Frustrating Day

 Mom says she is frustrated.  She has been trying to get someone from the cell phone company to answer some questions about switching plans.  It has proven to be difficult.  She tried to chat, but that didn't work.  She then just switched plans online and found that she lost her credit for autopay. She then called and after wading through multiple questions from a robot, she held for ten minutes.  The representative then set her up again for autopay and said the $20 credit was applied but it is not showing up.  She called back and she was told her new plan does not qualify for the credit.  😩 She is still saving money, but not as much as she had hoped.

The folks are participating in a Citizens Police Academy here starting tomorrow.  Mom did it a few years ago, but Dad didn't.  She missed two classes because Joey was sick one week and then he died the day of her last class, so she is taking it again. This time it is via Zoom. She has had a frustrating time setting Zoom up via their Fire Tablets.  She has a laptop but they both need to be signed in to get credit for the classes, so the Fire Tablets are the way to go. She thinks she has it figured out now.  She will invite Dad to a meeting later to see if is working.

The folks went to the grocery store today.  It was the first time they have gone together since last March.  They have been doing curbside pick-ups but Mom started running in after she became fully vaccinated and just picking up a few things. She usually goes early in the morning.  Dad is not an early morning person, so when they went, it was crowded.  She bought four pounds of apples and she dropped them and they went all over the place when she was checking out.  😂

They then went to Popeye's Chicken for lunch.  Mom normally loves their chicken sandwiches, but something went wrong today.  They loaded it with sauce and it was a tough sandwich.  She only ate half of it.  She didn't even save any for me.  I didn't even get a fry. 😒

Work was supposed to begin today for our new roof but it didn't happen.  We live in a high rise and it was too windy for the crane to take the materials up to the roof.  The materals are now in the parking lot and all the parking cones are being blown around.  High winds are not unusual for us since we live on the coast.

The cheesecake turned out good.  This month's cheesecake is a pecan caramel cheesecake.  The crust is pecan sandies and the pecans on top are toasted.  Mom makes her cheesecakes in the Instant Pot.  

Jaxson,

The Greyhound Who Is Bummed About The High Winds

I'm Back!

There is still not much going on, but I am pestering Mom today and she said maybe we should work on the blog.  They are cutting the grass, so we can't sit outside. Grass cutting is an all day event here.  They first edge the entire place, then come back and cut the grass, then they weed eat and then they use a leave blower.  Mom put in a request for them to trim the plants that are blocking our entrance to the dog walk.  The plants are literally blocking our way.  The new manager said she would tell them. We hope they take care of it today.   We are surprised they are cutting grass because it is so wet. We have had rain every day since last Thursday.  Cindy didn't bring us much, but another system is getting us.  We have had lots of thunder.  No real storms, but lots of thunder.  Saturday, Mom opened the refrigerator door and BOOM.  It shook our entire place and Mom screamed.  We know two whippets who are staying here from California and they have been really scared.

As you may remember, Mom likes to cook. She has been trying to cook healthier meals.  She did pretty good last night.  She tried these seasoning wraps. They are supposed to go around chicken, but she put them on tilapia.  The wraps are 25 calories and you don't use any oil.

This is the inside of the wrap.

See, you just wrap it around the food and fry it.

This is how the fish turned out.

Mom loves capers with fish, so she topped the fish with them.

Mom also fixed fresh string beans and potatoes in the Instant Pot.  She has decided that she really can't tell the difference between the fresh and the canned after they are cooked and the fresh are a heck of a lot more work, so she may just go back to canned.  She cut up the beans, onions, garlic, potatoes and some bacon and put it along with some chicken broth in the Instant Pot and set it on the soup mode for 25 minutes. It came out perfect. I love green beans and Mom seems to be on a green bean kick, so I am happy.  She didn't give me any of the onions or the garlic because she said that is a no-no for pups.

Green Beans and Potatoes with a little bacon

This is the chicken broth that she used.  Have you tried it?  They also have a beef one that she loves.

