Not sure what happened or where it when but one of my last posts just disappeared. Interesting, maybe it is the gremlins.
This past week I received some emails from friends back in Iowa that brought me up to speed on some of the happenings there. What a disaster for the restaurants in our town, 5 closed and one opening as a sports bar that had been closed for some time. The loss of the Iris has to be a hard hit for the community. Now there isn't anyplace that serves a more "upscale" menu for those that want to go out for a nice dinner. I'm sure the Heatons are delighted to have it out of their hair but one thing that can be said for them is they were consistent in operations offering the community a nice place to gather for a nice meal with friends and co-workers. Now you can get sandwiches, pizza or family style dining but not "dining out." It's a shame, hopefully someone will come along and decide that Mount Pleasant is a community that will support a nice place.
Then I heard about our old church and that it is growing. How exciting. Obviously Deb is doing a super job as the interim pastor. Knew she would. She's a special gal with a compassionate heart and great understanding along with the knowledge to lead in learning. The Salem church is on the hunt for a new pastor since the one that is there is leaving for the misison field. Bless him and his wife on their journey.
Our holiday season was crazy and wonderful. It was great having time with most of those that are special to us. Just Bobbi and her family were missing and it certainly was understandable. With Spencer nearing time to join us it just wasn't wise for her to travel and with Greg going back and forth to Phoenix to work every week it couldn't be expected that he would be thrilled about the 4+ hour drive to Tucson. We did get to see them all a couple of weeks before Christmas when we took Don and went up for Shay's concert. It's great to be able to go and enjoy the kids in their activities. And of course to see Jo!
Spending time with Cyn and Drew is a delight and being with Drew's Mom and step-dad and other family and friends for Christmas Eve and then again on New Years Eve was such fun. Such nice people.
Bob and Ethel were here for Thanksgiving. It's such a delight to have them around, we look forward to them coming again and spending some time. They really should come in the summer and see what heat really is like LOL.
We are working like mad on our sites, they are actually coming together really well. We can be, and are, proud of them.
Greg has classes this week and I will have some later on the computer programs too. We took Photoshop, it was interesting if not totally absorbed it at least isn't totally alien now.
We (at least I) will be going up to be with Jo when the baby is born and help out for a little while with the kids. Greg will be there when he can. We look forward to getting to know our new granddaughter.
We went for a drive tonight to look at the Christmas lights in the area. Some of the homes are absoultely fabulous, a number of them right here in our neighborhood. Probably the funniest one we saw was behind the Ace Hardware in the residential area there where there was a Cowboy Santa hugging a cactus. Just so Arizona! At one house there was a natvity scene (that was off Dunbar) that from a distance was really beautiful. Up close it lost some of its beauty because the lights kind of "smugged" together but from a distance it was far more detailed looking. It was neat to see the number of houses that were decorated and how they can decorate the yards in the detail they do. GW commented that it was unusual for us to see that since in the cold country it wasn't possible to do everything they can do here.
We will be having friends and family here on the 26th, be at Cyn and Drew's for Christmas Day and at Ken and Jennifer's for Christmas Eve. Then on the 30th we have the Rotary party here. We have the inside decorated but we didn't do anything outside this year. We had talked about it earlier but the season just seemed to jump out and get here before we were ready. Shoot, with Thanksgiving being so late it just seems like Christmas was "rushed."
Church this morning was fun. The little kids put on a short presentation of the baby in a manger. The "wise" man was Aberham, a little bitty guy, probably 2 1/2 years old carrying the biggest, fluffiest sheep we've ever seen. It was far fatter than Aberham and almost as tall. So cute! The angel and Mary were both Asian. What a great mix! The Christmas carols were fun although there weren't a lot of them, 5 I think. Nice service.
We stopped over at Cyn and Drew's after church to give them some of the buns that we had gotten at church. Drew offered to make egg sandwiches for breakfast, we took him up on them. He did a great job, they were wonderful!
This week will be interesting since there probably won't be anyone to get in touch with for work so guess I'll work on getting the collective information together about the sites and do some building. I've done some today and yesterday but not nearly enough. Greg did a video of Arizona for the site, it's really pretty cool. He'll be able to do them for all the states now that he has this program to work with, nice touch.
