A Shared Gift

You would not believe what Blonde Girl did. You know the paperwhite kits that they sell at
Target and all over? We bought two for her math teachers. She was to give each teacher one kit. She also wanted to give one to her homeroom teacher. I told her yes, but we needed wait until Thursday and we would get her one. I was buying too much at the time at the Target. Does that ever happen to you?

Anyway, off we go to school the next morning. I carried the gift bags and I assumed she gave them to her teachers. A few days later, we were driving back to the Target. I said, "We can get that paperwhite kit for your teacher."

She said, "I already gave her one."

"What? How. You only had two and you were to give them to your math teachers." was my answer.

"I have my homeroom teacher one and one to my math teachers. I told them they needed to share."

Share? Omg. Really?

I guess she taught them a thing or two about division. We bought another kit and I told her to take it to them and sort the mess out. Honestly. They think she is cute.

Christmas

Christmas was fun. I have been sick with this sneezy, coughy thing. That part was not fun.

I am hoping I will live. The girls liked their presents, which was great. We have not been doing too much around here. Love Man is back at work, but the rest of us are slugging it around.

One More Day

We have one more day of school. Yipee! Let the Christmas begin. I think we are ready.
Ready enough is more like it.

Fire Alarm

Did I tell you my iron, that is not that old, was smoking and sparking like crazy. It freaked the girls completely out. Love Man unplugged it and I was heading for the fire extinguisher. I phoned the company and they are sending a label for me to send it back. Then, they will send me a new iron.

They said, "what color were the sparks?"

Umm, is this a trick question?

I said, "ummm, grayish, white."

I must have had the correct answer.

Holiday Cheer

Love Man and I went to a party last night. We promised the girls an extra present if we came home to a clean house. It was pretty clean!

I just made lasagna for our Christmas dinner. I am presently baking it. After it cools, I will freeze it until the big day. Then, I just pop it in the oven. Easy. My English friend thinks I am INSANE to serve lasagna on Christmas. I always tell her, "turkey is for Thanksgiving and lasagna, prime rib, or turkey is for Christmas." I did not make the rules.

I also made a quadruple batch of Chex Mix. Last week I made two quadruple batches of the stuff. This batch today does not have Wheat Chex in it as it is for my friend who can't take
gluten.....

I need to bow up my tins. Voila! I used to match everything. Now, I just use raffia, any ribbon I have, any curling ribbon and whatever else I can find. Somehow it all works. I think Love Man is going to deliver them wearing his Santa suit driving his scooter!

This just in, I don't think we are sending out cards this year.......

Under the Weather

It is cold and rainy here. Snowing a lot in Flagstaff. So, it rains here. The dogs do not like the weather. They hate going outside in it. I don't think they like to get their feet wet.

This is the last weekend of the special, Christmas class at my school. I painted 48 hands today to make reindeers. OMG. I am quite good at hand prints. It is my speciality.

That and parallel parking.

Nothing but an Elf

Sorry it has been so long since I have posted. I have been running around like a maniac. All is well with us. The girls have had concerts and soccer games - blah, blah, blah.

I have been working the Christmas class at our preschool. It is fun, but chaotic. There is this little boy and evidently he is an elf.

"I am an elf. I don't sleep at night. I go to the north pole every night and make toys."

"Oh, really," was my reply. "I once had a boy who was a dinosaur for the entire schoool year."

"Well, I am a real elf."

"Okay, that's cool." Whatever.

"Don't tell my mom. She gets so mad and sometimes starts screaming."

"Fine."

I can't tell you what his name is, but it is an elfy name. LOL.

Grounded

Something popped in Love Man's other foot. He is on steroid therapy and should recover. We honestly thought he had a stress fracture. It is always something.

Prickly Memories

New camera. Look what was on an old memory card!

That makes me sad.

So Big

Cooper the cat is really getting big. My mother, who is here, was surprised at his size. She was expecting a tiny little thing.

My Christmas tree and house is decorated. Cooper is going to try his best to attack the big tree. OMG.

We may have to install an electric, barbed wire fence around the tree. I am just saying.....

Back in JA

We have begun Junior Assembly. I think she had fun. She said she did not want to go, but

certainly got ready pretty quickly. Amy's son asked her the dance!!!

Flat Stanley

My nephew sent us Flat Stanley to visit. We sent him back with a letter written about his adventure. We had fun with him. In addition to his pool-side time, he went hiking with Love Man. I can't find the photo. But, if I do - I will post it on this blog.

This is a elementary school project and is based on the "Flat Stanley" books. Blonde Girl did one when she was in second grade. Fun, isn't it?

Here is Flat Stanley sitting in our outside dog bed. Our other nephew used to enjoy sitting in this bed. Lol.

Oh Really???

Miss Brunette and Blonde Girl just love the "Ellen" show. Taylor Swift was on the show and showing pictures of her miniature cat. We record "Ellen" on our dvr and the girls were oohing and aaahing over the feline. Blonde Girl ran up to me on Saturday morning as I was coming out of our bedroom, "can we get another cat?"


"Another cat, are you insane. No, not another cat?" was my answer.


"If we find another one in the desert, can we keep it?"


"Oh, really do you really think we are going to find another cat in the desert when we already found one this year andnour saguaro got hit by lightning? What would be the chances?" was my reply.


"Well, it is a really cute cat."

