Sunday update

It's Sunday morning after another weekend at home. Sometimes its nice to not travel, but to just stay home and not have to do anything - unless we want to.

Dennis and I carpooled every day this week except for Wednesday morning. That made for long days since he is working overtime. We were there before 7 and stayed until 4:30 or 4:45. Friday we left at 3:30 which was very nice!

Wednesday I took the motor home to Payless to have the jacks fixed. They broke down after we got home from Flagstaff a few weeks ago. We are really hoping to get it back by Wednesday so that we can go out of town Thursday.

Friday we went to PF Chang's with Ron & Marilyn. We then stopped by Cold Stone for some ice cream to go, then came back to our house for some ice cream and wine. It was a fairly early night, we were in bed by 10:30. Saturday, the dogs woke us up at 5:30. We got dressed and went down to Ron & Marilyn's because they were having a garage sale. We bought some stuff and helped drive in some traffic for them by putting our neon green signs out at strategic places. We had a new alarm installed Saturday morning - ADT didn't want to make it worthwhile for us to become their customers again, so we signed up with American Alarm/Monitronics. We got a new keypad with cell phone communication to the monitoring station and got all new batteries in our sensors. The monitoring fee is about the same as with ADT. It's ADT's loss.

After a couple of naps and lots of relaxation, Lyn and Dan came down and we drank some wine, had some appetizers, and then had dinner. We watched The House Bunny - which was very funny - and then they left. It was a very nice evening.

Today the dogs let us sleep in until 5:45. They've both been very emotionally and affectionately needy this morning. I think it's because they are cold. They're 10 pounds, and with the a/c and ceiling fan going, it gets cold for them at 12" off the floor. We kicked them out of the bed this week - by setting up a bed for them on the recliner that we took to the bedroom from the family room. Drama does a great job staying in the chair but Brother Boy gets out of the chair several times a night and jumps on our bed. And several times a night, we get up and put him back in the chair. It is nice to sleep without worrying about rolling over onto one of them. But they don't like it very much!

We've also taken to giving them free reign of the bedroom and bathroom when we go to work. We did it 3 days this week and they did great. They are less energetic when we get home because they romped around all day, and they entertain each other. Thursday they got some bar soap out of the bathtub and chewed on it. Friday, they found a wooden ball that was somewhere in the bedroom and chewed it up. Now we know we need to leave some of their chew toys in the room with them to keep them occupied. They're such good boys!

This week is a short week. We are off Friday and - assuming we get the motor home back - leaving early Thursday to head to Mingus Mountain. We're really looking forward to taking the dogs camping in the forest with little/no electricity. It should be fun!

We hope everyone has a great week and an enjoyable and thankful Independence Day holiday. We should never forget the freedoms we have or what has been sacrificed in order to guarantee them for us! Also enjoy the picture of Drama sleeping on his back between the cushions on the couch.

June update

It's Saturday morning, bright and early. June has been a busy month. The first weekend of June, we stayed home and worked around the house and yard. The week of the 8th, I traveled to Charlotte, NC on business. I'm part of the Coast-to-Coast integration team and our in-person meeting this time was in Charlotte. The weather was great - mid-80's but the worst part was the humidity. 75% humidity was horrible! It was a great meeting, and I managed to have a little fun while there.

Five minutes after getting home from the airport that Thursday, I jumped in the car that Dennis had loaded up and we headed to the mountains. Thursday night, we stayed at Clint's Well. It was beautiful there. The temperature was in the 30's Friday morning when we took the boys out. About 10, we pulled out, hitched up the car dolly and car and headed NW to Flagstaff. We camped at the KOA with Rainbow RV and had a great time. The weather was beautiful, it's a great park, and we had a very relaxing time. It was quite windy but we staked down the Easy-Up and sat outside most of Saturday, enjoying the weather. Our site became somewhat of a gathering place for the people we know best from RRV. It was great.

We didn't even make it to the Pride Festival. Saturday morning, we met our friends from Munds Park at CostPlus WorldMarket and did some wine shopping. After we dropped the juice off at the RV, we then took the boys and headed to Camping World to buy some new chairs. We got some very nice lounge chairs and also stumbled on some very comfortable and light-weight chairs for our guests to use. It was time to replace our old lounge chairs and the old-school "Coleman" camping chairs we've been toting around for years. It was a productive shopping trip!

Sunday we headed back to Phoenix because we wanted to get the car dolly back home. We're planning to go to Mingus Mountain on 4th of July weekend and we want to take the Polaris up there. Next weekend we're hoping to retrieve it from Clint's Well.

Monday morning, Brother Boy woke me up at 4:30, pacing on the bed. He then jumped off the bed, so I got up and let him outside. He promptly went out and threw up. Poor thing was obviously having stomach pains - probably over something he ate that he shouldn't have. He came back inside, then got up again and needed to go out. He threw up again. When we came in the 2nd time, he sat on my lap in the recliner for about 30 minutes, sleeping soundly. He seemed to be better after that. I got showered and dressed, but when we were getting ready to leave, Dennis suggested that I stay home with him - so I did. He was pretty lethargic all day but did have an emergency poo-poo around noon which he finished the worst of outside. After that, he slowly got back his happy personality.

