I didn't order that...

Realizing my soy yogurt cup was not going to get me through the last half of my day I oped to get a sandwich for lunch.  Budget in mind, I ventured over to the near by Subway, which had never been at the top of my Subway list.  While standing in line with my fellow lunch minions as instructed I yelled my sandwich order over the guy in front of me.  The sandwich maker and I went back and forth attempting to clarify that yes, I did indeed want the bacon on my turkey, BACON and avocado sandwich.  The 4th "yes" apparently made it semi clear.  My sandwich steadily made its way down the line as did I, scooching closer and closer to the veggies.  That's when it happened.

One of the sandwich makers stepped away from her position and started walking toward the back room.  About 2 feet from the open doorway she slowed, tilted her head down ever so slightly and... sneezed.  No elbow, no hand, no nothing.  To make matters worse her sneeze took place right next to the bread case with its double glass doors wide open.  Her sandwich buddy still at the counter turned to her and made a comment to which they both chuckled.  Ah yes, I too find sneezing in the open while in the process of food service entertaining.

The second thought, post initial disgust, that went through my head was, "well I already have my bread, and my sandwich was protected by the body of a sandwich maker..", and then it got worse.  Sneezy actually returned to her sandwich spot.  No change of gloves, no washing of the hands, nothing, again, nothing!  That was the final straw. Right as my hard fought for excuse for bacon came out of the microwave I had to tell the pal of sneezey that I no longer wanted my sandwich.  And with that, like a liberated lemming I squeezed past the the penguinesque man blocking the line exit and broke out of Sneezeway.  How gross!  Have some standards people!

Subway at Central and Thomas, you are officially off my list of eating venues.  Can't even say it was nice while it lasted.

Kitty Contemplations

Please remind me why you thought it was an appropriate decision to move to the desert...

Mr. Roboto

Thanks to the Animal Welfare League of Arizona's low cost microchipping Mr. Jackson is now the proud owner of an implanted microchip.  I don't even want to consider the thought of losing the little guy, but should something happen, at least now he has a little technology on his side.  Any vet or shleter with the technology anywhere in the country can now scan him and find out where he belongs.

Jackson weighted in at 15.1 lbs and was complemented as having a lovely, healthy coat. The vet went on to say that often he sees dogs in the Phoenix/desert area with dried out, dusty coats, but not this little guy, healthy and as shiny as could be.  Jackson was a little nervous, but nothing over the top.  Never nipped, growled or snarled the entire time.  The vet tech held him while the vet gently gabbed him with a large needle used to inject the chip.  I was impressed with the vet and that Jackson never flinched despite being poked with a needle intended to inject a micro chip. (akin to a needle with an opening large enough to expel a tic-tac)  After the injection was complete the all to sweet vet tech turned him so that he was a good couple of inches from her face, and told him what a good boy he was.  The subtle lip curl and, bared tooth that ensued was a near perfect "f-u" to the whole situation. All who witnessed shared an empathetic chuckle at his simple display of displeasure at her post-injection comment.

Once home Jackson supervised while I primed a room, and shared a nice little nap with Sydney and I.  He has shown no signs of discomfort (not that any were expected), and was his usual mutely self for the remainder of the day. 

Questionable Marketing

Should "Clean Rooms" really be a marketing asset for hotels?   Given too much thought, "Clean Rooms" makes me wonder about what kind of improvement they've made that encourages the use of sanitation standards as a unique quality.  At this point, I'd almost prefer to stay somewhere that wasn't telling me they had clean rooms. 

Break from the Valley

With Jackson loaded in the car, and our bikes strapped to the Mini we headed north for Flagstaff among a minor windstorm.  Is there really a better time to be driving a small car with large, light weight items attached to the back? 

