I Put My Red Boots On and Nobody Noticed But My Toes

My daughter asked me if I wanted to go out with her and her friends and I said that I would go and be the designated driver.  I don't go out very much, but it's something I used to enjoy doing, so I said that I could be their driver and see what's going on in Old Town Scottsdale these days.  Also, it gave me an excuse to get out those red boots I never wear. 

 

My blouse kept slipping off my shoulder so I just gave up and let it fall.  I don't know why I was so worried about my tank showing underneath, when about half of the girls out were wearing super short, tight mini dresses with the neckline so low that the bra was totally exposed. I believe the style was to pull the dress down completely under the bra.  My, have things changed!  I felt like I had no business being there, and not because my boyfriend had a huge problem with it...although, that may have had something to do with it.  I think those who noticed probably knew I was a mom out with my daughter, and thought, how nice. I could tell by the smiles. :-)  In fact, an older guy in the crowd (about my age) approached me and asked me which one was my daughter.  That kind of stung, I was hoping it wasn't that obvious!  But!!!  I did get carded at the front door, in spite of me saying I'm the mom, because the guy still said he HAD to see my license.  Regardless of the reason why, it kind of made me feel good.

I liked this place.  It's called the Saddle Ranch.  The music wasn't too loud, the crowd was mixed, it wasn't overly crowded, and we could watch people ride the bull.  I tried to get the girls to do it but they didn't want to.  Did I?  Nope, but would I???

It was fun for me watching the girls have a fun time together.  Three of my daughter's friends came from out of town, and my daughter was so looking forward to hanging out with them. However, the night before she was so sick, and wasn't able to do anything but go to bed early. I'm so glad she recovered, and the next day they were able to go horseback riding and go to the mall before going out.  Look how beautiful they all look!

I thought this was a cool picture.  My daughter's friend's boyfriend got us in to Axis/Radius, without having to wait in the long line outside.  Then he was able to get us VIP passes to go upstairs.  If you want to people watch, this is the place to be.  If you want anything else, I'm sure you'll find it here.

Here I am with my daughter. I'm happy she and her friends invited me to be a part of their evening.  It's funny when I look back at the night, the ride there was very informative and very entertaining, and the ride back was even more fun! 

Life and Family

The memories we give may a lifetime live in the heart of those we hold so close.
My mom and me...

Keep true to the dream of thy youth. ~ Friedrich Von Schiller

Like branches on a tree we grow in different directions, yet our roots remain as one.  Each of our lives will always be a special part of the other.

 Other things may change us but we start and end with family. ~ Anthony Brandt

...we have a common thread that won't be broken ~ by people or years or distance.

Christmas and New Year's Eve

It was wonderful this year to be able to have Christmas with all of my kids, even though we celebrated a few days after Christmas when all of the family could be here.  Al and I had Christmas with Amber, Dana and my two granddaughters on Christmas day, and then my other kids arrived on the 29th.  In a span of four days we managed to celebrate another Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas, New Year's Eve, and an early 1st birthday party for Clara, since the whole family was in town. Lots of cooking, playing with the kids, telling stories, laughing, playing games, and we even popped out a home movie for some memories of the past.

 

 This was our first night together over at Amber and Dana's house.  I don't know what Zach is doing, but I can always count on them making me laugh. :-)))

Here's me with all of my kids...Amber, Zach and Alisa.

My grandson Mason, just looking at the tree.  I thought it was so cute!

 Zach and Mason

 Clara and Aiyana on Christmas morning.  Every little girl has a tutu these days and my granddaughters are no exception!

 What work it was trying to get a picture of all three of my grandkids at the same time...without one or the other trying to run off  (especially Aiyana, who dislikes having her picture taken now), start crying, or turning their head the second the camera snaps!  Clara got the wagon for her birthday, and it was a new fun thing for all of the kids to play in, so I grabbed my camera....hoping for that perfect shot.  It took at least a dozen unsuccessful attempts until finally my daughter-in-law had an idea.  She started singing the song Tomorrow from the movie 'Annie'...which Aiyana is in LOVE with.  Look at her face!  She just sat there and smiled and smiled, and nana finally got the shot!

 All dressed up and ready for New Year's Eve!  I think this is the first time since my kids were little that I spent New Year's Eve with them.  Amber got a babysitter for the little ones and we all went out to the Talking Stick Resort and Casino in Scottsdale for dinner and a band in the grand ballroom.  We rented a big van so all eight of us could ride together...that was a fun ride!  

