New Year's Eve Wish

While those of us celebrating New Year's Eve in our own safe, warm homes, our loved ones are overseas. One of mine is in Baghdad, Iraq. I wish all that are overseas God's Blessings.
May your cup runneth over in God's Love!

Hard Rock Barbies

These are my Hard Rock Barbies .... so far. Hard Rock Cafe in Phoenix said they were getting a shipment of the newest one this Friday. They said they only got 6 in the last shipment :( I wish I'd had bought more than just one of the first one. They sell on ebay for $200 - $300.

The two in the pink boxes are of the same year but they made one as a brunette and one as a blond. It's hard to tell. Taking pictures of items with cellophane is really difficult to do - way too much flash. I miss my studio, sometimes.

University of Minnesota at the Insight Bowl

New Years Eve starting at 5pm - Tempe Town Lake is the place to be! It is unbelievable how many people are there each year.... 200,000 and more show up for the "partying" with featured bands - this year is Styx. There are other bands, food and drinks, games, fireworks AND the Insight Bowl. The game starts at 6pm. This year University of Kansas Jayhawks vs. University of Minnesota Golden Gophers.
Whoa .... wait a minute.... Minnesota Golden Gophers??? I had to look that up to see where and who they were. Minneapolis with campuses throughout Minnesota ...yep! I have no ties to Kansas or Minnesota so I flipped a coin on this one - Minnesota won. Go Golden Gophers! Go University of Minnesota!

Back to the Fiesta Bowl party - Tempe residents only pay $5 for each ticket but those not living in Tempe pay $20 each ticket. It is a blast! Word of warning though - parking is a pain. The party last until 1 am and there is no bus system at that hour. Dress warm - party safe - go gophers!http://www.fiestabowl.org/index.php/insight

Light Rail Opening Day in Phoenix

Yesterday was the grand opening of the Light Rail. It travels 20 miles from Sycamore/Main in Mesa to North Phoenix on Montebello/19th Ave and 20 miles back. We decided to drive up to McClintock/Apache park and ride and try it out. The light rail system is offering FREE rides until January 1st. They were expecting 200,000 people to try it out during the duration of the FREE trail. We went yesterday, Saturday. I'm pretty sure all those 200,000 people showed up on the first day!
It took 30 minutes to get from McClintock/Apache to downtown Phoenix at the Washington/Central stop. The ride was smooth except for being so extremely crowded. We got off at that stop to have lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe.
I collect the Hard Rock pins, bears, shirts, and the Barbies. I bought the Phoenix Hard Rock Herrington bear dressed as a coyote. (like I needed that :)
Then..... we tried to go home. Everyone that had rode the light rail into Phoenix was trying to go home too. The line for the light rail was so long we decided to try the bus...... oh my! We walked over to catch the bus - the line was as long as the light rail line. To make a long story short.................
A little over two hours later, we made it home. I think riding the light rail would be fun and convenient BUT not during any events.

Go Texas! Go Longhorns!

For those of you coming down to the Fiesta Bowl... you might want to bring a coat! It's Ohio State Buckeyes vs. Texas Longhorns. I know the Ohio people have coats and will think our 70 degrees is summer time to them but.... you might want to bring the coat to cover the bruises after Texas Longhorns give them a butt whooping! Go Texas ! Go Longhorns! http://www.fiestabowl.org/

Walnut Ridge Arkansas Post Office

I sent a Christmas package last week to Arkansas. I thought I had sent it to Portia, Arkansas. When I called yesterday to see if she got her package - she said no. I then remembered I sent it to Walnut Ridge, Arkansas instead. I don't know why.... In rushing to get everything shipped on time, my brain was thinking Portia but.... my hand wrote Walnut Ridge. With 90% of my family living everywhere else but Arizona, "hurry" at Christmas time is my middle name.
Anyway, I called the Walnut Ridge post office this morning to see if they had seen my package - they said no. At 7:30 am this morning I got a call from the post office here in Tempe. My package made it to Arkansas and back and was here at the Tempe post office waiting for me. Amazing!
I called Walnut Ridge, Arkansas post office and told them Thank You but the package is already back here. I told them (laughing) to be on the look out again if I accidentally addressed it wrong a second time.
This is a Thank You for all the hard working postal workers!