 

I've been told, when it comes to cycling, its not if you're going to get a flat in Arizona, its when you're going to get a flat.  Jonathan's pierced tire "when" just so happened to be a hilly 14 miles away from our car.  Thanks to the advice of a friendly fellow cyclist, and some ingenuity with a piece of hammer gel wrapper we were able to get back on the road and finish our 31 ride in record time. (A piece of the gel wrapper was placed on the inside of the tire wall, held in place by a freshly inflated tube.  This piece helped protect the semi-vulnerable new tube... or so my understanding goes.) 

 

Post ride/shower and pup pick up, we headed into town for what I was expecting to be a relatively easy breakfast/shopping trip.  Not so much.  Turns out the Flagstaff dinning scene, outdoor areas included, really isn't as dog friendly as anticipated.  After being turned away from two places, and with blood sugar at ragetasticly low levels we opted for lunch at The Black Bean, a tasty burrito shop.  Had we not had Mr. Jackson I would have much preferred breakfast, but since it was now starting to rain and the Black Bean offered not only food, but a place for Mr. J-bone and an umbrella, we took turns ordering our food while the other stood under an umbrella with Jackson.  With my umbrella safely packed back at the house I came to realize what a curiously strong aversion I have to getting wet.  A strange thing considering my 14+ years of competitive swimming, but the reality is, I don't even like stepping out of the shower without being completely drip free.

 

Sporadic showers, made for a bit of a rough down town experience, but we were quite happy with Jackson's behavior amid showers and a wide variety of adults, children, pets and the constant stranger pettings.  We dropped Jackson back at the house for a little R&R and headed out to the Museum of Northern Arizona to see an exhibit by Ed Mell - Paintings of the New West.  It was awesome.  He is a local Phoenician and does spectacular work.  Had we more money it would be something we would invest in, but since we prefer to enjoy daily meals for the rest of the year we will not be investing in any of his paintings in the near future.  Check his stuff out: http://www.medicinemangallery.com/articles/ed-mell-western-art-collector.lasso   

 

For dinner we ordered pizza from New Jersey Pizza Co.  After being told "45" minutes we waited an hour then attempted to pick up our pizza.  We should have waited another 30 minutes.  In the true fashion of making friends wherever I go, standing behind the counter with the kitchen in full view I asked if anyone was from Jersey.  Turns out the owner/chef was a Garden State Native and his brother and father were fellow Scarlet Knights.  In addition, the owner used to be a swimmer and swam for the Jersey Wahoos which is the club team of many an RU teammate. As we continued to chat we discovered that a fellow waiting patron was also a Jersey boy.  Talk about small world.  I can't say that NJ was my favorite state to call home, but I do enjoy the privilege of saying I lived there seeing that no matter where you go, you're pretty much destined to run into one or more.

 

Despite a rouge teenage golfer who almost took out Jonathan and a window with his wild shot, only to drive away without apologizing or finishing the hole, we enjoyed one of the best NY style pizzas in the west!

 

 Sunday we started our day off at Brandy's, a restaurant featured on Drive Ins, Dinners and Dives.  Awesome food, great prices and some of the best pancakes Jonathan's ever had.  We attempted to go to the Celtic Fare but at $12 a head we opted instead for a fee free hike.  Since Mr. Jackson's hiking booties were not in-stock we kept to a relatively smooth terrain. On our way back to the house we were greeted by a rather robust little vole who showed now shyness in peaking out of his hole mid day with people and dogs standing nearby.  Despite cutting it short due to a rather toasty unobstructed sun we enjoyed our nature experience, which may not be reflected by Jackson in the picture below.

 

 

 

Luckily, by the time we returned to the valley the temps were only a mere 108.

A furry friend in need

This week we've experienced a bit of aptly texted, pandemonium at the Hupp household. Tuesday on our usual walk Jackson and I were greeted by an exceptionally friendly stray. She had no collar, is likely under two years old, appears to have been owned and loved by someone but was now wandering the streets. I consider it fortunate that she was so interested in Jackson and myself that I was able to guide her to our house for safe keeping/temporary fostering. 

