January 31, 2011
Our day started early this morning when Chris and Norm picked us up at 8:00 and we headed to Luke Air Force Base to the commissary for a morning of shopping. Chris is a retired Navy gal, and offered us her discount (no sales tax). The base is on the northwest side of Phoenix, near Glendale, so it's a bit of a drive.
We were surprised to see there is actually a mall there that sells anything from books to clothing and shoes, plus a huge department store like a Walmart. We bought a very reasonably priced US flag that was complete with mounting brackets - and made in the US - not China. Also found a nice pillow for Frisco to sit on in the car, so he can see out the windows - he's not spoiled, is he.
At the grocery store, we managed to fill up a grocery cart, taking advantage of Chris' discount to stock up on meats. When we checked out, we acted as if we were 2 retired military couples since they both had ID's but we didn't; Norm and I checked out and Chris and Mike checked out. The joke for the rest of the morning was with our new spouses. We stopped at Cracker Barrel for lunch before heading back home. Thanks, guys, we appreciate your saving us some $$$.
It was a quiet evening for me, as I had the house to myself when Mike went to his guitar lesson.
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January 24 - 30, 2011
Tuesday, January 25. Boy, I've been busy the last couple of days, mostly doing projects around the house. I did go thrift store shopping on Monday morning and found a cute little hummingbird feeder. It is a round ball with a rubber stopper at the bottom. I filled it up, carried it to the back yard and the stopper popped out, emptying the sugar water contents all over the patio floor. Yuck! I tried cleaning it and that didn't work. Mike finally suggested that we rough up the edge of the stopper with sand paper and that finally worked - it is holding the water and looks nice in the yard - now I hope the hummers find it.
That little mishap got me going on cleaning the patio. Out came the hose and a bucket of soapy water and I washed it down good.
While I was cleaning the patio, the UPS truck delivered my newly ordered coverlet, pillows, and drapes for the bedroom. Boy, does that stuff smell bad when it first comes out of the package. It has to be the plastic in the polyester material - anyway, it definitely needed to be aired out before it could go in the bedroom. I'm quite happy with my choice, and Mike likes it too. The house is coming together little by little - what will I do when I get the list of projects done?
Mike started his guitar lessons at the Mesa Art Institute on Monday night and was happy with the instructor. The classes will continue for 12 weeks.
Today's projects were decorating the bedroom and painting the frame on the Turner print that was given to me by my Aunt Vern. It is a piece of art that has been with us since the 70's and I still remember it hanging in her living room. Back when we lived in the old Starr School house in Stoughton and we collected antiques, we had many of his prints from the 1930's and 1940's. I love how the frame turned out - much more contrast and it also coordinates with my living room colors.
Friday, January 28. I was supposed to go shopping with 3 of the ladies from our community Thursday morning, but it didn't work out. Mike and I decided to take a drive and headed up AZ 88 to Tortilla Flats for an ice cream cone. It's a beautiful drive and it was a perfect day for it.
That evening, we joined Chris and Norm for chicken taco salads at their house. Another enjoyable evening with our fellow Wisconsinites.
Tonight, we went to the TGIF because Jan and Jim were making pork and sauerkraut for the main course. I didn't know what would complement that, so I searched the internet and came up with a Maple Dill Carrot recipe. I never would have thought to add dill to carrots but it was delicious and I got lots of compliments. After dinner, a large group of us sat around telling stories and having lots of laughs.
It was a beautiful evening for our evening walk with Frisco.
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January 17 - 23, 2011
Monday, January 17. I don't know what got into me this morning but while I was out walking, I decided it would be a good day to paint. There are 2 unpainted paneled walls in the study and one in the bedroom - so today was the day. I started about 10:30 and was finished by about 3:00 - not bad - although my shoulders and right arm is kind of achy right now. Anyway, it feels good to have that out of the way. I might just finish hanging pictures one of these days.
Tuesday, January 18. I had another burst of energy this morning and before Mike had finished reading the news online, I had the bedroom rearranged and was starting to hang pictures. The only thing that he had to agree to was sleeping on a different side of the bed - an adjustment for both of us but I think we can handle it - we're both a little closer to our bathrooms now.
When we got back home, we stopped by our neighbors, Bob & Diane, for happy hour. Had a great conversation over a beer before heading home for dinner.
