Tucson, Day 3

 Don't ask me what we did yesterday....

Um, Mom and I worked on a lap blanket

(knit) for the local hospice center.

And we went to Kurt and Michelle's 

for pizza dinner.

And we checked out Rozann and Greg's 

fantastic new master bedroom

(in progress...)

And we did a LOT of visiting.

Today we got Soni on her zoom conference

and then went over to Nancy's for a bit.

Then over town to see Michelle's new

(hopefully) location for her little store,

and then had a wonderful lunch at a 

cafe across the street.

Then over to Mom and Dad's.

Soni stayed and visited with Dad and Mom

and I went to the grocery store to get some

groceries, and then we came home and 

we three women sat on the couch and looked

at old photo albums from when they were first

married and the births of all 5 kids.

We were CUTE!

(hahahaha)

And then it was back over to Nancy's for a 

wonderful spaghetti dinner (Mom),

green salad (Mom & Nancy)

a big bowl of fresh fruit salad (Rozann & Greg)

and a banana cream pie. (Mom)

Soni and I were supposed to make the salad,

but when we got to the casita Soni needed

to make a phone call and I took a short break

and did some Zoom work with a couple of 

students. (what vacation? lol)

Tucson Day 1 - The Adventure Begins

 The day started EARLY.

My alarm went off at 6.

And considering I generally get up at 8-ish,

that is considered early.

(Stay tuned… this is a vacation FULL of

early mornings…)

Kyle drove me uneventfully to the airport.

We got there nice and early - 8:15 for

my 11:30 flight.

Just as I was standing in the line at TSA I

got a notification that my flight was bumped

to 2:00 pm to Dallas.

Which means I miss my connecting flight.

Honestly, I pulled out my phone and checked out

flights with SouthWest. I could MAYBE make

one at 9:50, but it was a gamble.

So I stayed in line and once through TSA

(Not my best performance, forgot my phone

was in my back pocket…)

I headed to Special Services, where she got me on

my FIRST ever Stand-by flight.

I’ve never done that before!

It was exciting!

I sat next to a man who helped me with my bag

(I usually put it under the seat, but there was

room in the overhead bin, so why not…)

And then he immediately put his chin on his chest

and spent the majority of the flight sleeping.

I caught a quick nap and then read a book.

(Middle seat)

Landed in Dallas ahead of schedule and proceeded

to gate B5. And then was looking for some lunch

when I got a notification that my gate changed to D31.

Found the Skyline and headed to terminal D.

Found a McDonalds (another first - I haven’t eaten

McD in over 2 years! Used to eat breakfast there

on my way to school back when I was teaching live…)

It’s just like I remembered. But filling.

And here I sit, waiting for my flight to leave in about an hour.

So that’s the latest…

Stay tuned!

Getting Excited!

 I'm getting excited!

Getting ready for my annual trip to see the Fam!

Ok, I haven't ACTUALLY packed yet...

But I did the laundry,

and I'm THINKING about what to pack...

And I'm cooking food for Rod and Kyle while I'm gone...

So there's that.

I have a gazillion things to do today.

Gotta run to the post office

and then to the grocery store for

a couple of last minute things.

And then... oh yah, PACK.

Also transplant some okra plants in the garden.

And I'm sure there is other stuff

I'm forgetting...

But that's the main things.

I colored my hair yesterday.

I'd like a trim, but that will have to wait.

I paid all the bills this morning,

and I'm getting my work stuff organized.

OH YEAH, I'm supposed to go to the office

and submit a couple of reports

as well as my time sheet.

Anyhow.

Counting the hours!

Saturday!!!

 The guys are off to a job.

And an estimate for another one.

I'm getting ready to start my morning zoom.

Beau is sitting in his chair getting ready for a snooze,

The horses are still in the barn.

(But I'll turn them out in a minute)

The dogs are in their yard.

There is quinoa in the pressure cooker

getting ready for my breakfast.

All is right with the world.

Never a Dull Moment

 Yesterday after teaching, we took Beau to the vet.

The tranquilizer didn't work.

And his ears aren't getting better.

