Sodalicious

I have a great, great love of diet cola. In particular, diet coke and diet dr. pepper. My current favorite is diet dr. pepper.

We are trying to drink sun tea sweetened with stevia. Tea bags are much easier. I get tired of schlepping diet soda into the house in the heat. I get tired of buying it in mass quantity. And, I think if I lived on a Greek island - I would sink my little boat trying to get my bags and bags of groceries to my island.

However, I do miss the carbonation. So, every morning Love Man or I will journey to Circle K for a nice fountain drink. Naturally, bringing the refill cups. This morning Love Man's entire 44 ounce drink flew out of my cup holder and onto the mat of the passenger side. Lucky for me I was diet mountain dew, which is LM's favorite. Green is easier to clean than carmel.

Casa Loco

The next time we go to Mexico, I am having a sign made up (on the pretty tile like they do) that
says "Casa Loco". It means "Crazy House". I am just saying . . . . . .

This is the sign for me and I am getting it made por favor. Gracias.

Dog Sign

I don't know why Blonde Girl made this sign. I guess she doesn't want the dogs to bark if someone gets near our fence. She said, "when people come near the fence, the dogs start barking and it scares them."

I guess people deserve to be scared if they get this close to our fence. However, they have been duly warned.

Sun Time, Some Time

I have had it.

I may spend the better part of the day outside by the pool.

I've got my cell, so call me.

I love chatting, while basking.

Hello?

If you want to comment on the blog, email me at MarciLarsen@cox.net.
The address is also listed under my photo and on my profile.
So, send your comments to me.

That Bird Might Get on My List

See that bush at the back, right side? That is where the quail is sitting on her nest. I try not to disturb her. But, I do live here and so do three other people. That bird keeps flying at my head. Then, she gets on my neighbor's roof and paces back and forth while staring at me. I mean stares.

I have business back here. Dog poop to pick up and watering to do. I don't need that bird giving me an attitude. I thought quails were nice. The dogs don't seem to bother her, maybe she scared them away.

Summer At Last

We have been swimming and swimming. Blonde Girl was in the pool yesterday for about 5 hours. A record! Her friend, Molly was over and they had a great time. Both girls had friends over and both of the friends don't have pools. Phoenix has the highest per capita backyard swimming pool in the United States. I am not surprised, especially when it is really hot.

We have had the coolest June since 1913. It has mostly been in the nineties. No humidity.

It has been gorgeous. We can't complain if it is 125 degrees one day. Actually, it was 122

degrees once. The airport had to suspend flights due to the heat. The high temperatures make the planes have trouble taking off and landing. I have always found landing in Phoenix very bumpy in August.

Dogmatic

I hate Love Man's camera. That is why I am not taking pictures. But, I will.

We are good. Taking the girls to the doctor today for the yearly checks. I told them I didn't think they needed shots. I am hoping that is true. Miss Brunette does not enjoy them. Blonde Girl is pretty brave. In fact, our dentist claims she is his very best patient, including his adults.

The dogs are fine. The girls keep doing research on the web about cockapoos. As you know we
only have three names for pets. They are Sam, Abby and Sadie. My mother made stockings
once with those names for the first Sam, Abby and Sadie. Now, we only need a Sadie, according
to the girls. I am thinking NO. But, they research, read and it must be educational. My mother
has no more plans to make stockings. So, if you are thinking "my pet needs a Christmas stocking," you will have to look elsewhere.

We once had a cockapoo named Sadie. She was an awesome dog, although a bit wild as a puppy.
We still all miss her. The kids love our second Sam and Abby, but every time they see a cockapoo they say, "there's a Sadie dog." Some dogs are like that.

My friend Miss G and her family had a Stanley that was also super special. Stanley was like
Sadie to her family. I always wonder about people who don't like dogs. I don't like big dogs, though. They used to chase me forever while riding my bicycle. When Love Man and I go for a walk in the Iowa country, I will say "they used to have a mean yellow dog" or "this house has a big dog."

