Rainy day adventures

Not being keen on working in the rain Jonathan and I spent this past cold and rainy Saturday spring cleaning, painting and waiting to go bowl.  8:30 on the dot we loaded into the 4x2, the affectionate name for our friend's Jeep Cheroke, and made our way to Let it Roll.  Unlike the near desolate, 80s music bumpin, innocence of our last bowling trip, this time we were greeted by some chest thumping Snoop and a sea of people who opted for bowling instead the club.  Not having a reservation we were told our chances might be slim for a lane so we decided to take a seat and wait it out for a bit.

About 20 minutes into our pitcher of Stella we were called to our lane. Getting the bowling party started Matt transformed himself into Mr. Mustachio, with an artful application of a little shoe polish. Classy!  We rolled to The Chronic, a little Dre, a dash of Eminem, and paused mid way through our game, with the rest of the bowling alley, to judge a "Duggy" dance off.  Alternating girls then guys a small crowed dance-challenged each other eventually giving way to the crowds overwhelming support of the superior male dancers.  Talk about living in a bubble, when the DJ announced the Duggy I felt like a white person played by Dave Chappell.  "The Duggy, golly gee, what's that"?

Different music, very different crowed, still a great time had by all.  Jane rocked out both games with some fantastic rolls, even beating Mr. Mustashio in round 1. When it came time for the speed roll Caleb was hands down the man of evening, sending that ball flying down the lane at over 20 mph!
                                                                                                           

Sunday I got up for a run before we drove north to age restricted, Sun City to pick up some white rock, and of course snap a few pictures.  Sun city is the original retirement community in Arizona and boy oh boy does its green painted rock still show it!.  We managed to snag an entire truck load of stone and despite its current muddy condition we're confident it will serve our walk way well.

Once home we got to work on finishing the setup of the drainage pipe and were delighted when it successfully drained into the back yard.  Filling in the trench required the sifting of our remaining rock to prevent hole plugging dirt and debris from affecting the pipe's drainage.  For the remainder of the day we again shoveled dirt and rock until we could take it no longer.  On the cusp of calling it a day, we were gifted with a lemon tree from friends down the street, so we pulled together our remaining energy dutifully planted our little citrus. Then we called it a day for real.

                                                                                                                                              

         

Yet another Sunday

A beautiful morning + newly reinstated health insurance = time for a 25 mile bike ride before we started our yard work. All was well until about 6 miles from home when Jonathan smashed into a chunk of asphalt with his bike tire. Insert familiar sputter and hiss of a flat tire.  After I disposed of the old tube and was returning to Jonathan's bike repair location I heard a not so comforting tube explosion. Apparently during the attempted inflation the tube jumped the rims causing a blowout. To add to the comedy of errors, the tube I had for back up wasn't the proper size and would do Jonathan no good.

Confident that on this morning Jonathan would make the ride home faster than I, he headed off on my bike to pick up the car while I sat with his broken ride in the pool parking lot of a hoity-toity private prep school. Entertainment during my wait was provided courtesy of a few dedicated swimmers. First a 2010 Mercedes SLK pulled in and parked.  The stylish driver attempted to enter the pool area, then upon reaching locked gates approached me to ask if I knew if the pool would be open today.  "Not sure, I don't live around here" I responded, to which she walked back towards the still locked gate.  Shortly there after an equally lovely 2009 Porsche Cayman S parked alongside the SLK in the completely empty parking lot. Mid conversation between the two drivers, a brand new 5 Series BMW pulled into the parking lot.  Yet another swimmer equally defeated upon figuring out the gate was locked.

Desperation had apparently set in, because when I looked towards the pool fence I noticed that, with some assistance from her trusty friend, the SLK driver was now sitting on the fence attempting a pool break-in.   Desperate times call for desperate measures indeed.  About a minute or two later I saw that the fence hopper had thought better of the situation and was back on the appropriate side of the fence.

