Week of February 16 thru February 22, 2011

Marlon Byrd signing baseballs


The BIG 'Queen' sucking down the Margueritas


Reed Johnson and Marlon Byrd

Wednesday February 16, 2011
Left early this morning to head to Fitch Park again to watch the Cubs practice. We ran into a guy from Elk Grove, IA that we met yesterday. He is a fun guy and today he had his neighbor with him also from Iowa. They are Dodger fans but the Dodgers do not start practicing until tomorrow.

We mostly watched Dempster, Marshall, Marmol, Soto and Hill practice. I talked to Soto a little and later, he threw me a ball over the fence. I then had them sign the ball. I also talked to Billy Williams, who is a great guy. He also signed the ball.

As we were leaving the park, Larry stopped to buy a hat and I talked to a guy who is a pilot for the MBA. He flies different MBA teams all over the US and he was in Phoenix waiting to fly the Utah Jazz back home tonight. Sounded like a very interesting job!

We had a light lunch, stopped at Walmart for a few items and came home. It was such a beautiful day and we let the cats out to enjoy the afternoon for awhile. We get to feeling guilty that we are gone every day and the cats are stuck in the motor home. It's a little tighter quarters than being at home. They have all been troopers about all this traveling business.

We met Georgia Goodabill, Larry's cousin that lives in Apache Junction, and her husband Joe for dinner. Georgia is a half sister to Ed Stafford from Carlsbad, NM. Ellis Edward Stafford, Ed's father is also Georgia's father. Georgia told us the story about how her mother got pregnant by Ellis and they were married but never lived together. She was in the 3rd grade in Bartonville, when one of her classmates told her that the man she thought was her father was not her real father. She asked her mother about it but her mother would not tell her anything other than the girl was just being mean. She said she always had a feeling that there was more about her that she did not know and when she was in 8th grade, her mother came to her and showed her baby book to her where it had Ellis as the father. She told her a very brief story and told Georgia she never wanted her to mention her father again. Later when Georgia was about 17 she went to the old dairy on Farmington Road and knocked on the door and she could not remember who answered but she told them who she was. They took her to meet her grandmother(Ellis's mother) and Georgia talked for a long time with her. Later she met Lena who was a sister to Ellis and Art Stafford and through the years she kept in touch with Lena until Lena's death. She said she was probably 29 and pregnant with one of her daughter's when Ellis, his wife, Ed and LaDell came to see her while she was living in Pekin. From that day on, her and Ed kept in touch and throughout the following years she would have contact with Ellis, never letting her mother know she was seeing her father. It was a pretty interesting story. She later lived in Bartonville and her children went to Limestone High School but to Larry's knowledge, no one ever mentioned her. She was a nice person and appears to have done well financially for herself. Georgia and Joe have only been married since last July but have known each other for several years. She owns a home in Apache Junction and Joe has a home in South Carolina so they spend six months at each. We visited with them for quite awhile over dinner and we really enjoyed talking to them. They have several different groups coming to visit over the next month, so I don't know if we will have another chance to see them before we leave.

Thursday February 17, 2011

I am a TRUE BLUE CUB! I skipped my painting class today to go back to Fitch Park to see my cubbies practice. Had a lot of new guys come in today. Marlin Bird and Jeff Baker both showed up for the first time. I tried to get both of their autographs but Jeff Baker disappeared and never did walk through the crowd. He appears to be a jerk as he did not talk to any of the spectators like most of the guys normally do. Marlin Bird came off the field early and I caught him as asked for autograph but he was rushing to do something so he put his arm around my shoulder and told me he was sorry but would sign tomorrow. He was very nice to everyone. I did get Mike Quade's autograph and Darwin Barney's. I waved and spoke to Billy Williams again today. Yesterday, Williams told me he remembered me from last year but I think that was just a PR plot. He's a nice guy. I stood over at the field that Big Z, Smardja, Gozman and several regular releif pitchers were practicing. As soon as I saw they were getting ready to leave I went over to the fence where they walk by and yelled at all of them and they all totally ignored the crowd. I'm sure Big Z is not GIVING away his autograph. He probably figures everyone should pay for it. I'm not sure his 'anger management' class has helped him a lot. He still has 'an attitude' watching his body language on the field.

We saw Chuck Buescher from Peoria. He was the Central High School Basketball Coach and just retired. He was the Bradley Coach prior to Central. He is really a nice guy and he, Larry and I all talked for a long time. He is staying somewhere near Scottsdale for three months.

We left the park and drove back to Tempe to the Catcus Sport Shop to exchange Larry's Spring Training shirt. I saw Troy, the owner, again. He is a very nice guy. After that we stopped at Logan's for lunch, came back to Mesa to Buell's and then home. Let the guys(cats) outside again and sat outside and read for awhile. Today was a little cooler but at the ball park, the sun got pretty hot before we left.

Received an email from Ed Stafford today saying that his allergies are so bad, he has been seeing the doctor every day for shots. He and LaDell have cancelled their trip to Texas. I was sorry to hear they would not be going as I think they both were looking forward to it. They just got back from a 10 day cruise to Hawaii and Ed said his allergies were really bad during the cruise.

Talked to Char, my friend from Phoenix, last night and we talked about getting together on Saturday. She sent me an email today inviting us to dinner Saturday night. Will be nice to see her as I have only seen her once since we got here.

We are leaving early tomorrow morning for Los Algodones, Mexico. We both have dental appointments for a check up and cleaning at Dr. Castro's office.

Friday February 18, 2011

Left Silveridge at 7:15am for Los Algodones. The traffic on 202 going toward Chandler, AZ is horrible early in the morning. Each time we have traveled that way early it has been really heavy. Once we got through the rush hour it was pretty relaxed driving and we barely made it for our 11:30 appointment. The line to go back across the border must have been 7 blocks long when we walked in. We checked in and really only had to wait about 20 minutes to see the dentist. We did not see Dr Castro but one of her associates, which I believe his name was Dr. Ramariz --Probably Aramis Ramirez's relation--HA! He was nice, spoke good English and did a nice job of cleaning my teeth. Larry also saw the same dentist after my appointment. Actually we only spent about two hours getting our cleanings and then we went to the Cantina for margaritas. They are to die for and they are HUGE! We each had two and a huge plate of nachos. When we left, I felt like I was pretty close to having my limit. Since we had to drive three hours home, decided we had enough. It was pretty cool today but setting outside drinking our margaritas was a very nice afternoon. They had a Mexican band and they played American music--go figure--gotta cater to the snowbirds!! We left there and went to the pharmacy to pick up some medication and walked over to get in the line to cross the border. It was almost 3:30pm and the line was somewhat shorter than when we arrived but still probably four blocks long. We did move quickly it seemed and were in the car to leave by 4:15. There are times it takes almost two hours to get across the border but today was pretty fast.

We drove back to Mesa and it was almost 8:00pm when we arrived. It is about 220 miles down but the highway goes through the desert where there is nothing for miles so the speed limit is 70 mph. Of course that means the majority of people drive 80 mph so cuts the miles off fast.