Just to be very clear, we did not intend on keeping this adorable bundle of energy, but we were going to fight hard to find either her rightful owner or a good, safe home. This surely 40+ pound American Staffordshire Terrier/Pit mix is not only one of the sweetest dogs I've ever met, but she is a stunning little specimen. She has a beautiful healthy brindle patterned coat, very healthy teeth and an exceptionally expressive face. She loves, loves, loves to play whether its with Jackson, who, much to his distaste, she inadvertently clobbers with her clumsy puppy paws or a tennis ball which can be thrown or just laying about to be knocked around, or, either Jonathan or I. She is happy to see people, very affectionate, and has shown absolutely no signs of aggression, even with food and toys. Often she is better than Jackson on a leash but could certainly use some training and will test your strength when she is interested in something other than her path.

We posted Found Dog signs and blasted all kinds of emails to rescue organizations, neighbors, office friends, and not until Wednesday afternoon did we start to get some sort of response from a few rescue organizations. Seeing that Pits or, as affectionately referred to, "bullies", still carry with them the stereotype of just being fighting dogs their adoption and placement into good homes can be quite a challenge. This dog wouldn't hurt a fly intentionally and deserved a good home/family. Had we not had our wonderful Mr. Jackson I'm pretty sure we would keep her, but we cannot. It would not be a financially responsible decision, nor would it be fair to our two kitties and Jackson. Its taken little Ms. Sydney until yesterday to eat a full meal and start roaming about the house again, even with the dog outside. Our other kitty, Mr. Toby, is in constant "I'll kick you’re a$$" mode, which is no doubt exhausting. Jackson is very interested in her, as here, but with her strength and lack of coordination he is quickly overwhelmed and almost freezes in shock when she approaches to play with him.

As of Thursday afternoon we had plans to meet with an adoptive family on Saturday with what seemed like great potential. We spoke over the phone for a good 20+ minutes discussing his past with bullies, and his recent loss of a bullie after battling an awful bout of cancer. Then on Thursday night around 9:00 PM I discovered I had three messages about the Found Dog sign. The first two sounded a little sketchy, but the third, who actually took the effort to contact both numbers on the found dog poster sounded reasonable. We discussed how to approach the situation and came up with a few questions to ask as well as what appropriate response behavior to expect. By the time Jonathan contacted the caller in the morning I had two more voice mails regarding the dog, one even provided her name.

Moments later I received a text with a photo of one of the callers sitting with our sweet not so little stray in his lap. It was indeed her. During Jonathan's over the phone investigation we felt that all of the owner's answers made logical sense (location, date lost etc.) And, it turned out that two of the other callers from this morning were, 1 the friend who found the Found Dog sign, and 2, his longtime foreman, who confirmed that she was his dog and is treated very well. Apparently she often joins them at work as the shop dog. No dates or locations were put on the sign and the photo was black and white, and again, all of his answers were quick and logical. I was not keen on his response to why she didn't have a tag/collar, but when I texted him to let him know I would get her a proper tag I received a grateful call back with all the info I needed.

It turns out "Lola", which was one of the answers that made sense since the only name we could get her to remotely respond to was "Lady", is only about 7 months old which certainly accounts for her high energy, curiosity and clumsy play. Despite a little disruption to routine, we were happy to provide her with a safe foster home and reunite her with her proper owner. We will miss her, but are confident our fury family members will be delighted to return to their usual routines.  

 

Hulk like strength strikes again...

PS to the Tifton story…

On the right is a photo of the window on my flight home. When I sat down I tried to close the shade, and not noticing the shade casing was at a bit of a tilt I damn near ripped thew whole thing off. Now call me crazy, but I didn't want to have to deboard an entire flight and wait for another plane so I promptly smooshed it back in the case as best I could and left the shade at the level it was when I sat down. 


When I told Jonathan about my window "issue" he commented that he sat in that very same seat on the way home from his original trip to Tifton, Georgia.

Dear Delta, fix your planes.

