lovin' summer #1

Summer in Arizona is an experience. It seems no matter how long you have lived here, summer always comes as a surprise. And typically we complain about it. About the heat. And the extremely dry weather making wildfires a reality. And about our higher electric bills. And then a bit later in the summer it's the monsoon storms. And having to fish patio furniture out of the pool after one of them. Or clean the pool after a haboob. Really, the list is endless.

I have decided that, for me,  this year will be different. No, I cannot control the weather (if only I could!) but I can control my attitude. And to that end, I have decided to find as many things to love about summer as I can.

So... to start the ball rolling...

I pass at least two school zones just about every time I leave my house. Not only do I not have to slow down for the school zones during the summer, there is also waaaaay less traffic around the schools, especially during drop-off and pick-up times. It's a DOUBLE BLESSING!!

I LOVE SUMMER!!!

50 shades of summer

I am a list-maker. I enjoy the challenge of completing all the things on my list. I had a fabulous time finishing my "100 Things in Arizona" list so I knew when I saw a photo that a Facebook friend reposted showing a handmade chart with 100 things to do with your child this summer that my challenge was on. I made a list of 50 things to do this summer... some are things I would do anyway, some are things I've always wanted to do but never made time to do, some are brand new things, and some are things I've done in the past. But ALL of them are fun things!

I'll report back at the end of each month (June, July and August) so you can see my progress. But don't just read about the fun I'm having - make your own list!

Fifty Shades of Summer

1. Make something with Phyllo Dough
2. Visit the North Rim of the Grand Canyon
3. Put a jigsaw puzzle together
4. Play a game of Scrabble
5. Make and hide a geocache
6. Try a new fruit
7. Make a valance for my office
8. Get a new cell phone
9. Watch the sunset
10. Make homemade popsicles
11. Meet a friend for coffee at Grove Coffee
12. Go to an outdoor concert in the park
13. Try a new recipe
14. Write a letter
15. Go to the Gilbert Farmer's Market
16. Try chicken and waffles - find the "best" place in the Valley
17. Watch an artsy movie at the Camelview Theater
18. Go to a baseball game
19. Make gazpacho for dinner
20. See Man of Steel in June
21. See The Lone Ranger in July
22. See 2 Guns in August
23. Make a Christmas ornament
24. Meet a friend for coffee at Inside the Bungalow
25. Movie Night! - Watch the 1975 summer blockbuster Jaws (6/20/75)
26. Movie Night! - Watch the 1985 summer blockbuster Back To The Future (7/3/85)
27. Movie Night! - Watch the 1966 summer blockbuster Fantastic Voyage (8/24/66)
28. Meet a friend for coffee at SoZo Coffeehouse
29. Plant an herb garden
30. Take the light rail downtown for dinner
31. Spend the whole day reading a book
32. Play a new card game with friends
33. Shoot Peeps
34. Meet a friend for coffee at The Bold Roost
35. Host a "Make Your Own Sundae" evening
36. Visit a museum
37. Take dinner to a friend
38. Make a "Summertime" playlist
39. Eat dinner at the Desert Botanical Garden and listen to a concert
40. Anonymously buy a stranger lunch
41. Sit on the patio and watch the rain
42. Go for a late night swim
43. Make S'Mores
44. Watch a sunrise
45. Eat breakfast for dinner
46. Crochet a blanket
47. Make homemade granola
48. Plant a pineapple
49. Paint pottery
50. Visit Butterfly Wonderland

5 more things to take geocaching

There is nothing like hunting around a desolate piece of landscape searching for an elusive geocache and then the feeling of elation and joy when you finally find it. Or the fun of developing covert skills in searching for a geocache in the middle of a crowded urban environment. We discovered geocaching a little over a year ago and quickly became addicted. I posted a general description of what it is and how much fun ensues in September, 2012 (you can read it here).

After finding 68 caches in all kinds of places, we've come up with a few more items to bring along.

1. INSECT REPELLANT - I have never been one to use insect repellant figuring a few mosquito bites never killed anyone. I have, however, reconsidered that notion after experiencing chigger bites last year. Chiggers are tiny wingless, six-legged pests (larvae) that grow up to become mites. They are found in wooded areas with berry patches or tall grasses and weeds in summer and fall. Although quite prevalent in the eastern part of the United States, they are also found sporadically in the western half. And their bite produces a most intensely itchy rash that quickly turns to blisters - and lasts for weeks. Note to self: AVOID CHIGGER BITES AT ALL COSTS!