Saturday February 19, 2011

What a miserable day! It rained all day and at times it really came down in sheets. The wind was pretty bad and it was also very cool as well. Char called and asked if we'd like to come over around 4:30 or 5:00 for 'Happy Hour' before we eat. Happy Hour to her is a half glass of wine!!! Ha! She is not much of a drinker but of course, I make up for that. Larry and I took fresh asparagus, two bottles of 'two buck chuck', some cheese for munching and a berry pie we bought from Village Inn. They have pie's that are soooo-- wonderful. Oh yes and we took ice cream for our pie. We sat and talked and had our drinks and munched on several snack items and by the time we eat, we were all feeling pretty full already. Char baked Cod, cauliflower, broccoli and we had the asparagus that I had baked with Parmesan cheese. Everything was very good. We stayed until about 10:30 and left for home. By the time we drove home, it had quit raining but just damp and cool.

Sunday February 20, 2011

Raining again this morning and cool. The wind has died down somewhat so doesn't feel quite so cool. I have been working on catching up the laundry since yesterday so finished it this afternoon. We watched the Daytona 500--or at least Larry did. I read for a long time and took a siesta, which I seem to work in to a day when I read. We did nothing much all day other than watch it rain. I was going to fix pork chops for dinner but Larry wanted to get out for awhile. We went over to the Native New Yorker--our favorite beer drinking place. We ordered a small pizza and then had a few wings and SEVERAL beer. It all tasted so great and was good to get out of the house for awhile.

Pete and Leslie drove to Elgin this morning to pick up their new Whippet Puppy that they bought. Leslie said she is so sweet and was really good while they drove back home. They think they are going to name her Ava. I'm sure the dog will be spoiled beyond imagination living with Pete and Leslie.

Monday February 21, 2011
Leslie called early this morning to say Ava slept all night in her crate and Pete took her out today for a walk. She seems to be house broke and has not made a mess yet. The pictures Leslie sent us of the dog are so cute.

We got ready and drove back to Fitch Park this morning. It was really very cool but they were all there practicing. We saw all of the team today. Ramirez, Soriano, Marlin Bird, Fukudome, and of course many, many 'invitees'. There were so many guys today that they filled all four practice fields. They practiced longer today and basically we just got tired of standing around watching and there were so many more spectators there today that it would have been hard to get autographs anyway. We ran into Chuck Buescher again today and talked to him several times. He introduced me to his two friends from Peoria, whom I have no idea who he said they were. Larry said one of them was a 'SOMEBODY' but he couldn't think of his name and since he was not there when they were introduced to me ---who knows WHO they were. We ended up leaving about 11:30 and stopped at Cindy's Restaurant---one of our favorite places to eat--and had breakfast.
The weather is somewhat warmer this afternoon and the sun is shinning so makes it feel warmer. I think it is to be cool all week this week and possibly more rain by the weekend.
Tuesday February 22, 2011

When I checked my email this morning, I had a sad note from Ed Stafford in Carlsbad about his sister, Georgia. He forwarded a note she had sent him about her grandson killing himself. He was in the Air Force, I believe. I think Georgia had told us he was 20 or 21. Her oldest grandson was killed crossing the road out by Kickapoo when he was 8 years old so this was the next oldest grandson. How terribly sad for her!

Went over to Queen Creek today which is only 15 miles from Mesa. We visited the Olive Mill which is an Olive grove where they press their own olive oil. It was basically set up like a wine vineard with outdoor dining and had a big gift shop that had many olive oils and olive relishes, etc. that was made there.

We stopped in Queen Creek and shopped some and then headed back to Mesa. Queen Creek is not a large area but has a lot of development going on.

Larry saw an RV Dealer last week that had Birkshire Motor Homes on their lot so he wanted to stop in and talk to them about our motor home. While he did that I shopped awhile at Buell's.
Basically the salesmen at the RV Dealer told Larry he needed to get an attorney and file a suit against Forrest River. The guy said it may cost you $10,000 for an attorney but you will probably get a settlement from the factory. WELLLLL---for 10,000, I think we could almost buy a new engine for the motor home!!! I doubt we will head in that direction right away. I think we are going to go ahead and file claims with the Attorney General of Illinois, Indiana and Arizona, which are the the states involved with Forrest River.

We decided to drive over to a place called Power Square, which had about three antique stores. On the way there, we passed a place called Marketplace and under the name it had Walmart. We stopped in and found this is basically a grocery store and is operated by Walmart. It was really a nice store and only carried grocery items and liquor. They told us there were four of these stores in the Phoenix area. Guess Walmart does not want to miss out on one prospective customer! I assume this must be a test market for them and eventually they will be everywhere.

We went on to Power Square and along with the antique shops, which were very up class, It also had a lot of outlet shops. We looked around for awhile and headed home to check on the animals. We changed cloths and went to Native New Yorker for 'wing night'. Even though the wings are $.39 we seem to spend many times that amount on beer! They have cold beer and goes down nicely!!

We came home and chilled on the couch in front of the 'boob tube'!! God I hate TV unless it is one or two of the shows I enjoy. Most of the time Larry has some stupid political documentary babbling which drives me crazy. I normally go to the bedroom and read because I cannot stand listening to the same depressing crap told 150 ways on each of these various channels!!!

Well this is again the exciting news from the week. As snowbirds, our lives are on a pretty slow pace so everyday is 'not a bowl of cherries'!! Besides, I am getting so lazy, I hate coming to the club house to post my blog so each weeks contains another day or so.

Week of February 8 thru February 15, 2011

Pan for GOLD@@! The whore house where I was hired to do laundry!@#!

THE 2011 CHICAGO CUBS

(Carlos Marmol)-------------------(Ryan Dempster)-------------- ----------------------------------------(Ryan Dempster & Sean Marshall)

Milk Bottle Purchases this week--(going to have to build a new room)

Tuesday February 08, 2011

We took a long walk this morning around the resort. We have been trying to walk each day and there is certainly plenty or room inside the resort to get some good mileage. When we came home we went to clubhouse so I could hook into Internet and post my blog.

We both got our shower and left around noon heading up to Tortilla Flats. This is one of our favorite trips that we make each year. It is about 17 miles up the side of the Superstition Mountains out of Apache Trail. We drove part way up and decided to stop at the old mining town along the road. We have pasted this several times over the past 3 years but never stopped. I just found out that we do not have to go back to Alaska to pan for gold. They have gold panning right here in Arizona. There were many shops, some junk shops and others with interesting items. There was a big saloon, which we considered eating at but decided to wait until Tortilla Flats. It was a cute place and while there, I got a part time job at the Bordello. In the picture, you can see me standing in the upstairs window. Actually, they did not hire me as a 'call girl' but rather a laundress!@!@ They found out how many years of experience I had at doing laundry and decided I was perfect!

Even though Tortilla Flats is not that far mileage wise, it takes awhile as the road winds around, up and down to the top. It is such a beautiful drive up through the mountains and then it opens up to large lakes dropped right in the middle of the mountains.The first year we were here, we took the entire trip around the mountain, which starts outside the town of globe and winds around and through the mountains about 75 miles. We found about 30 miles into the trip that we were stupid for driving our vehicle through these roads. They were so rutted and so narrow in spots, it was almost impossible for two vehicles to meet one another. We honestly thought we would pick up our truck in a basket before we made it to the road down the other side of the mountain. The sights that we viewed going through this was so amazing I guess it was worth the beating our truck endured.

