Rain's a comin' - or so the weather guessers say!

Tucson

So, our local weather guessers are saying we will be getting the rain tomorrow that has drowned California for the last few days. Uh Huh! I want the weather guessers job! What other job can you be wrong 99% of the time and get paid good money for it? First, we were suppose to get rain on Thursday, but it "stalled"; so then today..so far nothing - now it is supposed to be Sunday. We shall see! Just to be on the safe side I am taking the dogs for a walk today...nothing worse than sopping wet, smelly dogs!

Our son,Ric walked the 60 mile cancer walk in Seattle last year. Well, this year he has some company in the walk. Jennifer and Sherrie have both signed up to walk and both of them are in training! They walked 6 miles last Saturday and have walked at least 2 miles a day, regardless of the weather during the week and are doing another 6 mile walk today. GOOD FOR THEM! We are really proud of their dedication.

One of the reasons we love Arizona:





I love our sunsets!

Friends Rod and Cheryl Grahek were in town a week or so ago and we met them for dinner at Pinnacle Peak Steakhouse. Rod is our son-in-law Dan, father. We had a short visit with them and a great steak!


Rod and Cheryl Grahek

This has been a fairly quiet week--at least for me. I FINALLY got all of our last cruise pictures printed! YEAH! Now I am busy putting them in a scrapbook. I am so far behind on printing pictures -- I think I am two years behind. My goal it to get caught up this year...

I also signed up for a couple of quilting classes at our local quilt shop. I got a gift certificate for the shop for Christmas, so I am putting it to good use. I still have two baby quilts I want to get done, plus a ton of other projects! Life isn't dull and I am not bored! Some days I want to retire..oh, wait, I AM RETIRED! Hmmmmm

Birthday Party; Javelina's and other nonsense!

Tucson
Jan 22, 2008

Last Sunday was Al's Cousin's birthday...now, let me explain "cousin". Al and Gary were raised together as brothers...however, they are really cousins. Now, after saying that, Gary is probably one of the nicest men I know and I love him like a brother as well. And his wife Jeannette and I are best friends, so we weren't going to let Gary slide and not celebrate his birthday. He has always wanted to go somewhere where he could throw peanut shells on the floor...of course you can't do that at home (at least not at our homes!) so we decided to take him to the Texas Roadhouse for dinner! What a great idea. Bruce, HOlly, Cortney; Al & I; plus Bob Grabow (they went to school together) and my brother Dick all went. This place rocked! Gary even got to play cowboy and had to ride the "saw horse" saddle and all for his birthday! Take a look at the pictures:

Make a scrapbook - it's easy!

In other news, we have been in the middle of a Javelina party...every night we have had the pesky visitors, sometimes as many as 10 try and eat our bird block seed. So Beau and Schuster have to bark and I go out and chase the critters off! ENOUGH!

I am still struggling with my computer, but I think I am getting the hang of it. I did buy the book "Vista for Dummies" and I am hoping it will help!

So, until next time...enjoy January! We are....it was 70 today..how was it at your house?

Testing....

This is a test to see if I can publish photos from Photoshop.

Make a scrapbook - it's easy!

Let's put a dog in office

I just recieved this--I don't know who wrote it but I sure agree with it. Beau or Schuster would be great canidates!

Now that the 2008 election campaign has officially begun, I'd like to publicly endorse the one candidate I believe has the character to be president: my dog.
My dog has never told a lie. When he gets into the trash can, he meets me at the front door with such a guilty expression that I half expect to discover he has eaten the neighbors. He follows me into the kitchen with his head down, blinking and wincing when I see the mess.
"Did you do this?" I demand. Yes, his expression replies. I did it. I am a bad, bad dog. And that's it; he doesn't try to spin the story (some studies suggest coffee grounds are actually good for the carpet!) or dull the impact (mistakes were made) or shift the blame (I have asked for the cat's resignation).
He faces me in humble misery: The trash can was just too tempting. He made an error in judgment. Isn't this what we want from our leaders, the ability to admit they made an error without piling on a lot of excuses?
And if protecting the citizens of this country from enemies is the No. 1 job of the president, then I can promise you my dog will faithfully execute the task, so long as the enemies are squirrels.
In fact, I can personally attest that in fulfillment of his duties, my dog is more than willing to knock over lamps and grandmothers and will plunge headlong through a closed screen door, so eager is he to protect us from all squirrels foreign and domestic. He'll also sit at the foot of the tree and bark for, oh, seven hours, if you let him. Honestly, can you see Hillary Clinton doing any of this?
Diplomacy is crucial in this dangerous world of ours, and my dog can make friends with anyone. A man could walk into my house carrying a saber and my dog would try to leap up and lick his face. If the intruder got down on his hands and knees to steal my stereo, my dog would joyously embrace him and simulate making love to him. You think when foreign leaders arrive at Camp David that Rudy Giuliani is going to be as friendly?
My dog does not waver from his positions, which are usually on the floor, begging or taking a nap. In fact, he can go all day without changing his position, to the point that I sometimes go over to see if he's still breathing. He does not waffle on the issues, he eats the waffle, often right out of the trash can. (Yes, I am a bad, bad dog.)
So consistent and reliable is he that even after more than 1,000 nights of being told he cannot sleep on the bed with me, he still cautiously puts a paw on the mattress and starts to slide up onto the blankets when I lie down, thinking that maybe this time things will be different. I believe such consistency is a real plus in a world leader.
And don't we want the president of the United States to be optimistic? No matter how great things are, my dog always assumes that if we go someplace else, they'll be even better. You think John McCain ever says, "Yes, I want to go for a car ride! I do! Yes! I do! I do! Yes! Yes! Yes!"?
With so many things going on in the world today, it is easy for a world leader to lose focus.
I defy any of the presidential candidates to pay attention to a given situation the way my dog can concentrate on me eating dinner.
With an unblinking, almost scary stare, he'll watch every forkful of food making the trip to my mouth, ready to lunge at the slightest hint that I might be dropping something edible on the floor. In the past, we've had presidents who have seemed to be, well, a little distracted. I promise you, make a dog biscuit part of the equation and my canine will pay attention until the end of time.
So this election, let's put a dog into office.
It wouldn't be the first time.