I got these chigger bites, which are almost a month old and look a lot less "angry" than they did, while we were geocaching in southeastern Arizona. I don't go in the "woods" without insect repellant anymore!

2. WET WIPES - After sticking my hands in filthy places or running my fingers around the underneath side of a ledge only to find someone's ABC gum (GROSS, right?!), I've decided antibacterial wipes are a must. And I'm looking for a "Goo-Gone"-type wipe that would remove sticky sap from fingers.

Don't leave home without these! And if anyone knows of a "Goo-Gone"-type wipe, let me know! 

3. FLASHLIGHT - And no, your phone does not count! We have found that a small (but powerful) flashlight is helpful when looking in those tiny dark spots that cache owners like to stash their caches in, especially if they are creepy looking or look like they might be a "critter home." A larger flashlight is a must if you do geocaching at night.

Be sure to bring spare batteries, too!

4. TWEEZERS - There are two types of tweezers, flat and pointy. You want the pointy ones for two reasons. They are better for removing the inevitable splinter in your finger as well as the itty-bitty, teeny-tiny, tightly rolled sign-in log in micro caches. We have encountered a few that would be impossible to remove without tweezers and how sad would it be to find the very well-hidden cache but not be able to sign log?

This very clever cache is in southeast Arizona in a utility pole. Without tweezers, we would never have gotten the log out to sign - and that would be NO FUN!

5. FRIENDS - While friends are not essential to have with you when you're geocaching, they do make it more fun! And as with most things in life, an extra set of eyes or a different way to look at something is a definite plus.

Not all your friends will enjoy geocaching but when you find ones that do, your friendship will grow as you discover new places and talents.

I'm sure we'll find more things to add to our "Geocaching Essentials List" as we find more caches in different types of terrain. I'd love to hear what you think is essential - no sense in reinventing the wheel, as they say! Happy hunting!

gift... part three

As I was writing my last two posts, I began thinking about the intangible gifts we all enjoy. Things like a child laughing... or a beautiful sunset... or a fragrant flower.

Or watching whales frolic in the bay while the wind whips your hair across your face. Or bright flowers carpeting the desert floor as far as you can see. Or catching a glimpse of a butterfly sunning on a flower. Or seeing a rainbow so vivid and close you are sure there is a pot of gold within reach.

These gifts from God are given to us for our enjoyment. They are given to everyone, whether you believe in Him or not. Theologians call this common grace.

God has another, even greater, gift for us - the gift of salvation and eternal life through faith in the atoning blood of His Son, Jesus Christ. Theologians call this saving grace. 

But unlike the other gifts, we must actively seek this gift - we must choose to accept it. Romans 10:9 says, "If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in your  heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." 

But this gift has an expiration date. Once we physically die, it is no longer available. The time to choose it, to accept this extraordinary gift, is now. Carefully consider it and make a conscious decision, not one from just doing nothing.

"And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord."

Joshua 24:15

gift - part two

Do you have someone in your life that is impossible to find a gift for? My husband is that someone in my life. Several months ago I asked him what was on his birthday list. He hemmed and hawed before finally coming up with, "My sox are getting threadbare!" and "I need new wiper blades for my car." I agree that those things are important to have, but at this stage of our lives, they are not the kind of gifts I was looking to give my sweet hubby for his birthday. I was looking for a really special, knock-your-sox-off kind of gift.

My sweet hubby!

I asked myself what his favorite things are. That's easy - his family and his favorite amusement park. Hmmm. A family trip to his happy place? Naw... impossible to get everyone together at the same time right now. A framed photograph of us all there? Oh wait, we didn't take one of all of us when we were there five years ago. And then suddenly I remembered that a friend of ours is an artist... and the wheels began to turn.

April was a co-worker of my husband's (they are both engineers) for 20 years before she retired from that career and took up another one - art. She has been involved in art for most of her life, a hobby she loves and pursues. She now has time to actively cultivate a career in art and has become an award-winning watercolorist (The Art of April Rimpo).