When we arrived at Tortilla Flats, it was extremely busy and we had a hard time finding a place to park. We always make a day of it and have lunch at the Saloon. It is always busy no matter what day or what time you decide to go. We put our name in for a table when we arrive and sometimes wait over and hour. We were lucky today and got a spot at the bar for a beer before our table came up. The bar stools are, of course, saddles and the entire saloon is covered on the inside with one dollar bills that everyone has written their name and hometown on. The money on the walls is more valuable than the entire structure of the saloon. At the table we sat at today, most of the bills had dates written on them starting around year 2000 so I'm wondering how many times they have stripped the walls of the money since the place has been in business.

We had hamburgers and fries--nothing out of the ordinary. The hamburgers are mediocre--not the best I've had but for sure not the worse. It just the atmosphere and of course, THE BEER, that makes for an enjoyable meal. The Saloon is really quite large inside and always packed! The ladies room is quite unique with fun painted pictures all over the walls of dance hall girls. I can never resist taking a few pictures when I go in.

After we had our late lunch--early dinner, we walked outside where they have an open air patio with live entertainment. The guys were quite entertaining so we sat down and listened to them for awhile before leaving.

Of course, we could not bypass the ice cream shop on the way to the car. I just felt I should have a prickly pear cone in honor of Morgan. Last year when she was here, she fell in love with prickly pear ice cream.

We headed back down the mountain back home. When we arrived, there was a package that had been delivered by UPS. It was a box of pecans and two paintings from Linda Arnold, Larry's cousin from Carlsbad, NM. When we were there she had several of her paintings hanging and I asked if she had any she would consider selling. She laughed at me but I told her I seriously wanted to buy one because I thought she did a very nice job with her paintings. She has been keeping in touch via email since we were there and has told me she is going through some tough times with Cecil. Cecil has had alsheimers for over 3 years and is getting worse. Linda told me she was about ready for a breakdown trying to care for him. She and her daughter, Malinda, found a extended care home to place him and she is going to move him on Thursday. I felt bad that through all of this she took time to put together our package for mailing. She is such a wonderful person and I really love hearing from her. I hope we can go back down to Carlsbad soon to see both her and Ed and LaDell, Larry's other cousin that also lives there.

Talked to Carole, Larry's sister and also Leslie when we got home. Leslie told us that her and Pete are flying to Las Vegas for April 1 through April 5 so we are planning to drive the motor home up to spend the time with them. The only problem is that we had planned to leave here on April 14th so tomorrow we are going to check to see if we can change our time for leaving here. I doubt they will be kind enough to let us cancel the last month. If we stay until the end of March they will charge as much for the last two weeks in March as the entire month cost. We are talking about maybe trying to leave when our month is up on March 14 and go to California for a couple of weeks before Pete and Leslie comes to Las Vegas. The only issue we have is our mail and all we are worried about with it is getting all of our tax information for our tax guy in Peoria to complete our income tax. OH THE WOES OF THE TRAVELING RETIREES!@!

Wednesday February 09, 2011

I'm setting here tonight trying to figure out how I blew the entire day running errands. While Larry went down to carve this morning with Paul, I made the Walmart trip--of course!! Needed laundry detergent and also printed off pictures of the Stafford family from Carlsbad,NM. to send to Ed and Linda. Returned two items at Ross and used my refund for a nice lightweight quilt for the bed in the motor home. Larry hates the quilt I bought last year for the bed--to 'upclass' for his taste. Stopped at Bealls and bought a skillet and a rug for bathroom and headed to Michael's to look at their painting supplies on sale. I kept trying to call Larry and could not reach him then realized his phone was in my car shut off. Dropped some cards by the post office and headed home. Larry was starving when I got home and said there is NOTHING in the house to eat???? That's really scary when Larry cannot find SOMETHING to eat! Soooo- we left again and got lunch --or dinner --it was 2:30 so don't know what we had. We seem to wait until so late to eat lunch that we call it quits with our one meal a day whether we need it or not! Unfortunately, neither of us are showing any signs of loosing any weight! After we ate, we went to finish the errands that I did not complete. Larry dropped me at the card shop and he went to Petco to get the animals food and litter. He came back and picked me up, went to Cosco and home at 5:00.So as exciting as it is that was the entire day!

It was an absolutely beautiful day today, the high was around 72 degrees. Early this morning the wind was blowing strong and it was rather cool so I dressed in long pants and a long sleeve shirt. By the time I finished my first stop, I was hot. I actually debated on coming home and dressing in something cooler, yet everywhere I went, people were wearing jackets!!! These people amaze me that they can be cold when it is 70 degrees but they dress like it is winter! Since I am taking the steroid, the doctor told me to avoid the sun. This has been one of the nicest weeks we have had so far and still I have not made the pool since we arrived. I will go back home as white as when I left.
Not quite sure what's up with Tucker but he has been driving us crazy with his constant meowing. He wants outside but NOT with the leash. Tonight Larry actually saw him push the door latch down and open the screen door. I saw him slide through the little plastic door on the screen yesterday. That happened after he refused to come outside on the leash. He has been extremely bored since we've been here and he just wants to go home to Peoria, I guess. Little does he know how COLD it is. He is differently NOT a cold weather animal. He sits on the heat register at home every time the furnace kicks on.

Thursday February 10. 2011

Had a wonderfully relaxing day today. Talked to Taylor before I went to painting class today, which was very entertaining. She told us how Addy ran to the bathroom all night, obviously thinking she had to do her dirty job and ended up doing it in her pull-up. While Kyle went to find the wet wipes, Addy put her pull-up in the sink and tried to wash it out. Taylor makes Addison wash her own dirty under ware out in the sink so she obviously thought she had to wash her pull-us. Addison is a very entertaining child!! Went down to painting class and in honor of Valentine's day we painted a flower called a 'Bleeding Heart'. I have seen these before but never knew what they were called. It is always such a relaxing day when I paint with the gals. They are all such a wonderful group of women and Pat our instructor is very laid back which makes everyone enjoy themselves. We listen to relaxing music as we paint and it is always just a great day.

My day was doubly great because Larry got into the cleaning mode. He reorganized a bunch of things in the motor home and put some items underneath to give us more room inside. He cleaned and believe it or not---he actually did the laundry while I was having my relaxing day. When I got home he was gone to the grocery store--which is one of the things I hate to do the most. He picked up a steak for himself and tilopia for me for dinner. I breaded the tilopia with breadcrumbs and Parmesan and put it on the grill. It was FANTASTIC! We have been eating out so much I forgot it was like to relax at home with a great meal. We had steamed broccoli and cauliflower and Larry had a baked potato and I had a sweet potato. Of course all of this was chased down with a bottle of 'two buck chuck'!! We polished off the last of the wine so a trip to Trader Joe's is on the schedule for tomorrow to pick up a new supply!

The day was beautiful, a little windy but sunny and nice. It is suppose to get warmer for the weekend so regardless of the steroid, I think a trip to the pool may be in order for the weekend.
Dorothy, one of the gals I paint with went to Mexico this week so she brought me a big bottle of antibiotics. I will not take them with what I'm taking now, of course, but I will have a back-up plan if this 'kick ass' drug the doctor gave me does not resolve my problems. I really like Dorothy and Tom, her husband, are such great people. All the gals I have met in the painting class are just wonderful people.

