We were Robbed

I ordered my daughter's birthday present this afternoon. After that I went to the grocery store (quick trip). I came home and found the front door open. I thought maybe I didn't pull the door shut tight. It was really windy today. I thought maybe the wind blew my door open. When I went inside, the tv in the game room was upside down on the floor. I ran out of the house. I called 911. Someone is or was in my house. Two policemen came and went through my house with guns drawn. No one was still in the house. I went through each room with the policemen. The list is very long what they took. Among the $20,000 plus of jewelry they took was my wedding rings :( I had taken them off and was going to have them resized.
The laptop, all the cameras, my husband's computer, cash, all my jewelry, Wii and games, plasma tv, dvd player, to name a few things.
And they took all the candy bars in the jar.
My house was ransacked. Things were gotten into and throw around. I can't stop shaking and crying. I feel like I've been raped.
My husband is very glad that I didn't walk into the burglary. He says we were lucky that everything that is important is safe (me).
When I think of all the things that could have happened - Yes I was lucky.

by the way.....
My husband called our insurance company to report the burglary.
Supposely our "Gold Star Premium Special" insurance with extended coverage on jewelry, watches, and fur has a limit of $2,500 PERIOD. That is not per piece - that is total for all jewelry, watches, and furs! We only get reimbursed $200 of the $1,000 in cash that was taken.

Fresh & Easy Market

One of these new grocery stores opened up two miles from me. I went in it last week. It is a small market with " go green" items. I browsed around and found their prices comparative to the large super markets. Although their selections are limited, they do have some unique items. I was impressed by the produce and how you could buy the items individually. (like one banana or one carrot) They also have a small loaf of bakery baked bread for only 99 cent(regular price). Fantastic! This market is perfect for singles or couples. It is not a family type buy in bulk store.
Since I'm only buying for two, I'm putting this store on my list.
I checked online to see where these stores are located - so far, California, Nevada and Arizona. They need to put one in Colorado. My daughter would love this store!
If my opinion counts for anything (?) I give this market a two thumbs up.

Thanes Flavor Ware Deluxe Oven

My husband took Saturday off. We got up early and went out to find the bargains of the day at yard sales. It's something we both enjoying doing. He found this Thanes Flavor Ware Deluxe Oven. He told me he had seen one in an infomercial. For $20 he bought it.
Cooking is not my thing. He thinks if he buys me enough gadgets for the kitchen, he might actually get me to "cook." Simple, basic, and easy are my style. I cook only under those terms.
So trying to make his point - "this would make cooking easy for me" - he cooked chicken and potatoes in this oven. The instructions were not helpful. So he just press some buttons and on it went. It stopped and he had to turn the chicken breasts on the other side. It stopped again and the chicken was not done so he turned them again. 45 minutes later .... the chicken looked ok - the potatoes ( I had peeled them and cut them into small pieces) were awful! The sliced onions burned.
I'm not using that thing again!
Special Note: We will be having a huge yard sale the first week of January - this will be one of the items out there for sale!

Gigi on MySpace

Earlier this year my husband and I attended his company party. One of his co-workers that also attended the party, plays in a band on the weekends. We were invited to come see him (the co-worker) play that next weekend. He gave us his MySpace name and told us to check out his music. So I did. It was not my style of music.
While I was on MySpace, I browsed through people names that I know. I found my daughter! I joined MySpace. I sent her an email to be a "friend." I told my son about finding my daughter on MySpace. He then joined too. Just this last week, I found my other daughter and my grandson.
Funny how one thing leads to something else.
I find pictures of my grandchildren on there. Here is Gigi at the beauty salon. How cute! There she is sitting on a suitcase reading a magazine. She's only eight but has her hair done for cheerleading competitions. Oh my!

100th post

This is my 100th post. I put a "tracker" on my blog to see if anyone was reading what I was writing. To my surprise - Yes! It doesn't tell me who, just city and state, or country. To my amazement - Germany, Finland, Sweden, Colombia, Switzerland, Brazil, Australia, Mexico, England, Belgium, Canada, and Tasmania (WOW) and Slovakia (WOW) have visited my page so far. In the US every state including Washington DC has visited except for Vermont, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.

Thank You for visiting my blog - you are always welcome to leave a comment :)

husbands - what do they know!