The final part of the meal was zucchini.  She cooked it in olive oil and seasoned with garlic salt and pepper.  

It was a good meal.  The green beans with potatoes were probably the least healthy part, but they sure were good. Dad said the zucchini was a little limp.  He liked the wraps she used on the fish.

Tonight she is fixing chicken marsala.  She has made it from scratch several times, but tonight she is trying a Campbell's skillet sauce.  She hasn't decided the sides for sure.  She may fix a little pasta and probably a salad.  

I will let you know next time if the folks liked the chicken marsala.

Joey,

The Greyhound Who Loves His Mom's Cooking

Still Pretty Boring

There is not a whole lot going on here.  It has been too windy for Mom to ride Buddy.  She will be able to go out tomorrow and maybe order her glasses.  It has been hot.  We were near 90 yesterday and today is a little cooler.  The air ran all day yesterday.  It is at least shutting off today.  Mom found a fan for me because I was panting a lot Saturday night.  I don't like the heat much anymore.  We may have severe storms here on Friday.  Yikes!

I am not allowed to pee on the roses because Mom says I might get a thorn.  :::sigh:::

April The Giraffe

Oh, my goodness!  When is she going to have that calf?  Mom checks on her several times a day.  We thought she was getting ready to give birth a few times, but nope!

Instant Pot

The Instant Pot is still cranking out good food.  The Salted Caramel Cheesecake that Mom made last week was good. She also recently made corned beef and potatoes, spicy sausage pasta in a cream sauce and Marsala chicken pasta.  

Marsala Chicken

Eating Out

The folks ate at Gloria's this weekend.  It is a Latin restaurant.  They are known for a bean dip that they serve along with salsa and chips.

Mom's meal.  It is a skirt steak smothered in salsa, cheese, peppers and mushrooms.

Dad's meal.  Surf and Turf.  

They both agreed that they would like to go back again.

Sunday, they ate at their favorite Mexican place, Pappasito's Cantina.

Dad's meal.  That is a lot of food!

Kitchen Faucet

The kitchen faucet broke on the day that our warranty expired on our rig.  Mom tracked down the part that we need yesterday.  It took a few emails and phone calls, but she found a very nice lady who helped her.  The folks couldn't determine the brand of the faucet, but we now know. The brand is actually located on the backside of the faucet.  Mom used a mirror to see it.  The faucet has a lifetime warranty.  Mom didn't know if they would honor it since we didn't have the paperwork to register it.  She called the company this morning and it doesn't sound like it will be a problem.  Mom had to send them photos of it just to prove it is one of theirs.  The part is $60 and will be really easy to replace.  The faucet sprays Mom every time she uses it now, so she wants it fixed.

Free Pizza

Mom ordered pizza last Sunday when Dad was at work.  It arrived late, but Mom didn't say anything.  She was really surprised when she received an email from Pizza Hut offering us a free pizza!   We have already redeemed it.

Jokari Fizz Keeper

You may have noticed on our side bar this product.  Mom bought one of these because she loves soda.  She didn't like to buy bottles because she felt that she had to drink them quickly because they went flat. She wanted to try this to see if it worked because bottles are cheaper and easy to carry on Buddy.  She has used this on two bottles and both bottles kept their fizz until she was finished with them which was about five days.  There are reviews that say they keep the fizz for 2.5 weeks.  This replaces the cap and the little plastic ring should also be removed so that it fits correctly.  You then just pump several times.  

Joey,

The Greyhound Who Is Staying Cool On The Couch

March Happenings

It is a very busy day here at the old campground.  They are still working on the new deluxe sites and with that, they are widening the street.  It looks like they will make some much needed repairs to the other streets.  Equipment is all over the place this morning.
 

Watching for squirrels last week.

Magna Shade

We had quite the surprise when we opened our windshield shade this morning.  Our Magna Shade that attaches to the outside of our windshield was gone!  Yep, the wind took it away.  That is pretty amazing because it was attached with several heavy duty magnets.  It was in the neighbors yard.  Mom brought it in and tried to rinse it off.  It is really large and since it has magnets on it, the magnets kept attracting to each other and it just ended up in a big clump in the shower.

