News

I bought a used 1986 travel trailer. It's really nice. The people who had it kept it up and it's just like new. It's 25 ft long. Maybe it's too big for the brown truck but according to the people we bought it from, they used it with the same type of truck. Randy is an experienced camper and he used to drive much bigger trailers and 5th wheels. We bought a bunch of dishes and silverware for the trailer today from the Deseret Industries. We are have trailer brakes put on the truck today.

We are not going to drive it far. We will just use it for camping here in Utah. We decided with the price of gasoline that we won't be able to take a lot of road trips to various states so we will just go camping during the weekdays when the camping spots are not so crowded. Hopefully, Old Brownie will be ok with these short trips. If not, then we will have to put the trailer up for sale because I won't buy another truck and I sold Brownie to Randy and if another truck is needed to pull the trailer then he will have to get it.

Randy is handy around the house. He dusted everything in the house and cleaned all the light covers while I was on my cruise. I do appreciate it. Both of us have not been feeling too well lately so I do hope we will be up to speed again soon so we can enjoy the new trailer.

Alex's Birthday

Today would have been Alex's 66th birthday. I haven't even been to the grave yet. I have been so sick with the flu I guess, mostly stomach flu but sick all over and now I have given it to Randy and he is really really sick. It's such a nice day too. I hope to get to the grave soon.Spent all morning cleaning up the bathroom after myself. We were supposed to go look at a trailer in Layton but we are both too sick. I feel bad.

I miss you Alex. I wish you could see what I have done with the place since you left. I know all the kids with you a Happy Birthday too and wish you were here. Yesterday was Good Friday, that awful Friday you died even though it was a different date. I will always hate Good Firday.

Love, Rita

Death Warmed Over

I came down with something on Monday night and I haven't been so sick in a very long time. I threw up so many times that there was nothing left. I had diarrhea for three days. I thought I had the colitis. Today I am a little better. I thought maybe it was from the cruise but Beverly did not get it. My stomach has not hurt so bad as this for as long as I can remember. I have been very dizzy and weak and only able to have liquids. I think I am on the mend at least I hope so. So I will catch up on my writings when I am feeling better.

Matt's BBQ

We enjoyed a good hamburger meal at Matt's on Sunday. Matt has really fixed up his house. Randy really enjoyed Matt's dogs. The photo on the upper right is Randy with March, his cat who like to lay on him while he is watching TV.

Randy's Birthday

Randy had his 66th birthday on March 13. We went out to eat at Carraba's and then to a movie. We had an enjoyable time. Here he is eating his dinner and his dessert.

Cruise Photos and Details

I had a good time on the cruise. Beverly had a cold and allergies so she wasn't feeling too well. We got lots of rest which I usually don't get a on a cruise. I fell down twice. Once I tripped over the ledge to the bathroom and fell into the shower. The other time I was getting on a tender boat from the ship and the sea was swelling and it caused the tender boat to rise up and I missed it my leg went between the two ships. I got badly bruised on my right leg and knee and was so stiff and sore I had to miss Matzatlan the next day. They gave me my money back. Randy thinks I should have sued them, but I am ok. The weather wasn't all that warm and the adult pool wasn't that warm either. The hottest place was Puerta Villarta, the sand burned my feet. Mexico is really a dump except for the hotels and beaches. They have cobblestone roads and the building look really tacky. There were even dirt roads leading to nice hotels. We went on the Vision of the Seas and it is a mid-size ship that holds about 2100 people. We enjoyed the beach at Puerta Villarta and Cabo. We went to some buffets from hotels on the beaches and had open bars etc. I got to hold a real life parrot on my arm in Cabo. Walking on the beaches is almost impossible for me these days. My legs just give out in the sand. I won't be doing any cruises for awhile I think. I was a little upset that I was not invited to the party for previous cruisers on the Royal Caribbean since I had cruised with them before.

Our dinner companions were from Vancouver Canada (Ken and Barbie; really) and they were nice people and our waiters were so much fun. One of them remembered I wanted lemonade and he always filled my glass with an endless supply of lemonade. We also saw a couple of movies on the ship. All in all it was very relaxing and fun. I hated the airports though. SLC was so backed up that even though we got there an hour early, our seats were given away on the flight because we to wait so long getting through security. There were all these skiers going home. Our flight nearly left without us but then they gave us our seats back and put the standbys in other seats.

