411 The Walters Bunch

  We picked a great day to play. Mid 70's, light breeze, and no sun. For Christmas we all got upgraded pickleball paddles. The kids were able to go play once since then, but because D and I were busy with the deck and dealing with the ice storm this was our first experience trying them out. Wow! What a difference a higher quality paddle makes! We had a lot more control over the ball. We always have fun playing, but it was extra fun with the new paddles! The kids still won, but we gave them a run for their money. T went to his church camp this weekend. Unfortunately for him, it rained all day yesterday. Pretty much all the activities are outside so I am not really sure what they could do. I had him pack the game A got him for Christmas so they would have something as an option. I look forward to hearing how his weekend was later when he gets home. A and I got to deal with his crazy big baby of a dog. I have no idea why the slightest hint of moisture sends him into a crazy frenzy, bu...

We made it to the AAC and are ready to enjoy our night!  Since we haven't been able to go on T's senior trip yet, he has been using some of the money we set aside for each of the kids senior trip to go do some fun family activities that we don't normally do. He wanted to go to the AAC and see a Mavericks game. We really wanted to go when the Lakers were here to show Luka some love, but the ticket prices were absolutely insane. It's probably their most expensive game now that everyone wants to see Luka when he's back home. That game happened to be on the same day the crazy ice storm came and still 90% of the people who bought tickets came! We ended up going when the Celtics were here. We had a great time and the seats weren't nearly as bad as we thought they might be. I mean it was scary as hell having to go up and down the stairs and stand up in your row, but once safely sitting down the view was fantastic! We were at half court so we could see everything that w...

  The drifts are about a foot deep! They are almost level with our deck. We spent almost two full days preparing the animals for the deep freeze. Instead of bringing the chickens to the garage like we normally do, I decided to try to keep them outside. We added extra chips and tarps, brought out the insulated water bucket, made up extra hay bags, and installed a heat lamp in the chicken coop in case of emergency. I really don't want to turn it on, but if they need it I will for a little bit. I will have to sit out there with them while it's on though. The heat lamps are HUGE fire hazards and many a farmer has burned their barn down trying to keep their animals warm. I did end up turning it on a couple of times, but just for about 30 minutes each time. Just enough to warm them and the coop up. For the first time since we have had her we had to blanket the horse. The reason was because while the freezing rain was coming down she was standing in it and became completely soaked. Wi...

  This is the giant dog bed that T took outside to sleep in.😂 After the craziness of Deck week, we have really enjoyed our time relaxing! In fact, we haven't been in a hurry to do much of anything other than just normal chores, working out, and watching way too much tv in our recliners. Yes, we all have our own recliners. Unfortunately, I have been dealing with a horrible ear infection. Actually, it was probably a horrible ear infection last month, but thanks to a lifetime of ear infections, getting tubes put in multiple times, and ear drums being ruptured I have so much scar tissue that I can no longer feel when I am getting an ear infection. This time I think my ear drum ruptured before I finally noticed. I basically have had no ability to hear anything in my left ear and only about 5o% in my right, which was a lot better than last time when they both ruptured and I was completely deaf for over a month while they healed. I have about 75% hearing in my left ear now and about 90% ...

  It was slow, tedious, and back killing, but after 2 days and 2 coats we FINALLY finished! It was a long, long weekend! I started my deck project on good authority that there was absolutely no rain or cold weather in the forecast for the next two weeks.  I was about halfway into the project when I learned rain was expected in 5 days. I need 48 hours for the deck to cure before it gets wet. That only left us with 2 full days, sun up to sun down, to finish said project. I will say that 1.) we did finish, 2.) it was literally all day long for mostly two full days, 3.) the project just about completely broke us and 4.) I absolutely love it! It looks so much better! It definitely doesn't look brand new, but it looks 1000 x better than it did. I will say that while I was doing crazy manual labor all day long for a week that I can't remember EVER sleeping so well! I would literally lay down in bed at about 8pm and almost immediately go to sleep. I would only get up a couple of times...

  The fact that BOTH T and Axl can fit in this bed should tell you how gigantic it is! A must have been in a family fun mood this Christmas because she got each of us new board games to play and for 2 of them you have to have 4 players. We spent the first part of the week relaxing and enjoying our game time. The crazy cold snap happened to be on our normal pickleball day so we decided to do game day instead. We played the game that T got first. It's called Don't Say Ummm. This is like a cross between charades and 20 questions. Basically, your teammate draws 2 cards, one is an adjective and one is a noun. You have to get your partner to say both together before you can get a point, but if you say Ummm or anyother filler words the other team gets a point.  There are other rules but that's the jist. This was our least favorite game. We all are more independent competitive players and relying on partners tended to cause tensions about partners not getting descriptions correct. ...