Simple celebrations

The simple joy found in palindromes ought to be celebrated.  Strangely enough, in recent times I've noticed frequent palindromes in everyday life.  At cash registers, yesterday's purchase brought me to 9.09 (kindly ignore the . which makes is a less than perfect reversible number) and even on my odometer as seen here. 

Rocks and Felt

This past weekend wasn't too exciting but turned out to be pretty productive. Unfortunately Jonathan spent nearly all of the weekend at work so it was up to Jackson, the kitties, and myself to get some work done. Saturday was a day for errands and boring stuff but Sunday turned out to be a day of shoveling and crafting.

Slightly bothered by the extra pile of rock we have left over after our initial rock distribution I decided to take action. Armed with my wheelbarrow, shovel and rake I started by adding more rock to the rather skimpy rock layer on the side of the house. At this point Jackson was outside with me and due to the cooler temps was donning one of his sweaters. You would have thought I embarrassed him in front of the whole neighborhood.  In protest of his attire (a nice black/argyle sweater) Jackson sat in one place just out of sight from the side of the house and refused to move an inch.  Acknowledging his discontent I stopped my progress and sat down in the rocks for a bonding moment with Mr. Jackson before putting him back inside and getting back to business. It took a little under 4 hours but by the time I finished I'd managed to level the extra pile on the right side of the house and thickened many a bare spot with rock from the pile on the left.

Back inside with Sunday afternoon football on TV it was time to get in touch with my crafting side. Loaded with a slightly excessive purchase of felt and Styrofoam rings it was time to get started on creating some seasonal wreaths to add to our holiday decor. Thanks to some website suggestions and a little creativity I managed to create three wreaths. Darn tootin cute if you ask me!

Good to know

As I prepared my trusty desk calendar by marking meetings and days off I noticed December 8th had an interesting reminder.  In the top right hand corner written in faint red text you'll see:  Immaculate Conception.

Hmm, note to self.

Rockin progress

21 tons  of pebbles don't move themselves, so after purchasing a new wheel barrel tire, we started shoveling, transporting and raking.  I had faith it wouldn't be as bad as removing the 1 inch red rock from the yard in the first place and sure enough, we've made quick progress after only two afternoons of work.

Friday afternoon we covered the right side of the yard next to the house and progressed towards the front.  We called it a day around 5 PM seeing that our light would soon run out.

Saturday morning, after a refreshing 25 mile ride, and a visit to the dog park we got back to slinging rock.  Minds out of the gutter, I'm talking river rock pebbles and only river rock pebbles.  With supervisor Jackson's positive attitude to keep us in line Jonathan and I manged to finish moving and raking rock across the entire left side of the front yard!  Yes, you may see a mound remaining on the left side, but we'll deal with that tomorrow as well as the right side of the front yard.  Yeah for house progress.

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Halloween to Thanksgiving

Halloween to Thanksgiving without a new post, now that's just embarrassing.  Time for a little catchup. Its the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and today's highlight is the delivery of 21 tons of pebble to be dropped into our front yard/drive way.

And now for the back story.  About 6 months back we decided on covering our front yard in 1/2 inch Canyon Slate. Then came summer in Phoenix, Arizona complete with 118 degrees of  pure heat joy. I don't mind the heat but I can't say its the ideal temp for the shoveling and raking of 20 tons of rock.  By early November the temps were in the mid 70s and we decided to put in our rock order. Seeing that it had been quite some time since our initial visit and price estimate we decided to make another trip to the rock yards to ensure we were still working with the same product at the same price.  We made our way to the rock yards following a much deserved visit to the dog park, and with a material and price confirmation in hand we headed home. It wasn't until later in the week that we re-measured the yard to ensure we purchased the proper tonnage

Fast forward to the following Saturday...Before making our way to the dump with an over-sized load of tree trimmings Jonathan called to put in our rock order. Thanks for calling but by the way, the quarry for your chosen rock closed on the previous Tuesday!!! Upon hearing the news I went insta-cranky.  My pout level was on par with a tired 5 year old in a candy store when told "No".  Despite Jonathan's best efforts to dispel my crankies I could not get over the fact that after so much "deciding", we blew it.  I tried to convince myself that these things usually work out for the better, since this isn't the first time we have not gone with our first choice, but I'll be honest, it really wasn't helping.