When we bought this house three years ago, I put in a new washer, dryer, refrigerator, dishwasher and microwave. The oven/range was the only appliance they left in the house and it didn't have to be replaced. I was excited to get all new appliance in my "new" home. I asked my sister what she thought about what brands to buy. She said my other sister had bought a Maytag Neptune and had problems with it. I bought a Frigidaire front load washer and dryer set.
After the warranty was done, I had to have the dryer repaired. Then 6 months after that, I had to have the washer repaired. I've spent $600 in repairs so far on this relatively new set.
Anyway.....
I bought new bedding for our bedroom and was washing the old set to put it away in the closet. The mattress pad was the last item I was washing when..... I heard what I thought was someone was crashing through my front door. My dog and I rushed to see what the sound was. There it was - the mattress pad had gotten unbalanced in the washer, the door (to the washer) was open and the bottom of the washer was on the floor.
How in the h$#@ did that happen?
My husband, when he got home, put the bottom back on the washer. I am now using two 2X4s to prop the washer's door shut. It is working. My husband thinks my retired-stay-at-home-life is boring.
ahh NO!
I didn't even write about when the microwave caught on fire. Or when the pool cleaner sucked out the light and it broke into a million pieces in the pool. I spent two days cleaning out all the glass out of the pool. Or when the sprinkler system decided to break while he was in St. Louis and I spent the day digging up the pipe...... two days later I fixed that! Or when I left the hose in the pool to fill it up and came out the next morning, there were a million drowned ants floating on the top. Guess who got to scoop them all out? Or the many times I flush the sewer line with pool water because the neighbor's tree roots have grown into my sewer pipe.............. Boring MY A%@!

two little old ladies

Police Officer O'Leary is cruising around in his patrol car one night. He is on the lookout for trouble.
He sees two little old ladies in the front seat of a Chevrolet convertible, parked in a used car lot. The car lot is closed so O'Leary drives up alongside the Chevy and asks, "Are you two ladies trying to steal this car?" "Certainly not," says one of the ladies, "we purchased the car this afternoon."
"Well," says the cop, "why don't you start it up and drive out of here?" "We don't drive," replies the other little old lady.
"And besides we are waiting... We were told that if we bought a car here we would get screwed!"

princess or cheerleader?

Yesterday I was shopping in Target. I saw costumes for dogs and cats so, of course, I had to get one ... or two. I bought the princess outfit and a cheerleading outfit. Si, my boy kitty is 16 1/2 years old - I wouldn't even think to put a costume on him. So here's pictures of Trixie and Mindy with the costumes on. What do you think? (Besides thinking I'm crazy)

Decorate your cat for Fall

It's Fall!

I noticed that this year they had the Christmas things up in the stores in August. I guess it works because I have already got half my Christmas shopping done. Before, when I use to work, I was doing my Christmas shopping on Christmas Eve:( Life gets way to busy and hectic. Anyway, it's Fall and our weather is absolutely perfect. We are down in the low 100's. The water in the pool yesterday was just right! Here in Arizona, we take out our summer flowers and plant winter flower that bloom all winter long. It's time to get that done. I've already bought all the summer pool toys for next year on sale :) I'm thinking this winter I'll take out that Aloe garden on the side of the house. I'll put the Aloes in pots. I dug up part of it last year and potted them. I even had a yard sale and gave them away for free. You plant a couple and they grow back like weeds. I planted a lemon tree and a lime tree last year. The lime tree is still a baby but the lemon tree I noticed has about 12 lemons on it:) We have a orange tree and a grapefruit tree in the front yard. I really need to learn how to use that juicer machine!

If I keep typing, I'm going to keep thinking of things I need to do. Happy Fall!

Peaceful side of Phoenix

Yes, believe it or not this is in Phoenix. It's on the "streets" side not the "avenues." Old homes with big green yards, huge trees, front porches, ahhhhhh so peaceful! While driving around looking for yard sales/ estates sales, I ran across this neighborhood. It is nowhere near me :( I took pictures (of course).
This is how yesterday went. My birthday was peaceful. My husband surprised me by taking the day off yesterday. He told me we could do whatever I wanted. :) Happy Birthday to me!

soap box on Galveston Texas

My daughter told me that they took a vacation to Galveston, Texas just a month ago. They had a great time. They considered buying a vacation get-away there even though they already live in Texas. Remembering hurricane seasons, they didn't.
It boils down to being responsible for your actions. I live in a desert - it is HOT, there are monsoons, haboobs, critters and in Phoenix - 5 million people - oh my goodness traffic, crime, etc. My point is that if I don't accept that - then I should move somewhere else!
If you live in an area that has frequent hurricanes, accept it or move!

