Talents?

Thank goodness for the many uses of Duck Tape.  My Dell power source has seen better days and appears to have a little wire disconnect close to the plug.  If you sit there and smush it, the light goes on and my computer charges, however the second you step away the wires again disconnect and my laptop is left to rely on a quickly dwindling battery.  In desperate need of some tunes for house work I knew I had to do something to get that little guy up and running.  Enter Duck Tape.   A little finagling here, a little smushing there and tadaaaa.  It aint pretty, but it worked like a charm. 

Today I decided to stop avoiding it and took on the joy of priming the living room ceiling.  Like a good little paint monkey I gathered all of the items in the living room and covered them with plastic.  At the time it seemed completely logical to remove the lamp shade of one of our tall lamps and place it in a safe location rather than move the entire lamp.  Hmm, and this was even before I'd started painting.  Not a good sign. 

After I finished painting I removed all of the plastic, rearranged the living room furniture and promptly replaced the lampshade. It wasn't until after I'd eaten my lunch and enjoyed a brief nap that I stumbled upon this little beauty.  Honestly, this takes talent.  I'd like to blame it on the 100+ degree heat and the strong paint fumes, but that would just be denial. 

Meet Maurice

When we purchased our house in October this was the beast that greeted us in the back yard.  Lets call him Maurice the Mesquite. 

Since Maurice was leaning on the power line, when we did electrical work to the house he got his first trim.

  This next picture is for you to see how green it can get in Phoenix.  I thought it looked lovely, and since the cats enjoyed the lush yard we let it grow.  Will not be doing that again.    

 

All of that gorgeous green turned nasty brown and took about 12 + contractor sized trash bags to remove.  Note Maurice's growth within 6 months of the initial trim.

The image to the left, albeit a patch job, is a decent depiction of how our tree has developed since its first trim.  We were informed by a landscape pro it taken care of before Monsoon season.  Too top heavy and Maurice was destine for a sure to be costly crash.  On Sunday we had a great tree guy come out and work some tree shaping and thinning magic, and voila! 

Now that's a happy home owner, a happy, healthier tree and some sweet looking Bougainvillea grid work!

Phoenix Ranch Market, how I love thee

Yesterday during my lunch break I went to the Phoenix Ranch Market to pick up some groceries as well as a delicious lunch. It was hard to resist mindlessly roaming about the massive market, but my limited break kept me in line. I honestly don't know why, but I get a strange sense of euphoria whenever I visit the Ranch Market. I am a person who works best in silence, I don't like loud noises or wild screaming children, and I often get unreasonably antsy in slow moving crowds; yet somehow the combo of mariachi music, colorful banners and advertisements, heaping piles of food, scents of fresh cooked Mexican cuisine and a ubiquitous chatter in a language that I can barely understand has a way of lulling me into a calm state unlike any other I've experienced, especially in a grocery store.

Despite my calm, when it came to order my lunch I realized I was getting frustrated with the fool in front of me, not only because she was not the brightest bulb in the box, but because she couldn't speak one word of Spanish. I know it was an unreasonable expectation, but honestly, speaking louder and slower was not helping this woman's cause.  After much confusion on her part I was able to patch together enough Spanish to get her on her way, and was successful in obtaining my delicious food.  Food in hand and groceries bagged, I was quickly swept back into my state of joy while admiring the bakery section upon my exit.  Until next time my dear Phoenix Ranch Market...

80's in June?

This past weekend started off with a delightful cycling accomplishment, 37 miles in about 2.5 hours, with a good 20 some odd miles uphill. Sure the first 9 miles uphill were slight, but the burn was there. The other uphill miles were quite the challenge, but well worth the rapid-spinning-hamster-wheel peddling. Jonathan and I lucked out with terrific temperatures for June, low 80s, however, the pesky seemingly constant wind provided a bit more of a challenge especially on those previously mentioned uphill stretches. I had originally intended to attempt to run down the block after the ride to test out this whole cycle/run transition for my potential future in triathalon training, but after not trusting my legs to keep my body upright post dismount I decided perhaps I'll test this out following a shorter ride.

After our ride we planned out our eventual front landscaping. I say eventual because once again we'll need to build up the project reserves before we can take on something as large as the front yard. Our plan is simple, clean and keeps with the style of the house, as well as the zero-scape reality of living in the desert and avoiding a water bill akin to a college tuition. As for the backyard, we have a good idea of the elements we want to include, but the measuring alone is daunting enough that we're still in the brainstorming phases. On Sunday we did manage to put one part of the plan into action by setting up some of the guidelines for the bougainvillea to start growing along our back block wall. Its taken quite a bit of wrangling, and clean up and has resulted in many a cut and scrape, but we've actually started training the bushes and are looking forward to them filling out. I had no idea bougainvillea grew so well here, but their rapid growth is darn impressive. 

