Of course, for me it was a joy to have her speak because then I got to see her.  I started working for Ann in 1993.  That’s a long time to look back, but what an influence she had on my life.  I will forever be grateful to her.  It was great to see both Ann and Steve!

Then there are the roses and the garden that we have worked to hard on this spring.  They are beautiful!  So full of blooms and add so much color to our beautiful back yard.

Found out today (cause Greg told me) that Google has done another “change” so that our www.alphajacketsonline.com site doesn’t show up at the top of the jackets list like it did.  What a bummer.  I can understand them wanting to get rid of bad sites but they also took out some of the very good sites that offer good information.  Not just www.alphajacketsonline.com but a number of other quality sites too.  Hope they get it straightened out soon.

Kara had her senior prom last night and went looking like a very mature, beautiful young lady.  Such a delight to have her in our world, she certainly be an asset to the “adult” population!  The University of Arizona is lucky to have her attending there next year.

Along with that my baby girl turned 40.  She doesn’t look it…she’s beautiful!

There were some issues with visitors last night that had to have my attention today but once they were resolved we went to a calf roping competition at Apache Junction.  What a riot!  We were headed for Phoenix but saw this and went instead.

Hopefully May will be filled with good things for us.  Looking forward to it.

I will say that I thought Jake would have a blast in something like this, and do a much better job than the kid they had as Robin Hood.  It was the first time I’ve ever seen Robin act like a sissy…not supposed to…I don’t think, but that’s how this kid played it.  Not one of the best memories of the year.

So, Saturday night we will go to the adult play and see if it’s any better.  We are supposed to have a top notch theater group here at EAC.  Let’s hope it turns out to be better than the one we saw at the beginning of the year.  That was more than a little awful.  Regardless, at least the kids are doing it.  Just wish they could be as good as Shay and Kara!!

Now, back to work.

Our life in Thatcher has become somewhat routine, which I didn’t believe was going to happen so quickly.  Greg teaches, I work on the net or am running back and forth to Tucson for various things.  Of course there is also Rotary which takes some time and next year will demand more since I will be the Assistant Governor for this area, there are only three clubs so it won’t be all that time consuming, I don’t think.

The Southern Arizona Council for International Visitors is going well.  The board is comprised of knowledgeable, generous, caring people which means all is headed in the right direction.  That was my goal when I said I would become the Executive Director.  I wanted to make sure the organization would get healthy and grow.  It is on it’s way with the help of this great board!

TROT, Therapeutic Riding of Tucson, is also undergoing some changes.  There is a new hire for the Executive Director position as Leslie is retiring.  It will be strange not to see her there after June, she has taken a dysfunctional organization with  great goals but no leadership to the heights of excellence in the years that she has been involved.  Now, with Ellie and Marcie there is new excitement and energy with leadership experience too so all should go well.

Greg’s teaching has been fulfilling for him.  He enjoys the opportunity to teach the students and prepare them to go on to further education.  He will be starting his work toward his Ph.D. this coming fall.  That opens doors for him for the future that are currently closed which means a great deal to both of us.

Our son-in-law, Drew, had a surprise birthday party thrown for him by Cyndi.  It was so much fun to see his face and be with so many people that love him and Cyndi.  Their friends helped Cyndi pull it off…what a great bunch!  Jennifer, Drew’s mom, had a photographer there as her gift to Drew.  The pictures are such a great memory of a terrific night.  Kara and Shay weren’t able to be with us, we missed them both.

The garden is in, well, most of it, which makes me chuckle when I think of living in Iowa and waiting for the ground to thaw enough to plant.  Here it is February and the peas are up, roses are growing like mad, some of the flowers are sprouting and the beets are up too.  The tomatoes will go in this next week along with some other items that needed to wait for it to get a bit warmer.  It does get cold here, in the 30′s during the night sometimes so there are things that need to wait.