Friday February 11, 2011

We drove 350 miles and spent over 6 hours on the road to check off one more item on Larry's 'Bucket List'. We left Silveridge around 8:30 and drove to Tombstone, AZ. It was nothing but an old Western Town famous for Wyatt Earp. They have really played this place up and if it weren't for the little strip of the historic town the entire population of Tombstone would starve to death. Even the shops were not that great and basically carried either old time western clothing or tourist 'crap'. We walked around the town for awhile and went into the Big Nose Kate Saloon for beer and a burger. It was quite an interesting place with the waitress's dressed in their corsets and old time clothing. They had a guy singing and playing a keyboard that was pretty entertaining. We left and drove around the little town, which was a real depressing 'hole' in the earth! I cannot imagine living in a place like this. If not for the tourist, these people would have nothing. The homes were run down and old and just plain depressing! We did stop quickly at an antique shop on the edge of town but found nothing interesting. Out of the 350 miles there was nothing but desert and a few mountains to look at. As you may have guessed, I was not impressed with the trip. Larry at least got to drive for hours and hours, which makes his day! I hate going on these trips but figured we'd get it over with as he has talked about it for awhile.

Saturday February 12, 2011

I had a hard time sleeping last night. I read for awhile and fell asleep, then woke up and laid in bed for 3 hours listening to Larry snore and Charlie purr in my ear. A queen size bed is not bed enough for two LARGE adults and three cats! I finally fell asleep again about 4:30am and woke up again at 9:00am this morning. Crazy night and I hate it when I cannot sleep during the middle of the night!

Larry went down to the clubhouse to get water, ice and mail this morning. He came home with three birthday cards and a package. Jerry and Jan sent me a birthday card, a Maxine coffee cup and a gift card for Olive Garden. They gave me gifts for my birthday before I left but I guess we are celebrating again! I feel so bad because I did not buy Jerry a birthday gift this year as I kinda thought we were just going to do the birthday card thing. So, as usually happens when I think, I was wrong! Sharon, Cathy and Theresa sent me a birthday card and a gift card for Chilli's. If nothing else, I will be eating good, which is just what I need. I really think I have gained back most of the weight I lost after my surgery. I need to go down to the exercise room to weigh and of course, it would do me good if I tried doing a little exercises while there! I am so lazy and have not done much of anything for myself since we've been here, in the way of exercising!

We talked to Jerry and Jan this morning to thank them for my gifts and they said the weather was suppose to warm up today and tomorrow at home. I am happy for that as Jan said it was 8 below zero a couple of mornings ago. The weather here has been wonderful and today it got to 79. It was almost too warm as the sun was hot. We went back up to the two big antique malls and looked around again. Larry had seen a painting he was interested in earlier but when we went to look at it again, he decided against it. I found another small glass creamer from a dairy in Tuscon. It was pretty etched but was cheap so I went ahead and bought it. I also saw a 1/4 pint bottle, which I have not seen before. They had a price of $24 on it which I felt was a little high but I kept looking at it anyway. The last time I looked at it, I asked one of the guys that works at the mall if I could make a lower offer on it and he said the dealer was taking 20% off. So I broke down and bought it and I'm glad I did because I have not seen another one that size.

By the time we shopped through the two antique malls again, it was after 4:00 and we had yet to eat anything for the day. We went to TGI Fridays and Larry had steak and shrimp and I had ribs and lobster. The lobster was about the size for three bites but it was good.

Tomorrow they have a flea market going on in the parking lot of one of the malls that we were at today. We stopped at one at the other mall about three weeks ago. There is usually a good variety of items and a number of dealers so I, at least, will probably go up for a while. They have a flea market up there every 2nd Sunday at the one mall and I believe next weekend is the one at the other mall. It's interesting to look through all the items. I told Larry today that I have seen so many items that my mom had that I think I am going to check into how much it would cost to put some of items on consignment when we get home. Everyone in the family pretty much took what they wanted of mom's items so what is left I seem to be just storing away. I think I would also enjoy shopping for items to resale as well. Maybe I will --we'll see when I get home.

Sunday February 13, 2011

Got a very slow start on the day. I cooked breakfast and then we went for a walk around the resort. It is such a beautiful day today but is going to get pretty hot. My family and friends at home would kill for the heat right now, I'm sure! After our walk, I got my email and found that my girls had created a video and posted it on Facebook. It was such an amazing video that I cried when I watched it. It is the best Birthday present I think I have ever received. The video is set to music and has shots of our girls, the granddaughter's, Pete, Kyle and even a quick shot of Larry and his brothers. It is truly AMAZING!

Lora from next door came over for awhile and wanted to see the paintings that I have done in my art class since I've been here. She is such a wonderful person and I just love her to death. She is I believe 84 years old and sharp as can be.

After Lora left, I got my shower and then Dorothy Collins, the gal I paint with, called. She wanted to remind me of the outdoor flea market up at the Antique Mall. Also she said there was a guy up there selling milk bottles from every state. We went up to the flea market and found the guy right away. Dorothy was right as he had lots of milk bottles. He also was selling them for 50% off. We bought a bottle that had a rather unusual shape and was from a dairy that was in Peoria. The guy was a collector and was getting rid of his big bottles and was concentrating on the small creamers now. We ended up buying the quart bottle from the Peoria dairy, a cottage cheese jar and a small glass creamer that was square. I believe all of my small glass creamers are round so I really had to have the square one. The original price on the creamer was $45.00 and I got it for 50% as I said. That was still a lot, I thought. For all that we bought, we got a pretty good price on the three.

After we left the outdoor flea market, we went over to another large Antique Mall that the guy from the Antique Mall up on Main told us about yesterday. It was very large but we did not find any bottles that were unusual enough to buy.

We stopped at Trader Joe's on the way home to get our 'Two Buck Chuck' and picked up chicken breast and items for a salad. We came home and I marinated the breast for an hour and then breaded it with bread crumbs and Parmesan and Larry put it on the grill. It was very good and we had a great meal---- with a little WINE.

Our neighbor on the other side of us stopped over while we were grilling the chicken. They are really a nice couple as well. They had been golfing today and just stopped to say hi and to talk to the cats. Everyone seems to be interested in the cats. It's almost embarrassing to tell them we live with THREE cats.

Taylor called and Addy had to tell me that she did her dirty job on the potty tonight. She was so excited when she was telling me. I laughed so hard. She told me she got her doll back as Taylor and Kyle took her new doll away earlier this week when she made a mess in her pull ups! She told me she wanted to come to Arizona to see me. Taylor said she and Addison are coming out on March 11. I can hardly wait to see them! I talked to Morgan as well, and she and Addy told me they loved me and would talk to me tomorrow to sign Happy Birthday. Actually, Addy let loose with a little practice session of Happy Birthday tonight. She is such a character and at such a cute age. Morgan talked to me for awhile which is unusual for her. She is normally too busy with her other activities to talk to grandma on the phone.

Larry finally called his cousin Georgia that lives in Apache Junction. This is Ed Stafford's half sister and he wanted us to be sure to contact her when we got here. We have waited a month but anyway, they talked awhile and we planned to meet them for dinner on Wednesday night.

Monday February 14, 2011

Today I am 63 years old! Who would have ever thought I'd be this old. Time has gone so quickly.

We went to have a late breakfast at the Village Inn over on Signal Butte Rd. After we left the restruraunt we decided to drive over to Fitch Park to see if the Cubs were practicing. When we got there, we found they were done for the day. We talked to a guy from one of the Chicago News Channels and he told us they practice starting around 9:00am and are normally finished by noon. We left the Fitch Park and drove down to Hohokam Stadium, which is only about three blocks north of Fitch. We bought tickets for February 27, which is opening day of spring training.