Once in a Lifetime

Yesterday, I was walking to school and our neighbor behind us stopped me. Her husband, Mr. P, looked out the kitchen window at the exact moment our cactus was hit by lightning. He said to Mrs. P , "it was like it was doused with gasoline and just burst into flames."

He also said that it was something he would only see once in a lifetime.

We have most of the stuff replaced. But, still have to purchase a computer, get the exhaust fans replaced and arrange for a system check on the electrical system. Yadda, yadda, yadda.

By the way, we have hear narry a word from Un-Neighbor John. He is not nice.

Cactus Removal

It was quite a process to remove our massive saguaro.

We knew it was tall, but did not know it was that tall.

The men look small and like a preschoool teacher, I told them they needed to wear helmets. The cactus had so many holes from the birds. It was a regular apartment house. I wonder where they are going to go?

Roadrunner Cactus valued the saguaro from $4500 to $5000. Sadly, our insurance is giving us $500 for it.

Saguaro Trouble

Here are some pictures from the saguaro lightning attack. I will post more in the days to come.
It is so sad and similiar in feelings, to me, when a farmer's barn is lost due to fire or storms. This giantic succulent was in most of our pictures from the first day of school, holidays and times when the girls were dressed up. It sounds silly, but it was a huge part of our family.



Here is the line the lightning made.

The bounce mark from the strike.

The arms started dropping. Note LM's hose that he used to put out the fire.

The arm that was most burnt.

More later. TTYL.

Lightning Strike

Last Tuesday night, lightning struck our saguaro cactus catching it on fire. Love Man,
fortunately, was home and put it out with a hose. As a result many things don't work in our house. One being the computer. I will try to post when I can.

And, if we weren't having enough fun, Love Man's mother suddenly passed away. She had been in poor health.

We are making lists and getting things done. And, we are fine.

TTYL.

Oh Dyson!

My beloved Dyson is broken. Three things are wrong with it. It is under warranty and it will take 10 days to two weeks to get the parts and repair the vacuum. Oh God. I hope we can last.

I swept the entire house with a broom. I actually is not bad, but I miss my Dyson. I even took the broom to our rugs. My Grandma used to do that. It does work.

Fall Break Recap

It was fun and went fast. That is really all I can say about it.
Love Man had to go to "A Chorus Line" for work. So, I tagged along.
I think I saw it with Miss G in Des Moines a gazillion years ago.

We did a bit of shopping. Miss Brunette had Homecoming and the dance,
which was fun.

Blonde Girl had soccer and practices. She was also on a continuous play date with the
girl that lives two doors down. Wow!

I don't know where the time has gone.

Cloudy with a Chance of a Hot Day

It has been hot this week. Really hot. In fact, Blonde Girl and the neighbor girl swam. Three children moved two doors down. And, by the way, Neighbor John squirts their dogs too. He is such a crab. I have tried to be nice about all of this, but it is no use. He is too far gone.

Sadie is at the groomer this morning. She actually walked backwards not wanting to go in. She is a mess and needs to be groomed. Hopefully, we won't be turned into the ASPCA.

We have not done that much for Fall Break. It has been hard to blast the girls out of the house. Seriously, I guess they are tired. Idk.

Back to the Field

Soccer has begun. We play three seasons until the beginning of May. OMG. I need to rest up.

Painting the Door

We finally painted our door. See the scratches on it? That happened during the big October storm a year ago. We just got around to it last weekend.



Behold, the painting team.

Miss Thing

Homecoming was this weekend. Last night was the dance. I picked up girls, drove them to dinner, drove them to the dance and then drove some of them home. Miss Thing was resplendent in a maroon beaded dress.




She is so tall, that she had to scrunch down for the camera.





Her shoes rocked.

All is Well

We are good. Spent the entire weekend working on the house. Changed to a higher necked shower for the tall girls, painted the front door, cleaned, spruced up the yard and generally worked ourselves silly.

It needed to be done. I used bunco as the excuse, but the work needed to be done.

Bunco was good. I made this great sangria and it was a huge hit. We have a tad bit left, which
I am sure Love Man will finish off tonight.

The girls are good. Working hard. Next week is Fall Break. Thank goodness.

Queens for a Day

I spent the entire day shopping with Miss Brunette and her BFF. They were in search of homecoming dance dresses. I told them, "We need to go to Ross." We went every where else instead. We finally found Miss Brunette's dress at Marshall's. Then, headed to Ross where
her BFF found two and bought two. She may keep them both.

I told them, I told them. The BFF said, "oh my gosh, you were right. We should have come here first."

Miss B's dress was a deal. Her friend's were an ultra deal.

I may not know much, but I do know expensive places to shop for great clothes.

They never should have doubted me.

We should have gone to Ross first, then TJ Maxx and then Marshall's. It would saved us
a ton of time. We were out and about for 6 hours.

The Continuing Saga

Love Man did make it up the North Rim of the canyon and did it in five hours.
Amy, Jim and the others were waiting for him and were so glad to see him.
Jim, Amy's husband, felt bad as they got him into this group and all.

It was all good.
Everyone getting out of the canyon knew Bo, because Amy asked if they saw him.
Love Man ended up hiking with another group as it is best not to hike alone.
He showered and the they headed back to Phoenix.

Fred is fine. He rested for two hours and hiked out. He met up with a group of nurses, who after hearing his story, monitored him and adjusted their hike for his safety. His brother in law picked him up in Flagstaff. Fred could not get a room at the lodge and took the shuttle to Flag.

Fred loves LM. And, they may be lifelong friends.