BEAU FOR PRESIDENT!

SCHUSTER FOR VICE PRESIDENT!

Vista and I are NOT getting along

Tucson
Jan 19, 2008

Windows Vista and I are definetly NOT getting along! I am having one heck of a time getting used to it and worse yet, it won't run my picture scrapbooking software! OH HELL! Now what am I suppose to do? I tried an on-line scrapbook but couldn't figure out how to use it; tried loading my new Adobe Photoshop and HATED it-- so what am I suppose to do? WAH...I want to throw a temper tantrum! I have tried to go to Microsoft webpage and see if there is help there, but so far no luck. Yes, I think I will throw a tantrum! DAMNIT! I have only two days of our cruise done and printed....I have lots more to do and no way to do it. I want XP back. Who thought Vista was going to be so damn great? Just who do I yell at??????

And on top of that, it is cold here. Yes, I am cranky today...it's my turn. NOTHING has gone right today...I'm cold, my software won't work and did I mention I am cold? I see the sun out there, but it sure as hell isn't doing it's job today either. I have a feeling I am coming down with something...crabbiness! Is that a sickness? Well, if it is, I have it. Damn vista...

New Computer and Keyboard....arg!

Tucson

Jan 14,2008



Okay, first a disclaimer! I will take no responsibility for any typo's in this blog! I am working from a new keyboard and I think they have moved some of the keys around!



My old computer was sssssssssooooooooooooo slow and so we (well, I, since Al has no idea what to do with a computer anymore) decided it was time to replace our old Dell with a new model. I ordered it and it arrived last week. But first I had to get everything off the old computer...so with memory stick's in hand, I proceeded to take everything that I needed off the old computer. IT TOOK ME TWO DAYS! NO WONDER THE $%^&*(*#@ THING WAS SLOW! But I regress....finally, I got the new one hooked up. However, is has Windows Vista on it, and it is a lot different than XP. First of all, I had to figure out how to turn off said computer, since they changed everything! GRRR. Finally, I got it all hooked up except for my ergonomic keyboard. Hmmm....it seems as if my old keyboard was uncompatable with the new computer! No surprise there, right? So for two days I used the standard keyboard that came with the computer and HATED it. Why are these keys so close together??? Today, armed with my trusty coupon for $ off I headed to Best Buy to buy a Microsoft Ergonomic Keyboard! My, have these changed over the last 10 years. After deciding on one, I made my purchase and came home to install it. Now, I have to tell you, Vista DOES NOT agree with many things. Of course I had to download new software for said keyboard. FINALLY, I am up and running..however, like I said.....everything is different. I am sure I will love it (or not) once I get used to it. If only they would have put everything where I am used to it! :-(

Jan 15
I had to take a break yesterday...and yes, I am still having a hard timegetting used to this keyboard.

Today we had errands to run this morning and then met Seattle friends Glenn and Sande Rittenhouse for lunch here in Tucson. They are spending their winter in Casa Grande this year. It was good to see them and get caught up on each other. It had been way too long. They are such great people and we enjoy them tremendously.

I also took my brother to have his pacemaker checked today. I had never seen how that was done and it really is a simple procedure. He will probably have to have a new one installed this summer as his battery is running out of life. He is like the energizer bunny...he is wired for sound. Matter of fact, so it my other brother in Colorado...gee..I hope this gene stays with the MEN only in this family! So far my sister and I are escaping it.

Weather has been cool..and it is suppose to get to 28 tonight. Of course that is better than the 25 below that was Anchorage yesterday. BRRRRR

More later when something else exciting or not happens....

Friends, Family and Who was Aunt Alice?

Tucson

Jan 10

Happy Anniversary Ric and Janet!!!



I love it when my cousin Ted starts reading my Aunt Ruby's birthday book! I get a call every time with "who was??" I, then, in turn, (since I have no clue either!) call my sister, who is a wealth of information when it comes to this and she explains it all to me; which, I, in turn, call Ted back! Okay...have I totally lost you? Aunt Ruby, (my father's sister) and my mother kept "Birthday"Books in which was recorded births, deaths, marriages, etc. Those in themselves are are great treasure troves of information into our family history. But to decipher them sometimes can be challenging as to who is what and where and who belongs to whom. The Spaid Family Reunion is scheduled for the last week in February and the first week in March and one of the things that we want to do is go over these two books and see if we can put 2 and 2 together and at least come up with 3! OH, and who was Aunt Alice? She was my great grandfather's sister, or my grandmother's aunt, or my great-great aunt! (Still with me here?)And, as family lore goes, her daughter, Eleanor Hicks was a Broadway or movie star to some level. So, of course, I couldn't let well enough alone, I had to find out more and I "googled" her and here is what I came up with...Eleanor Hicks. Now, who knows if this is the correct one or not, but it makes for a good story!

In other happenings, I want you all to know I found a meat fork...actually I found two! The first was located at none other than my locale Ace Hardware store...you know, the store you go to when you cannot find what ever you are looking for in a big box store! They had one, lonely meat fork...and I snapped it up for my brother. Then, Al comes out with "we could use another one"--at which time I challenged him as to WHY? Of course, with Al if one is good, ten is better (it runs in his family...long story) so when I was in Bed, Bath and Beyond yesterday I found another meat fork...they had just gotten in a new supply! Seems as if they had a "run" on them right before Christmas...who'd thunk?

