Christmas at the Swensen's

Golfing on X-mas Eve Day

Andy booked an 8:43 tee time this morning......frost, believe it or not, kept us off the tee box until 9:43. No problem! It was beautiful golfing-not our skills but the scenery and the weather. We had our coats off after 3 holes. This was a gorgeous course and worth the money spent. I cannot think of a better way to spend December 24th. Can you?????? The pics are from the course,

A new hiking place

Sharon came at 9:45 this morning and we went on 7th street south by the Pointe Resort for a hike in the small mountain beside the resort. It was a fairly steep climb to the top and on our way down it started to rain. :-( I felt pretty cold by the time we made it back to her car but it was still fun anyway. Along the route we saw some hikers had definitely been in the X-mas spirit and decorated a cactus and tree along the way. That put me in the Christmas spirit finally. :-)

After the hike we stopped by to get Mark and we went for lunch at Costco. Big slice of pizza for Sharon and me and a hotdog for him. Cheap lunch and good to boot! Only three more days until Christmas...........only 39 more days until baby. :-)

Babysitting is tough work......

Especially when it is for two very active pups! Megan and Andy's friends Ann and Damien dropped off their little white fuzzy Bailey while they fly home to Iowa for the holidays. Since Megan and Andy are both at work we are babysitting the dogs today. I actually thought Sox was going to kill little Bailey, but was assured it was all in good fun. ???????? Oh well they have been together six hours now and they are both still breathing. Whew! They are both quiet for the moment so Mark is trying to take a quick afternoon snooze before WWF round two kicks in with the dogs.......

This and that.....

We leave tomorrow for Arizona. Mark and I are really excited to go. Mark gets to meet his granddog Sox for the very first time. I foresee him getting a rousing welcome from Sox, as Sox gives everyone a rousing welcome. We also look forward to seeing their remodeled kitchen and the progress being made on the new pool in the backyard. Sister Sharon had invited me to go hiking on Monday with her but then said we should wait until Wednesday because of this:

...A COLD LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM WITH UNSETTLED WEATHER THIS WEEKEND...A MUCH COLDER AIRMASS SETTLES OVER ARIZONA LATE TONIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY... UNSETTLED WEATHER WILL DEVELOP WITH A THREAT FOR SHOWERS EACH DAY....HOWEVER HIKERS... CAMPERS...AND MOTORISTS SHOULD BE AWARE OF MAJOR CHANGE TOWARD COLD UNSETTLED WEATHER.

:-( Oh well, it gets better after this system pushes through!

Matt had to leave Wednesday for Kearny, NE to take classes and tests for his appraiser license renewal. While sleeping at his hotel some apparent punks trashed his car. He was livid and I can't blame him. They took a crowbar to all his windows but they didn't shatter but all have to be replaced none the less. The small port window in the back door did shatter and they stole some CD's and a coat. His back seat is full of shattered glass and shards. The crowbar was also used on his door to try to open it and that was mangled all to hell, too. I feel so badly for him but I suppose worse things could have happened, such as an accident. I am sure they will never catch the jerks that did this. Some people's kids!! Geez.

To all my friends and relatives, wishing you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. See ya next year!

A very nice day for December

It was sunny today and actually above 50 degrees. I decided to make hay during this nice weather and went for a run of 5 1/2 miles. I will pay for that tomorrow, I am sure. I must remember I am no longer a spring chicken but will never concede to being an old hen, either! I was totally soaked with perspiration afterwards and have never worked up a sweat like that in December, other than maybe getting my credit card bill......

I have been trying to decide what to take to Phoenix for our trip. Sister Sharon said to think in layers.....you peel them off as the sun warms the valley. I did notice on weather.com that our first week in the valley will be in the low 60's. Hopefully it will warm up a bit the rest of our stay, but 60's I can live with!! I rented a car for our first week there so we will drive ourselves to Megan and Andy's on Sunday. Megan is taking the second week off so won't need to rent a car then. Will probably rent a car our last week, also. The Valley was made for shopping so I need wheels to get me to those great malls. :-) (Insert Mark rolling his eyes and reaching for a beer after that comment.)

Well, only 3 more days until we leave on a jet plane and I am getting quite excited. Ready to take Sox for a walk with Megan, ready to see Megan 7+ months pregnant and ready to visit with Andy and see their new pool, a work in progress. They also have a completely remodeled kitchen since I was there in October so lots to see there. Merry Christmas everyone!!!

A week-end in Omaha

Mark and I left home yesterday to spend the week-end with Matt. He got us FREE rooms at the Marriott through one of his fitness clients and the hotel is just beautiful. Beats the Super 8's we had stayed in before. It is nice to have "connections"!

