And then there was (different) light...

I took on a minor home improvement project on Monday. I had been considering pendant lights over the bar area of the kitchen. Although the idea of wire cutting and dry wall didn't dissuade me...it did make me hesitate. Then I discovered these nifty kits at Lowe's that convert a canister light to a pendant light. The electrical work was as simple as screwing in a light bulb...literally. So while Steve was at work, and with Emily's assistance to save me extra trips up and down the ladder, I got the two lights changed out. So pleased with the look!

A #2 pencil and a dream...

"A #2 pencil and a dream can take you anywhere." ~ Joyce A. Meyers

Writing instruments are serious business for some people. It's no surprise that there are so many types. Your first choice is pen or pencil. For the pen lovers you've got ballpoint, rollerball, felt and even gel. Points come in fine, calligraphy, medium, thick. There are the "nice" pens, with refills, that business-types carry in the inside-breast pocket of their suit jackets. Retractable or capped. And colors! Good grief, so many colors! Do you remember when pens were red, black or blue? Back when the BIC 4-color retractable pen gave you the option of green?! It was so avant-garde! Now there are even ergonomic and "environmentally preferable" selections. I am still in search of that perfect pen that I just can't live without. I'd like to use that as an excuse for why my handwriting is so poor. However, I know that it's just because I didn't listen to my mom when she told me to slow down and write more neatly. (Ironically I now hear the same message, but in my own voice, being told to my oldest daughter.)

The science and number types still seem to prefer pencils...usually mechanical. My father, a nuclear engineer, used a pocket protector until the day he retired...always with mechanical pencils and may be one ball-point retractable pen in case of a needed signature. Although my search for the perfect pen continues, I do love myself a good old-fashioned #2 pencil. I find the lead to be sturdier than the thin point of a mechanical. And graphite on paper...it's classic. I have such an affinity for pencils that I'm regularly purchasing cute holiday-themed or quirky-designed pencils. They make their way into just about every birthday or holiday treat bag I've made for the kids.

That's why the investment in an electric pencil sharpener has brought me so much joy. When the girls first started school, I got a battery operated pencil sharpener. What a waste. It did a miserable job of providing that perfect point. It was so frustrating to pull a pencil out of the cup to find it with a broken point or never sharpened. Now...with this simple little, tried and true invention...I too have the perfect writing implement always on hand.

Candy Smackdown

In the spirit of Halloween, our local newspaper (yes, we still get the newspaper) recently had a Candy Smackdown. Set up like a NCAA Basketball bracket, you worked your way from 64 candies down to the champion. We had a lot of fun making our "picks". Once we got down to the Elite Eight, we made it count with a full-fledged taste test. This involved a trip to our local candy store, Sweeties, that carries all the old time favorites. My mom even got in on the fun as our official tie-breaker. And the winner at our house?



Twix...winning 4 to 1 in the championship round (Steve picked Butterfinger). It must have been the caramel and chocolate deliciousness combined with the cookie crunch. Yum!

A turtle's life for him...

I know you don't hear much about him, but our box turtle, Dash is still around. Steve calls him the most useless of pets...but he really is kind of cool. He's quite a novelty with young visitors. Plus, he's starting to show his personality. Like today I noticed him poking out of his shell and log...as if waiting for dinner. It was kind of cute...in his own unobtrusive kind of way.



And you'd be surprised by what a noisy eater he is.

Kevin is a girl!

Mom & Dad's very own "Kevin" (from the movie Up). This is as close as I thought I could get inside the pool screen without frightening her away...she wasn't easily spooked.

Another season comes to a close...

3,636. That is how many boxes of Girl Scout cookies have crossed the threshold of our garage as they've been distributed to Girl Scouts, neighbors, friends and cookie booths. All part of being a G.S. Cookie Mom.

Unexpected visitors

Just a typical afternoon in the neighborhood. These hot air balloons just made quite a stir in our neighborhood. With their unique "wooosh" sounds, they were heard before they were seen.



Then they got closer...



and closer...



until it looked like the second one wasn't going to clear our single-story roof.



and they were close enough we could visit with them.



The kids were preparing a strategy to catch them...



then they started to get some lift...



and they were up and on their way again.

Running is over rated...unless I'm being chased by something frightening

I wish I loved to run. I can totally see the appeal of it being a really convenient mode of exercise. All you need are your running shoes, some shorts, a tee and a good sports bra and off you go. But the jarring on my joints and the burn in my lungs...ugh.

I use to run. I think I might have even liked to run at one time. I liked it enough that I joined cross-country and track in high school. Then I stepped into a hole while doing wind sprints on the football field and messed up my knee. An orthopedic suggested I take up a "non-impact sport" like swimming. This was the beginning of the end of my running career...but I did have a lot of fun on the swim team. In my twenties I dated a couple guys that were serious runners so I laced up my running shoes and tailed along...begrudgingly. It was a total ruse to spend time with the cute guys. I can admit that now that I've married my soul-mate, a handsome and charming non-runner.