Yesterday I had the fortune to meet up with a long time friend Ginny Blaine for lunch. Ginny hails from Seattle and I hadn't seen her in way too long of a time. She was in Tucson for a meeting and we had the chance to catch up on nine years of each others lives in just over an hour and half! It was great to see her and she is such a neat lady, and lady is the very appropriate word for Ginny. She is a very successful business woman, wife, mother and friend and seems to keep them all balanced well. And on top of it, she is so darn cute! AND she doesn't seem to age. What gives??? It was her birthday yesterday and she wasn't going to tell me, but it slipped out, so I treated for lunch...after all, it is very rarely that I get to treat her anyway. It was fun and we vowed it wouldn't be so long in between times from now on. I hadn't realized how much I missed seeing her until I got together with her yesterday. It is reassuring to know long time friends are still there, even if you don't get together very often.



Ginny

Other than that, our lives have been pretty routine! We had dinner with the other Wraspir Cousin's on Tuesday and Bobbi and Neil were getting ready to hit the road and wander down Texas way. I have been busy still trying to put together our cruise pictures and it has gotten to the point that all the ruins we saw are beginning to look alike! It it wasn't for the date on the camera, I don't know if I could tell where in the heck we were! You know, this is a ruin and this is a ruin, but which ruin is this one? ARG!

Weather has been okay. Kinda' cool and windy at times and we did have some rain over the weekend, which was very needed.

So, until next time, hope this finds everyone happy and healthy and living life to the fullest.

Where have all the Meat Forks Gone?

Tucson
Jan. 5, 2008

Okay, I know that is a strange title for the first blog of the New Year, but it is a question my brother and I have been asking for the past week!

It seems as if NO ONE carries the old fashion meat forks any longer. You know the kind -- large metal fork at one end for "poking" meat and the handle made of plastic or wood. Can't find 'em! Nary a one and we have been to several stores! Bed, Bath and Beyond - nope; Linen's n Things - nope; all the grocery stores - nope; Kitchen shops - nope! What??? Are people afraid of them? Afraid they will be used as a lethal weapon? Have they been banned and someone didn't tell us????? Mine is as old as the hills and my brother keeps "eyeing" it -- I told him if it goes missing I know where he lives! We will continue our search next week with WalMart and Target. I have even stopped at the Golden Goose and several garage sales! No luck!

On to other topics! Our first week of the New Year has been busy as usual. On New Years Day we hosted the Arizona Wraspir Clan....Gary and Jeannette; Bobbi and Neil; Bruce, Holly and Cortney; as well as my brother for dinner. Al smoked two hams (small ones) and they were delicious...YUM! Everyone brought something as well -- we had a yummy spinach salad, creamed potatoes and pea's; and Jeannette brought her famous white cake with peanut butter frosting. We were all sufficiently stuffed!

On Thursday I went to help Bobbi and Neil move into their new 5th wheel. They traded their 2006 Sunnybrook for a 2008 Montana. Nice coach! I am just glad it is them breaking in a new rig...ugh! Jeannette cooked a spaghetti dinner for us that night along with a huckleberry pie. Again...sufficiently stuffed. Must be the theme for this year? I hope not!

Other than that I have been lazy this week. I have just finished Khalen Hosseini's book "The Kite Runner" and I highly recommend it. Very good book even though it does raise a lot of questions in my mind. Now I am starting on his second book "A Thousand Splendid Suns".

And, I have been working on my cruise pictures. Unfortunately, my camera wasn't working well and I lost a lot of my pictures; fortunately, Jack took just about as many if not more than I did so he gave me a copy of his. I want to get them printed and scrap booked before I forget what they are and where they are!

Our weather was beautiful this last week...until today. Now we have rain coming in and it is very windy right now. We can use the rain however!

Hope this first week of the new year has been good to you all. We really enjoyed the letters and cards we got over Christmas from a lot of you. It is so fun to catch up with people! Too bad most of us only do it once a year! Oh well, it is good to hear from you all.

And with that I will close this first blog.....if you see any meat forks in your wanderings, let me know where! :-)

So Long 2007

Tucson
Dec 31, 2007

As I sit here at 9:30 p.m. on New Years Eve and reflect back on 2007 I can't believe how fast the year went and how much we managed to cram into it! We traveled A LOT this year! From Sedona, Arizona in Jan 07 to Greece, Italy, Turkey, and Croatia in November and lots of places in between. We have had our share of company as well...both here and Odessa.

Major accomplishments for us this year? Well, I finally made a quilt and now I am hooked, only can't seem to find the time to do another one! Have plenty of quilts in the planning stage so hopefully 2008 I will finish some of them. Al has read almost every Louis L'Amour book printed this year...a major accomplishment for the person who didn't like to read! I don't know who he will read when he finishes the last L'Amour book.

All of our children and grand children and great grandchildren are doing well and we can't ask, for much more than that! Mike and Bev are still in St. Louis and they seem to really like it there. Jerry and Ardis are holding down the fort in Odessa. Ric and Janet are still in Seattle and busy keeping up with life. Melanie and Ron live in Portland and between work, horses and their various other activities they are busy. Jennifer lives in Lynnwood, WA and started a new job this year that she loves. Billie and Dan are in California, she is a Sargent with the LA County Sheriffs Dept and Dan is a LA City fireman, when they aren't playing golf or flying around in their airplane.