Defeated, and with no life guards in sight they disband and drove off.  It wasn't until I was again alone in the lot that I realized during a good 4o minutes of mini drama no one had even bothered to ask the single female sitting next to her noticeably out of commission road bike which sat upside down sans a front tire, if she was ok and/or needed any assistance. Oh humanity, how you continue to entertain.

Back home we enjoyed breakfast, headed down the street to assist some friends equally consumed with home improvement tasks, then returned home to again work on the front yard. I started by tamping the west side dirt into a darn near perfect grade while Jonathan worked at removing a portion of block in our fence which would allow the front yard drainage pipe to drain into the back yard.  With the hole created we started the task of arranging the pipe so that it would drain from the front to the back. Something that should have been easy was of course, not quite so.  As we kept raising the pipe to maintain a decline towards the backyard we realized our current set up wasn't going to work. In order to keep our existing grade, and utilize the drainage pipe successfully we needed to lower the end point of the pipe. Luckily our friends down the street still had their rented jack hammer. 

 Taking turns we worked at funny angles to jack hammer a hole in the concrete footer to meet the needs of our drainage pipe. Thanks to the jack hammer we were able to create the hole in about 10-15 minutes flat.  Now that the drainage end of the pipe is so much lower we'll need to continue to dig out a good portion of the trench to maintain a steady decline towards the back. Today's pipe arrangement was a bit of a set back in our progress, but now that we've solved the issue, we'll continue making progress through out the week.

Did I mention this kind of dirty work?

Supervisor Toby get his paws dirty

About three months back we hauled 3 truck loads of free dirt from down the street and mounded it in our back yard, knowing one day it would serve us well.  Today was that day.  Using said dirt we filled in the massive void that was the west side of our house. Due to erosion or previous owner actions the dirt was so low on the west side that the foundation was almost fully exposed. We still have to tamp down (compress) the dirt and grade it slightly away from the house, but that's for tomorrow.

In addition to dirt shoveling we also planted our first and only front yard tree.  Jonathan found a great Mexican fan palm at Lowes at nearly a quarter the cost of what any nursery in town had to offer.  For those not too familiar with palms, the Mexican fan palm has a somewhat skinny trunk compared to the California fan palm which has a very large, wide trunk.  Both have fronds that are wide and fan like opposed to date palms which are long and narrow.  Lets just say if you've seen a palm tree on a Corona commercial, its likely the one we now have in our front yard.  Our little tree is supposed to grow pretty quickly, but even at its current height brings a great splash of color and movement to our desolate landscape-in-progress.

Here you can see Mr. Toby assisting Jonathan in the staking of the tree which is meant to provide a little stability during its first few days which are expected to be a bit windy.

Publish Post

 

Appointment etiquette

As delighted as I am to be included in this Save the Date via multiple billboards along my commute to work, its really quite rude that they do not list the meeting location! What, they want me to use the interwebs to find the location?  Isn't the Internet the devil's technical playground?

Hammer time

 Jonathan + jack hammer rental = what I came I came home to last Wednesday.  This strategically created rubble used to serve as a solid concrete path that formed a "Y" from the back patio to the back gate on the left and the shed on the right.

Mid day Thursday Jonathan finished his jack hammering and started mapping out the trench for our front yard retraining wall.  From walkway to retaining wall, the Caetano-Hupp household  takes recycling seriously!








Mid morning Sunday we tossed the last shovel of dirt from the trench, then poured in a good 600 lbs of sand in to help in the leveling of the blocks. Using the dolly we transported two blocks at a time from the back to front yard and attempted to start laying the initial level. Turns out leveling these beasty 70+ pound blocks isn't as simple as hopped.  Time to think this over and possibly figure out a new approach.

With a little research and ingenuity Jonathan figured out another approach for the wall. Instead of laying the blocks in two layers he turned the blocks upright against one of the walls of the trench. Tadaa!  In just two days time Jonathan placed all of the wall stones and the drainage pipe, which will move water away from the wall towards the back yard.

The wall is not complete, but pretty darn close, and its looking great.  Little fill here, little rock placement there and our retaining wall will be in business.