Love Man has a super swollen ankle that is not going away. His legs and ankles were a bit
swollen last week. The left ankle remains swollen. He is going to the doctor about it on Monday.
It also looks like he is going to lose a toe nail.

This hike is rated moderate to strenuous. I don't know. I think I will rate it brutal.

Getting on With the Story

Part Two -

I telephoned the ranger who reported that Love Man and Fred had started out around 5:00 a.m. Fred felt so ill that he came back and was planning to hike out of the canyon the next morning. One of his children was going to drive and pick him up.

I did suggest that maybe Fred should take a mule to the top. "Mules are just not readily available," she grouched at me. I did find out that mules would be available on Monday. A lot of hikers have their stuff schelped to the top via mule. They are a huge part of the canyon culture.

I texted Amy with the latest development about LM and Fred. The hiking group was going to leave at 9:30 as scheduled, but one van with Amy, Amy's husband and two other couples were going to wait for LM. It is about a five hour hike out of the North Rim of the canyon and it is all uphill. One hour per mile is how is it calculated. They thought LM would be out by 10:00 a.m.

As it was Sunday, I was "making" the girls go to Sunday School and Confimation (depending upon the child). We were basically ready to leave by 8:30 and were hanging around until it was time to go. My phone was ringing inside my purse and I missed the call. I told the girls, "this will be about Daddy." Although I have to say, the girls were completed unphased by all of this. I guess they are used to it. It is always something.

It was the exhibition leader. She walked to know what I knew as I had been talking to Amy. I told her, "please know I texted you, Amy and Amy's husband initially." She was wanting to know if anyone was caring for Fred and what was going on with him. I told her all that I knew. She said she had tried to call the number I had gleaned from *69 and that no one answered. "Yeah," I said, "that ranger had somewhere to be."

I told her I would email Fred's house in an attempt to get a hold of his wife. I also found an address on the internet and said I would go over there and ask Fred's wife to call her. I dropped the girls off at church and headed over there. There was no answer and the house looked almost as if no one lived there. Who knows. I also called two numbers I had gotten from directory assistance and they were the wrong Freds.

I phoned Diana, the exhibition leader, and gave her the report and said, "I have done all that I can do. You will have to wait to talk to Love Man." Church had started 20 minutes prior, so I skipped it and went to Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market instead.

Later it occurred to me, I went to this house at 8:30 in the morning wearing a dress, heels and a little sweater. Good God, they probably thought I was a Jehovah's Witness. Might have been the reason the house seemed so vacant.

Tune in tomorrow for final installment of this saga.

The Rest of the Story

Love Man went up to the Grand Canyon this weekend for his first ever Rim to Rim hike.
By rim 2 rim (as this group calls it), the group would hike down from the South Rim, walk along the bottom of the canyon and then hike up to the North Rim. They began at Bright Angel
Trail, which is on the South Rim. It is approximately a 12 hour hike.

Love Man was down in the bottom of the canyon, past Phantom Ranch when he came across one the guys in the group, who was sitting under a tree. This guy, I am going to call him "Fred", was not doing very well. Love Man proceeded to continue to hike with him, stopping several times for him to rest. Eventually they ran into a ranger, who assessed the situation and told Fred to lie in a stream. He needed to get his core temperature down. I guess the stream was super cold.

Fred did not bring a lot of water and no food. As a triathlon athlete, he thought he could use those gel snacks for this trek. He is an experienced hiker.

They continued on and the ranger thought they such rest at the caretaker's cottage. By now, it was late in the afternoon and they still had to climb the nearly five miles out of the North Rim of the canyon. In other words, they were about 4 - 5 hours out.

Betsy, or something like that, suggested that they stay the night. This ranger was super helpful.
Love Man proceeded to phone me. It came up on our caller ID, which flashes on our TV,
"United States Federal Government".

Blonde Girl answered the phone and he asked for me. "Ummm, just letting you know I am staying the night near Cottonwood Campground at the caretaker's cottage." He proceeds to tell me the story about Fred. "Yes, he is ill as he did not eat the right food." "How are you?" I asked. "Oh, fine, my knees are a little sore." "Do you have enough food?" I quizzed. "Oh, yes,
we are eating ramon noodles right now. I have to go, Fred needs to phone his wife."

I texted three people in the group. Love Man also said that Betsy was going to let another ranger know. Finally, after the group waited for them to come out. My friend, Amy got the
message. She phoned me using another person's phone as none of this technology works
very well at the Grand Canyon. I think she had to hang off the edge of the canyon to make the call to me.

She wanted to know what happened and how Fred was. I relayed all that I knew. The plan was that LM and Fred would leave first thing in the morning and complete the hike. The ETA was around 10:00 in the morning. I went to bed wondering if LM was sleeping on the floor or outside. I hoped he had enough food for tomorrow. There are water stations all over the place, so I was not worried about his water situation.

Another party had to spend the night. A famous Northern Arizona judge, who is retired, and his former clerk were also staying. The judge, an avid hiker, had been having trouble with his legs. They were very wobbly, but he had somehow continued on until he reached the caretaker's cottage. His son eventually arrived at Phantom Ranch passing out and hitting his head on a rock. He had to be evacuated out. Somehow they all went to bed, but the phone rang all night and into the early morning with calls about the judge and his group.

OMG.

The next morning, I got a text from Amy wondering if I had heard from LM. I told her no,
but I had *69ed the number and would call the ranger's station. I had also included that number in the original text to the leader of this expedition, Amy and Amy's husband.