Matt was working when we arrived around 3 P.M. so we went to Westroad Malls to kill some time and money. :-) Actually, we got out of the mall quite cheaply: 6 pairs of men's briefs at half price in Penneys. Normally we would not drive all the way to Omaha for Mark's briefs but since I failed to pack him any it left us no choice. One can never have too much underwear....or is that shoes and purses???

Matt arrived at the hotel around 5:30, we visited for awhile and then walked down to the hotel's steak house. All three of us had their special, all the prime rib you could eat. It was a delicious meal. Following dinner Matt took us on a Chirstmas lights tour of the "better" residences of Omaha. We went to Linden Estates and Bennington Lake. Most homes started at one million dollars and it was truly amazing. Such wealth....and lights! The home included in thispost was one of the "cheaper" ones. Unbelievable.

He is working today and should be here in an hour. We are going to Cabella's then out to an early dinner at Texas Roadhouse and then to the Quest Center. Matt bought us all tickets for the Creighton vs. Xavier BB game tonight, so that will be fun.

We will be driving home tomorrow.

Only two live plants left......

I have been trying to eliminate my "live" plants in our home. I figure that when I am in AZ Mark will not have time/remember to water them. I don't do such a hot job myself so I cannot expect him to care for them! I couldn't toss out my two favorites though. One is a Christmas Cactus and it is blooming right now. I am glad it is doing it a bit early as we will be gone for 3 weeks over the holidays and I was afraid I might miss out on these lovely blooms. The second picture is a bonzai from the Peterson clan in memory of my mom. I love this plant, worry that I will kill it, etc. So far, it is still alive..... If I can fit them in my car in the spring when I leave they will go with me.

Another November "first"

I just ran outside, IN SHORTS on November 28th in Iowa. I am positive I have never done that before. In fact, I usually stop running mid-October and begin doing taebo or chicometrics indoors. I hate to have to say it, but the naysayers on Global Warming are dead wrong. Each year gets weirder weather-wise. Now tomorrow is an entirely different story, but today was just remarkable. Almost 70 degrees which breaks the record from 1941. I know Global Warming is very harmful to our earth but it sure felt great today. :-)

That was the fun part of my day. Now we have to go unclog our septic tank, pipes, etc. After the holidays it started acting up and now Mark had to borrow the "tool" from our plumber and blow it all loose. A most unpleasant task. I will leave that to Mark and will fix him a cocktail and nice dinner when he gets it done. :-) Actually, we are going to grill chops so he will have to do that, too. I am beginning to see that Mark is not going to be all that "lost" without me here when I go to AZ.....

Camry named car of the year

This is great. It makes me feel really good about our car purchase!
Motortrend car of the year

Talking turkey....

The bird is in the oven right now. I always prepare it the day before, carve it, put in crock pot and cover with chicken broth. It makes for the most wonderfully moist meat on Thanksgiving Day and it is one less headache preparing for the rest of the meal on Thursday. We will have the traditional meal including mashed potatoes, gravy, sage dressing, veggie casseroles and pumpkin pie. Guests will include Matt, Kevin, Katie, Dan, John, Amanda, Lee and Sarah and her friend...can't think of his name. Matt maybe?? :-) Anyway, I'm preparing for 11 people. Happy Thanksgiving Day to daughter Megan and hubby Andy. Wish we could all be together tomorrow. Oh well, we will celebrate Christmas in Phoenix so that helps a great deal! Happy Holidays to all my family and friends.

Painting and cleaning.....

After painting several rooms at Megan and Andy's new home, I decided my old home could use some of that same brightening. I am also cleaning all the carpets. This house is like a Pacific Ocean of carpeting so it is a monumental task. All I have left is the basement and our bedroom, which is more square feet than I already have done!

My walls were mostly white /offwhite so I decided to go a bit darker. I chose "Bamboo" for the main area. It is a deeper tan but in some lighting it does have a hint of pink to it, but not too bad. I like it. Our bedroom was done in "Nacho Chip" which will take some getting used to....at first glance I thought it looked like a baby's diaper after eating too much pureed squash. :-( It is growing on me, though and I am not going to repaint it. :-) At least Mark will have clean carpets and freshly painted walls when I leave to be a granny nanny!

Political humor

Here is a funny YouTube video from the one and only Stephen.
Colbert on the dems win

Humor AND politics are my passion so from time to time I will post what I consider to be classics of both. :-)
P.S. My favorite YouTube videos so far, in no particular order:

Will Ferrel as Bush on Global Warming

Evolution of Dance

Sistah Love

Bea and Rock Turnin' On

Mama's Rap (Carol Burnett and Julie Andrews)

What a difference a day makes!

