Coincidence or Fate?

We moved into our new house 2 weeks before Christmas. Moved from a perfectly nice house in Chandler to a great house in Tempe. Our reasons for moving were many and varied (more about that later.)
I love our house. I haven't lived in Tempe in 24 years and oh how nice it is to be back. I love everything about our new neighborhood. The neighbors are very nice and visible and friendly. A mixture of young families, retired people and empty nesters. Leah and I take bike rides (never did in Chandler) and we walk the dogs. I sit on the patio and bask in the glory of our pretty new yard (never really did that in Chandler either.)
But here's the kicker.
As you know our daughter is adopted. On Saturday, whilst out front with the other neighbors watching the kids ride their bikes, I discovered that there are 3 other adopted kids on our street. Yes, a grand total of 4 sweet adopted kids on one street. Actually the other three are only two houses away.
I believe that at some point, Leah will find comfort in having friends that are also adopted. I think it will make her feel less "different". And she will have friends to discuss things with if she needs to. So knowing there are 3 other kids on our street who are potential friends and confidantes is very soothing to me.
It's so good to be home.

Cindy McCain

For some reason Cindy McCain bugs me. I'm sure she's a perfectly nice person but she irritates me. Maybe it's the retro Barbie look, maybe it's the seemingly unlimited supply of St. John knits. Today after the Inauguration ceremony, they showed her and the Senator arriving at the luncheon and she immediately checked her Blackberry. Now maybe there are extenuating circumstances that we're not aware of. Maybe she's waiting to hear from her doctor about a kidney/liver/heart transplant or maybe she's expecting a call from one of her children but quite honestly, what could be more important than the inauguration??? I don't go to many galas or balls but isn't participating in inaugural events pretty much the pinnacle no matter who you are?

The Greatest Generation

My aunt Pauline who is 99 years old called me yesterday.
She lives in South Dakota and is first generation American from German parents. She is conservative and always votes Republican. She has not ventured too far away from Long Lake, South Dakota although they lived in Oregon for about 20 years. She loved her husband til the day he died and I'm sure she wishes he was still with her.
I doubt she has ever been near a computer, she doesn't blog, tweet or google. I'm sure to her, President Obama is a curiousity and his age more than his race is a concern. But yesterday when she called she commented on the inauguration and she said about Obama "he has a very pretty family." You know why I like this so much? I know she is unsure about him as a president but as an older American she knows she needs to speak well of our President and she also wanted to say something nice about him because she knows I voted for him. It makes me love her even more because she's trying so hard to be generous and diplomatic. That's how people of her generation are. Maybe the rest of us will start acting like that now that we have optimism and new leadership and ... hope.

A Tiny Suburban Miracle

Saturday morning I did our weekly grocery shopping at Safeway. I’m using coupons and discount offers as much as I can these days. I grabbed my grocery cart clutching 4 coupons in my hand along with my list. Thirty five cents off any brand of Chef Boyardee pasta, 20 cents off frozen corn, 30 cents off children's Triaminic cold medicine and 20 cents off my favorite key lime yogurt.
I started in produce and made my way through the store. By the time I hit aisle 4 -- cereal -- I noticed that I was missing the Triaminic coupon. Darn. I didn’t want to waste time searching the store so I vowed to visit the Triaminic web site later to see if I could find a discount offer. All in all, I saved $11 with the remaining coupons and my frequent shoppers card. Not bad.

Sunday afternoon I made some baked beans for a side dish for dinner. Barbecue sauce is a key ingredient and we didn’t have any. I dashed to Safeway to pick up the missing ingredient. I headed directly to the condiment aisle past the ketchup, mustard, salad dressing and stopped at the Barbecue sauce. I reached for the Safeway brand (2 for $3.00) but then noticed the Cattleman brand (2 for $5.00). I picked up a bottle to scan the label and something on the shelf caught my eye. Yes, right there next to Cattleman barbecue sauce was a precisely cut coupon for 30 cents off children's Triaminic. My coupon.