Grandchildren: Stephen is lovin' his life and job in NYC. Sarah presented us with a new great granddaughter, Nadia, this year to add to her little family with Natasha. David is still in Kansas City and today he informed me I will become a great grandmother again in May when he and his girlfriend have their baby. Danny is stationed in Germany with the Army and is doing well. Ashley spread her wings this year and moved into her own apartment and got a job. Victor graduated from high school this year and is in college. Cammie is in her Senior Year of high school and is as busy as she can be between school, work and playing soft ball and soccer and coaching and her activities with the Campfire Girls. One busy young woman! Lori is in her first year of high school and still a great horsewoman. I sure couldn't keep up with any of these kids!

Extended family in Tucson, Holly, Bruce and Cortney keep us on our toes and are always ready to help us. Cortney is a Junior in High School and works as well. Bruce and Holly are both still surgical nurses.

We love them all!!!!

So all in all our lives are full and rich with our family and many friends. We are both doing well health wise, so we can't ask for more.

We hope 2008 will be a great year for not only our family but yours as well.

This is my last blog for this year! See you next year!

Merry Christmas...2007

Tucson

Dec 25, 2007

Merry Christmas everyone. And yes, it is Merry Christmas...NOT, PC, Happy Holidays, Season's Greetings, etc. I am an American and a Christian and I am celebrating MY holiday! I have many friends who are not Christian and I do not deny them their holidays, nor their traditional way of celebrating, so I am celebrating in my tradition. Off the soap box Jo.

We have had a busy 10 days or so. Like I said, we have my brother moved in to his house, however, there are a few more details we have had to take care of for him. Still waiting on one mini blind to be installed, etc. We got his washer and dryer installed and they are working fine....and I finally got the rest of the bedrooms put together, so now, maybe I can do somethings I have been putting off!

We finally got the xmas lights up on the house last weekend! However, the tree did not go up! Too much still on my plate. Jennifer and her friend Margo arrived last Thursday. We picked them up at the Phoenix Airport and as per usual, stopped at Pancho's Mexican Buffet for dinner. Jennifer never lets us pass up this place! It dates back to her childhood days in Albuquerque where we first discovered Pancho's. We used to take her and Melanie there on paydays and they both loved the sopapillas (or soapy pillows as they called them). Oh, and we picked up Jennifer minus her luggage. Yes, she was a bit worried.

Next morning bright and early we got a call that her luggage was on the way to our house...and it arrived around 10:00 a.m.---crisis averted! We did a bit of shopping that day and good friends from Yuma showed up as well. That evening Al barbequed his famous ribs and Bruce, Holly and Cortney joined us as well as my brother.

Saturday morning Lano, Jennifer, Margo and I took off for the Mesa Swapmeet. This has became a tradition with Jennifer and I and now Lano. The girls had a great time shopping and we covered most of the swap meet before we got so tired we could hardly move. Of course, another tradition was In n Out Burger. Jennifer needed her fix! And come to find out, so did Margo! And since I grew up on In n Out Burgers I always need a fix!

Jenn and Mom

Sunday Jennifer and Margo took my car and took off to explore Tucson. From the amount of pictures Jennifer took they had a great time. Lano and I baked Christmas goodies most of the day...as if we all needed them.

Christmas Eve day Al and Jennifer have another tradition...they go shopping for my gift and they go out to lunch. They have been doing this every year since 1981 and have only missed one or two years when we were in Saudi. This year was a bit different since Al was having a bad day on Saturday, but they managed. Also, another tradition in our house is Frito-lollies on Christmas eve. Frito-lollies you say? WTH? This is nothing more than chili beans on top of Fritos with lettuce, onion, tomato and cheese. We have done this since both of my girls were little and I dare not change it. Matter-of-fact, Melanie carries on this tradition with her family! After dinner the girls (Jennifer, Margo, Cortney, Lano, Holly and I) decide to go look at Christmas Lights....very fun.

Today dawned bright and sunny (it's hard for us to imagine that it is anything but that anywhere!) and Santa arrived on time. We had a big breakfast and opened our gifts. Even the animals got in on the fun as you can see with Beau and his "antlers".

Afternoon found some napping, some reading and Jenn and Margo out for a walk with the dogs to Catalina State Park. This evening we had our Christmas dinner of prime rib, twice baked potatoes, green beans and salads. Yum. Then the pumpkin pie and all the treats that seemed to be everywhere! There is way too much food in this house! ugh!

The Christmas at Wraspirs:

Back Row: Dick Gale, Al, Bob Grabow, Margo Mitchell, Bruce Sanderson

Front Row: Holly Sanderson, Cortney Sanderson, Jo, Lano Gale, Dick Spaid, Jennifer Wraspir

So now the Christmas 2007 is drawing to a close. I am the only one left up, everyone else has gone to bed. I sit here reflecting on Christmas' past and of those who are no longer with us, but are celebrating in heaven. I also sit here, a little pensive, that not our entire family is together, but I take what I can get! Our prayer is still for Peace on Earth and Goodwill toward man.

Here's hoping your Christmas was happy and bright...Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

The Oakridge Boys -- LIVE

Tucson

Dec. 16, 2007

YAHOO! Last night we went to see the Oakridge Boys in concert! All I can say is I am sure glad we didn't miss this! It was their Christmas Show, however, they did do some of their big hits as well...and yes, I have"Elvira" stuck in my head! " We (Al, Dick and I) along with Jack & Suzi Waddick (our partners in everything fun!) met at the Desert Diamond Casino restaurant "Agave" for a great dinner before the concert at the Diamond Center. We had some time to kill before the show so the guys went to the sports bar while Suzi and I made our contribution to the casino. Then it was SHOW TIME! This venue has no bad seats and even though we were in row "I", we had great seats! And the Oakridge Boys didn't dissappoint us...they put on one fabulous show. The bass, Richard Sterban was, as always, VERY DEEP! When he sings I find myself holding my breath...I can't believe anyone could have a voice so low. Joe Bonsall has such a powerful voice...and Duane Allen too! And then there is William Lee Golden (the bearded one, or Mountain Man)..he is my favorite. They performed for a good two hours and we all enjoyed it. Of course, we came home with CD's and Teeshirts for Al and Dick. We didn't get home until midnight last night so we all slept in today!