My sister and I once rode out bicycles all the way to my aunt and uncle's house. Our parents wondered if we actually did it. We did and those mean dogs on one patch of road chased us.
We peddled so hard and out-ran them. More likely, the dogs gave up.

My aunt gave us root beer in frosty mugs. I still love the taste of root beer. Not Barqs though.
It must be A & W. Barqs is nasty.

Going to the Birds Again

We think we have a Baltimore Oriel in our back yard. That bird does not annoy me. In fact, it is very pretty. We have tons of hummingbirds. I mean, they buzz around our heads and are not
afraid of us at all. The quail is still nesting. She and her man get a bit irritated if we linger too long in that part of the yard.

The chickens next door are gone. They have gone to Neighbor John's son's house to annoy his neighbors. They eat all the grass and weeds until there is nothing.

My mother gave Miss Brunette a bird book. We have the ruby-throated hummingbirds and
many finch. At first we thought the Baltimore Oriel was a finch. But, it is so big, the
head is long and the colors of his feathers are so vibrant. So, who knows. Love Man has been talking about thistles and a bird feeder. As long as we don't attract chickens.

Day for Dads

The difference between Mother's Day and Father's Day at our house is pretty vast. Those girls
always bring him breakfast in bed. Fawn over him. Present him with a card. They would have the Air Force do a fly-over if they knew how to google that. I usually make my own breakfast on Mother's Day and the rest of the family's too. I made pancakes this morning and Blonde Girl served Daddy ones that had been made one hour prior. Too funny. She brings it on on a tray and everything. He ate them.

I did make goulash for dinner and Miss Brunette exclaimed that it was a mother and father's celebration. They like goulash.

Bake Off

Yesterday I baked and baked. I made an stivia sweetened cheesecake for Love Man. I baked an angel food cake for me and the girls. I made refrigerator bran muffins to have for easy breakfasts.

I made stivia sweetened whipped creme and the regular sugar kind. I later made kabobs with shrimp, pepper, onions, tomatoes, mushrooms and zucchini (Neighbor John's garden) and quinoa to go with the kabobs. Whew! Sadly, almost a normal day here.

We got up this morning and went to breakfast at DV Airport and watched the planes. It was

fun. I have been doing laundry and folding clothes for the rest of the day, except for some pool time.

Big Birthday

Love Man is 50 today!

My Days

My days are spent running children around. They are going here and there. Blonde Girl
is loving tennis and Miss Brunette is also loving volley ball. Yesterday I met with my teaching partner and plugged in dates and subjects. We also had lunch and swam at a friend's house.
We are continuing with the organization. I have a two room pantry. Yes, I have never taken photos of it. You would all be jealous. It is fab and when I saw it I said, "we want this house."
So Blonde Girl and I are organizing what we call the craft drawer and cupboard. It holds all of their games, markers, etc. You can imagine how it gets. We clean it out every summer.

A Bird in the House

It was Christmas time. Love Man was at the office for the day, even though it was a Saturday.
I think he left his mobile in the car. I had tried to call him and couldn't reach him. I also think his office phone was forwarded. All of a sudden Miss Brunette started yelling "there is a bird in
the Christmas tree," This stupid Arizona finch has come in through an open patio door (we need to stop that) and was sitting in our living room Christmas tree singing. Then, it flew to the
other Christmas tree in the family room. It went back and forth. I wanted to talk to Love Man
and have him come home and help me.

I emailed him. "bird in the house, please advise". He called two seconds later saying, "I guess I will come home." He had tons of things to do at the office.

The bird flew into the girl's bathroom. This time perched on their ceramic mobile which hangs
on the wall. I could hear it clanking. We opened all the doors and made ourselves scarce. It didn't take long for the bird to leave the house.

I emailed LM back and told him "situation averted, stay at work".

This stuff makes Miss Brunette crazy. She does not enjoy it. In fact, she was sort of running
back and forth in the house. It was about 3 or 4 years ago. I think Blonde Girl was not home.
I don't remember her in this scenario.

