Today was a Mary day. Jack and I went over to her house early to take her little poodle Jill to the groomer. Then we went on errands -- Fry's, the license branch, and Costco, before hitting Buddy's (at Swan and Grant) for lunch. The restaurant was a new one for all of us, though Mary had been there many years ago. We found it to be dark and noisy, but the food was really good.
My search continues for the delicious Bora Bora Bars which I found once at Costco, have fallen in love with, and now cannot locate. The package that I got at Costco a year ago contained several flavors. The ones that I can order online are boxes of all one flavor. So I continue to look.
Tonight Jack and I went to see The Soloist, with Robert Downey Jr and Jamie Foxx. It's a great movie, a true story, and it lets you into the mind of a schizophrenic man better than anything else I've ever seen. The voices that he hears are so much like the voices that I used to hear (from when I was about 4 till I was 17) that I found it uncomfortable to watch at times. (Thank goodness I got over it!) But it's a story about hope and friendship, about trust and love. We saw it here at Far Horizons for $1, and that includes popcorn!
Friday, January 07, 2011
Thursday, January 06, 2011
Filing and Shredding
Another busy day in Tucson. Choir practice for FHTV was cancelled because our fearless leader is sick, so I had a little free time. I used that time to dig around in my files, find the 2003 folders and shred the contents, take out all the 2010 stuff and tuck away the things that I'll need for my taxes and file the rest in my longer-term files. Whew. That's always a bigger job than I think it ought to be.
It was sort of fun going through the 2003 stuff. I love finding things with Michael's handwriting on them. In particular, I found a little pile of notes that he wrote detailing all the calls that he had to make on one Friday afternoon. That was his phone-calling day. I really miss having him to do all of the business stuff for me, though I'm getting onto it better these days.
Then I dug around in my photos and found some that I thought were worthy of showing to the Foto Fun club, and I put these onto a thumb drive. While I was in there, looking at all these photos that I thought were pretty good, it occurred to me that I ought to be backing this stuff up! So I got out the ol' Seagate and got started on a backup. It took hours, but now it's done!
Foto Fun started at 3:30 and it went well. Bob critiqued the photos with an eye toward what story the photos told. I maintain that images don't always have to tell a story -- that they can be just for art, they can illustrate a point, or can be used to sell something. Of course a story can go along with any of these purposes, but ... I don't think that you have to have a story.
But then some of the "stories" that he and others came up with for the shown photos were things like "symmetry," "repetition," and "textures..." I'll buy that an image has to speak on some level to its audience, but I wouldn't call it a story all the time. Maybe I'm picking nits.
After FotoFun, I went to George and Patty's with Jack. They were having a large and fun gathering involving hors d'oevres, beer, and wine. Much of all of these was consumed, and a merry time was enjoyed by all!
Then Jack and I came back here and watched a couple of episodes of "Alfred Hitchcock Presents." The ones for which we stayed awake were good!
It was sort of fun going through the 2003 stuff. I love finding things with Michael's handwriting on them. In particular, I found a little pile of notes that he wrote detailing all the calls that he had to make on one Friday afternoon. That was his phone-calling day. I really miss having him to do all of the business stuff for me, though I'm getting onto it better these days.
Then I dug around in my photos and found some that I thought were worthy of showing to the Foto Fun club, and I put these onto a thumb drive. While I was in there, looking at all these photos that I thought were pretty good, it occurred to me that I ought to be backing this stuff up! So I got out the ol' Seagate and got started on a backup. It took hours, but now it's done!
Foto Fun started at 3:30 and it went well. Bob critiqued the photos with an eye toward what story the photos told. I maintain that images don't always have to tell a story -- that they can be just for art, they can illustrate a point, or can be used to sell something. Of course a story can go along with any of these purposes, but ... I don't think that you have to have a story.
But then some of the "stories" that he and others came up with for the shown photos were things like "symmetry," "repetition," and "textures..." I'll buy that an image has to speak on some level to its audience, but I wouldn't call it a story all the time. Maybe I'm picking nits.
After FotoFun, I went to George and Patty's with Jack. They were having a large and fun gathering involving hors d'oevres, beer, and wine. Much of all of these was consumed, and a merry time was enjoyed by all!
Then Jack and I came back here and watched a couple of episodes of "Alfred Hitchcock Presents." The ones for which we stayed awake were good!
Wednesday, January 05, 2011
Happy
Mail came at last, containing just 2 bills for me. $20 for snow removal in Michigan and my tax bill for my house in Michigan. :) I love that house, and I'm happy to pay its bills.
It was a good day in the Old Pueblo, too. I went off in search of a knitting bag and found a very cool stand-up one at Joanne's, on sale even, for just $13. I love it so much that I did a bit of knitting this afternoon!
Tonight was church choir practice and that was, as always, fun. We have our new songs for the next several weeks, taking us up to Ash Wednesday. I'm going to get to sing a solo! It's just 4 measures, but it's my first real solo part ever, so I'm stoked.
Ok.. off to pay those bills now!
It was a good day in the Old Pueblo, too. I went off in search of a knitting bag and found a very cool stand-up one at Joanne's, on sale even, for just $13. I love it so much that I did a bit of knitting this afternoon!
Tonight was church choir practice and that was, as always, fun. We have our new songs for the next several weeks, taking us up to Ash Wednesday. I'm going to get to sing a solo! It's just 4 measures, but it's my first real solo part ever, so I'm stoked.