I did get to visit with my brother on Friday, it was his birthday. Sounded like he was going to have a nice day, nothing special but certainly enjoyable, steak dinner and then watching Mama Mia. Sounded so good to me that I suggested we get it for Christmas Day to watch at Drew and Cyn's.
We watched movies today, classics on TV. It was kind of neat, haven't done that in years. Started watching thema t Cyn and Drews and then came home and finished that one and watched another. The football wasn't in the cards for me today, just couldn't get juiced about it even with the Cardinals playing and the Vikings playing (the Cardinals got stomped!)
I hope that our grand-kids enjoy Christmas and get what they need (and some of what they want) and that the kids do too. We didn't go crazy with gifts this year, but everyone got something they either said they wanted or we figured they could use. It's hard when they really don't need much or if they do it is not something that would be appropriate for us to buy (like underwear for one of the big boys LOL)
Our friend, Bob Prins, fell a short time ago and broke his leg in numerous places. Spent 8 days in the hospital and now is walking (kind of) with a walker. He should heal just fine but wow…not a good thing. Ruth wrote and told us what had happened. I'll send a note off to Bob this week, poor guy!
Have a Blessed Christmas and a successful and happy New Year.
What a delight to go see both of our granddaughters in their respective plays and realize that they both did outstanding jobs! What talent and beauty those two have!!
Taking Molly with you shopping is an experience all on its own. She is so busy, not bad, just busy looking at everything. We did find a fairy princess dress for her so she could play when she got home. Her mom said she likes it although it wasn't the type that she had said she wanted.
Our guest list for Thanksgiving is down by 2 since our international visitor and her escort officer are not going to be with us. It seems that she has friends that teach at the UofA and they invited the two to join them for Thanksgiving. I certainly can't blame the visitor for wanting to be with friends that she knows. It would have been nice, but, with all of us being here it probably is just as well LOL
It is the type of day that you really need to just get busy and get a lot done, so far that hasn't happened with me, but I'm working on it.
The supersales gal has been kicking butt the last few days and getting the things out of her garage in a big way. It's nice that things are selling so well, now, just a few hundred more sales LOL
Heidi and her family will be joining us on Friday to see Bobbi and everyone. I miss her so much, but I know her life is busy. It will be fabulous to see Peanut though, I bet he has grown two inches since he was here last. It will also be nice to have her see that I haven't killed off her plant, in fact, it is doing remarkably well!
Happy Thanksgiving to all, we have much to be thankful for!
So today was a day filled with good news, seemingly good news and thank goodness it's over for me news. The good news is that we are having a granddaughter and all seems to be going exactly as it should. How exciting! The quilt is nearing completion so it will be done before she is born, whew.
The seemingly good news is that Joe Alcorn came through his surgery and will have a few days before his next round. Bless Amy's heart, she has to be the trooper on this one and so glad that Cyn could be with her as well as the mother of another friend. It's awful to wait, not knowing how things are going and then to have to wait longer for news. We wish Joe a full recovery, it won't be speedy, but we certainly hope he gets stronger and stronger every day.
And the other news, I have voted, it's mailed and now I can ignore the political crap that continues to take up way too much time and energy. For Pete's sake, the campaign started well over a year ago. I am quite certain that I am not the only person that thinks that is not only foolish but unnecessary. How many times do we need to hear the same BS over and over. How about cutting down on the time of campaigns, the cost of campaigns, the BS of campaigns and have a realistic campaign season that will allow for the voters to learn what they need to know and then get on with living their lives without thinking that it is stupid to pay millions of dollars to run a campaign for a job that doesn't pay as much as a corporate executive makes. It turns the president into an OLD person (just look at the before and after pictures of every president) and has more stress associated with it than probably any other position on earth. Not only does the President get the media climbing all over them but so does the family. Sure glad Dad didn't want to have a position like that!!
But, for the rest of the country the voting will take place soon and then, blessedly, we will get a break from the whole thing for awhile….at least a couple of days.
Greg's parents are coming for Thanksgiving. What a pleasure, we are looking forward to it.
I was thinking about Midnight tonight and wondering how he is doing, haven't heard anything for awhile.
Ok, so I cooked like a mad woman, made some really cool things that I've never made before, baked some cookies that were just fabulous in Iowa and really didn't turn out as well here, but that's ok. Then, cleaned so that everything was ready and hosted a coffee for the candidate for Pima County Attorney, Brad Roach.
