Thanksgiving with the Kowals - 2009

10/27/09 Sparky is at the vet now. She is having the ACL surgery. They have to replace her ligament with an artificial one. She will have to stay overnight. Once she’s home we will have to keep her crated (but it is a large crate) for several wks. Then I will have to do physical therapy on her 2-3 times a day for several more wks. After about 3 months she should be able to play again. My poor, sweet baby.

10/30 (Fri) Poor, sweet Sparky girl. Her surgery went well. They replaced the ligament in her knee with a titanium piece. So Sparky & her brother both have titanium in them! Lewis got her a cage – pretty big. She can walk around in it but not much. She is sitting in there crying her little heart out. It drove me crazy for the first day, but I’m kind of used to it now. When we are in bed, we take her cage in the bedroom & she sleeps on the floor next to me. I have her pillows & blankets & her dinosaur in there with some water. In the day, the cage is in the computer room with me. When we watch tv I just put her on my lap as usual & hold her. We aren’t ignoring her; It’s just that she isn’t supposed to move that leg around too much. You should see the cast. It’s on the entire leg & is about as wide as her whole body. I was thinking about how miserable she is in there so I put a pink sheet up on 1 side of the cage. Pink is supposed to be a soothing color. I think it’s working too. Here's a picture of her a few days after her surgery.

Just finished making dinner. It’s in the fridge. Don’t need to heat it up for about an hr.

Game night tomorrow night! Then on Sun, Cath, Dennis & Natalie are coming over for lunch. I’m making chicken piccata. Haven’t tried this recipe before but it sounds really good. Another busy wk-end.

11/4/09 (Weds) Went to the orthodontist yesterday. Alex got his braces off. His teeth look really nice. And they’re very white. We thought he might need to have them whitened but I guess not.

Sparky is not happy. Her back leg is in a full cast. From hip to foot. It looks like a teddy bear leg. I will take Sparks back in 2 wks for her follow-up. She seems to be doing well, except she doesn’t understand why I carry her from room to room when she isn’t in her new (huge) cage. She only sleeps in there at night. We put it next to our bed. I put her pillows & blankets in there with 2 of her favorite chewing toys. Also a dish of water. But in the day I don’t like to keep her caged up. Since she isn’t supposed to walk much, I just carry her wherever I go in the house. I am building up arm muscles I didn’t know I had. She is only 19 pounds, but I’m a weakling.

Have to get Alex to physical therapy soon so I should go see why he isn’t out of bed yet.

11/5/09 (Thurs)

As Lewis was perusing some grocery ads that came in the mail yesterday, he asked me if I would eat buffalo meat. I said no. He said yes, I would. I said no, I wouldn’t. He then proceeded to tell me how healthy it is. I don’t care. I told him I am not eating buffalo. I have a feeling he’s going to buy it anyway. I will not eat it anyway.

I made my Sturniolo meatloaf last night. Also some scalloped potatoes and a medley of fresh vegetables. I bought fresh broccoli, zucchini, grape tomatoes, sliced mushrooms, & pearl onions. Threw it all together in a pan of butter & then simmered it on low for about 2 hrs. I also made Waldorf salad that I found a recipe for a couple days ago. It was delicious. More like a dessert. I just had some now for breakfast.

We all 3 got our flu shots last night. Now we have to wait for the H1N1 shots.

11/6/09 (Fri) Had dinner last night with Kim. We met in PSI (Professional Secretaries International) in 1990 & have been friends ever since. I was telling Lewis last night that Kim’s son is a yr older than Alex & that she loaned me a lot of her maternity dresses when I was pregnant. She helped pull together my surprise baby shower which was planned for the PSI meeting the night I had Alex. I remember calling Kim at 8:00 that morning when Alex was just 4 hrs old. I told her I wouldn’t be able to come to the meeting that night. (I was the editor of the newsletter). She said, “Oh no!” And she seemed really bothered so I said, “Don’t worry. I can have Lewis drop the newsletters off.” She said it wasn’t about the newsletters; It was because that night was my “surprise” baby shower. Then I told her “Oh well. Just had the baby a couple hrs ago.” I guess I forgot to mention that earlier. So they still ate my cake at the meeting. The next day Kim brought all of the gifts & the leftover cake to the hospital for me. That was 16 yrs ago.

Alex & I had a productive day today. I did a mystery shop this morning at 5 & Diner at Paradise Valley Mall. When we were leaving we noticed a Blockbuster going out of business. Had to stop. But they didn’t open until 11:00 a.m., so we went to Costco to pick up a few things we needed (like Excedrin – my favorite drug of all time). Then I took him to physical therapy. At noon, when he was finished, we went back to that Blockbuster & spent WAY too much time (& $$$ ) there. Called Lewis a couple of times to let him know what games they had. He didn’t want any of them, but Alex & I got several movies, some kettle corn & some other candy. Stuff we didn’t need but had to have. They are still going to be open until Jan 3, so we will stop back every now & then & see if the prices go down much. Went home & had lunch. Now I have to complete my mystery shop form online & scan in the receipt.

It’s weird-looking outside. Looks like it might rain but still feels very hot out. Way too hot for Nov.

Tomorrow is the McDowell Mountain Ranch yard sales. They are held twice a yr – in the fall & the spring. Deb & Nancy are coming over at 7:00 a.m. & then we’re gone until they are over (11:00 a.m.). Then we will go someplace for lunch.
Went to Armitage (wine bar) for lunch & to Temple Bar & Grill for dessert & drinks. Since I was the driver, everyone had drinks except me. Me & my lemon water.

11/14 – Scott’s bar mitzvah at the Marriott. Great music. The filet was fabulous.
I had my usual bourbon, neat, when we arrived at 6:30pm. Since it was my turn to be the designated driver, that would be it for me for the night. From then on I had only non-alcoholic drinks. 4 hrs later, after an hr of appetizers & a huge meal of filet mignon, vegetables, potatoes, salad, flatbread, more water, a virgin bloody mary, & a few Cokes, it is time to drive the 4 miles back to our home. In the parking lot, Alex was refusing to get in the car with us because we had been drinking. We tried explaining the rate of alcohol consumption in a 4-hr period, my body weight, the amount of food I had eaten, & the amount of water I had in me, but he was not buying it. Eventually, he did get in the car with his seat belt tighter than usual. If we had been thinking, we would have had him bring his permit so he could have driven home. That way, my one 4-hr old drink would not have mattered to him so much. We thought of that when we got home. Wonder what kind of an example we set? The next time, he’s taking his permit. Actually, he passed the driver’s test. All we have to do is take him to the DMV to have his eye test & pay the fee & he’ll have his license.

11/15/09 Javalina in the yard across the street from us. About 12 of them, adults & babies. It was dark outside so Lewis & I got in the car & drove as close as we could. I stood up in the sun roof to take pictures. But even with the headlights on them, the pictures aren’t clear. They are cool to watch, though.

11/16 – First evening it was actually cold. When I took Sparky out after dinner it was cold. Yet still way too hot in the day.

11/17/09
Took Alex to Blockbuster for more sales, went to the clothes donation box to drop off some of my too-small clothes, returned a shirt. Productive day.

11/20 Took Alex to get his driver’s license. He is now a registered driver in the state of Arizona. Another milestone. Then I took him to physical therapy. While he was doing his workout, I called the insurance company to add him on. Then I called AAA to add him on to that also. His card should come in a few days.

Look how cute my 16-yr old baby boy is in his car!

Got my hair cut & died back to my natural color (black – or charcoal). Isn’t that a sexy-sounding hair color - - Charcoal ? Yuck! Cut about 12 inches off of it. I’m sending it to this organization to donate.

Thanksgiving was fairly quiet. We had the Kowals over here. Lewis cooked an incredible turkey & made homemade stuffing this year that was the best I've ever had.

12/5 (Sat) My cousin, Denny died on Fri. Lung infection. He was 65. Lived in Pittsburgh.

Lewis & Alex are going to a hockey game tonight with Eric, so I will watch a movie I have that neither of them wants to see, “House Bunny.” I know, it’s probably stupid, but I’m in the mood for something sophomoric tonight.

Lewis has been cooking a roast in the crockpot since last night. It smells wonderful in this house.

It was really cold this morning. I think it was 40 as the low overnight. We stayed in bed for a while to get warm. Lewis got up early & went out – shopping again. I didn’t wake up until he got back, around 10am. Then Sparky & I snuggled in bed for about another half hr. Got up for breakfast. Lewis made us waffles & bacon. He also brought us donuts from Dunkin Donuts. Last night he bought these cute little oranges we love. They are Clementines & are only available a couple months a yr. They’re small. They are so good & sweet.

Alex has been driving himself to physical therapy twice a wk. Yesterday we had some errands to run so he drove. I can’t believe my baby grew up so quickly.

Lewis & Alex went to the Kiss concert a couple nights ago. I was supposed to go too but I wasn’t feeling well. Headache, stomach acting up. So I missed it. They said it was very good.

We recorded the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame 25th Anniversary special a few nights ago & have been watching bits & pieces of it each night, time permitting. Bruce Springsteen recently turned 60. Paul Stanley (Kiss) has had 2 hip replacements. Phil Collins can no longer play the drums due to injuries to his spine, & Bill Wyman (Rollilng Stones) has quit the band claiming he is tired of the touring life. If I didn’t feel old before, I certainly do now!

12/9/2009 (Weds) My dad would have been 80 today. Alex & I are going to the cemetery after his teacher leaves.

House Bunny. The movie. Just made my list of worst movies of all time. Not just on the list, but at the very top of the list. Never, never, ever watch it. It was so unfunny. I could only get through a little bit of it & had to turn it off. Gag.

If I don't see or hear from you before Christmas or Hanukkah, have a nice, restful holiday.