Greg gave me 5 citrus trees as a housewarming gift when we moved in.  Last fall we got a lot of lemons off the tree and three oranges which is pretty remarkable since they were planted in August.  This year we should have lots of oranges and lemons.  Can hardly wait for the blossoms, they smell so wonderful.

I’m going to post a couple of photo’s from Drew’s party that are such great reminders of how fortunate we are to have Bobbi and Cyndi!

If I remember, I’ll post more often, but if not, so be it

We were in Ruidoso for a week, going to the horse races, resting, eating out and enjoying the difference in temperatures.  90 really is nice when you are used to 110!  Then it rained, the area needed it so badly that when the rain started during the horse races the people cheered and the lead-outs waved.  Three days of rain should help this area a great deal.  It was so dry it was scary, surrounded by pine trees covering mountains, Ruidoso is subject to horrid fires.  Just before we got there 6 homes were lost to fire just up from Mountain of the Gods resort area.  Fortunately the fire crews were quick to get it out, it didn’t get out of hand which would have been even worse.

As always we listened to audio books while traveling.  It’s 6 hours from Tucson to Ruidoso but doesn’t seen that bad when you have a book playing.  Steve Berry really is good, he writes well and takes you with him as he tells the story.

Today one of the moving companies will be here to give us a bid.  Greg is taking Mable to get new tires and then aligned.  Tomorrow we have internationals coming in so it will be a busy few days.

There are two, count them 2, plug ins in the kitchen of this condo and none on the other walls other than behind the TV and one for the lamps.  Of course there is one for the refrigerator but you can’t get to that one either.  When you have 2 computers, router, coffee pot, crock pot, toaster, 2 phones to charge and the phone for the condo you just don’t have enough plug ins to accommodate them all.  So, it’s unplug one thing to plug in another, then unplug that one to plug in another and so on.  It has almost become a game to see if we can really accomplish all that we want with just two plug ins!

Seriously it has shown me that we are as dependent on electricity as we hear about on the news.  Going back to the days when we didn’t have all the electrical items we have today isn’t an option that I relish.  My gosh, do I really want to give up my computer (NOT), do I want my phone to die? (NOT), how about the roast for lunch that I put on last night in the crockpot to make sandwiches.  I supposed I could have done that in the oven but the crock pot is just so handy.  Coffee, that requires something to be unplugged so that it can be made.  No longer is the thought of making it on the stove even something we consider.

It’s working, it’s just a ring around the rosy kind of morning.  Coffee is done so I’ll unplug that and plug the crock pot back in.  When I want another cup of coffee it will go into the microwave to be heated up.

The view off the balcony is stunning, the water is smooth as glass and there is no wind (which is good because otherwise it would be really cold).  The sun is just coming up so the sky is pink and gold, just beautiful.  The night before last the sunset was a swirl of color, white from the wispy clouds, pink and blue along with the darkness of night slipping in.  If an artist could actually have captured it they could have made a fortune I think.

A trip into town yesterday was truly enjoyable.  We went to Rosy’s for lunch and then walked along the sidewalk visiting some of the shops that have curio’s for sale.  I told Greg that somethings haven’t changed since we used to go visit Mom and go to Mexico.  I think a lot of the items are the same ones that they had over 20 years ago in those shops.  Nothing I noticed that was locally made, most were imports from China, and other places.  Isn’t that sad?  It would be great to see things made in the country you are visiting, but then it’s the same in the USA, made someplace else and shipped in.

Time to go watch the sunrise and drink the coffee I got made.  Ahh, the life on holiday!

I will be going to Washington DC in Feb. to the National Conference.  Hopefully Ann will be there (although not sure about that) and we will have an opportunity to get together.  I would love that!!

The TCIV is going through some changes, many of them necessary and positive, so it will be fun to be part of that.  The wonderful Programmer they had, and that I worked with hosting guests, passed away a couple of months ago so things have sort of been in a flux situation since she more or less dictated what the group would, and wouldn’t do.  Now, with new board members (right now there are 3 new members) and the receptive attitude toward growth and change it should be a great time to be a part of this group.

