Rain and dreary--baaah days

When I came back from lunch today this is what I saw. Earlier this morning if you had been outside you would have been wet- ready to iron--or beyond ironing wet.
I think all of us are ready for the sun to shine.

But, I am greatful that this is rain and not snow.
Come on Sunshine!!! Warm us up!

Arizona Flowers

Happy Birthday

Monday: April 27, 2009 Today my father would be 95? Can that be right?


But I will never forget the fact that he taught me how to drive. Also when we were going down that country road he reminded me that the man on the open hack, might have liked it had I dimmed my head lights.

Miss you dad. Gone but not forgotten.


I also want to wish my nephew Tyler a very Happy Birthday.
Oh to be 26 again.... Good luck on all your tractor pulls this year.

Fountain Hills, AZ

This is the fountain that is in Fountain Hills, Arizona.
Vern & Judy stopped there on the way to dinner on Sunday night so I could
get some photos.

I love the way the rainbow showed up in the water.



Last year they put this play area in for the children.
Looked as tho the children who were there were having a ton of fun.

Trolley & Jeep tours - Sedona, AZ

Jeep Tour:

Where have you seen this tree before? I am sure 3/4 of you have seen it in a movie across the years.
Walt Disney has used this tree in more then one movie.
Do you recognize it? (Answer later)


Taken out the side of the jeep as we are going down on the Soldiers Pass jeep tour.


This one was taken over my shoulder when we were going on the tour.
Bud said I was making one heck of a face a couple of times when the tour guide bumped across one boulder at a time.


The rodent's nest.... Rattle snakes normally try and find these as they know there is food. (We did not see any snakes) Thank GOD!



Another across my shoulder photo on the jeep tour.

Trolley Tour:
((( Statements taken from on line put into better words then my own - But they are my photos.)))
(((The Chapel of the Holy Cross was designed and built in 1956 by Marguerite Brunswig Staude, a student of Frank Lloyd Wright. It was built directly into a butte, offers a dramatic view of the valley 200 feet below. Inside, the chapel is dim. What little light there is comes from candles in red votives and the fading sunlight streaming in through the all-glass wall behind the altar.)))
They have a gift shop downstairs, but I did not go down. They only allowed us 15 minutes when we got off the trolley.






This is the front of the chapel, the road winds uphill to the chapel and you enter from the other side.

(((What most people come here for is the 360-degree view from the plaza in front of the chapel. The sweeping vista is simply stunning! If you look closely at the natural rock formations on the hillside nearby, you will see two similarly shaped rock pillars dubbed "the Two Nuns" (photo below). To the left of that is the unmistakable image of the Virgin Mary holding Baby Jesus, the Madonna and Child. This is the image you will find in countless Sedona-inspired prints and paintings.)))




The above and below photos were taken when the trolley pulled over and we were allowed to get out to take photos.


We took every opportunity that we could when someone offered to take our photo together.


Oh, yes, before I forget.....Where have you seen that tree above before?
Wizard of Oz, Fantacia, and others.

Tidbits from AZ trip

When going to breakfast one morning in Williams,AZ we noticed that there was a red flag attached to the fire hydrant. Bud ask someone why it was there, and they told him that when it snowed a lot, they had the flags on they hydrants so they wouldn't hit them when they plowed the snow.

Later in the day I stopped to take a photo, and a worker in a golf cart stopped and told me that he was glad I noticed. Said the fence was put up in 1905, but the tree paid no attention, it grew around it. I hadn't even noticed....Until he told me..daaa...
Anyway after he told me that I positioned my photo so I could capture both items.
I found it rather interesting.



In Sedona, AZ.... The house is unbelievable... A house for 4 people.
It sucks being poor!


Really tho. This is much too much house for me. I hate cleaning!

Airport Security and Early Check ins.

Air port securities can be a challenge for Bud since he has artificial hips.
Last time in this air port was right after 9-11 and they gave him fits in all the wanding, ignoring his ID that shows he has two artificial hips.

This morning as we came thru security we had a very pleasant man who checked him thru. It wasn't nearly the hassles that I have seen going thru security.

Plus they have free Internet here in the terminal. It has made our wait go by much faster. When we get to Chicago we don't have much time to catch our next flight.

Now that we are leaving AZ the sun is shining and it is warm outdoors....GO FIGURE..it will warm up when we get ready to go home.



Tuesday being cramped in a train seat then a tour bus seat Bud needed to stretch out and get his hips to quit hurting... We didn't have Internet so I wrote out a blog and put in in my documents. Below is what I had written:
Early Check ins:
Tuesday- April 14, 2009

We took the train from Williams, AZ into the Grand Canyon Park. When we got off the train we did a rim tour for 1 ½ hours and had two stops to take some wonderful photos.
When we got to the end of the tour the guide took us on to the Maswik Lodge where our reservations were.