Tuesday I worked at home because we had our new recliners and fridge and dishwasher delivered. We got stainless steel to replace our 10 year old fridge and our recalled dishwasher. They look great! We also rearranged the family room to fit the recliners and took out the old recliner. The new ones have massagers in the back and seat and also have a full-chaise which the doggies LOVE. It's nice that we can both sit in front of the TV instead of me having to sit to the side of it. Tuesday night, I put the old fridge (which still worked) on Craigslist. I got about 10 calls/e-mails about it - I think I priced it too low - and Wednesday we sold it for $150. That along with the $150 back from GE on the recalled dishwasher, and the dishwasher ended up being about $100. Not bad!

Friday, I participated in the Junior Achievement Hula Bowl for Wells Fargo. I raised $120, most of which I donated, and had a really great time. Dennis stayed home and hung out with the dogs.

Today, we are hoping to power-wash the back patio and pool, wash the cars and get the new bed frame put together. It's going to be hot today. June has been the coolest June on record since 1913. We haven't had many days over 100 degrees. It's been great! I'm sure it's coming, though! We had a dust storm last night while I was driving to the Hula Bowl. No rain to speak of hopefully that's coming too.

We hope everyone has a great weekend. We'll blog more when we have time. The picture above was taken in the motor home at the KOA in Flagstaff. Aren't they all cute??

Sunday again

What a great weekend! We left Friday after work to head up to Clint's Well again. Our motor home has been parked in the same spot all month. It was still daylight when we arrived. We took leftover chicken from the night before, and dinner was easy! We relaxed, I fell asleep and woke up about 10:30, just in time to go to bed!!

Saturday was a sunny morning. It was gorgeous. We changed the tire on the buggy (took off the spare, put the tire we got from Ron on) and went for a buggy ride! We took the boys and went on both some old and new trails. We tooled around the forest, running into some ATV riders and other UTV riders. We stopped at one point and let the dogs walk around while Dennis scoped for rocks and treasure. It was very pleasant and awesome to be in the middle of the forest! We continued on and ran right smack into a nice storm. We got rained on and hailed on. It was some big hail - M&M Peanut sized. We stopped and put on our ponchos and covered the boys up with the towel they were sitting on and waited for the worst to pass. Once it did, we headed back to camp.

When we got back, Dan (the manager) reminded us that there was a lunch at 1 - burgers & brats, mac salad, beans, watermelon and cream puffs - all for $6 each. So we decided to head down and have a bite to eat. It was good! After lunch, we got back on the buggy and went out in search of some "geodes" that Dan said were in the area. After going down a very treacherous rocky hill, we came upon a clearing that had lots of gorgeous rocks. Dennis found several geodes - whole and partial. He was in heaven! The boys and I hung out by the Polaris, enjoying the outdoors. This is where I snapped the above picture. I could spend all day in the forest. It's so peaceful and serene. We eventually decided to head back and found our way back to the main road. As we approached camp, it began to rain (again). That was it. It was official. Saturday night was going to be a curl up on the couch watching movies night.

We watched Wall-E and baked some chicken. It was a relaxing night. Dennis made us a frozen strawberry margarita - the best he's ever made! It had fresh strawberries and fresh bananas in it. Delicious!

Today we had to pack the motor home up and move it off our site into storage. We got everything situated and headed for home about 10:45. We made it home about 12:30. The boys had a grooming appointment at 1:30 and while they were getting their hair done, we had some lunch at Dickie's BBQ pit. It was good! Then we went to Walmart and got some stuff that we needed. By the time we got back to the groomers, the boys were almost done, so we waited.

The rest of our day has been relaxation. I spent some time in the pool and scraped the calcium off the tile. It looks so much better! I've done some farming on Farm Town (Facebook) and now we're watching TV. We hope everyone has a great week.

Memorial Day

We had a great Memorial Day weekend. We left Friday after work. Our friends Jim and Greg went to Clint's Well as well as Brandon and Jeremy. Jim and Greg weren't towing a vehicle, so we asked them to tow our Polaris and trailer, which they graciously did. It was great to finally get it up there! It rained most of the way up there, and rained all night Friday. When we arrived at camp, we noticed that a truck and travel trailer were stuck in the mud in the meadow across from the camp sites. Genius!

Saturday we went for a Buggy ride and the other guys came in Brandon and Jeremy's Jeep Wrangler Rubicon. It's lifted and ready for off-road. They had fun in the mud just like us! We only had one spot that was scary and they were at risk of sliding off a hill into a watering hole. Fortunately, Brandon's expert driving got them through without drowning the Jeep!

It started raining again Saturday afternoon and rained all night. Sunday it was clear when we woke up, and was gorgeous all day. We took a buggy and Jeep ride and the trails were surprisingly dry - except for the occasional mud hole. I took the picture above of Dennis and the puppies overlooking a cliff into a canyon. It was so cool. The boys enjoyed the ride, since they didn't get to go Saturday.