Brad has a great set of goals for the office with the wisdom to say that he thinks that, should he get elected, he would serve two terms (if he gets re-elected) and then leave the office. His thoughts are that you can become tainted with all the political pressures that are applied to any elected office and he doesn't want that to happen to him. He even has a person selected (or directed) to "boot him in the butt" when he begins to get the big head. Good for him. Not only that but he has a plan to reduce the crime rate in Pima County which has a higher ratio of crime than New York City. Now come on, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to realize that something has to be done to get the problem under control. If you are going to spend all your time in court with petty problems and not arrest and convict those that are repeat offenders you really aren't going to get the crime under control.
Our current County Attorney tries lots of cases (well, she doesn't, she hasn't tried a case in many, many years and hasn't attended a court hearing either to encourage or support her team) to grab the publicity in the local papers. That actually works to bring people to the mind that she's doing something (she is, just not the right things) but other than funding opportunities because of the publicity there really isn't much getting taken care of.
When all the law enforcement agencies in the county support the current County Attorney's opponent you have to know that something just isn't working for her. Brad Roach has the support of every law enforcement agency in the county. Now these are the people that KNOW who the criminals really are and want to get them off the streets, but in order to do that they have to have the backing of the County Attorney to prosecute them rather than blow the cases off and let the "bad guys" back on the streets. How discouraging for the law enforcement officers to have to deal with that type of attitude. Let's see, if I try 6 little cases instead of one bigger one I get in the paper 6 times instead of once. I guess if you are a publicity hound and really don't care about the type of crimes you are prosecuting then it has accomplished the goal. On the other hand, the officers have spent untold hours putting together the case of a known drug dealer or repeat offender, which would take the prosecuting office more time to try but get a real problem off the street instead of taking the "easy" way out, only to have them ignored or plea bargained down instead of taking it all the way. How hard will the officers work to build a case, take it to the County Attorney who then decides that it just isn't worth her time, or the time of the 400 (her number) other attorney's in her office to try?
I've heard both candidates speak. I made my judgment on which one to support by the logic of their plan to make a change. I didn't hear anything from Barbra LeWall that led me to believe that anything would change, it would continue as usual with crime increasing dramatically. From Brad Roach I at least heard a plan, a logical, methodical plan that will decrease the crime rate in Tucson, give the assistant county attorney's the opportunity to try real cases and give the law enforcement officers the support they need to continue doing their job. Wasn't a hard decision to make.
So, that being said I hosted a coffee for Brad Roach last night. It was a delight to have the people come to hear him (and eat…although not nearly enough…had LOTS of food left). Scott and Nancy came from our neighborhood, Peggy came from quite a distance, two fellow Rotarian's and their wives (Steve and Gama) where here as well as Cyn and us. Brad probably changed the voting mind of a couple of those that were here and have voted for the current County Attorney before, but even if he didn't (but I believe he did) they now have heard the other side of the equation.
The house is now back in order and the chicken is thawing for dinner tonight. Micher is here visiting Cyn which means fried chicken dinner. It will be great to see her, even with her broken foot. I've done that and know it's not a comfortable situation, and it takes a long time to heal, but, determined Micher still caught the flight, changed terminals in Dallas and arrived in Tucson for a trip to Mexico!
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It has been a wonderful experience to be working on our sites from here. The quality has improved, the dedication has improved, and the creativity is soaring. Gosh it's nice to be able to work in an environment that is conducive to getting things done and not babysitting.
Not only is the work on our sites going well but the opportunities for exploring other interests is so much greater. Having a coffee for a candidate will be a great way to learn more about politics in this state vs the other state. We are looking forward to it.
The International Luncheon will also be a nice change of pace. Being back in the world that I truly loved when I was involved before is stimulating and exciting. It was such fun to put the programs together, to meet the people, to learn about their cultures and to show them that Americans really are good people, not a country to be afraid of but one to share understanding with and work toward common goals.
The Car Show will be another experience that will be fun. A fellow Rotarian from our club wants to go with me and since I really like her I am looking forward to it. It will be another opportunity to network with other business people and perhaps get some more leads for the site.
We have Cow Pie Bingo tickets to sell, I have an idea for a location to visit which I will discuss with a fellow Rotarian tonight and see what she thinks. It will require some courage, but hey, competing with the casinos should be a riot! We'll see. I need to check with the casino to find out how much trouble we would be in if we tried my idea.
