A Whirlwind Trip to Arizona...

In November, my husband and I will be celebrating 20 years of marriage!  :-)  1990 seems so long ago, yet like it was just yesterday.

Since a special trip to Hawaii, or some other exotic land, wasn't going to be possible, we decided to take a relatively cheap trip to Arizona instead.  Flights & hotels in November (the busy season there) were more than we could really afford, so we opted for September - to celebrate Dave's birthday (the 12th) at the same time - instead.  The only problem... it's hot there in September!  Granted, not as hot as say July, but 105 degrees is still HOT!  ...especially since Indiana is around 70-75 degrees right now.

Day 1... Goodbye Indiana... Hello Arizona!!

Our flight left Indiana on 9/11.  I know, not exactly an ideal day to be flying.  Thankfully, it was an uneventful flight.  The only incident we ran into was in the airport at the security checkpoint when we had to repack our "liquids" in the carry-on bag because we had things outside of our two allotted ziplock bags that shouldn't have been.  Oops!  At least the security guard was cool about it.  :-)

It was only 99 when we landed in Mesa, but strangely enough... because "it's a dry heat", it didn't feel hot at all.  We picked up our rental car... a cute little Kia with Florida license plates (?) and headed off to find something to eat and our hotel.  I usually map out everything (including the local quilt & yarn shops) before going on vacations, but failed to this time because I was busy at work and busy doing homework the week before leaving, so we were completely on our own this time.  Oh well... sometimes it's fun just to relax and go with the flow.

The first restaurant we saw was Rubio's Mexican Grill... and I just so happened to have an email coupon for a free meal for Dave's birthday!  So, we tried fish tacos, chicken tacos and steak tacos.  YUM!!!!

We eventually found our hotel (whew!!) and decided to take a walk around the shopping center behind it.  There was a Toby Keith's I Love This Bar & Grill there...

After walking around the shopping center, we went to it hoping to find a good dessert to end the evening with, but deep fried Twinkies just didn't sound good.  It was fun, though, and a neat place, I guess.

We also walked around the Bass Pro Shop too.  The sun was setting, so we stepped back outside to capture it...

What is it about sunsets away from home?  They always look so much prettier.  This one was full of beautiful colors.

Day 2... Scottsdale!

Dave's birthday!!  :-)  He wanted to visit a bookstore on the ASU campus so he could get a new t-shirt or something, then we went to Scottsdale.  We started with our favorite... ice cream at The Sugar Bowl!  I had my usual - a Golden Nugget (orange sherbet, vanilla ice cream & Sprite blended together) and Dave tried something new - an Extra Luscious Bittersweet Chocolate Shake (a goblet lined with marshmallow, caramel & chocolate sauce is what makes it extra luscious)...

Then we walked around Old Town Scottsdale, then the Fifth Avenue District shops.  We probably saw every type of Indian jewelry imaginable.  While paying for a purchase at one of the shops, the sales clerk asked where I was from so I told her Indiana.  She asked whereabouts in Indiana because she's originally from Peru.  Wow, what a small world... 1800 miles from home and we meet someone who used to live an hour away from us!

Everywhere we went, we saw BIG trucks.  AWESOME big trucks!!  This one was the monster of them all...   4500 series Chevy.

Day 3...  Sedona!

I've always heard that Sedona is beautiful.  But, I had noooooo idea it was THIS beautiful!

Do you see the chapel built into the side of the mountain?

On our way back to the city, we stopped by Montezuma's Castle and an Apache Indian casino.  We spent $25 and walked out with $30.25.  Not bad.  :-)

We also stopped by an outlet mall, then ended the day with a free steak dinner (another birthday coupon for Dave) at Black Angus Steakhouse.

Day 4... A scenic flight for two!

First things first... back to Scottsdale for some Grimaldi's pizza and Sugar Bowl treats, then to the shops again for some wheelin' and dealin' on some jewelry.  Dave ended up with an inlay ring and I ended up with two inlay rings and a pretty little diamond solitaire.  :-)  The guy was desperate to make a sale because it's their off-season, so we made out like bandits!

Then we made our way to Superstition Mall and wasted some time there, then to a few shopping centers to walk around the pet shops to get our "kitty fix" since we were missing our "kids" pretty badly by then.  We had to be at Falcon Field Airport at 6pm for our sunset flight (a bargain I picked up on www.groupon.com a week before we left), so we hung out across the road at Walmart for a little while, then decided to wait in the parking lot at the hangar until 6.  Our pilot, Matt, happened to come out to his truck beside us and said they were all ready for us.  We took care of the necessary paperwork, then went out to see the beast we'd be flying in...