Watching Spencer enjoy being 22 months and into nearly everything (but always good, nothing broken and “no” is totally understood…not appreicated but understood.)  Molly pushed Spencer in the highchair as if it were a race car and both girls just loved it!  Jake has grown so much, he will soon be taller than his mom and yet he is the sweetest guy ever.  Still talks a lot, whether anyone is listening or not, but is so sharp that when he actually is in a conversation he has intelligent responses.  Not a bad thing for 11 years old!!

Our Kara is beautiful, bright, funny and generous with everyone.  She brightens a room just by entering it.  What a blessing to have her in our life.

We missed Shay, but did get to talk to her and she will be home for Christmas.  Then we will do family pictures all over again so that she is in them, but now we have the “rest” of the family.

Greg and I are waiting until the Christmas shoot to have our pictures taken.  I thought about getting them for Christmas cards but, well, not this year.

Bob and Ethel were with us as were Don and Cyndy (the other Cyndy) and her family.  Then there were Jason and Steve, friends of Cyn and Drew’s.  It was perfect (but would have been more perfect if Shay had been here).

Cyn and Drew brought over thier XBox 360 which was a RIOT!  I’ll post a picture of Bob and Cyn boxing and that should tell you lots!

Saturday night Bobbi, Greg, Greg and I went out to Cirque du Soleil: Alegria for Greg’s anniversary present to me.  It was so much fun, we all enjoyed it a great deal.  Truly, the Asian girls have no bones, just rubber!  Has to be true because they went into positions that I didn’t know the body could do!!  The gal that did the hoops was outstanding.  She is one of Shay’s hero’s so it made it even more fun to watch her.

Now it’s catch up time, lots of orders to process, eBay to list and pack and ship and updates to the sites waiting for me to catch up. 

The new carpet will be installed on Thursday.  Bobbi came home and helped us paint two weeks ago so that’s done and looks lovely.  We will then be ready to decorate for Christmas.  It will be later than normal this year because of the carpet but that’s ok, our family Christmas will be the 28th.

Truly, I am so blessed to be married to Greg, he’s wonderful!  And to have our family here is just great.  If we end up overseas in the future these times will become even more precious.  But…the thought of going overseas is so appealing, we look forward to that at some point.

It’s a busy time for everyone, school is just getting out for Kara.  She went to Summer of Excellence at the Unversity of Arizona this past 5 1/2 weeks.  The course is to familiarize high school students with college life.  It has been a huge success with her and her friends.  So many kids that will take memories back home with them, some will retain contact and just like it was when we were in college some will fall by the wayside.  Shay is going to be coming home for a visit too.  It will be good to see her after so long.  She finished up her first year at the University of Alaska.  So proud of both of the girls and their college time!

We will get to see the three younger ones too for a couple of days.  Their mom is coming down to pick up Kara and bringing our babies (sorry Jake) with her.  She values her life so she brings the kids!

I was installed as the President of our Rotary club last week, this week was my first meeting and, fortunately, it went pretty well.  We are a growing club with so many projects that we truly could use another dozen members and we’d keep them all busy!  But, we are getting inquiries about participating in Rotary which is a good thing, the club will grow and opportunities to do even more for the community and the world will present themselves.  This group of people are amazing, they truly care and put their work where their mouth is!

I’m back out of the hotel business.  The company I worked for is coverting the hotel into an assisted living center (or so I’ve been told.)  This is probably a smart move on the owners part since there is a need for that and there certainly isn’t a need for another hotel of the age of his in the Tucson market area.  So, I wish him the best, it’s a tough market in the hotel industry but the assisted living should fill a void in the community.

The kids that go to Vail (and other schools I guess) go back to class in two weeks.  In Tucson, and I guess Phoenix, they go year round with 6 weeks off in the summer and then breaks throughout the year.  Seems to work pretty well.  Our grandkids go for the traditional school year in Show Low.