Merry Christmas from my house to yours

Merry Christmas

Rosey Christmas

My neighbors have most of their front yard planted in rose gardens. This is December 22, and his rose garden is as beautiful as it is during the summer. Arizona is a quite unique place to live. I think of my sister, who lives in one of those "snow" states as I write this post. She always laughs when I tell her I had to put on slacks and a sweatshirt. She'll ask me - "what's the temperature there today?" Knowing she going to laugh but I tell her anyway, it's in the 60's today. I know. I know. But remember we have two types of weather here, hot :) AND Good Golly Miss Molly HOT!

This is Christmas week - I'm going to take a break from blogging. I wish everyone a safe Merry Christmas.

http://www.wehelpwomen.com/ God Bless

The Dog did it!

As I have mentioned before, the bathroom that leads out to the pool is the one the dogs "sleep" in ( I use that term loosely). The door has a dog door so they can go out and do their business. At 6 this morning, we went in to check on the dogs and this is what we found. See the large bed that I recently bought for Bandit - well, the pieces of it? It looks like she was trying to get the beds out the dog door.
So that was all the ruckus at 3 a.m.! I'm thinking Bandit might not be the right name for this new puppy. This morning I'm thinking "Dog from Hell."

Snow in Las Vegas - So What!

So it snowed in Las Vegas - big deal! They are at 2,028 feet above sea level. When it snows (the real stuff from the sky) in Phoenix - like at Sky Harbor Airport at 1,140 feet above sea level I'll be impressed. OR.... When it snows in Yuma, which is 145 feet above sea level.

This picture is taken in Estes Park, Colorado

There are places where "SNOW" is a considered a "four lettered word."

My puppy eats rocks, phones, rugs, napkins.....

Jodi told me to be careful - do not leave your glasses where the dog can reach them. So I haven't so far but.... Sunday, I was in the kitchen - I heard my husband's cell phone ringing. Then I heard -why are you calling me? I went in the living room and found Bandit chewing on my Bluetooth earpiece for my cell phone. I don't know how that could happen but Bandit chewing on the earpiece had caused the phone to call my husband. ???

As I do several times a day, I go out and de-dog-poop the backyard. Bandit has "eaten" lots and lots of tiny rocks. Scooping up Dog-pooped-rocks was a first for me. I guess it won't be the last. I can't believe what that dog puts in her mouth. The end results are just plain nasty!

Fairytale Brownie Phoenix

Last Friday I was thinking I'd sent the out-of-state-families some flower arrangements. I was on the computer early this morning and remembered one day driving by Fairytale Brownie in Phoenix. I checked out their website - http://www.brownie.com/ I'm thinking I'll go over there instead! There is no one in my family that doesn't have a sweet tooth!
***Update: They had Free shipping available so I placed 5 orders. Very courteous and helpful staff member named Hannah took my orders. I was very pleased with the selections they had (especially since some of my family are not coffee drinkers). Although it was very busy they had plenty of staff to take care of us last minute shoppers.
I give Fairytale Brownie in Phoenix 2 thumbs up!!

Keurig Platinum B70

This is the Keurig Platinum B70 coffeemaker. This coffeemaker is amazing! It has 5 different coffee mug sizes, it has a temperature gauge you can set, it can be programmed for two different coffee times - like in the morning before work and then when you get home. It brews fast and quiet. And.... for those of us that don't drink coffee, it brews HOT CHOCOLATE!
Plus, it's a slick looking machine on your counter.
We got this for free -woohoo!

Another New Collar for Bandit

Bandit is now 4 months old. We weighed her last night - 40 pounds! I had to buy her another collar. We've only had her two months. I buy new toys all the time - I have no idea where her other toys go. And I can't find most of my shoes. My house is clean, too!
Last night, as always, we eat in the living room and watch tv. I was clearing off the coffee table and came back in to get the rest..... Bandit...... was ON the coffee table drinking my milk!
She has eaten 2 - 17 pound bags of Puppy Chow and the cat's food every chance she gets. I give her and Trixie dog bones every day - they fight over who gets what bone.
Bandit was sleeping in Trixie's little dog bed. Yesterday I got her a large bed of her own. This morning we went into the pool bathroom to check on them. Trixie was sleeping in Bandit's new bed. Bandit was sleeping Trixie's little bed with a blanket.
I see such a difference in Trixie since we got Bandit. I think every dog should have a playmate. Anyway... that's today's scoop on Bandit.