But, every time something nutty like this happens Love Man is not home, except for the scorpion. Sometimes I think he wonders why these things happen to me. I have given that up,
it just does.

Quail

Okay, I don't like chickens or birds. But, I like roadrunners, quail and hummingbirds. We have a quail who has laid her eggs in our lantana bush. The dogs are interested. The kids could care less. I guess after an Arizona finch has been in our house, not to mention the scorpion and the snake, this is small. Tomorrow I will tell you the story of the finch in our house.

Oatmeal Mask

The girls each had a friend spend the night. The older girls wanted to put a mask on their faces.

After an exhaustive search at Target and the fact that Tar-jay was out of avocados, we found this mask recipe on "E-to".

Oatmeal Mask

You will need oatmeal, egg whites, lemon juice, baking soda and olive oil. The two most ingredients are the oatmeal and egg whites!

Step 1
Cook some oatmeal or organic rolled oats according to the directions on the package.
The oatmeal has to be un-flavored.

Step 2
Allow the oatmeal to cool slightly after cooking when you create a mask.

Step 3
Fluff up one egg white with a fork in a small bowl. Add the egg white to the oatmeal mask for consistency, folding it into the mixture until it is smooth and easy to spread on your face.

Step 4
Add a few drops of lemon juice when you create your oatmeal mask. Lemon juice is an astringent.

Step 5
Experiment with other types of ingredients when you create an oatmeal mask. Baking soda can soothe itchy skin and olive oil can help reduce the wrinkles caused by dry skin.

Step 6
Smooth the oatmeal mask onto your face. Add more layers of oatmeal to problem areas of your skin, such as your nose and forehead. Be careful around your eyes.

Step 7
Allow the oatmeal mask to dry completely before you remove it. The skin on your face may become slightly itchy as the oatmeal dries completely, which will be your signal to wash up.

Step 8
Rinse the mask off completely with cool to lukewarm water.

Voila!

SORRY: I hate this old stupid camera of Love Man's. It is only 4.o mega pixels and it bites.

Cement Pond

Remember how on "Beverly Hillbillies", they referred to the swimming pool as the cement pond? That is where I need to be. I have not swam all week. I've been too busy organizing.

The vice-principal at Miss Brunette's school has a oldie, famous TV character name. But, I keep mixing it up thinking his name is Dean Martin or Columbo. Fortunately I have not meet Perry Mason, yet. So, I won't have to embarrass my child yet another time.

The Organizational March

Today I cleaned out the credenza. I hadn't been purged since 2005. Now, we need to go camping and burn all of these documents. There are way too many to shred.

We re-arranged Blonde Girl's room. She is pleased. I put her extra dresser in our room. We got rid of the credenza in the office and replaced it with a piece of furniture that was in our room. I am slowly working my way through the house.

Tomorrow the dining room side board!

Blonde Girl's Complex

Blonde Girl has been making a Little Pet Shop/Polly Pocket apartment. She adds anything else she can find. Notice the purple slide which she cut and colored. The pole for emergencies, which is behind the slide. Sadly, it is coming down today. We haven't been able to use our kitchen table since the weekend. We may arrange her room to free up a piece of furniture to accommodate

her creation.

Cleaning House

We are not really cleaning our house. But, organizing and working on every closet, drawer
and basket that contains STUFF. We will be making our fourth trip to Good Will tomorrow.
The girls are I are working our way through the house. Their rooms are done, except we are going to re-arrange Blonde Girl's room. Next up: the linen closet!

Queen of Volleyball

Miss Brunette is going to volleyball camp. She goes every day for two hours, four days a week
and she LOVES it. She can not wait to go back the next day. If she does this, she has a great
chance of making the MSJH volleyball team.

Arizona bark scorpion - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Arizona bark scorpion - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For the Love of Chicken

Last night we had a scorpion in the house. Blonde Girl had reported seeing a bug in the house.
We never have bugs in the house. And, frankly the girls freak out over a fly in the house. But,
there was a critter in the house. A scorpion! Love Man got it and put in down the garbage disposal and ground it up. He did. He has never seen one before. The dogs tried to assist, but
he shooed them away. A bite would kill them or a very, small child. It would just cause
excruciating pain if it bit one of our girls.