Having the family home this weekend was superb. Each and every one is so very special. Being able to spend some time with them, laugh, talk and cook is just about as good as it can get. It really helped to have my youngest step in and help with the preparation and getting things on the counter in an orderly fashion and then she and her friend did the dishes. I owe them for that!
The baby quilt is coming along and now I know that I have another one to make and a quilt for my oldest granddaughter. She wants one before she leaves for school. The birthday girl told her Papa that she wants him to make her a new quillo-case so it sounds like we will be busy this winter doing projects for the girls.
The file cabinets are now in the garage, ready to be cleaned up and moved in. It will be so nice to be able to have those things that need to be organized all in one spot and neat rather than piled hither and yon. The site visit will be next Monday so we want as much ready as we can have done. Getting all new computer equipment will make life so sweet!
Now it is time to leave for the Post Office and then Rotary. When I get home tonight it will be cleaning time and tomorrow the event. Most of the food is ready so the load tomorrow will not be as heavy as I was afraid it might be and the thought of having friends and neighbors over is just sweet.
Next month is beginning to look like it will be rather busy with non work things. We are having a "coffee" for Brad Roach, candidate for Pima County District Attorney on the 8th, our family is going to be here on the weekend of the 4th and the 20th we are hosting 6 international visitors for dinner. Sounds like a blast to me. That along with work and Rotary should pretty much keep us busy.
We have been working with our attorney's to get some issues with the site cleaned up. Former salespeople can be a problem but at this point in time should it persist there could easily be criminal charges brought, that is if there are any ads or funds taken in our name. No authrority to do so and no way to get them up and on the site so probably not a smart thing to keep pushing the issue. That's what attorney's are for, they know the law and how it applies so we aren't wasting our time with it any longer.
The birds have gone crazy for the feeders. It's really fun to watch them. The hummingbird feeder has also become a popular spot so we not only have songbirds but hummingbirds now too. Since we've not been here during the winter it will be interesting to see if the same birds stay or if there are different ones later in the season.
Sometimes it is just good to take a break from work and walk outside, there may be something that is so cute waiting to say "HI". The ground squirrel is around quite often but I have never had the camera with me when it's there. Today it waited for me to get it so I could share. The minute I tried to get closer he took off, but thank goodness zoom works so I got him anyway.
Gotta bring a smile to your face when you see something so cute backed by the mountains. 
I will be taking a quick trip back to Iowa next month to do a presentation on IB. It was nice to get the email request and I look forward to seeing everyone in the group.
I get back the day before we will be leaving to go to our oldest daughters for her birthday and to stay to see the ultrasound of my newest grandbaby! It will be so neat seeing everyone, miss them and just saw them a few weeks ago! We will be going up more often so we can see plays, games, and other activities for the kids. Exciting to be so close and get to do those things.
Now it is time to go to Rotary where I will be joining my new club. Nice group of people with great ideas. Looking forward to being involved with them on their projects!
The move to
Last night we went to the dog races, didn't stay long, just long enough to enjoy them and win 4 out of 5 wagers (of course, that still didn't amount to much because we don't bet much!) In fact, we didn't win enough to cover our dinner cost which was only $14 so you can see that gambling isn't a strong suit with us, but we do enjoy watching the races. The dogs are so pretty and they put on quite a show before the race and after as they mix with each other and the handlers. It appears that they are well taken care of and like the people they are around. That is a good thing; otherwise I wouldn't be able to attend.
We are working on many projects now, it's fun to develop new things and continue to work on the old. The work load is rather overwhelming but we just keep plugging away and gaining a little.
This afternoon is orientation for Rotary. I'm looking forward to finding out what this club is involved in for projects. It seems like they are super involved in things with kids and with the community. At the last meeting they decided to have a fundraiser called "Cow Pie Bingo." I'm not sure how it all comes together but obviously everyone there knew and thought it was a great idea. Should be fun.
I haven't seen my grandson that lives here in
It's great to have the other daughter so close, we have gotten together for "coffee" a few times and just being able to drop in (after calling to make sure it's ok) has been a delight.
The bird bath is now in the backyard. It went in this morning so it will be interesting to see how long it takes for the birds to find it…if there is any interest.
Now it's time to make some calls. Have a great day!