Ok.. off to pay those bills now!
Tuesday, January 04, 2011
Sunny Tuesday
It's starting to warm up again a bit. Today was up probably near 60. As Herb said, "You can wear shorts today, but you're going to want to be in the sun!" Jack and I went to Goodwill and to the Humane Society to drop off things to be donated. I had some clothes I was finished with, and he had some animal crates from his Mom and Dad.
We both opted out of hiking today. It was going to be another dusty and flat walk through the desert, and I didn't feel like doing that today. Rather, I did Dance Dance Revolution for about an hour, and walked for about 30 minutes. It was just 30 when I was out walking, but it was sunny, so it was tolerable.
Jack and I got some supplies and he cooked ribs, artichokes, and potatoes for us at my cottage. Then we watched "Stand and Deliver," one of my favorite teacher movies.
We both opted out of hiking today. It was going to be another dusty and flat walk through the desert, and I didn't feel like doing that today. Rather, I did Dance Dance Revolution for about an hour, and walked for about 30 minutes. It was just 30 when I was out walking, but it was sunny, so it was tolerable.
Jack and I got some supplies and he cooked ribs, artichokes, and potatoes for us at my cottage. Then we watched "Stand and Deliver," one of my favorite teacher movies.
Monday, January 03, 2011
Lazy Monday
Today I measured my new site and drew it all out on graph paper, getting an idea of what I want to have where. The site's a little larger than where I am now, and I'll have more room for things.
Did I mention in here that Jack got me a heart rate monitor for Christmas? It's a great thing -- a really thoughtful and good gift and I love it! It keeps me moving when I'm doing my morning workouts, and I can tell how well I'm doing with keeping my heart in its target zone and such. It also sets my mind at ease, knowing that my heart really is NOT going to just beat out of my chest when I'm exercising, that it's quite normal and good. Thank you, Jack!
I took down my Christmas tree and my outdoor lights today, packed them all into boxes, and took them to the shed on my new lot. I was encouraged by the warmer weather we had today!
And tonight, John stopped by with his dog Sam, while Jack was here. And all of us (except Sam -- sorry, Sam!) went out to dinner at Golden Corral! Good eats, good fun.
Did I mention in here that Jack got me a heart rate monitor for Christmas? It's a great thing -- a really thoughtful and good gift and I love it! It keeps me moving when I'm doing my morning workouts, and I can tell how well I'm doing with keeping my heart in its target zone and such. It also sets my mind at ease, knowing that my heart really is NOT going to just beat out of my chest when I'm exercising, that it's quite normal and good. Thank you, Jack!
I took down my Christmas tree and my outdoor lights today, packed them all into boxes, and took them to the shed on my new lot. I was encouraged by the warmer weather we had today!
And tonight, John stopped by with his dog Sam, while Jack was here. And all of us (except Sam -- sorry, Sam!) went out to dinner at Golden Corral! Good eats, good fun.
Sunday, January 02, 2011
Sunday
This was a fun day! We began with church, and it was freezing in there! It was so cold outside (below freezing this morning) that the church's heat pump was not functioning well, so we were all shivering. But the service was good and we survived.
Jack and I had a few errands to run after church, including getting me more gas for my two small gas bottles. I have one hooked up to my furnace now, because I ran out of propane in my big bottles. I had not had them filled since sometime in early 2010, so I am doing pretty well with that. I keep it fairly cool in the house, turning the thing to 56 at night.
We were off to our Pastor and his wife's house for their annual Open House and we enjoyed that very much. The most notable food was Rene's spinach dip, for which I'm going to get the recipe. It contained water chestnuts, I believe, which lent a delightful little crunch. I just love the people at our church, and it was fun to talk with them.
We got back to the park in time to pack up Jack's pot roast to go to another party with some other friends. This was a dinner with a rousing game of Aggravation, and we had a ball. We were celebrating, among other things, the arrival (finally) of Carol and Mike. They'd gotten stuck in a snowstorm in Flagstaff. Brrrr! I think that, after this few days of cold here (nearly a week now), we're all ready for warmth again!
And have I mentioned that I'm still exercising every day? I have now gone every day, without missing a day, since 11/15, and that's 48 days, I think. Yay, me!
Jack and I had a few errands to run after church, including getting me more gas for my two small gas bottles. I have one hooked up to my furnace now, because I ran out of propane in my big bottles. I had not had them filled since sometime in early 2010, so I am doing pretty well with that. I keep it fairly cool in the house, turning the thing to 56 at night.
We were off to our Pastor and his wife's house for their annual Open House and we enjoyed that very much. The most notable food was Rene's spinach dip, for which I'm going to get the recipe. It contained water chestnuts, I believe, which lent a delightful little crunch. I just love the people at our church, and it was fun to talk with them.
We got back to the park in time to pack up Jack's pot roast to go to another party with some other friends. This was a dinner with a rousing game of Aggravation, and we had a ball. We were celebrating, among other things, the arrival (finally) of Carol and Mike. They'd gotten stuck in a snowstorm in Flagstaff. Brrrr! I think that, after this few days of cold here (nearly a week now), we're all ready for warmth again!
And have I mentioned that I'm still exercising every day? I have now gone every day, without missing a day, since 11/15, and that's 48 days, I think. Yay, me!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
