Pinnacle Peak

I took the day off from rowing and went for a hike with Matt instead. We hiked Pinnacle Peak. The cactus are blooming and the Ocotillo's are all green. I took my camera today to fullfill a panorama photo assignment. I think I had a bit to much light but nonetheless I think I demostrated my ability to meet the assignment.

Stumptuous!

Today I had a sculling meeting with a new club that I joined. I was given a sample training calendar and grimaced at the 3 days listed "Weights". Sure, I definitely know the benefits. Afterall, I was the thinnest, strongest and most healthy when I pumped iron at the MSU weight club many moons ago. But as the years went by, my weight training regime became obsolete. I do know that I need to get back to weights if I want to become a better sculler. One of the girls mentioned the website Stumptuous.com . I've been sitting here reading it and it is refreshing, funny and motivating. This chick (Kristi) cuts right to chase. I especially love her "crap list". Girlfriends--give this site a read. If anything it is funny--and maybe it will give you that motivation you're looking for to do what we all know will make us stronger now and as we creep into our golden years!

Rowing the New Boat

Matt went with me to Tempe Town Lake to check out my new sculling shell. He snapped a few pictures for my blog. I’ve decided on a boat name and am going to get it printed on vinyl sometime soon. I’ll let you know what it is after it’s on my boat. I’m really enjoying sculling on my schedule and in my own boat. When you’re concentrating on each stroke, all the little worries of the day disappear.

A New Home for the Element

Our Honda Element was getting sad and lonely sitting covered in our driveway. We seem to always be driving the Insight around town as it gets great gas mileage. The Element did pretty well for a small SUV but we felt another car would be more practical. A nice, young, hardworking couple with a little boy purchased it. We met them at their bank and exchanged title for funds. I think they are quite happy with getting a like new vehicle that will get much better mileage than the vehicle they had.

On the way home, we stopped and put a deposit down on a Honda Fit. They've been around in Europe as the Honda Jazz. Honda just "rolled them out" yesterday. Of course, the dealerships only have one or two and not with what we want on it. So we just test drove one and left a deposit. We should see our new Fit sometime mid-May.

It was kind of sad to drive away from our Honda Element. I really liked it. However, selling it to nice people made me feel better.

Spring in the Desert

This is the time of year where the cactus are blooming and it's starting to warm up.** Our winter visitors leave town, we start to set our alarms clocks to get up before the sun and put the sunscreens back on the windows. We'll start getting phone calls from our friends in cooler places who think we must be sooooooooo hot. It's the same cycle every year. To be honest--I have to say that I've really enjoyed the great weather we had all winter long and am looking forward to staying inside and focusing on some work projects this summer. I'll still be outside but very early in the morning and in the evenings. I'm also looking forward to early morning rows at Tempe Town lake ( I get my new sculling shell this Tuesday).

I've had my Aunt Jill & Uncle Steve in town over the last month. They just left today --but we'll be seeing lots more of them when they come back Arizona in September to move into their new home (they bought a house in Mesa). With them here--I'm sure I'll be seeing more of my cousins and family then in previous years. So here we go into the dry hot summer but in our nice cool house. Hope everyone enjoys their Summer!

**For those of you that think we're hot today-- well, we're not. It's a beautiful 75 degrees with breezes. Sculling on Easter morning was great!

I Need YOUR Creativity!

It's been quite some time since I posted to this blog since I've been posting to So Say We All (There's a cool dolphin photo on that blog). I'll try and post to both places just to keep those that have this site bookmarked happy.

This blog is to ask for some creative help. Most of you know that I've been sweep rowing and sculling for over a year now. My favorite is sculling--which brings me to your ideas. This month my NEW sculling shell will arrive at Tempe Town Lake. It's a Maas flyweight and is an open water, racer type shell. While I'm waiting--there's a few things I've been thinking about. First, I opted for a plain white shell so that I could create my own hull and oar design. Second, I'd like to name my boat. That's where I'm stuck. It can't be to "girly" of a name and it should be something to do with being on the water, sculling, and it shouldn't be anything like "sea turtle" as that would imply that it's not a FAST boat! It would also be cool if it was a graphical name. In other words, my hull and oar design could match.

So my friends... got ideas? I'd love to hear them. If I like it and choose yours, there may be a special "Thank You!" gift coming your way.

p.s. "Smoke on the Water" is already taken by one of my sculling instructors. He said it's going to be hard to top that ... I take that as a challenge!

