I Wish I Were a Clean Freak

I guess we are going through this house,
cleaning and organizing.
Just a little bit a day,
as we don't get crabby.
I like a clean house,
but some tasks annoy me.
Obviously,
I keep terrible garage cans.
And,
I have confessed to the dust bunnies under my dresser.
Although,
I routinely vacuum under the furniture.
When you don't have carpet for the stuff to seep into,
you get some pretty good sized dust bunnies.
I am NOT a fan of carpet.
OMG, there is this super sweet lady in my bunco group. . . . ..
She has the CLEANEST house.
I walked into her house for bunco.
I was on the WHITE carpet.
The very clean always have white carpet.
I noticed shoes on the tile.
"Oh, are we not supposed to wear shoes in your house?"
A footnote,
people in Arizona don't take off their shoes when the enter people's house.
I know they do in the midwest,
but it is not really done here.
I forget to take off my shoes in the midwest.
She said, "oh no, it's fine".
Here is the funny part, HER back stiffened.
Her daughter,
also in the bunco group, nodded her head YES,
TAKE OFF YOUR SHOES.
So,
I did.
I kept running my feet over her spotless carpet.
Then, I saw the man of the house go out to the patio.
He stopped took his shoes off and put on his outside shoes.
They have inside shoes and outside shoes!
The have rules for this white carpet,
which would not last a minute at our house.
OHHHH,
the carpet felt really good.
It was so clean.
You know,
how clean sheets feel when you slide into bed.
I can really appreciate clean.

Nothing but the Glam Life

We are trying our best to do some small projects around this house.
The girls and I have gone through their closets.
OMG.
I drug a lawn & leaf bag to "little house" by Circle K.
You know what the little houses are. . . .
A small structure that has a drawer and you put in your "junk" and shazam it is gone.
It benefits some charity.
The houses seem to change,
a month ago it was Bosom Buddies and now it is something else.
Women and Children something. . . . . . . .
We are frequent fliers so we notice that sort of thing.
Today we cleaned the garbage cans.
Not the outside ones, but the inside ones -
the kitchen cans, the garage and the girl's bathroom (it lives in a cupboard).
We scrubbed five in all.
The rest are wicker.
OMG,
they were really bad.
A good thing I haven't died.
I wouldn't want my friends to see them.

Another Week in Paradise

I am loving not having to go to work.
OMG.
It is the best.
I don't miss it at all.
Of course,
it helps that my school is closed.
There are no children walking in all excited and happy.
The girls like it too.
They really like it.

Sun Day

We are hanging out today.

Swimming and sunning.

We do wear sunscreen and I wear a ridiculous hat.

I can not believe it is almost the 4th of July.

A Repeat Offender

Guess where I am today?
Traffic school.
I got a speeding ticket coasting down the mountain after staying in Payson.
I was driving home with Miss B.
We were listening to "A Prairie Home Companion."
I honestly had no idea I was speeding.
"Do you know why I pulled you over?"
"No, not really."
Ohhh.
"That fast?"
Like I would know!!!
I was the only one pulled over out of a group of cars going the same speed.
I am lucky that way.
I never pass cars because I am afraid of getting a ticket.
I never switch lanes because I am afraid of getting a ticket.
Soon I won't be driving.
Seriously.

It's What's for Dinner

We forgot to take Love Man out to dinner for his birthday.
We were a little busy.
That is what we usually do.
Or, I make a special meal of choice for the birthday boy or girl.
When it is my birthday,
it is usually the second or third week of the start of school.
It is hot.
The girls are tired.
My teaching partner and I have put our classroom back together.
And, we have schelped things up from the cave (don't ask).
I usually pick IN-N-OUT Burger.
It is great.
It is easy.
It just the thing for a hot evening in August.

Is it Hot Enough for You?