I do need a convenient mode of exercise though. It has become painfully obvious that exercise is going to be the only way I can continue to enjoy the consumption of fine foods and craft beers while maintaining the ability to fit into my favorite jeans. This is the depressing truth of a 40-something year old metabolism. Since the gym membership isn't working -- although I love working out, with a full time job that involves 90 minutes of round-trip travel, I hate schlepping to the gym to be away from the family even longer -- an exercise routine that I can fit into little windows of free time from home will be ideal.

So this week I started a walking routine that was intertwined with little bursts of speed that could be mistaken for a jog. I'm not sure I will ever love to run...but who knows, may be I'll be able to build up enough endurance to outrun something frightening that might be chasing me.

Five days worth of stuff wrapped into two

We just wrapped up our first weekend with Sonoran Desert fall-like weather and, boy, did we pack it full.

Friday night we went to our District's rivalry high schools football game. I think this was the first high school football game I've attended in, oh, twenty three years? It was definitely the first high school football game ever for our two girls. The weather was perfect, the moon was full, we sat with fun friends (even if they were cheering for the other team) and our team won!

Saturday morning we were up early for Emily's second basketball game (the team won and she scored a basket) and Meg's ballet class.

While Megan and I got some chores done around the house, Steve and Emily headed out to the Casa Grande Municipal Airport for a fly-in. It was a proud moment for Steve when Emily returned home to excitedly announce, "We got to go inside a B-17!"




Saturday night, Steve participated in a Boys & Girls Club charity poker game while the girls and I hung out at our church for an outdoor feature presentation of Disney Pixar's "Up." Another wonderful evening under the stars with a harvest moon, more friends and real movie popcorn!

Today I took the girls to see the Broadway production of "Disney's Beauty and The Beast." The sets, costumes and musical performances were mesmerizing for all three of us girls, age six to forty-one.

Now it's time to pour a glass of wine, put my feet up and watch some Sunday night football.

Dirt farming

As long as I can remember, my father, a nuclear engineer by trade, always had a garden. In Schenectady it was a big garden with a large variety of vegetables...and tending to it was a family affair. In the suburbs of California, the yard space was limited so he set aside a spot for a few tomato plants but also nurtured the citrus and persimmon trees that he inherited with the home. I remember him talking about retiring to be a "dirt farmer." But even before retirement it was always his hobby. I think he transplanted every Easter lily we ever had into the yard.

He did achieve his retirement goal when mom and he settled into their current home in Florida. It has a big lot that he enjoyed puttering around in. Nurturing flower beds, transplanting more Easter lilies and learning what would thrive in his new tropical home.

That desire to sow and cultivate plants has been passed along to me. When we planned out the landscaping for our backyard 8 years ago, I had them set aside a small plot of dirt for a garden. The first year or two I grew some tomato plants and experimented with what would thrive in my new desert home. But eventually I got busy with a young family and a career.

This year, with the girls being old enough to help, we started it up again. We've got a few tomato plants, a chili pepper, red pepper, basil and yellow squash (and yes, a few weeds). Emily also planted her cabbage from a 3rd grade project. It's been a fun experience with the girls to learn how vegetables are actually grown and we certainly enjoy the tasty crop we've had so far.

Unfortunately my father's health is failing now so he doesn't get to putter around in his own back yard anymore. So to honor him, the dirt farmer, we have officially named our own "PopPop's Garden."

When life hands you lemons...

We're definitely making lemonade at our house. And chicken picatta, lemon bars, lemon poppy-seed pound cake, etc. My poor family will soon be all puckered out. This little tree produces more lemons than we can ever consume so if you could use a couple, or even a bushel, just let me know.

♪ 169 cases of cookies in the garage...

...169 cases of cookies. Take one down, pass it around, 168 cases of cookies in the garage. ♫



It's Girl Scout Cookie season in AZ again...and guess who's the troop cookie mom again!?

♪ On a bicycle built for two ♫

I finally decided what to do with some of my birthday money (thanks Mom, Dad & Carol)! Now that Em is an experienced bike rider, we wanted to get out for some longer rides but Megan isn't quite ready to keep up. That's when I came across this trailer-bike! It hooks on under the seat of the adult's bike (with a quick release so we can switch between bikes easily) making a pint-sized tandem bike! Megan loves it...laughing the whole ride. And Emily loves going on longer, adventurous bike rides outside of the neighborhood.




We're sure to have a great time riding our bikes this spring.

Today's progress..

Stripe is painted, some of the vinyl polka dots have been added and we've moved some things back in.




Oh, and someone is getting very excited.

Today's lessons learned

Everyday of my life brings some new piece of information or lesson learned. Today's task of removing a wallpaper border taught me the following things...

1) A wallpaper adhesive stripper solvent is a must.

2) Another must is a little gadget called the "Paper Tiger". It perforates the wallpaper so #1 can soak into the adhesive. Well worth the investment of $8 plus the gas and time it took to return to Home Depot to purchase it.

3) Never...ever...ever put up wallpaper or a border if there is even the remote possibility that you'll ever need to remove it.

