MaryLou celebrates 50!

MaryLou is celebrating her 50th birthday all year long. The official date is February 1st and I hear there will be a party going on that night, but for now a quiet night, mid-week January in Gilbert, AZ....the party begins. Happy Birthday MaryLou, I wish you a wonderful year full of much celebrating with your family and friends. May all your birthday wishes come true. Enjoy!

 

Yes, William got in on the celebration. JK he is holding my drink.

Even Grammy in her jammies was celebrating with us!

Visit from Margaret and MaryLou

 Margaret and MaryLou had a two-night stopover on their way to Montana to spend some time with Uncle John and his family. It was a short visit but fun. I had to work but they went off on an adventure of their own to the Water Ranch. It is a peaceful, quiet place right in the middle of suburbia. When you are walking around there you don't hear the traffic whizzing by, all you hear are the birds and other nature like sounds.

 

For dinner we went to one of Margaret's favorite places here, Flancers. Flancers has a great assortment of soups, salads, sandwiches, pizza and desserts. Goat cheese brushetta being our favorite appetizer!

 MaryLou and Margaret at the newly remodeled Flancers.

Early next morning they were off to Montana for a week. After what sounds like a wonderful week in the snowy mountains of Montana they were back but just for a 10 hour layover. We managed to get a little fun it.

 MaryLou caught up on a little "work" while Margaret worked on the current puzzle project.

 

 

 

We took some photos to remember the times, and then headed out to TiaRosas for a little happyhour/dinner. Their time here was quick, but as always we enjoyed having them and hope they or anyone else comes again soon!

Puzzlemania #3

Puzzzlemania continues.... here we have the NY skyline that Mike started prior to going back to school, he left the sky for Pat to finish and with all the pieces being blue and more blue it was not an easy task. As you can see he did it and he is Number 1.

Winter Break Ends

Mike has been home for one month for winter break. Classes begin on Monday so Pat drove him back to school to get settled in and ready to begin the new semester. I don't think I have mentioned how Mike came home from school and announced that he needed to get glasses that he was having trouble seeing "things". I naively thought "things" were the whiteboard at school or something school related, turned out the "things" were related to his tv and video games. Now let me digress here back to 6th or 7th grade when the eye check at school indicated a possible need for glasses and I dutifully took Mike to the eye doctor where he announced that he didn't care what any doctor said he wasn't getting glasses. OK fine, I am not buying glasses for someone that won't wear them. After the exam and the doctor recommended glasses I said, well I want to evaluate how great the need is, because he is refusing to wear any glasses and don't even mention contacts around him he flips. The doctor said it was not so bad now that he HAD to have them, but he did not see Mike ever passing the eye exam to get a driver's license. HAHA he didn't know we would live in the land of just give out the license to anyone that applies so that didn't turn into a problem.

This announcement of Mike's that he wanted to go get glasses caught me off guard to say the least but knowing how he is I quickly got him in the next day to get checked out. One week later we picked them up and Mike was amazed at how different the world looked through his new glasses. Claims he thought how he was seeing was normal, but now things are in High Definition. That doesn't mean however that he will be wearing them all the time, only when he "needs" to and apparently only "needs" to when he is playing video games. I think he looks good in his glasses and am posting pictures here only because I feel safe that he doesn't ever read my blog. Well to be honest probably only 2 or 3 people do and one is me. HAHA.....

Looking very studious here with the glasses on. All set to begin another semester at school. Study hard, keep up the good grades and remember to make time for some fun.

Puzzlemania #2

Puzzlemania continues as Pat and Mike finish the Super Mario Galaxy puzzle before Mike has to leave for Flagstaff.

Geocache Adventure #8

I am finding it hard to believe that in over three years we are only on Adventure #8. MIght have been a few small ones in there I forgot to record, but Really? three years and only eight? I love doing this geocaching thing. It is a fun activity that can be enjoyed by all, no special skills required. It gives us a chance to be outside and visiting areas that we probably would never go to if not on the hunt for buried treasure. I think I like it the most out of the four of us, and it isn't always easy to get others to go along with me on this, so imagine my delight Sunday AM when Mike asked what if anything was going on for the day and I said I would like to do something outside and he replied "like geocache?" WOW yes like geocache. Everyone was on board and so off we went. I planned a route that wouldn't take us too far from home, but had a couple of interesting historical sites to search at.

 

 Find number 1 and we are off to a good start.

 Be careful in those rocks you never know what may be there.

 Find number 2 and this one at an old entrance to what was once Williams Airforce base which is now the far east end of Mesa/Phoenix Gateway Airport.

 Three guys on the hunt, who will get there first? Yes this does somehow turn into a competition. Guess that can't be avoided when males are involved.

 Who the best, looks like William the best!

 Putting the cache back where he found it.

Now for my personal favorite of the day. It is one we tried a couple years ago and couldn't find. It is at another historical site, this one at the Desert Wells Stage Stop. Pat found the cache, it was a great hide, very clever.

 

I am thinking Pat wins as the best for today's outing. I was super excited to finally have that cache discovered. It was a fun couple hours driving around finding buried treasures, and especially fun because Mike and William came and participated, even if there was two dozen KrispyKreme brought along as a bribe.

Journey on my Bike

Saturday mornings have turned into my time to go out on my bike to ride and enjoy the fresh air and solitude. I am usually gone around two and a half hours and I enjoy the journey. One of my frequent routes is to ride up to the path along the canal, then head north into Mesa, trying to go further each week. Bordering the canal is everything from farmland to new subdivisions to over 55 and snowbird communities. I see something new every week, I usually hear roosters cockadoodledoing, there are lots of horse farms and even some citrus orchards. I stop at a Starbucks on my way back home that just happens to be right off the path and enjoy a latte while I rest before heading on home. The weather right now is perfect for my morning rides. It is as low as the 30s when I leave the house, but the sun is shining and it just doesn't feel that cold. Of course, there is no wind chill here that I know of. I love my bike and I love my Saturday morning rides, I hope to get in as many as possible before it gets too hot again.

I am in PIZZA heaven!

 

 

A HUGE thank you to the Most Wonderful BFF in the world, Mary!!! I was beyond surprised and thrilled to death when this package arrived at my door yesterday, filled with 4 Lou Malnati's pizzas. We wasted no time indulging ourselves with this wonderful treat. If I had to pick one food item I miss the most from Chicago this would be it. There is nothing like it anywhere near this end of the earth. It came at a perfect time, bad week at work (yes even short weeks can be hell) nothing seems to be going right and then voila........magic at my door.
Mary's thoughtfulness is just one reason she is the best BFF ever. THANK YOU, Mary, you are the best and we sure are enjoying the pizzas!