What happened to March?

A quick catchup before the big post:

I'm exhausted just thinking about all the happenings around here in the last few months. It is April 14th and my brain is screaming that it must be at least June!

Three weeks ago we made another trip to Arizona, our second one this year. The purpose of the last trip was to get my brother-and-sister-in-law's home ready to sell so they can relocate here. The little town of Ajo is quaint and quiet, but it is also a two hour drive to get medical care other than the GP variety. With advancing age and some pretty serious health problems the timing seemed to be right. I spent a week prepping the house to be put on the market. Thanks to the wonderful ladies of SIL's church it was ready to have a "FOR SALE" sign placed in the yard. I will freely admit that I was running on empty by the time we boarded the plane and headed for home on the seventh day.

(Yes, that is a cat on my blog. Sam lives in AZ and is the only cat in the entire world that I would allow here. She is a cranky 14-year-old cat whose sedentary life was turned to chaos when I stepped in the door and started dismantling her home. I also slept on her bed and wouldn't let her in, even at 4 am as she cried at the door. By the end of the week we had made peace and actually shared some nice kitty moments.)

My poor suitcases didn't even get put back in the closet. Our long-awaited trip to Washington DC with Athena and Eris and the gang was only five days away! Mike and the girls had been working on this educational experience for months. Reservations for hotels, tours, cars and shuttles were set. We had been holding regular planning meetings for months and Eris had prepared us with a 90 minute history of the United States. It seemed like a dream when all eleven of us boarded that airplane and headed east for what turned out to be the best trip EVER! We returned home three days ago and each one of us is still working through the exhilaration and exhaustion.

My goal is to have another post and photos up in the next few days.

Quilt report: finished one! That's right! Bound and ready for auction at a church dinner this coming Saturday! It felt so good that I might just do another one.

Dimple report: Have been off medication for four weeks. The unpleasant side effects are now gone, which means that I am sleeping at night. Surgery is scheduled for the first week of May, a procedure that hopefully will be simple and easy. It's done as an outpatient but requires an entire day at the hospital. I'll just be glad when it's over because that means summer is here and it's time to play, slathered in sunscreen of course!

New wheels: I now have a new-t0-me mountain bike! Trail riding is much harder than on pavement, also muddier! Doubtful that I'll ever be a true mountain biker but so far I have really enjoyed coming home with mud up my back!

Coinage was counted before our DC trip. Unfortunately, the total for the last eight months was a paltry $84. Bicycling has really taken a toll on the numismatizing.

$3.78

(Apologies for the random spacing. I'm out of practice at blogging!)

The Happiest Place on Earth

Three days in Disneyland and California Adventure was everything we had anticipated, and more. It didn't take long for the contagious excitement of the park to affect all of us.

Planning had taken months, dates were finally set and reservations made. Four vehicles filled with fifteen excited kids, ages one year through 71 headed southwest. This would be an extra special holiday because four birthdays were being celebrated.

The Prince (age 1) was content to watch all the happenings from his stroller. He was especially enamored by the beautiful princesses.

Mr. Eris, Jr. (12) is a little more reserved but really enjoyed his time with Bubba (age 17).

The Princess (age 3) took it all in as fast as she could. She is an expert on fairies and princesses and loved meeting all of them.

Jubee (age 14) did it all! She loved the rides and was a super help with the little ones. That grin was on her face the entire time.

Little Ms. (nearly 8) is the fearless one of the group and had carefully measured her height to make sure she could ride all of the scariest rides. And she did!

Bubba gave his tearful mother a hug after only a few hours and thanked her for bringing him. He hauled Littlest around on his shoulders much of the time and loved every second there.

Littlest Ms. , age 5, was wide-eyed from the moment we first entered the park. I believe she was the perfect age and the look of wonderment on her face the entire time was a joy to watch. The above photo was taken at the Princess Lunch where they read a Royal Decree in her honor for her birthday!

Having my entire family together, sharing laughter and making memories is what makes my life complete. Earlier this evening they were all here at our home eating belated birthday cakes and reliving the fun of last weekend. Five cameras had been busy last weekend preserving history. Shutters tripped nearly 1,100 times. The scrapbook is now complete and will sit on the coffee table for months where little hands as well as big hands will open it each time they visit. The smiles on the faces in the photos will bring new smiles as the good times are remembered again and again.