I am pretty busy these days reading the latest Janet Evanovich book.
I love her.
Once my friend and I went to one of her book signings.
It was pretty fun.
There was no room for us and others to sit.
So,
we got to sit up on the stage (on the floor) behind Janet.
Too funny.
I asked her why Stephanie and Joe never use the "L" word.
The next book,
there was a mention about never using the "L" word.
Not that I was the ONLY person to ask her that.
But,
it was funny.


You need to read these books,
even my mother reads them.
Start with "One for the Money" and work your way through them.
They are finally making "One" into a movie.
Katherine Heigl plays Stephanie.
I would have picked Sandra Bullock.
The Rock needs to play Ranger.
I could go on and on.

These books are the frequent topic at bunco.
They are loved.
Sizzling Sixteen (Stephanie Plum Series #16), Stephanie Plum Series, Janet Evanovich, Download - Barnes & Noble

Flicks and Picks

We have seen a few movies this summer.
Don't see "Marmaduke".
It is awful.
Do see "Toy Story 3".
I believe it is a masterpiece.
We all loved it.
And,
by the way,
the girls liked "Marmaduke".
Love Man and I hated it.

Love Man's BD and FD Revisited

The girls nearly worried themselves silly of Love Man's birthday and Father's Day,

a double whammy of a weekend.

His feet are barely able to touch the ground.

All of his needs are taken care of.

I am surprised the Air Force doesn't do a fly over.

A stark contrast to ME making everyone breakfast on Mother's Day.

ME driving to pick up and pay for MY present.

The very present I selected.

But,

I am not complaining.

I got a very cute necklace from the TJ Maxx collection.

In fact,

next year we are NOT celebrating MD.

I am too exhausted from last year's day.

Blonde Girl was beside herself as we didn't get him a present.

She wanted to go to TJ Maxx and get him a box of ties.

"Daddy and Mommy don't always get presents.

We've just been to San Diego and we had a party for Dad."

We did take him to "Toy Story 3" on FD.

That has to count for something.

He had Starbuck's on his birthday,

the day before.

I baked him a homemade German chocolate cake.

I even made the frosting from scratch.

I made waffles.

"I didn't know that,

no one tells me anything".

Well,

when you spend all of your time swimming,

singing with utube and talking to your dolls,

erasers

and other little things this is bound to happen.

Okay,

I did not say that to her,

but it is true.

She knows nothing that goes on in this house and the other one knows everything.

Guess where I took her?

Last But Not Least

We had fun at the Different Pointe of View Saturday night.
It is one of the many bar/restaurants at the Pointe at Tapatio Cliffs.
Awesome, awesome views of the city.
Gorgeous.
Here is the funny thing.
All of these native Phoenicians were there.
Four of them had never been there.
They were stunned by the beauty of the view.
Again,
sorry I didn't take any pictures.
I did bring my camera,
but I forgot.
There were 8 children at our house last night.
Eight!!!
The two oldest got service hours for watching everyone.
Miss B made a cake,
the kids even dressed up.
Too funny.
I think they had fun.
The girls told me they would tell me about it later.
Our friend Megan was asleep in my bed.
There were 4 boys,
the boys are generally very outnumbered around this house.
One co-watcher was 13 like MB.
The house was clean when we got home.
I did tell MB there was an extra hour of service for her if she kept things clean.
Evidently,
free babysitting counts.
They also did arts and crafts
and made a Father's Day sign for a Grandpa in the hospital.
We did put the cover on the pool and locked the gate.
I have not been out into the backyard yet.
I know they played out there for a bit.
But,
I am shocked by the excellent condition of this house.