Supervisor Jackson approves!

Oh, and by the way, as of this Tuesday our red rock piles is completely gone!  Hooray for free resource scavengers!

Good ink gone bad

This is apparently what happens when you have to go into work early, pens attack.

All dried up

This past week certainly felt more like a week and a half.  I started last week at the bottom of the karma wheel with a bout of food poisoning starting in the wee hours of Sunday morning and lasting through Monday.  No details needed but I think I can honestly say I was only awake for about 7 out of 48 hours.

Can art. Theme was ending hunger.

As the week went on, my karma took its sweet time improving.  Tuesday, on my way to work I pulled over to heed the low tire pressure my car was indicating and came face to face with a lovely screw stabbing my front, driver side, tire. Lovely.  Later that evening we took off the flat tire and mounted the donut, and slowly maneuvered our way to Costco to order 4 new tires. I was in need of tires anyway, so no worries, simply let the bad times roll off my back because my luck will undoubtedly improve, right?

Tron bike made from beans. Ironic?

Not so much.  The karma gods were enjoying a mighty hardy chuckle when on Wednesday morning at 5:50 AM I managed to get three toes stuck under the back door while letting Jackson back inside.  How does one get their toes stuck under the door you ask?  I can't be too sure, since it happened so quickly; however, I'm pretty sure it was a wicked combo of two thoughts, move foot and move door, and only one synapse firing.  Needless to say the door moved, leaving the toes to get sucked under in a merciless toe vacuum. With Toby observing me quite intently I managed to maneuver two out before calling Jonathan who kindly, despite my weakest efforts to discourage, gave the door a quick push releasing my slightly mangled toe.  Despite a bit of toe pain, the situation was far too bizarrely entertaining not to laugh about.  Happy mid-week.

Thankfully Thursday and Friday went off without a hitch paving the way to a pretty darn good weekend.  Saturday morning we visited the Scottsdale Art Festival, enjoying on going live music performances, artist's booths and eventually making a purchase from an artist (Chris Vance) who drove down from Des Moines, ID.  For lunch we both enjoyed delicious food from two popular Phoenix food trucks.  I had some tasty lumpia (Filipino deliciousness) from Hey Joe, and Jonathan enjoyed a delicious dog from Short Leash.  The food trucks park in various parts of Phoenix during the week and can usually be found down town for first Fridays and at the farmers market on Saturday.  Their fare is definitely worth making the trip down town.  After the festival we again took on the task of moving the rock river.  This section of the river was possibly the worst phase since who ever put the rock in this section went a little over zealous with rock installation.  Jonathan finished up the day by pick axing the boarders of the river to reveal even more hidden rocks. The fun never ends.













Sunday morning we finally finished removing our blasted rock river. Wheel barrel load after load we trucked the rock to our back yard, which has now become a little reminiscent of a landscaper supply store.  Just  when we were about to shower off the layers of sweat and dust we had both accumulated our first craigslist responder arrived to take some of our red rock. As much as we both wanted to take a break, helping this lady in her tight jeans and tiny tank top proved much more to our advantage than letting her work alone.  What we accomplished in a good 20 minutes of solid shoveling may likely have taken her hours to shovel.  We're quite delighted that people have actually been stopping by to take from the massive pile since the more we can give away, the less we have to pay to get hauled off.

Progress from this weekend continued today with Jonathan staking out the front yard in prep for the small retaining wall that we'll construct along one side of the house.  This weekend we will likely be driving all about the state to check out rock colors, sizes and styles, as well as retraining wall construction materials. The completion of the front yard isn't quite within reach, but the continuing progress has been very exciting indeed!

"Fatso"

The small carport to the left of the house is what we removed.

Acknowledging our recent weak home improvement efforts Jonathan and I stepped it up this weekend and were quite productive.  We started Saturday morning by tearing down the aluminum carport which stood to the left (when facing) of the original carport.  Jonathan has loathed this structure for quite some time and we needed to remove it to be able to finish painting the side of the house..