 Me and Al!

 The whole gang from left to right, Joey, Alisa, me, Al, Mary, Zach, Amber and Dana.  The food was absolutely wonderful, the band was talented, but played old music. Blah

 Me, Al and Itsy

A Night With My Granddaughters

Al and I babysat my granddaughters tonight and I was reminded of how challenging it is to take care of two babies...ages two and a half and 11 months old.  Everything was fine and went wonderfully until it was time to take a bath.  Al was watching the game, and offered to help, but I said I could do it myself.  The last time I bathed them it was a piece of cake, but tonight was different.  They always take a bath together, so as I headed up the stairs with C, the younger one, in my arms, while the older one, A, pealed herself away from her Annie movie and came to the bottom of the stairs and cried for me to carry her up the steps with her sister.  I couldn't carry them both and I knew the older one could get up the stairs easily on her own, so I kept coaxing her to follow me.  Eventually she gave in and came up (though she cried the whole way) as I put the younger one in the water. 

As I started rinsing A's hair after getting C's done, the older one, A, started crying and pointed to her sister  and said, 'do hers!!!'  I was finally able to get the older one's hair rinsed... after I poured more water over her sister's head again.  ;-)  Then, when the bath was over, the A didn't want to get out.  As I put the baby in my arms and tried to get to other one to let me help her out, she refused, so I walked away. (I knew that'd get her out.)  She started crying for me, so I turned around and set the baby down to pull the  2 year old out.  The baby started to cry and I picked her up and then the 2 year old cried because her towel wouldn't stay on and she wanted me to pick her up.  Of course I couldn't carry both of them at the same time, so, I tucked the towel around her and held it together as I walked bent over, hanging on to the older one's towel with my left hand and carrying a slippery wet baby on my right arm. 

I got the pjs out and the correct diapers for each, but the 2 year old kept saying 'pull up, pull up!...because she wanted the pull up diaper on instead.  It's a new thing for her while she is getting potty trained.  She wears a regular diaper at night, but I watched her pull out 3 pull up diapers and try to put one on, out of my reach, as I struggled to get the baby's diaper on.  My youngest granddaughter apparently doesn't like to get dressed anymore....she absolutely refused to let me put her diaper on!  She rolled over and crawled away, and before I could get her back into position, A plopped down on C's diaper on the floor and wanted me to put that one on her.  She started laughing and C was crying as I moved A and placed C on her diaper again.  C was struggling like crazy and I had a hard time getting that diaper on.  I had my left foot holding down her right arm and my right foot holding down her left arm.  Got it done.  Then came the sleeper.  Oh man, she wouldn't lay still.  I bet I turned her over at least 25 times before I successfully got the thing on her!  Then she sat there crying, and kept hitting her legs, like she was saying, "I don't want this on me!!!"  One down and one more to go!  Actually, I was able to use some bribery to get A to cooperate with the diaper and pjs.  Hint...she likes snacks...and her Annie movie was on pause downstairs.  I don't think she struggles so much about getting dressed like she used to.  She may have outgrown that.  But C has taken over where A left off!  

It wasn't so hard getting C's hair combed, even though it is past her shoulders, but I managed to comb A's hair as she was rolling around in circles on the floor, making shreaking sounds.  Her hair is almost to her butt, so there's lots of hair to get tangled.  With some good aims with the hair detangler, and some more bribing, I finally got her hair combed.  Whew!  On the way downstairs, once again A cried for me to pick her up and carry her down.  Al came to my rescue and picked her up and brought her down.  He said he thinks she was jealous that I was holding C and not her.  That may be, I don't know.  I gave C her bottle and she feel asleep in my arms.  And shortly after putting her to bed, A and I looked at pictures until she started to fall asleep.  I sure love my little sunshines.  Good night!

C

A

CHICAGO IS MY KIND OF TOWN

My youngest daughter lives in Chicago and I recently went there to visit her and her boyfriend, Joey.  Now it's a direct flight that takes just a little longer than the 3 hour drive it used to take me when I lived in Iowa, though I have the added cost of an airline ticket.  She lives within walking distance to the shopping areas on Michigan Avenue and State Street, so I did some Christmas shopping while I was there.  We also drove to the suburbs to see my mom.  I've really missed her, and this visit was our little Christmas together since I won't be able to go back for Christmas.  I think this will only be the third Christmas in my entire life that I won't be able to be with my mom. 