It is now almost a distant memory that Cyndy and I were sweating on the golf course this past Wednesday. Yesterday winter reared its ugly head and let us know that summer is officially over. Some places in Iowa had 9 inches of the junk. AZ is definitely looking more inviting today......

Iowa golfing in November....a first for me!

Unbelievable is the only way to describe Nov. 8th weather in central Iowa. The clothing we are wearing in the picture came off midway to the first green! Well, not ALL the clothing, but certainly the jackets. :-) I would have given anything to have been in shorts. Never dreamed it would get to nearly mid 80's when I left in the morning.

A school friend had sent me an e-mail telling about 1/2 price golf at Toad Valley near Altoona. I talked to Cyndy, she agreed to go and we were thankful we did! We had a great time in the beautiful November fluke weather. (Tomorrow the forecast contains possible winter storm warnings for Iowa!!) We were paired with two guys about Matt's age and we enjoyed golfing with them. They seemed to "appear" to have felt the same way. They were a bit apprehensive when they cursed after a bad shot,but we assured them that we have heard/said similar expletives while golfing so not to be concerned about that. :-) In fact, it was probably the next shot that I let out an un-lady-like comment! I am sure it was only once, though.........

Today is supposed to still be balmy, 65ish, but as I said it will all come to a screeching halt tomorrow. Oh well, not that long until a Dec. trip to the Valley of the Sun and seeing Megan 8 months pregnant! I am still excited, of course. I have gotten sick of hearing my sisters and brother always being called grandma and grandpa by loving grandchildren. It is time for us to recieve that special love, too!

Well, so much for playing hooky yesterday. Today I go back to painting the walls and if it gets warm enough I will rake leaves from the landscaping and flower beds this afternoon.

Our new purcahse

A new car is not a big deal to most people. But, to the Swanson's it is a very rare deal for sure. In our 32 years of marriage we have had only four cars. The Grand Prix was our last purchase which was nine years ago and 150,000 miles later! I have been researching cars for about a month and have had a yearning for the new Camry Hybrid on the market. Des Moines dealer told me it would be a three month wait for a Hybrid, as they are made only in Japan, shipped over here and sold out the minute they arrive. I was not willing to wait that long as we need it to drive to AZ for the birth of our grandson in January. On a lark yesterday I drove to Ft. Dodge Ford/Toyota dealer and they had the exact one I was wanting. White, fully loaded right up to the heated leather seats that I WON'T need in AZ. :-) I knew it wouldn't sit in the lot very long so they let me drive it back to the farm yesterday to show Mark and let him drive it. We both fell in love with it and bought it this morning. MPG are listed at 38 highway and 40 city, which is where the battery section kicks in the most. I also wanted the Navigation system, as I will be lost in the Valley driving around and know that this will be extremely helpful to us in locating Home Depots, restaurants, Babie R Us, etc. :-) It also has seven airbags virtually protecting everyone riding in the vehicle. Rated one of the safest cars for crashes and whiplash. We are going to try a new strategy of trading every 2-4 years, depending on mileage. The Grand Prix was a great car and caused us not one headache but with this Hybrid I cannot say that I will miss the old red flash!

Back in Iowa.....

I returned to the farm on Wednesday night, Oct. 25. Matt picked me up with my car at the airport and then we drove to his home. I drove in drizzle, cold and rush hour traffic through Omaha. It was quite a slap in the face weather-wise after being in Phoenix and 80+ weather for two weeks. When I leave to be granny nanny I will miss Mark much during the planting season but I will NOT miss Iowa weather. I know many people love Iowa weather, I just happen to not be one of them. :-) I did some shopping yesterday in Ames but other than that I have not been outside since I returned home. Sad....

The pictures show what Iowa looks like right now. Dead is the operative word. Dead flowers, dead tree leaves, dead corn and beans, deadly winds, dying grass. Other than that, it is really nice here. :-)

Catching up......

Since last posting......

Sharon and I hiked up Squaw Peak on Thursday morning. It was most definitely a HIKE! Going to the to top was a real challenge but very invigorating! We were both worried about the treacherous trek going back down but after that uphill battle, going down was a walk along the beach! The view from the top was worth every labored breath we took.

Friday I spent the day painting the guest bedroom while Andy and Megan were at work. That evening we went to a new sports bar in the neighborhood for dinner. That is one very nice thing I notice about being in the city....if you don't feel like cooking a restaurant is a stone's throw away as compared to driving 25-30 miles on the farm in Iowa.

Yesterday Andy's friend from work invited us all to tailgate with them and attend the ASU-Stanford game. The tailgating is quite different from a Hawkeye home game. Not very crowded! Of course, Stanford was 0-6 going in to this game and are now 0-7. I was sweating bullets sitting in the stands....another difference from an Iowa game. :-) We left at the end of the 3rd quarter to go to a sports bar that shows the Iowa games. That was another sad game for the Hawks. Of course, two of their losses are to the number one and number two teams in the nation so I must take that into account when assessing their season. Following that game's end we went to Oregano's for possibly the best bread and pizza I have ever had in my life.