On the way back in LA, I forgot and had my cell phone in my pocket and they treated me like a criminal and then my knee also beeped and so it was a mess. To top it off, the plane was 1 and 1/2 hours late getting in so Randy had to wait a long time for us. I had called him and told him I would be late but he thought he could get a meal at the airport but he couldn't because all the eating places are past security. Since I hate airports so much, if I take a cruise in the future we will drive to the port. Airports also wear me out.
Above are our dinner companions, Barb and Ken from Vancouver and on the right
Roast Lamb, one of our Meals

This is Beverly and I with our waiters. Notice how the light makes it look like our head waiter, Ramil is wearing a crown.
This is on the beach at Puerta
Villarta on the right

Here I am with the parrot at Cabo

Beverly at Cabo near the Beach at Lunch and on the right, One of the ship's lounges




Cabo San Lucas Real People Dressed as Statues on Cabo on the right
Our Room on the Ship
Beverly and I on First Formal Night on the right

Ken and Barb

Jaden's Brithday

The black and white baby picture is of me at about six months.






Jaden had her first birthday on Valentine's Day but we celebrated it yesterday at Kelly's parent's home. They call Jaden Little Rita because she looks so much like me when I was her age. She's a blue-eyed blonde. She didn't want anything to do with her individual cake. She wouldn't smear it or eat it or anything. She started to cry because she was in the spotlight. Kelly's family is very talented in music. Her parents played the guitars and sang and the kids joined as well. It was a very enjoyable evening.

Jennifer's Birthday

Happy Birthday to Jennifer. She is 39 today. She is my fourth child. I love her and her wonderful spirit of energy and her smile.

Hope you have have a wonderful birthday Jennifer.

Randy and the Spider

Randy is a softie for any animals even insects. He found a little brown spider in Brownie and felt so bad for the spider that he carelfully took it and placed on a warm shelf in the shop. He told me that when it comes to people, he doesn't have that much concern. Animals can be trusted better so he says.

Brownie is now registered and in working order. I am so glad she can drive off again and I hope we can take her out camping soon.

Cats and More Cats: His, Mine and Ours

These are our cats: Annie,
Dory, Gimli, Sonny, Megan, March, Bud, Blue and Wellington. Annie just came to us a few days ago. She is a Siamese/Burmese mix. She looks a lot like Bud only she is much fatter and darker in color. She is about two years old. We just had to get her after seeing how pretty she was. She adjusted immediately to our home and other cats. Dory was Matt's cat and was afraid of their dogs. We took her in. It took her about two weeks to adjust but now she is doing fine. She is black with big yellow eyes.She is about 2 years old. Gimli is my little boy who is about 4 years old. I got him from Marty. He is a small tabby who loves me a lot. He likes to sleep on the cable box. Sonny is my little blue point Siamese. He is about 1 year old. He is very beautiful with a nice soft coat. He purrs really loud. He likes the sink and computers. I got him after losing Cesar last June. Megan is white with charcoal markings. She is kind of shy and skittish. She is very pretty and purrs loud. She likes to lie on Randy and dig her claws in. She belonged to him first and now is here in Utah with all of us. Her age is unknown. Mr. March is another of Randy's cats. He likes to get in the sink and have water drip on him. He is a big tabby. He likes to lay on Randy. His age is unknown. Budman, Bud for short, is a dark Siamese/Burmese mix. He is our special needs cat. He is very skinny but eats a lot. He has trouble with his hind legs. He loves to sleep between us in the bed. He has had some health problems. He is Randy's special boy. He is probably really old but is still hanging on. We don't know for how long. He was Randy's cat in Arizona also. Then we have Blue Boy, Blue for short. He is a long haired Russian Blue. He is quite shy and very loveable. He loves Megan and she loves him. He likes to sleep on Randy's pillow and he likes to suck his paw as a pacifier for comfort. We don't know his age. Randy got all his cats from a resue over a year ago. Last is Wellington. What a brat! He loves people. He likes to be teased and he likes to tease. He was my cat but he has really taken to Randy. Monica gave him to me. He had been mistreated and used to be kind of mean and scared of things. Now he just loves everyone. He used to just love Alex. He likes men. He likes to sleep in the bathroom sink and is an escape artist and will try to run outside each and every time we open the door. He is 7 years old.We love all our cats. They are much quieter than kids or dogs and really good companions to us. Randy cleans up after them and our home is probably cleaner than most homes. We are probably crazy for having so many cats but we do take good care of them and we they have a good home with us. We should have a cat farm so we could help all needy cats.

Brownie

Poor old Brownie, our old 1989 Chevy Silverardo. She took us lots of places and pulled our trailer behind her much of the time. Once she was new and shiny. When Alex died, she must have been sad. Nobody to driver her and keep her in shape. I gave her to Tammy. I had hoped they could use her and they did for a time. I wanted them to keep her but they brought her back here and with her just sitting there in the back, it was sad. She would have to be put out to the wrecking yard soon.

Randy loves to work on cars and he wanted to get Brownie into working shape. So he is buying her and going to get up to snuff I hope. He might even give her a new paint job. I guess she needs to be painted brown again so she can still be called BROWNIE.