Hugs,
Candace

October with the Kowals

10/27/09 (Tues)

Lewis & I went to the Loggins & Messina concert a couple wks ago. That was my 17th time seeing them live since the 70's. SEVENTEEN TIMES. Yes, I am a fan. Seven times in the front row. We were in the 9th row this time. Still a pretty good seat. They played all of their obscure, but great, songs. Songs that only the real fans would know. It was the most interesting concert because of that. I loved all of those songs. Have all of their albums (tapes, CDs, downloads......)

We went to a new Italian place for dinner before the concert. Well, new to us. It's in downtown Phx. We don't get down there often except for concerts. Lewis, of course, works down there though. Had this fresh fruit crepe for dessert. Wonderful!

When I worked at Fender Guitar, Loggins & Messina came in to sign autographs & meet everyone. That was 4 yrs ago, 1 day before my 50th birthday. I finally met my 70's idols. It was a great way to start my 50th birthday celebration.
(By the way, that birthday celebration went on for wks. The day after I met Kenny Loggins & Jimmy Messina, we flew to CA to spend 3 days at Disneyland, then got on a ship for a 7-day cruise. I got a new car, a new watch, concert tickets, cash, clothes, DVDs, lots of other stuff that I can't remember now. Best birthday ever!)

Went to brunch at Corte Bella with the Kowals this past Sun to celebrate Alex’s birthday, Sam’s birthday & Allan & Candy’s anniversary. When we got back to their house, Sparky was limping worse than ever. Lewis & I held her most of the day. When we went home, we gave her another anti-inflammatory. She doesn’t seem to be getting better. Her surgery went well last wk. The tumor was completely removed & she does not have cancer. But the ACL is not good. Poor baby. I'm carrying her everywhere now.

Here's the princess taking a nap. She sometimes sleeps with her paw in her mouth, like a baby sucking her thumb. She woke up when I took the picture.

"Why are you always taking my picture, mom?"

She has an appointment with the vet tomorrow so he can look at her again & then give us an estimate for surgery.

Sparking playing with her brother. Alex was holding her toy. Once she gets it from him, she tosses it up in the air & plays catch with herself. She is so amazing! She also stands up like this when she sees a dog on TV. She runs over to the screen & stands up on her 2 back legs. Sometimes she will bark at the TV dog.

Played Boggle with Lewis, Alex, Sam, & Madison until we went home. I LOVE BOGGLE.

Speaking of Madison, our niece, Alex & I waited in line last wk for the opening of the first retail Microsoft store in Scottsdale Fashion Square. We waited for 3 hrs, but there were people who had been there since the night before. The first 100 people in the door were given tickets (& backstage passes for autographs) to see Ashley Tisdale in concert later that night. She is a Disney person. Little girls like her. So Alex & I each got a few tickets & then drove to Chandler to give them to Madison. She could take friends that way. She called us later that night after the concert to let us know how it was.

Also, at the Microsoft store, the first 1000 people in the door got a gift bag that contained some pretty cool stuff. Gift cards for music downloads & $25 gift cards for any Microsoft product. I gave mine to Alex so he has $50 towards this new X-Box 360 game he's waiting for. Said it should be out soon. I think it's like $65, so he'd only have to come up with $15. Just looking at that figure, $65, I have to ask myself how did games get to be so expensive.

While we were waiting in line, the Microsoft people kept coming along the line giving out stuff. T-shirts, snacks, more snacks, water, coupons for free training sessions. I had my book & iPod with me. Alex had his Zune. We sat there for those 3 hrs, fully entertained. The time flew by. Great store, too!

The 4 of us in July, 2009, when Jan & family came from Virginia to visit.

We’ve been doing a little research on her torn ACL (in her back right knee). Looks like we’re going to go ahead with the surgery. The vet is supposed to call me today with another one of their exorbitant estimates. Lewis has been researching natural remedies online too. She takes a glucosamine every day, but that won't help when the ACL is torn.

Last Sat we went to Jack & Jonella’s house to visit. We took lunch & dinner. Lewis made everything. Nice seeing them again. We really miss them. They moved too far away. Jack doesn’t get around much now so they don’t do any driving.

Tonight is 80’s night at The Melting Pot. One of my favorite restaurants. All fondue. I love it. All the music tonight will be from the 80's. My favorite era of music. We are going to dress in 80’s clothes to get 50% off the chocolate fondue dessert. At first I wondered just what “80’s clothes” is. I think I still dress in 80’s clothes, but not really. It’s kind of Madonna-ish – lots of bangle bracelets, big hoop earrings, hair tied in ribbon things, tight jeans with heels, shoulder pads in sweaters. That kind of thing. I thought I had the right sweater for tonight, but I can’t find it. How do you lose a sweater? Haven't worn it in yrs but it has to be here somewhere. Thought I could dig one up at a consignment store. Maybe some bracelets too. But then I’d be spending more money on “80’s clothes” than if we just paid full price for the damn dessert. But it will be fun. So I’m going to look for more 80’s clothes in my closets. The way I hang onto things, I’m bound to find something appropriate. Either way, I LOVE The Melting Pot. I know my nephew, Adam does too.

Just got back from doing a mystery shop at Smoothie King. Boy, what a disaster that was. The poor clerk did absolutely everything wrong. Aside from being rude, she broke every rule on the guidelines list. I will have to do my report & email it to them today. When I got back to the car I pulled out my little digital recorder & went through the list & recorded my responses. There were just too many things to try to remember on the way home.

Alex’s final driving session is today. The driving guy will come to the house & take him away for 3 hrs. Lewis & I have been driving with him often, & he seems to be doing alright. Parking needs a little work, but I’m pretty happy with his progress.

Here is a link to one of my sites that you should check out. http://28059.powerbarclub.com/

Game night is coming up again. I'm making more chocolate chip banana mini muffins & chocolate chip pumpkin muffins. A batch or 2 will probably have craisins also. So go to my website & my Avon site & buy lots of stuff so I can keep buying bananas.

Alex's English teacher is here now. She will be here for a couple of hrs. When she leaves we may go to Arriba. Taco Tuesday!

And THIS is the reason those poor dinosaurs are not with us today......

Wishing you a fun & happy Halloween. Halloween is my favorite holiday. And not just because of the candy. I always decorate the whole house, inside & out. I'm actually running out of places to put decorations. I buy more every yr the day after Halloween at 75-90% off. I've got this really cool witch's cauldron that makes a mist in the front entryway of the house. It was $29 but I got it for $2.99 the day after Halloween a few yrs ago. What a great deal! I'm thinking of getting some spooky music for next yr.

Hugs,
Candace

Summer's over & I haven't blogged - - Oh My !

Aug 7, 2009 (Fri)

I haven’t blogged in a very long time. Lots to do every day.

I’ve been looking for a job, taking car of Alex, taking care of Sparky, doing laundry, doing Alex’s job (emptying/loading the dishwasher), & trying to stay on a regular sleeping schedule. Haven’t even taken any naps in a long time. Speaking of the dishwasher, I bought new dinnerware. Yeah! I love getting new dishes. So I put them in the dishwasher & then put them away & took the old ones out & packed them in the boxes from the new ones. My new dishes are beautiful! Very colorful. But what am I going to do with the old ones? Will they be just more boxes going out to the garage? Maybe I can give them to someone. Suggestions? Anyone know of anyone (college kid, maybe) moving out of the house in need of dishes?

The standard "4 Sturniolo Girls" pictures we take on every holiday. July 4, 2009.

On Tues, Rosalie & I went to a sneak preview of “Julie & Julia.” What an excellent movie! Excellent! I would love to see it again.

This is a picture of Dennis (Cathy's husband), Jan (Lewis's brother from VA), Matthew (Jan's youngest son), & Allan (Lewis's twin brother) on July 4th at Cath & Dennis's house to celebrate the July birthdays (Cathy, me, Aunt Bertha) & the 4th of July.

Lewis & I just got back from Fleming’s (Steakhouse) for dinner. Their margaritas are very strong. A little too strong for me. Again, Alex chose not to go with us. He does not like going out to eat.

Lewis & Jan's oldest son, Jason on July 4 at Cathy & Dennis's house.

Alex & I went to Terri’s today for lunch & a little swimming. Sparky had quite the adventure. She jumped in the pool & swam around for a while, then she’d go to the steps & get out, then she’d want to get in again but was hesitant. It was so cute. Once we got inside she decided she liked stairs (since we don’t have any), so she kept going up & down her Aunt Terri’s stairs. Just like a little kid. I took a few pictures of her with Terri’s camera since I didn’t have mine with me.

We had lasagna for lunch.. Since Alex doesn’t eat cheese, I stopped & got him a chicken teriyaki sub at Subway. A ft. long one. He ate ½ of it for lunch. I wrapped the other ½ up & put it in Terri’s refrigerator. When we were getting ready to leave, I took it out of the refrigerator & threw it in one of my bags (with Sparky’s toys). When I started to get it out for Alex for his dinner, it was nowhere to be found. Lewis went out to my car & looked under the seats, I called Terri, I looked in the trunk (because I put the wet towels in the trunk). Can’t find the thing. I do not want to be smelling rotten chicken in a day or 2 when I get in my car. Terri said maybe I put it on the roof of my car when I was loading stuff & drove away with it like that. But I know I put it in my bag. Quite the mystery.

This is a picture of Alex & his lifelong friend, Ryan the day they passed their driver permit test.

One of the extra bedrooms at Terri’s house is now a nursery. It is so cute. They have everything in there for Caleb & Ailani. Sure brings back memories.