To catch you up on our week....we got Dick moved into his house last Wednesday and he is settled in nicely. We have a caregiver come in twice a week to do light housekeeping and help him with what ever he needs. The rest of the week I am in and out two or three times daily to make sure all is well. I think he is really enjoying being here...and enjoys the house. And yes, it is just about finished inside. We are still doing little things here and there, and waiting for the rest of the blinds to be installed, but it is, for the most part, DONE! We got Dick set up on Lifeline as well, so I feel much more comfortable with him down there now. The first night he was down there by himself I felt like a mother hen....I worried all night and I am sure he was tired of me "checking" on him!

In other news, new great granddaughter, Nadia and mom (Sarah) are home and settling in comfortably. I talk to Sarah every day (again, the mother hen thing) and I can hear Nadia "talking" as well. Natasha (big sis) thinks she's pretty cool.

Aren't they beautiful?????

We are going to start decorating for Christmas today. We don't even have outside lights up yet! Very late for us! Jennifer and her friend Margo come in on Thursday and I think we need to have some decorating done by then! They are going to put up the tree for us however. Well, maybe...I may get a burst of energy and do it, but since I have so much on my plate right now, I may not get it done! And me getting a burst of energy lately is like the sun not rising!

Speaking of the sun....man, it's been cold here! We have had some rain and snow on the mountains, but now that the cloud cover is gone, it has been COLD! It was 28 this morning...brrrr...too cold for this warm weather lover! Al says he knows its getting cold when I have socks on my feet and I have my flannel PJ's on! Yup...that's me!

She's Here!

I would like to introduce you to the newest member of our family, Nadia Raeann, born 12/11/07; 3:25 p.m., CST, weighing in at 5 lbs, 14.5 oz and 19 inches long. Parents are Sarah Wraspir and Chris Hatley. Yes, she is our new great-granddaughter and we are so happy and proud. Mom is doing fine and older sister Natasha is so excited!!! In this picture she is just an hour old!

It's December in Arizona

Tucson
Dec 10

15 more days until the craziness stops! Oh, wait, then we will have the "after Christmas" sales! I swear, people have really lost the real meaning of the season! Ch-ch-ch-chia! But I digress!

My brother Dick from Anchorage arrived two weeks ago to move into our other house that we are renovating. When we bought this house we didn't expect to completely re-do it, but that is pretty much what we have done! It is nearing completion and close enough that we will finally move Dick in tomorrow! Whew...it has been a rat race, with the rats coming in second! I have pretty much been on a non-stop shopping trip for the last 2 weeks...and I am not a good shopper. Especially at this time of year...I seem to lose the last bit of patience I don't have! At any rate, today was the Costco, Walmart, Home Depot run and I think at least for the time being, we have everything he needs to get moved in. We have a local thrift store here, the Golden Goose, which is really an upscale thrift store that I have been haunting...so much that they know me by name! Not good! Any way, thanks to them, Gary and Jeannett; Holly and Bruce; and our spare "stuff" I think we have the house furnished so he will be comfortable.

Our weather hasn't exactly been cooperative either. In the last 2 weeks we have had rain, wind, cold, rain, wind, cold, repeat. We have had a few warm days, but for the most part, it has been Tucson nasty. One night it rained so hard it washed out our road AGAIN! There has to be a permanent solution to this road washing out every time it rains....and I hope we come up with one soon before we go broke fixing it! I want to build a bridge, however, I am told it would never get past permits...permits? We don't need no stinkin' permits!

As for Christmas, well, it isn't happening yet at our house. I have thought about getting decorating started, but it isn't the 15th yet and I really don't put up our tree until then, so what? I have a few days to worry it yet. Outside lights may not happen this year either. We will see....the weather has to get better before I try the outside light routine.

Last Friday night we hosted a Greek Dinner here. I must say I think we did a great job, but no one told me making Mousakka was an all day deal! Whew...it was good, but it was a lot of work. Suzi brought killer crepes and bakalava; Al bbq'd lamb shanks that were sooooo good. Gary & Jeannette; Bruce, Holly, Cortney; Bob Grabow were here to enjoy the feast. It was fun.

Well, that brings us up to date for now...stay tuned to see if I really do get the Christmas decorations up before Christmas and if I am brave enough to venture out to another store!

And on another note, our granddaughter Sarah is due to deliver our new Great-Granddaughter Nadia any day now....one or the other is being very stubborn and I have a hunch it isn't Sarah! Older great granddaughter Natasha says it is time her little sister makes her appearance and we agree.

Stay tuned...............

Greek Island Cruise Pictures

FINALLY! It's picture time. It would have been nice if I could have attached pictures as we went along on the cruise, however, since I couldn't, here are a few I took. My camera was on it's last leg (and now in the trash) so a lot of my pictures didn't come out!! GRRR! Time to look for a new camera!

VENICE

St Marks Basilica

Canal

Jack and Sue Waddick

Croatia

Dubrovnik

Jack & Sue, Al & Jo at restaurant outside of Dubrovnik where we tasted dried figs and wine that tasted like Drano!

Corfu

Corfu Town




Overlooking Corfu

Sounion and Athens

Jo in front of the Parthenon

Suzi at Cape SoUnion, Posedions Temple

Mykonos I Love this place!!!!