Demo required a little more problem solving than expected but after many a screw was removed we connected a tow belt from the structure to the truck and with a little acceleration most of the structure came down like a charm.  Two steel posts that appeared cemented beneath the dirt remained. We connected the tow belt to the first post and with a little tug, managed to bend it the point where Jonathan and I could twist and bend by hand to break it free. The final post was another story.  Same belt maneuver, but this time it fought back.  Keep in mind there is no top to this post so as the belt started to slip up, following in the direction of the truck, Jonathan attempted to hold the belt in place with his foot.  Truck torque vs. foot pressure.  Truck won.

I inched the truck along until I heard "STOP, oh sh**".  The belt flew loose of Jonathan's foot pressure and went sailing through the air like something catapulted toward the street ahead.  We both held our breath while it flew overhead and signed in relief when it hit the ground instead of the windshield.  Somehow on its journey the hitch managed to hit Jonathan's pinky causing quite the nasty injury.  Quite a bit of blood and a bit of pain, but no stitches required.  All of our efforts and Jonathan's injury were rewarded with an appreciated cash payment from the sketchy scrap metal yard's cashier.

The stones and brick surround were removed Sunday.

After a very tasty lunch at Sack's Sandwiches we returned home and tackled some much needed rock removal from the front yard.  Long story short the rock is rather unattractive and does not fit in with our eventual design. With flat head shovels in hand we loaded up the wheel barrel load after load and managed to clear about 1/3 of the rock from the "yard". We were both surprised at how much we were able to clear in a mere two hours.  We rewarded our days work with drinks and sushi with friends.

1/2 of the river has now been removed.

Sunday we were not quite as ambitious but still did quite well.  First we made a stop at a massive antique mall and bought another owl to add to our owl collection.  Quiet the buy for $2.75!  I picked up a new office plant at Lowes and we finished our shopping for the day at the Western Boot Outlet.  Embracing our wild west lifestyle we both bought two shirts complete with pearl snap buttons.  After we arrived home we divided to conquer our random tasks.  I primed the closet door frame in the living room while Jonathan re-grouted our main bath's shower.  After we finished our respective tasks we united to remove about 1/2 of what used to be a rather non-functional rock river that wound across our front yard doing nothing for drainage or appeal.  We should be able to clear the remainder of the river and red rock as well as paint the side of the house (and perhaps the back) in the next few weekends.  Hooray for revitalization of home improvement!

PS. Meet Fatso.  He is a piece of robot art created by a local Phoenix artist that we bought during an art show at Red Hot Robot.  Because of his art status we actually had to wait two weeks before we could officially bring him home.  Cute as a robot button.

Yip yip for bluegrass!

Jonathan picked me up from PHX Friday afternoon right around 5pm.  Making great time, thanks to a surprising lack of traffic, we made a brief stop at home to say howdy to the animals, then headed to Los Taquitos for a quick bite before making our way to the MIM.  The MIM is a privately funded Musical Instrument Museum located in Phoenix, yet very close to the Scottsdale boarder.  We did not tour the museum but instead were attending a concert by The Travelin' McCourys, who are an acclaimed bluegrass group consisting of banjo, mandolin, fiddle, guitar and bass.  The guitar is usually played by the father (Dell) of the McCoury brothers, who play the mandolin and the banjo, however in his absence we had the pleasure of listening to the talents of the award winning guitarist from Ricky Skaggs, Kentucky Thunder, Cody Kilby.  I have never witnessed a person's hands move so swiftly with so much musical perfection as Mr. Kilby.

I can't say I've ever sought out bluegrass, but Jonathan is quite the fan, and when he mentioned the concert and I saw the preview video, I knew we had to go.  They were terrific!!  These exceptionally talented musicians with terrific voices provided a very well rounded concert.  Not all performances had lyrics but that doesn't mean they were any less powerful. I found the rapid rhythms, soulful sounds, and heartfelt lyrics in classic Tennessee/Kentucky bluegrass style, simply a delight. I would definitely recommend seeing them to anyone, even if you've never heard of, or don't care too much for, bluegrass.  Just listening to their musical talent was indeed a treat. 