It is windy here most of the time, but today, we can feel it in the RV. That is unusual for us. I bet small trailers are really rocking today. Mom hopes that Buddy stays on his wheels.

Thrift Shops

Mom had fun shopping at the thrift shops last Friday. She found a candle warmer at Goodwill that she really likes.  She has a thing for purple, so it was love at first sight.

Instant Pot

We have had several more meals in the Instant Pot.  Pork Fried Rice, BBQ Baby Back Ribs, Chili Macaroni and Cinnamon Apples.

Baby Back Ribs

 Dad really liked the Baby Back Ribs.  It starts out with a dry rub in the the Instant Pot and then transferred to the air fryer for the BBQ sauce portion.  Dad said the ribs were full of flavor.

The cinnamon apples recipe was written badly and Mom needs to adjust it.

Carla Returns

Years ago, Mom received phone calls looking for a Carla Williams.  Bill collectors would call all the time.  They didn't believe Mom when she said she didn't know Carla.  Well, it appears that Carla has started giving out Mom's cell phone number again.  Mom had a message from a process server that she is coming by today with papers to serve her, I mean Carla.  She said she will try her at home and work and to consider herself notified.  We wonder what Carla did this time.

Nice App

Mom is constantly trying new recipes.  She made a really silly mistake.  She forgot to write down the recipes that she is trying this week.  She is now trying to backtrack and match recipes with the groceries that she bought.  She bookmarked a lot of recipes for the Instant Pot last week on the Internet.  After that mistake, she started looking for an app that would help her. She came across PepperPlate Recipes.  It is a free app. It will automatically copy some recipes, while some you have to copy and paste.  You can set up a menu for the week. You can also create a grocery list from the recipes that you are using.  That is what Mom really likes.  It syncs to your other devices.  She will have the grocery list on her phone for shopping.  She has been using a shopping list on her phone, but she had to input it all and with this app, it fills it in for you.  She sometimes uses her tablet while cooking.   There is another app called Paprika, but it is not free.  It costs $30 to put it on all her devices, so she is using PepperPlate.  

Rough Dogs

Mom doesn't allow me to play with other dogs in the dog park. She is scared I will get hurt.  Yesterday, we saw an incident that allowed her to say "See, that is why I don't want you playing with other dogs."   This dog came running at a smaller dog and smashed him into the fence.  Ouch!  The dog seemed to be okay and his Mom didn't seem concerned but the smasher dog's Mom put him back on a leash. He is a mean dog and he and his brother are always pulling their Mom around to the point that she has fallen.

Joey,

The Greyhound Who Doesn't Like Wind To Blow Up His Butt

Adventures With Our Instant Pot

I mentioned in the last post that Mom bought an Instant Pot for her birthday.  I am really enjoying it. BOL!  It makes really good chicken and rice.

This is it.  It is very quiet when it is on.

She has bought a few things to go with it.

This thing seems to be made for people who live in small spaces.  What is it?

It is a vegetable steamer.  It actually curls up a little to fit inside the pot.

Mom also bought a 6" pan to make cheesecakes and other items.  It has a cheesecake in it now.

Speaking of cheesecakes, Mom made one yesterday.  She has always wanted to make one, but thought it was too hard.  It is really easy in the Instant Pot.

This morning, she put eggs and potatoes in the Instant Pot using the vegetable steamer.  She then made potato salad for dinner.

Potato Salad

I told you that hard boiled eggs peel easily.  Here is proof:

Tada!

The only thing that Mom has made that she was not thrilled with were pork chops.  She fixed them in a mushroom gravy.  They completely fell apart. She probably cooked them too long.  However, the thing that she really didn't like was that the bones splintered, so there were little bones all over.  She said she would debone them the next time.