Alex’s 6/12 surgery went well. He is now 3 inches taller. He lost 17 pounds after the surgery but has started gaining some of it back now – now that he is eating real food again. He’s no longer using the walker. Still has to wear the brace thru Sept. He walks very well. No shuffling or dragging. It looks normal to me. It’s just that the brace isn’t comfortable for him so he can’t sit for long periods of time. Also it makes him very hot so we keep the air conditioning on a lot cooler than we’re used to.

Alex, Sparky, Lewis, & me at our house in early July, 2009. Doesn't Sparky have a beautiful smile? (Alex is wearing his back brace in this picture. He just put a shirt over it.)

Game night was last Sat. We LOVE game night. Jan made ratatouille & short ribs. Everything was wonderful, as usual.

Took Alex to the orthodontist a couple wks ago. He will go back in early Sept & MAY get his braces off at that time.

Sept 8 (Tues)
Just spent Labor Day & celebrated Natalie’s 14th birthday at Cath’s house on Sun. Adam came back from Flagstaff for the day. Nice to see him again. He loves college.

I am in the process of making a variety of labels for Arizona Air. Alex suggested I sell my Arizona Air in a different container - - a glass container “so they can see what they’re getting” rather than the metal can I use. I think that’s a great idea. I will be pricing small glass containers. Trying to come up with some kind of a logo too.
www.ArizonaAirForYou.webs.com
Go ahead & take a look. But be warned – there are some ebooks on my site that I was intending to sell, but I have changed my mind. I’m going to take them off & make the site for Arizona Air only. Since you, my blog friends, are the only ones seeing this blog & my website, I feel okay giving you the address without having first taken the books off. I haven’t sent the web address out to anyone yet since I am in the process of changing the label. I think the white background is ugly. It has to go.

The 3 of us went to see “District 9” yesterday. Bad bad bad bad movie. I hated it. The night before we rented “State of Play”. Also a bad movie. I figured it was time for a good one. Last night we watched “Mamma Mia”. Now that was cute. I can see how it would make a better stage play (that it was), but it was a pretty decent movie.

Alex is on the homebound program until the middle of November because he’s wearing the brace. 4 teachers come to the house & he takes 1 course online. You’d think that would be a piece of cake, but he seems to have an unusually large amount of homework.

When Sparky came back from the beauty shop 2 wks ago her back left leg was weak. She has been limping now for over 2 wks. I was wondering if she sprained it. She doesn’t seem to be in pain. When I massage the leg, she doesn’t tense up. So I went online to the same site we buy her all natural, organic, holistic dog food & biscuits & got her some doggie glucosamine. That should help with her joints. If we don’t see results in about 3 wks, I will take her to the vet.

Sept 25, 2009 (Fri) Alex got his back brace off last wk. He is almost back to normal. Takes about 1 pain pill a day. He’s doing very well.

Since he couldn’t go to school for the first 3 months of his sophomore year, he has been on a homebound program. His teachers come to our house & teach him here - - one-on-one. I think he’s getting much more out of his classes. Doing very well. He also takes 1 class, an elective, online. Since that class is 6 wks, he has to be online 2 ½ hrs a day since it is so condensed. He is now going to physical therapy several times a wk. And fortunately for me (unfortunately for Lewis) there is a wholesale gift shop right next to the physical therapy place. So guess where I’m hanging out when Alex is being massaged & banged around? I took Sparky with me last wk. The ladies at the physical therapy place as well as the owner of the gift shop, just love her. They make a big fuss over her. She is so used to that. I try not to leave her home alone if I don’t have to. I even take her into the grocery store the few times I stop in for an item. No one has ever told me dogs are not allowed. Then we go to the office supply store & she rides around in the cart. She is very happy to be having so many out-of-the-house adventures since her mommy has been unemployed.

Aside from that, Alex is doing a lot of reading - - and of course his beloved fantasy football. Guys! Their strange little hobbies. I guess I shouldn’t say that. My niece, Adriane is in the fantasy football pool too. Alex, his uncle, cousins, friends. Last yr he won the pot - $200.00. I don’t know what it is this year, but he certainly follows it very well. He knows his sports stats like my dad did. He is truly my dad’s grandson! My dad would have been proud of him!

Alex’s English teacher has him reading “The DaVinci Code” now. Then he is supposed to watch the movie & make notes of the differences. I loved that book. Not so much the movie.

Something else is going on with Alex: He is writing like a maniac. I think I’ve mentioned before that he has written a sitcom pilot & the second episode. He has also been writing a movie or two. Constantly working on screenplays. He still wakes up in the middle of the night with ideas for his movies & writes them down. I bought him a little digital recorder for his birthday last year so he can just record his ideas, but he says it doesn’t feel like a real writer doing that. He enjoys actually putting his ideas down on paper. He also prefers that to typing them out on the computer. That’s my boy! Taking after his mom - - - except I do EVERYTHING on my computer. Some of the ideas he’s read to me are really unique. Sometimes he surprises me. I am so proud of him. I have enjoyed this time being home with him too. Since I’m not working this summer & he’s been on the homebound school program, we’ve been home together every day. I am really enjoying that. I have worked ever since he was born. Never really got to be a full-time mom to my child. Now, even though he is not totally dependent on me & is pretty self-sufficient, I am so enjoying being with him every day. We have some great talks. I feel bad sometimes when I think of all the years I missed, that I could have been home when he got home from school, instead of sending him to day camp or after-school camp. So believe me, I am relishing every moment of this. When he comes out to tell me something, interrupts what I’m doing, I don’t’ even care. It’s just so nice to have a kid who actually WANTS to share his ideas with his mom.

Since I’ve been home, although I do look for jobs, the oddest thing has happened to me: I have started cooking. I know - - Don’t pass out. Lewis always did our cooking – forever. He suggested that, since I am home in the day, I make the dinners. I was appalled when he said that. But I started digging through some of my old recipes & found that, to my surprise, I actually like it. Even more to my surprise, Lewis has been liking what I make. He actually compliments me every night. Sometimes he even raves about the meal. So unusual!

I make my dinner plans 2 wks in advance, write it all down, then send Lewis to the grocery store. I still don’t like grocery shopping. One day when I was in Bashas’ looking for a mango to have for lunch, I saw a bag of ripe bananas for 99 cents. 99 cents for that entire bag. I figured I could make banana bread with them. So I brought them home & have been baking for days. In some batches I’ll put walnuts & milk chocolate chips. In other batches I’ll put the walnuts & cranberries (craisins). I make them into mini muffins instead of a loaf. When Alex’s teachers come, I set a plate of them on the table. His geometry teacher even took a baggie of them home with him. He actually made a fuss over them so I gave him a few to take home. No one - - I mean NO ONE -- has ever raved about anything I’ve ever cooked or baked. Except my Sturniolo meatballs. But that’s my dad’s recipe, not mine. Actually, it was my grandma’s recipe. They are the BEST meatballs.

So now I have compiled a little book of all of my recipes & am publishing them into a cookbook.. Some cookbook company does that for like 15 bucks. Pictures too! You know how I love my little projects.

Lewis & I are going out with Rosalie & Henry next wk-end. It’s been a long time. We are really looking forward to that. When we go out with them, our 2 boys hang out together. They met when they were on the same Little League team when Alex was in the first grade & their son, Jonathan was in the 2nd grade. They’ve always gotten along very well. Jonathan is a really nice kid.

I am still “trying” to sell Avon. I am really just an e-rep. I have a website where people can go to order the products & have them sent directly to their home with no shipping charge. No minimum order either. Maybe you should look at it:
http://www.YourAvon.com/CKowal
Go ahead……..order lots of stuff to keep me in bananas!

Last night Lewis rented “Ghosts of Girlfriends Past.” I loved it. My boys did not. It’s more of a chick flick. I really enjoyed it. They kind of mumbled & groaned all through it. I kept ssshhhhhh-ing them.

Oh, this is so cute. Sparky is sleeping on the couch behind me right now. She is having one of her doggie dreams. She’s making little mini barking sounds & her legs are kicking. I wonder what she dreams about? I still think it’s probably about chasing lizards in the backyard.

Well look at that. It’s noon already & I haven’t started my chocolate chip banana muffins yet. I guess it’s time!

Later. Hugs.
Candace

Not Very Good News 5/4/09

A couple more pictures of Sparky, just because she is so incredibly beautiful.

and a little shaggy at times.

It's May 4, 2009 now (Mon) - - I am giving you this news first, so this blog entry is not in order.

My position at American Express was dissolved today. There were a few other people in my department also. Plus, we were closing 2 of our out-of-state offices today, meaning that's another 120 people who won't have jobs by the end of today. It was really fun working there. I met some very good people & made friends who I feel will be life-long friends. I have an okay severance package - somewhat less than desirable. Now I can finish editing my book. Then I'd better start looking for another job.

Lewis & Alex at Tarah's shower

Our 21st anniversary was this past Fri (5/1). 21 yrs ! We went to this quaint little family-run Italian place. Only 10 tables in the whole place. We went there years ago & loved it. It was when I was pregnant. We had a nice dinner.

We did end up buying 2 new recliners on Sunday. They were delivered today. They're very nice, but Sparky isn't sure about them. She finally got up with me & sniffed all over the chair.

My website still needs the PayPal buttons. Rick tried to help me yesterday, but he was stumped. I think I need to delete the entire thing & start again because we kept getting the error message. And who the hell knows what that means !

Tarah & Brandon at Tarah's baby shower. She had the twins just a few days later.

Okay, on to the regular stuff . . . . .

April 20, 2009 (Mon) Lewis & I worked on the garage on Sat. We wanted to clean out what we could because we are having a yard sale next Sat for the twice annual McDowell Mountain Ranch yard sales. You would not believe the stuff we found in there. First of all, Lewis has about 10 boxes of just papers. Papers of stuff. Stuff. I don't know what they are, but apparently, they are important enough to keep. He dug through some of them, folded them back up & put them in the "to keep" pile. I found a 4-drawer filing cabinet in there. I didn't remember we had it. I thought I could use a couple of the drawers for my new organization plan. But they are all filled with more of Lewis's papers. They are not in files. The papers are just thrown in there. So I am going to take the top 2 drawers & empty all of those loose papers into the 3rd & 4th drawers, where there is more of his stuff. Then I will be able to use the top 2 drawers for my filing. It was very exciting discovering this.