I emailed April about the possibility and process of commissioning a painting. She was willing but needed more information from me as well as photographs depicting the scene I had in mind. This was easier said than done. I knew in my mind what I was looking for but didn't have photographs that were true to my vision. I sent her seven or eight photos with descriptions like "this but more muted colors and no pumpkins." In other words, like this but not. After our oldest daughter suggested we add our family to the painting, I also sent photos of everybody in completely different places.

April responded with three questions for me to answer: 1) Which of her paintings I like the best? 2) What colors do I associate with this place? and 3) What about her work draws me to it? After giving it some thought, I emailed her my responses. And then she went to work. You can read about her process in her blog post - it's really quite interesting. She used Photoshop to "sketch" out the painting and sent it to me to approve before paint ever touched watercolor paper. After seeing the "sketch," I could hardly wait to see the finished product!

The painting arrived in a few weeks rolled in a tube mailer. As I carefully unrolled it, my eyes got wide and a gasp escaped from my mouth. It was absolutely perfect and I knew my hubby would love it!

This section (the left third) of the painting has bystanders. What I think is funny is that they are real people who were in the photographs I sent April. It made me wonder if the people in other paintings I've seen are real people or figments of the artist's imagination.

This section (bottom right) of the painting shows our family. Although there isn't much facial detail, it is easy to pick out who's who! 

I got it framed and then painstakingly hid it under the guest room bed - I was certain he'd NEVER look there for anything! There was just one problem. His birthday was still two and a half months away! I wrapped both the painting and a dvd he wanted. And waited.

Finally, his birthday arrived. I put the wrapped dvd out alongside his card. After he opened them, I brought the painting out. He looked a little puzzled - like maybe he was wondering where his sox and wiper blades were.

I blurred parts of the painting due to copyright issues but you can get the feel of the painting and see the joy on my hubby's face.

But when he opened it, his eyes lit up and a huge smile spread across his face. And I knew it was exactly what he wanted. He just didn't know it!

gift - part one

As our children were growing up we tried to impress upon them that choosing a gift for someone is fun but also requires thought and should be something the recipient wants or needs. We also tried to step back and really let them choose the gifts they were giving. This led to some rather... um... interesting gifts over the years.

One Christmas our youngest daughter, who was six at the time, was very excited about her gift to me. For weeks she told me it would be my favorite gift of all time. My husband, who had taken her shopping, just smiled and nodded his head. I must admit I was very curious and couldn't wait to open her gift.

Imagine my surprise when I opened this...

She saw it advertised on television and just knew it would solve my dinner dilemma when I forgot to defrost something and we "had to" order take-out. According to the commercial, as well as the box it came in, Miracle Thaw "miraculously" defrosts frozen food in "minutes." 

I thanked her for the thoughtful gift and gave my husband "the look" that said we'd talk about it later. Actually, we laughed about it because my ruse to order take-out was now over.

I admit, I was skeptical. But I didn't want to hurt my daughter's feelings so I tried it. I put four frozen chicken breasts, flat side down as the directions said, on the Miracle Thaw and waited. Imagine my surprise when it worked! Okay, it certainly wasn't "miraculous" - there was no divine intervention and I'm quite certain there is a scientific reason for why it works - but in only 70 minutes, all four chicken breasts were completely thawed. Thinking it must be fluke or something, I tried it again... and again. And twenty years later, I am still using it. 

Sometimes we don't know what we need... but someone else might!

what next??

Nearly 40% of households in the US have at least one dog. People get a dog for a variety of reasons; to get more exercise is in the top three. I think that's a good thing since a recent Gallup study revealed that only 48% of Americans exercise regularly (at least three times per week) and that's UP from previous years.

Imagine my surprise disbelief dismay when I found this product advertised in the SkyMall Magazine recently.

What is it, you ask? It's a Go-Go Dog Pal, a remote controlled, 4WD toy "creature" for your dog to chase. It retails on their website for just $229.99 or you can save 99 cents and order it from SkyMall Magazine. According to the Go-Go Dog Pal website, you can "take a rest while your dog exercises."

Just how lazy are we that we can't walk our dog or throw a ball for them to fetch? They say that a dog is man's best friend. That may be - but man isn't always a dog's best friend!