I love you all!

To see more smiles and fun, CLICK HERE.

$.36 found at Disneyland

.06 in Euros found in Death Valley National Park

(numismatising while on vacation is tough work)

Zoo Redo

Twenty years ago. That is the last time that I visited our State Zoo. Seeing wild animals in cages pacing back and forth or sleeping in a corner is not my favorite activity. It's usually hot, stinky and crowded with a million school kids putting their grimy hand prints all over the glass window and ignoring the "Please Don't Tap" signs.

In 1990 I took Athena, Eris and three nieces. Yesterday I spent the afternoon with Littlest Ms. The day was perfect. Eighty degrees, hardly any other visitors and an almost-5-year-old who had never been to a zoo. She had no idea where we were headed so the surprise made it even better.


The place has made some great changes but much is still the same. The little baby elephant was adorable. The giraffes were still very tall, the apes were still sitting in the corner looking bored, snakes slept under red lights and the beautiful tigers paced back and forth in their outdoor garden. We heard a peacock honk (weird) and saw a tangle of bats in a tree that looked like a bunch of bananas. The camel with the slumpy hump was funny. Littlest said her favorite animal was the orangutan, the orange one.

We rode the same train yesterday that I rode so long ago with the girls and that I rode as a child with my parents. I took pictures of her in the same prairie dog holes. She drank out of the same lion head fountain that I remember from when I was a child.

I'm still not a fan of zoos and probably won't return for another 20 years, maybe at that time with great-grandchildren in tow.


But until that time I will be content to browse my scrapbooks.

For the rest of the story, CLICK.

$3.31

$1.86
$2.84

Night Visions

Walk. Walk. Walk. Then walk some more. Yesterday morning we spent 2 1/2 hours touring the gentle hills and gardens of Butchart Gardens in Victoria. After seeing them in full splendor in September of 2008 we were a little disappointed. The gardens were beautiful as expected but the summer flowers were freshly planted and not fully blooming yet. Fifty five acres of carefully manicured botanical gardens and lawns were filled with people from all over the world.

The afternoon found me walking for another hour on the clean and friendly cobblestone streets of the town.

After a late supper we returned to the Gardens to see them in the evening light. I have bored you all in the past with the qualities of light but let me just say that the 2 hours we spent at dusk and after dark were awesome! There are lights placed around the gardens that give it almost a surreal atmosphere. Topiary sculptures that were not obvious during the day suddenly popped out under spotlights. A large fountain that I had missed on our first trip was suddenly alive with color. I was spellbound and could have stayed for hours.

Today has found us in the Olympic city of Vancouver. They have cool totem poles here but in all honesty, their Olympic Cauldron doesn't hold a candle to ours!

$1.00 (.96 Canadian!)

To market, to market

Shopping is one of my least favorite activities. I generally avoid any kind whenever possible. Except for this place.

When we began planning this trip I knew that the one place I wanted to return to was Pike's Market in old Seattle. We arrived early this morning just as the vendors were still setting up their shops.

I think what I like most about it is the colors that are everywhere, from the fruit and vegetable stands to the rows of fresh floral arrangements wrapped in white butcher paper. I told Zeus that if I lived here there would be fresh flowers in my house all the time.

We purchased a number of fruits to enjoy on the trip, knowing that they had to be eaten before crossing the northern border tomorrow afternoon. I don't think that will be a problem.

Of course, what would Seattle and Pike's Market be without the fish stands? I will probably have nightmares tonight.

$1.32 (paper dollar in the airport)

What happens in Vegas..

Just got back from three days in Vegas. No, not the kind of trip that one normally imagines when thinking of Las Vegas, although I did manage to leave around $20 in one of the stingy slot machines.

A few months ago the Duchess asked if her royal children could spend a few days with me while they attended a family wedding. Knowing that there would be New York grandparents attending I suggested that an alternative would be to go with them. I would stay with the kids at the hotel during the festivities and in the free time the other grandparents could stock up on some needed hugs, kisses and playtime. Eris joined us as well.