One Girl's Junk, Another Man's Treasure

I need some new house flags for the summer.
I like sunflower flags and they must be applique.
I am very flag specific.
I am also thinking I need a pink flamingo flag.
I am wishing I didn't get rid of so many of my pink flamingo things.
But, you know how it is, sometimes you just have to purge.
So, I am selling some bobble heads, Crocs and some dance shoes on ebay.
Click here to view my stuff if you are morbidly interested in the junk I am unloading.
My eBay Summary.
Here is the funny thing -
no one has bid,
but they do wait until the last minute.
But, these men over the bobble heads are cracking me up.
One wants to meet me in a public location and pick up the bobble head as he lives in Phoenix.
Love Man said, "fine, I will do that for you."
I am not.
One wants to know if he can send me a money order rather than going through pay pal.
"That is fine, mail it to me and I will send the bobble head."
Keep in mind the opening bid is $.99 and shipping is $4.95.
I have two Conor Jackson's and one Justin Upton.
I guess pretty good players to have bobble heads for.
One wants to know the condition of the Conor Jackson,
which is new in the box.
NIB is slang in ebay land.
New in the box and never opened would be excellent condition to me.
But, what do I know?
But,
seriously,
how would I know.
They give them out at games on a specific "bobble head day".
This morning I got an email from some guy,
wanting to trade his Ken Griffey, Jr. or some dual Griffey and someone else,
WHO KNOWS,
for my Justin Upton.
OMG.
I just wanted to put some money in my pay pal account so I could get some more flags.
Or,
the highly coveted rectangular Fiesta ware baker in cobalt blue.
That is all I want.
I am not trading to build some deranged bobble head team.
I will keep you posted.
I have another week of this madness.
For all you Moms out here,
Crocs sell well on ebay.

A Celebration

It's Love Man's birthday.
We sent out an evite and a bunch of people are gathering tonight for drinks.
Sounds fun?
The girls are not invited.
They are babysitting all the children who need a place to go.

The Bahia

We stayed at The Bahia and we loved it.
Our room had a patio overlooking the court yard,
which had a series of canals and ducks.







We became friends with the ducks.
One mom had three babies.
Another mom had six.




These ducks quacked at our patio door until we came out with bread to feed them.
Two baby ducks waddled into our room while I was getting the bread.
Blonde Girl thinks it would be fun to have a pet duck.

Those Crazy Girls

Oh, the vacation girls and the girls who are not going to school,
are the fun girls.
They get along.
They don't fight.
They are in it to have fun.

Here is another new's flash.

For the past couple of weeks,

there have been a couple of dead snakes on CG Drive.

Evidently they were trying to cross the street,

but going in the direction of my HOUSE.

My house!

Blonde Girl had a roach in her room Sunday night.

It was almost red and we never have bugs,

I think it came home with us from the beach!!

The roaches here are darker.

BG freaked out.

She had to sleep with Miss Brunette.

In fact, I don't think she has slept in her room since.

Love Man sprayed some Raid and the roach is no longer terrorizing the girls.

I looked all over her room, but didn't find roach friends.

Then, I had to look in MB's room.

They don't do well with bugs.

San Diego Zoo

We loved the pandas the most.





Peacocks are fun.
Noisy.
I think I knew people who had some on a farm,
but that was another life.





I love pink flamingos.
I need more plastic ones in my yard.






Giraffes are cool.

Love San Diego

We are back from being in San Diego.

Love it!!!

I took tons of pictures.

I will post them this week.

I love California,

but it is cold and damp.

Love Thy Neighbor

Did I mention that Neighbor John is away for 6 weeks?
It is the gift that keeps on giving.
There is peace in our land.

Raking Away

Really, it is a bit like yellow snow.

Don't Shed on Me

Here are some facts concerning the purchase of this tree.
We were assured that it would always keep its leaves.





We were assured that is was not a messy tree.
It loses it leaves and is messy.



Our backyard is a yellow fairyland now that this tree is mature.

Absolutely Fabulous

They think they are pretty fabulous.

Look closely and you can see Sadie..

The alarm setter.

Looking Ahead

This photo was taken near Payson, AZ.

It is of the view of the Mogollon Rim.

It is actually prettier in real life.

