Monday, February 10, 2025

February Is A Special Month

 AJ, AZ   We had a couple of weeks of cold weather the end of January but February has been beautiful temperature wise. Highs in the 70s and lows in the 40s or 50s. The only problem is we have had no rain for months. They are saying we could have rain next Friday so I am really praying for that but we don't get excited about it until it actually happens.

I haven't been doing much except enjoying the weather and visiting with all the snowbirds.  We ended our birthday cake kit and it was a fantastic success. We had an assembly line going in the clubhouse to put the kits together and wrap them in saran wrap. I delivered 44 kits to the food bank and they were overjoyed to get them. 

 





For the month of February, we are doing something a little different. We are donating disinfectant wipes to a grade school in Mesa that put out a plea for help since there is all kinds of crud going around. You know that kids are germ magnets and school budgets are not there for those items. 

February has a couple of very special days for me. On the 3rd Elias turned 2 years old. I sure miss him but Todd sent lots of pictures and videos.  Michaela made a really neat hot wheels cake for him and also found the rocking motorcycle. She did a lot of work to clean it up and get it painted for him. 


 







Then on February 7 I went to the temple and attended two endowment sessions to celebrate my love for Jim. Being able to sit quietly in the celestial room I knew he was there with me and that he was learning and growing in the gospel even as I am so we can spend eternity together. He's been gone for three years. Sometimes it feels like yesterday and at others, it seem like so long ago. The rest of the day was spent quietly remembering my love and all my wonderful memories.


 

 


The "Girls" and I have another trip planned so look forward to a few posts with Pat and Marilyn. Speaking of the Girls - we had a movie night at Tacey's (Pat's granddaughter) house. We watched 80 for Brady. A fun romp that we could relate to. I fixed an apple crisp for a treat and I guess it turned out okay. They all took some home with them.


 The weather person is saying we will have rain this week. Hopefully not where we are going.

 

Sunday, January 12, 2025

A Water Leak, A Love Tree and a Cake Mix

 AJ, AZ  Our weather continues to be beautiful - highs in the 70s and lows in the 40s. But we are in desperate need of rain which is NOT in our forecast.

Great friends make this world a better place and Paul is one of the best. He is always willing to help me out when I run into a problem. This time it's a soft water thingie. I have one that quit working and I thought I could get by without having soft water. That is not a good thing with our really hard water. After I had to replace my hot water heater, I knew it was time to soften up that water. 

But before he started replacing the Water Boss, we had breakfast at the Bisbee Breakfast Club in Mesa. I did not know there were these restaurants anywhere but in Bisbee, AZ. It just became our very favorite place to have breakfast. 

And then the work began. I'm pretty useless so Paul was on his own.  He successfully removed the old one and started to hook up the new one. Turned the water on and oops - leaking around the connections. They need to be replaced. He also discovered that the hose I bought would not fit through the hole in the container the Water Boss sits in. So he is going to have to enlarge that. 

At this point he had been working for several hours and it was time to call it quits for today. He'll finish up next week.  

But before he quit, he was able to clear the clog in my shower drain. Little does he know, I'm starting another to-do list. Not really, hopefully. 

Winter seems to have arrived here in the Valley. We are under a freeze warning for the next two nights with lows at 33 degrees. Daytime temps in the upper 50s or lower 60s but at least we're not buried under snow and ice.

I stayed in most of the week. Trying to stay warm. Had a doctor's appointment.  Seems we do a lot of that as we get older. The doctor's staff decided they didn't feel like taking the Christmas tree down, so the made it into a love tree.


Paul and I went to lunch at Los Gringos and afterwards he finished hooking up my soft water. Of course, nothing ever goes easily or right the first try or the second try. After Paul left I discovered that there was a leak coming from somewhere. So Paul made another trip to my place and worked his magic on it. Thank you beyond words, Paul. 


Our park has been contributing to the local food bank for years. Jim and I took over the program several years ago and I continue to be in charge of it. This month I decided we should do something different. We decided to make birthday kits to donate.  These kits consist of an aluminum cake pan, a box cake mix, frosting, a can of soda, napkins and candles. This is my table.

If you're wondering why a can of soda, there is a reason for that.  As most of you are aware, eggs are in short supply and the price has sky rocketed. Even the food bank can't collect eggs anymore and the people they help cannot afford to buy them. So I found this recipe that requires only a cake mix and a can of soda. No oil or eggs.

I actually made one of the cakes to give people a chance to see what they tasted like. It tasted really good and was very light. I made a vanilla cake with a can of 7UP. 

On line you can find a chart that suggests what sodas to match with which cake mix. I included it here but it's kind of hard to see. 

My two favorite guys.



Wednesday, January 1, 2025

2025

        HAPPY NEW YEAR

 

2025 has arrived and our weather is beautiful here in Arizona. I celebrated last night by having a root beer float and trying to stay up til the ball dropped in Times Square.

I took this picture a few days ago when the sky was this beautiful orange color as the sun rose on another day.  

 


May 2025 be an outstanding year for all of us.