 

 We had a couple of days of snow and the temperatures dropped significantly.  It kept most shoppers away, but not us!  The day before, we were walking around Wrigleyville in the rain!

This tree was at the Christkindlmarket.  It is a pretty neat oudoor area with food, hand-made crafts and gifts from Germany.  It was like shopping in little German markets, and the aromas from the food was wonderful!  We got some hot cider wine...but it was so nasty, I had to throw it out!  At least it came with a cute collectable cup...that I did keep. 

 

One interesting thing worth mentioning is that I used my daughter's car and drove into Davenport to visit family and friends one day.  Well, while I was driving down the interstate I realized I had a flat tire.  I pulled off the road into a gas station and called AAA.  They said it'd be an hour before the technician could get there and I wasn't willing to wait that long.  The station told me they couldn't put a new tire on but the WalMart across the road could.  I saw that the tire wasn't completely flat so I drove slowly to WalMart and by the time I got there, the other rear tire went flat.  Now, what kind of luck is that?  Luckily they were able to get the new tires on and after a 3 hour delay, I was back on the road again.  The reason why the tires went flat is because the car sits in storage and rarely gets driven.  The tires suffered from rubber rot.   The mechanic assured me the front tires were in good shape, so I didn't have to worry about them going out on me, too.

Everyone Needs a Victory

"When you get right down to it, life has a fairly simple formula. Everyone needs a victory every day. That's what keeps us going. Each of us should do what we can to give others opportunities for victories. And each of us should do what we can to minimize moments of defeat for the people we love." —Don Gale

I read this quote on another blog and thought it was so good, I wanted to share it.

Scorpions...you are not welcome in my home!!!

I might as well face it, I live with scorpions.  Since moving from Iowa to the desert of the southwest, I have encountered more critters that I have never even seen before.  One of them is the dreaded scorpion.  I just found another one in my house.  I hadn't seen a scorpion in months, but one managed to find it's way inside again.  This was a little one, but I've been told the little ones are the ones that sting the worst.  I have some garlic cloves in my refrigerator just incase I get stung.  Knock on wood...I've been lucky so far.  I don't want it to sound like my house is infested or anything.  Far from it.  I find scorpions about as often as I used to find a spider in my house back in Iowa.  Not often, but one is far too many as far as I'm concerned! 

I Caught Her!

I was laying in bed early this morning, half asleep, listening to my daughter get ready for work.  This is my last day in Chicago before heading home to Phoenix.  Anyway, I heard a wet sneeze, a couple of them actually, and turned around to see my daughter's cat with her head inside my glass of water!  I'm sure she had been doing that all week long! I should have known better because Daisy used to be my cat, and she would always get up on the coffee table, kitchen counter, or night stand to help herself to my glass of water.  I could never hide it.  I'm sure she thought it was placed there for her convenience so she wouldn't have to walk all the way to the bathroom to get a drink from the toilet.  For some stupid reason I guess I thought she didn't do those things anymore.  She's still a cat, still does what she always did.  Like, right after she took a drink and sneezed in my water, she went into the living room and threw up. I heard that, too.  I am going to miss the little stinker, though!

Here I Go Again!

I'm packed and ready for my trip to Chicago to stay with my daughter.  It's been a few months and I'm looking forward to wrapping my arms around her again.  I love this time of year with all the Christmas lights and holiday shoppers filling the city.  With the gigantic tree up at the John Hancock Center, it really puts you in the Christmas spirit.  Not that I'm not already in the spirit of Christmas...I am.  It's just that it's 79 degrees here right now, and it just doesn't feel like Christmas is upon us.  On the other hand, people in my neighborhood are hanging Christmas lights, the stores are decorated with Christmas displays, all have an abundance of gifts filling the shelves, and shoppers are out in full force.  Oh, and I can't forget, my car radio is set to the Christmas music station!  See below...my favorite Christmas song. :-)

Chicago just got hit with a snowstorm so I've packed all the warm clothes I can fit in my suitcase.  This is nothing new to me, I lived in the midwest last winter.  I am looking forward to seeing the snow again, and this time I don't have to shovel it, or drive in it!  My plans are to drive back to Iowa to visit some friends while I'm there, but I'll have to see how the weather holds out.  I also plan to work out at the gym my daughter belongs to, with a guest pass she has for me...yippee!  Hopefully I can convince her to join me in a zumba class.  Most of all, I'm especially excited to see my mom while I am back home.  I miss her very much.

The Best Christmas Song Ever...