Arizona Day 1

Wayne had a business trip planned for Arizona last week. I had been doing a lot of snow shoveling and shivering lately and was feeling jealous that he got to go to a warmer climate for a few days. He decided that I could come along, so on a whim he bought me a plane ticket. We left on the afternoon of February 4th.

You have to be at the airport 2 hours in advance of your flight now with all the security measures. I was afraid that I would be picked for the full body scan x-ray because for some reason I always get picked. I did the last two trips we took. Do I look like a terrorist? This time I got to go right through. We landed in Phoenix, and made our way to Wickenburg, the site of his meeting the following day.

We flew Southwest and since the plane wasn't full, we got all three seats. This is a picture out my window saying bye-bye snow.

Wayne rents the car. You will see it in a picture below. Don't rent a 2 door Oldsmobile. It was cute but uncomfortable, the windows were hard to see out of, and we felt every bump in the road. Maybe that's why they are going out of business.

On the way to our destination

It is a green looking desert here with cacti that we had never seen before.

We stayed at the Best Western in Wikenburg. The front of each room was really cute with little patios and a Spanish design. They sent us to a different area of the motel and when we got our key and this was our room front. Huh? It was clean but that's about it. The toilet paper holder was hung way under the sink and I couldn't even find it. Wayne did, but I just used the extra role because it was too hard to reach. The TV was an old admiral set that had all the lines and snow of the 60's models. It still had HGTV though. Then at night we found we were right next to a train...noisy... and a big dog that barked a lot. I didn't get much sleep. Am I complaining? Not much. It was still a good day, warm and a new experience.

What was this strange tree next to the swimming pool? You will notice that all the bottom fruit is missing.

This is a tile mural on the side of the motel. I loved it.

On the sidewalks everywhere you walked, you could see fake...excuse me....faux animals. It was pretty cute.

We went to dinner at a local Mexican restaurant with one of Wayne's business associates. He had lived there and knew the paces to go. He was right. We had a wonderful Mexican dinner. I have been looking for a good chimichanga for years and this place delivered. I am excited for day 2.

In my next life I want to be a shoe designer, not the whole shoe, just the soles. Can you believe there are already people who do that? They never get the credit they deserve because most people never look at the bottoms of their shoes. I have 3 shoe racks that hang on my closet wall.

I hang my shoes facing the wall so the soles are facing out and I see them each time I go into the closet. There are some pretty mod designs and some just plain pretty ones. Most of these photos are of my sandals and flats as the high heel shoes soles are pretty boring for some reason. Don't look too closely....I didn't want to wash them all.

I have named the patterns on my soles

grids and circles

basketball tread

left side wave

ocean wave

pink waves

orange railroad track

white lady bug

mountain creek ripples

elephant skin

diamonds

reverse diamonds

fern leaf

too many frowns

mummy bandages

draining tub

button Swirls

puffy quilt

bouquet

Tuscan wall

floral spray

and my favorite....the hummer

Have you ever looked at the bottom of your shoes? Do it and let me know what you find. (Besides gum and dog poo that is)

The 7 year Kitchen

We have been in our house for 7 years now. It has gone quickly and I can hardly believe we have been away from Montana for that long. Every 7 years (I actually thought it had been 8) but Colett corrected me), I get the itch to repaint, remodel, and renew. There are some things about the house that were done amazingly well such as the crown moulding, the cabinets, and the drywall installation. Other things ....not so well. The tile, the counter tops and the carpet were low grade and poorly installed. I got the chance to change that this month.

Wayne and I installed the new tile in the entry, but needed the pros to do the rest. We re-carpeted the upstairs, and then had new granite counter tops installed.

This is the new tile entry...

next to the new carpeting.

The stairway...

and the living room

With new counters came the need to do some plumbing. Wayne was trying to hook up the Insinkerator and found himself with a little helper. He couldn't seem do anything without a little hand giving him a wrench or a new part.

Here is the counter

The view from the opposite direction

The drawer bank by the stove

The counter by the fridge

Although this is not officially in the kitchen, it is right in the dining room. It's my antique side board and I felt it needed a topper so I had them make one for this too. Now it all flows together. I am also having a topper made for my antique dresser that used to be my Grandma Eyre's.

Yes, I am spoiled and happy to be so. The best part is, it's already paid for.

The next project is my craft room. I didn't have carpet put in there because I paint, sand, glitter, sew, glue, and everyting else in that room. I want Pergo that I can just sweep up or blot up when I need to. That will be the next project. Stay tuned. Right Wayne?..... Right?

We had two birthday dinners in a row. Mine and Nick's.

His was a big deal this year. Mine was not. He is now a teenager. 13 sounds so much older than 12 doesn't it?

He got a chocolate cake with fudge icing and mini chips on top. He did say that lemon is his favorite but I got that last week for my birthday. Maybe his Mom will make him two cakes, one for us and one just for him.

He got a cool new shirt from Wes, Amy and E

Is this one handsome kid? He is a good kid too. We love our young Nicholas.

His other gift was just cold, hard cash. That's what he wants as he is saving for some computer

program to play games with his friends.

Yes, he is happy to be turning into a teenager. His parents are a little dubious,

but they will eat the ice cream and cake anyway.

Happy 13th Nick!

Happy B-Day to Me 2010

I turned 59 this week. This has not been a good year as far as aging goes. This is a warning....at this age you will look in the mirror one day and see nothing, and the very next day you have eye wrinkles, neck wrinkles, yellowing teeth and your hair starts to fall out. How come the outside never reflects the me inside? I am glad that Wayne has to wear reading glasses now because he can't see my defects as well with his glasses off.

Have you ever tried to paint a face? When you are younger, it is harder to draw or do portraiture of those young faces because there are no lines or character in them. This year I have officially reached the character status. Do I care? Yes, a little. Who wants all those things? Does it bother me a lot? NO! I would prefer not having jowls or having to dye my roots so often, but in the scheme of things, it just doesn't matter that much yet. I will continue to use my moisturizer, pluck the extra hair out of my chin once in a while, spend money at Sally's beauty supply and wish I could fit in my high school jeans and yet not obsess about it. I try to eat healthy things, hope to ramp up the exercise and to continue to take my supplements. I don't want this body to wear out before it's time and despite my short comings, I really do love myself for who God made me to be. He gave me a great working body with a loving heart, a contrite spirit most of the time, my own special talents, and family and friends who care about me. How great is that?? I can smile.

Amy made me this beautiful handmade lace and floral card. Ahhhhh! Thanks Amy.

Oh, but here is the inside. We have a family joke that at Christmas Santa comes, at Easter the bunny comes and at your birthday, it's the birthday badger. Scary isn't it? And oh so funny at least in our minds. Tee hee!!

The attending grandchildren dog pile. Nick always gets the worst of it because he is always on the bottom.

My birthday hug.

Isabelle, Emerson and Mama Amy. Let the party begin!! Emerson LOVES ice cream just like his Mama, but it always gives him brain freeze and a cold throat so he cries while eating it but he won't stop.

Millie Moo, my youngest granddaughter and cutie patootie

Colett, my daughter and chef of the lemon birthday cake tradition
which is one of my favorite traditions.

Nick...my soon to be teenager (next week) grandson

Matt... my son-in-law and my personal computer tech

Wes, the sous chef and son -in-law

Top chef and birthday coordinator

It's always nice to have help blowing out the candles. We just put on 9... for the 9 years.

The extra 50 would have burned down the house.