 

Phoenix Anniversary

Its official, its been a year and two days since our arrival in "The Valley". We spent our arrival anniversary running errands for the house, picking up paint, plants, and painting the ceiling in the living room. Not quite a celebration, but it was our first day back from our weekend trip to Georgia and it was nice to have a day to unwind.

As much as I'd like to say our trip to Tifton, GA was a purely for pleasure we actually traveled 3 hours south of Atlanta to attend the funeral service of the late Mrs. Edna Blackwell Hare, Jonathan's grandmother. The joy she spread and the number of lives she touched is immeasurable. She was truly an amazing, one of a kind, intelligent and understanding woman. Kind spirit, patient, giving and one of the most genuinely loving individuals I've ever known. She will be missed by all who knew and loved her, may she rest in peace. Both the viewing, which displayed a terrific assortment of photos celebrating her life, and the service were beautiful. I found the service more cathartic than expected, and was thankful that Jonathan and I were able to attend.

While in Tifton we made it a point to get up early enough for some sight seeing and obligatory travel photos. We took in great array of suburban architecture and even found some awesome midcentury/midcentury modern homes and city buildings which I was not expecting to find in such a small southern town. In addition, the drive to and from Tifton provided a great array of "quality" billboards and road shops. Two out of three roadside stops, the Plantation House, and Babcock's Pecans proved a bit disappointing since besides oversized portions of Pecan candy and the always essential ceramic miniature bells, painted spoons and key chain chotchkies, they only sold Florida souvenir shirts. Honestly where are all the proud Tifton, Georgia shirts hiding? It took about 2 hours of driving North, but we did manage to strike boiled peanut gold when we stopped at Snooky's about ¾ of the way to Atlanta from Macon. I hadn't been a fan of boiled peanuts until Snooky's delicious brew for which I am thankful, since now I dare say Jonathan can officially consider me his wife. How I love my Alabama man.

Seeing that I'm not from the South and apparently have a very entertaining way of pronouncing the word Pecan (I say it Pee-Kan instead of PaCon) I was sure to keep my mouth shut in the local stores. That area certainly doesn't take kindly to some damn Yankee butchering the pronunciation of their prized nut! I did however manage to find a single person (the friendly chef at the hotel) who shared my pronunciation of the word. Always good to know I'm not alone in my "unique" ways.

Even thought our trip's primary purpose was to bid our final farewells to an exceptional woman, I think Mrs. Edna would have appreciated our whirlwind Tifton experience. During our trip Jonathan mentioned an intention to return for an eventual Southern and South Eastern road trip vacation, so perhaps one of these days we will again find our selves in the self proclaimed "Reading Capital of America", Tifton, Georgia.

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.

New Planters

It took a little longer than planned to pick up our planters, but finally our Madagascar palms are happily potted in their new homes.  I think both the pots and the plants make classy yet sassy additions to our newly painted house!  

Appearance numero dos

This past Saturday Jonathan and I made it back into the papers, pictures and all.  Not bad considering we've been in the state for less than an year and have had our happy mugs in the paper twice.  The article as well as photos can be seen by clicking on the link below.  Some of the pictures may look familiar as they were taken from the blog : ).  Enjoy!

The article title is: Remodels turn foreclosures into gems
http://www.azcentral.com/style/hfe/

Exterior Beautification

Reader advisory: The final color, as seen in the slide show to the left, may take some adjusting to. But, give it time, perhaps come back tomorrow and give it another look because I'm guessing it will start to grow on you with time.

When we first bought our house, it was covered in white vinyl siding. Jonathan ripped off vinyl siding and discovered what is called board and batten. Initially we thought about sandblasting the block, but it would have required parting with a few too many Benjamin's for our budget, so after a few paint options and much consideration we decided on one of the "Suburbon Modern" color palette combo from Sherwin Williams.

As with most projects, the prep took way longer than expected. We've been working off and on since December, and once we got to painting I started with the window frames on the very front of the house. I then tested out the green to be sure it was a keeper and moved on to prime/paint the board and batten. One task at a time is never enough so I decided to start priming and painting the under beams that support the roof.