Kara is bringing her roomie and another friend from home here for dinner tonight.  I told Greg it is neat and probably how my mom and dad felt when I’d call and ask if I could bring a bunch of girls home for the weekend.  My parents never said no and neither will we.  Bring them on babygirl!!

Bobbi took Spencer to the lavender farm the other day.  This picture just captured my heart.  What a great big world to explore!

Have a great day everyone!

I started a new “old” job.  As the Director of Sales at a hotel.  Now, I said that I would never go back to the industry once we sold our hotels but ya know, it’s in your blood and so when I decided it was time to find a job outside of the Internet world it was natural go to for what you know.

It has been rather fun, getting to see so many people, meeting new ones, learning a few (and I do mean few) words in Spanish and developing the marketing plan for a property that has gone through some tough times but is now on the cuspid of making a break into the market again.  The suites have all been redone and are beautiful, the pool side rooms are undergoing renovation which they needed.  Lots of other things going on but I won’t bore you with them, the hotel industry is the hotel industry and in reality, not much changes.

We are getting ready to have everyone home for Thanksgiving.  Of all the holidays I enjoy this one the most.  I love to cook for everyone.  I love to have everyone here and have the noise of voices throughout the house.  I don’t even mind the mess (too much).  Just being surrounded by the people that make my life worth living is just about the best thing in the world.

We have been blessed to be able to host quite a few international visitors this year from all over the world.  We usually have other people with us at dinner so they have a chance to meet the visitors and hear about their world.  Since this was the world that I loved more than any other job I ever had, with ICIU i mean, the fact that we can host the visitors brings at least a portion of that world into our current world.  I enjoy it immensely and I believe Greg does too.

Today was a day of not doing a whole lot, both of us are pushing the work schedules pretty hard so when we have a chance to take some down time we both truly appreciate it.  It’s not that nothing got done, the laundry is done, the bathrooms are scrubbed, the floors are swept and the dishes are done but that’s it.

Tomorrow is another auction.  Cyn and some of her friends are going to be there too so should be rather interesting to see what everyone thinks of the items for sale.  There is a couch and chair that I will check out early but probably won’t buy.  Just thought that if it is as nice as it looks it might be worth considering.  Cyn won’t like it, it’s leather.  But, both Greg and I like leather in our cars so think we would like it for the sofa and chair.  We’ll see.

Greg’s parents have put an offer on a wonderful house in Vail.  It is the perfect floorplan for them and large enough so that when Gail and her family come to visit they can stay with Bob and Ethel without being totally underfoot of each other.  Don’t know when they will come but probably not this year since they are all, Gail and her family and Bob and Ethel, are planning to be in Kenya for a while.  They want Jonathan and Melissa to see where Gail spent her early years and where Bob and Ethel go quite often.  With Melissa’s health issues it will be in question as to whether she can go but we hope so.

I talked to Shay the other night.  It’s really neat to hear how grown up she is becoming.  Although the wonderful giggle is still there, the fact that she realizes that she is responsible for herself now is quite a big step.  Bless her heart.  We are bringing her home for Christmas (as soon as she gives me the date she can leave!)  I’ll buy her ticket, hopefully she can come on a Wed. since the rates are so much cheaper, but either way, she’ll be with her family for Christmas break.  I’m sure everyone in the Hancock family will be thrilled so see her (as will the rest of us).  We love her so much, can’t wait to see her.

It sounds as though Kara is going well.  She’s such a charmer, love that kid.  She’s busy, busy.  She’s going to help make pies for Thanksgiving.  That will be fun!

Of course, Jake, Molly and Spencer are just about the most special younger people in the world.  They all make me so proud, such good kids!

Jacket sales are going well (thank goodness!) although some people should really look in the mirror before they order a jacket that is going to be too small.  I mean, really, do you think you can push your size 16 body into a small??  That’s like loading two ton manure on a one ton truck (remember that girls????)

Bobbi is such a delight.  She makes me laugh just like she did when she was little.  Both she and Cyn are a hoot!!  So glad they are both going to be here….doesn’t get much better than that.