Wednesday, January 19. Our day started early this morning as we needed to be up and showered and ready to go by 8:45. We joined Bob and Diane for a day at the Barrett-Jackson Auto Auction in Scottsdale. We followed in our car as we had to get back to Frisco earlier than they were planning to leave. It definitely takes the whole day to see it all.
As we walked to the ticket area, a lady approached us and sold us her tickets for $15 each - the senior pass was selling for $20 - a good deal for us. The main building was filled with vendors selling all kinds of wares; the major auto dealers offering deals and test drives of their newest cars, artists, sculptors, jewelers, clothing, bedding, reconditioned antique gas pumps, soda machines, neon signs - just about anything you could possible consider. From there we headed into the main auction building where we watched the cars coming into the auction and we watched the auctions going on. This 1952 Chevy Truck sold for $25,000. The prices were all over the board - a $50,000+ Hummer only went for $23,000 and a beautiful 1999 Mercedes Benz convertible with only 8,000 miles sold for only $21,000.
We met up with Bob and Diane at noon for a bite to eat and had a delicious beef brisket and pulled pork sandwich. From there, we went to the tents that housed the cars that were going to be sold during the week-long event. Anything and everything was there. Mike was drawn to the 50's vintage Chevrolet's and I was drawn to the VW's, Karmann Ghia's, and the sports cars. Diane spotted a 1987 Buick Grand National similar to the one that Bob owns and we stopped to take a photo there. We had only gotten through 4 of the 7 tents when we began to tire, so headed indoors to watch more of the auctions.
Mike and I had one more tent to go through before heading back home, that of the specialty cars. These were the cars that would be auctioned on the weekend and would probably brings big bucks. The Wasabi, a 1950 Mercury that was an original chopped version by Dick Dean, known as the "sultan of chop".
Needless to say, we were worn out at the end of the day and retired early.
Thursday, January 20. My morning was all messed up, I took a walk, got some laundry going, made the bed, then decided to fix bacon and eggs for breakfast - at 10:30 - and we were meeting my old boss, Steve, for lunch at noon. And I still hadn't taken a shower. When I finished my breakfast, I was rushing to get ready - at the end of my shower the water was barely a trickle - I even had trouble getting all of the shampoo out of my hair. Didn't even have water to rinse after brushing my teeth - YUCK! As we pulled out of our community, the City of Mesa Utility trucks were pulling in.
Off to Covance in Chandler (the company that I retired from in 2002). We met Steve and got a tour of some of the brand new facility - a gorgeous, modern building that is surrounded by large vacant lots that are waiting for future expansion. Eventually, they expect to have 500 employees but for now, only about 130 are working there.
After seeing Covance, Steve treated us to lunch at the Paradise Bakery and Cafe. It was nice catching up with the news of Covance and some of the folks we used to know and work with. We're looking forward to joining him and Judy in the future for dinner or some other activity.
From there, we made a stop at Costco to load up the back of the car with a long list of items we needed. It sure was easier to load the CR-V than it was the Jeep.
The City of Mesa trucks were leaving as we pulled in, but still no water at 5:00 - I checked with the office and apparently the City came in to repair a gas line and broke a water line (guess the didn't dial before they dug). We have enough water for drinking, but hope it doesn't take long to get it fixed. The water was finally back on around 8:00.
Friday, January 21. I'm eagerly awaiting the new comforter and curtains that I finally ordered this week. Before the curtains can be hung, I had to remove the old hardware, patch up the holes in the wall, and touch the spots up with paint. I went to Home Depot to get new hardware but spent more time in the garden center than I should. I came home with a Silver Dollar Gum tree (an Australian Eucalyptus) an evergreen tree that should do great in my yard, once it gets established. I was recently admiring the one that Allan and Sharon put in their back yard so thought I would give it a try.
This afternoon, we picked Norm and Chris up and headed to Scottsdale to Greasewood Flats - a unique local establishment, for a burger. It was a beautiful day, so we sat under the huge evergreen trees and enjoyed a beer and a burger.
Since I volunteered to be the designated driver, Mike and Norm wanted to make another stop - at the Buffalo Chip Saloon in Cave Creek - a bar and restaurant that caters to the Green Bay Packer's games. On arrival they were setting up a huge tent for the big game on Sunday. It's a cool place and we want to return some day to hear the live music that they are known for. We checked out one more place that we might consider for watching Sunday's game before heading home. This was the Packer Bar on Main Street in Mesa - not sure about that one though - we might just watch the game in the comfort of one of our homes.