After we cleared the truck of branches and debris at the dump we headed to Lo-Lo's Chicken and Waffles for lunch.  Talk about a lunch that hit the spot! Bellies full with delicious waffles, out of this world fried chicken, opaque Kool-aid and sassy collards we made our way back up to the rock yards.  We came across a few options we liked but at close to $50 a ton they were quickly dismissed. My frustration was again beginning to brew as our options were looking bleak. However, at the second rock distributor, I offered the suggestion of going with river rock pea gravel. Talk about an an a-ha moment.  With a final decision in place, it was time to head home.



We finished last weekend with a trip to Ikea for a new chair cushion/cover and of course left with way more than we had intended to buy.  Once home we hung our bedroom ceiling fan, which thanks to Jonathan's hard work functions at full speed without any rattling, hung our new funny shaped mirror and installed a river rock mini-fence around our mini natal plum bushes.

We are looking forward to spending thanksgiving with friends and family and I for one am excited to start spreading out 21 tons of tiny little rocks!!

Halloween!

October 31st is not only a day of costumes and candy but also our 2nd year anniversary in our house!


By this point my red black window hour glass was done for.


With the green light to wear costumes to work I was quite delighted to put on my spider arms, tuck in my spider but strategically go about my day careful not to damage my costume.  Unexpectedly there was an incredibly awkward costume contest consisting of 3 prizes and 4 participants.  I hadn't intended to be a part of a contest but thought I would play along for kicks.  Tragically this little spider walked away with the 4th runner up prize of coupons for a dairy product that I don't eat.  Oh well, I still got to wear a costume to work : )



Note the spider butt



After work we invited our neighbor buddies over to join us in an appetizer dinner while we handed out candy.  I know it was a Monday night, but this has to be one of the weakest showings I've seen in quite some time.  Seeing that we had 5 households in one place we made many a happy kid as we loaded kid's bag with hand fulls of candy.  Post trick or treaters we hung out for a little bit before returning to our respective houses.  Till next Halloween! 









Cutest spider cupcake holders EVER!











Rim to Rim - hike to the North rim

With night still looming outside, at 5 am we woke to a mix of clock alarms and cell phone jingles. While the guys got dressed and bumbled around in the pre-dawn darkness we joked and chatted as only people with little sleep at 5am can, semi-no sensibly, and very comically. Right on schedule, packs in hand we headed to the car to drop the hikers off as close as possible to the entrance of the trail by 6:00.

Christine and I wished the guys luck and safety on their adventure and got back in the car as they walked into the darkness toward the trail head.  On our way back for the hotel we pulled over at a nearby lookout point and observed little sparkling lights on the side of the canyon. At first they appeared to be stationary but given a little longer observation they were actually groups of hikers' head band lights sparking in the darkness. It was a pretty neat scene as they twinkled about, descending into the pre-dawn darkness that is the Grand Canyon.  Despite Christine's serious concerns for their safety I was honestly quite calm about their trip. I couldn't pinpoint my faith, but suppose it stems from my unshakable doubt that they would complete their trip safely. I knew for sure, whether healthy for himself or not, Jonathan would finish the rim to rim hike no matter what.

A little over an hour later Christine and I packed up the car, verified our route with the park transportation people and started on our trip to the north rim. We stopped at a scenic view/overlook tower before exiting the park but other than that it was pedal to the medal for another 4 hours before making it to the North Rim Park Entrance.  Sure, the scenery was nice, and the company, always pleasant, but as we drove I could feel the slightest bit of jealousy for the hikers trip starting to brew.   Cursed competitiveness.

