A New Year

I think I've been spending way too much time on Facebook and not nearly enough time blogging. Although I'm not really one for resolutions, here's mine: More blogs, less Facebook.

You will hardly notice the difference.

December 25

So here it is, December 25th again.

In spite of my generally Scrooged attitude, I hope all of my loved ones had the merriest Christmas ever. I love you.

Fun At Work

There are a couple of people that I work with that abuse the break/lunch policy. I don't mind people taking a few extra minutes. Heck, I'll even put up with 10 extra minutes most of the time. But these guys were doubling their allowed times. So it came to a small head. Somebody (not me) complained to the supervisor about it, and he mentioned it to the group as a whole: Watch your break times, because if you don't I will! So one of the guilty parties responded by not covering for others when they went to break. Including me. I got refused when I asked. I have not asked since. I got the silent treatment for a couple of weeks. Boo hoo. Last week she came in and was sweet as pie. It was like nothing happened. I was polite to her, but not friendly as I have been in the past. She brought me in a home-made tamal. If you know me, you know how much I love tamales. I told her it was good and was polite to her, but not as friendly as I have been in the past. Later that day she told me she was sorry she only brought me one and would bring me a dozen this coming week. I think I like having her trying to get back in my good graces. I love my job!

Halloween - Sorta

So in early October this nice lady I work with was talking about Halloween. She said she wanted to be a black cat. I immediately got a vision in my head of what her costume should be. I said "I can help you with that." So she gave me her measurements, and I made her a black cat costume. I tried to get it to her early so she could try it on and I could make adjustments if necessary. She had elbow surgery and missed some work. We were supposed to meet at a local car show that some guys from work were participating in but failed to connect. So, she called me the 30th and said let's get together for breakfast. I showed her the costume and she loved it. She was thrilled beyond belief. I said go home and try it on. If it's not right call me right away and I will fix it! She didn't call so I thought all was well. I asked her about it Sunday morning at work. It didn't fit. Some places worse than others. So she ended up going to a costume shop at the last minute and buying a cheap cat costume.

I didn't get any pictures of the costume.

Warning Labels

At work there are rotating red lights mounted to the walls and ceiling throughout the facility. In safety training we were told that in case of fire the lights would go on so we would all know to get out of there. Every morning we have a short meeting to get updates and talk about issues. I usually stand right under one of these red lights for the meeting. So there I was the other day, a few minutes early for the meeting. I looked up at the light and saw the warning label.

"This device is not to be used as an indoor evacuation signal or for the hearing impaired."

Why else would you make a rotating red light?

Happy Birthday, Natalie!

It's Natalie's 21st birthday. I hope she doesn't get too crazy! She has always been one that knows what she wants and works to get it. Like being a hammer for Halloween.

How could you not love this face?

Natalie if fun to be around and very talented. She is also very smart. Even though one of her sisters called her a "super dork" I think she is more of a super geek. That's not necessarily a bad thing! Keep working towards your goals.

I love you and miss you.

Happy Birthday, Jason!

Tomorrow is Jason's birthday! And he gets to share it with his best friend, Cindy Lou. So happy birthday to both of you. I'm kinda surprised Jason has made it this far. But I'm glad to have him around.

Happy birthday. I love you and miss you.

Which Is Better?

Peace of mind, or a piece of pie?

Who Thinks Of This Stuff?

Good news?

While I was unemployed for 7 months I spent a lot of time just sitting around. A lot of time. Because of that I had to loosen my belt 2 notches. Well, after about a month of working and being on my feet more I am happy to report that I got one of them back. Now I'm thinking about eating better and perhaps some actual exercise to get the other one back.

Miranda

Miranda is having a birthday. Since I probably won't have time to post on her actual birthday, here it is now.

She's my blonde daughter in more ways than one.

She's always willing to do something goofy and make people laugh. She is a talented young lady and can keep a group amused for hours. Kids love her, because she is one of them.

And she has blessed me with a beautiful granddaughter.

Happy Birthday, Miranda.

I love you and miss you.

Sad News

The music world lost another giant. Clyde Forsman, long-time frontman for Those Darn Accordians passed away last month.

I Like It!

Employment

It's official. About 3:00 this afternoon I got a call telling me I had passed my drug test and background check. I will be officially employed again starting Monday morning. It's a temp job that will last until the end of the year (at best) but it pays more than unemployment.

Yippee.

Farmer's Market

Bet you didn't know Phoenix has a Farmer's Market. Yep. Wednesday afternoon and Saturday morning. It's not as big or nearly as weird as the Saturday Market in Eugene, OR but it is fun. You can get free range chicken eggs for only $5/dozen! I'm sorry, but the hens can sit in little cages before I'll pay that much for eggs. I did get some really tasty tomatillo salsa though. Had samples of organic chocolate, ate a tamal, picked up a book at the book exchange. Had more samples, but not the granola.

This is Shannon. She makes "hand-crafted ice cream and seasonal sorbets" using as many local ingredients as possible. Yummy! And the ice cream is pretty good, too.

Fresh, expensive veggies!

Handmade soap!

Organic chocolate!

Salsa! When this guy says hot, he means it.

http://www.gagetheheat.com/

Random farm babe.

Around town

I live about a half a mile from the new Mesa Riverview shopping center. It's not really a mall because the stores are all outside. It's too big for me to think of it as a strip mall. So I guess it's just a shopping center. Anyway, they have some interesting public art there.

Here's a cute little statue of a game of leap frog.

Why statues of frogs in Mesa? I don't know either.

But it is interesting.

Plus there's Humpty Dumpty. I suspect his nose has been rubbed a few times for luck or something. It's too shiny!