Wouldn’t you know they didn’t have our room ready, stating check in time was 4 p.m and it was only a bit after noon. Bud checked a couple of times and still no room. Went into the gift shop and got a tee shirt, video and Christmas tree ornament. Went into the food court and ate pie and drank coffee.

Sat outside and watched people and the little bunny rabbit that almost went into the restaurant area. He was detoured by the lady who was coming out and he continued right in front of us and into a hole in the wall of the ledge we were sitting on.

At 3 p.m. Bud once again checked still no room…So he ask to speak to the manager.
He laid his handicap ID on the counter and calmly told them, he needed to be put into a room as soon as possible, he needed to lay down. (His hips and legs were hurting from sitting in the train and bus seats.) They immediately found us a room, and sent a bellboy after our bags from our original room. And we were able to relax.

One thing I have learned so far on this trip.
Don’t buy a packaged tour. Make your own plans, getting your own hotel, buying your tickets on your own etc.

Tomorrow we have to be out of our room by 11 a.m. and our train will go back to Williams around 3 p.m. But we can take the shuttle back down to the rim and get a few more photos if we choose to.

We will also want to eat, so that will take some time. You would have thought this place wouldn’t be so busy. Yet there are people everywhere. I forgot that this is Spring break and there are tons of people with kids here too.

Thursday morning we already have our breakfast paid for at Williams. Our package included our dinners and breakfasts at the Grand Depot Buffet. Breakfast was only $10.00 per person on the tab, and dinner was $19.00 per person with all you can eat.
And the food was good. Tips were extra.

But I am so proud of Bud, he didn’t raise his voice and he didn’t make a scene… For those who really know him, we know sometimes he is not a very patient person. So, yes, I am proud of him.

Saturday a.m. His patience has been fairly good this week, and we had a wonderful week even if it was a cool/cold one.

Now it is back to the grind stone next week---back to work. And since it is getting warmer in Illinois I am sure that business will pick up again. So there will be plenty on my desk to keep me busy.

Residental roof tops and thermostats

Look very closely above the wall in the middle of the photo and note their residential air conditioner is sitting on the roof of the house.
When we drove thru Scottsdale we saw a lot of them. Some were ducted with regular sheet metal transitions.

My working in the heating and air conditioning business made this quite interesting.

That night when we got to Williams and had to use the thermostat it reminded me that the older I get the simpler thermostats I like. It was a Carrier thru the wall unit like the GE units we can get at work. Typical hotel units, but this one was governed by a thermostat on the way. It took me quite a while to figure out the stat and get it set to a comfortable temperature. It was either hot or cold, when it got hot and you turned the stat down the air conditioner came on. We finally did find a happy medium that was comfortable for us.

A New Item-and what I have learned this week.

This week we have been staying in a different hotel almost every night.
When I walked into the bathroom at the Williams, AZ hotel and saw this dispenser in the shower, I had to shake my head and wonder. Is this the newest thing for motel/hotels? So, they can save on soap?
A body wash and shampoo dispenser, like the soap dispensers at Walmart or other stores. Or is this their way of saving? How soon before we see these being offered for our homes?

If there is one major thing I learned this week it is that I hate staying in a different motel every night when I am on vacation.
I like being able to unpack my suit case and live out of dresser drawers and closets instead of suit cases, and finding everything as wrinkled as can be when I want to wear it.

AWESOME!!!!

Happy Birthday to Bud- One Day Late

Today at Montezuma Castle we were able to get a photo after taking a photo for others.

Yesterday - Easter Sunday was Bud's 60th birthday. We were able to spend it with his sister and brother in law.... (Judy and Vern) in Fountain Hills,AZ.
We had a very nice visit with them on Saturday afternoon and Sunday. I'm glad we spent Easter Sunday with them!
Saturday night when we went to dinner we accepted the offer to get a group photo.
When only two people go somewhere you don't get many photos of just the two of you or a total group photo. It is nice when someone offers to take a group photo.


More photos and interesting tidbits will follow at a later day. Only inernet connection at this hotel is in the lobby, and it is extreemly noisy. There are about 12 others in the lobby besides myself. I smell beer and they are speaking some German.