 After checking in to our weee little cabin Christine and I made contact with the guys via walkie talkie.  It was around 2:30PM and, according to their calculations they were less than 5 miles from the top.  We decided we would start walking down around 4 to meet them and drove over to the general store to pick up some celebratory "you finished the rim to rim hike" beers. Right around 4 we started down the trail and came across many a weary hiker finishing the Rim to Rim.  The first guy we saw was about 5 minutes from the top and looking mighty haggard.  We chatted for just a second, gave him some smiles and words of encouragement and continued down the trail while he staggered forward.  A few more travelers later we were again asked, "how much longer till the top" and when we said they were about 20 minutes from the top, in the most positive, excited for their accomplishment tones we could muster without being sappy, we got a snippy "everyone says that"! response. Taking no offense we continued our descent and discussed our next response for curious, tired and potentially cranky hikers.

A little after a mile down the trail we found our hikers! They were a little tired, some more sore than others but in great spirits. We made our way back up the trail headed for the finish line and chattered excitedly attempting to learn about their 20+ mile adventure. Jonathan admitted to having severe knee issues starting around mile 7, and just like I predicted, muscled himself, pain and all, across the canyon.  At this point I'm lacking in the hike adventure and will have to ask Jonathan to fill in the details he wishes to share.

Upon finishing the guys enjoyed a refreshing brew in celebration of their achievement before we made our way back to our cabin for much needed showers.  Still in a celebratory mode and needing a little pain reliever we made our way to the Rough Rider Saloon while we enjoyed a pre-dinner beverage and waited for our 8:00 dinner reservation. No doubt we would have wanted to eat earlier, but due to some last minute reservations 8:15 was the best option.  Having celebrated a little too much, a little too fast we were down one group member as we sat at our table to enjoy our much anticipated dinner at the North Rim Lodge.

Back in the cabin we turned in early, allowing the crisp fall canyon air and refreshing canyon silence to sooth us to sleep. The next day, bright and early, we slowly made our way to the deli to pick up some coffee before enjoying the view of the rim.  As Jonathan and I walked towards one of the seating areas someone commented on Jonathan's "Kaibob Shuffle".  Shuffle indeed.  Thanks to some very sore, over worked knees Jonathan was a walking akin to Frankenstein.  Despite our short visit its very clear that the north rim is quite a different experience than the South rim, and may very well be worth the extended drive.  Seeing that its a little more time consuming, and not quite as convenient to get to this rim, the tourist crowed is a quite different.  From our visit I noticed considerably less bus groups and a much calmer, more "there for the nature than the photo opt" type of crowed. 

Around 10ish we packed into the car and started our journey home.  The ride was pretty uneventful until we started coming across random 4x4 beams laying in various lanes along the road.  Someone was steadily loosing some of their lumber load causing a bit of a road hazard which lasted about the last hour of our drive home. 

Having drove though a lunch stop we decided to hit up one last tourist stop for pie. Every time Jonathan and I have traveled to Flagstaff, the Grand Canyon or even Prescott upon our drive home we've seen an advertisement for Pies but have never stopped. We each enjoyed our own slice, apple, peach, rhubarb, pecan etc and as tasty as it was, I can't say I'd go out of my way to get more.  The service was incredibly put off by our purchase and from this baker's perspective, the crust was too salty.  We made it home early afternoon and spent the rest of our day catching up with the kitties and Mr. Jackson who spent the weekend with his bestest buddy Yager, down the street.

Overall we enjoyed a terrific trip and should Jonathan take on this challenge again, I'll certainly be joining him : )

 

Rim to Rim - Grand Canyon South Rim

Friday morning around 8:30AM Jonathan, myself, Nick, Christine and John loaded the car with all our stuff, packed in like comfortable sardines and started the drive to the Grand Canyon's South rim.  Seeing that we had some time to play tourist before we got to the Canyon we stopped in Jerome for a little sight seeing.  We walked some of the streets before enjoying a lovely wine, cheese and olive tasting at Caduceus Cellars tasting room.  Jonathan and I have been here before and enjoyed the wine as well as the atmosphere. 