Sunday, January 23. Yesterday, I put a pork tenderloin in the slow cooker for pulled pork sandwiches today. Chris, Norm, and Josie joined us to watch the Green Bay Packers and the Chicago Bears playoff game this afternoon. The Packers won that game and then the Pittsburgh Stealer's beat the New York Jets, so the Packer's go to the Super Bowl again.
We had a nice time and the dogs had great fun. Josie is a rescue *bleep*er Spaniel and isn't much for playing with toys or other dogs but Frisco got her to wrestle and play a bit. She even showed some interest in some of his toys.
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January 10 - 16, 2011
Monday, January 10. What to do today? How about shopping - haven't done much of that lately, so we headed to the Superstition Springs mall so I could return the bottle of makeup remover that I bought at Macy's in SF - it was irritating my eyes. While there, we also looked around at bedding, as I'm thinking of updating and changing the decor in our bedroom.
We then spent the rest of the afternoon looking at cars again - what's with that? Perhaps that trip to San Francisco in the Jeep was a little rough? Naturally, we ended up test driving another Honda CR-V and seem to like that the best of all. We are really torn between keeping the Jeep and getting another car (we really don't need 2 cars) or giving up the Jeep and our off-road adventures for something with better mileage that can still be easily towed behind the motor home.
Thursday, January 13. I have an opthamologist appointment this afternoon but before that, we went to Tempe to look at a 2007 Honda CR-V that Mike found on the internet. When we got there, we found it to be in really rough shape with lots of dings and stains. We then headed for the nearby Honda dealer and they had the exact same car with about 5,000 more miles but in new car condition. After a couple of drives and a complete inspection, we decided to go with it. Before we could make the deal, I had to make it to my appointment, so back to Mesa we went.
It turns out that I have a Pterygium growing on my left eye - not really anything to worry about unless it gets so big that it causes vision problems. For now, I will be putting cortisone drops in it for the next week to clear up the inflammation and then using plenty of wetting drops in the future. I guess this is what happens when you love being outdoors but haven't always protected yourself with hats and sunglasses.
After grabbing a bite to eat we headed back to the Honda dealer where we signed the papers and unloaded the stuff from the Jeep and loaded it into our new CR-V. I wonder when we will get out of this cycle of changing cars every 2 years - kind of an expensive habit when you consider the taxes and registration costs. The new CR-V should give us both what we want in a car - Mike didn't want to give up the 4-wheel drive and didn't have to and I wanted more safety and comfort features and the ability to load and unload easily. We can still go on "easy" off-road drives that we both enjoy so much.
Yesterday we went for a nice long drive and then came home and made dinner for Norm and Chris. I made a Green Chicken Enchilada Casserole that was yummy and Mike put together a really nice salad. It was nice to see them again and as usual, we had a great time and our dogs also had fun together.
I went shopping for a while this afternoon while Mike and Frisco hung out with Dale. I'm looking for curtains and bedding for the bedroom but can't seem to make a decision, so will keep on shopping until I find just the right thing.
Monica invited us to dinner tonight, so we stopped by to pick up Nan, Dale, and Dylan (we can fit 5 people comfortably in the new car) and headed to her house. She fixed a yummy enchilada dinner (no problem at all eating Mexican 2 days in a row) and we had a nice time hanging out at her apartment.
Friday, January 14. We had a lunch date with Allan and Sharon today and our choice was the Cornish Pasty Company here in Mesa. Our preference was to sit outdoors as the heavy metal music playing inside was deafening. The waitress made sure that we got a nice table. The menu is quite extensive with an assortment of pasties and our choices were the traditional, shepherd's pie, and a mexican one. They were served nice and hot and the crust was delicious. This is the first pasty we've had in a long time, our last ones came from a mail order place in Michigan - a gift from our neighbor Ruth when we lived in Ocala. Our all time favorites were Myle's Teddywedgers in Madison though. It's a great place and we will definitely be going back there in the future.
Saturday, January 15. Another shopping day for me, yes, I'm still on a quest for bedding and window coverings for the bedroom. Today I made five stops at various stores and a few garage sales and didn't find a thing. The trouble is when you have something specific in mind (based on something you have seen in the past but didn't act on it), then it can't be found. I am thinking of a turquoise and brown combination but I might just have to go with something else or buy fabric and make something - I did purchase a sewing machine to do just that - but it sits in the closet in it's nice little box.
