Thursday, Dec 11th

Early start to the day, as Larry & Patrick showed up to see if I was riding today.  I had told them if I was up I would and they said they would look to see if I was up.  Well I was but not out, so they passed by, but knowing their route and rate of travel, I was able to get dressed and out the back gate to intercept them.  It was a good day to ride, a bit cooler and the sun was out.  Went a little farther today, made just over 5 miles before returning to Carefree manor.  They went on and did around 8 miles, so I'm still building up to their level.  This meant missing out on coffee and donuts this am. The coffee I had already, but donuts.  Life is about choices!
  When I got back we had some breakfast and then headed out.  I got a haircut at the same place as the last 2 years.  We then went on to Goodwill, where I got a Hawaiian shirt for the luau they are having in the new year.  Marg got some Christmas decorations as she has been getting the gears from her buddies about it.  They really decorated outside and no matter what we do it will pale by comparison, unless we do a Griswald [OK cousin Eddy?]  thing.  LOL.
  Got back in time for lunch and then Marg took off with the ladies who are putting the Friday night party together.  They had a bunch of shopping to do and some more scheming as well.  Also decorated the two gifts she got.  Everyone has to provide 2 gifts that are wrapped in white paper or newspaper.  I gather it's kind of like the Chinese gift exchange idea. 
  I had to stay home this afternoon as the furniture store came to pick up our table.  It has some damage on the surface, probably from the heat.  Anyway they are picking it up to either repair or replace it.  They were really no hassle about it when Marg called them, but we had to be here.  As it turned out Marg was back by the time they came, so I could have played in the pool tournament.  When people in the park saw the furniture truck, I got some funny comments, so I just told them the furniture we bought last year was out of style, so we replaced it all.  Sometimes a good lie is more entertaining than the truth.
  Went to happy hour and the lady who originally owned this unit told Marg she loved the way it looks and would purchase it and move back here for the winter if she could.  Well at least  After it was out to Ihop for dinner with Kenny & Doris.  It was good, but the service was slow tonight.  We were starting to get impatient when I suggested to Marg & Doris that perhaps they could just put on an apron and go to the kitchen.  Luckily it did arrive, but everyone in there seemed to be suffering along with us.  Fortunately it was good when it did arrive.  Kenny & Doris are heading home for a couple of weeks, so will miss them and hope they have good roads back to Kansas.