Preempted by the weekend

I know I said I'd be doing some reviews of our New York trip. I still intend to but this weekend kept us busy. Saturday we caught the Pixar movie, Up. Great story, touching messages and fun for all ages. I definitely recommend taking the entire family. Then we had an invite for dinner and swimming with friends, so that's where we were for the evening. Then Sunday was church, taking GrampAl out for his birthday lunch, more swimming and working on the eight paper mache' planets below (I'll explain that more once they are further along in the process...but for you die-hard astronomers...someone else has one of the larger planets which will be either Venus or Saturn. After some discussion, it was also decided to include Pluto...the miniature non-planet in the foreground).

I did post some pictures from our NY trip out on Facebook finally so if you follow us there...take a peek.

A bunny, some sparkle and lots of spunk

Spring is definitely a busy time of year for these Desert Doers. Looking at our calendar we seem to have stuff going on over the weekends well into May. It probably has a lot to do with the fantastic weather we have in the spring and everyone planning things before going into hibernation for the summer.

This past weekend was no exception. The weekend started out with the annual neighborhood Easter egg hunt...including a visit from "the" bunny himself. Prior to the event, Meg had convinced herself she'd say hi to the bunny...but once she actually got there she settled for a wave from a safe distance instead.



That afternoon Em and I painted pottery with the Brownie troop while Steve and Meg visited GrampAl and went shopping for a birthday present for a party on Sunday which turned out to be the highlight of the weekend.

The daughter of Steve's friend of 20+ years was turning 4. Her parents planned quite the party involving a pink limo ride, hair dos, sparkle and a runway show. The girls had a great time and Em even made some new puppy friends, Luke and Leah.

Trains and Peacemakers

Phoenix has been the 5th largest city in the nation for some time now. And that is just Phoenix proper. It does not include all the surrounding cities like Mesa, Tempe, Scottsdale or even our very own fine township for that matter. Despite it’s size, Phoenix has been a little slow in the area of mass transportation. All due respect, they’ve done a fantastic job with other aspects of the infrastructure, but mass transportation has been lacking. And it’s not entirely the fault of the officials. It’s a tough metropolitan area in that it is so spread out. We’ve got a few city centrals. There is the “official” downtown Phoenix area, downtown Scottsdale, and Camelback corridor. Then the high tech area is more central to Tempe/Chandler. And when they moved the football stadium out to the West side…well that really distributed the metro area even more.

But alas, a light rail system is finally opening in the Phoenix Metro area. It is in no way convenient to the Desert Doer’s way of life, but I’m sure some lucky folks will get to partake in the tax payer's dollar. Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure we’ll be able to use the service for an occasional baseball game or Tempe event, but it does not help us in our weekday commute.

Regardless, we did take part in the grand festivities that were held in downtown Tempe. There were a lot of activites for the kids, free rail rides and exhibits. But the big draw for us was one of our favorite local bands, Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers. Roger fronted another local band, The Refreshments. He and the boys played an hour and a half set complete with all of our favorites. This marked Megan’s first concert, since Emily has already attended a concert a couple years ago. The festivities were capped off with fireworks.


We then went out for a great Italian dinner with friends that met us for the show, Clint and Debbie. It was a perfect afternoon and evening.

Weekend Update

This weekend was one of those delightful weekends that we accomplished a lot, had a great time doing it and surprisingly it didn’t leave us with that overwhelmed feeling that requires an additional two days to recover from.

Friday evening we kicked off the weekend with Michelle, Woody, their three girls and a sushi dinner. The young ladies enjoyed a little independence at their end of the sushi belt while we enjoyed some adult conversation down at our end. A great time was had by all and we look forward to our next outing.

Saturday we got a lot of chores done around the house, including draining the pool for a fresh start refill. Here’s a picture of the girls playing around in the empty pool.


Saturday evening Steve and I enjoyed a dinner and a movie double date with Jim and Jill. Great dinner conversation with a few of my favorite people followed by 100 minutes of Daniel Craig as 007 on the big screen. What more could a girl ask for?

Emily spent Sunday playing with a few neighbors, Steve got to enjoy the Cardinals win over the Seahawks while Megan and I attended the birthday party of one of her "bestest" friends. Tonight we’re all relaxing with some early baths, more football, reading and blogging. Bliss.

Little People

This afternoon was spent overhauling the playroom. Cleaning, reorganizing, purging. It is one of those projects that provide a feeling of accomplishment when you are all done. Although I have to admit to it being a little bittersweet. You see Megan declared that these guys right here…





…are for babies. I’m happy to clear some of the space out of the closet. We have the Fisher-Price Little People farm, zoo, airport, school bus and all the people and animals that go with them. So packing them up opened up a lot of space. But I have to admit to being a little sad because these are my favorite toddler toys. You probably remember their predecessors from when we were young. The people were made out of wood back then and fit into the holes made just for them. Now they are plastic and probably drenched in lead paint. But the detail is darling. The furry beard on the goat. The flower lei and flip-flops on the airport’s tourist. The burp cloth over the mom’s shoulder. Too cute. Emily got the farm for her first birthday and we added on from there. I don’t remember Megan being as enamored with them as Emily, or me for that matter, but we’ve kept them around all this time.

I’m not sure I’m ready to part with these just yet. May be I can pack them up and hide them away somewhere so that I can play with them when a toddler happens to visit us again.