Exciting didn't begin to describe what I felt when I FOUND MY CAMERA. It was in a bag with 2 books, Sevilan's lipstick & the camera bag. I cannot remember taking it out of my car or house into the garage. I would never put a camera in that kind of heat. I was worried that I may have ruined the memory card. Took it inside & plugged it into my computer. Everything is perfect! Amazing. So I downloaded all of the photos onto my hard drive & then to my external hard drive. No more lost pictures. If I had waited to post my blog until this evening, you would have had pictures.

So the garage is done. About 1/2 of it is yard sale stuff. We keep supplies out there too. Since we buy paper goods at Costco, we always have piles of Kleenex, paper towels, toilet paper, bathroom cleaner, scrubbie sponges. Stuff like that. You can't just buy a little bit of anything at Costco. I typed up 3 lists of everything we're selling & how much to charge for it, what a lower price is that is acceptable, & the lowest price we will take after 9:00 a.m. The lists are for Martha, Lewis & me. That way, I don't have to put price tags on anything.

Alex should be able to get his permit this wk. I may have mentioned that Lewis didn't take him to get it last wk because he did something he was not supposed to do. Lewis warned him to not do it again or he wouldn't take him to get his permit. Alex did it again & had to suffer the consequences. So Lewis didn't take him on Weds. He'll take him this wk. We didn't drive at all last wk. Well, a few of his friends came over on Fri & spent the night. We had to move the Camry out of the driveway so they could play on all 3 sections of the driveway. I got in the car with Alex & let him back the car out. He's feeling better about backing up now. On Fri, I took Alex & 3 of his friends to the movie theatre. They went to the Wild Wings place to eat, then to Sports Authority, then to Borders. Never made it to the movie. When I picked them up they were all eating gelato. We waited until 1 of the boy's parents came to get him, then I took the other 4 home with me. Took 1 home, & the other 2 spent the night. They are really nice kids. They helped Alex put the sheets on the beds, helped him clean up, cleaned up their own breakfast dishes. Really nice kids. And Sparky loves to chase Alex's friends around the house. He knows he has to do all of the work if he wants to have anyone spend the night. That means putting the sheets on the extra beds & taking the sheets off in the morning & putting them in the laundry room.

U2 coming to Phx. Lewis wants to go to the concert. As much as I like U2, I would rather put that ticket money in my diamond fund.

April 22 (Weds) Lewis & Alex went to the dentist last night for their 6-month cleaning. Then I met them for dinner - Ribs & sweet potato fries! They were delicious. Notice how sweet potato fries are big now? Within the last couple of yrs, it seems.

Meeting Kim & Charlie for dinner tonight. For some reason none of my emails go through to Charlie, so Kim ends up transferring messages for me.

I have been trying for days to put the PayPal buttons on my website. The "Add to Cart" button & the "PayPal" button. But I keep cutting & pasting the html code. It doesn't show up as a button. It shows up as code. I'm going to ask my neighbor if he can come over on Thurs & help me. I've had enough of this aggravation. I can't start directing traffic to my website if it doesn't have those buttons set up.

April 23 (Thurs) Alex got his permit last night. Lewis came home from work early to take him to the DMV. I can't believe it. Another milestone in my baby's life.

I've been contacting Scottsdale resort gift shops & other gift shops about selling my Arizona Air. They want to see a brochure. So now I have to make a brochure on nice paper. Tonight I should be able to have Rick (my neighbor) help me with the PayPal buttons. (He has a little Westie too).

Mother's Day is coming up. It's always difficult trying to figure out what to get mom. She gets everything she needs all through the year. This is always our annual challenge. We now have to alternate where we go on Mother's Day. My whole family goes to Cathy's house to celebrate on Sun, Mother's Day. Since everyone was there, we would go see Lewis's mom on Sat. Well, that is no longer acceptable, so we have to alternate years now, like we do on Thanksgiving. With this going on every yr, I sometimes forget I'm a mother too. I just want 1 yr to be a Mother's Day with no conflict. So when it's our turn to see my mom on a Sat, it will just be Lewis, Alex & me there. I won't see the whole family. It won't be such a party atmosphere like that. We have a good sized family. It's always fun & loud when we're all together. There are 5 generations of us now. All ages. Aunt Bertha is my dad's aunt. She's always with us too. And now the babies. That makes 5 generations.

My bar mitzvah book is so close to being ready. "Just Whose Bar Mitzvah is it, Anyway!" I've been working on it a little each night & morning before I go to work. I would like to have it ready to print out on Saturday so I can hand it off to Rosalie when we have dinner with her & Henry later that night. She is going to review it for me for consistency. I have tonight & tomorrow to work on it. So I guess getting Rick to work on my PapPal buttons will have to wait until next wk. So the plan looks like this:

Finish the bar mitzvah book Have Rosalie review it

Get it copyrighted

Have Rick help me with the PayPal buttons

Once book is copyrighted, put it on my website

Then start going to various Jewish gift shops with a few copies of my book

Print AZ Air fliers

Continue to work on Scottsdale resort gift shops with AZ Air

Check out Phx airport gift shops for AZ Air

Put everything on eBay

I wish I had a marketing rep, because I don't like going into places asking them to sell my product. But there's no one but me to do it. I'll call first to see when a manager will be available so I go at the right time. I have finished making my brochure. Well, it's not a brochure, it's a flier. 11" x 4 1/4", both sides. It includes 2 pictures. I will print them on my good photo quality glossy paper. So this should all be keeping me busy for a little while. You know how I love my little projects.

I just called & scheduled Alex's first 3-hr driving session. 3 hrs is a long time. We should drive with him more often.

April 28 (Tues) I am freezing today. Inside it's freezing; Outside it's in the high 80's. My hands are like ice.

Cath & Terri & I figured out what to do for Mother's Day. We are celebrating it the wk after Mother's Day so we can all be together. We'll go to Lewis's parents' house on 5/10 (Mother's Day) & then to Cathy's the following Sunday. It's nice that they're all doing that for me. And Adam will be able to come too. He's in Flagstaff at NAU. Sophomore. It's great when he comes home. Everyone misses him so much.

On Fri (4/24) six other administrative assistants & I went to Capital Grill for lunch. I had the filet oscar. The crab was so sweet! There was so much of it! The next night we went to dinner with Henry & Rosalie at Jasper's Peak, & Lewis & I both ordered the crab-stuffed filet. I have to stop meat for a while. We also had the shrimp & avacado salad. I had a mango margarita. I love those. Their mango margaritas aren't sickly sweet like some places make them. It was delicious. Rosalie & I may try it again for one of our happy hour nights.

A couple days ago Alex was going to his friend, Brian's to work on their algebra together. I let him drive the entire way. When Lewis picked him up later, he drove home too. He's feeling much more confident behind the wheel now & bugs us to take him driving constantly. Lewis is taking him tonight. He has to have 10 hrs of night driving & 30-something of day driving. We were going to go to the library tonight to donate the 6 boxes of books that didn't sell in the yard sale. I guess we can do that tomorrow. We did pretty well at the yard sale. Got rid of a lot of stuff. Our 2 recliner chairs are now gone. They were very comfortable but Lewis thought they looked too out of style, so we had to get rid of them. I miss them already. So there was no place to sit in the family room to watch tv except on that horrible, uncomfortable couch. So we brought the other couch in from the computer room. It is a good size & it reclines for 2 people. But it looks stupid & out of place in that room. We are on the look-out for new recliners now. The stuff we didn't sell will be picked up by the Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Arizona next wk. So we will have 1/2 of that section of the garage cleaned out! Martha is giving me some shelving units. I will stack what I can & use the shelves. I'm pretty confident that we will be able to get Alex's car in there soon. It's my mission now.

Lewis made this great onion soup last night. He bought a sweet Hawaiian onion. Couldn't find any Vidalias yet. The soup was excellent. He put a little sherry in it too.

We decided we're getting mom a copier for Mother's Day. She is always running up to the drug store to make copies of stuff. I don't know what that stuff is; Just that she is always doing it. So the 3 of us are going in on it together. She doesn't have a computer so she can't use a printer as a copier. She's one of the few people I know who does not have a computer. Cathy got her one for Christmas one yr, but she only played solitaire on it then gave it away. She doesn't like technology.

Martha & I are having dinner on Thurs. Then Rosalie & I are meeting for happy hour the next wk.

Sparky's birthday was Saturday. She turned 9. Nine! I can't believe it. She still acts like a puppy. Happy little scampering girl. Her daddy made her a special breakfast & she had a special dinner too.

April 30 (Thurs) - Alex went to a friend's last night to work on his project. They finished early & went to the basketball court for a while. The kid can't go a day without playing basketball. He is really going to be unhappy right after his surgery when he can't do any sports for a year. Between basketball, tennis, golf, & baseball, I don't know what he's going to do. Those things take up a great deal of his time. He is not an indoors kind of guy. I have to get more details from the surgeon. We'll have to go for walks every day. With Sparky. He drove home from his friend's house (at night). He is really happy about this whole driving thing. We have gotten out of the neighborhood & onto "real" traffic streets. Lewis even showed him how to put the gas in. A new milestone in his life. He's a good driver. He seems to understand the laws & the reasons for them. Some people seem to think a stop sign means "Stop, except if no one else is coming." I told him that is not what it means. It says "Stop" & nothing else. It means stop, with no exceptions. He understands. It doesn't help when the cars in front of us do a rolling stop & go right through.