Sunday brought on a walk with the dog and house cleaning. Now Megan and I are going to go to Babies R Us......I must buy "Buck" something at this store. Last night I bought a combo package of about four newborn outfits for him at Target. I am going to like being a grandma. :-) I didn't forget Sox, though, and bought her a package of rubber balls to chew on and toss around!

The pictures on the right are from the Squaw Peak hike, one showing Megan's law firm building to the right of the open-roofed Diamondback's stadium. The water is Tempe Lake right near ASU stadium.

A hike at Sharon's Terravita

Sunday Megan and I went for a hike with sister Sharon at Terravita. The first picture is a view from their home looking at Black Mountain. The house at the top is Goldie and Kurt's home. The second picture is the home of Michael Jordan's mother. The last two pics were from our hike and one of the golf course. It was another beautiful day to hike in AZ. Surprise!

The rest of this week I have been painting. I am making progress and should get most of it finished before I leave on the 25th. If not, I can finish in December when we return for Christmas. We will be here quite awhile when we do come, as we had to make reservations to depart for Phoenix early and the return late due to using frequent flier miles and blackout dates. I hope Andy doesn't get sick of us.....he might. :-(

This morning Sharon is picking me up at 8:30 and we are hiking Squaw Peak. It has been named something more politically correct now, but I cannot recall its new name and I happen to like "Sqauw Peak" so that is what I am going to call it! It is a pretty good climb so should get some much needed exercise today.

before pictures....

Megan and Andy are in the midst of having their backyard torn up to begin contruction of a swimming pool, grassy area for their future son and new trees, landscaping, etc. The area behind the wheel barrow will be the pool location. The area of the BB court and hot tub will all be grass, landscaping. It will be fun to see the new look when we come back in December.....if it is finished by then.

I took Sox for a jog this morning then kenneled her and have been painting since. Just taking a break..... :-) When you are retired it is required that you take several breaks during the day. Actually, not unlike when I worked.....

My travels...

I left home yesterday around 7:30 and drove to Omaha to meet Matt. He took me along for a home appraisal and I got to see what he does for a living. In my second life I want to come back as Matt.....the appraisal took around 30 minutes, he will go back and type it up (perhaps another 30 mintues) and voila, he made some money. Repeat, rinse and more money. I had a great time with him doing this and then we went to the airport for lunch and my early afternoon flight. He will keep my car for these two weeks and thus save me around $140 in parking fees. Thank you son!!

My flight was uneventful and actually arrived early for once. Sister Sharon picked me up at the airport as Megan and Andy were still at work. I met dog Sox for the very first time. She is MUCH bigger than I imagined and her hair is unbelievable....it is a beautiful red and lays in wave upon wave!! I am sure the mix of golden retriever and poodle showing up there. She was very excited to see two new people so Andy had to hold her for a bit. :-)

This morning I rode to work with Andy and Sharon picked me up there and we headed to Pinnacle Peak for a great hike. Up and down and quite vigorous. I have enclosed some pics from this morning's hike and also one of Sox. I am now going to start painting....the main thing I am supposed to be doing here. :-)

Perfect time to go to AZ!!!

I leave tomorrow for two weeks with Andy and Megan. It is supposed to be quite cold here tomorrow, in the 40's, so it will be awesome to go to Phoenix where it is upper 80's. Ahhhhhh!!!

I am going to help them with some painting projects they have left and after that I will play with their dog Sox, hike and golf with sister Sharon when time permits. Sounds like a great two weeks to me. :-) My first priority WILL be the painting, though, since that is why they are flying me out there. :-)

Mark finished harvesting beans last Sunday. It is always a good thing to get a crop out of the field. He had some problems with his old combine and had to spend quite a few bucks, but it is much cheaper than buying a big new rig! Hopefully he will start corn this week and have no break downs.....

Well, I am off to do some packing. Tanks and shorts are my top priority.......

Colors of fall in Iowa

Cyndy and I met at Honey Creek for 18 holes of golf today. It was another beauty, near 90, sunny and the course was awash in fall hues. The pics should give an idea of the beauty of the back nine at Honey Creek. I had a birdie, 2 pars and the rest were....a bit more than that. :-) Great day though. After golf we went to the local Mexican restaurant for lunch.

Mark is busy combining his beans. Our local elevator has been "condemned so it is awfully slow to haul the wagons to town and unload where they are hoping will work. A mess, quite frankly! Oh well, whatever it takes to get these crops out of these fields.