 

Off we went... out over the Superstition Mountains and the rivers and dams that provide water for Phoenix and the surrounding areas.  We flew up to about 5500 feet in the air and about 140 MPH.  

The pilot took our picture.

After a few too many banks left, then right, I started getting rather woozy.  Despite that, though, we had a wonderful flight and managed to capture a few good shots of the sunset...

 

 

It took about half an hour for me to "get my land legs back" enough so I could eat dinner.  We chose The Fish Market restaurant and had some delicious fish.  Afterwards was our final adventure at a place called SubZero... they make whatever flavor of ice cream you want... right before your eyes!

It starts with the ice cream base of your choice... premium, custard, low-fat or yogurt... and the flavorings of your choice... everything from chocolate and vanilla to Pepsi to bubblegum.  Then they stir it and add in whatever solid items you want... fruits, nuts, candies, etc.

 

Then, they blast it with liquid nitrogen and continue stirring it...

 

After only a minute or two more... they scoop it into a bowl and give it another quick shot of liquid nitrogen and voila!  You have ice cream!

I had plain old low-fat chocolate and Dave had premium chocolate-marshmallow.  Both were really good!

We made our way back across town to our hotel, packed everything up, printed off boarding passes for our early flight, then attempted to get a good night's sleep.

Day 5... Back home again in Indiana.

We started out the day with breakfast at Cracker Barrel right as soon as they opened at 6am, then made our way to the southeast side of town to await our flight home.  Goodbye Arizona... until we can afford to see you again.  :-)

THIS Is Why They Call Me the Crazy Cat Lady...

So, we were at the vet's office last week picking up Lucy from being spayed.  They know we're cat people, so they bring out this adorable little fur baby, named Gregory... who just so happens to need a home.  Of course, we fell in love with him, but we declined to take him home with us.  "We have enough cats already," we said.

Throughout the past week, we've mentioned Gregory several times... wondering if he's found a good home yet.  Dave and I had the exact same thought today at lunch... Maybe we should just call the vet's office and find out if he's still available.  I didn't have time this afternoon to call though.

Around about 4 o'clock, my phone rings... It's my husband.  He asked if I'd called to check on Gregory yet and I told him no.  He said he did, but he was already taken.  He went to a good home... one with lots of other kitties that he could play with and become friends with... one JUST LIKE OURS!!  Oh, yah... it IS ours!  :-D

We really ARE the CRAZY cat couple!!!!

Meet Gregory...

Firewall My Attention?!!?

I found the attached article, "6 Tips to Firewall Your Attention and Boost Productivity", interesting... especially since I always seem to find a zillion new things to do other than the ones that really need done!  I'm really bad at this with my UFO's (UnFinished Objects... as in quilting and knitting projects)... and with school work... and with housework.  There are just too many new things that capture my imagination or that seem more fun than whatever it is I "have to" work on.

I literally have stacks and stacks of half-read magazines and books - each with dog-eared pages, sticky note bookmarks or those annoying magazine subscription cards sticking out of them (each one marked with a few cat chew marks, of course) to mark where I left off.  I have bags and boxes with half-fininshed craft projects... not to mention the shelves full of fabric and yarn and all the ideas to use it rolling around in my head!  And, all the cookbooks and printed recipes that I'd like to try someday... or at least get organized (another task that has been started about a dozen times).  Oh, and then there is the collection of landscaping books - each one with a few ideas that I'd "someday" like to do in my own yard.  Ugh, what's a girl to do?!  There's too much fun stuff out there and not nearly enough time or money to do them all!!

So, what am I going to do to improve?  I'm not sure yet, but I have some really interesting books on order that are supposed to help me... I just can't wait for them to get here so I can put aside all the other books I've started reading and begin reading these new ones!!

;-)

Tan Envy...

My husband and I are preparing to go to Phoenix soon.  After talking to one of our sales reps from the Phoenix area recently - and discovering that it's been hovering around 105 degrees there, I've come to the conclusion that... I'm most likely going to need to buy some shorts... and bare my legs.  Eeeeek!!  My legs rarely see the light of day and, therefore, are quite WHITE!!  I'm one of those unlucky (or is it cursed?) people who just doesn't tan!  No matter how many times I've gotten sunburnt (I know, I know... that's really bad for me)... it just turns really red, peels and then goes right back to glowing white.  Sigh... I have tan envy...  :-(

Getting over that, I'm thinking comfort is much more important than style (gosh, does that mean I'm getting old?).  I've come to grips with the fact that I will be miserable in Phoenix in my customary blue jeans if I don't get past the fear of exposing my pale legs (and being pointed out and laughed at by all those tan people).  I figured now was the perfect time to find some end of season deals on shorts and capris, so I head out to a couple local department stores in search of some good deals.  Besides being cursed with pale skin, I'm also a major tightwad and refuse to pay full price for clothes.