New Kitty Clubhouse

The Diethelm kitties are so spoiled. From the moment “Brown” (a.k.a. UPS) dropped the box off they wanted to know what was inside. Sparky supervised the assembly. Pepper had to climb to the very top pedestal. She’s the Queen, so it’ only appropriate.

Maybe One More...

... blog. The thing I love about working on my Mac is...well, it's a Mac. Apple is always thinking of ways to make technology easy to use. I ordered the new iLife software with iWeb on it and within minutes I've got a new website & blog "So Say We All..." . What's cool about iWeb is that you can easily make a website with a blog AND podcasts if you want.

I plan to use "So Say We All..." (you'll know this saying if you watch Battlestar Galactica) as a travel blog. I'll test it out during our trip to New Zealand. So bookmark it and check for pictures of sheep, Hobits, more sheep, Dwarves, some more sheep and maybe an Elf. Or maybe you'll just see some really nice pictures of a beautiful place!

Cool Way to Find New Music

Matt & I were listening to one of his geeky podcasts Inside the Net on the way home from dinner this weekend and they were talking about Pandora. It's very cool. You basically type in a favorite artist or song and it will give you the opportunity to listen to similar artist and music types in your browser. Many of the artists may be new to you. You can refine your tastes by telling Pandora that you like it or not and build different music lists. You can also just click and buy from iTunes or Amazon etc. Go ahead...try it!

I'm Sold!

I'm in the spring cleaning mode and have decided to go for clutter-free, clean lines, light and bright. I have some odds and end furniture that's a bit chunky and more fitting for the Southwestern, Rustic decor... so today I decided to try Craig's List which is fee free listing site for local areas. I posted a nightstand with pictures and within 15 minutes of posting I had 5 gals that wanted to drive out and get it! So I let the first one that e-mailed me have first dibs. She was at my house in a half hour and she ended up taking the nightstand AND the chair pictured above ( I had listed after the table). I threw in some throw pillows and a lamp.

Also, before listing my nightstand, I responded to a guy that was looking for a nice futon. I sent him a picture of the one I have that is taking up to much space. He is coming by tomorrow. So I'm thinking this is WAY BETTER than a garage sale. People are coming to me and taking my stuff away and paying to do it!

So if you haven't had a chance to check out the Craig's List in your area--I highly recommend it!

New Year's Resolution

Happy New Year everyone! No pictures for this blog, just commentary. Sorry. Maybe I'll snap a picture later that will make it to the blog before the end of the day.

My New Year's resolution....well, I usually don't make a New Year's resolution because I find that the "lose weight" resolution is way to convenient and rarely attainable. However, this year I have one that I think everyone can relate to. I saw a segment on Rocketboom on "Freeganism". Basically, a group of extreme vegans who meet up outside grocery stores before the garbage trucks pull up and forage for still edible veges, fruits, and packaged foods that are just being thrown out. I witnessed them collecting Odwalla fruit juices that didn't expire for a couple of weeks. Those cost at least $3.00 for a small drink container! They also collected bags of lettuce, vegetables, fruit and baked goods that were still pristine in their packages.

I'm not willing to hang outside the local Safeway at 5:00 a.m. for free goods-- but recognize that Americans in general are huge "wasters". So my New Years resolution is to start "E-ganism". That means being less wasteful. I'll accomplish this by filling up a small "basket" at the store instead of a cart. Perhaps even walking the mile or so to the grocery store to limit how much I buy since I'll be carrying it home.

So there it is--an "E" New Year's resolution that's obtainable. Maybe you'll think it's worthy to add it to your New Year's resolution list.

Big 80 Birthday for Bud!

Tonight we went to my neighbor Bud's surprise Birthday party. I think he was expecting a quiet dinner out with his wife, Barbara, daughter Joan, her husband Kerry and some friends. Little did he know it was a BUNCH of friends, family and neighbors. It was a really fun party. We're especially grateful to have Bud (a.k.a. Leo Ryan) in our "hood". He's a spry 80--so I suspect this party is just going to continue. For you party attendees, I've uploaded some of the pictures on my home page. Here's the link to view the slideshow Pictures from the party.