Afterwards, we walked into the Cub Gift Shop and found they were selling the Spring Training Shirts for $38. No surprise there--everything in the shop is out of sight pricewise! I found a cute Cub purse that I would have liked to have but was too cheap to spend $30 for it. It was just a small shoulder bag, hardly big enough for my money. I told Larry we should just go down to the Catcus Sport Shop in Tempe and buy our shirts. We drove to Tempe and Troy, the guy who owns the shop was working. We met him last year and he is from Peoria, Illinois. His family still lives in Peoria. He is such a nice guy and told us to pick out the shirts we wanted and he'd go ahead and give us the 'Spring Training Deal', which is always buy one and get one at half price. We ended up buying six shirts for the family and for all the shirts plus tax, was $106.00. Quite a difference from buying them at the Cubbie Hole!!!! I love my Cubs but I refuse to pay their prices for my memoriablia. After leaving the sport shop, we drove down to Jerry's Art Shop as I was wanting an eraser for my paintings. Dorothy that I paint with has one but Jerry's did not have them. I was pretty surprised as this is a huge art supply.

When we arrived home, there was a van parked in front of the motor home and a man just leaving our door. I found that he had delivered flowers from Taylor, Kyle and the girls. When I opened the box, it was a beautiful bouquet of Lilly's. They were white with a dark pink stripe and some were purple. They were just beautiful.

Tuesday February 15, 2011

This morning after we got our showers, we headed for Fitch Park to see the Cubs. When we arrived, they were in full swing with practice. They were using three of the fields and mostly the pitchers and catchers were there. There were a few of the regular players and we watched Reed Johnson,Darwin Barney, Tyler Colvin and Blake Dewitt take several batting practices.

We moved on over to the other field and saw Ryan Dempster, Carlos Marmol, Shawn Marshall, Geovany Soto and Koyie Hill also taking batting practice. Frank, the guy that is staying next door to us is from Canada and told us that he golfs with and is good friends with Dempsters father. When I saw Dempster I yelled at him and told him I knew Frank and he was very surprised. I also asked him if I could have his autograph and he said sure. I stayed and watched this group for most of the time and yelled things like 'great job' after they would finish their turn at bat. Most of them made replys back to me which was fun. I told Carlos Marmol to smile so we could see the money in his teeth, since he just signed a new contract with the Cubs for 30 Million. He didn't like my comment much, I don't think, as he replied back to me that he hasn't seen the money yet.

I walked over to the third field and saw the 'BIG Z', 'pretty boy' Jeff Samardzja, John Grabow and Jeff Stevens. I only stayed for a short time to watch them. I made sure I got back to field two so I did not miss Dempster. While I was standing with my nose through the chain link fence, Channel 2 from Chicago came up to me and put the camera right in my face so I said I was very excited to see my Chicago Cubbie's and that they were going to be great this year! When he took the camera away, I asked him if Channel 2 broadcast here in Mesa and he said no, Chicago. Then I asked if it was broadcast in Peoria and he said maybe on WMBD. So maybe I'll be famous at home if it runs tonight!

Finally, Dempster and his crew finished and started leaving the field so I yelled at him again and he came over to give me his autograph and with him was Geovany Soto so I also got his autograph. These are two of my favorites but I also would have liked to have Sean Marshall, Marmol and Koyie Hills but they slipped by before I got them. Maybe when we go back I can grab them as well.

When we were leaving the park, Larry stopped and bought a Cub hat and while they were trying to ring it through, I started talking to another guy and found out he was a pilot for the MBA. He was at Fitch Park watching the Cubs practice and was leaving tonight late to fly the Utah Jazz home after their game with Arizona. He was pretty interesting and told me he flys different MBA teams all over the US.

We left the park and Larry wanted to go to Bass Pro. He dropped me off at the shopping center next to Bass Pro and I shopped a while. He came back to get me and we ended up going back to Bass Pro to have lunch. They do have great food and we both had Channel Cat which was wonderful.

Well this is it for my exciting week. I better sign off and head to the clubhouse to post.

Week of February 01 thru February 07, 2011

Tuesday February 01, 2011

Leslie called early this morning to say the blizzard has began at home. District 150 cancelled all classes today so she has a free day. Jerry Twedell also called this morning and told us the dire weather forecast for home. I just pray no one looses power as the temperatures are also going to drop tonight. Here, the day was a little cooler but still a beautiful day. Late this afternoon the winds started picking up and that made the temperature feel cooler.

We went over to Walmart this morning to pick up a few things. From there we stopped at Del Taco and had lunch. It just kills me that this taco joint plays all 50's music. It just doesn't seem fitting.

While we were out, I picked up a beautiful orchid and took it and a card over to Paul and Lora to thank them for the wonderful oranges they have been supplying us since we arrived. They were both napping but I guess I woke Paul and left the flower and card with him. Later Lora came over to thank me for the flower and I walked back over to their place with her and as I was standing in their dining room, I saw Tucker out on our patio. I could not believe he was out again so I told Lora I needed to come back and put him back in the house. A little later I went outside and there Tucker was AGAIN on the patio! Am I going crazy?? HOW is he getting out. Larry said he was getting out through a little slide up by the door knob. I thought he was pretty smart to figure out how to slide it open and then to get his body through and drop probably four feet to the patio. I told Larry when I caught him doing that, I was going to take a video and put it on You Tube. Later we found him out again and when I looked at the screen, sure enough, the little slide was open so I know that has to be how he is escaping! ONE SMART CAT I'm thinking! So now we are going to have to figure out how to nip that in the Bud!

We have been watching the blizzard on TV and thinking how lucky we are to be here but worry about our friends and family a lot! Cathy Henkins posted pictures of the snow accumulation at her place down at Lake of the Ozark! Unbelievable as she said they probably already had 15 inches of snow by early this afternoon. Chicago is predicting over 2 foot and Peoria somewhere between 18 and 20 inches. It's even worse because they are having high winds along with the snow.

Wednesday February 02, 2011

Debby called and said the roads are almost impassable. They had to go to Molly and Katie's to help shovel their drive as Katie had to go to work at the hospital this morning. While they were out, they went by our house and dug out the outside vent for the furnace, We were so happy they thought of that because when we had snow in November or December the snow plugged the outside pipe and the furnace quite running. Debby said the roads are horrible and the police are riding the snowplows as they can't get anywhere in their vehicles. What a mess it must be. Taylor sent many pictures of the snow at her house so sounds like the entire Midwest is snowed in. I'm glad we are here but feel so bad for everyone at home!

After we talked to several people, we went to get lunch at Applebee's. had a hamburger and will have to say it was one of the best I have had for a long while. I rarely order hamburgers there. After we ate, we went to Beall's outlet which was just up on Main street. When we got there, the store was closed as they had a bad water leak. We left our water hooked up last night but surprised we did not have a frozen hose as it got down in the 20's last night.

It was pretty cool here today and the wind was horrible all day. We drove down to Tempe to find the Lite Rail Station. We checked around there to try to find more information about how the bus that leaves from Superstition Mall connects with the Lite Rail. We could not find any information so went to the Tempe Chamber of Commerce. They gave us a lot of information and a book with schedules and which buses run from here to the Lite Rail. I am wanting to figure out how to catch the bus here by the RV Resort to the Lite Rail so I can ride it to Char's in downtown Phoenix. It's such a long drive if Larry takes me and I hate to take the car and him be here the whole time I'm gone without transportation. Anyway I think I know how to connect now so plan to give it a try soon.