So they put some "gel" antibiotic in his ears

and gave me a prescription for Ace (horse tranquilizer)

for our next visit.

Which will be while I'm out of town.

So Kyle gets to go it alone...

When we got home we dropped the dog off

and then went to Lowe's to get some stuff

to fix the door handle on Kyle's car.

On the way home Coach Rosalie texted she

was having trouble with her Zoom again,

but by the time I got to the house and on the

computer, she seemed to be fine.

About 7:45 while we were waiting for the horses to eat their

dinner, we were watch TV in the living room and

I heard a man's voice say "Hi".

We both thought it was Rod.

Weird he came home early and

didn't just come in the house.

Turns out it was a neighbor, Fred, 

who lives down the road. 

He was standing outside the front (screen) door.

Kyle worked for them feeding and mucking

and doing general barn yard stuff back when he was

in home school / high school. (14 years ago...)

He wanted to know if we knew anybody with a

backhoe, one of his boarder's horses just died and

they needed to bury it.

We don't have a backhoe, but Kyle is pretty amazing

at making his Cat do stuff it wasn't designed for.

So he swapped out his mulcher head for some forks

and a bucket and we headed down there.

In the dark.

He dug the hole and I managed the sad people.

Once the hole was dug I told everyone to say their

final goodbyes and head back up to the barn.

NOBODY needs to see their horse being dragged

to a hole. And of course, once we got it in the hole

it landed on its back with all 4 feet sticking straight

up in the air. Had to figure out a way to roll it 

over - while it is in the bottom of a deep hole

that is filling with water.

(Welcome to Florida!)

But we got it done, Kyle got the hole all 

filled in again and smoothed out.

And the young son of the sad lady planted

a flower in the dirt.

And then the skies opened up and it poured rain.

Fred was very appreciative and wants to talk

to Kyle about some clearing / mulching he needs

done on the back of his property.

So that was good.

And we were able to help a neighbor in need.

And that's always good.

No pictures.

You're welcome.

Again.

Gratuitous picture from the rodeo cuz there has to be SOMETHING...

and it was KIND of like a rodeo.....

Keeping Busy

 Yesterday Kyle put down some fertilizer

on the pastures for us.

We have closed them up until after it rains.

In the meantime, we have LOTS of hay.

(And only little tiny bits of winter grass...)

It's supposed to rain tomorrow.

Although I'm looking out my

Zoom Room window (just ended class)

and the wind is WHIPPING!

But the sun is shining... so maybe it

will hold off until tomorrow.

Meanwhile.

We are going to give Beau a little

tranquilizer pill (after his bath)

and take him to the vet for his final (hopefully)

ear infection follow up.

Last week he tried to bite everybody.

So this week he gets to be sleepy.

(And Kyle is coming too...)

Anyhow.

That's what's on tap for today.

Plus thinking about packing.

Although it's early for me....

Lunch.

(Not really, but its sitting here on my desk,

looking pretty tasty!)

I'm going to heat up some lentil soup.

And then its on to the next thing!

See The Garden Grow!

 I was teaching class this morning and

we took our usual break for 10 minutes.

I decided to go outside and check the garden.

I haven't been out there in a few days.

Saturday I "double dipped".

Taught both the morning and the evening.

And Sunday I was whipped.

We have tomatoes!!!

These little black beauties take FOREVER 

to get ripe, but when they do, BOY HOWDY!

They are so delicious.

The plants (we bought two little twigs)

are totally taking off!

And we have a strawberry!

And (shhh) nobody has seen it yet!

(usually there's a chomp out of the bottom...)

And dill!!

(But no cucumbers...)

And beans growing in the beds you see in the fore and

backgrounds... LOTS of bean plants this time around!

The rattlesnakes are beginning their journey up (and

eventually OVER) the tunnel.

And the purple potatoes in the background are looking

good and healthy.

We bought a new fertilizer this year and I guess

everybody REALLY liked it!

We're excited for these potatoes!

And...

a random flower.

(And her little sister)

Growing in the middle of the lawn.

So Kyle carefully mows around them.

We think its hilarious!