for a very long time!

The pain in my left shoulder has gotten increasingly worse all season, so I knew I had to take action this fall. The doctor took a couple of x-rays, and then it took him all of a couple minutes to say,

"Whow, you need a new shoulder!"

He then scheduled an MRI, so they could determine just what type of replacement I needed. Then back to the doctor, who took a look at the MRI film and said,

"The shoulder joint ball is supposed to be round; what you've got looks like you are trying to put a square peg in a round hole!"

Whatever . . . I just know it 'hurts like hell!' I've been told so many times that I have a 'high pain tolerance', but this is beginning to really wear on me. Apparently I have a 'type' of arthritis that is often referred to as 'pseudo-gout'; for some reason (it's in the genes, maybe?) calcium crystals form in my joints and 'wear away' the cartilage, and then starts in on the bone! Isn't that lovely? So far it has affected both my knees and left shoulder. If I hadn't done my 'pirouette' in the mud last year, it would have probably eventually got my right shoulder too!

So it's looking like mid-October for the surgery and yet another winter of physical therapy. Oh, joy!

Roger often says that we have to get everything 'fixed' in our 50's, so we will be in good shape for our 60's, 70's & 80's. All I know is I'm running out of time! Eight surgeries in 7 years is a bit much!

But on to brighter things!

Football season is in full swing here in Oklahoma and we are enjoying every minute of it! Thursday evenings are spent at the middle school games were our attention - or mine anyways - is focused on the side line where our 11-year-old Hunter is 'doing her thing' in the pom squad. Now I'm not prejudiced . . . BUT . . . she's the best! You can tell she is loving it.

Fridays we get 'serious' as we take in our high school games. Our alma mater has won several state championships, and it's fun watching them make yet another run for the golden ball.

Of course, Roger watches EVERY football game on TV that he possibly can! I join him for the college ones, but 'check out' when it comes to the pros. Although, he did get me interested in a Dallas Cowboys game the other night.

He came in the other day complaining that I spent ALL my time on the computer. My answer was, "Not one minute more than you do watching TV!" I've been doing a bit of 'e-baying'; guess you could say that is my form of 'gambling'! I don't win often, but it's fun trying! At least when I do win, I have something to show for my money!

The Oklahoma weather has been absolutely gorgeous! It's one of the main reasons we love being home in the fall. . . although I have to admit to missing the beautiful fall colors of the Northeast that we had grown accustomed to seeing each year as we wrapped up the season.

The neighbors that have been 'camped' in our RV spot for the summer (while their new house was being built) will be 'moving out' soon. The finishing touches are coming together and they are so anxious to move in. They've been great 'renters', but it will be nice to have our entire 'yard' back.

Saturday we celebrate birthday # 2 for Hayden. How time flies! He absolutely 'makes our day' when he comes toddling down the hill for a visit.

Traditionally we always enjoyed Sunday morning breakfast out with some - or all - of our kids & grand kids. However, since returning home this season, we've found that our Hayden has embraced the 'terrible two's' with a vengeance's! He is what you would call 'socially unacceptable' when it comes to sitting quietly in a restaurant! So, for now, we made the decision to 'change our tradition' and do Sunday lunch - at Grandma's & Grandpa's! I pop something in the crock pot - or oven - before we leave for church and everybody gathers here for lunch. Sometimes it is only long enough to eat, but we'll take them for however long we can get them!

So, that's life with Team Hughes these days. Not quite as 'glamorous' as life on the road! A bit boring at times, but we'll take it!

Ice Cream & Heinz 57 Sauce!

And that's exactly what I got for my birthday!

I received lots of birthday wishes from friends & family. One of those calls came from Randy - inviting us to join them at the 'new' Braum's Ice Cream store in our neighborhood in honor of my birthday. Never one to turn down an invite, off we went.

Along with the ice cream, came a pretty package & a beautiful miniature rose bush. Turns out the pretty package was a joke - one that Roger & I were a bit slow in understanding. I opened it to find my very own bottle of Heinz 57 sauce! Now, since I've been cooking quite a bit since we returned home, I thought it was some kind of 'hint' that they wanted me to cook something for them again! Then Randy & Shelly said, "Aren't you 57 this year?" Duhhhhh!

Well, here's to hoping that being 57 adds a little 'zest & spice' to our lives! Frankly, I find it to be "too young for Social Security . . . and too old for everything else!"

Home - via the Beartooth Highway!

Yes, we are home!

The last few weeks of the season went by pretty fast. We arrived in Billings, MT (our second home) on August 19th, did the review there & then spent a week with meetings at the KOA Home Office and visiting with friends. Getting to do this is a bit of a 'bonus' of having the West Coast territory.

One evening we shared a meal with Lani Wallace, 1/2 of a former KOA Field Services Team, that makes their home in Billings. Her other half was off on a driving tour of Yellowstone in his new convertible. Her daughter, Nicole & hubby, Steve, joined us and we really enjoyed catching up. Sorry we missed you, Keith!