Jr. Birdman

I always talk about what great neighbors I have... one in particular deserves some special attention. Yes folks, I have to deal with this character Tom who lives next door! Always willing to help out, even if he has to put on his happy face.

Hey, I warned you Tom!

So Lucky...

Ok...so I've uploaded the cute pet picture instead of what my Christmas cookies looked like after they were baked. I suppose I could of skipped a picture but I'm thinking the expectation level is there. All that blog pressure! I have to admit--after cooking 3 different batches of cookies and cleaning up after--I'm beat! So why even blog??

This is why...
While baking cookies and cleaning up, I thought about how lucky I am. Lucky to have nice neighbors, nice friends, nice in-laws and out-laws, nice husband, parents, a brother who lives close by and furry friends who all get along and make me smile.

2005 has been a year of great loss.... my grandparents, Tom & Mable, and a really nice neighbor, Jean. I've taken to my grandmother's rug hooks and feel her watching me as I try and finish her unfinished projects. My neighbor Jean hopefully was smiling when I used one of her big glass blown plates for cookie baking. I found it discarded in a dumpster outside her house after her kids cleaned it out. I know she would have gotten a kick out the fact that was I willing to dig through a dumpster to save something that she might have liked too.

It's the little things that keep the people we love close-- even when they're gone. I'm looking forward to 2006 but I won't forget those that won't be joining me and who meant so much to me.

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year to all my family, friends & neighbors. I'm honored to start a new year with all of you!

Finally, It's done!

This morning I FINALLY got to take a shower in my newly remodeled shower. The frameless glass shower door was put on yesterday and it looks great. I love that there are no rails to clean and it fits perfectly. I'm quite pleased with how my bathroom project turned out. The water flows right to the drain and no leaks anywhere. Plus with all the morning light flooding the bathroom this morning--reflecting off the glass--it was bright and cheery. Matt's quite happy that all my "girlie" shower stuff is out of the guest bath (which he's claimed for himself), however, I think he's wanting me to get going on my other projects so I can make his bathroom as nice.

Next up... Master bedroom floors and painting.

Last Morning on Bainbridge Island

This morning I was on Bainbridge Island, WA visiting my friend Mary. We hustled down to the waterfront to snap a bunch of sunrise photos. The boats photo looks almost like Mary's which is on her blog (see previous post for link) ... Probably because we were taking pictures in the same place. The flower pictures were a nice surpise. They turned out better than I thought they would. I'm amazed these flowers are still alive during the winter...can't imagine that will be for much longer! Thanks Mary for being such a good hostess. Had a great time!

Not Sure How I Did This...

I really like this picture and the funny thing is, I forgot what setting I had my camera at to shoot it. The color contrast to the white background makes this simple object on the Bainbridge Ferry seem a bit more interesting.

Ferries, Fish and Seattle

I'm visiting my friend Mary this week who lives a Ferry boat ride away from Seattle on Bainbridge Island. Today Mary, her Mom-in-Law, Donna, and I took the Ferry to trek around Seattle. We spent most of our time at Pikes Place Market. I still have a lot to learn about using my new camera... However, I managed to get in a few cool scenic shots from the Ferry and Pike's Market. Mary's got a pretty nice picture on her photo site as well. Check it out at {through-the-daze}

Beautiful Sunrise

I was rowing on Tempe Town Lake this morning and thinking how beautiful the sunrise was. I was wishing I had my camera in the bow and was able to take pictures as the boat glided on the glass like water with the brillant sunrise. Apparently, that view wasn't limited to just the Lake. Matt snapped some photos from our back yard.

New Camera

Last week I received my new digital camera. It's a bit more high tech so I've signed up for some digital photography courses this winter to learn to use all of the settings. I've been snapping some pictures and playing around with it. This is the time of year where we Zonies spruce up our porches with lots of flowers. My petunias are doing quite well in the cool evenings and warm winter days. It's the time of year where we like to remind our out of state family members and friends that we're quite glad we're here. The pink flowers are from the bouganvilla bush in one of my neighbor's yard that tends to grow over the fence into our yard. I complain about how messy they are to clean up... although they certainly are colorful. Then there's Sparky, sleeping really hard... he must have been dreaming of a big bowl of milk. He looks so cute with his tongue sticking out. Last, I'm lucky to have animals that like each other. My blue eyed kitty, Pepper & Sparky enjoying each others company.