I love thinking about this series of events. Someone picked it up and put it on the shelf and more than 24 hours later, before they could restock, I found it.


Almost like winning the lottery…sort of…

Reservation Dogs

Woke up this morning and it was just like any other Sunday. Lazy, sunny, errands, laundry and catching up. Or so I thought.

This is the scene on our couch tonight at 7:00. We stopped by PetSmart just to look. Now we have 2 dogs. Roxie and Daisy. By way of the Fredonia Dog Rescue. Sisters picked up on the reservation. Supposedly lab mixes (personally, I think they have a little coyote in them!)

We changed their names from Carly and Echo. At first we were only going to adopt Carly but they were so sweet together and we didn't want Carly (aka Roxie) to be lonely. Then the guy from the rescue said he'd give us both girls for the price of one. Buy one get one free.

So after a home visit... yes, two of the volunteers followed us home and checked out our house. We had to put up the pool fench and reinforce the gate. We have to promise to let them sleep inside in a crate. And when 100 degree temperatures roll around we have to have our doggie door installed so they can come in and cool off. The volunteers did not just come in and leave --- they were here for about 30 minutes checking the fence and asking questions. I wanted to say "hey, we adopted a child, I think we're a safe bet."

Tonight they are great. We'll see about tomorrow when the patio furniture is chewed beyond recognition and the neighbors are threatening to call the police because of the barking. But how can you not love these girls ... all three of them.

Resolution Central

1. Never again will I buy clothes while on vacation. You know how it is. You're having this great time and you want it to last forever so you buy something to help savor the memory. It's always a bad choice. Always.

2. Get at least 7 hours of sleep every night. This will be the most difficult. I get up at 6:00 so I need to be in bed by 11:00 every night. My evening is just getting started at 10:00.

3. Take my vitamins and supplements every day. I feel so much better when I take them on a regular basis. I must stay on track with these.

4. Be a better friend, mom, wife, sister-in-law, sister, daughter. Seems like I'm impatient with those I love the most. I never have time for the important people in my life. This year, I'll cheerfully make time. Yes, I will.

5. Overcome my addiction to mindless tv shows. I'm devoted to the Real Housewives of Orange County, Millionaire Matchmaker, Tori and Dean, etc. Are any of these people worthy of my devotion?

6. No eating when I'm upset, emotional, bored, tired, thirsty, sad, mad, grumpy or stressed. Reserve eating for only those times when I'm hungry. Duh.

7. Conquer the clutter. Magazines are meant to be read and then recycled. How many black t-shirts do I need? How many different colors and styles of flip flops do I need? And why do we need a dozen different kitchen towels and five different shampoos? Do I really need this many muffin cups?

Remnants of New Year's Eve

We hosted the New Year's Eve dinner this year. It started in 1999 and has been going strong ever since (with a short hiatus last year.)

I don't know about you but when we have an event at our house, I'm too anxious to take pictures so I only have a few and they are from the day after (sans guests).

I'm very proud of my tablescape. I wish I had the full table but we undid it before I had a chance to snap anything. In keeping with current trends, my decorations were sustainable, retro and very inexpensive.

This is the entry. It was much prettier at night with the candles in the bowl (Manhattanware). The palm branch is from our tree in the backyard.

Here's a photo (reneacted) of the table. I used the dishes that Lynn's aunt gave us. The pattern is "Anytime" by Vernon. They are circa 1950.

Lemons from our tree in our new, fabulous backyard. Hate to admit that I bought the limes from Safeway, but I thought we might use them in our beverages (sustainability!!!)

The chargers were a Christmas gift many years ago from my friend Jill. They so fit the sustainable/green theme, don't you think? They are wicker (from IKEA.)

Last picture is my foot. I greeted 2009 limping about hunched over like a bell ringer in Notre Dame. I swear I did not over-indulge and I did not trip, fall or twirl in excess. One of my friends suggested gout. GOUT!!!???? I am 52, not 82.

I'm pleased to report that today I'm walking normally and the ace bandage is stored far, far away.

Happy New Year to you.