Been listening to my iPod at work again. Now that I've updated my library & My Favorites, it's a lot of fun being at work. Sometimes I just feel like getting up & dancing. (Dazz Band - "Let it Whip" - great dance song). The warranty on my iPod expired the first wk of April. Now I hold my breath. But I've been very good to it. Guns 'N Roses's "Sweet Child of Mine" right now. I love that song. If it didn't make so many references to females, "her" "she" I would have used it as a part of Alex's bar mitzvah. I remember trying to figure out a way to do it, but there are too many of the wrong pronouns in the song.

Basketball jerseys on eBay did not sell. I will look for another category & re-list them. Although I can't think of a more appropriate one than - - Clothing > Jerseys > Basketball. Kind of stumped. I read somewhere that you should only list for 3 days. That didn't work. I just ended up paying fees & not selling, so I will now list for 7-10 days.

I'll get going now. Need to reach out to all of my friends who may be able to help me find a job.

Hugs,

Candace

March-April 2009

March 30 (Mon) My Sisters' Retreat was this past Sat. We all got to mom's around 11am & just hung out, talking. We went to The Melting Pot for an early dinner then came back to mom's & fondued our own milk chocolate & dipped strawberries. It was WONDERFUL. We had a really nice night. The next morning, I sat out on the back patio facing the sun, trying to get a little more color in these pale cheeks of mine. I smelled the orange blossoms. Brought back a lot of memories of growing up in that house. Mom measured all 3 of us on Sat. She is always measuring everyone - her kids, grandkids, even sons-in-law. The measuring wall is loaded with all of us growing up. Surprisingly, we each grew one inch. We don't know how that happened. Quite a strange coincidence that 3 fully grown women just grew an inch each. I think mom may have slanted the ruler on our heads. I don't feel taller. Cath was always 4'11". She is very excited to have finally reached the five foot mark at the age of 51.

The Kowals came over to our house yesterday for Sevilan's birthday. They brought a new game called The Joke Game. Lots of fun. Alex won. He had some really original answers. We went to Nick's (Italian) for dinner. I had so much leftover. Took it for lunch the next day. Everyone liked the place. Lewis, Alex & I were the only ones who had been there before. Sam, Sevilan, Allan & Madison liked it too.

Caleb & Ailani are both home now. According to Tarah, doing very well. Such sweet little darlings. Tarah is so good about sending pictures everyday. I downloaded 1 of the pictures of the 2 of them snuggled together & have been showing it to my friends at work.

Martha & I were supposed to meet for dinner tonight but I forgot Monday is Alex's Jewish youth group night. That's when Lewis & I go to dinner for the hour & a half that he's at the JCC. So Martha & I rescheduled to Tues. I'm meeting Rosalie for happy hour on Weds. I really need to stay at work late a couple times this wk so I can do my self-paced Visio training.

Hilda put one of the new sheet sets on Alex's bed & it looks really good. It's a deep burgundy color with the dark blue comforter on top. Those colors are great together.

April 2 (Thurs) I have not been able to post all of this because I really wanted to add some pictures, & I still can't find my camera. Looks like I'm going to have to post without pictures.
Alex has finished a babysitting course & is now hanging posters all over the neighborhood. We went out last night. I stayed in the car with the headlights pointed on mailbox clusters & posts while he taped them up. Now I'm reaching out to everyone I know to see if they know anyone who needs a babysitter.

I don't know if I mentioned this or not, but one of my cans of Arizona Air sold on eBay. I can't believe someone bought it. Air. Someone bought air. I've got California Air & NY Air now too.

Martha & I met for dinner on Tues. Had a very nice talk. After dinner we went across the street to the book store. I picked up a couple books - one recommended by Martha & the other I had been wanting for a while.

We're going to go to Brandon & Tarah's on Sat & see the babies. This will be the first time for Lewis & Alex. Lewis did go to the hospital a couple of times to see them, but everytime he was there something was happening that they had to be resting or something & he could never get to meet them. He certainly made an effort though - several times.

April 7, 2009 (Tues). Ailani & Caleb are beautiful. I've never seen such tiny human beings. We were there for about an hr on Sat & I held Caleb for a while. He looked at me with those beautiful eyes. Ailani was eating when we got there & then she fell asleep on her mommy. It was so exciting. Tarah's mom & dad were there. Tarah's dad was grilling hot dogs & hamburgers. The babies' rooms are so cute.

My website is up & almost ready. All I have to do is put the PayPal button on it. All of my items are not yet on the website. So it's in the works right now. Here is the website:
http://ArizonaAirForYou.webs.com/
Just remember, it's not ready for people yet. It's only a rough draft.

I still can't find my camera, so the pictures of Tarah's shower are still missing. You are probably going to get this blog with no pictures this time.

April 13, 2009 (Mon) Day after Easter. I'll go backwards now, starting with Sunday, going to Saturday, then Friday.
We were at Cath & Dennis's for Easter yesterday. Full house. Everyone was there except Adam who is at college in Northern AZ. Tarah & Brandon came over with Ailani & Caleb when Brandon got home from work. They live close enough that they walked over with the babies in 2 strollers. Ailani is still too small for a car seat. She has a special seat for the car in which she is laid down completely. They figured it is easier to just walk over. Took about 5-10 minutes. Caleb was sound asleep when they arrived. Ailani was awake & looking around, enjoying her first Easter. Terri made an interesting point; She said yesterday was still not even Tarah's due date. I believe the due date was April 23. And here are these 2 sweet, healthy, beautiful babies celebrating their first Easter with their family, dressed in the cutest little clothes! I cannot begin to tell you how precious these babies are! Tarah was feeding Ailani from this tiny plastic bottle. I said it looked like a part of an Easy Bake Oven. Everything is in miniature. When those babies open their eyes & look at you, look straight into your eyes, it is the most incredible feeling! I could just put little kisses all over them! I could even stare at them forever. I'm getting corny, I know, but they are so incredible. Such tiny human beings. Such wonderful little people. So very lucky to have the parents they have. And so loved. We're all very lucky to have them in the family. Jonathan would adore them.

Saturday was "The Day of Alex". He & his friend, Ryan both went to the drivers institute for their 6-hr driving course. They both passed. When I picked them up, I had to take a picture of the 2 of them. These 2 guys have been through all of the highlights of their lives together. They met when they were about 11 months old, at a Jewish pre-school, Gan Yeladeem. They have been in the same schools & camps ever since then & remain the best of friends. They are now freshmen, in the same high school & eat lunch together every day. It's a coincidence that they were both registered to take this driving course this past Sat. They didn't know they were both in the same class until last Mon. When I dropped Ryan off at home I had Alex get out of the car & took another picture of the 2 of them. Lewis is going to try to take Alex to the MVD to get his permit on Weds. He passed the test, & that particular school is subcontracted with the MVD to issue the test, so he will only have to go in, pay his money, take the eye test, & get his picture taken. After he has his permit in hand, we can call the school to sign up for the completion of the course - two 3-hr driving sessions with the instructor. They will come to our house & take him out for 3 hrs at a time. They will have him drive on the freeways, the airport (that scares me!), & various other areas. Yesterday, when we got home from Cathy's, I took Alex to the acres & acres of empty parking lot at Westworld & let him drive. We discussed parallel parking, u-turns, speed, parking, anything Alex could come up with. There wasn't another person or car there the entire time we were there. He's feeling better behind the wheel now. He can't wait to take the road portion of the test. I'm so glad he isn't terrified. But at the class on Sat, the first hour of it was "those" movies. You know what I'm talking about. The movies we all saw in drivers' ed in school that terrified us. Those bloody movies. They do serve a purpose though. They also have these cool goggles now that are called alcohol goggles. Alex put them on & was supposed to try to walk a straight line. They imitate a person being drunk at a certain level (I think it's .08 or something like that.) Anyway, Alex is very excited about getting to this new stage of his life. He will do the first 3-hr driving session as soon as possible. They said they are scheduling about 3 wks out. But he won't be able to do the 2nd session until after his surgery.

I want to mention another coincidence. I am a big believer that there is more to coincidence than just coincidence. Eleven yrs ago, Lewis & I went to Jamaica for our 10-yr anniversary. We stayed at a SuperClubs adult resort for a wk. At the very same time, the same wk, Alex's friend, Ryan & his family were in Jamaica staying at a Superclubs family resort - the 4 of them. Now how often do you go to Jamaica? And how often do you end up there with the same family of your son's best friend at the SAME TIME? This is major synchronicity. Rosalie would understand this completely.

Friday night we had our Passover seder a few days late so Allan & Madison could join us. (Candy was working & couldn't make it). It was a really nice night. The food was delicious too. Alex & his cousin Madison played DDR (Dance Dance Revolution) for a while. We have 2 mats so they both did it at the same time. Madison loved it. I made the charroset, but it isn't as good with blackberry wine as with the concord grape. Not as sweet. But it was a pretty good meal.

Busy wk-end. Now it's time to get back to work. When we got home from Cath's I did some laundry - towels. When I put them in the drier I noticed a heat smell before I walked out of the laundry room. I looked behind the drier & noticed that silver tube was no longer attached to the drier. Called Lewis to come in & work on it. We never got it back on. Had to take all of the towels out & hang them all over the place. He will call someone today to look at that. So within the last couple of wks we've had to have the garbage disposal replaced, spent a bunch of money on Fri having things done to both of our air conditioning units, had the garage door guy out to work on the keyless entry in sync with the openers in the cars, had Alex's new bed repaired, had a new oven door put on, & replaced all of those very high lights in the kitchen. We built the house 11 yrs ago. Never thought we'd be in it this long. Long enough for things to start falling apart. We bought new blinds last yr in the family room & kitchen with the intention of putting the house on the market. But Lewis seems to think we will not be able to even show it unless we upgrade our kitchen counters to all granite. And I suppose we need to clean up all of the clutter. We were in our first house 9 yrs. I loved that house & that neighborhood & wanted to stay there. I did not want to move. The house we are in now is larger but doesn't have the character of our old house. We want to move into a larger house with a larger yard. Now is a good time to buy but a sucky time to sell. This is where "You can't have your cake & eat it too" comes in.