I called the number and got a grumpy ranger, who I think was generally annoyed with all the drama. Tune in tomorrow for the rest of the story.

Love Man Strikes Again

Love Man hiked the Grand Canyon this weekend. Do I have a story!

Now, Now

We are all good this morning at casa loco. My freshman went to the football game last night.
It is still warm and doesn't smell like football to me. You know that smell? It has freshness and coolness in the air. Football. And, I don't even like football. I hate the bit with all the downs.
It is annoying to me.

And moving on with other sports news, the Diamondbacks won the Western Division! I am glad for them. My friend, the chief, loves her Diamondbacks. Somehow she managed to go to every game win they were in the World Series a few years ago.

TTYL.

Plan #352 - A

By the way, we did have to mail the ticket stubs into the athletic office at the University of Montana. I thought that was a bit funny, considering Love Man didn't have to really do anything to procure other copies of his tickets.

I don't know, a man must be in charge of that procedure.

Plan #352

Love Man went to Montana for a long weekend, last weekend. He met a college friend in Flagstaff who had driven over from Albuquerque and they headed up to Love Man's mecca, Missoula, Montana.

They were to attend the University of Montana vs. Eastern Washington's football game with
other college friends.

All was going nicely, except for one small problem. Love Man forgot the tickets to the game.
He called me in a panic. I had gone to an NCL membership committee meeting. Oh, the glam life I live......

He texted me. He called me. He asked Miss Brunette to have me call him.

I called him when I got home. I had to put my phone on no ring as two children, one husband and one beloved niece all tried to call me during the meeting. Yikes.

"You are going to have to Federal Express these tickets tomorrow morning so they can get to me by Saturday morning," he said.

My response, "Umm, the ticket says Griztix. Isn't that online and can't you get another copy?"

We left it that I would express them and also call the athletic office in the morning. I also told him I would make a copy of the tickets in case there was a problem.

The next morning, as I was walking into the house from taking MB to school, Blonde Girl met me at the door and said, "Dad is on the phone for you."

He called the athletic office, gave them his address and the tickets were to be waiting at will call. Love Man said the staff were so nice and accommodating.

Three men suggested that I do the following and THESE ARE LOVE MAN'S WORDS,
the brains of the organization, suggested that as they were online tickets, he could get another copy.

One thought Love Man should drive back to Phoenix.

One wanted the tickets Federal Expressed.

And my favorite! One wanted me to drive to Mesa and get a pilot flying to Missoula from Allegant to bring the tickets.

I rest my case.

Last Friday Night

While I enjoyed Thursday's episode of the Dick Van Dyke show on Friday. I am not going to talk about Rob and Laura today. Although, sadly, they are always on my mind.

Miss Brunette went babysitting and did not get home until 12:30. She was supposed to be home at 10:30 and I decided to snooze around 9:30. I was tired, could not focus to read and the TV

had nothing on it. I do not have a DVR in my bedroom. The horror!

At midnight Blonde Girl was looking out the window and she came in my room, "Mom, MB

(although she calls her by her given name) is not home yet." I texted her and she was fine. Eventually, Miss B got home and immediately went to bed. She had a long day.

This morning I got a text from the mom apologizing for keeping her out so late. They lost track of time. Miss B was given extra money at the couple did not stick to there eta. I made fifty cents an hour and MB gets $8 - $12 an hour depending on who is paying.

Oh Rob!

On RetroTV, they are airing the Dick Van Dyke show. I DVR it everyday and when I get home from work, I watch it. OMG. I hate to say it, but it is one of the best moments of my day.

It is the best show and is my reigning favorite. I used to love "I Love Lucy", but I have kind of moved on through the years to Rob and Laura.

Cold Showers

I am waiting for the plumber to come and fix our hot water heater.
I washed my hair this morning in the sink,
then did a quick rinse off in the shower.
Oh God.
It has cooled down and the water is not as comfortable as it was over the weekend.
He is to arrive today from noon to five.
A five hour window!
Really?
He could come yesterday from seven to noon,
but my teaching partner was due to be out.
So, I put off the plumber for another day.

BTW

We were at Petsmart yesterday buying kitten food. As you know, we are keeping Cooper forever. He is okay. He is sweet and good. But, he really acts more like the girl's pet.
He still thinks he is a dog. He runs to you when you call him, responds rapidly to the word "treat" and even waited his turn yesterday for a bath.

He cried at the tub, so Miss Brunette gave him the once over.

It is strange, but he honestly does not know any better.

While, at Petsmart we noticed they were having dog and cat adoptions. We walked through
and glanced at the animals. But, it does not have the same appeal as it used to. We really used to enjoy looking at the dogs. I told Love Man, "really we have about as many animals as they had up for adoption". The thrill has left casa loco.

Got Water?

Our hot water heat is no longer producing hot water.
I would not describe the water temperature as stone cold and it is not lukewarm.
It is more or less slightly warmed, cold water.
I put in a request for service.
The girls are having me wash their hair in the sink and they will shower.
It is not that bad.
In fact, it is rather refreshing.

Bunco Babes

I went to drunco, oh I mean, bunco last night.
It must have been the lemon drops.
But, I had the most wins and won $20.
I loved it!!!!!

The Help

This is the best movie,

but you must read the book before you go.

As Blonde Girl said tearfully, "this movie will win lots of awards".

I loved it.

Things Need to Change

Things need to cool down.
I want to sit here.

Card Carrying

I just took the exam for the food handler's card.
I missed two, I guess.
I passed and am now good for three years.
I did not smile for my photo.
I didn't care.
It is done and over.

Still in Horror

Miss B and I just picked up a girl who had been walking from their high school.
She had been walking for 45 minutes in the 113 degree heat.
She still had probably another 40 - 50 minutes to go.
OMG!
We tried to figure out who she was and if we knew her.
When we figured out who she was,
we swung around and picked her up.
Her sister had and I am quoting "bailed on her".
OMG.
I am still in horror.
She had no water or hat.
OMG.
I had Miss B text her to make sure she was okay.

Another Day

It is going to be very hot and very humid for the next few days.
I am trying to stay in.
I am still walking the blonde child to school daily.
Today, Sam stopped walking and wanted to be carried the rest of the way.
I didn't really blame him.

Beloved Niece

Our Beloved Niece, is now at college, spending her first few days there. Our thoughts are with her as she begins her transition into collegiate life. Things are so different now with cell phones and texting. We have talked, texted and seen a photo of her room. Much bigger than my room at Drake!

We hope college is everything for her that it should be.

I will keep you posted on her progress.

On and On

Still visiting preschoolers,
where I am met as if I were a local celebrity.
I have one more left for today.

It is hot and humid out.
And, I am sticky.

Progress Report

So far, so good.
I am scheduling and doing my preschool home visits.
Great for the child,
a pain for me.
Sorry, but that is how I feel.

First Day

We made it through our first day and lived to tell the story. Blonde Girl thought 6th grade was fun and Miss B said high school wasn't so bad. I will take that.

We just finished a visit with Beloved Niece. She came for 6 days and we did not tell Blonde Girl she was coming. Beloved Niece walked into BG's room and BG said, "why are you here?" Too funny.

We had a nice time and went to about a gazillion stores.

The Coop

Yesterday, we took Cooper to the vet to get neutered and declawed. Did you know declawing is now considered an amputation and not every vet will do it? It is true. We did it anyway. I can only take so much destruction in the house.

Beloved Niece, who is visiting us until Sunday, went with us to deliver Cooper for his major deal.

Naturally.

He did fine and all went well with the two operations. We got him home and put him in our

giant, wire dog kennel that Miss Brunette and I drug in from the garage. He was not in it 5 minutes until he escaped through the top. We put a blanket over the cage and left him like a

sleeping bird until I returned from dropping the girls off at the movies.

When I got home. I folded the blankets and placed them on top of the cage. I proceeded to finish making dinner. All of the dogs walked by me and guess who was with them? You know it, the Coop.

I put him back and he escaped a few minutes later. Somehow he squeezed himself through the top, again. His front left pressure wrapped bandage was danging. I carried him to the garage

to get own of our e-collars ( you know the cone thing) and somehow while doing that, he

got the entire bandage off.

I am holding him, while he is moving all four legs in every direction. I phoned Love Man, "Are you almost home, I have an emergency with Cooper." He told me where he was and

he was close to our house. Cooper nearly wiggled out of my arms, but I got him calmed down by

holding his head between my fingers and rocking back and forth. Then, he wigged nearly out of his other bandage. I called Love Man again, "Please hurry!!"

We had to re-bandage him as we were not going back to the emergency clinic (remember Sam)

and put him back in his cage. I went and got the girls, we were eating dinner and guess who

walked by?

Blonde Girl put him back and Cooper proceeded to cry and wail. I told Blonde Girl, "go out and get that dog stroller out of the trunk of my car". She did and that is how Cooper spent his evening.

We I got up at 6ish, I was going to check on Cooper. He is temporarily being housed in the office.

Miss Brunette was in a chair holding him. Evidently, he managed to open the latch on the cage and beat on Miss B's door until she woke up. In all fairness, all of his stuff is in her room.

Love Man gave him his pain meds and we took off the bandages, per our instructions. I don't see how we are going to keep this one kenneled for a week. I have put the e-collar on him several times, but he wiggles completely out of that. They were also purchased for two small chihuahuas, so I know they are the correct size.

Calgon take me away. . . .

Weekend Update

Here is what we have been up to.

On Thursday, after examining Blonde Girl's foot. I had to take her to the pediatrician.


Those days of the office faxing paperwork for an x-ray are over. We went, she needed an x-ray and we headed over to the place. We got her x-ray.


By this time, I had gotten a lesson from my friend, the Chief, on broken bones 101. She texted me the name of an orthopedic doctor and I made the appointment while Blonde Thing was getting her snap shots.


But, let me back up. That morning I went to my doctor for an ear infection. I seem to be getting
them now that my nose works so well, after having my deviated septum and turbinates reduced.


I also realized that my doctor is in the same building as the lab and that Miss Brunette needed to have that done before her endocrinologist appointment the following week. Much to her chagrin,
we did that after the doctor.


I got a prescription for my ear.


While, we were walking back to the room, the pediatrician's office called and set up the appointment for Blonde Girl.


We were home briefly and then headed off to the pediatrician and imaging office. By the time
we got home everyone was exhausted. I realized I needed my prescription, barely had gas,
needed to pick up my "on hold" books at the library, etc. I went off to run some errands.


I was kind of peaceful.


Friday, we all schelped to the bone and joint place. You know the rest of the story. We had
a purchase a boot shoe for her to wear. By the way, she is totally wearing it as makes her foot feel better.