In addition to working in the backyard we got to spend some time with Max and Maggie in Scottsdale. Jackson enjoyed his visits, but wasn't too excited about his pool time. No we did not toss him in, rather, with both Jonathan and I in the pool at one point we brought him in from the side to test out his swimming skills. Believe it or not the little guy can hold his own, but the life aquatic is not for him. He prefers to bite and chase hose water rather than dive in for a refreshing dip.

The Windy City

This past weekend Jonathan and I had the pleasure of visiting Chicago for a dear friend's wedding.  This was my first time visiting the city and Jonathan's first time visiting at an age where he could actually remember the visit.  While we escaped the 100+ degree heat Jackson spent some quality time with his pack cousins in Scottsdale. 

We arrived in Chicago around 3 on Friday and were greeted by a nice helping of humidity.  I have to admit I kind of miss the humidity, but wasn't feeling as nostalgic when I realized my hair was starting to take on a frizzy life of its own. We took the Orange line (which used to be the very line we commuted on while in Arlington, VA) and checked into our hotel.  Our room turned out to be one of the smallest we've ever stayed in, sans couch, with a full bed and a bathroom door you nearly had to turn sideways to walk through, but we planned on being out an about most of the time so the accomodations worked just fine.

Thanks to some advice from Chicago natives we ventured towards Millennium park to get in some sight seeing before the pre-wedding day mingling party at Elephant and Castle.  We took in the gigantic bean (officially Cloud Gate), as well as some bizarre massive fountains (Crown Fountains) with faces that occasionally spit water at you.  Call me a party pooper, but I really wasn't too keen on touching the water shared by a ton of diaper donning little kids, nor getting too close to an artistic fountain that I found to be more odd than artistic.  Jonathan on the other hand was bold enough to touch one and stand for a cheezy picture.

On Saturday we ventured to the Chicago art museum, complete with massive Blackhawk helmet wearing lions and a Matisse exhibit.  Quite the nice museum, fantastic layout, great exhibits but a so darn big it couldn't possibly be taken in in only one day.  Following our visit we took in some Chicago style pizza (a must while in town) then waddled back into the City.  We came across a pretty cool looking building which happened to be the public library, but it turned out to have a way more interesting exterior than interior.  Don't get me wrong, it was a very nice library, but we didn't stay too long.  We wandered back through Millennium park and ended our daily adventure by chilling out by the Buckingham Fountain.

Saturday evening was all about the wedding!!!  We joined other out of towners on a bus and made our way out to Chief O'Neils for the ceremony and reception.  In true spring in Chicago style the rain started coming down on our trip there, and even threatened to sprinkle on the wedding party but graciously waited until the finish of the ceremony to start pouring.  The ceremony was quite beautiful, and truly captured the essence of Meghan and Brian's personalities. Post ceremony we enjoyed some delicious libations, fantastic food and one heck of a good party. Can't beat boogieing down with Jonathan and good friends from my home town of Alameda all evening long!

We finished out our trip on Sunday with another lovely walk about the city.  We walked over to the still slightly green river and took in some views of the Honeycomb buildings and The House of Blues.  It was tough to leave the city, but we made our way back to the desert, arriving around 4 to be welcomed by 107 degree, hairdryer in the face, heat.  Visiting Chicago made me miss the big city, as well as the lush green parks of states other than AZ but as always its nice to be back home. 

Be sure to check out the cheeky, and sometimes blurry pics of our trip!

Not quite a beach getaway

With home ownership comes redefinition.  For example, a three day weekend now means we have an extra day to work on the house instead of an extra day to get away from it all.  This weekend's challenge was painting the West facing side of the house which presented a unique race against time.  All work on the west side has to be done before the sun hits its highest point, because after about 12:30 that flaming ball of gas doesn't hesitate to show you who's boss.   We managed to get the block and beams double coated as well as paint the windows.  All work taking place between 6:00 AM and 12:00.  We still need to touch up the bottom rim of the house (front and side) as well as areas where paint colors ended up but shouldn't have, which hopefully we can work on this week and next.  The picture below shows all colors at once.  Faded red/pink (color when we bought the house), primer between the blue and the green, green beams and blue block

When the weather is cool enough we like to let Mr. Jackson join us outside while we work, however at times his slight lack of coordination can be a challenge all its own.  He is usually a smart dog, but when he is put on a leash and attached to some form of a tie down, whether it be a random unattached cable or downed/cut section of old power line, he tends to find a way to get stuck on things.  He'll walk about a foot and get stuck on a rock that is too heavy for him to move.  He'll walk by a post and manage to wrap himself around the beam and give up before attempting to circle back around.  As seen here.

Sweet dog, but I can't see him winning any coordination challenges anytime soon.  I do however take comfort in the fact that if need be I could put a large rock on his leash and he wouldn't make a break.