WE ARE GOING TO HAVE COMPANY

We are very pleased that our Daughter Tracy "Elizabeth" is coming down for a visit.  

Her and her husband Gary are driving down.  They are supposed to be leaving Winnipeg today.  They should be here by Tuesday.  Daisy is coming too. 

Gary only has a weeks holiday, so he will be flying home next weekend.  

But Elizabeth and Daisy are staying on for an extended Holiday and will follow us home later in the spring.  



I'M REALLY LOOKING FORWARD TO THIS VISIT


 

WHAT"S BEEN GOING ON?

When last I posted to my blog, Dan was working on the foundation of Dwight's trailer and it was coming along great.  

 

 Then, it was my birthday and we were going out dancing right?  That is what we did!  We went out dancing to one of our favourite bands.  "The Agency".  And had a great time. 

The next morning I woke up with a bit of a scratchy throat, but thought it was just acid reflux, which I sometimes suffer from.  So, I ignored it.  The following morning I knew I was wrong, it was "The Texas Crud", as my throat was worse and I was coughing and coughing.  Time to start a Z-Pack.  (The goto cure for the Crud.) Two days later, Dan was down as well and starting his own Z-Pack.  So, that began a whole week of us being as sick as dogs.  Although Sea-Enna (the dog) breezed through it.  Other than not getting out for her walks as often as she would like. 

While we were laid up we had a vicious wind storm, that blew a lot of leaves off of our fruit trees.and knocked a lot of the fruit to the ground. 

Sick or not, that was a mess that had to be cleaned up.

Once we were on the mend we got to go out to a show dance at our park hall.  

So now that we are feeling better, it is time for me to get on with next months Newspaper.  My cut off for printing it is 25th.  Then I can relax until next month.  

TIME TO GET BACK TO NORMAL.  

ALLEGIANCE TO CANADA

The second year we travelled into the USA, someone introduced us to the 8840 Form, to be registered with the American IRS.  This is a form whereby you state your allegiance to Canada, even though you spend a lot of time in the USA. 

In this form you are also stating where you household belongings are?.  Canada.  Where is your main bank?  Canada.   Did you have any USA income?  No. Where do you pay your taxes?  Canada.  Who issued you drivers license?     Canada.   etc… etc…

                                                           

                      

                                            

And it isn’t a simple calculation of making sure you don’t spend more than (183 days) 6 month in the US, like most people think.  You have to declare how many days you were here last year, the year before, and the year before that and they calculate it based on a "Substantial Presence Test".  You are considered a U.S. resident if you meet the substantial presence test for 2016. You meet this test if you were physically present in the United States for at least:  31 days during 2016 and183 days during the period 2016, 2015, and 2014, counting all the days of physical presence in 2016 but only 1/3 of the number of days of presence in 2015 and only 1/6 the number of days in 2014.   How’s that for complicating things.   

So, I got that done this past week, and now it is my Birthday, so I’m going out dancing tonight.  

 HAPPY WEEKEND EVERYONE. 

  

A COLD SNAP, BRRRR!

Us Canadians come all this way down here to McAllen to escape the cold.  We also delight in sending pictures home of the wonderful warm weather we are enjoying.  Much to the chagrin of our friends and relatives back home. 

Well, it's payback time.  This weekend the temperatures fell drastically.  As you can see by the pretty little fountain that adorns our park's front entry.  It was left running over night and gave us an eerie reminder of what we left behind.  Leaving all of us rooting around for any and all of the warm clothing we may have brought with us.  Boy oh boy it is cold out.

I didn't see this fountain first thing in the morning, but I'm sure it was much worse.  It was already melting by the time we got some pictures of it.  Oh well, this is going to be short lived.  The forecast is for 70s on Monday and back to the 80s by Tuesday.  So, we are reminded of a saying from home, that you don't  "dis" Mother Nature, or she will come and snow on your driveway.  

WOOLLY SOCKS AND TV THIS WEEKEND

LOOKING FORWARD TO THE 2017 SEASON

Well, the Christmas decorations are all put away for another year.  

 More people are arriving in our park every day now.  All of the park activities will now get into full swing. I will be playing my first Bridge game on Friday, for this year's Round Robin Tournament.  

New Year's Eve was the first dance of this season, but we are certainly looking forward to more of those.  

One of the things I am looking forward to most, is that my daughter Elizabeth is coming down here this month and is staying until April. My other daughter Wendy came a couple of years ago, but that was on her way home from a cruise so she was only here for a weekend.  Elizabeth will be here for an extended stay, so that should be fun.  

LOTS OF THINGS TO SHOW AND SHARE WITH HER  

 

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Our New Years Eve party at the park hall this year was an Island theme.  

 We had a really great evening.  

 It was a good turn out and lots of people got into the spirit with beach attire. 

 Get a load of these bathing beauties. 

 

GREAT FUN!    WELCOME 2017!