We came back to Staples and made some copies of a pattern Larry has for his carving. Came home and was freezing to death. I sure would not want to be living in this motor home in Illinois right now, The furnace runs and 5 minutes later it is getting cold in here again. Not much insulation I don't think!!

So this was our excitement for today. Larry did fill our water tank and then unhooked the water hose as I think it is to be colder yet tonight. The forecast is from 17 to 25 degrees tonight so good chance we could have frozen water.

Thursday February 03, 2011

Went to my painting class this morning but am not feeling well. I assume now I truly have a cold. I have had so much congestion in my head since we got here and according to the doctor at home, I have a sinus infection. I need to go to a doctor here to find out WHAT I really do have as it does not seem to get better. We painted a Tuscan Scene today and it went fine until the end when I just didn't feel like finishing. It seems after a whole day of painting just wipes me out and especially today when I'm not feeling the best anyway. I came home, we went to Native New Yorker for the famous wings. Jerry and Jan called before we went into restraruant for dinner. Jerry was teasing us about sending out wool blankets. Today they would probably have felt good as the wind was just bitter! I chugged down three MGD's, 10 wings and came home and went to bed.

Friday February 04, 2011

I couldn't get myself going today. Still feel bad and just have an exhausted feeling. I either have a cold or a much more severe sinus infection. All I do is cough and blow my nose. Char is coming after work and we are going to eat and then she wants me to go home with her. Larry and I ran a quick errand over to Walmart for me to pick up some of my OTC meds. Came home and I laid down for an hour before Char came. We ended up eating at a Mexican restaurant named MiAmigo's. The food was fine but I just didn't feel much like eating. I did, however, force down a Margarita! Before we left the restaurant to come back home, I told Char I just didn't feel up to going to her place tonight. We came back from eating and Char stayed for coffee and we talked for an hour or so and she left. I immediately went to bed as my head feels like it's huge.

Saturday February 05, 2011

I slept until after 9:30 this morning. I was shocked as I NEVER sleep until 9:30 even when I have been out half the night--which I might add has been a LONG WHILE. It took me a long time to decide to get a shower and get dressed. We thought about going to Casa Grande to the 'Gourd Festival'. I have actually been thinking about going to a Gourd class that is taught over at our 'sister' RV Resort. They teach carving and painting on Gourds. Gourds are becoming kinda a big item lately. At home, my old Lamaze teacher(I DID SAY OLD) Bonnie Cox is really into doing many decorative things with Gourds. She is the state head of--- whatever they call it --Gourd Society of Illinois?? Larry carves here at Silveridge with a lady that does gourds as well. Since I couldn't get moving and Casa Grande is probably 40 miles, we opted to forget that idea for today. Larry suggested we go over to some Antique Shops in Phoenix. We found one of the shops and it was a joke so we tried to find some of the others but by the time we drove up and down the streets of Phoenix we were quite a distance away from the others and I was feeling worn out so we came home. Received a picture from Taylor regarding Addison's 'potty progress'. Let me just say that she successfully did her dirty job in the pot!@! Later I talked to Taylor and she said she wasn't sure if it was meant to happen or if it was just an accident. I have been promising Addy I'd send her money to pick out a new baby (doll) when she did the job in the potty.NOTHING is more exciting to Addison than ANOTHER new doll! Addy was very excited today that she did the job in the potty and had to get on the phone to tell me. I told Taylor I was going to wait for the next occurrence before I put the money in the mail! Yes, I am a rotten grandma but I don't want to make it toooo--- easy for her. She has been doing a great job on the wet business. She started preschool on Monday's and Friday's and Taylor has warned her that if she wets or has a dirty job in her pants at school, they will send her home. So far that has worked but she waits till she gets home for the dirty job. This is EXACTLY what her mother did when I was trying to potty train her. I really believe it was almost a year after she started wearing training pants before she did the dirty one on the pot! NOTHING I promised or came up with for a punishment made a difference with her!

Sunday February 06, 2011

We moved pretty slow again this morning. Around 1:00 we went to Olive Garden for lunch. We had kicked around going over to the Native New Yorker to watch the super bowl but frankly, I just wasn't into it. I could have sat there and drank beer all evening but probably would not have helped my illness --whatever it might be! Char had asked us to come over and go to one of the sports bars in Phoenix to watch the Superbowl but again I just wasn't feeling like a party so much. I feel bad as she has wanted to get together several times and I just can't get the energy to do it.

Monday February 07, 2011

Larry called the propane company this morning for a refill on our tank and they told us it would probably be Wednesday before they could get here. They said their driver was here in the resort today but didn't think they could contact him. The reading on the tank says we only have 1/4 tank of propane but it seems to never be right. They called back and said the driver would be here today. I was waiting to leave to see a doctor today and it was already noon. Larry told me to go ahead and he would wait for the propane delivery. I went to the East Valley Urgent Care over on Gilbert Avenue, which was about 8 miles down RT 60. It was a really great place and I loved the doctor. He checked me out and said I had a severe sinus infection. OH DUH! I told him I had been suffering with this since Thanksgiving, that I had seen my doctor at home and took almost an entire prescription of Amoxicillan (had to quite taking as it was causing SEVERE diahrah). He said I must be pretty tough to have suffer with this for so long. He gave me what he termed as 'kick ass' drugs and told me if I was not feeling better in 3 days to come back for something stronger. It was kinda a different set up as they gave me all my drugs there at the clinic(Cipro, Prednisone, narcotic cough syrup) for $30. Then he gave me a prescription for a nasal inhaler. I told him my doctor at home just gave me a prescription for it, which I am using so he told me to just fill it when I need it. I told them I had a drug plan and they offered to write a prescription for each but I figured with my deductibles it would cost at least $30, so I went ahead and took meds from the clinic. I have never had a clinic fill my prescriptions but at $10 apiece, it's probably pretty cheap, especially for those without a drug plan. The office visit they turned into my insurance.

I left the clinic to come home and is typical here, I have to drive 5 mph behind a SENIOR SNOWBIRD!@!@ I am a Senior but my gosh, my car goes much faster than 5 mph!! I think 80% of the accidents around here are because of the poke asses that have the rest of their lives to get to the frickin' grocery store or WHATEVER or WHEREVER they are going. It's their one big trip for the day so why not make it last all day HUH??? I hope I am NEVER that old -- which I will be -- but I hope either I quit driving or move it out so I'm not holding a 3 mile long line of traffic up. It really burns me because they make a right turn from the left hand lane, put their flicker on 2 miles before they are going to turn and then stop dead still in the middle of the road when they begin to turn into a street. The sirens are constant around here--SURPRISE! The other extreme --- the 'locals' who hate the snowbirds and ride their bumper or speed around them and cut them off, etc. It's just too bad that everyone is not a safe, courteous driver such as I --NOT!

When I got home, the propane guy had filled the tank. It only took 13 gal and it is a 20 gal tank. Regardless, it cost over $40. We just had it filled about 10 days ago and that bill was $34, I believe. Think how much we would be paying to heat this 'castle' if we were somewhere COLD! WOW --guess you can't take it with you!