As if painting wasn't fun enough, the beams that support the overhang of the roof are not only over head, but are broken into about 30 subsections by vertical beams and include a gap between the horizontal beams that cannot be painted with a roller like the beam itself. No no, you have to dip a brush into paint then smoosh it between the boards. Its quite the lovely, repetitive, awkward process.

Two Saturdays ago I managed to both clean and prime all of the block in the front of the house. Since blocks are porous surfaces I had the pleasure of painting with a 3/4 inch thick roller. This thick roller saturated with paint is akin to painting with a soaked beach towel on a stick. By the time I finish painting the house I just may have forearms that would make Popeye jealous.

This weekend Jonathan and I tackled the first application of the main color, Stratford Blue, and continued painting Plymouth Green on the beams. After I peeled my slightly cramped hand off of the heavy roller, post first layer completion, we stepped back to the street to admire the color and I am the first to admit, I was a bit overwhelmed. Did I really want to live in a play house? I know that the hideous red rock front yard wasn't helping the situation. This isn't your grandma's beige, and its it takes some time to warm up to.

Its now Monday and the blue has won its way into my heart. Yes, its a bold choice, and a bit out of the norm, but its quite fun and definitely catches your eye when you drive by. I dare say the marketing of the color palette is right on the money when it says the colors are "Bright, sunny colors from the 1950s reflecting the optimism of a nation." I can't speak for the optimisim of the 50's, but I like the sounds of "bright", "sunny" and "optimisim".

Eventually (sooner rather than later) the red rock will be replaced with something more neutral, calming and less distracting. As of last night Jonathan ripped up some unattractive stone between the house and the front walkway and filled in the void with river rock. This minor change has already made a big difference in the look of the paint. To continue with the beautification, tonight we'll be purchasing planters for the Madagascar Palms we bought this weekend with the intention of accenting the front. Slowly but surely its coming together. (Check back tomorrow for planter pics)

Operation Kitchen: Complete

We walked through the threshold of "our home" Friday October 30th and promptly demolished our kitchen to nothing but walls and floor (and windows) on November 1st. We had electrical rewiring and walls refinished around December 13th. We had cabinets/appliances and a countertop installed/completed to form a working kitchen in time for a family holiday dinner December 27th. Jonathan, his dad and his uncle installed the kitchen floor December 30th which was followed by a long anticipated range hood installation around February 20th. March 10th we went ahead with our tile backsplash install and also completed our custom made back door using a doorlite kit. As of May 3rd we've managed to pull together the finishing touches by decorating a recently purchased tchotchkes shelving unit, setting up a new, more room appropriate, custom kitchen table, painting the interior milk deposit door and finishing the application/painting of the floor molding.

After nearly two months of dining out for just about every meal and saving leftovers in a cooler to be reheated with our microwave, it took about 4 months of kitchen projects to piece together an inviting, highly functional, pretty modern kitchen. There were battles over this and that and many a lesson learned on patience and compromise, but I think I can safely say our kitchen is finished. I realize the word "finished" is more of a hypothetical term because when it comes to home ownership, projects never really finish, instead they get close enough to completion to make you convince yourself that they're done. One room down, plenty more to go. Check out the slide show to the left for a visual trip through our kitchen re-do.

Next project to be completed: painting the front of the house before triple digits set in.

Birthday trip

In celebration of Jonathan's birthday (the big two six) his parents came out for a trip to the Grand Canyon, among other sites. We started our adventure bright and early Saturday morning with a departure deadline of 8. Smack at 8 we piled into the car, and with Jackson in my lap, we drove to casa Hare where Jackson would be staying for the weekend. After supplies were handed off and instructions were provided we were whisked back to the car to head off to our first national monument, Montezuma's castle.