It was such a beautiful afternoon with temps near 75 degrees, so I spent most of it outdoors, rearranging the patio and cleaning things up. Mike got a craving for Culver's ice cream this afternoon so we went there for a nice and naughty treat. Then this evening, our park had a happy hour and pizza party. What an operation - an assembly line is setup and 2 people made about 10 trays holding 4 pizzas each, with various ingredients. 5 ovens were setup and before long the smell of pizza was permeating through the air. There was plenty to eat for everyone and we had a nice chat with Carmen and Bruce and Trudy.
Sunday, January 16. I kept myself busy today with all kinds of projects, starting with a relaxing soak in the bathtub: baking a batch of Frisco CRACKers, doing laundry, giving the kitchen a good cleaning, messing around outdoors, and reading.
Our niece, Becky, was here for the PF Chang's Half Marathon this weekend, but we weren't able to connect. I had her visit marked on the calendar but somehow overlooked it. By the time I realized that she was here, it was too late. So sorry, Becky, as we should have been there cheering you on. We are the negligent Aunt and Uncle.
Before I knew, it was time to get ready for our neighbor, Spike's, birthday party. We didn't expect that he would be home, as he was scheduled for heart surgery in Tucson on Thursday. The VA hospital was so busy that they ended up sending him home after he spent 3 hours on the gurney, all prepared and waiting. Fortunately, his family was all here from Seattle so they put together a great 90th birthday party for him. We had a nice time and got to meet their family and friends, many friends that are also our neighbors.
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January 3 - 9, 2011
Monday, January 3. Poor Ben had to go back to work today and Jill has one more day off. She and I walked Ruby this morning, it is a bright sunny day but still pretty cool. Along the way, we ran some errands; dropping things off at the cleaners and stopping at Walgreens.
We were trying to decide what to do, then decided to go downtown shopping, not much of a guy thing, so Mike stayed back with Ruby and had the house all to himself. We went to Macy's, then had a bite to eat and shopped at the mall for a while. Neither of us bought much but we had lots of fun looking. On the way home, we stopped at the Whole Foods grocery store - what an experience. The parking garage is underneath the building and there was not a spot to be had, so I ended up driving in circles around the garage, finally getting a spot and I just waited for Jill to finish. She made a yummy pot of creamy potato soup for dinner.
Tuesday, January 4. After Ben and Jill left for work this morning, I took Ruby for her walk. It was another nice sunny day but cool and brisk.
I'm still obsessed by that darned puzzle and have been working on it every change I get. I did our laundry, as tomorrow is departure day and we will be spending a couple of days in Oxnard with Mary and Lance, so I wanted to have a suitcase full of clean clothes.
We went to the grocery store to get stuff for dinner tonight, then stopped at Angelina's Cafe for a sandwich. It was so nice when we got back that I took Ruby for another walk, then guess what? The puzzle.
I fixed a roasted chicken with potatoes, carrots, zucchini for dinner that was much appreciated by Ben and Jill after a long day at work. I used a recipe from Epicurious.com - everything in one pan and it was roasted at 500 degrees, then the chicken was broiled for 5 minutes to brown and crisp it. I've never baked anything at that high of a temperature but it was done to perfection and kept it real moist.
Friday, January 7. Wednesday morning, we got ready to leave, loaded up the car, said our goodbyes to Jill, then gave Ben and Ruby (the Flickerbox work dog) a ride to work and were on the road by 9:30. It was a beautiful day and a beautiful drive south to Oxnard where we will spend the next couple of days with our dear friends Mary and Lance. We made good time and thanks to the GPS that routed us off the freeway and on a beautiful drive through the Los Padres National Forest and some gorgeous country near Santa Ynez that we have never seen before. There's no doubt about it, California has some of the most beautiful country I've ever seen and definitely more farm and agriculture land too.
It was so nice to see Mary and Lance again, as it has been 2 years since our last visit. Time sure does fly, but after a few minutes it is like no time has passed since we last got together.
Yesterday, after lounging around over coffee and pastries, we went to see the movie "RED" at the $3.00 theater - a great comedy about a bunch of retirees, it had lots of good actors and gave us plenty of laughs. Had another great dinner, some *bleep*tails, and lots and lots of talk. Mike helped them to get their new TV setup, although he wasn't able to figure out why he couldn't get the sound to come through all four speakers - anyway, it works and connects to the internet, so all is good.