Riley Elden Warner

The largest influence in my life left this veil of tears today. In the words of David Gates:

"I would give anything I own,

I'd give up my life, my heart, my home,

Yes I would give everything I own,

Just to have you back again."

Goodbye, Dad. We will meet again.

Happy Birthday!

Tomorrow the youngest of my brood turns 19. My how time flies. I regret that I don't know him better than I do. My fault, and my loss. Anyway, happy birthday, Curtis! I hope you are doing well. I love you and miss you.

Success! Well, sort of...

After a change of strategy we joined in battle with the stump once more. The new plan was to cut it off as close to the ground as feasible then burn the rest. So Andrea's husband Josh has been attacking it a little bit at a time. I went back last Wednesday. Thursday I spent 3 hours in the hot, hot Arizona sun hacking at the big ol' stump. When I was teetering on the edge of heat exhaustion I decided to call it a day and to start early the next morning when it was under 100 degrees. When I went in, Grandpa asked me how close it was to being done. So I went back out to measure it and discovered it was only held up by a strip of wood about 3" wide x 10" long. I broke out the chainsaw again. I figured I was already about as hot and sweat as I could get so why not finish the job? After another half hour, the top of the stump finally slid off the bottom portion. My arms, shoulders, and back were not happy.

I don't want to be a lumberjack when I grow up.

Then I spent about a half hour Thursday morning cutting the smaller stump in front of the house. Thanks to Uncle Seth for the loan of his truck, Paul for helping load the wood in the back of said pickup, and Anna for the round trip. The wood has been delivered to my friend Jerry and we have high hopes of seeing something beautiful come out of all this!

Stumped

GG and Grandpa had the mulberry trees in their yard taken down, leaving stumps. I have a friend that makes things out of wood that wants the stump from the back. So Jerry and I drove over to Thatcher to pull the stump out of the ground. It was hot! And Jerry burned up his electric chainsaw. We went to Home Depot and he bought another. We dug. We sawed. We backed a truck up to the stump and pushed on it. All to no avail. Round 1 goes to the stump, but we will be back! And better prepared!

At least we got fed. Yummy tomatoes!

Out & About

So if you go by Phoenix Civic Plaza on the light rail, you see these 3 statues around Washington & 5th St. They're pretty good size. Just some whimsical public art!

This is a grasshopper. I think it would be hard to hop in high heels. And I'm not sure what the coins under her hands are.

A big ol' centipede.


A nice scorpion. You can kind of see some smaller critters that he's holding in his claws and looking at. There are some more on the other side of the statue.

Thatcher

I took the opportunity to spend a few days in Thatcher. Took some mending and got it done. The snow is melting on Mt. Graham, so Anna and I drove up there one afternoon. It is one of my favorite places.

Happy Eastern Orthodox Easter, Birthday!

Today the Eastern Orthodox Church celebrates Easter. Their date differs from "ours" because they use the Julian calendar instead of the Gregorian to calculate the date. So Happy Easter again! It's not New Year anywhere that I know of.

28 years ago, on Easter Sunday lovely little Leah was born. I remember it like it was only 28 years ago.

I couldn't comment on this pic when she posted it on her blog. I think she looks like Wolverine's little sister in this shot.

Here we are comparing big pink bellies. Mine's just big. Hers has Nash inside. Gage makes this picture better. Gotta love him.

Happy Birthday, Leah. I love you and miss you.

Ro Ho En

I've been lax in posting. I have no excuse. But I've been traveling through the city of my birth looking for interesting things to share. A couple of weeks ago, I visited Ro Ho En. It is a Japanese garden, built by gardeners from Phoenix's sister city in Japan: Himeji. Ro is Japanese for Heron, a symbol of Himeji Castle. Ho is Japanese for the legendary Phoenix bird. And En is garden. It's in downtown Phoenix but has a very peaceful atmosphere. I liked it. I'll go back.

A stone lantern is typical in Japanese gardens.

I have never figured out why carp are so revered, even if they are called Koi.

This is a Shachi. A mythical fish with a tiger's face, they are traditionally placed on the roofs of important buildings as a charm against fire.

One of the smaller waterfalls in the park.

The big waterfall, focal point of the park.


It's only a short light rail ride away. There is a lot of other cool stuff there, like an offset bridge to ward off evil spirits. It seems demons can only travel in straight lines.

www.japanesefriendshipgarden.org

Happy Easter, Birthday, New Year!

Yesterday was Chris' 29th birthday, Easter, and Thai New Year all rolled together. I went with my friend Nok out to the Buddhist temple in Waddell, AZ to celebrate. I like going to the Thai and Buddhist festivities because I always learn something new about them. But mostly, there is always a lot of really good food! If you ever find yourself in a Thai restaurant, have the fried bananas for dessert!

Some of the stuff available.

The monks eating.

Second from the left is the new Miss Thai New Year. On the right is last year's Miss Thai New Year. I figured this out all by meself when the new one led the procession around the grounds.

Thai New Year involves water. A lot of water.

You pour water over the monks' hands and they bless you.

I usually just go through the food line and grab stuff that looks good. I don't know what a lot of it is, but the really tasty stuff I ask what it is. Just before we left, Nok had me sample some chile sauce. I could tell that the good people on the other side of the table were afraid it would be too hot for my puny white guy taste buds. I tasted it and it was good! They were surprised I didn't burst into flames. I brought a little container of it home, as well as some crispy rice cakes with a caramel-like substance dribbled over them.

And Happy Birthday, Chris. I love you and miss you.

I've Been Here!

This is Yguazú Falls, just outside of Paraguay on the border between Brazil and Argentina. In Guaraní, "y" means "water" and "guazú" means "big." So it is literally named Big Water. It is one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen.