photo album; sky's visit

 
 
 
 

Sky's here!

We've had a busy few days with Sky here from NYC. He's enjoying the fresh air, we are enjoying seeing him. Its nice that Sage was here recently, and now Sky, so it helps Arizona feel more like home all the time. Photos to follow when I figure out how to make them appear.

One year later...

A year ago Mom died. It seems like it was much longer than that, most days. I told my friend Chris that I was surprised at how much it still hurts sometimes. She said that after her Mom and Dad's deaths she found that it still hurt just as bad but not as often for quite a while. That helped me to know I'm not just being a crybaby. Losing Dad was a bit different, Mom was still here, the house was still "ours", the loss didn't feel as complete. Anyway, I keep plugging along, and every once in a while have myself a good cry. Today feels like it might be one of those days. I remain very proud of all that my brother and sisters did to make Mom's final wishes happen. When I tell people about how we managed all that they are very touched and tell me I must have an amazing family. I agree. So Eunice, Corrine, Jer and Phyl--thanks. We did good.

Disneyfied

AJ, Viv and I took the train out to Anaheim for 2.5 days of endless laughing and walking. We had a great time! Dave stayed home to take care of pets, so the kids and I were on our own. We had great fun at Disneyland, esp since "its a small world" is closed for "remodeling". Word has it that it was deemed polictically incorrect and may be permanently closed. YIPEE! Man, I hate that song.

We spent a great afternoon in California Adventure, a new Disney venture right next to Disneyland. The coasters are awesome and we all agreed our faces literally hurt from laughing so much. The Best Spring Break Ever, as AJ says.

You call this a Caesar Salad?!?

I had some time off work, so we took a road trip to Prescott then on to Scottsdale/Phoenix. Prescott is a nice smaller town with a great art gallery. If you're ever in the area its called VanGogh's Ear.

We went to a ballgame in Scottsdale...the Giants vs Rockies. The Rockies won big time. It was Spring Training, so the stadium was small, the atmosphere fun, the weather perfect. The kids had fun getting autographs and Dave and I had fun just hanging out at the game.

We went to a GREAT Italian restraunt in Scottsdale, and there was an older couple behind us who were both busy being picky. Nothing was right, and they were quite vocal with the complaints. The man's napkin was too rough. Really. The lady wanted to eat, but wasn't "all that hungry", so she listed off a bunch of stuff she doesn't like and the waiter tried to meet that list of demands, while not exceeding the quantity of food she had in mind. Then the wine wasn't exactly right, and even though they had the bottle right on the table the guy kept yelling for the waiter to pour him more. The clincher was that the guy had ordered a chicken caesar salad, and they brought it to him without chicken. He complained loudly and they took it back and added the chicken. However, for the rest of the meal, we all heard "They just threw some chicken on the old salad, this isn't a new salad!" "They call this a Chicken Caesar Salad? They didn't even mix it in. This is just a salad with chicken on top!" Then he'd settle down for a minute, but just when we got lulled into thinking he was satisfied, he'd start up again...."YOU CALL THIS A CHICKEN CAESAR SALAD? ITS JUST A SALAD WITH CHICKEN ON THE TOP!" .... "They just threw some chicken on the old salad!" .... strong>"YOU CALL THIS A CHICKEN CAESAR SALAD?!?"<strong> By the time this had happened 3 or 4 times Viv and I started getting the giggles about it. AJ and Dave were not as close to the action, so they were missing some of it, but when we started laughing, they started listening. It kept on the whole time we were there. But the food was great and we had a good time. So that was Scottsdale. Now its back to work again tomorrow.

R.I.P. Connie Williams

Well, the day came when my friend Connie in Raton lost her battle against cancer. She was diagnosed 2 days before we left Raton, and it was truly hard to say goodbye to her. Other people, I knew I could probably see again, but I knew I was really saying Goodbye to Connie. She has 3 grown kids and several grandchildren, and I hope they can cope with the loss of her presence. They were all very tight-knit, so it will be hard for them.

Sometimes it feels like I've yet to make any real friends here, but I know that there are lots of people at work who care about me. They gave me hugs when I told them about Connie and that was very helpful. The thing about Flagstaff is...you know you're in Flag when someone offers to help you find something at Home Depot and they don't even work there...That's Flag. I stole that from an email circulating at work. Another good one...you spend an hour on the phone talking to someone and it was a wrong number to begin with. Its true. Its Flagstaff. Where else can you clothes for your doggie and de-icer for your bird bath at the local pet store? Yes, de-icer. Can't figure out what its got in it that would be safe for the birds AND keep ice at bay. And despite the mega-snow this winter, lots of people still ride their bikes to work. I mean bicycles, not motorcycles. How they manage it is beyond me.

What do you mean, its February already?

Ok, misplaced December and January. Probably too busy shoveling snow! The kids have not had school on a Monday since before Christmas. There has been a weekend storm every Sunday night! So, we have broken one shovel and seriously damaged another. Was going to get a new one, but we got about a foot of snow last night, so there went that plan!

We did get a new cat. Actually we got two. The first one was psycho. She was afraid of ceiling fans and hid behind the washer for 12 hours at a time. She got returned to the shelter. Poor thing. But the second time, we lucked out. We got a kitten and named her Meko. She is a ferocious, loving, playful thing who has won us all over. She can purr louder than any cat I've met. In fact, her nickname is the Purrinator. Hopefully a photo will attach, but you know how I am about that.

Other than cold and snowy, we are all fine here and enjoying our new hometown.