Smiley Faces

These smiley faces are on some wrapping paper I bought a long time ago. I thought I'd put them on here for my over "200" posts on my blog. I enjoy blogging. I'm not really sure if there is any kind of direction to my posting. As you can see - I've been listing a portion of my cookie jars. I love telling "tails" :) about Si, Mindy, Trixie and Bandit. I'm not sure which way to go with this blog soooo I quess it will remain as ramblin' of the adventures on dumbar street.

Fire Hydrant Cookie Jar

I have this cute cookie jar in the cabinet with the "dogs" cookie jars.

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Strawberry Pear Apple Orange Lemon Cookie Jars

These are some of my "fruit" cookie jars. Taking all these pictures of my cookie jars gives me a chance to do some cleaning and rearranging.

Waterford's First Christmas Cookie Jar

Several years ago, Waterford put out their first Christmas cookie jar. I went down to Robinson Mays at the Scottsdale Mall and put my name on the waiting list. It took a month for these to arrive. I bought 4 of them. I gave one as a gift - two are in the closet - and one sits out in the bedroom during Christmas time.
This is my favorite Christmas cookie jar!

Dept. 56 2001 St. Nicklaus Cookie Jar

This is a Dept. 56 (2001) St. Nicklaus cookie jar.

Angel Cookie Jars

These are two more of my Christmas Angel cookie jars

Christmas Bearfoot Bear Cookie Jar

I bought this in Estes Park, Colorado a couple years ago. I had to check in all my luggage and carry this cookie jar on the plane. This cookie jar has good memories. It is one of my "favorites" of my Christmas cookie jars.

Angel Cookie Jars

These two are my favorite Angel Christmas cookie jars.

Is it real?

Hard Rock Cafe Bears

I'm just trying out the new camera again. I have lots of Hard Cafe Bears but these are my favorites that I own. I thought I'd try our Golden Tee as a back drop. ummmm Pictures are not as clear as I'd like them. I guess I'm going to have to break down and read the manual. This bear is from La Jolla, California, Hard Rock Cafe.


This bear is from Austin, Texas, Hard Rock Cafe.

This bear is from San Francisco, California Hard Rock Cafe.




This bear is from St. Louis, Missouri, Hard Rock Cafe.

This bear is from Nashville, Tennessee, Hard Rock Cafe.

This bear is from Atlanta, Georgia, Hard Rock Cafe.

Magic Chef Ice Maker :(

The ice maker in my refrigerator broke several months ago. I've been using ice trays. I'd have to empty the ice trays twice a day into a ice bucket.
I've been watching for a ice maker to go on sale. The original price on this one at Target was $160. When I went into Target Black Friday there was a $99 sale sticker on this. Woohoo! I took it to the checkout. The checkout lady said no this was not on sale. Soooo I took the floor manager back to the sale sign. OOPS Someone put the microwave sale sticker on the ice maker. I got the ice maker for $99.
It promises ice in 7 minutes. I tried it out yesterday. What they don't tell you is yes you will get ice between 7 to 14 minutes BUT.... it's about 10 ice cubes!
It took about 5 hours to make two small baskets of ice cubes. Oh my!

**Special Note: I have now use this a couple days..... I found that if you only make small cubes it works a lot faster.

Nikon Coolpix P80

This is Bandit. She is 3 months old now. I love to take pictures of her so... I'm going to experiment my new camera, Here she is... she has kind of learned "sit."

This was taken by the new camera too. Remember, I'm still learning the buttons. Bandit saying"wanna play? wanna play? come on let's play." This is Si saying... MEOW (translating: "FU%& You, dog!"

This is Si..... waiting by his food dish. Secretly thinking, "That damm dog ate my food again!"

Another picture with the new camera.

This one was bought on Phoenix Craigslist for $170. This 18X zoom looks pretty impressive. I agree with the reviews that the flash should pop up automatically but with this camera it does not.
I still need one more camera. The Canon Powershot SD990 IS looks good.