~~~~~Happy New Year~~~~

Been awhile hasn't it?
You might think I have just been so darn busy doing stuff
that there has been no time to write anything.
Not true at all.
Christmas came and went.
We opted for a dinner with the park residents.
Somehow I knew in my heart that was not going to be the most successful dinner party we ever attended.
I sometimes just hate being right.
It was a lousy time,
a lousy dinner and one should never ever go anywhere for a turkey dinner
unless you get a "Doggy Bag" to take home.
Part of the wonder of a great Christmas dinner are the left overs!
With no dinner at home you end up with no left overs!
That is not going to happen again.
I am the biggest fan of a turkey sandwich,
lots of home made cranberry stuff on it and pepper ..
this has to all be on fresh bread..
Oh my I dream of that.
So I will cook a small turkey for our birthdays
 and we will have our much anticipated left overs.
 Now IF I could just figure out how to get Rosie to make me my favourite cake
and get it to me I would be in heaven..

No shopping on Boxing Day for me..
I am not a fan of crowds and I figured "nah"
I will wait until the January sales.
Then I might just go nuts.
I have to tell you I already have a list of "Things That GAYE HAS TO GET"!

I arranged a private tour of a privately owned Ghost Town called Ruby.
12 of us went to this really neat place.
A bit of a scare for most of the participants
as a border guard was shot dead not ten days earlier
and not even nine miles away from this place.
The signs all said "Caution Illegal's and Smuggling" takes place in the general area.
It is a dirt road and really remote,
not all that easy a ride to get to
and not all that easy to get away from in a quick manner.
BUT we had INSIDE info
that we would all be safe as long as we left between 3 and 3:30 pm.
So the day was dull at first, but then the sun came out
and magnificent hand painted and hung clouds were there for the taking.
This town was quite large and established in 1907.
At one time there were as many as 150 children in the school there.
It was fascinating to walk around and see life as it might have been way back then.
I enjoyed this tremendously
and was pleased that we decided to go,
Despite many folks refusing to go
in spite of the fact we did everything right in terms of security for allit turned real well.

On the way back we made a pit stop at a place called Wisdom's.
Great little out of the way eatery and we got there just as the doors were opening.
Good thing too.
This is a place that most people might miss if they do not know what to look for.
8 of us were lucky and got seated right away.
They apparently make "THE best Margaritas" in the whole of Arizona..
Three of the ladies got quite tipsy on one drink.
And no, one of them was not me.
I do not drink very often anymore and certainly not margaritas!

My chosen dinner was not what I thought it might be
and Lee graciously finished it for me.
I should have had what he had.. enchiladas!!!
But dessert was a dream..
 Deep fried Peach Burritos!!
With home made ice cream.
I had half and did not eat the ice cream.

It was a great day and people seemed to truly have appreciated the tour of the ghost town
along the recommended dining spot.
As we left Wisdom's
the wait time for dinner was 90 minutes
and this place is two hours south of Tucson!

Now as I am catching you up on our fun times
I would be remiss if I did not share with you what our friends shared with us!!!
We went over for some drinks( scotch was on sale)
and during the evening they brought out their Wii.
Now I have heard about and seen a bit about it on the internet and TV.,
Well lemme tell ya.. what a blast.
We played 100 pin bowling and man oh man I loved it.
We also did some serious cow racing..
Now in my world
you have not lived
until you have raced your cow at break neck speeds against your friend..
Too funny for words.
We went back and we did some target shooting
and it seems I am pretty good at blowing things right out of the air.
I loved it!
We bowled a regular game and guess what?
I beat three other people for top score.
Must have been beginners luck.
I will take it..
so now can you guess what Gaye wants?
You betcha!

Lee and went and bought the few things we wanted that we will have for our New Year's Eve dinner.
We are spending the night with each other
and have decided to forego the big party at the rec hall.
So not me.

It is currently raining and it sounds really nice.
With rain, it does not require shovelling; so it is all good.

I most likely will not be back here for a few days so
Lee and I would like to take this opportunity to wish each of you the very best of 2011.
May you know good health ,
good fortune
and good friendship.
God Bless you all
Happy New YearI know you probably heard my arteries clogging from where you are!