AWOL??? How many times can one go "AWOL", before having to give up ones blog???
My last entry was October 29, 2008...WOW! At that time I was saying we weren't going South for the Winter...Was I ever wrong!
About a month later I got a call from one of my brothers-in-law asking, "Where are we going this Winter?" I told him I thought we were going to stay home this year and he informed me, "That was before it got cold and snowed two inches in Spokane."
So I got on the computer and started looking...Florida is a long flight, and even longer drive from Spokane for them, and there was a hurricane in Galveston, TX, which was the place we'd once talked about going, so I started looking in Arizona, which is a favorite place of his anyway.
After many phone conversations with both him and his wife, (my step-sister, Sharon) we found a place agreed upon it and started making all the necessary arrangements.
This brought up sort of a problem...my granddaughter who used to watch our house and dogs for us got married and moved out of the house...what to do...what to do???
As I was batting this query off a friend, all of a sudden I thought of a friend of the families who is still in college and thought might be a candidate for such a job.
As I was on my way to have coffee with my daughter at the time, I ran the idea past her, and she followed up on it, as the person in question (Karen) is a better friend of hers than mine.
It wasn't long before Karen called me and wanted to come over and talk it over. (GREAT!)
Karen's only problem was the fact she and a friend (Brenda) had just signed a lease with the college to share an apartment, and the next day was the last day they could break it and get their money back...also, she hated to leave Brenda "high and dry" as Karen had been the one to talk Brenda into the apartment deal in the first place.
So I asked Karen some questions about Brenda, and going with what she said, I offered Brenda my guest room...The girls returned the next day to visit, and accepted my offer. (FANTASTIC!)
I started packing! It was easy, as I wasn't using my summer clothes by this time anyway.
But there was lots to do. We had Thanksgiving with my kids the Saturday after, then began planning on our Christmas together for Dec. 15...I'm not the greatest shopper, so I had to put it into high gear...stacking all the gifts on the dinning room table, waiting for wrapping...got it all done just in time to set the table for Christmas dinner! It was a great time, and the only ones missing were my oldest granddaughter and her husband...but they truly had a good excuse. My son who is the police detective was called out, so nearly missed it, but arrived after the gifts were opened.
We left for Arizona at 11:00am the next day. I was trying to get out of town, and out of Kansas and through Oklahoma before the ice storm hit us. It didn't begin to get bad until just North of Ft. Worth, when we ran into some freezing mist. We forged ahead, going West and didn't stop until we were on the West side of Abilene, TX. When we got situated in our motel and turned on the TV, we saw pictures of cars skidding into each other and off the road in Ft. Worth. (God was certainly with us, allowing us to keep ahead of the ice.)
The next day was an easy drive into Tucson...we arrived in the 5:00 pm traffic.
Now when I say easy drive...that means we had no trouble. We stopped only for gas and bathrooms, as I had packed the ice chest with food, and made sandwiches on the road for each meal so we wouldn't have to spend a lot of time in restaurants.
We called John, and met us a few blocks from the condo, as we would never have found our way in, had he not. When he came down, he was on the phone with the lady who oversees the condo, and verbally led him in.
The next four days John was the perfect host to us, driving us all around the country side. We saw Tombstone, Bisbee, Douglas, Si era Vista, No galas, Benson, McNeil, and all points between.
(Was I ever glad when he took the 5th day to go golfing...Although I appreciated the guided tour, I'd been in a car pretty much for 6 days straight!)
Rhonda, my daughter, arrived the afternoon of Dec. 26. We saw a wild life museum, botanical gardens, the zoo, the Gates Pass, plus did some antique stores...it was great having her here.
On Dec. 31, Rhonda left, and Sharon arrived. Our favorite things to do are checking out the antique stores both in Tucson and Bisbee, running our errands, grocery shopping, going to Walgreen's (there's one about every mile or so) and doing the laundry, cooking and cleaning together. We've been in the pool a couple of times, but, although the pool is heated, you have to get back to the condo when you're wet and we're wimps.
I found an amazing shop in Bisbee. The woman, Kate Drew-Wilkinson is from England, and is a glass bead maker. I was very taken with her and her shop, and was especially excited, as she used bits of stained glass to make her beads, which is what I have been wanting to do. I bought two of her DVD's, and after watching them, am making stained glass beads in my sleep. It is my desire to turn my sun room into a shop when I return to Kansas and get into the business.
We've looked at a lot of property with Sharon and John, as they're interested in buying a Winter home down here. We've found some really nice places, some really "quaint" places and some not so really nice places.
So that brings me pretty much up to date.
I know this was long, but since I'm not convinced anyone is reading it anyway, that's entirely OK.
