Let the Festivities Begin!!

It's funny to say but we are actually setting an alarm now. Truly we are people that don't lay in bed all day, but lately with the weather being so chilly and sometimes quite breezy we haven't been getting up or out of the van until it warms up...either in the van or outside or both! We figured with everyone being here together, we would all be cold together in the morning! haha So we have started setting an alarm in the morning so we can be bright eyed and bushy tailed with the rest of the gang. This morning we had a 10 a.m. meet and greet...again (I guess they had one yesterday but not everyone was really here, so another one was done this a.m.)

[caption id="attachment_3228" align="aligncenter" width="300"] R.T.R. has begun![/caption]

We circled the group with introductions and talked about the calendar of events that will take place over the next two weeks. There will be seminars, dinners, fire pits, classes and I'm sure many things will get stuck in between all of the scheduled events. Before the R.T.R. started there was talk of a "Girls Day" today...Wednesday is always Girls Day! Right Lesa!?

[caption id="attachment_3232" align="alignleft" width="150"] Matrons of the R.T.R.[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_3231" align="alignright" width="150"] Purty in Pink[/caption]

 Even though there were just a few of us, it was nice to sit and chat and pamper each other. We soaked, rubbed, manicured and painted our tootsies and enjoyed one another's company. It was nice being around some lady folk again, haha! Every girl in this world needs another girl to connect with. One of the ladies, Trisha, sat with me and taught me the basics of crochet and even sat with me and walked me through chains and hooks and all kinds of stuff. It was so nice of her to sit and be so patient with me, I get super frustrated at things that seem like they should be so simple. I was reminded again and again that everyone does this differently and learns at a different pace...soooo Woooo-saaaaaa! haha I'm sure that within time and practice I'll be hooking in no time...er, maybe I should rephrase that! And while we were having our girl-fest, a couple of the boys (mine included) fixed up Lesa's back windows for her to be warm at night now!

[caption id="attachment_3229" align="alignleft" width="150"] Beginners Course[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_3230" align="alignright" width="150"] Helping Hands[/caption]

 Everyone is pretty great here, everyone helps each other out and it's totally not a big deal....makes you wonder, "If everyone treated life this way, there wouldn't be much to complain or get angry about!"

We finished up with our girl time right around the same time everyone was getting ready to go for the evening walk. I would stay back...I needed to recapture some of my energy. J' went with everyone else leaving me and my O.C.D. to fight for the Championship Belt, due to what he left behind!

[caption id="attachment_3234" align="aligncenter" width="300"] ...and breathe...[/caption]

He really meant well at the beginning of all of this (and he can't help that I have an organization, cleanliness disorder). The plan/goal was to take everything off the top and out of the back of Joon Van to see what we actually have up there and possibly get rid of some stuff. He was in full force of attacking this goal but as the day went on more and more people wanted to catch up, say hi, meet and so on, so whatever was on-top or in the back was now lying on the ground in three different piles. I came back from Girl-fest 2013, he left for a walk and there I stood...staring at all of our stuff...on the ground. It truly isn't a big deal, but my O.C.D. just threw its gloves off and is ready to rumble 'raw-style'! I finally gathered everything into one big pile and when J' got back from the walk, he covered it with the tarp to 'make it go away'. Yep, he gets me! haha And everything will be put away tomorrow...it has to be, we are about to get some pretty nasty weather.

Before going over to the fire pit, we cooked up some bacon and cheese sammies with mashed taters and our new friend, Bernie, brought over some mac'n'cheese. We had a feast! I'm glad J' is getting to meet some pretty cool dudes out here...among the ones we already know!

[caption id="attachment_3235" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Master Chef[/caption]

Not too many people were at the fire tonight...a little too chilly maybe!? I was able to converse with an old friend, Micheal and create a new friendship with Brady. We're all hoping that the weather gets better/warmer...even if it just got a few degrees warmer it would be easier to hang out a little while longer. For now though, we are back in the van with our Mr. Buddy Heater (that we love so much) on...don't know how we would get through the chilly nights without it. If you are thinking about whether to get a heater or not...just get it. We thought we would never use it and we have been using it on the daily...you just never know when weather isn't going to go your way!

Stay warm my friends...find a cute guy or gal to snuggle with or a fuzzy lil critter or just a super awesome blankie if nothing else!

[caption id="attachment_3236" align="aligncenter" width="150"] She found her bowl![/caption]

PEACE

P.S. J' is feeling much better...thanks for all the good juju!