Leslie called shortly after I got home from doctor. She wanted to know if I have a sewing machine as she is going to take a sewing class at ICC. She is loosing her mind since she graduated as she has no more Bradley classes and no more homework. The class she is teaching this year doesn't even require much prep time. Pete works so much that she is now finding she has a lot of time on her hands. I'm glad she is going to take the sewing class as she will be good at it. She loves to create things and is very good at it. She also needs to learn to hem her pants as every pair she buys are too long. While we were talking she said Pete still owes her a trip to Vegas that he promised her for graduation. She wanted to know if Larry and I would meet them there. Larry and I decided we would drive the motor home up for a week if they decide to come out. Otherwise, we have nothing to do with the 'animals' that we sooooo- adore! Well--ADORE--is a pretty strong word but regardless, they cannot be left for a week here alone. The temperature is to unpredictable to leave them here as it's either hot or cold in the motor home. Anyway, we are thinking Tucker is going to need Prozac soon!! He drives us crazy with his meowing. He wants out and I put him out on the leash, then he wants in and 5 minutes later, he wants out again! He is as frustrated as we are most of the time. His problem is, he wants out WITHOUT the aid of the leash! Anyway, we will see if Leslie and Pete decide to fly out to Vegas.

We went to get lunch and pick up groceries. I got a MUCH NEEDED haircut. I had not had a haircut since a week before we left for Arizona. Man it was really getting long! I normally get a haircut at home about every 3 weeks. The gal that cut my hair did a really nice job. I go to this walk-in joint next to Fry's where we grocery shop. It is something like Super Cuts or whatever the name and it cost me $10 for a cut. I pay $24 plus tip at home so I figure the odds are 50-50 whether I can deal with the cut as I always get a different gal each time. Last year just before we left to come home I walked into a Super Cuts over in Chandler and got a real BUZZ job! It was so bad and cut so short, it took almost 6 weeks for it to grow out to the point that Jennifer, my hairdresser at home, could get it back halfway to normal. My bangs were about 1/4 inch long when I walked out of that place. Soooo- you win a few and LOOSE a few I guess--WHAT do you expect for $10. RIGHT???

Well enough of my exciting life for this week. I will post my blog tomorrow so my near and DEAR Friend, Cathy, can be entertained for a few minutes reading it. She gets really 'antsy' when I go too long in between postings!!! She CANNOT have as boring a life as mine!

Once again, I have no idea WHY the spacing of my blog is so bad. I correct it on the draft and when I publish it everything looks different. Oh well if you can read it, I guess that's all that matters.

Week of January 26 to January 31, 2011

Sour Cream Bottle and Small Crock Creamer from Brass Armidallo, Phoenix, AZ
1/2 Pint Milk Bottle, Bottle Tops and small shelf from Globe, AZ

Highway 60 traveling to Globe, AZ

Another picture of mountians traveling to Globe.

Wednesday January 26, 2011

Larry went to carve with Paul this morning. I ran errands while he was gone. I needed two oil colors that I seem to not have for my class tomorrow. I went to Hobby Lobby because they had their oils and brushes on sale this week. Picked up my needed items and headed over to Signal Butte to Walmart to get a few items and then home. Larry was home from carving when I got back. I made a chess pie and cleaned fresh asparagus so I could cook it to take to Kay and Charlie Holmes for dinner tomorrow night. Kay called a couple of day ago to invite us over. They live in the resort a few streets over. We met them three years ago and they are such great friends and we always enjoy ourselves when we are with them. I baked the pie in my convection oven which really SUCKS! I hate it so much and even though I have read the cooking instructions for the oven many times, nothing seems to bake correctly in it. I baked the pie for at least 30 minutes beyond the recipe time and it still seems liquid in the middle. There are many things I'm not happy about with the motor home, counter space and the stupid convection oven to name just a few! You sacrifice some things for others I guess but I just have a real problem with organization due to lack of cabinet space and storage.

Thursday January 27, 2011

Went to my painting class this morning. We painted a kitten this week which I was excited about. My kitten turned out ok but I need to work on the rest of the painting. I also need to work on the painting from last week. I just haven't had time to set down and spend the time to do so. I didn't get home until after 5:00 from painting and we were due at Kay and Charlie's at 6:00. I quickly got my asparagus ready to throw into the oven and changed my cloths. Had to end up microwaving the asparagus to get it done in time.
We drove over to Kay and Charlie's and Kay fixed us all margarita's so we set and visited for awhile before Charlie started the grill. He and Larry cooked the chicken breast and Kay and I finished up the rest of the menu. Everything was just wonderful! Kay marinated the Chicken and had red potatoes cooked in the oven with seasoning, we had the asparagus and a wonderful fruit salad and of course wine with dinner. After we cleaned everything up, we played eucher. I love playing with them as they are so funny, Charlie is such a serious player and Kay and I just love it when we take the tricks from him and Larry. It's a lot like playing with Jerry and Jan at home. Kay is so funny and we have a great time playing. Kay and I won the first game by a LOT and then Larry and Charlie took the second game so they felt good about that! We talked and laughed so much that we were exhausted by the time we left to come home. We cut my Chess Pie and just as I thought, it was not cooked in the middle. We all had a piece but it was not so good and I don't think anyone finished it. OH WELL -- guess I better leave the baking to home because as I said this oven SUCKS!!!!

Friday January 28, 2011

We went to IHOP for breakfast this morning and then left Mesa to drive to Miami and Globe, which was about 55 miles down route 60. Dorothy that I paint with told me there were a number of antique shops in both Miami and Globe. The drive over to this area was beautiful with the highway running through the middle of the mountains. A portion of the area about 20 miles before reaching globe is mining area. They mine copper and the mountain sides are just like stairs where they strip the dirt. When we got to Miami, half of the shops were closed so we drove on to Globe.We found several shops but the first two or three we went in just didn't seem to be that great. We drove up a few streets and found a big antique mall. We spent quite a lot of time looking in it, The guy who owned it was so friendly and helped us find several milk bottles. We ended up buying a pint bottle, several milk tops and I bought a small box to hang on my kitchen wall at home to display my small milk creamer bottles. We enjoyed looking and the name of the mall was Hill Street Antiques. I gave the owner a card with our email and asked him to email me if he found a wooden milk case or any interesting bottles. He told us he was born in Anchorage, AK and lived in the North Pole, which we visited when we were in Alaska. He, his wife and mother bought the antique mall as a partnership and they all love working in it. It was very clean and very organized.

We drove back from Globe and we were so tired that we decided to just grab a sandwich from Quizno's for dinner. I think each time we walk in after being gone all day the cats could just choke the life out of us!!! We let them out often on the leashes, however our outside lover, Tucker, doesn't seem to enjoy being out that much since we arrived here. He DOES enjoy sneaking out on his own and we have had to hunt him down at least two times since we arrived. One day the three of them all got out when the door was not latched correctly. I went looking for them in my bare feet and ended up walking all over in the rocks looking for them. It is so much better to be outside when you have no restraints!!!!

Saturday January 29, 2011

We moved rather slow this morning and believe it or not, I actually cooked breakfast, which is probably one of about 3 meals I've cooked this week! I'm really bad about cooking recently! After I finished my shower, Lora, next door, knocked on the door. When I opened the door she told me she thought Tucker was out and laying under her scrubs. I went out and sure enough, the little shit was laying in her scrubs. I grabbed him up and threw him in the motor home and went back out to talk with Lora. Pat our neighbor across the street came over to talk with us and as we were talking about Tucker getting out, she informed me he had been over to their place on a visit earlier this week. WHAT is up with him!! I put him out on the leash and he doesn't want to be there but he sure loves sneaking out and roaming free.