Sunday night we had a nice dinner to celebrate my birthday. Greg and Jeremy had made cupcakes earlier in the day and lit candles and sang Happy Birthday to me. It was awesome. After dinner, Jim and Greg went home and Jeremy and Brandon came over and we played Sequence Dice. It was fun.

It was beautiful today when we got up. In the spirit of "planning your next meal while having the current one" we decided at dinner last night that we would have pancakes for breakfast this morning. Jim and Greg made pancakes and sausage/bacon. We also had some fruit. It was delightful to sit outside around the table having breakfast. It was great until the storm clouds opened up and dropped rain on us. We cleaned up quickly and went back to our own motor homes.

It was a nice drive home. We didn't encounter any traffic until Pioneer Rd, which is between Anthem and Carefree Highway. Traffic was stop and go all the way to Dixileta, where there was a 3 car pile up in the left lane. We had to pull over twice for emergency vehicles to get through. We saw one lady on the ground on a board and several other adults and children standing on near the cars. It was probably one stupid driver who messed up the last 10 miles of our trip home! The rest of our day was spent relaxing. The dogs were exhausted from the weekend. They slept solid for about 3 hours when we got home. Poor babies!

We each took time today to remember our men and women who have and continue to fight and die for the freedoms we enjoy. Their sacrifice shall not be forgotten. We hope everyone had a wonderful Memorial Day weekend! Summer is here!!

Relaxing Sunday

It's a beautiful Sunday morning. It's 97 degrees outside at 11:10 am. I slept in until about 9:30. It was awesome! I've had coffee, watched Graham Norton from last night and now we're watching The Spirit. It's a little comic-booky movie that I'm not really into, which is why I'm blogging! The dogs are sleeping and Dennis is watching the movie. On the to-do list today: laundry, laundry and hair cuts. And, lots of relaxation. We might even go in the pool later.

You might notice that I added a Picasa album to the left. I took some pictures at Sunrise Resorts Clints Well last weekend. This is a great little park at 7,000 feet that's North and East of Phoenix, South and East of Flagstaff and North and West of Payson. It's 2 hours from home by car and we love going there. We are heading up Friday after work for Memorial Day weekend with our friends Jeremy/Brandon and Jim/Greg. It should be a fun, relaxing time.

Yesterday we did our part to stimulate the economy. We bought a new area rug for the living room. It adds warmth and depth to the room - and the dogs love it! We looked at several rugs at Kohl's, World of Rugs and Big Lots and ended up buying one at Ross. It isn't perfect, but it was cheap and I won't feel bad if it gets dog vomit on it! I've attached a picture of it. We also bought a few other things at Ross and Big Lots and then got some gas and groceries at CostCo. We left the dogs at home so it was nice to get out, just the two if us. It was a beautiful day for shopping!

Tomorrow is the big day - Dennis starts his new job. He's going to do great. We hope everyone had a fantastic week and a happy, safe Memorial Day weekend. Don't forget to take time to remember all of those who have fought and died so that we can live free.

Dennis Job Update

Happy end of week! I have an exciting update for you regarding Dennis. He accepted a job yesterday with Wells Fargo as a QA Analyst in Home Equity. He'll be monitoring recorded phone calls and providing feedback for coaching and improved quality. He starts on 5/18. Tomorrow is his last day at the temp job and he'll have a week off before starting the new job. He'll be working in my building, so we're planning to carpool. He's happy to finally have a permanent job lined up.

We are heading up to Clint's Well tomorrow after work. The weather is supposed to be glorious - 79 Friday, 43 low; 77 Saturday, 42 low; 77 Sunday. It doesn't get any better than that!

Have a great weekend. Thank you all for your love, support, and good wishes over the last 4 months since Dennis got laid off. It means a lot to both of us!!

Great weekend!

It was our first weekend in the pines for the summer. It was a great, relaxing time. We were the only ones in the park except for the workers. It was fabulous! The Manager allowed us to leave our motor home on the spot for the month to make it easier for coming back next weekend, and for Memorial Day weekend.

We have no Internet service there (Verizon) but we did have cell service (Sprint). There's an Alltel tower up there and according to Verizon, they're going to be opening it up to Verizon customers but so far, nothing. The new manager is putting in high-speed wireless Internet along with an Internet room in the cabin, so we will have access to it if we want to take the laptop to the lodge. It'll do!

The dogs loved the park - especially the elk droppings out in the grass. Gross! We contemplated letting them off the leash to run around, but I'm quite sure they would have either 1) stopped at the first pile of elk poop and got distracted or 2) ran around in it and gotten it all over themselves. So we thought better of it. There were fresh droppings in the grass this morning and on the edge of the forest so we definitely had elk at camp last night. Too bad we couldn't see them!

We hope everyone has a great week. We're looking forward to heading back to Clint's Well this weekend. Take care!