As it turned out, the night of the wedding brought us two additional little girls, ages 4 and 5, whom we had never met. I was a little concerned about how they would react to Mommy and Daddy leaving them at a strange hotel with two strange women for the evening. Little Charlotte and Vanessa were adorable and blended right in with the rest of us. Activities planned for the evening were bowling (Cosmic bowling is AWESOME), a spaghetti picnic dinner in the hotel room (thanks D and A), manicures, pedicures, movies and popcorn! By 9:30 pm the kids were sprawled all over beds asleep. Not one tear shed the entire evening!

Texting conversation between Eris and the Duchess (from the reception) at 8:00 pm:

Duchess: "How's it going with the kids?"

Eris: "Okay. We lost Charlotte. But we found another one about her age. Does D and A speak Spanish?"

The trip was fun. It's also good to be back home. Now I think I will go for a bike ride.

$1.64

More photos at the Shooting Blog.

Lighter Fare

Okay, it's time for a lighter blog post. I grabbed my older scrapbooks and picked out a couple of images to share.

The hook. I believe it was originally put in a ceiling beam at Mom's house, possibly when Athena was a baby. Mom had an old jump-up seat from way back when I was an an infant and the kids loved it. But sometimes the seat wasn't handy so overall suspenders were used. For some reason Eris doesn't seem to be enjoying the hook at all. That hook is still in the beam and occasionally you will find odd things hanging from it. Most of the kids have had a turn being hung just like this!

The image of Athena was taken in 1978 at a birthday party in Santa Maria. I don't know if she ever got it blown up but she certainly was trying hard.



The last two photos were taken in 1992 at Colter Bay. Zeus and I had been married for a year and had taken some wonderful trips but this outing was just for the girls. Eris, I'm curious about the hat. Hamburgers, smores, grape soda and dirt. Good times.

$1.78

Advent calendar

You know those cute little advent calendars? You open one little compartment each day of December as a countdown to when Santa arrives with his sleigh full of toys for good little girls and boys. Being the chocolate lover that I am those foil-wrapped waxy bits of nasty chocolate probably didn't make it longer than a week or two.

This year I'm doing a different kind of advent calendar. There are nineteen kisses in this letter K. I will eat one per day. Kara and Chris will be back home in Utah for good in time for the holidays after wayyyy too long in cold, icy Michigan. The countdown widget has been on her blog for nearly a year and today she hit the teens!

Good luck on your finals and drive safely!

$1.29.5

Immigration

Organ Pipe National Monument is located between the town of Why, AZ and the Mexican-American border. For a number of years it was the only thing that separated our back door from the imaginary dividing line between two countries. It was not unusual for us to cross that line to shop for groceries, medications, furniture or simply to go for a good plate of Chiles Rellenos.

Yesterday that crossing was impossible. Our passports sit in a file back home. They are now required to get lunch. Border patrol agents are everywhere spreading their sometimes overbearing attitude which often leaves much to be desired. And that fence, that awful fence.

Twenty feet away from the imposing eyesore while I was grabbing a few photos I came across a large brittlebush. Due to the very low rainfall here it was the only thing around in bloom. Hundreds of bees were buzzing around it. Monarch butterflies were everywhere. They didn't need passports or permission from armed, uniformed officers for the annual migration south to their winter homes. They simply filled up on pollen and flew over the top of the metal barrier and rifles.


We are also within miles of many different Indian Reservations. Mexican and Native American culture is everywhere. In many ways we are the outsiders.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. Today I am reminded that we are all immigrants.

Missions accomplished

No matter where our travels take us I am always looking for old churches or missions. They are plentiful in the southwestern states and Mexico and I've been fortunate to visit many. Mission San Xavier del Bac on the Tohono O'odam Indian Reservation was on our list of stops this morning. I've visited this historic mission many times in the past fifteen years but this time was exciting and different. It has been undergoing renovations for as long as I can remember, always fronted with layers of scaffolding and partially completed exterior improvements. What a thrill it was to go up the beautiful drive and see the historical mission like it must have been three hundred years ago (except for the large gravel parking lot, of course).