Jack & Sue, St. John's Beach

Windmills used for grinding barley

Mykonos Town

Kusadasi, Ephesus - Turkey

Ephesus Kusadasi

Rhodes

Where the Colossus of Rhodes stood, maybe Jack and Sue

My knight in shining armor and AL

Santorini

Since our tour of Santorini was cancelled due to weather, this is all we saw! Instead of touring we went and had lunch in the dining room!

Naples, Italy and Pompeii

Naples at sunrise Naples Traffic!!!

Galleria Pompeii

Since Blogger has outsmarted me before, I take no responsibility if these pictures get screwed up during publishing!!! :-)

Holy Cow...or Bull in this case

Nov. 25 Tucson

Yesterday I sent Al to the grocery store for a few items. Now, those of you who know Al really well know that this may turn into an all day outing and with him returning with several more items than what was on the list. Yesterday was no exception. However, he had a story to tell as well.

Apparently while he was shopping in our local grocery store near the house he had a strange encounter with a ...bull? Our area is still fairly "country" and is still a free range area. Yesterday while in Basha's store, a free range bull decided to do some grocery shopping! Al said he was in the back of the store near the meat counter when an announcement was made for all shoppers to go to the back of the store. Al, being ever curious, went to the front of the store (he doesn't follow directions well) and lo and behold, there was a bull in the store and the store employees were trying to get him out! The bull had been in the parking lot earlier and decided to walk up to the store, where he tripped the automatic doors and he decided a little shopping was in order! Al said the bull was really having a hard time walking on those slippery floors and he was scared as well (probably had seen his mom in the meat counter!!) and he was having a hard time staying upright and getting out of the store. After a few minutes, he finally sauntered outside. And that, my friends, ain't no bull!

We had our Thanksgiving feast yesterday. Ugh..I am still stuffed. Dick and Lano are still here, Jack and Suzi were here along with Cortney, Holly, Bruce and their nephew Wyatt and our good friend Bob Grabow. All were sufficiently full by 8:00 p.m. Lano and I cooked dinner as usual, I don't know if I can do a turkey dinner without her here anymore, we have done them together for the past 5 or so years and always have fun doing them. We did the normal turkey, dressing, (not stuffing Cortney) mashed taters, gravy, sweet potato pie, broccoli casserole, green bean casserole, cranberries, etc. Now tonight will be a repeat since our refrigerator is also STUFFED!

Stay tuned for more adventures and maybe some cruise pictures tomorrow!

HOME and Happy Turkey Day (the bird, not the country!)

Tucson, AZ
Nov. 23
Ah, yes, home again. We both love to go, but we both love to come home as well.

Nov. 21
We were up and off the ship by 6:00 a.m. It was cold and windy when we disembarked and headed for the bus that would take us to Rome from CIVITAVECCHIA, which is the sea port for Rome and about 70 miles from the airport.

Arriving at the airport with piles of luggage, very little sleep and hoards of people. UGH! Finally got checked in for our flight, got our luggage checked in and up we go to wait for our flight for 3 hours. Suzi and I checked out the shops around the gate, like Valentino, Gucci, etc...you get the idea. We had some Euro's to spend, however, not enough to spend in those shops! I wound up bringing some Euro's home...figured they could be seed money to return to Venice and Naples someday!

While waiting for our flight a family arrived with eight children for our flight. We all groaned, way too many kids! As it turned out , this was a Navy family, and those eight children were the best behaved children we have ever seen. The oldest was 17 and the youngest was 1, and they all helped each other (well, with the exception of the baby). What a neat family.

Flight to Chicago was uneventful, just a very long 10 hours. Arriving in Chicago we had to walk a long distance from the plane to the U.S. Customs/Immigration area. Al finally said he couldn't walk any further, so we found a cart to take us the rest of the way. I am sure Jack and Suzi were getting tired of waiting for us! We all cleared customs with ease, boarded the tram to the domestic terminal and found our selves with very little time to get to our next gate. The lines for security were LONG, however, with Al in a wheelchair, we were put at the front of the line and after clearing security we raced for our flight. I decided in the middle of the race to have an asthma attack....now, I have had exactly one of these before in my life and decided at that point I never wanted one again! Well, the asthma demons were after me....I could barely breath as we raced for our flight. Once I got on the plane I was gasping for air, but after calming down for a while the attack seemed to abate and I slept the entire flight from Chicago to Phoenix. And I must say, O'Hare was a nightmare on Wednesday, and especially since snow was expected and it was sleeting while we were there.

Upon arriving in Phoenix we claimed our luggage (except for one piece of Jack and Suzi's which decided to go home with someone else -- someone picked up their garment bag by mistake, which was corrected and returned later that night). So all in all, we all felt very lucky that we were 1. in Phoenix instead of missing our flight in Chicago; 2. Had all of our luggage and 3. it was warm in Phoenix. All four of us were tired (well, except for Suzi, she slept most of the way from Rome to Chicago) and somewhat hungry. After checking in at the hotel we went out to find something to eat....now, I have to tell you Denny's is not my restaurant of choice, but that is the first one we found that night and decided that since they were open we were going to eat there and then call it a night.

Nov. 22
Al and I are up at 5:30 a.m.......still on Italy time I guess. We decided since we weren't able to sleep to head home. We left Jack and Suzi a note and headed for Tucson. We got home about 10:00 Thanksgiving morning. Dick and Lano had came over the day before so we were greeted with 3 dogs (our two and their one) and two cats....all trying to tell us about their two weeks at once! I do believe the cats had more to say than the dogs. We lazed around all day yesterday just trying to stay awake. We are doing our Thanksgiving on Saturday, so we cooked a beef roast and called it a day. Al and I were in bed by 8:30 p.m.!

Nov. 23
Up today and raring to go. Al and Dick took off to do some running around looking for ammo and Al went to pick up his new gun that he won last month. Lano and I did some shopping and a Costco run. We just knew Costco would be a madhouse, however, we were very surprised to find that it wasn't. I think everyone was at the mall today.