We did not leave home until almost noon. We decided to go over to another antique shop that my friend, Dorthy, told us about. We took 101 around and got off too soon so we drove through Scottsdale forever before we found where we were going. We found the Brass Armadillo Antique Mall and it was huge housing over 600 dealers. We walked and looked forever until we were exhausted. We wrote down several dealer numbers where we had found some items we were interested in and went back to look at them again. We bought a Cream Cheese Jar and I bought a small crock creamer. As we were looking at the little creamers, one of the lady's from the mall asked me if I knew much about the different shapes and designs. I said no, so she said I needed to find information on them as each of them came from a certain area and the painting on them meant something. So I tried finding information on the Internet but decided to try to find a book on milk bottles, etc so I know what I'm looking at. We had also seen a Cottage Cheese Jar but could not find it when we went back. We saw a nice Cottage Cheese Jar up at one of the main street malls last week so will probably go back and buy it. I don't know what has hooked me so bad with the antique craze but I really enjoy it and can spend a whole day looking, even if I don't find anything I want. It's like walking back in time looking at so many things I had as a kid or dishes that my parents had. I guess you have to be a certain age to start appreciating some of it. Larry enjoys looking but like any other man after awhile it is too much like SHOPPING!! I will probably invite Dorothy to go along for some of my trips as she enjoys looking as much as I do. She lives in another RV Resort just down the street from ours.

Sunday January 30, 2011

Not much going on today except a little cleaning and laundry. It is a beautiful day and might be the last rather warm day for a week according to the weather, It is to be in the 60's today but is suppose to start cooling off tomorrow through the rest of the week.

Well AGAIN this morning, Tucker has been out at least two times wondering around. I don't think he goes far just stays close by but there are so many wild cats in the park, I don't like him out unsupervised. He is becoming a problem with his roaming routine. We are still confused as to HOW he slips out the door when we go out but I guess he has it figured out.
After I finish laundry, I'd like to go to the book store to find a reference book on milk bottles. I have read a lot on the Internet about the things to look for.So many reproductions are appearing in the antique shops that you have to be careful about what you buy. We have always known how to read the production date but one of the websites I have been reading tells a lot about what type of bottles are from what era so it helps to know some of this information. I'm not a serious collector, basically, I just buy what I like with unusual shapes or lettering, etc,
Char, my childhood friend from Phoenix, called this afternoon wanting me to come over and spend the night. We spent almost an hour trying to figure out where I needed to board the Light Rail. As we were talking she told me that oldest cat had been howling so bad at night the past couple of nights that it might be better to wait a few days to come as he would keep us up all night. So we made plans for Thursday night.

Larry and I went up to main street to the first antique shop we looked at last week to try to find the Cottage Cheese Jar that we saw when we were there. We finally found it and decided we would look elsewhere for one as the price was pretty pricey. We have seen them at three malls now and they all vary in price so we will keep looking.

After leaving the mall, we went grocery shopping. Came home a grilled a steak for Larry and a Channel Cat Fillet for myself. I fixed red potatoes with dill and the rest of the asparagus that I did not use from when we went to Kay and Charlies on Thursday. The meal was great. While Larry was outside grilling, Paul from next door gave him another big bag of oranges that he just picked off his tree today. They are so wonderful we go through them quickly.
Called Jerry and Jan and they told us there was a big snow storm heading for Peoria on Tuesday. Sharon Thomas also sent me an email telling me the same. They are predicting around 12-15" of snow. I wish all my friends and family could be here even though we are to have a cooler week this week.

Monday January 31, 2011

Rained part of the night and was raining when we got up this morning. Better than snow for sure and this is the first rain we have since we arrived. It cleared off and the sun was bright for awhile but it was just a rather off and on type day. We went over to the Superstition Mall and Larry got a haircut while I shopped for awhile. Went to Borders and I looked for some collector books on milk bottles. There were not many books and the ones I looked at included all bottles so out of 600 pages 5 or 6 were devoted to milk bottles. The ones listed were ones that we will never encounter in our lifetime so had a latte and read what I wanted and left the books where I found them. I think I am going to have to subscribe to a magazine that I saw online rather than finding a reference book. The most entertaining thing at Borders was a person(HE??/SHE??) that came strolling in that was over 6 ft tall with a pleated shirt on that barely covered -- cough, cough--their WHATEVER!!! The legs were long, thin and very muscular. HE/SHE had the fingernails painted turquoise to match the outfit and the hair was long with bangs and IT had big sunglasses on and the sunglasses were never removed the entire time IT sat at a table drinking coffee. It really bugged me because I could not look much as I couldn't tell if IT was looking my direction with the dark glasses. There was an older man setting on my side and another lady setting on the other side of Larry that was giving their full attention to this person as well. My thoughts were that this person was cross dressing maybe as a requirement before having the needed surgery because the outfit was so outrageous! It was a very weird feeling as it was almost as though HE/SHE was gaging everyone's response. IT sat at a table alone and drank coffee for about 25 minutes and I felt as though IT was looking in my direction the entire time. I figured, MAYBE, I appealed to them in some way!@! Sooo- no matter how old and out of shape we get there will always be SOMEONE for us I guess!
We went to Cosco and looked for awhile and pretty much had lunch off the demo vender's. They were demo--ing everything so had a little of many different things! What every retiree dreams of -- a free lunch! When we left Cosco, it had rained quite a lot and the sky was black with clouds but it passed over without any further rain.

We came home and Leslie called to say the weather at home was getting pretty bad. She said the roads were slick even though they had not had very much snow yet. Later I talked to Taylor and she said they had not had snow yet but the forecast was for 24" in the next two days. As the evening went on, the temps started dropping here as well. The weather for Mesa is for a high in the 40's and lows of 24 for the next 3 or 4 days. Out with the long pants and sweatshirts again soon. When we were at the mall, I think I was one of two people with capri's on as everyone else had their pants and jackets out already. Driving around Mesa today I noticed a lot of people in the 'valley' lubing up their snowmobiles(NOT) so I guess the weather forecast is frightful when they are use to 70 degree days--HA!

Taylor said Morgan lost another tooth and was very excited. She said Morgan drove her crazy on Friday messing with her tooth as it was loose. Later on Friday night, she lost the tooth eating ice cream. I guess the fee for a lost tooth today runs somewhere in the price range of $5 to $10 for the toth fairy!! Inflation has really taken hold because I think mine netted around 5 to 10 cents!!

Since we 'lunched' late today, we opted out for tonight. I had a bagel and two oranges that Paul and Lora gave us. The oranges are so wonderful and fresh. This is the second group of oranges Paul has picked off his tree and shared with us. They are such great people and I enjoy visiting with Lora so much. She is the cutest little lady and so entertaining to talk to.
I guess I'm going to have to make an effort to go up to clubhouse tomorrow and publish my blog. It's really a lot about nothing as we really have not done much that is exciting. I don't even go to the clubhouse much since I get my emails and Internet on my new Droid phone that Taylor and Kyle got me for Christmas. It is so wonderful because I get it all wherever I go. I have really enjoyed it