Tonight, she will use the Instant Pot and the air fryer to make baby back ribs.  She will cook the ribs in the Instant Pot and then put them in the air fryer to brown them more.  Most recipes say to use the oven broiler, but we don't have one.

She wants to try chicken wings. They only take ten minutes and then she will brown them in the air fryer.

If you are interested in learning more about cooking with an Instant Pot/pressure cooking, just check out YouTube. There are tons of videos.  Mom watched a lot before she bought one.  She didn't know in the beginning if she really wanted one, but then she saw how easy it was  Cooking is kind of a hobby for her.  She loves trying new recipes.

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Loves His Mom's Cooking

Our February Happenings

February has flown by.

We are still at the campground with the messy people.  The guy behind us went hunting.  We are not sure what he killed, but the skin is hanging on a tree.  Some of the people who have left reviews on the park, have said it is a ghetto RV park.  Yep, our section is pretty bad. The other section is not bad.

Mom got nervous when we walked by a guy at 5 a.m. who has a really odd truck. His door was only open enough for his legs. His feet were facing in the direction of the truck.  He passed out while bending over the seat, we assume. We noticed that someone left a review on the campground and mentioned that a guy lives in his truck. We don't think he lives in it, but he is strange.

Are we scared living here?  No, we are not.  Most everyone is friendly. They are just really messy.

A new deluxe section is being added to the RV park.  We have been watching the construction of that area. The problem is, the people who stay there will have a view of the storage yard.  BOL!

Mom's birthday was last week.  Dad was off for a four day weekend.  They went to Denny's for breakfast, Smashburger for lunch and then Saltgrass for dinner.  Mom said it was fun. They went to Ikea, but didn't buy anything.  It seems like they spent all weekend eating.

I am still squirrel hunting most days.

We had been trying to figure out what they are building.

It is really loud.  We watched them bring the pipes up and then they would take them down. They did this for ten days and then it was moved and they started doing it all over again.  A neighbor told us they are drilling for gas.  We don't know.

Mom bought an Instant Pot.  She kept hearing other RVers talk about them, so she started watching YouTube videos and decided that she had to have one.  It is a pressure cooker, rice cooker, browns meat, makes yogurt and it is also a slow cooker.  It has replaced our Ninja.  Remember when she thought the Ninja was the greatest thing?  Well, the Instant Pot has caused Ninja to be taken to Goodwill.

Mom made pasta in the Instant Pot the other day.  She browned the meat and onions and then added the water, spaghetti sauce and the pasta and the Instant Pot did the rest in six minutes.  Mom added cheese at the end.  No draining.  Just one pot to wash.  It keeps food warm for up to 10 hours which is a nice feature because Dad can be quite late some nights.

Pasta made in the Instant Pot

Mom made me rice and chicken this morning in the Instant Pot.  Yum!!!

One of the things that we have a problem with as an RVer is a good data plan for our computer.  We have had 5 GB for $50 for the past five years.  That is not much.  Mom's phone now has 8 GB and she can use that as a hot spot.  She was pretty excited to have that much.  It allows a few YouTube videos, but no streaming of movies. On the 17th, Mom learned of a new plan that offered 250 GB for $60.  She jumped on ordering it.  The problem is/was that it is only supposed to be for certain states and Texas is not one of them. She reached a rep who allowed her to order it.  We wondered for a week if the right equipment would arrive and if it would work for us.  We heard of several people who were canceled and some received the wrong equipment.  Our equipment arrived on Friday and it is correct.  Mom hooked it up and our account says we have 250 GB!  We opened a Netflix account and we can watch three hours for a gig.  The folks are pretty excited.  We hope it continues to work for us.

Me and my frog

Temperatures were near 90 on Mom's birthday.  

Mom may be getting a different scooter.  She is still debating it.  She loves Buddy, but he doesn't go fast enough for some roads.

I think that about sums up our February.  I patrol the park six or seven times a day.  I have lots of canine friends here and everyone seems to know my name.

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Is Relaxing In The AC Today