Why I have decided to just snowbird instead of full time Florida or anywhere else living. The first problem is the cost of living in many warm winter States have outpaced most of our retiree's income. The risk and stress of extreme weather no longer feel worth it. Insurance premiums can eat into our savings. And the lifestyle just isn't what it used to be. Most cities in Missouri except St. Louis or Kansas City has a very low cost of living. The Summer are hot but much better

A few more steps completed & getting closer to leaving for Florida!!! My camper living through the Florida winter will be my excursion this year. I plan to bunk down in my Ford F150 Truck bed complete with 6x8 sitting, sleeping, shower area. Wish me luck!!!! Nana

Stole this to make little smile for us riders... An Ode to St. Chrome-It (The patron saint of Goldwings) T’was in the evenings twilight. And the night was covered in stars. Not a Goldwing was alight, Not even the Harley’s at the bars. The accessories were hung by the work-bench with care, In hopes that St. Chrome-It would soon be there; The little back seat riders were all snug in their beds, As visions of rally pins danced in their heads; While mamma in her new chapter vest

The explosion that tore through Interstate 44 near Springfield, Missouri in the early morning hours of September 30, 1970, remains one of the most violent and unexpected events in the history of American trucking. The sequence began with a Teamsters strike against Tri State Motor Transit, a Joplin based company known for hauling explosive materials for both civilian and military purposes. Tempers had been escalating for weeks, fueled by frustration among striking drivers who

If your Christmas season is full of madness then here is a recipe to whip up a quick supper bite. Great for the family that are fans of corn dogs…you are going to absolutely   love this corn dog muffin recipe! They are so simple to make and are huge crowd pleaser! I've made these for a riding group get togethers and the only issue we had…was we didn’t make enough of them! Directions 1. 2 boxes of Jiffy cornbread mix or any other of your choice... follow directions on box. 2

When you as a couple are dating everyone says just wait until your married as if marriage is a burden. However, I feel those people have it wrong. It's not as if the “ just wait  until…” scale seems to be sliding further and further away no matter how long you’ve been married. My husband, Carl, and I were married for almost 36 years. I am determined to tell anyone who will listen just how amazing marriage can be! Marriage is a gift from God! Just wait…  until your wife hatche

Thinking about fruitcakes this time of year? Some of the best comes from a small monastery in Missouri. Assumption Abbey Fruit Cakes are a dark, rich traditional style of a fruit cake. Made by Trappist Monks in a small monastery in Ava, Missouri, who oversee all stages of production. This rich, dark and spicy fruitcake is spiked with burgundy wine and rum & studded with English walnuts, pecans, pineapple, cherries, raisins, currants, South American citron with orange & lemon

Sitting here watching the fireplace and trying to warm up on these chilling days. I am amazed that it is the last day of November 2025 already. I can barely believe that tomorrow December will finally arrive – one last month to get through in this crazy year. I’ve been allowing myself to at least think about the coming year, what I would like to do and what I would like to accomplish, along with what isn’t going to happen (more travel or not) and how I'm going to manage that.

Several weeks ago I was in Springfield, MO when I decided to treat myself with a Golden Corral Senior Lunch Buffet. As I approached the cashier line, a couple behind me told the cashier to ring up two buffets and also include include mine on their ticket. I replied to them that they didn't need to do that but Thank You! The woman replied they thought I looked like I need a smile today! I admitted I was dragging today with my back pain and the grindstone chores. I would gla

Each cool autumn is contrasted by the transformation from lush green to fiery hues of red, orange, and yellow. Yet, after the big show, many of us are left with a sea of leaves to rake, bag, and dispose of. So, I always say, "Why not leave them where they are?" Be-leaf it or not, leaf litter is actually a healthy part of a functioning ecosystem! It takes trees a lot of work to create leaves throughout the summer, and they end up storing 50-80% of the nutrients a plant gathers

Oh, heavenly Father: We thank thee for food and remember the hungry. We thank thee for health and remember the sick. We thank thee for friends and remember the friendless. We thank thee for freedom and remember the enslaved. May these remembrances stir us to service, that thy gifts to us may be used for others. Amen. Nana

I was thinking about Thanksgiving and started to wonder: Why is Thanksgiving always on the fourth Thursday of November? It seems Thursday is a strange day for a holiday. Yes, some companies give their employees the Friday after Thanksgiving off, but many don’t, which means Americans across the country are lugging their turkey-filled bodies back to work after inhaling every piece of food in sight the day before. Research shows a popular publisher even wrote to President Herbe

I've found "Life" to be quite awesome. Today I am going to enjoy & be Thankful for the 68 years God has given me. I was a nerd before it had any cachet at all--I had my nose in an encyclopedia from the time I could read. You can imagine my excitement with Mobile Telephones today, they are computers at your fingertips! My favorite past-time as an early teen was setting a budget and designing a plan for home and office enterprises. Accounting principles before I understood them

Monday is here! Who doesn't like Mondays? It's still a great day of the week. Monday & the rest of the week will pass and the weekend will be coming soon! Isn't it great? Monday is something like the hope which reminds you about such a desirable break. You have another full week to get it right from last week! It is an appropriate time for you to buck up and enjoy the week! This week is Thanksgiving... And... Tomorrow is "MY BIRTHDAY!!!" I've got a bit of baking to do, cloth

Today reminds me: Mark 11:23 is a powerful verse about faith and confession that believers claim and use around the world. But the principle in this verse works in both a positive and negative sense — or to put it another way, this principle works both in the realm of God and in the realm of the devil. The word “doubt” is from the Greek word diakrinomai, which means to hesitate, to waver, to doubt, or to differ . In context, Jesus said that when a person’s heart doesn’t dif

Most people my age and older remember this day. In fact most people have it etched into their memory what they were doing on this particular day in 1963. You see shortly after noon on November 22, 1963, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated as he rode in a motorcade through Dealey Plaza in downtown Dallas, Texas. I myself was watching television with my mother as Jack Lalane, the national exercise & health guru taught exercise aimed principally at homemakers, using item

I am so thankful for the big and small things! I'm still in hopes with enormously bountiful plans. Stretch would have been ready to go, & "Old Blue" is still full of lustrous youth but my health has not cooperated with this ole gal for a run down on "Phoenix" my big red trike to this year's Florida winter getaway. I had been hard at work getting all the strings tied to leave but my pain is still somewhat of an issue to head down on the trike. I'm hopeful that the newly presc

THANKSGIVING PUNCH FOR A CROWD SERVINGS: 32 CALORIES: This is easy and the perfect fall beverage as a delicious option for this Thanksgiving while entertaining your family and friends!  It's an amazing Thanksgiving punch!  INGREDIENTS (TO FIT A 2-GALLON DRINK DISPENSER) 2 gallons apple cider (not spiced) 12.2 ounces caramel syrup (1 bottle) 1-3 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice OPTIONAL: CINNAMON STICKS & SLICED APPLES INSTRUCTIONS: Pour apple cider into a drink dispenser (all bu

November 19, 1863 was the date of the immortalized speech given by our US President Abraham Lincoln at Gettysburg. The main address at the dedication ceremony was a two-hour speech delivered by Edward Everett, the best-known orator of the time. Steeped in the tradition of ancient Greek oratory, Everett’s speech was some 13,000 words long, but he delivered it without notes. In the wake of such a performance, Lincoln’s brief speech (just 272 words long) would hardly seem to hav