We are having a yard sale on 4/25, along with the rest of McDowell Mountain Ranch. It's the twice a year sales the homeowners' assn says we can have. I really need to get the garage cleaned out so we can fit Alex's car in there. With a 3-car garage, my not-so-incredible goal is to be able to fit all 3 cars in there eventually, instead of just 2. Alex's car now sits in the driveway. It's in his way when he's out there playing basketball. My neighbor just re-did his whole house & it looks like a model home. I go over there & take it all in, then come home to my little cluttered area & get a little depressed. Blanca has told me many times that she & Hilda will "gladly" clean out our closets for us, but I tell her no. I told her I don't want her to because she will throw everything away. She just tells me, "You don't need all of this stuff." Needless to say, I am not letting her clean out our closets or garage. She may not understand the importance of 2 huge black plastic garbage bags full of match books to me. So it's either I sort through the clutter or it doesn't happen. I do not find any motivation to do this. Although I want to sell the house & move onto a better one, my laziness overcomes my reasoning.

April 16 (Thurs) So we had to have the garbage disposal replaced a couple wks ago. Last Fri the air conditioning guy came out to check our 2 units for sort of a summer check-up. Found something wrong with 1 of them & had to replace some part. Then the cable was screwing up & showing all shows in little blocks so the cable guy came out. Told us it was our tv. We've only had that tv for about a yr. So now the tv guy has to come out. Everything always happens at once. Oh, the garage door openers & keyless entry pad still don't work. Well, the keyless entry pad works, but that's all. We have to have the garage door guy come back out too. I hate our house. This Aug will be 12 years since we had it built. We never thought we'd be in it that long. I suppose some people would like it, but I don't think it's large enough. We need a larger house & a larger backyard. Moaning & groaning & complaining again.

Sorry about the lack of pictures. I still haven't found my camera. I did find the old camera. I can use it to list more junk on eBay.

I think I had better post this entry before it gets even longer than it is.
Hope everyone had a nice Passover or Easter.
Hugs,
Candace

January is almost over

Jan 21, 2009 (Weds) There’s only 1 thing sadder than eating the last pistachio in the bag - - especially when they have wide openings. And that is giving my mom back her empty fudge tin.

Sparky’s test results came back fine. There is nothing wrong with her. I guess she just had an upset tummy. Maybe she caught something from one of her doggie friends in group play at her hotel. Maybe I’m just an alarmist. When Alex was a baby we used to rush him to the emergency room every time he bumped his head. The radiology people would make fun of us & say something like, “First time parents, huh?” Okay, I guess we were overly-worried about our baby. And we’re still like that - - only now it’s the little princess.

This is a picture of my sisters & mom & me a few months ago

Went to Maggiano’s Little Italy today for lunch with 3 other ladies from work. That’s a wonderful restaurant. Great appetizers too.

I called the hospital today & had them release Alex’s recent x-rays to us. We’ll have them to take to our appointment on Feb 5 with the new surgeon. We have all the others – about 3 years worth. But the most recent ones should help even though the dr. will probably take his own x-rays anyway.

Sparky had a little accident this morning around 3:00 a.m. I got up to clean it up & then I went to the bathroom. When I came out of the bathroom I saw some more of her “little accidents” on the bathroom floor. I looked down at Sparky. She was wagging her tail. I said, “I don’t believe tail-wagging is appropriate right now, little missy.” Then I got my plastic gloves out & proceeded with the clean-up. Lewis is at home today. He called me & told me she had another accident. Looks like a little doggy tummy virus. Lewis gave her a couple Saltines. So now I really do think she caught something from one of her new doggy friends.

Lewis & I both aren’t feeling great either. Well, I’m not feeling sick; I just have a sore throat. I’m awfully tired today, but that’s from being up this morning from 3:00 to 4:00 & then going back to bed & waking up at 6:00. I’ll go to bed early tonight.

Little Miss Sparkle sunning herself on the patio

Tarah has been sending me ultrasound pictures of the babies. They are well formed now. I can see the little noses & eyes & fingers. It’s so amazing. I can’t wait until they’re born! The little girl is much smaller than the little boy. I think I’ll start wrapping all of her shower presents tonight.

The little boy’s name is Caleb Jonathan Stuart & the little girl’s name is Ailani Marleigh Stuart. She’s due in April, but Terri thinks it will be sooner.

Alex’s basketball team did great on Sat. He had a few 3-pointers, & by himself, carried 30% of the points again.

Jan 27, 2009 (Tues) Jan 27 is Chocolate Cake Day which is a chocolate lovers delight, and a day to eat cake. This is a day to "bake your chocolate cake....and eat it, too!" On this day, a white or yellow cake will not do. Nor, will part chocolate, part white suffice. It must be chocolate, all chocolate. You can make milk chocolate, dark chocolate, fudge, or any other type of chocolate cake. This day is for you, and all chocolate lovers. There are three objectives of Chocolate Cake Day: To bake a chocolate cake. To decorate a chocolate cake. And, to eat a chocolate cake. Of course, if you are to busy to bake or decorate a cake, then just eating a chocolate cake will certainly do! I LOVE Chocolate Cake Day.

As a surprise for Lewis & Alex I got them Cardinals Championship mugs & t-shirts which I will give them a couple days before the Super Bowl.
More excitement: Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band will be playing in Phoenix in April. Yeah ! We usually get emails regarding the pre-sale for concerts. I wonder if Alex will want to go to this one with us. At one point (before the Police & Elvis Costello concert), Alex asked us if we would stop “dragging” him to concerts all the time.

Sparky & her brother playing with her new toy

I also received an email about Fleetwood Mac touring this summer, but I can’t find a date for Phoenix yet. Don’t forget there’s a picture of me & Mick Fleetwood in my blog archives. It’s the very first one I ever wrote.

Cathy's kids Natalie & Adam with Alex

Lewis is home sick today. He’s been sick for a few days, but today he seems to be worse.

Alex will be staying a little later at school tonight for a meeting with the tennis coach. Yesterday he joined his friend, Josh at the JCC for the boys’ Jewish organization. He went to Josh’s house on Sunday & met the other 6 kids on the board. He was very interested. Yesterday Lewis took him to the JCC for another meeting & activity. He likes it. So we will write another check. But this is really good for him. Of the 6 kids on the board, I only didn’t know 1 of them. Alex has known all of them in 1 respect or another from the time he was 2 yrs old. When he was 2, 1 of the kids was on his basketball team. That’s when Lewis was assistant coach. I have a group picture of those little guys at that age getting their trophies. And now these kids are in high school. The other kids he knows either through Hebrew school, JCC summer camp, Temple Chai retreats at Camp Pearlstein, or sports.

I met Rosalie last night at the Marriott for a happy hour drink. Only they didn’t have happy hour prices or appetizers. I was stopped twice on my way by a policeman directing traffic, asking me where I was going. This was because they were directing everyone to parking for the golf tournament at the TPC (Tournament Players Club). But that was 5:20 pm. Who is going to a golf tournament at 5:20 pm? I went to work a different way this morning & I will go home that same way. When the tournament is over in about a wk, they still don’t take all of the barricades down for about another wk or 2. Then the Arabian horse show begins at WestWorld & we start this over again. That's what you get for living in a resort town.

I’m meeting Cathy tomorrow for lunch. It’s our once a month lunch. She emailed me yesterday & told me she got bit by a cat & that she would tell me about it at lunch. Said she had to get a tetanus shot. Wouldn’t that be a rabies shot? Maybe if she knew the cat definitely did not have rabies she wouldn’t have to. She doesn’t even have a cat. Wonder what the story is there.

The 3 of us at a friend's bar mitzvah last month

I had a really good Szechuan beef for lunch today – in the cafeteria at American Express. It was delicious. I’m always hesitant to eat beef that Lewis or I don’t cook ourselves, but this was done perfectly & had a wonderful spice to it. Lewis thinks I’m pretty weird about food & my eating habits. And the people in my chavarah used to wonder about it too. When we go out for Asian food, everyone always agrees to share their meals with each other. I don’t want to share my food because I don’t like a lot of the other foods, so if everyone is eating my food & I won’t be eating theirs. I’d just have less food. They understand that now. They’re great people to put up with my little food habits. They’re great people for more than that.

Shannon’s grandma passed away last wk. She went back east for the funeral. And Dan is in the hospital with pneumonia. What is going on? Lewis has been home from work sick for a couple of days, & Alex’s back is getting worse. Everything at once. After all of that, I will never complain about my tank top being twisted inside out again. Or about new shoes that hurt me. (Although yesterday was a pretty bad shoe day -- but you didn’t hear it from me).

I have all of Tarah’s shower gifts wrapped. I can’t wait until the shower. I love this kind of stuff!

I’m reading a detective novel by Robert Crais. I’ve never read him before. It’s very good. I took Alex to the library a few nights ago & he, coincidentally, picked out another Robert Crais book. He didn’t even know I was reading it because it’s been in my purse. Finally getting him to read more. Books, that is. He has no trouble at all reading his “Sports Illustrated” magazine when it comes every month. There’s a little section at the library where you can buy books for 50 cents or $1.00. I bought a few books & Alex got some movies on VHS for 25 cents each.