Saturday, Love Man had to go to Nevada as his mother had a very bad week and is now living
in the Memory Care section. He literally drove up, helped his brother and drove back home.
He enjoys his Sundays by the pool.


Miss Brunette woke up sick with a sore throat on Sunday. Maybe you all don't know this, but she
is never sick. Last time she missed a day of school was in 4th or 5th grade. She had a fever. I gave her acetaminophen. She slept and woke up so weak with a temperature of 102. I decided to take her to urgent care because I didn't think we should wait until Monday.


Strep throat. I was not that surprised. We dropped the prescription off and Love Man
later went and picked it up.


Today, I took Cooper to the vet and somehow all of his shots have gotten messed up. The fact
that she Hope and then he was Cooper did not help. Basically, I had to pay for some more shots.
We had purchased a package and we believed it was all going to be taken care of.


Now, let's figure all of this out for a moment. I have been to three doctors, one lab, one x-ray place, one urgent care, one vet, a shoe boot and twice to the pharmacy. Holy guacamole.

Getting the Boot

Blonde Girl, trying to show us her moves, broke her foot at the base of her pinky toe. It is not that bad. Luckily, she only has to wear a shoe boot for three weeks. Thank God, she did not get it casted. I can only imagine the smell after 8 weeks in the August/September Phoenix heat.

This is what happens when you try to bust a move after being inspired by "America's Got Talent."

They always warn you, "not to try this at home".

TTYL

We were supposed to stay home all day today. Instead, we ran around like maniacs. I needed to call some places and do some computer work. You know, the usual. Blah, blah, blah.

Later.

The Damn, Dam

See this child. She and Love Man went to Nevada to help move his mother into a smaller assisted living apartment. She had fun. Sam, naturally, came along to provide entertainment

to the residents of the assisted living and LM's mother.

I have previously reported that although the expansion bridge is beautiful from a distance.

You can not see anything or even tell you are in the bridge when you are crossing it. I am

talking about Hoover Dam.

LM and Blonde Girl, aka the child with the purple hair, drove around the dam and back and forth across the bridge. Love Man said, "stand up and look through the sun roof, and you will be able to see." Evidently they crossed the bridge several times.

I just happened to phone during this moment.

I guess as they drove back and forth, people were waving at Blonde Girl.

Blonde Girl wanted to know why people were waving at her. He said, "because you are a cool kid." She said, "no, it is because I have a cool dad." Okay, it was a moment.......

While I was talking to LM, I heard a loud chirp and he had to get off the phone.

You know what happened. They were pulled over by the police and given a lecture about the

safety of their actions. Blonde Girl started crying a bit as they were being pulled over. It took some time to get their lecture, as they had to finish driving across the bridge and pull over into the limousine area.

By the time the policeman starting talking to them, BG was crying. He said to Love Man,

"do you know this is a $300 ticket?" Love Man just said, "no, I didn't".

"Well, I am not going to charge you this time, but do not do it again."

By the time, they called me, Blonde Girl was sobbing. And I had to talk to her about peer pressure even if it was from her own father. "Listen, if someone says look out the sun roof and

see the view. You have to think is this a good idea, is this safe, will I get in trouble and then make your decision."

Honestly.

Smarty Pants

Spent the day, going through old files and organizing stuff. I am now going through my pants for

uggh, I hate to say it, the start of school. I too, do not want to go back to school. Oh God, I can not talk about it.

Anyway, they are all fine. I am still primping up my side of the closet.

TTYL.

Sun Shine

It is going to be stormy this week. We have this dog, Abby, who is terrified of thunderstorms and lightning. She hates all forms rain and such. It rained and lightninged Sunday night and she was all over us. Love Man, his patience worn out, carried to Purple Girl's room. I am she she was consoled.

If there is such a thing as reincarnation, you will want to come back as a dog or cat in our house.
Maybe a fish, but sometimes the feeding schedule is forgotten. I would go with a dog at our house.

Purple Power

I made Miss Thing comb her hair and come outside for pictures. Poor thing, it was 9:15 in the morning and she was barely awake. But, she did it. The color will wash out by the time she goes back to school. In fact, it gets lighter every time she washes her hair.

It looks really purple here in the sunshine. She loves it so much.

Veggie Tales

I ordered and paid for a phone on ebay for Blonde Girl. It was a deal and was supposed to be here by now. But, it has not arrived. I emailed the person who sold the phone and have gotten no response. So, today I called the conflict resolution center of Bill Me Later, a form of Pay Pal for you non-ebayers out there.

I love ebay. It is very nearly my favorite place to shop. And, the reason is you can get exactly what you want - you just have to know what it exactly is. When I spoke with the representative over the phone, I had to answer some questions so he knew who I was.

My name, address and telephone number were the easy questions. Then, he wanted to know the last five numbers of my pay pal account. That was difficult as I shred everything and just as I was looking it up on pay pal account, my computer went dead. I think there was server trouble because Love Man's lap top did the same. I was able to get that for him after fiddling with my computer for a bit.

Then he said, "what was your last purchase?"
"Ummm, this is embarrassing." Pause. "It was a rectangular, green brush for celery."
He laughed.

Omg, let's just scream "I am a freak".

Here is the deal. Many years ago my mother bought me the carrot, mushroom, potato and corn brushes. They were sold out of the celery ones. Well, these brushes are FABULOUS. Friends
that use them wonder where I got them. I have always wanted a celery brush. So, one day I was using the carrot brush and I thought, "I can get this on ebay. I just have to be able to describe it as a rectangular green celery brush." Voila. Soon it will be mine. But, look at the
picture. Evidently there is also an asparagus brush.