After enjoying our wine and cheese we walked about and toured a few more shops before making our way to Bobby D's BBQ for lunch.  WARNING, if you're ever in Jerome DO NOT eat there, the tasty aromas wafting form the smoker are a lie, all lies.  Despite the fact that the meat should basically be ready, having been smoked all evening/morning, it took 50 minutes to produce 3 pulled pork sandwiches, 1 brisket sandwich and 1 rack of ribs.  My pork was barely room temperature and nothing special, the 5 fries provided were on the boring side and the beer was a lovely combo of flavorless and stale.  The highlight of the entire experience was the low blood sugar, giddy entertainment we got while guessing the purpose of the plastic sandwich bag filled with water, nailed above the Exist sign.  Perhaps its best some mysteries are left unsolved.

 Dissatisfied with our food but determined to squeeze one more tourist activity out of Jerome we loaded back in the car and drove to the closed gold mine. Damn you Jerome for your tricky ways.  Turns out the mine is a bit of a fake out because its not actually something that can be toured, instead you end up at some one's tchotchke store which just so happens to offer a tour of their hording/junkyard.  Sure some of the trucks and equipment provided some good photo opportunities but the whole experience was a bit creepy. The owner's political opinions were clear in some of the decorations and their mountain man life style was on par with the white trash mountain folk stereotype.  Lets just say I wouldn't have attended the tour, but my ticket was ever so kindly paid for by Nick.

Back on the road we made it to the South rim of the Grand Canyon around 8:15 PM.  We opted to dine at the cafeteria before checking into our room seeing that our opportunity for dinner was about to close in the next 45 minutes.  The temperature had dropped a good 50 degrees from when we left Phoenix, but the cool, crisp mountain air was a refreshing change from the valley . I don't think the bags hit the floor of the hotel room before Jonathan, Nick and John started discussing their attire, snacks and packing/re-arranging their day packs. Despite much anticipation, hyper excitement and claims of not being able to sleep, pretty much everyone fell asleep quickly and remained that way until 5 AM the next morning.

Next up, a 4 hour car drive for some, a 22 mile hike for others and our stay on the North rim.

Yet another haboob!

This past Tuesday we experienced yet another nasty dust storm.  Hopefully this was the last one of the year, because these storms are just plain wretched!  Below are pictures I took from my office. (Mind you the window these are taken from is a bit dusty, but you get the idea)

This is what it should look like out the window of the 11th floor:

This is what it looked like on Tuesday around 1:00 PM.  You can see why these things cause 30+ car pileups on freeways.

This is after the storm "cleared" past down town. YECH!

Toby toe

Just the other day I noticed Toby's back center toe looking a bit dirty. At closer and grosser inspection I realized that his nail was missing! I will not describe it but a missing kitty nail is pretty funky. Seeing that he was not limping or indicating pain I figured I would clean it for him then monitor it to be sure he was keeping it clean. A few days later I discovered I had put too much faith in my cat's personal hygiene and made an appointment with the vet.

This would be Toby's first visit to this vet but he is all too familiar with where he tends to go when the carrier comes out. The time came to get him loaded up for the 3 block drive and, as per usual, I had to shake Sydney out of the carrier within which she was quite comfortably resting. Given Toby's seemingly calm demeanor I thought getting him I might be easy, however this disillusion quickly faded while he did a pull up on my back with his claws dug in like a fork in sponge cake.

After much howling protest we made it to the vet and, still loaded in the crate, he was placed on the scale. When I chuckled at the 20 lbs that appeared on scale display the tech tried to comfort me by insisting the carrier weighed 10 lbs. Silly girl, I knew better. Turns out Mr. Toby rings it at 15 lbs exactly. Toby was sure to assert his annoyance with some very breathy hissing but overall did great for the vet. The vet assured me that he had simply broken the nail clean off and after a little clean up, an application of quick stop to cauterize the wound and some antibiotics we were on our way home.

Since our visit Toby's toe is looking better and surely on the mend.

Weekend updates

Every weekend I thought would be the one that I caught up with my posts, but for the third weekend in a row I've failed!  So here is a summed up version.