Bob and Ethel, Cyndy, Brian, Nathan and Don will be here too.  Hopefully Cyn and Drew’s friends, Steve and Jason, will be joining us.  My Greg really wants a ride in their Mini-Cooper.  Hint

Heidi, Allen and Peanut will be here Friday.  We will love seeing them since it has been quite some time.  Bobbi and Cyn will be great hosts and the kids will play.  Cause, after a little while Kara, Papa and I are off to the races.  We want Kara to evaluate whether the job as a Lead Out is something she may want to do next summer for work.  It’s pretty good money and not awful hours.  I set it up so she can talk to a couple of the owner/trainers to find out if it would be of interest to her.  Not a big deal if it isn’t, but I understand jobs are hard to get in Show Low and both girls will need to work to save the money for school.

Just a side note, when I die, I want to have my memorial service short and sweet (course I won’t be there but I’ll know).  Then, laugh about the things that made you laugh when I was alive…shoot…there are enough stories that you should do well for ages.  Just take care of Greg, he’ll either be relieved or so sad LOL  Do love that guy~

Now I need to go send in another order, just saw one pop up…love those sales.

For many the thought of a cruise is just the ideal way to spend a few days.  There are opportunities to take the excursions when you are in port and see some of the country that you might not have traveled to any other way.  You will meet people from all different areas with different interests and get to share experiences with others that are looking for a get-a-way similar to what you are seeking.

On the other hand, traveling on land you will get to see the beauty of the country you are visiting.  It may be in your home state seeing what there is that you haven’t taken the time to see before.  Perhaps you would want to visit the state of Arizona but you aren’t sure just what is available, where do you go to look, what is there to do?  We suggest that you check out www.arizonabeautiful.com and choose the region you will be going to.  On this site you will find each area has a number of attractions that you probably have never hear of before but look like an interesting way to spend your vacation.

If you are looking to go to some other state then just check that state out with the same type of URL, www.(state)beautiful.com and you will be able to find enough attractions to keep you busy for longer than your vacation will probably last!  The United States has some fabulous places that you really should take the time to see.

Maybe you want to spend some time on a hiking trail or fishing or visiting museums of interest.  All of these things are listed on the sites with enough information to know if this is where you want to spend your time and your money.  Check them out, you probably will find that you don’t have to travel very far to find places that are truly worth your time. 

Planning your own trip, deciding when you want to eat and where you want to stay isn’t nearly as trying as you may think it is, just relax and go with the flow.  There are hotels everywhere, there are restaurants everywhere, both allowing you to choose the time of day you want to stop, eat, rest and make your plan for the next day.  Enjoy the experience, see the country or the world.  You only live once so take some time to enjoy it.

Those that are concerned about the cost should keep in mind that there are numerous places to visit that are FREE.  There are museums that don’t charge you to visit.  There are lakes and parks that you can go to for free.  There are mountains to climb or beaches to relax on that don’t cost you a dime.  These things can provide you with time to be with family and friends without anyone having to spend money they aren’t comfortable spending.

On the other-hand, if you are looking for a pampered time, with all the service and amenities available you can take a vacation like that too.  Choose the spot you want to visit, find the best rated hotel (not necessarily by rating companies but by comments from guests that have been there), book the room and let the relaxation begin.

If you are traveling overseas, make sure you are prepared for the country you are going to visit.  Is it a 3rd world country or not?  What should you be prepared for?  Read the blogs, check out the US State Department comments, talk to others that have been there and then go, enjoy the experience.  Just remember that you are in a foreign country, not the US so things will be different.  If you don’t want things to be any different than they are in the US then don’t leave the US…if you want a new experience in new places with a different culture then go, enjoy yourself and ADAPT to the culture of the country you are visiting.  Most other countries and cultures have been around a lot longer than the US.  They may not do things our way, but they do things their way and you are visiting them there so enjoy it and don’t complain when something isn’t just like home!  If you wanted it like home then you should have stayed home.