Rumor has it they'll be in Tucson in a few months, and if we're able we'll likely make the trip. Check them out, here is a link to their site: http://www.thetravelinmccourys.com/

70's in Kansas City... in February??

Thursday's 70 degree forecast was deserving of a dress.  Little did I know wearing a dress would illicit a change in behavior by two men I'd interacted with the previous day.  Apparently khakis and sweater = unapproachable, but a dress is a shot out for recognition.  Nothing offensive, just much different, perhaps more bold, than the day before.

The dress I wore is one of my favorite work dresses, which is very business appropriate, not revealing in any way, thanks to a camisole, and well fitting, not stuck to me like neoprene or baggy and sack-like.  At breakfast I was spoken to by a co-gym attendee who I ran into on multiple occasions the day before without one word exchanged between us; however, this morning, while departing the breakfast area, he decided to chat it up with me about this morning's gym experience, the weather, blah, blah, blah.  Then later in the day, I was tapped on my wedding ring by a guy who commented "now why did you go and do that?".  Again, a guy I'd seen the day before with very little banter exchanged.  Was it the dress, who knows, but I'm willing to bet another pair of khakis wouldn't have brought about so much notice. I wouldn't say I'm a sucker for attention, but a little recognition always gives a gal a little ego boost.    

As usual, be sure to check out some pictures to the right of my KC trip. Not necessarily applicable to Thursday's experience, and a little lacking due to dieing batteries, but they give a general feel for the trip. Another point and shoot with rechargeable batteries is certainly on my "to buy" list.

New Adventures (pictures to come soon)

This past Friday was my last day at my previous job.  I am thankful for the personal and professional opportunities it provided since Jonathan and I were able to move to Arizona with employment in place and, as time went on, buy a house.  But the time has come to try something new.  I am now employed with another firm, and am very excited for the challenges and opportunities it brings.

Sunday afternoon, I boarded a South West flight flying direct to Kansas City, MO.  South West officially gained my loyalty when about half way through the flight I was handed Plane Crackers (clever pun intended since they were indeed some mighty plain, plane shaped crackers) and, honey roasted peanuts!  Its been a good decade since I've been given honey roasted peanuts and you better believed each and every peanut was a delight.  As the flight neared Kansas City I looked out the window to view fields, rather barren, and sandy in appearance. Strange that they'd be sandy, but at the moment it seemed perfectly reasonable. Then the passenger next to me jolted me from my moment of stupidity when she commented on the melting snow. Duh, snow, not sand. 

Nearly every place that I've traveled, or lived, I've run into my fare share of New Jersians, each encounter sparking a renewed delight in my experience in the Garden State. Just to be extra clear, I do not and will NEVER claim to be a Jersey girl, but 6 years in the Garden State has undoubtedly made a major impact on my life and enables me to claim some Jersey status.  As I waited at the hotel bar for my pre-ordered salad I met my first Kansas City buddy.  My Rutgers hoodie sparked the conversation with the bar tender who was not only born and bred in Jersey, but swam competitively and had kids who are now competing in swimming in high school.  Honestly what are the odds.  We chatted for some time before he very generously provided me with his business card complete with his home phone and email,as well as resturant recommendations, and the comment, complete with New Jersey accent, that should I "need anything, anything at all, during my stay, to let him know".  His kindness and generosity maked me proud to have spent 6 years in New Jersey.

During the day my time is spent learning the ins-and-outs of the new firm.  Rather dry for everyone but me, so I'll spare you the details, except the fact that everyone I've met has been great.  Friendly, informative and best of all, great senses of humor.  I've spent the evenings touring the shops and restaurants in the "historic" Kansas City Plaza, and despite what movie or tv characters try to sell, dinning alone is not my favorite pass time.  Sure I'm comfortable enough, but I do so miss the company of my husband.