2 weekends ago...Three hawks, one havalina and 47 miles later Jonathan and I finished our Saturday morning ride and peeled our human salt lick selves off our bikes seats for a quick visit with Joanthan's aunt and uncle.  Our ride started, and logically ended, at their front door, giving us a chance for a nice chat and check up on Mr. Max, their 14 year old puppy who has recently recovered from some health issues, before heading back home for the day.

A good eight hours later, after safely nestling two over-sized IPAs in my purse, we picked up our amigos down the street and made our way back to Scottsdale to dine at FnB. BYOB is the reason for the smuggled booze.  The experience was fun as the company is always a pleasure, and the food was good, but something is lost in an evening out when you have the bring your own beverages.

 

Sunday we returned to our long ignored to-do list.  Ever since we took down the aluminum car port, and Jonathan got a new car*, his little car has had to endure the desert sun while parked at home.  In hopes of resolving the direct sun contact and maintaining the look of our house without adding a bulky shade structure, we ordered a custom sized, custom fabric shade sail.  We lucked out in that the custom canvas fabric was a near exact match to our exterior beam/ceiling color.  Two trips to Home Depot, one trip to the always toxic, off-gassing Harbor Freight, and a lot of sweat later Jonathan and I managed to pull and tug our shade sail into place. When standing underneath and looking up the matching color to the house fits in quite well, and while looking from the street you barely notice the canvas.(*Note Jonathan's car did not make the photo opportunity as seen here)

One weekend ago...Jonathan stepped up his hiking by making the drive to Prescott to hike 9+ miles while I stayed home attempting to get my running mileage progressing.  Seems I've hit a bit of a rut at a way too short a distance to even be considered a rut!

Post exercise we checked out a new neighborhood nursery and finally replaced some of the front planter plants that didn't fair too well in this summer's heat.  I was sincerely sad to see the loss of the jades, especially the one that came all the way from VA, but lesson learned.  We replaced the voids with more elephant's food (which does freakishly well here) as well as some little cactus.  The plan is to have a nice ground cover of elephant's food plus a few little vertical plants for visual variety.

Sunday Jonathan worked hard at removing the old fan support in our bedroom and replacing it with a far superior support. His work left an odd shaped void of drywall in the ceiling which I was confident I could replace.  Didn't turn out as easy as I'd hoped.  Frustrated and defeated I walked away and decided to try again the following day.  After watching a few videos I still thought I could avoid cutting the hole in the ceiling to match the new dry wall piece as many a do it yourself video suggested.  I should known better than to try and out smart the experts in the videos.  As of that Sunday evening, the void remained, resulting in a "fail" on my end of the project.  Life goes on.

Past weekend: Due to a bike tube blowout and being low on spare tubes we canceled our planned long ride on Saturday morning and instead took Mr. Jackson for a nice little hike in Papago park. The park was on our route to the Botanical Garden where we were scheduled to pick up our free trees, thanks to APS' shade tree give away program. On our hike we witnessed a little military training as we watched 7 massive helicopters, looked like Th-1 Iroquois or the better known Blackhawk, fly over head in formation, land, and take back off from the nearby base.  I can't say I agree with everything military, but the machinery and history/concept of warfare continues to fascinate me.

After we dropped off our trees and a tired little Jackson at home we ran a few more errands, picked up a new-to-us bookshelf, and stopped for lunch at the newly opened Rice Paper on 7th St. The restaurant focuses on spring rolls, and Vietnamese sandwiches/soups (Pho), and boy oh boy was it good.  Service was lacking, aka don't go if your already very hungry, but the atmosphere is nice, the good is great and its certainly worth a return trip.

Jonathan finished repairing the hole in the ceiling and I set to work on taping and puttying.  I have about one more layer of to go and it should be finished. Hopefully this week/weekend we can re-attach the fan and, fingers crossed, it will no longer wobble and creak!

Preview for this weekend...This Saturday morning we have a dude with a tractor scheduled to grade our front yard.  Now that the summer weather is at an end we can finally get back to finishing the front landscaping!

 

Tick tock

You know your work day has been longer than normal when you type "sayd" instead of said. 

Sydney agrees.