Kung Fu Fighting

In his mixed martial arts class, Shay is learning to do the splits. Yikes....




And apparently he's learning how to be an armadillo!

Long Hike

A few weeks ago we went for an early Sunday morning flight in Steve's plane.
We headed out to the southeast, passing thru mountains and great stretches of desert. We decided that a mid-air picture of the plane would be cool, and the only way we could do it would be from a mountain top.

So Steve landed on a dirt strip and I hiked to the nearest mountain. Good thing I'm in shape, because it took quite a while to get to the top. It was windy, also, and that made the hike even more of a challenge.
I climbed up to about 4,000 feet, and Steve flew by so I could get this photo:




Pretty cool, huh?

Oh by the way I'd never climb a stinkin mountain to get a photo of the plane.
I'd just have a friend in another plane take the picture and then email it.

Havasu's Market on Main

We began at 11am, laying out the spaces for the vendors and of course I added my decor around the perimeter.



I even figured out how to decorate this trailer hitch so nobody would bonk their knee into it as they walked by:



Then the vendors began setting up, and we had a GLORIOUS array of items to choose from!









The wind blew all day, so we were sufficiently CHAPPED! And because of the wind, our vendors couldn't put up their umbrellas or canopies. Sunny and I had ours up, with a huge amount of weight anchoring them. They survived.
People asked, "Are we going to shut down because of the wind?" Oh heck no. The show must go on.

Wind or no wind, this Farmer's Market will be my home every week until the end of next April. I may utilize my space as a "V.I.P." area next week, so we have a comfy place to kick back. Now all I need is a couch...hmmm...

Hall' Ween

Last year we were Palin and Obama, this year we're Sister Mary and Baby Jesus.
But Jesus still hasn't worked up the guts to BE Jesus yet. I'm working on him.

My Halloween memories are far from pleasant, unfortunately.

I recall being poisoned when we lived in Arkansas. Someone put something in my candy and it made my face swell up for several days, and I was sick.

I remember being accused of stealing some kid's candy in Omaha, and I had nothing to do with it.

Once I was tripped by a friend of mine while we were trick or treating and it skinned up my knees and hands so bad I had blood all over my costume.

I volunteered in a Fire Dept haunted house, and a stampede of stupid teenagers pushed me, knocked me over and hurt my back really bad. When I began limiting the number of people who came in together, (to avoid another stampede) I got hollared at.

But guess what? I still love Halloween.

Thanks, Sue

Sweet Tea Vodka, it's not just for breakfast anymore.

My Friend Fieldy

This weekend I'm dog sitting one of my favorites: Fieldy. He's an aging Boston Terrier who LOVES to nuzzle and play.

The Internet, Explained

As I sit here cruising around the www on the laptop, Steve is trying to explain what the difference between the internet, MSN, Google, and Yahoo is. His dad is on the phone, and I can hear pretty much both halves of the conversation. I'm so glad I don't have to have that talk with my son. THANK YOU PUBLIC SCHOOL!!!

Clint Eastwood is Now Henry Fonda

Remember when Clint Eastwood first made you raise your fist in the air and shout "Yeah! Kick ass, Clint!!"

Well apparently that was some time ago.

For me, it was Unforgiven. I love the "speech" Clint shouted at the end of the movie, when he was warning the town folk about what he'd do if they took a shot at him. "All right, I'm coming out. Any man I see out there, I'm gonna shoot him. Any sumbitch takes a shot at me, I'm not only gonna kill him, but I'm gonna kill his wife, all his friends, and burn his damn house down. "

The First

This was the first Waffle House Steve ever took me to. Just outside of Tucson.

Not to be confused with the truck stop we regularly trek to, outside of Kingman.

World Finals Ghost Town

I meant to post this a week ago, as the boys were tearing down the World Finals site.

Remember this?



Two days later, it was this:



Really! The grandstands, the vendors, the people, all gone. That's the lovely reality of putting on events. They can take forever to get set up but the tear-down is tremendously quicker. Gotta love it.

Arizona Republican Women

Went to the Arizona Federation of Republican Women's convention this past weekend, and definitely had some ups and downs.

Ups
1. Meeting some new comrades, getting to see some old friends
2. Learning a little more about the political process
3. Our club won some nice awards!
4. Oh, the jewelry and buttons and stickers. Great shopping!!
5. Our governor, Jan Brewer, came to our luncheon and gave an entertaining speech.

Downs
1. The food sucked. See below.
2. The class that I attended was insulting. Really. If Shawna can say that something is beneath her, then it must be pretty bad.
3. The drive was over 5 hours. Actually it was over 6 hours. Sheesh.
4. John McCain was supposed to be there and he cancelled at the last minute.

So, here's the Tucson Hilton's idea of a $40 lunch. Seriously, I'm not exaggerating:



That's mashed potatoes in a cup and a bowl of tomato and basil soup. I added gobs of mushrooms to make it a little more exotic. And guess what the dessert was?
Those cookies, in the picture. Wow, $40 huh? I could've had the vegetarian chili as well but I don't trust other people's chili.

So. McCain. I was all set to grab him and get a few opinions from him. I wondered about his thoughts on certain political things. He had an appearance on Face the Nation or something and cancelled his appearance with us. So he called in and this nice lady held her cell phone up to the microphone so he could talk to us.



Not quite the same thing as having him in person. So he has scheduled a meeting with the Republican Party in my county, but guess what I can't go because I'm in class that day. Ug. What's a McCain stalker to do??

I took a photo with the other Republican Women Presidents from our County, we surrounded the incoming Arizona Federation President(Leona Johnston--whose claim to fame is being Sheriff Joe Arpaio's neighbor)



Here's our Governor, who is also a member of the Arizona Federation of Republican Women:



Her speech was actually pretty funny. She let her true personality come out.

Aaaah! The media was there!!



This is Ellen Albert, taking a photo during our "Caucus" on the hotel's patio.
What's a "Caucus?" We sit around and talk and eventually we vote on something that has to do with our district.



This is Sarah Markham, future President of the Lake Havasu Republican Women (as soon as she figures out how to pry the gavel from my cold dead hands.....haa haaa!)



This is by far the funniest campaign ad I have ever seen. Obviously this gal is a Rocket Scientist, and she's running for Congress. Holy cow it's funny:



I would give details about the educational seminar that I took during the convention, but you would be appauled and I would be embarassed. So I'll save it.

My Favorite Place

My favorite place is the BBQ Grill patio in the back yard. It has a beautiful tile counter for food preparation, and the smoker as well as the gas grill. I keep the little table and chair sets in there because the awning keeps the sun from damaging the chairs too badly.

But this is definitely the place I feel most comfortable. Good grillin, good smokin, and a beautiful atmosphere.