Interesting.

Casa Loco

I can not show you the picture, because as usual, I am out of fresh batteries and only the fresh batteries will work in my camera. I did take photos of this event, but they are on my phone.

Here is the deal. Yesterday, Blonde Girl got purple streaks put in her hair. Yes, purple streaks and they are all over her head. We had them done professionally as I did not want to screw up her hair. We also cut her hair before we went, so that is all taken care of. Miss B and I cut
it across the bottom and cut off a few inches. We can cut straight and that is it. Donna said we did an awesome job. She snipped the ends to give it a better edge as she said her scissors were probably better. Better? I am sure, as my good hair cutting scissors were shamelessly used by Love Man to cut tags and these are from the Dollar Tree.

Luckily, because she is Blonde Girl, they did not have to bleach her hair first. The colorful person who did her hair, was able to put the purple on her hair without bleaching it. This will last about a month and the day before school starts, I will have her shampoo her hair with this marvelous chlorine out shampoo that they sell at the Walgreen's. You can get suspended from elementary school for alternative colored hair.

Oh, she LOVES it and thinks she is fabulous. Funny thing is that is makes her blonde hair look dark. She is to shampoo it tonight and I am sure that will lighten up the blonde a bit. I like it,
but feel it makes her hair look too dark. Whatever.

Sad News

We just returned from Henderson, Nevada.
Love Man's father died on Friday morning.
We were originally leaving Friday morning,
but a call from Love Man's brother prompted us to leave on Thursday.
The girls were in Phoenix with a college student,
who is very nice.
It is sad,
but not entirely unexpected.
Love Man's mother is sad but doing okay.
Love Man is doing fine as well.

Taco Seasoning Recipe

We made this one day after realizing that we were out of taco seasoning.
We will NEVER buy the packets again.
It is healthier and better.



Taco Seasoning I Recipe - Allrecipes.com:

Ingredients

1 tablespoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon black pepper

Directions

In a small bowl, mix together chili powder, garlic powder,
onion powder, red pepper flakes, oregano, paprika, cumin,
salt and pepper. Store in an airtight container."

Civic Duty

Miss Brunette and I are in this charity for mother's and daughters, NCL. We like it. We spent most of Saturday working at the Back to School Clothing Drive. We worked like dogs.

Today, we are picking up bagels and taking them to this dining hall. Einstein Bagels gives them to the hall for free at the end of the day and our volunteers deliver them.

We are also working again this week on the Back to School Clothing Drive.

It is like this: Miss B must have 24 service hours for confirmation at church, a minimum of 10 hours for NCL and 10 worship notes in each confirmation year. We get busy and get it done so we don't have to stress about it during the school year. We are almost done.

Blonde Girl isn't old enough to be in NCL. But, she does have to do community service hours
as part of her Life Guard Discovery program. She will finish them this week as well.

Girl Friday

On Friday, I spent the mroning at jury duty. I did not get called up. No one did. But, I did get the entire year's worth of lesson plans updated and done. I worked on them for 4 hours, while
listening to a movie and texting Love Man, Amy and Miss G. It was fun.

I also drank Coke Zero in the twenty-ounce bottles and ate monster cookies. Kind of like being on holiday, really. I also ate an apple and chips. I was going to eat my sandwich, but I changed my mind.

When I got home, LM and girls were getting in the car for the "cheapie do" lunch special at our local pizza place. It is a large slice of pizza and a drink for $2.

I went with them, naturally. I did not want to be rude.

"You sent me twenty-five texts," was Love Man's comment.
It seems to me that he replied to all of them.

Oh well.

Summer Movies

We have seen a ton of movies. Here's our take of the latest flicks:

"Transformers" - Love Man did not love it, but the girls did.

"Judy Moody, Another Bummer Summer" - Blonde Girl thought it was great. I went to be nice.

"Super 8" - OMG, parts of it made me job. LM and I both liked it.

"Midnight in Paris" - I liked it a lot. I did not love it. I think the role was too meaty for Owen Wilson.

"Kung Fu Panda II" - Both girls loved it.

"Cars 2" - Both girls thought it was great.

Next up is "Monte Carlo". The girls are huge fans of Selena Gomez. OMG, I remember her from "Barney". LMOL.

The Great Dust Storm

I did not really think that we were having the dust storm of the century. I heard the wind and the rain. Rain storms are very dramatic here. We really don't have the gentle, soft rains of my youth. I was in bed. It was very dark so I saw nothing. I don't think we got it as bad as other neighborhoods.

But, this morning I was shocked at the state of the patio and pool. Miss B wiped down the
patio furniture. I later did it again. I swept this fine silt from the patio floor and chased it
away with buckets of water. I wash my patio like they do in ole Mexico!

The floor is still a mess and I need to do the entry of the house.

The play yard was pretty much a wreck. I had to clean the furniture out there and wash down my potting bench. I have a lot of palm fronds needing to be picked up. I am making the girls do that tomorrow.

Yes, I do make the girls do work around the house. They do not love to do it, but I don't think it hurts them. They worked for about three hours today, which is unusual. I bought pizza to
thank them. I would still be working if they weren't made to help.

We had a quiet afternoon. Maybe they laid low to avoid being put to work......