So we are home from our wonderful cruise and trying to recover so we can go again in April. We had a great time, saw a lot and still trying to absorb it all. I will get to the pictures hopefully sometime this next week and post a few for the blog.

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving Day and are lots of turkey! Triptofan will visit us tomorrow!

Until next time..............we hope you are all happy and healthy.

Naples, Italy....ah..........Pompeii

Nov. 20...........Naples, Italy
Ah, Naples! I have found another city I love...guess I will just have to come back to Italy and stay for a month or more so I can see everything I want to.

Yesterday was a day at sea. It started out as a very ROUGH day at sea...lots of wrockin' and wrollin'. However, by noon it seemed to calm down. Suzi and I decided to go play Bingo. Now, I never win at Bingo, but yesterday I broke my record and won the big jackpot of $300! Of course someone else won as well, a lady from Scottsdale, Az so we split the pot...but I won!!! Suzi had done well at the slots the night before, so we were feeling pretty cocky! Yesterday afternoon we went back to Bingo...let's just say I left some money there. Suzi entered the Slots tournament and left her share of money there...our good luck streak was over apparently. Also yesterday was the Susan G Komen Walk for the Cure at Sea...I registered and donated, but didn't walk as my right knee is giving me some real problems and I wanted to save it for our tour today. Last night was our last formal night....and lobster night. I probably wouldn't have gone to the formal night if the lure of lobster hadn't been there!

Today we toured Naples (Napoli) and Pompeii. Al stayed on board again as his ankles were swelling again and since we have a long day ahead tomorrow with a LONG flight he decided to stay and keep his legs up all day.

Ah....Naples. Oh, I said that didn't I? Ah...Napoli! What a city. We started out on the bus going to Pompeii. How interesting can it be? Pompeii just boggled our minds. On the way we saw Mt. Vesuvius as well. Pompeii dates back to 7th century BC.....uh huh...BC. It's still hard for me to understand how old things are. Anyway, Pompeii was pretty much destroyed by an earthquake in 62 AD and reconstruction began immediately afterwards. However, Mt. Vesuvius had other ideas and on Aug 24, 79 (that would be 79AD, Not 1979) Vesuvius erupted and buried Pompeii under ash and rock. It was rediscovered in the 16th century, but exploration did no begin until 1748 and continued into the 19th century. It truly is an ancient city and very fascinating. We toured the shops/homes/red light district/theater and of course the temples. The streets are cobblestone, and you can still see chariot ruts in the roads.

From Pompeii we went to a Cameo factory. Did you know cameo's were made from sea shells...mostly conch! I learned that today...I also learned I couldn't afford to buy any of the cameo's! OUCH.

From there we went to lunch. We ate a at true Italian Pizza place and it was heavenly. Salad, pizza, wine (not for me, but Jack and Suzi had some) dessert and coffee! Oh, the coffee...WOW..it about knocked my socks off...all three of us will probably be awake for days. Coffee here isn't like coffee in the USA. It comes in a tiny cup and there isn't enough sugar to make it sweet enough...yeow!

From lunch we went on a city tour of Napoli. I did fall in love with this city. It is so beautiful. It was built originally by the Greeks, and as our tour guide said, most of Italy was originally Greek. Then we headed for the Royal Palace and the Galleria. The Galleria is an enclosed shopping mall...but not like any you have every seen. Yes, it is old, but it is absolutely beautiful. It has a glass dome over the center of it...and the ceilings and walls are all decorated as well. The Royal Palace is now a museum and very luxurious. The ceilings in most of the rooms had paintings on them and I spent most of my time looking up!

Traffic here is another story altogether. Holy smokes! Yeow! First of all, we can't complain about our gas prices...gas here is around $6.00 a gallon. Of course, if ours keeps going up we will be paying that soon. The traffic here is almost unexplainable. There are tons of motorcycles, which the drivers apparently don't value their lives as they cut in front of big buses (Ours) or between big buses (Ours) and there seems to be no rhyme or reason to the traffic patterns...cars are going any which way and one way streets don't seem to mean much to them, nor does the traffic dividers! And crossing a street on foot (which we did) is like taking your life in your hands! Aye! I was sitting in the front of the bus today and I know more than once I thought we would run over someone or someone would run over us! And their cars here are small....I saw a lot of the SMART cars (which I like) and I understand they are very sturdy, however, they are so small I think one would be crushed at home in an accident. However, here usually an accident in town is minor since you can't go very fast! And I thought Seattle had traffic problems!

So now our cruise is down to the last day. Tonight we sail for Rome, tomorrow we have to be up at 4:30 a.m. to get ready to disembark at 6:00 a.m. and then transfer from the ship to the airport in Rome which is about an hour and half from the port. From there we will board American Airlines and head for Chicago; then to Phoenix. All of us are concerned about the nightmare at O'Hare the day/night before Thanksgiving. Also, we only have 2 hours between flights at O'Hare and we are thinking we may not have enough time if we have to clear Customs there, so we are hoping we can pre-clear US Customs in Rome (Bob Stone where are you??) and then just have to clear immigrations in Chicago.

So until we are home..........arrviderci from Italy...the Wroamin' Wraspirs and Waddicks.

Santorini --the UNTOUR

Aboard the Star Princess, anchored off Santorini
Nov 18

We were jolted awake early this morning by what sounded like a bomb going off! WTH? I was standing up beside the bed before I was fully awake! I stumbled to the sliding door and opened the drapes and we were having a great light show...yes, my friends, thunder and lightning. The weather gods had been good to us up to this point, however, they were telling us it may be coming to an end. Denise, Sherrie and Jennifer, all I can say is remember the thunder in Lugano? Nuff said. I left the drapes open and went back to bed, fully intending to watch the lightning, however, the sleep gods took over very quickly and I missed the rest of the light show.