This is one of the pictures she sent me of Galveston, Texas.

half-timers disease

My daughter in Texas called me yesterday to wish me a Happy Birthday. I told her Thank You but ..... my birthday wasn't yesterday. She said she was sorry and told me she had a disease. A disease? She said she has half-timers disease. I started laughing.
ummmm (I hope it's not catching)

now you see her, now you don't

In the front bedroom of our house, we use it as an "office" ( I use that term loosely ). The room measures approximately 18 ft by 15 ft. Across one wall are these metal shelves we store the boxes and packing material. Another wall has a huge map 8 ft by 10 ft of the US. When we ship to places in the US we look up where its going just for fun. Another wall has two complete computers, printers, etc. The fourth wall has shelves filled with things we are selling on ebay.

While sitting in front the computer the other day, I heard "rustling" sounds. Mindy had jumped up on the fourth shelf and was napping in some bubble wrap. Do you see her? She peeked up and I took her picture. We call her our invisible cat. She sleeps all day in unique places around the house. She comes out at night time to be fed and then back to places unknown.

Cafe Peach Cobbler

This is the Dessert recipe from the Route 66 postcard collection. Yum! Cafe Peach Cobbler!
**Double click on picture to enlarge it - happy eating!

Route 66 Country Fried Steak

One of my most favorite thing to order when eating out is country fried steak. This also is from my Route 66 postcard collection.
**Double click on picture to enlarge it

Route 66 Roadhouse Chili

This is from my Route 66 postcard collection. The recipe is called Roadhouse Chili. Hope you like it.
**Double click on picture to enlarge it

Arizona Ranchero Omelet Recipe

I thought it would be fun to share some of my postcard recipes. This one is a Route 66 Breakfast recipe called Arizona Ranchero Omelet. Hope you like it.

** Double click on picture to enlarge

Dandelion Jelly Recipe

** Double click on this recipe to enlarge
This one is called Grandma Down's Old Fashioned Recipe Dandelion Jelly - I have not tried this. I don't know if dandelions even grow in Arizona. There aren't any in my neighborhood anyway.

Denver Broncos - Thank You Ed Hochuli

My husband and I watched football all day today. After AZ Cardinals beat Miami Dolphins 31-10, with time left it was switched and we saw the end of the Denver Broncos vs San Diego Chargers game. Denver had the game won but the Chargers came back ( a controversial call on a touchdown for the Chargers) and got ahead 38-31. In the last 5 minutes of this game Jay Cutler (Denver's Quarterback) dropped the ball when the referee had blown the whistle. The referee admitted that he made a mistake but Denver got to keep the ball anyway. (really had to see this to understand what happened) Denver made a touchdown and against all odds made a 2 point conversion. Denver won 39-38.
My husband has lived here in Arizona 10 years and he announced today he was an official Arizona Cardinals fan. I've lived here in Arizona for 8 years. I don't think I can "give up" the Broncos like he did the St. Louis Rams. I root for the Arizona Cardinal, sure! But... I am wearing my orange and blue.
By the way, Thank You Ed Hochuli, the referee.

runs in threes ???

ummm I don't know what to think:

On July 26,2008 my sister-in-law Kim, died in her sleep. She was only 44 and no known reason explained her death. There were 6 pallbearers at her casket during the funeral.
6 pallbearer were: 1. her husband, Steve (my husband's brother) 2. my husband (who flew in from Phoenix) 3. Steve's long-time best friend (drove in from Mississippi) 4. Steve's long-time best friend (lives in the same town in Arkansas) 5. Son-in-law (lives with Steve&Kim) 6. Another Son-in-law (lives with Steve&Kim)

Steve's long-time friend's wife just recently died in her sleep. He was a pallbearer at Kim's funeral (the one from Mississippi). So far there is no known explanation for her death.
Yesterday, my husband told me that Steve called and told him that his long-time friend that was also a pallbearer at Kim's funeral is dead. He had confronted his wife with a gun, telling her to shoot him. She said no. He went to the neighbors and told them to call the police or he would shoot them. They did and in the confrontation the police shot him.
Oh my!
My husband says "things run in threes."??? I've never heard of that. If that's true then whatever is going on - its done. If not, my husband was a pallbearer and..........