I never would have thought Kansas City would have fog issues, but this morning there it was, looming in front of my hotel room.  My morning started off a little rough with a later than desired wake up time, gym farters and a chaotic ordering of a bowl of cereal.  Honestly when a gym is a 6x10 room packed to the gills with equipment and 5 sweaty exercisers the casual passing of gas is not appreciated.

The fog burned off by the time I packed into a car with 6 Network guys and headed to Oklahoma Joe's renown KC BBQ.  Not only is the food at Oklahoma Joe's well known in the area but it is a restaurant that acclaimed chef/world food traveler Anthony Bourdain has listed on his 13-places-to-visit-before-you-die list.  I opted for the Carolina sandwich which consisted of pulled pork topped with cole-slaw and a side of seasoned fries larger than my head. The meat, flavored by a delicious dry rub had great texture and flavor.  The sauce that was provided on the side was equally good, but not needed since the meat was so juicy and well prepared.  The slaw was a little lack luster but made a good addition to the pork's flavor.  The fries, though I could not eat many, were equally delectable.  I honestly can't say how I continued to function for the remainder of the day after eating so much, but somehow I made it through.  After work I played tourist, wandering about the Plaza with my camera, and finished the day enjoying a frosty barley soda from a local brewery, the Boulevard Brewery.


3 days down, 1 and a half to go.

Arizona?

Last night we covered our recently planted Madagascar Palms in the hopes that they would not freeze and die.  This morning on my frigid drive to work at 8:15ish, I learned that it was 33 degrees.  No one should ever have to utter the words 33 degrees and live in Phoenix... WTF.

A fine weekend indeed

A 5 mile run followed by southern comfort food, now that's a good start to a weekend. For quite some time we've been waiting for a good excuse to try out Lo-Lo's Chicken and Waffles and the completion of our run plus a recent job shift served as good a justification as any to head down town.

While I'm aware of my food intake/calorie content, I believe whole heartily in enjoying my culinary experience uninhibited by a socially "acceptable" waist size. That being said, deliciously opaque red Kool-aid was my beverage choice to accompany my order of Sheedah's Special (a fried breast and leg with a waffle) and my side of "candied sweets". The only disappointment in my order were the "candied sweets". Just a bit too candied for my taste. Jonathan ordered the Lo-Lo's special (two waffles + 3 pieces of fried chicken) with a side of fried Okra. We both agreed the fried chicken was darn near perfect. Unadulterated by spices the fry batter was simply delicious. We both would have preferred a crispier waffle, but the thought of requesting a modification to the menu never crossed our minds. We will certainly be back, but for our arteries sake, not in the very near future.

 While in the downtown phx area we headed to a local art exhibit that I'd read a little bit about in the Roosevelt district. A little odd, and not in a provocative way, so we quickly moved about the gallery and headed outside to take in some street art. Much to my delight some new politically flavored Lalo Cota murals (which I absolutely love) were on display as well as a smattering of other street paintings/tags. Continuing to make our way home we stopped at the Heard Museum to check out a book/museum sale where Jonathan found a very helpful copy of the Sunset Western Garden Book for $3.00. Nice find indeed. Various errands later we arrived home with new, non-diet food for Mr. Jackson, a sassy new collar/tag for Sydney and some new plants for our future succulent garden.

 







Sunday Jonathan took to removing the remaining red brick pavers from the front of our house so that we could plant our previously potted Madagascar palms. With very thick gloves and a towel wrapped around the spiky trunks we managed to remove both palms and plant them in the ground. We would have continued our gardening efforts and planted the succulents in the front garden area but with upcoming freezing night temps (down to 29!!!) we opted to keep them in their pots so that we can bring them inside for warmth.

 

On a final note, while in the gallery on Saturday I found this sticker.  I liked it for its strangeness but was struck by Jonathan's comment. As you can see, its a mythical, suite donning jackalope with the text, phxculture.com. "Does that mean it doesn't exist"? Interesting, very interesting..