Jan 28, 2009 (Weds) We may not have the Super Bowl party at Jonathan & Shannon’s. With Dan in the hospital & Shannon back east, we’re not sure if it’s a good idea. Shannon will probably be back by then. We’ll have to see how it goes.

Lewis was home sick again today. He went to the dr. yesterday & was prescribed antibiotics.
I made us perogies for dinner last night. They have cheese in them so Alex won’t eat them. I made him eggs with ham. It’s still a mystery to me how this child of an Italian mother has never liked cheese. He’s missing an entire world!

Jan 29, 2009 (Thurs) Jan 29 is National Puzzle Day. Here’s a fun puzzle link: http://puzzlemuseum.com/
National Puzzle Day honors puzzles of all size, shape and form. Crossword puzzles are by far the most common. Sudoku, a number puzzle, is the most recent puzzle rage. There are puzzles that fit the needs of every person, and every skill level.
So there you have it! - as if you didn't know.

I parked in a different row this morning at work. Every morning I park in the same row, walk to the building looking at the same cars’ bumper stickers, same cars' personalized license plates, same cars. It’s getting boring. I need a change of scenery. I really kind of like change anyway. So this morning I parked in the next row over. When I walked to the office I got to read a whole new bunch of bumper stickers. I’m not a fan of bumper stickers myself. I don’t like to put any kind of adhesive on my car – my baby. I do have a small Jonathan memorial sticker on the corner of my back window. Some cars in the parking lot have AZ Cardinals flags flying above their car windows. I haven't seen any license plates that I can't figure out yet. I love word play. Sometimes they can be challenging. A lot of people ask me what mine means. My license plate is: AU N 50. If you know what that means, let me know.

Speaking of cars, there is one of those little Smart cars in the parking lot in my old row. It’s a bright yellow. That thing is so tiny. It looks like a roller skate. Makes you think you could go right over there & pick it up. I can’t imagine it could be safe. It sure doesn’t look like it’s 3,300 pounds or more. From all the safety issues I’ve read, you need a car that weight to have a chance in an accident. I’ve been researching cars for Alex for the last yr. I’m Googling “safe cars” first. Then we’ll go to reasonably priced safe cars.
Last night one of the Phx news guys on tv said they are changing their colors from black & yellow to black & red. It’s a Cardinals thing. They don’t want to be sticking their black & yellow microphones in front of any of the Cardinals’ faces on air. I thought that was a good idea. I wouldn’t have thought of it.

Alex laid on the couch when he came home from school & fell asleep. Then he woke up & said he was going into his bedroom to take a nap. That is very unlike him. I woke him about an hr later or he wouldn’t be able to sleep at night. We had dinner, & about 2 hrs later he went back to bed.
Lewis has poker tonight so I will be making dinner for Alex & me. Never can tell what that means. But Alex has tennis tonight so I have extra time to think of what to make (or defrost).

Much to our surprise, our poor mistreated son asked us if he could go to the Bruce Springsteen concert with us. This is just months after he asked us if we would please stop “dragging” him to concerts. The kid knows good music! Martha, are you going?

January 30, 2009 (Fri) Alex wanted to wear his new Cardinals Super Bowl shirt to school today, but when he put it on it was way too big. So I threw it in the drier for a while to shrink it, but that didn’t work because we didn’t have enough time. I’ll put both of his shirts in tonight - - wash them on hot & then dry them on hot. But when I don’t want to shrink clothes, they shrink!
We probably aren’t going to go to Jonathan & Shannon’s for the Super Bowl. Alex is just coming down with something & Lewis is still sick. It’s been about 2 wks now for him. And I’m not feeling all that great either. I’m mostly tired. That’s too bad too because Jonathan is a great cook.

Jan 31, 2009 I really messed up. I wrote this whole long, boring story here on my blog & then closed it out without saving it. Spent a good 45 minutes on it. So now I have to bore myself again.
Oh, shoot. I can’t remember what I wrote in the invisible entry. Something about a bobcat pooping in my backyard. When I took out the recycling this morning, I noticed more little things on the ground on that side of the house. We do have a bobcat that roams the neighborhood. Sparky does not have a doggie door. There. So that was my 45 minutes summarized. Did I mention I hate living in the desert?

Feb 1, 2009 Can you believe it’s already the second month of the year? Some pretty exciting things in Feb: Feb 6 is Babe Ruth’s birthday; Feb 11 is National Inventor’s Day; Feb 17 is Random Acts of Kindness Day; Feb 18 was when Pluto was discovered (& then it later got demoted). So there are lots of reasons to celebrate this month. Oh, let’s not forget Valentine’s Day.

Today, we’re just going to watch the Super Bowl here. Well, I won’t. I’ll sit in the living room & read. Lewis will call me when the commercials come on & when the half time show is on. Those are the parts I look forward to. Bruce is the half time show. It’s a good one this year. By the way, the new Bruce CD is pretty good. It’s different than what you’d expect, but it’s still good.

Time to get something to eat. Lewis just made us shrimp cocktail & some chips & that warm dip. We'll have more food later.

Hugs,

Candace

January, 2009

Sorry, no pictures this time. But lots of news:

Mon (Jan 5, 2009) Incredible ! Going to work this morning was actually interesting. There was fog all over the place. Fog! In Scottsdale. First of all, I was sitting in the car waiting for Alex to finish putting his contacts in & then come out to the car. When he did, I noticed he was only wearing a t-shirt & jeans. I told him he should go get a sweatshirt. He said he wouldn’t need one. I said, “Okay, Alex. Natural consequences.” He assured me he’d be okay. When we got to the bus stop he asked me if I could stay until the bus came so he could stay in the car. That was fine, but I know he’ll be pretty cold today going from class to class. I believe in the natural consequences theory more than Lewis does. Before Alex got out of the car he said, “I guess I should have put a sweatshirt on.” But by then it was too late to go home to get it. It was 45 degrees. Coldest it’s been all winter.

Driving to work I started noticing fog. As I got closer to my office, which is surrounded by acres of empty desert, it became more dense. When I exited the freeway, which is less than 1/8th of a mile from my office, I couldn’t even see the building. I parked my car & couldn’t see the building from where I parked. I know I’m always complaining about how far I have to walk from the parking lot to my office, but where I parked this morning was about half the length of a football field. That’s about 50 yards, right? When I got inside, I opened my blinds & could see NOTHING. NOTHING! There is a volleyball court just below my window & I couldn’t even see that. It’s 3 floors down. Really cool! Any weather in Phoenix/Scottsdale that is NOT sunshine is a big novelty & quite noteworthy. It’s been rainy & damp the last couple of days, & that’s been really cool. Just open the blinds & sit there with a cup of tea & a good book. In Lewis & Alex’s case yesterday, a good football game on tv.

Sparky went to the beauty shop yesterday. She is very pretty now. They put 2 pink ribbons in her hair which she proceeded to rip out as soon as she got home, but not before I took some pictures of her. She doesn’t like ribbons, so she rolls around on the carpet & paws at them. Only takes her about 60 seconds & they’re gone. She doesn’t like going to the beauty shop. Once we get to the door to go in, she just sits herself down & won’t budge. I have to pick her up to take her the rest of the way. She always has her blanket with her when she goes there so she doesn’t feel lonely. But when I go to pick her up, she prances out the door, head held high & right to the car. She knows how pretty she is.

Turduken - - Lewis has been interested in trying this weird thing called turduken. It’s a whole chicken stuffed inside a whole duck which is then stuffed inside a whole turkey. Very very strange. It’s called turduken. I don’t even like the name of it. It sounds like something you would do to fix a car. I told Lewis I didn’t want to try it. I don’t like duck anyway. He made it for himself. It made the house stink. I had candles burning all day to get rid of that greasy duck smell. He said it tasted okay but he didn’t seem terribly thrilled. I think that’s a gross thing to do to a good turkey. I’m just thankful the great rice shortage of ’08 is over & Lewis can move on to something new.

He made us eggplant parm. yesterday for lunch. That was pretty good. I don’t like eggplant, but it was covered with enough stuff that it was okay.

I had a chance yesterday to work on my bar mitzvah book. I keep saying it’s finished, but I keep working on it. It’s finished in the respect that all of the words are down on paper (or in the computer), but it still needs work because I keep moving things around.

Tues (1/6/09) The Tournament Players Club is getting ready for the Phoenix Open (or the FBR Open, as it’s now called). The bleachers are up & the white tents are mostly up. I drive past it every morning. Within the next couple of wks they will have the streets blocked off to accommodate traffic in 1 lane each way, so I will take a different route to work. This happens every yr. A wk prior to the Open, the Barrett Jackson car auction will hinder my drive on the same road, only closer to our house. This means I will have to leave about 10 minutes earlier every morning. I don’t like that. I leave early enough as it is.

Cathy’s husband, Dennis has had a tent there (at the Phx Open) for several years. (FedEx). He didn’t know if they were doing it again this yr or not. Seems everyone is cutting down on everything.

Alex told me last night that he was pretty cold yesterday. I guess so. The high was 56 degrees. This morning when he came out to the car he was wearing his sweatshirt. When I dropped him off at the bus stop, I noticed 3 boys wearing shorts & sweatshirts. Their legs will probably freeze today. It’s supposed to get up to 56 again today. That’s a pretty cold “high.”

Weds (1/7/09) Our soon-to-be-former first lady just spent $485 thousand on gold-rimmed china for the white house. What the . . . . ??? I couldn’t read the article because I wasn’t able to access the video for some reason. Under the headline it said, “Who pays for it?” That’s what I wanted to know, but I wasn’t able to open it. I just hope it’s not us. Maybe it’s a gift to the new administration from the Bush family. Yeah, that’s it. I think it is obscene that someone would spend half a million on dinnerware. Is there anyone who isn’t offended by that? Consider the state our country is in & then think about spending a half a mill on dishes. Looks to me like our priorities are a little askew. I don’t want to get started on my soap box, so I’ll just move on. Oh, & by the way, if the White House really “needed” new dishes, why doesn’t Michelle Obama get to pick them out? Never mind.