We have them at preschool in amber for teaching purposes and have even had one in our room when the preschoolers were there. My partner jumped on it. I asked her from across the room, "are you wearing sneakers?". She knew immediately what I was taking about and stomped on it in a flying leap. We were very in tune, Mrs. A. and I. The directors asked "was it dead or alive?" We didn't wait long enough to find out. No preschoolers were injured during this stunt, except for the feelings of one when I told him to play in another spot in the room.

Love Man enjoys leaving the doors open sans screen. So, it probably wondered in. It was in our entry way near the door. We have had beautiful, mild weather.

But, our theory is this. The damn chickens next door are driving the scorpions over here.
I would even go as far to say the snake was working doubly hard on the scorpions and spiders
and was captured by dos chihuahuas. This is the fault of those stupid, stupid chickens.

A Hub of Activity

We are busy, busy, busy. The girls are going here and there. Miss Brunette helped with VBS today. She needs 24 service hours for part of her three year confirmation classes. Blonde Girl
has gone for an early sleepover. Love Man met a friend for lunch. I have been running the girls around and have the dryer guy and palm tree trimmer here. The dogs are doing there usual, sleeping most of the day. They did bark while the dryer guy was here. They hate repair people.

Lost in Transition

It looks very simple. But, I wear this cropped cardigan all of the time. And, I must have given it to Good Will. I have looked in every closet. Fortunately I found it online and on clearance.

It needs to arrive, I have places to go. Phoenix air conditioning in stores, restaurants, churches,

schools, etc. is super cold. I carry a cardy or denim jacket with me at all times, especially at night.

Love Man also lost his favorite U of Montana shirt. Hopefully it is accidentally in the dryer.

I still have two baskets of drying left to do. You can not use your washer/dyer and other major

energy using appliances such as dish washers between 9:00 am - 9:00 pm if you want the best electricity rate with APS. It takes some getting used to. The weekends are 24 hours a day. Thank God!

My dryer is also not working very well. It is under our home warranty and I have put in a request for service. I may have died from overuse.

Basically Basil

This is my basil of which we are over-run. It is pretty, though. I am still doing laundry. Every towel in the house was used at the party. Love Man brought a ton of dirty clothes from CdA.
Miss G said, "like coming home from college". That is about right. I used to bring tons and tons
of clothes home. I could go a long time without doing laundry and I did.

Miss Brunette is loving volley-ball camp. According to her, she rocks it. So there you go.
Blonde Girl can not wait until tennis starts. They were interviewed yesterday about Life Guard
Discovery. I didn't know there was an interview process. So, we are waiting to hear from this
child who interviewed them.

Do you notice how young people are? The police men who came to our house after the heist
looked about 12. I wondered if their mothers liked them protecting Phoenix as they were doing.

The Sunny Side of the Street

Love Man has mentioned several times that the house seems so loud. Well it is. We are loud people, I come from loud genes. I am a talker. The girls are talkers. We also have one room with carpet and the rest is Mexican tile.

And, yesterday we had two extra kids in the house. There will 6 people in the house and

two dogs. I also should mention the fish, they were here.

So, I am sure it is loud for someone who has lived alone in the middle of no where. Actually, it was a very good area. But, in was not in town. No neighbors to hear. A long driveway. It backed up to woods.

His extras were turkeys. LM has taken a lot of photos of them. Front views. Side views. Those turkeys seemed to pose like they were models.

Back in the House

Love Man is back to stay. He arrived with a car full of stuff. We have continued to purge our house and have taken three loads of unwanted, yet fabulous, junk to Good Will. They love us.
We have pretty much gotten him put back into the house. There is still a box of toiletries in the bathroom to deal with and a box of work in the office. We cleaned out the garage so we can park TWO cars in it. All of you people out there with a double garage and only room for a single vehicle, my advice to you is to get busy!