Later we had a leisurely morning, trying the omelet bar on board...not such a good idea! Our tour of Santorini was scheduled for noon. The weather was a little cool, clouds off in the distance and very windy. We were going to have to tender in to port and it did look a little rough. When we were in line to board the tender the captain came on the loudspeaker and cancelled all shore leaves for the crew. Ohoh, this didn't sound good. A few minutes later he cancelled the remaining tours and stopped all disembarktion from the ship to the tenders. Apparently it was more than a little rough and the tenders were having a hard time at the port, so now all they wanted to do was get the people that were on the island back to the ship safely. DARN...we really were looking forward to seeing this island. But, it does give us a reason to come back, right?

We took our disappointed selves to the dining room for lunch. Frankly, I am sick of eating. I think the rest of the group is beginning to feel the same way. And to me, all of the food is beginning to taste the same.....guess the cruise is winding to an end. All I want now is fruit and salads.

This afternoon Al read, Suzi and I did laundry and Jack went to the gym to work out. Not very exciting, but it was okay. Laundry is laundry, and has to be done at some point in time. I had already done a couple of loads earlier in the cruise, so now all the clothes are ready to go home. Tomorrow I will do some packing since our last day of the cruise is Naples and Pompeii and we have a full day tour scheduled.

Right now, it is threatening to rain and is a little on the chilly side. We are due to set sail in about 10 minutes and will be at sea tomorrow, so unless there is something exciting that happens tomorrow, there will be no blog.

Until next blog.....................

Rhodes

Rhodes
Nov 17

Today was the island of Rhodes. This is a very popular tourist island in the summer, but a lot of the hotels and shops are now closed for the season. Of course, we found an entire bazaar in the old town of Rhodes to shop in.

Before I go any farther, I want to mention that we have found a Starbucks not only in Athens, but Mykonos and Kusadasi and I am told there is one in the new town of Rhodes, which we didn't see today.

Today's tour was an island tour of Rhodes, we saw both sides of this small island. In it's days of greatest power, Rhodes was famous for their impressive sculpture, like the huge bronze Colossus, which stood at the entrance to the harbor. Created to honor the sun god Helios, it was at least 110 feet high and considered one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. Unfortunately it only stood for 56 years before an earthquake toppled it in 224 BC! The huge fragments remained half submerged for another nine centuries, then a scarp dealer finally carried the pieces away for 900 camels. Go figure! We did see where they think it stood however. I am finding that a lot of history here is where the people THINK these things were. Who knows if it is right or wrong...so we just choose to believe them!

Al went with us today and did very well. His legs are back to normal size (not Al size) and he feels pretty good. I however, am having a bout with vertigo...ugh! I don't know if it is the movement of the ship, or just the right time of year for me to have vertigo....I seem to get it about this time every year lately. However, it is not stopping me from seeing and doing things.

After our island tour on a trolley, we toured the old town. Most of it is medieval, in the image of the Knights of St. John. Very interesting and the streets are cobblestone, so it wasn't an easy walk. Jack and Suzi went through the Palace of the Grand Masters which contained some beautiful mosaic pieces. Al and I opted out since there were a lot of stairs and we started walking through old town. Jack and Suzi caught up with us later as we really took our time and poked our noses in to many shops. It reminded us a little of Saudi's souks. We all stopped for a pizza and beer which was excellent. Al was on the hunt for a loaf of local bread, which we finally found. Also I purchased some gifts here...prices were fairly good and the merchants weren't pushy like so many we have found on other islands.

Tomorrow is Santorini....then a day at sea (finally a rest) and then Naples and Pompeii, then our trip will be over! Wow---can't believe we have been gone 10 days already! How time flies.

So until tomorrow, after Santorini..........we are cruzin!

Kusadasi, Turkey

Nov. 17
We are in Turkey today...and no, not the Thanksgiving kind! The ship arrived this morning at 6:30 a.m. and we started our tour of Kusadasi and Ephesus at 8:30. Wow..am I tired. A lot of walking today, over very uneven terrain for the most part.

Our tour started out at Basilica of St. John. It was built by the Emperor Justinian over the tomb of St. John the Apostle. The Basilica is now in ruins of course, and St. John's bones were moved to Italy centuries ago. It was interesting to see however.

From there we went to the House of the Virgin Mary. Apparently the Vatican has recognized this small house in the Solmissos Mountains as the final resting place of the Virgin Mary. However, who knows for sure??? Even the tour guide kept saying "we have been told" this is the final resting place as a small shrine dedicated to the Virgin Mary was found when the ruins of the house was first discovered.

Next was Ephesus. We toured the 3rd city of Ephesus. The first two were destroyed 200 BC. This one dates back to 150 AD (a new place compared to most we have seen.) The Magnesia Gate entrance led us down hill on a marble paved road to the ruins of the Roman Provincial capital. Very uneven terrain, but something to see at least once. Continuing down the road we pasted the Odeum, Celsus Library, Temple of Hadrian, Fountain of Trajan and the Great Theater, which had seating at one time for 25,000 people and is where St. Paul preached to the Ephesians. Of course this is all ruins, some being reconstructed. These Ephesians were truly ingenious people for their time.

When we left Ephesus, of course there were the vendors all along the side of the road hawking their wares. One sign read "Genuine Fake Watches" for sale...we got a laugh out of that! I felt like I was back in Saudi....the way some of the buildings were built, the smells, the people, and of course, prayer being called from the local minaret.

Tomorrow is Rhodes. Our luck with good weather is still holding.................