Happy Birthday Mom!

"As a child, you walked before me,

To lead by example.

As a teenager, you walked behind me,

Looking out for my back
And being there when I needed you.

As an adult, you walk beside me,

So that, as two friends,
We can enjoy life together."

~Author Unknown

Thank you for always being there.
Happy Birthday Mom!
We hope you have a wonderful day!

Love,

Us

Happy Valentine's Day!

Cameron came home yesterday from school with all the "fixins" from his Valentine party. The decorated white lunch sack with oodles of hearts glued to it. 30+ perforated valentines, (Sports theme was the popular choice for boys, Hanna Montana and Barbie for the girls) with his name and the giver's name neatly written on the outside, folded over and attached with the accompanying heart sticker. Some of the more treasured came with candy or a pencil. More candy than pencils. A lot of candy. Their activity for the party? Valentines for their parents. Love it. Here was Cam's below. It looks like they were attempting Haiku. (The 5-7-5 is neatly written in the left column, and it says haiku at the bottom). Nonetheless, the valentine poem was beautiful. And of course I cried. No surprises there.

And just in case you're having a hard time reading the poem, it says:

Parents are so special.
They make me learn and laugh.
I am grateful for my parents.

This morning Bryan got home from work early and had grocery bags ready to make us breakfast. Such a nice treat for a Saturday since he usually doesn't get home until after noon. It was fabulous. Cameron gave us each a valentine he had made. Yay! I was lucky enough to be one of the recipients of his 2009 handmade Valentines mentioned in Wednesday's post. So beautiful. He had also engaged in a couple of projects with Grandma 'Nise and presented those to me this morning as well. A bowl that he had painted and a necklace that he and grandma made. Normally Bryan and I don't exchange gifts. I consider Valentine's day just another day, and yes, somewhat of a Hallmark Holiday. I love you's are said everyday. Numerous times. It's that simple. He is my valentine everyday. Okay, enough of the cheesiness. Cards, sometimes little notes left around the house in various spots or notes on the mirror written in lipstick exist on Valentine's day. And maybe a can of Redi-Whip every now and then. Too much information? Probably. Anyway, he surprised me this year with a watch, he figured it was either Valentine's Day or our Anniversary next month. My watch had seen better days, so sooner was better than later. It's beautiful. We've got a family dinner all planned out - steaks, sauteed mushrooms, asparagus, and garlic shrimp. I've got a fantastic bottle of wine ready to be savored, and there is plenty of firewood for a nice fire this evening. Not sure any restaurant could beat that, eh?

Happy Valentine's Day to all. Hugs and kisses from all of us!

Spring Teaser

The dog was barking at the front door the other day, big surprise, but I hadn't heard the doorbell or a knock. Then I saw the fluorescent green leaflet sticking through the door. It was a flyer for landscaping and I only know this because of the pictures of the lawn mower and the trees - the entire flyer was in Spanish. Irritating, considering we have a No Soliciting sign on the porch. Apparently this doesn't count? Anyway, the dog goes crazy, it scares the crap out of me because I'm working, and ... she won't stop until she knows the coast is clear. Okay, she's a good guard dog. At any rate, I check out the window, open the front door and grab the flyer that is stuck in the door, and of course it is pouring and because of the wind, I'm getting wet standing under my front porch. I happen to look over at my potted gardenia, and lo and behold ... the dang thing bloomed. Who woulda thunk it? After all my griping about the cold weather and frost! (See Wednesday's post in case you missed that one.) Apparently it wasn't enough to slow this puppy down! Yay. And I could smell it! Double Yay. Can't wait for the rest of them to bloom also! I hate the yards during the "winter". Everything is cut down, all brown, and no color. (No ... it's not always like that, smart alecks. We may be in Arizona, but it's not like our house is stuck in the middle of the Sahara.) Now if only the sun would just come out a bit, and warm things up a bit, we'll be back in business. Anyway, this was a nice little ray of sunshine on an otherwise highly irritating moment!

Pure Sweetness

Is there anything more wonderful than
handmade Valentines?

You know it's cold in Arizona when ...

Bryan has to wear his down ski parka to BBQ in.

Seriously folks. It's cold here.

What up with that?

Even more seriously,

yeee-eesssss ... we own coats,

and yeee-eesssss we wear them

because it still gets cold.

Granted, I literally have to DUST them off,

but we do own them.

And wear them.

It’s been FREEZING in the morning!

No, we don't have the luxury of snow days,

no, Cameron will probably never experience

the "waking up for school at the butt-ass crack of dawn

to listen to the list of schools closed for the day
being announced on the radio."

But he does own a coat.

Because it does get cold.

Temperatures the past few mornings here have been in the 30s

and there has been frost.

Our fountain was frozen.

AND ... the temps aren’t expected to warm up much either ...

the highs range from 57-62.

Brrrrrr.

That's cold.

For us.

No, we're not running to the mailbox

eagerly waiting for

"Thinking About You In Your Cold Climate"

or

"Hoping Things Warm Up Soon"

cards,

(Does Hallmark make such a thing? Surely they do...)
especially from those of you experiencing

true winter conditions.

But we live in Arizona.

If we wanted cold weather like this,

we'd move.

Why do you think we have Snowbirds?

These temps are WELL below our normal for this time of year,

which should be in the low 70's.

And did I mention the rain?

It's been raining. A lot.

And hard.

A couple of days of it is nice.

Makes me feel like I'm back in Oregon.

But not more than two.

Because I'm not back in Oregon.

So just to recap:

It's cold. Really cold.

Now ... a little sympathy?