One day was spent (mostly by Roger) getting the truck serviced, and chasing down new tires for the truck & fifth wheel. I spent the day sleeping! It was wonderful - for me anyways!

Friday afternoon found us connecting with yet another former KOA Field Services team (Garry & Lois Quay from Michigan) that was returning from their summer trip to Alaska. Since neither of us had ever been up & over the Beartooth HIghway, our boss 'ordered' us to spend Saturday doing just that. It seems we are always in Billings at the wrong time of the year and the highway is never open due to snow.

So with a beautiful sunny day, the four of us headed out. Had to begin our day with breakfast at the Cracker Barrel and then headed south to Red Lodge. We love Red Lodge - such a fun place to browse the shops, but we found it to be overflowing on this particular day. Seems Willie Nelson was in town and the town was packed.

The one gas station that sold diesel had lines waiting for gas - haven't seen a sight like that since the gas shortages! Of course, Roger is not one to wait in line, so we ended up driving the length of town, not finding anywhere else, so turn around and go back . . . and wait in line! Gassed up, bladders emptied, we headed up the mountain.

WOW! what a drive. Garry snapped 163 pictures! It is indeed a gorgeous drive and we were all glad we decided to do it. At the other end of the highway is Cooke City. It truly looks like something straight out of the Old West! It was also overflowing with tourists, mostly bikers, taking advantage of the great weather. Wandered through the General Store and then decided to catch a bite of lunch at the Soda Butte Lodge before heading back over & down. A full day and we both headed straight to our rigs to relax at the end of the day.

Garry & Lois headed on east Sunday morning and we didn't even stick our big toes out of the trailer. A much needed rest day for both of us.

We wound up things at the Home Office on Monday - picked up our computer - and then 'connected' with some more friends (Steve & Barb Rabesa from New Hampshire & Colorado) over a long & leisurely dinner at the Olive Garden. It's not often that we 'close a place down', but we did that night. They are currently one of the Business Development teams, & had flown in to Billings to make some Montana campground visits.

One of the really neat things about this job is literally having friends all over the country. There is not many places we go that we do not know somebody!

Tuesday morning (August 26) it was time to head home. Had thought we might stop in Rapid City, SD to see old friends, but once we got rolling, we decided to just keep on rolling to Belvidere, SD, where we stopped for the night. Lost an hour - back in Central Time now - and made it all the way to Salina, KS on Wednesday before calling it a day. When we get to Kansas, we can almost 'see' Oklahoma, and we pulled in to home about 2:30 Thursday.

Shelly & Wes were the first of the family to welcome us. I had already been 'planning' what I could throw together for supper for everyone and it was so good to find ourselves in the middle of 'chaos' once again. For that is exactly what it is with grandkids stretched from 13 to 2 - and we love it.

The Oklahoma heat welcomed us too - and we are slowly getting the fifth wheel unpacked. We worked a bit, then decided to go pick up some Del Rancho steak sandwiches (it's an Oklahoma thing) and take lunch to Roger's folks. A nice visit with them, then back home & back to work. With school out for the Labor Day Weekend, Nick & Hunter decided they wanted to spend the night. No cooking for Grandma Twylah that night (Hot Pockets for the kids, chicken pot pies for the grown-ups).

We claimed Saturday (or so we thought) for running errands & stocking the freezer. Stopped by my sister's for a short visit & to pick up 3 months of mail - and then on to Sam's Club. Too hot to leave food in the car so we headed back home to unload, before heading back to town. But not to be.

Arrived at the house to find Roger's dad waiting on us. (Heaven forbid that he actually call to see if we were home!) Know he misses Roger terribly when we are gone. Seems he had decided that Saturday was THE DAY to trace an underground wire to see why our big night security light wasn't working. (Seems it had not been working all summer, but it definitely was NOT a priority on Day 2 of being home after being gone for 3 months - for us anyways!) With temperatures nearing 100 degrees, Roger made it very clear that it could wait a few weeks until the weather was cooler . . . and we were a bit more 'settled in'. So I made lunch for all of us . . . Dad got some time with Roger . . . and we'll finish our shopping another day.

Saturday evening was tailgate party time at Russ', with the first OU Sooner game on pay-for-view TV. The 'clan' gathered, Russ cooked out and it was chaos once again. Hardly before the game got underway, Wesley (13) crashed on his skateboard and bounced his head off the concrete driveway. A trip to the ER for Randy & Shelly - a concussion for Wesley - and a long, sleepless night with them waking him every 2 hours.

Glad to say he is back to his 'normal' self Sunday evening (as normal as being '13' can be) when the family gathered one more time for Grandma Twylah's homemade chicken & dumplings. Nick had been asking for them every day, and I'm a push-over. But I did make sure eveyone knew that Grandma Twylah's kitchen was "closed until further notice", as they headed out the door.

We've agreed to host our fall get-togther for our Bible Study group in October, and we have got to finish 'moving in' and do some deep cleaning before we will be ready for that!