I wore new shoes to work today. They are beautiful. They don’t hurt & they fit right. I’m very happy about this new turn of events in my shoe saga. Aren’t you, Shannon?

Meeting Martha for dinner tonight. Martha made a shoo fly pie for me. As long as I’ve known her (40 years !) shoo fly pie has been one of her family’s favorites. And they always share with me ! Lewis is going to make tacos for dinner tonight. There may be some left for me to take to lunch tomorrow.

I just looked at that last paragraph & realized that I have known Martha for 40 years. That’s a long time to be friends with someone. Especially someone who would put up with my weirdness for that long. She knows the real me & loves me anyway. Now that’s a true friend. Martha was one of my maids of honor. She has always been there for me. From grade school on. Martha has the cutest little white dog name Tsunami. Just a little baby doll!

I did it. I called my hair stylist & begged her to fix my hair. I now know why I haven’t kept it my original color for 35 years. It’s ugly. Raven black. It looks good on Cath. It looked good on Dad. It does NOT look good on me. I have an appointment for Thurs to have it lightened up. I guess I was just born with really ugly hair. It’s thick & it’s shiny, but the color sucks.

Just heard that the play “Hair” will be in Phx in a few wks to celebrate the 40th anniversary. I can’t believe it’s been 40 years. Some great music came out of that. Ah, the age of Aquarius ! I can almost smell the incense.

Alex told me that “24” is coming back on soon. We’ve never seen it on tv. Only on DVDs. So we’re going to record it & then watch it later to fast-forward past the commercials. The commercials on that show are about 4 ½ minutes long each. That is way too long. Also, “Lost” is starting in 3 wks. Too much fun. We record that too. Sponsors would hate us.

I’ve been working on setting up all of my manager’s meetings for the year. There are 25 people in one group that she will meet with individually & 80 people in another group that she will meet with individually. I have to set them all up in eastern time since her office is in Florida. I have to take into account when Daylight Saving Time ends & begins & make adjustments. My head is hurting. Some of these will be standard monthly meetings. Everyone is in a different time zone & they’re telling me what time they want their meetings to be in different time zones. I’m so tired of looking at calendars & reserving meeting rooms & figuring out times.

Mon (1/12/09) We went to a bar mitzvah Sat. The bar mitzvah boy, Josh, is in our chavarah. Lots of fun. Lots of good food & dancing. A nice time spent with good friends. (Shannon had on some really great boots at the bar mitzvah).

Last Thurs I had my hair highlighted. Since it’s so dark & ugly, something had to be done. It looks okay now.

We went to Lewis’s parents’ yesterday. Sparky went with us this time. We hate leaving her home if we don’t have to. After lunch, Lewis, Alex & Sam went to play miniature golf while Sevilan & Sparky & I stayed home & sat on the double chaise in the sun.

Tue (1/13/09) Well, well, well…….My candy wrapper is telling me I won something. Can you believe it! It’s not a trip to some baseball game. It’s something having to do with “American Idol” which I have never watched in my life or paid any attention to. Looks like it’s a hat. An “American Idol” hat. Great. That’s about as good as a NASCAR prize ! I’m throwing this wrapper away like the rest. Why can’t I win money?

“24” started up on Sun night. We recorded it & watched it last night. Just as good as ever.

Mon (1/19/09) Jonathan would have been 26 yrs old today. I will probably run over to the cemetery at lunch today. I remember 26 yrs ago today, sitting in the waiting room at the hospital. He was very stubborn & would not be born on our time schedule. I was at work that day & left work twice to go back to the hospital, waiting for his arrival. He was the first grandchild in the family.

How ‘bout those Cardinals yesterday? They will play the Steelers – my cousin, Mickey’s team at Super Bowl. Yesterday during the game, Sparky & I sat out in the sun on the patio while Lewis & Alex watched the game in the family room. I heard lots of screaming going on in there. It was the good kind of screaming. They were very happy boys. Now they will have to get their “Championship” t-shirts.

We left on Thurs (1/15) to go to L.A. to meet with the surgeon who will be doing Alex’s back. Funny thing is - - he is no longer there & the staff neglected to let us know that until we got there. I called 3 days prior to leaving just to confirm everything. Yep, all confirmed. Everything okay. Looking forward to seeing us. Uh, yeah. The worst part is that Alex’s back has gotten worse & there is more of an urgency to the surgery now. We have checked out Barrow Neurological Center for the past couple of days & nights (online) & have come up with 3 surgeons who we will talk with. Lewis & Alex are home today (Martin Luther King, Jr Day), so Lewis will make some calls to try to set up some appointments. This has to happen as quickly as we can get him in. The more he grows, the less of a correction is possible. And I have a feeling he is not finished growing.

When we were at the hospital on Fri. they weighed & measured Alex. He is 135 pounds now & about 5’10”. He weighs more now at age 15 than I weighed when I met his dad 23 yrs ago. I’ll never see that weight again !

We watched a couple of movies this wk-end. “Mirrors” with Kiefer Sutherland. Not worth it. We also watched “The X Files” movie. We used to be big “X Files” fans when it was on TV. But the movies haven’t measured up. Just that Scully & Mulder finally had a romantic tryst - - something I’ve always been waiting for.

We’ve been really upset from the trip to L.A. I think it’s affected my already fragile mind. I was trying to clean up around the house yesterday & it kept not looking like anything was happening. I’d take a bunch of stuff from the dining room table & put it in a pile to take into the bedroom. Then I’d put more stuff in a pile to put at my desk. I’d move those things to where they belonged & come back out to the dining room & more stuff was there. I couldn’t gather my thoughts or my failing organizational skills. I just kept looking around at everything & thinking, I need to take a nap.

When we arrived at the airport, the car service wasn’t there waiting for us. I called & was told he was there but he couldn’t park so they kept making him drive around. That only took about another 20 minutes. Not too bad. He took us to the hotel, which was just 15 minutes away. The flight from Phx isn’t long – maybe a little over an hr, but for some reason we were all tired. I had taken Sparky to her hotel earlier in the day. She would only be there 1 night. I signed her up for 4 hrs of group play. They called it doggie day care. She had a blast. She got a great report card. She had a larger room too but it didn’t have a tv with “Animal Planet.” No princess suite this time since it was just 1 night. She had her quiet time.

When we got to the hotel, it was a nice little suite with a kitchen & refrigerator. One big bed & a pull-out couch. Lewis pulled the couch out & found it didn’t have any sheets on. We called housekeeping & asked them to come up & bring sheets. She asked if we wanted them to put the sheets on or if we could do it. We said it would be preferable if the housekeeping department would do it. They said they don’t do that. This was a Marriott Residence Inn. They told us they are not a full service hotel so we have to put our own sheets on. We didn’t know it was not a full service hotel. Lewis was not happy about that. Neither was I, but we did it. Then Alex slept out there & we took the bed. I’ve never been to a hotel where I have to put my own sheets on the hide-a-bed. What exactly is a hotel that is not full service?

Saturday night was Alex’s basketball game. They’re looking pretty good now. He practices in the driveway a lot.

Sunday morning I got up early to feed the princess. She wakes up very early sometimes when she’s hungry & starts licking my face, so I have no choice. As I was putting food in her bowl, I knocked a glass off the counter onto the floor. It was one of the glasses that shatters into zillions of pieces - - not just a couple of nice big chunks to pick up. I spent an hour getting it all up. Cut my hand twice. Lewis came home from tennis & stepped on more glass. I could have sworn I got it all up. Had to work on it some more.

Sunday afternoon Lewis & I went to the Carefree Arts Fair. (in Carefree, of course). It was the perfect day for it. Gorgeous weather. Tons of booths. We saw some really wonderful pieces. And of course there was that freshly made lemonade. I’m going to be changing the colors in our bedroom & get rid of the stupid pictures we have over our bed which are very 80’s. I saw a beautiful dychroic glass piece that would look perfect there. The colors were perfect too. My husband did not agree to spending any money at this point in time. I kept the artist’s flier. We considered taking Sparky with us, but her little feet would start burning on the pavement after a while, so she stayed home with her brother who absolutely hates to be seen in public with his parents. And there is no way we could convince him to come to the arts fair with us. He just kind of laughed when we asked him.

Lewis made orange chicken & buffalo chicken last night. It was pretty good. He really is a good cook. For lunch he made us hot Italian subs on that good crunchy bread.

After the movie last night I decided to try the dreaded treadmill again. I promised Alex I would start using it. He asked me if I would do it for at least 10 minutes 3 nights a wk. I agreed to that. Last night I did my 10 minutes at 1.7 mph. When I was finished I realized I get more winded walking from my car to my office, so I will up the speed tomorrow. Alex came in last night when I was on the treadmill & asked if I wanted him to go get my iPod for me. I said no. He asked if he could turn the tv on for me. I said, “No thanks. I just want to focus for now.” He said, “Focus? It’s walking. Right foot, left foot.” For some reason that made me laugh a lot. I guess it was the way he looked at me when he said it. He's really got a very cute smile.

Sparky hasn’t been very sparky lately. She won’t eat either. She was fine when we first brought her home, but yesterday & today she has been very mopey. Lewis took her to the vet today & had all kinds of blood work done. We should know by tomorrow what’s going on with her. When I took my bath this morning, she didn’t get off the bed. She usually lays on my robe on the floor while I’m in the bathtub. She’s never NOT with me.

It’s been about 79 degrees. I think that was the high today. It’s beautiful outside. I should take Sparks for a walk. She loves that.

Better go now.
Hugs,
Candace