I Take the Fifth

We are a tad exhausted from the 4th of July extravaganza. We went to the City of Peoria's 4th of July Spectacular. It was nice. Love Man had VIP tickets so we watched the fireworks from a suite that is used for the press box when the Seattle Mariners or the San Diego Padres have spring training games. It was fun. But, a real pain getting out of the parking lot. Our family and thousands of other people left at the same time.

We are all tired this morning. Love Man was late leaving for work. Miss B is still in bed. Blonde thing pulled herself together to make it to swim team. Me, I am already anticipating a nice 44 ounce diet Dr. Pepper from the Circle K. The best deal in town for 86 cents, including tax.

TTYL.

Monster Cookies

We made these cookies yesterday. They are great. I have never made monster cookies before. In fact, as I was making them, it occurred to me that they are gluten-free. My friend, Amy, has celiac disease and was thrilled to have a real cookie after all of these years.

Paula Deen's Monster Cookies Recipe - Food.com - 270159:

3 eggs
1 1/4 cups packed light brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
12 ounces creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup multi-colored chocolate candy
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/4 cup raisins (optional)
2 teaspoons baking soda
4 1/2 cups quick-cooking oatmeal (not instant)

Directions:

1Preheat the oven to 350°F Line cookie sheets with parchment paper or nonstick baking mats. 2 In a very large mixing bowl, combine the eggs and sugars. Mix well. Add the salt, vanilla, peanut butter, and butter. Mix well. Stir in the chocolate candies, chocolate chips, raisins, if using, baking soda, and oatmeal. Drop by tablespoons 2 inches apart onto the prepared cookie sheets. 3 Bake for 8 to 10 minutes. Do not over bake. Let stand for about 3 minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool. When cool, store in large resealable plastic bags.

Swimming Up the Wrong Stream

Love Man and I were at the swim meet the other night.

There was this guy who was watching his kids compete.

He was wearing khaki shorts that had an Iowa Hawkeye logo on them.

Being former Iowans that can not stop talking to other former Iowans,

we struck up a conversation with him.

As he was leaving, he asked Love Man "are you here watching your Grandchildren?"

I laughed so hard I had to walk away.

Grandchildren!

Love Man replied, "no, I am hear watching my twelve-year-old daughter."

LMOL.

Love Man has yet to recover.

The Scoop

We are doing fine. Love Man and I hiked this morning. It was a tad hot, but good. Then, I went with him to get his hair cut. Oh, have I mentioned he works four ten hour days. It is really more like four twelves. He loves it. Every Friday is the 4th of July........

Cooper is fine. Does not know his name. But, we are all confused and call him a her or Hope or Cooper.

A Change

Blonde Girl was tired of the green template,
so we changed it.
It did not take us long to pick this one.
"This looks like you, Mom."
And the rest is history.

Ta Da!!

Hope the girl kitty is now Cooper the tom-cat.

We are all adjusting to this new revelation.

And, it looks like Cooper is here to stay.

And, no I am not an animal hoarder!

News Flash!

Just returned from vet examination and shots,
Hope is not a girl but a boy!
Despite many people and Banfield vets weighing in.
Hope is a boy.
We are thinking of a new name after the shock wears off.
It is a good think my mother did not start to make the stocking!!

Here are some of our thoughts:
Andre
Austin or Austen
Spanky
Arnie
Wags

We are thinking of an "A" name.
Abby.
Sam and Sadie.

I wish I still had my baby book of names.
I should look and see if I still have it.

Adventures in Babysitting

Miss Brunette was babysitting a couple of nights ago for a new family.
They have a 15 month old boy.
She got the job based on a recommendation from someone we know in then neighborhood.
She wasn't there but twenty minutes when my cell phone rang.
"Mom, I took Johnny outside to play and we are locked out."

Oh God.

She was a little concerned.
I told her to calmly call the mom,
immediately before she got to far down the road,
and tell her Johnny is fine,
but they were locked out.

Miss B was concerned they would never have her to babysit again.

Evidently this has happened for the last two days.
The mom was still in the hood and drove back to the house to let her in.
It was a good thing she had her cell phone in her pocket.
She would have had to yell forever for help.
The citizens of Phoenix are sitting in their air conditioned houses.

Hopefully they called a locksmith and fixed the problem.

Another Sunny Day

I think today the high is going to be 113 degrees.
We are in most afternoons,
which is the joy of being a preschool teacher.

I had a rocking time last night at bunco.
It is always good for a laugh.
We had chicken Cesear salad and angel food cake with strawberry sauce,
which is always nice on a hot evening.

Hope is running around like a maniac.
She and the dogs seem to be getting along.
She attacked Abby today,
so now I think Abby is afraid of her.

TTYL.

Ta Daaaa

It is out.

I have called around to find the lowest price.

Target is the big winner at $17.

"I can't believe haven't gone to buy the book yet," said Blonde Girl.

It is true.

I usually go and pick it up as soon as I drop one or both at swim team.

I have been on a reading rampage and should do ironing before I get all consumed with another book.

Summer Reading

I love to read during the summer when I have a bit of time.

It beats watching the reruns on television.

Here are my summer picks:

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

Joy in the Morning by Betty Smith, a oldie but great!

The Shell Seekers by Rosamund Pilcher - another old one! It is wonderful.

The Pioneer Woman Black Heels to Tractor Wheels - by Ree Drummond. Originally in excerpts on her Pioneer Woman blog.

The Jane Austen Book Club by Karen Joy Fowler

And, the latest Janet Evanovich book is out on Tuesday. Tuesday!!!!!!!