Hmmmmm - guess we were up a bit late last night, as we all slept in and took our good old time getting ready for the day today. We decided to treat them to lunch at a Mexican restaurant, then we headed to the harbor in Ventura to look around. Fortunately, two of the tall ships had just docked there this morning, so we got to go aboard and talk to some of the pirate crew. Some of them were providing information to the visitors, others were busy removing rust, painting, or repairing things. It seems to me that it would be a fun adventure for these young folks and quite an interesting way to travel. From here, they will head up the coast to Seattle with many stops along the way.
Saturday, January 8. "On The Road Again" How did we manage to get off to such a late start today? First, sleeping in until after 8, then sitting around having coffee for quite a while, then enjoying a very nice breakfast and more coffee and conversation - before we knew it was 11:30 before we backed out the driveway. Oh well, we're retired right - it doesn't really matter what time we get back home, although we did want to make it early enough that we could pick up Frisco from Allan and Sharon's house. We really missed that little guy and were excited to see him again.
Fortunately, traffic was not bad and we made good time, a 7.5 hour drive without the detour to Apache Junction. Now, I'm ready to snuggle up in my own bed and wake up tomorrow morning at home. Goodnight!
Sunday, January 9. Our dear little grandson, Owen, would be celebrating his first birthday today. Instead, we still grieve over his loss but have managed to get through the last year. His parents will go to a happy place for them today, the place where they became engaged, in hopes of soothing their hearts. I'm so glad that we were able to see them recently, it helps us to feel that they are healing.
I had high hopes that this year will be an improvement and although there are no issues with our immediate family, Jill's brother Casey is not well, his brain cancer is making speech and concentration difficult so he will probably never work again. He will also be undergoing more chemotherapy, so we are praying that he is able to cope with treatment and can get better.
Also, my cousin Fran is struggling in the hospice center in Fitchburg after a year of incredible health issues. Her family is gathered around and I have been in contact with them, although it just isn't the same as being nearby. Fran was one of my mother's best friends and has always been there for me. I think of her every time I look in my bedroom and see the 2 beautiful quilts that she made. My heart goes out to her and her family.
Now that is off my chest and I can say how great it feels to be back home. It's a beautiful day here in Arizona and I enjoyed my walk and being outdoors taking down the Christmas decorations. I also got everything down and packed away from the indoors.
Betty (our next door neighbor) brought over our mail that had been accumulating while we were gone. In it was a summons for jury duty - definitely not something that I will be looking forward to, but I will grumpily go about my civic duties. I last served on a jury back in 1982 - an interesting experience.
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January 1 - 2, 2011
Sunday, January 2. Hmmmm. What have we been doing? It's been pretty laid back around here, although we have managed to accomplish some things in the city. On New Year's Day, we went on a long walk in the rain. I was offered some rain pants, declined the offer, and ended up having my pants soaked although the rest of my body was nice and warm and dry. We walked up to the Legion of Honor and then learned that a coyote was lurking nearby, so headed the opposite direction back home.
Jill broke out a 1,000 piece jigsaw puzzle that is totally in black, white, and grays. We all got involved and didn't do much else for the afternoon. I am especially addicted and had a hard time breaking away.
We had leftovers for dinner and then headed out to the theater to see True Grit. Ben ordered the tickets online, printed them off so we didn't have to wait in any lines before entering. Just before the movie started, a man came out on the stage to welcome us, he announced that we would be seeing no movie trailers or advertising before the featured film, asked us all to turn off our phones, and then said in a jolly voice, "Now enjoy the movie." That was a first, but a very nice touch. We all really liked it, but Jill only gave it an OK, as she isn't real fond of westerns and got a little bored toward the end.
This afternoon we went to The Maverick restaurant in the Mission, had a delicious brunch, and then walked to a coffee shop (Ben wasn't pleased with the coffee at the Maverick) and then checked out some of the murals painted on buildings in the district. One alley was almost totally covered and they were huge, bright, colorful paintings. I won't be able to post them until get back home as I didn't bring my connector cable with me.
Back home, we relaxed, worked on the puzzle, watched a movie and ate cheese and sausage.
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Created on 12/27/2010 07:55 PM by bridge
Updated on 02/01/2011 12:01 PM by bridge
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