Store number one... the only shorts to be found were Daisy Duke style shorts in the juniors department that would expose waaaaaay more than just my lily white legs.  What parent, in their right mind, would permit their daughter to go out into public in shorts like that????  Onto store number two...

There, I find a few pairs of dressier type shorts and one pair of rather bright pink (but quite cute) capris.  I bravely take my finds to the fitting room... and am quite pleased to find that not only do they fit, but they don't really look too bad either.  And, even better... they're all less than six bucks a pair!!  Woohoo!!  Once they're all totaled up, the sales clerk tells me that I saved a whopping $96!  WOW!!!  Now that's my kind of shopping success story!

Still wishing for some denim shorts and/or capris, I venture out one more time for the day and check the selection at my local Walmart.  Cha-ching!  They have shorts on clearance for four bucks a pair!!  Gosh, I wasn't really expecting to find better than the six buck bargains... what a nice surprise!  So, I get another few pairs in a variety of colors - including one denim pair.  They also had a pair of capris... not denim like I hoped for (didn't have my size), but cute tan ones with little blue flowers embroidered on them.  I bought those too.  Walmart clerks don't tell you how much you saved, but I think it was around $20.  I'm happy with that.

I think I'm all set now to stay cool in Phoenix.  Too bad I won't really look very cool... ;-D

Telemarketers

How pathetic is it when you actually HOPE that a telemarketer calls you?  We had cable installed at our home yesterday.  Along with it, we had Comcast Digital Voice added as well.  A neat feature that came along with it... Universal Caller ID.

When the sales gal (who, I found out while on the phone with her, was born the year I graduated from high school!!!  How old did that make me feel?  REALLY OLD!!) asked if we'd like that feature turned on, I asked what it was.  She said it will display the caller ID information right on our tv screen.  "Well, YES, sign me up!  That way I'll know if I need to bother dumping my lapful of cats and school books and laptop off my lap to run and answer it or not!"  How COOL is that?

Although the feature isn't completely active yet, when it is... you can bet I'll be screening my calls even more!  Ha! Ha!  Bring on the telemarketers!!  Since our phone number is brand new... I'm sure we'll be at the top of their lists for awhile until the National Do Not Call Registry gets us on their list.

Thank God for the National Do Not Call Registry, but also thank God for Caller ID and Comcast's Universal Caller ID feature!!

Let the laziness begin...

What?!?

My husband was channel surfing this evening (nothing new there) and came across a television show of people's most favorite foods.  But these weren't just typical favorite foods (like mine... pizza, Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Blizzards and homemade maple "Bun" candy bars), but rather STRANGE (!!!) favorite foods.  Things like poached eggs on sourdough olive bread with some sort of artichoke spread.  Hmmmm... no thanks.

The strangest of the favorites that we stuck around long enough to watch?  Prosciutto ice cream from a shop in San Francisco.  Yes, you read that right... pork and ice cream... together.  Although, after watching how they make it, we discovered that there's not actually pieces of pork in it, but rather pork shoulder bones SOAKED in it for about 3 days.  And, to top it off, ALL the grease from cooking it is included as well.  Eeeeeewwwww!!!  Definitely no thanks on that one!

The shop is called "Humphry Slocombe".  The flavors are called... weird, in my book.  Other strange concoctions include Kumquat-Poppy Seed (I've tried kumquats and, although they're quite cute, they taste horrible!), Hibiscus Beet, Jesus Juice (not sure what that is... ???) and Cucumber Ice Milk.  Doesn't really sound like a vacation stop that I'll ever make.

I think I'll just stick to enjoying my Moon Pie Crunch Mint instead.  :-)

What am I getting myself into?

As part of this week's school assignment, we were introduced to blogging.  I've read other blogs before.  My friend, Rhonda, posts some of the funniest stories I've ever read.  What makes them so funny (at least to me) is that they're so outrageous that most people wouldn't believe they're real, but I know poor Rhonda's luck, so I know they're very real (bless her heart).

Blogging is supposed to be a good way to learn to communicate better.  I'm not sure how rambling on about things that are seemingly only important to me will help me communicate better, but I'm all for improving myself.  Two and a half years (non-stop) and counting of college classes is proof of that!

So... here goes nothing!  Welcome to my blog.  :-)