First night of vacation

Some motel rooms are so small you find yourself bumping each other. This room is fabulous. Since we fly out early, early in the morning we decided to use our Holiday Inn points from our stay in New York City last year and get a free room tonight, so I would not have to get up so early in the morning.
I don't like traveling far at night time since my eyes are very sensitive. So I sure like this idea of only having to drive across the street



When we first walked in I commented that I could live in this room. It has everything I need. A small refrigerator, coffee pot, nice big walk in shower and wide open space. Plus free Internet....

Bud just had to see if he could get the computer on line.
Went to Monicals for Pizza with Kim and Clay, then I went to church with Kim.
It was a good --Good Friday Service.
Thanks Kim for asking me to go with you.

Ending Year # 29

Today I am joining Lynnett Kraft on Walking Down Memory Lane.


TODAY is the last day of my 29th year working for the same company
Tomorrow morning I start year number 30.

Had anyone told me years ago that I would stay in the same job, working for the same people and have as much responsibility that I have now, I would have told them they lost their minds.

But, we don't learn everything in one day. We add to our knowledge day by day a little at a time.

When I first started I had a five week old baby. And I can remember lots of incidents that were very challenging to me in those early years of being a mother and working full time.

We look back now and laugh at glasses and hair styles. (After all it was the 80's)



Also back then the shop was located on Railroad Ave.
How many times I have taken a ribbing about being a working girl working on Railroad Ave. (Normally Railroad Ave, In Decatur, IL) was known for the working girls on the street corners.

Outside our front door was the railroad switching yards. You heard trains banging all day long. Someone ask me about the railroad explosion that was in town and what would happen if one exploded outside our front door.
My reply was, " Well if there is an explosion here, I'd best just lean over and kiss my butt goodbye". Thank God there were no explosions and no robberies while we were at work.

Robberies--we were broken into once while there in that rough neighborhood. They laid our safe on it's back and tried to get in. Unsuccessful they left with only the candy box money and the bosses calculator (which they lost a key off of when they crawled back thru the window from the office into the shop).
But what a mess they left us. We had to break into our own safe. And it was payday.
The fellows thought it was funny until I reminded them, There would be no paychecks until the safe was open and I could get to the checks and payroll books.
For months upon end I was shaking concrete dust out of my checks as I used them.

March 1993 we moved to our current location. Franklin Street.
Just down the street from the police station.


My desk is inside the 4-5 window from the front door. I hardly hear or see the traffic going down the street but let someone come south down the one way north street it always catches our eye.

I have not seen my little furry friend from last year yet this year. Wonder if he got hit crossing this busy street.


He used to come up on the front porch and stand up looking in as if he wanted to see if I was working at my desk.

Lots of memories, and people ask "How many more years will you need to work?"
My answer is: I do not want to work so long that I look like this:


I do not want to die sitting at my desk.
Tho my co worker, Julie (who has been with me over 11 years) stated she would stop by my desk every week to dust my bones. Very Generous of her!!!!

So my answer is "God will tell me when the time is right and help me make that decision as I get older year by year."
So if it be 62 then I have two more years. 65- five more years.
Whichever it is I am sure the time will go rapidly.
But I definitely do not want to work 20-30 more years here in this sometimes very fast paced office.

So how much better to start my 30th year with Tica, Inc. then to take a weeks vacation and leave here on Friday and go to Arizona for a week?
Come on Friday.

Our dream vacation a year ago.

New York City 2008 ---- We spent a week there last year and had a wonderful time.
Friday Noon I leave the office and we head for Bloomington, to have Monical's with Kim and Clay then on Saturday morning we fly out for another week's vacation.
This year we are heading to Phoenix, AZ. and will be able to go to the Grand Canyon also. Will this vacation be as good as last year's? People tell me I cannot compare since they are in total different climates. But, I am hoping that I will be able to have a good time and be able to get lots, and lots of wonderful photos.
On the count down.......

April 6- 2009 -- WHAT?

The surprise when I opened the back door this morning. Not much on the ground per say, but on our patio furniture this is what I saw.
SNOW????? yep..... And YES it was still dark when I left home to go to Curves then to work.

Sunshine & Happiness

The other evening going down Monroe Street to stop at CVS to pick up Bud's medicine, after we had just had a bunch of rain, the sun was shining and the clouds were so pretty!! I just had to have a couple of photos when I got out of the car.




Happy to start putting my living room back together. The carpeting looks great.
And it didn't take as long to bring furniture downstairs as it did taking it up the stairs. Bud was even able to get the tv, dvr, and dvd recorder all hooked up without having to call the Geek Squad. YA.



This little guy was extremely glad to come back downstairs to familiar surroundings and sang up a storm while we were working.


But will our happiness for the sunshine be short lived? The mail man just told me we were supposed to get snow on Monday. Typical Illinois weather, hot one day and cold the next.