Daily Report

I went to bunco last night and for the second month in a row,
won $20.
Saying that,
I am probably the world's worst bunco player.
I get to talking (surprise, surprise) and forget what number we are rolling.
This girl got a new Sienna mini-van and we all had to troupe out to view the vehicle.
It is a sad state of events that we get all jacked up about a mini-van.
Good God,
my children would live for me to drive a mini-van.
I am strictly a sedan girl.
I don't car pool and only have two children.
I could not see what made this mini-van special,
so I faked great love and admiration for the Sienna.
I liked the color.

A Dog Tail

Yesterday BG and I left to pick up MB at volleyball.

The alarm company called saying we had an "alarm event",

as they call it.

Sometimes we don't get our door to the garage closed tightly.

I wasn't worried.

I had just left the house.

I said, "don't call the police, we just left and I am going right back there."

I got home and the alarm is still beeping.

Sadie is sitting outside!

I went into our bedroom and the sliding door was open.

Not all the way,

but enough for a spoiled dog to get outside.

That stupid dog opened the unlocked sliding glass door and let herself out.

The girls had kept telling me she could do it.

Okay,

so now I know.

I'll bet the alarm scared her.

The other two dogs were sitting in their bed.

They weren't going outside.

They were probably worried that Sadie was outside without permission.

Going Along Swimmingly

We are good.
Started swimming lessons again.
The girls are doing Level 5,
which they have done before.
It is not like the swimming pool police will find out.

Larsen Girls

We are back.

Went to Payson for a couple of days,
as Love Man had to work the "Relay for Life" and the "Saw Dust Festival".

This place is like Star's Hollow on the "Gilmore Girls".

There was always a festival,

a knit-a-thon, the Reinactments, and who knows what else.

If you have not watched "The Gilmore Girls",

you need to.

TTYL.

The New Me

I used to love my Swiffer.

I did,

I really did.

Until, I ran out of refills and they were no longer available in my size.

It seems I have the Swiffer Ultra,

which has been repackaged as the Swiffer XL.

Guess what I have been using?

This old invention called a broom.

If that doesn't work,

I vacuum the floors.

This requires no refills and the use is unlimited.

Why do we buy cleaning products that need refilling?

What ever happened to flannel clothes for dusting?

They did the job.

I am no longer going to refill or buy products for my products.

I am done.

Cleaning products do not need to be maintained.

Red Alert, Red Alert

Did I post twice on Wednesday?
OMG, I am getting senile.

Sex and the City Two

I have seen the movie.
It is good.
Not as great as the show on HBO or the first movie.
If you are a fan of SITC,
it is a must see.
The fashions were wild.
The girls are the same.
Not as much sex as they are on a girl trip.
There was a lot of product placement.
Go and see if for yourself.

Evening Tide

Went out for pizza last night with our neighbors.
No, not neighbor John!
That relationship is still status quo.
My neighbor diagonally behind me, Meggan.
Ironically she was raised in Carlise, Iowa.
Anyway, she is a great photographer and Miss B babysits for her children when she has a session.
They insisted we go and paid.
Love Man, spending the night in Payson, called in the middle of it all.
I said, "I can't talk. I have people here"
He said, "Who is here?"
I said, "people".
"Who?"
"Meggan, Haley, Allie, Allie's babysitter Sherisse, Kristen and Scott is the the car in our driveway with Kevin and Sarah."
I told him I was too busy to talk.
Naturally, I called him later.
Blonde Girl spent the night at her friend's house.
Who I believe was released for good behavior.
Her friend's parents are in Scotland for two weeks.
The babysitter is one of BG's former Sunday School teachers.
They are going to a water park tomorrow.
I warned the babysitter, "watch them, they will run wild".
She promised she would.
I let BG go as I know Sherisse.
She is now a college student in San Diego.
Seems like she was just in high school.

Sooo, what's next

The girls are going to be busy in June and it tapers off in July.
We are STILL rejoicing in being out of school.
I think Love Man is a tad jealous,
but nevertheless thrilled with his J-O-B.

Let Summer Begin

We are so happy to be out of school.

Blonde Girl is over at her friend's house,

the one that was grounded.

She must have been released for good behavior or copped a plea.

Who knows!