Grateful

 

There isn't a day where I don't experience a wave of true amazement, gratitude. Oh that doesn't mean the day is all sunshine and roses. It does mean we can find good if we just look around. One of the frequent sources of those waves of gratitude is our travels. Places shown on television or discussed with friends come alive with memories from seeing in person. How wonderful is that! That drives me to want to see more.

Which is what we did last week. After decades living in the Valley, we finally visited Taliesen West in Scottsdale. How fascinating to see the surrounding area, the unique signature style of Frank Lloyd Wright, the school, which is ongoing. We learned why the ceilings were so low and his keen interest in Chinese art. 

Yes, I did not post last week. Bad. As predicted two weeks ago, we are very busy, just not in noteworthy style. We hosted a wonderful holiday coffee and have a couple more gatherings coming so there is time devoted to preparing for those. I also have a history of making Christmas gifts and, worse, waiting until the last minute to complete such gifts. Ah, 'tis tradition? Lousy one, yes, but here we are again.

It isn't all work. We went out to dinner with friends this week. For several years, my mother-in-law and I would take a day to visit Prescott in December. We wandered the Square and did a little Christmas shopping. We didn't stick around to see the lights illuminated at night, and I have been wanting to do that. Cross another item from the wish list. Our gracious friends went with Papa and I for the two-hour drive to have dinner at The Palace along the famous Whiskey Row. What an amazing "wild west" vibe and delicious food. Walking outside after dinner to see the Square bright with lights was awesome. We even saw Olaf!

Nine days until Christmas. With the calendar full of activities yet lacking anything noteworthy, don't be surprised if the next post isn't until the last Saturday of the year as we near New Year's Eve and reflect on 2023. Have a wonderful Christmas.

Busy, Busy, Busy

"Busy, busy, busy." That's a line from the Christmas cartoon Frosty the Snowman. The evil magician utters those words. The holidays sure are busy, and sometimes it feels like there's a little magic needed to get everything done, and guilt for being busy. 

The week started off wonderful for me, though. I had a delightful helper (aka granddaughter). We baked cookies and decorated the golf cart, traditional Christmas and grandma stuff. She decorated golf balls for Papa and me. I do believe those magic golf balls have improved my game.

One of my favorite memories of our children growing up was the Friday after Thanksgiving. No, we did not spend the day in the crazy Black Friday shopping scene. That day was spent going through all their toys. We sorted, organized and cleaned. We reminisced about when they received the toys. We were grateful for all the wonderful memories with them, and, in the spirit of the season, donated some of the gently used ones. See, if they wanted Santa to bring more toys, they had to have room. It was surprising how their letters to Santa contained shorter wish lists this way.

This week I saw a posting online about the three stages of "stuff." How true! So this week, there was a lot of closet cleaning and donating. It is so easy to accumulate too much stuff. That said, I was very happy to find my large covered cake container on the very top shelf of the cupboard. I don't use it often, but it is very handy for when I do. Christmas is one of those times, when I make a large double-or-triple batch of Chex Mix for holiday snacking. It's a great place to hold the finished product until I can get it all bagged and tagged for gifts. It has been five years since I made this. I didn't think my smaller kitchen would be able to handle such an assembly process, but it worked just fine.

Last week I worked on interior Christmas decorations. This week has been exterior decorating and OH the beautiful sunsets I have enjoyed while working on placing the lights and decorations. Plus, I did not realize the trees at the end of our street were havens for the loudest, most beautiful birds happily chipping away as the sun sets. I'm sure for our neighbors close to those trees, the sound may become overwhelming because it is constant and loud. For me, it brought a smile at the beauty of the sky and the accompanying music. Nature! Add a full moon and what a wonderful week.

I keep thinking things will slow down and we will get more activity in besides golf and short walks. Hopefully this week we will. We definitely will the following week because we have tickets to a long-awaited excursion. Meanwhile, let the holiday fun commence with parties and friends gathering. How blessed we are!

Celebrations

As predicted, this week centered around the Thanksgiving holiday AND an anniversary. Thanks to friends, both were celebrated together and beautifully. What a wonderful day we had on Thursday. So grateful.

Although there was lots of cooking and holiday preparations, we still had time to get out on the golf course a few times. It is so awesome right now. The cooler temperatures make playing golf so intriguing. Instead of focusing on how to stay cool, we can focus on the game itself. Now, you would think that would help us improve? Not yet, nope. Still working on it.

After the Thanksgiving festivities, it was time to transition to Christmas. Hard to believe it is only a month away. Decorations are in the works and should finish early next week. 

Hollister

A couple miles from old downtown Branson and the theater/shows/water park craziness is a peaceful oasis of Hollister. Honestly, this has been such a peaceful spot to stay for two nights! I would highly recommend it. 

The place is called The Old English Inn. The inside and outside feels like England. There is a lively pub on the main floor. The rooms aren’t modern and flashy. They do have all the necessary conveniences with character and quirkiness that transports you to a more relaxed time. 

Beautiful Easter Weekend

Perfect. Paradise. Beautiful. That only starts to describe Easter weekend 2010. To celebrate the holiday weekend, Papa and I decided to enjoy the gorgeous weather Saturday by spending the entire day on a bike trip around the East Valley. The highlights: enjoying brunch with our son and his fiancee and soaking up the beautiful flowers at the Desert Botanical Garden.

Training? Yes, we took a break from hiking but still stayed active. This week we biked approximately 75 miles and walked 13 miles. The next couple weeks we will be focusing on the 4.2 mile Pat's Run training. Then it's back to training for the Grand Canyon for the remaining six weeks.

Back to Saturday. The Desert Botanical Garden is always a beautiful place to visit, but in the spring it's exceptional. The wildflowers are breathtaking, the birds are chirping, the butterflies fluttering, nature is exploding with beauty. Words can't adequately describe but hopefully these pictures and the video below capture some of the wonder we were blessed to experience.

Saturday summary:

• 16 miles (bike)
  
• Brunch with son/fiancee
  
• 9 miles (bus)
  
• 2.5 miles (bike)
  
• 2 miles (walk-we covered all trails @ Garden)
  
• 2.5 miles (bike)
  
• 3 miles (light rail)
  
• 16 miles (bike)