McCain - Obama fishing story

I saw this joke online - remember that no actual fish were harmed - it is just a joke:


The Presidential election was too close to call. Neither the Republican candidate nor the Democratic candidate had enough votes to win. There was much talk about ballot recounting, court challenges, etc., but a week-long ice fishing competition seemed to be the sportsmanlike way to settle things. The candidate who caught the most fish at the end of the week would win the election. Therefore, it was decided to have an ice fishing contest between the two candidates to determine the winner. After much back and forth discussion, it was decided that the contest would take place on a remote, frozen lake in northern Minnesota. No observers would be present, and both men would be sent out separately on this isolated lake, then return at 5 P.M. with their catch for counting and verification by a team of neutral parties. At the end of the first day, John McCain returned to the starting line, and he had ten fish. Soon, Obama returned and had no fish. Well, everyone assumed he was just having a 'bad hair' day or something and hopefully, he would catch up the next day. At the end of the 2nd day, John Mc. returned with 20 fish, and Obama came in again with none. That evening, Harry Reid got together secretly with Obama and said, 'Obama, I think John Mc. is a low-life, cheatin' son-of-a-gun. I want you to go out tomorrow and don't even bother with fishing. Just spy on him and see just how he is cheating. 'The next night (after John Mc. returns with 50 fish), Harry said to Obama, 'Well, tell me, how is John Mc. cheating?' Obama replied, 'Harry, you're not going to believe this, .......but he's cutting holes in the ice.'

Old Irish Blessing

May love and laughter light your days,
and warm your heart and home.
May good and faithful friends be yours,
wherever you may roam.
May peace and plenty bless your world
with joy that long endures.
May all life's passing seasons
bring the best to you and yours!
Amen

Today I went to court. I will receive their decision in a letter. My lawyer who flew three hours to Phoenix just for my case said that he thought everything went very good. If not, I have to put in for an appeal:( So I'm thinking good thoughts, throwing in a few prayers, and hoping for a little Irish luck.

Meryvn's Mesa Arizona

Tomorrow is my "day in court." My hands are shaking so much I couldn't get a clear picture of the birthday gift cards from Mervyn's and Bailey, Banks and Biddle. My husband asked what I was doing today. I'm going shopping. I need something to wear to court. He asked me if I was going to the Mervyn's in Mesa (with a chuckle).

I don't have a Mervyn's near me so I drove to Chandler to shop there. They had this huge sale recently. My husband needed some work shoes so I said I would pick some up while they are on sale. They had the shoes but not his size. So they called around and found a pair in Mesa they would hold for me :( So I drove to "that area" of Mesa. I was scared to get out of my truck on a Saturday early afternoon in "that area." But I did..... Opened up the door to go inside and HOLY GUACAMOLY!

It looked like the Goodwill on a Saturday 50% off sale day. Every illegal with five kids or more were there. Kids screaming, running down the isles and stuff thrown on the floor throughout the whole store.

I hurried bought his shoes - hurried to my truck - and escaped from Mervyn's in Mesa. So when he smirked and asked me if I was going to the Mervyn's in Mesa today..... I said: @#%& NO!

Who's sleeping in my chair?

Today my husband took a vacation day. Early afternoon he said lets go for a ride. I said ok. He took me to the Roomstore. When we got inside he said go pick out a recliner "just for me." They did have one in all leather that matched my set. We brought it home - rearranged the living room - put the new chair in and...... guess who is sitting in it now? >^..^<

Billboard www.postmormon.org

On the news recently, they talked about this new billboard that went up on the corner of Gilbert and Chandler. There have been articles in the newpaper and you'll find write ups about it online. So I drove to Gilbert to check what was going on. I took this picture and several others. It says: You are not alone! http://www.postmormon.org/

It has a picture of a couple and eight children.

If you have read my blog page, you'll find I have an opinion for everything. - not this time - I just want to add one fact that I read online. I read that not too far from this billboard are plans to build another Mormon Temple. There is one in Mesa, Arizona which is probably 20 miles from this site. I'll let you form your own opinion on this one. I just wanted to see it for myself. Here's what I saw.

**Double click on picture to enlarge

I am dog tired!

With so much going on, I am dog tired!
The Labor Day party was fun but very draining. It took two weeks of cleaning, shopping, preparing.... And then all the cleaning afterwards :(
I had my last doctor appointment and then rushed to the lawyers office Wednesday. I had to give them all my receipts. Now I'll have to wait for the settlement of the car accident. It could take up to six weeks I was told:(
Next week is my "court date" that I waited two years for - my job injury settlement. I think I have popped more pain pills this last week than I have the last couple of months.
As you can see, Trixie feels just like me - but she has a hat to cover the dark circle under her eyes.

finally, September

Yesterday evening as the last of the guests left - the lights went out and we went to bed! The party started Sunday afternoon at 1:00pm. We BBQ, played games and swam in the pool and then ate again. Some of our guests spent the night. My husband cooked a southern style breakfast. He BBQ chicken for lunch. Then again BBQ hamburgers and hot dogs for dinner. It was a gorgeous day and everyone spent it in the pool. Today is Tuesday, my husband left for work and the house is again quiet. This starts September.