Entering these old religious structures always has an unexpected effect. My non-religious self is always struck by the beauty and serenity found inside. This morning was no exception. The usual routine is to sit in a rear pew and take in the smells of the old wood, the aging statues and light coming from the windows at the top of high ceilings. There are usually candles burning at altars. Today there were hundreds of carefully placed glass jars with flames casting golden shadows all around. We spent about 45 quiet minutes at San Xavier del Bac.

Yesterday afternoon we also took a short detour to find a small out-of-the-way shrine in Tucson. An internet acquaintance had blogged about El Tiradito a few weeks ago and Zeus went along with my request to find it. (He is extremely good about that sort of thing.) It turned out to be a very small but interesting shrine, also complete with burning candles and other offerings placed at the altar. The small figurines that G and her son placed there a few weeks ago were still hanging on the candelabra.


There are two small churches on the Ajo Plaza that I have never once explored in the countless times that I've been here. They are on my to-do list for tomorrow.

Forecast: Sunny and Warm

It has been nearly two years since I've travelled the roads of southern Utah and northern Arizona. We used to make this trip four or five times a year, usually fourteen hours of driving in one day to get from one front door to the other.

This afternoon while driving through the canyons of red rocks and strange formations it was as if I was seeing them again for the first time. I have missed it.

Tonight while those back home in northern Utah are enjoying a fresh blanket of snow we are looking forward to warm sunshine and mid-70s.

$.75

Numi Tea Garden

So how cool is THIS!!!

And THIS!!!

For the last two years while Zeus and I have been making our twice-yearly pilgrimages to the Bay area I have seen from the freeway a building with an advertisement for the Numi Tea Garden. Today we finally made it a point to go in and see what it was all about. We had a delightful lunch of Spanikopita and Olive Tapenade and tea in the garden and then picked up a few souvenirs to take home. I'm not a hot tea drinker so was particularly pleased to find that they also have cold, bottled tea. It was really goooood! Now I just have to find out if there are any suppliers here in the land of UT. Doubtful.

The flight home was a bit longer than planned. Gave up my seat so a family could all get on the same flight. No, I wasn't just being nice. I was well compensated by the airlines for traveling from Oakland to SLC via Portland. It really wasn't bad. I spent the last leg of the trip watching Arrested Development on my laptop.

It was hard to leave Zeus behind in Berkeley, especially considering that today is his birthday. If you get a chance you might want to send him some extra good wishes! Love ya, hon!

$.06

Partly sunny and more sourdough!

Checking in again, this time with dry feet and once again stuffed to the gills. Today's lunch at the wharf was sourdough bread bowls filled with delicious tomato soup. Yummm.

Just for Eris, here are a few photos of Coit Tower, located at the top of famous Telegraph Hill, the highest point in San Francisco. Not only are the views from the top spectacular but the ground floor is filled with colorful murals painted in the 1930s by various artists.

The afternoon was all we hoped it would be.... and more. Thanks Zeus!

$.02

Note: Just saw on television that a 3.8 earthquake hit San Jose, about 35 miles away. Hope we don't start swaying here tonight!

Rain, rain and more rain!

We knew it was coming. In watching the forecasts for San Francisco this last week we couldn't miss all of the special weather warnings that had been posted. Oh well, tickets were purchased and a little water wouldn't stop us.

It didn't stop us, although our plans were altered just a little. Started out this morning with a visit to the Dolores Mission, a beautiful old church that was the first building in San Francisco. Part of the church was destroyed in the 1907 earthquake and a new basilica was built, complete with beautiful stained glass windows. Even with the cloudy skies the windows were still lovely.

A few other places visited: The City College of San Francisco where we saw an original wall mural by a favorite artist Diego Rivera. Awesome.

Two fabric stores, one that I will be visiting again, Darlene's Fabrics. This was the DI of all fabric stores, lots of bargains on bolts, notions and ribbons just waiting to be picked through. The owner was the best part, an aging hippie who knew exactly what was in the store and who measured a yard of fabric at approximately 42 inches! Contrast that store with Britex, the other store, a four-story experience of overpriced textiles, nonexistent customer service and No. Restrooms. Are you kidding me??? Fabrics priced through the roof and they can't put in a potty?

Like yesterday, more delicious food, including another loaf of sourdough bread and chocolate. Suffering serious heartburn tonight from the yummy penne pasta consumed at the Wharf.

$.03 (not good results in the rain)