It just so happened to be a free parks weekend so instead of waiting outside the park entrance like a bunch cheap-os we strolled along with Jonathan's parents and uncle. Of course the obligatory hand held pics were taken and can be seen in the slide show to the left. I was most delighted that I as able to stamp my trusty national parks/monument passport, since the first time we visited the park we were passport-less, and I'm not dedicated enough to pay the $5 just to get the stamp.

Continuing on, we made it to Flagstaff around 1 and picked up lunch to be eaten at casa Hare numero dos. Granted it was about 15 degrees cooler (give or take), the sun was mighty toasty and the fresh air was delightful! With lunch out of the way, it was time to stop dilly dallying so we piled comfortably into the Sequoia and made our way to Walnut Canyon (photos to the left) and 4 wheeled in luxury over to the Grand falls (Navajo Reservation land). Apparently the Grand Falls are only grand for a limited amount of time due to the snow melt, and we just happened to be lucky enough to catch it in, or at least around, its prime. Day one summary: Early, on time departure, check, national monument, check, 4 wheeling until coated with dust, check, Mexican food dinner, check. A darn fine first day indeed.

Up with the sun on Sunday, being the delicate flower that I am, I managed to hurt my neck/upper back attempting to put on my shirt. Next to me Frankenstein would have looked like gumby. Oh well, no time for pain, the Grand Canyon waits for no man. The drive took a little over an hour and included plenty of lovely scenery plus an over sized Fred Flintstone hosted dinosaur park. Like good economy stimulators we ate lunch at the Bright Angel Lodge restaurant then started touring about the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. At 3 PM we attend a California Condor chat, and I don't know about the rest of the party, but I was darn skeptical that the chat would result in a condor sighting. Well, slap me silly and call me Sally, because those birds just kept flying over. Some may consider it a bad sign when a bird that specializes in eating decomposing carcases constantly hovers over-head, but I consider multiple California Condor sighting worth looking like a rotting meal.

With dinner reservations looming and plenty of sights to see we took off on a short rim trail hike. Little did we know that our hike would include not only gorgeous canyon views, but some up close California Condor sightings. Our vicinity to the condors was such that with a little extra zoom you can clearly view their tag numbers. According to the lecture there are currently 350 California Condors in existence, which is still a small population, but a much needed improvement from the 23 in existence only a few years back. They're no macaw, but their big feet, 9 ft wing span, shiny black feathers, and bald red head and neck have a beauty all their own.

After we shook some dust off of ourselves in our respective rooms we made our way to the restaurant in El Tovar for some delicious food and libations. Good food, wonderful company and a window side table looking out at the Grand Canyon at sunset, not a bad way to finish off day two.

Our final day in the canyon was spent busing/hiking to the farthest point on the South Rim trail (Hermits Rest) and enjoying canyon views, each uniquely beautiful. While we enjoyed the canyon I was delighted to receive word that Mr. Jackson was enjoying his visit with Zoe, Natalie, Max and Maggie. Its always nice to hear that your hairy kid is enjoying himself and providing good entertainment for all.

Our return to the valley was complete with a 20 degree rise in mercury and a very happy, vocal kitty greeting. Jackson seemed happy to see us when we picked him up, but would have surely been content to hang out with the Hares a while longer. During the Jackson pick up we learned that he found great joy in dragging a faux-fur bed throw from the guest bed, down the stairs and out into the formal living room. He apparently has a taste for the finer textures in life and I'm grateful he finds a way to continue sleeping on his fake sheep fur bed.

Be sure to check out the slide show to the left complete with Canyon views, cheeky hand held shots and of course a few pics of the California Condors.

Comment of the day

One office worker is talking to another and says, "I saw you brought your grandkids to the fair this weekend". Pause. "No", second office worker responds, "I don't have grandkids, I only have two children".

One might consider this an appropriate "oh shit" moment.

The conversation continued awkwardly and drew to a close much slower than the offending party probably would have liked. Today's lesson, when in doubt opt for the comment that makes the other party feel youthful, or at least, doesn't offend.