Relaxing compression.

So, life has been such a rush and so much crammed into such a short time period that Bill decided we would do a relaxing getaway weekend.  Ha ha! there is no such thing as a relaxing getaway weekend.
The proposal was to leave early Friday afternoon - around 2.30pm and go to Buckeye (West Valley on Phoenix) Pick up David, take him to dinner, be at the Temple site for the evening concert at 7pm, and to see the lights at the Mesa Temple (type Mesa Temple Lights in the search box and you will see the spectacular lights they have displayed there), take David back to Buckeye from Mesa, then drive back to Mesa to stay the night and attend the temple early the next Morning (Saturday) and on the way home visit Kohls Store to look at suits for him and then get to the Dentist and then on home.  The time factor alone was mind boggling.  Travel two hours from Prescott to Buckeye, one hour travel to Mesa, one hour at least for dinner, 30 minutes for the concert, one hour to just walk the Temple grounds viewing the lights, one hour to drive him back to Buckeye, then turn around and drive one hour back to Mesa to our motel - and that was just Friday!   Do the math - 7 1/2 hours if all went as planned and a total of almost 300 miles driving give or take before we could go to bed at the motel.  Not too inviting, not too relaxing.  What really happened was this - We left Prescott around 3.30pm+  and drove a little over 2 hours to Buckeye from Prescott, David decided he did not want to go to Mesa to see the lights but gave us a detailed tour of his new housing; so we drove about 5 miles to the nearest restaurant, ate, took him back home and then drove to Mesa to see the lights; missed the concert entirely, and then back to mid Mesa to the motel.
When we got to  the motel, found that there was lots of road construction so that took a lot of time to navigate and then we found the motel parking lot deserted.  Looked suspiciously like a Norman Bates type motel (anyone see Psycho with Anthony Perkins and Janet Leigh)?  Needless to say, I was looking forward to a very quiet night in the motel but they seem to have rented the room above us to a herd of Elephants who spent a lot of the night moving furniture around.  Maybe Norman Bates was upstairs - who knows?
The next morning we went to breakfast at the motel dining room with the usual waffle batter,boiled eggs, yogurt, milk, coffee, sweet breads, toast, jam, bagels and cream cheese.  The only thing I could eat in this spread was the boiled eggs.  Bill on the other hand had a feast.
We drove to the temple and attended a session there.  When we came out there were loads of people on the steps having a wedding picture taken.  Often we have thought (as a joke) to join the crowd and get our picture taken as well, but that did not happen.  They would wonder, afterwards, who are those people? where do they fit in the family?
Bill did not believe me when I told him that it would take an hour at least to get to the dentist in North West Phoenix  from Mesa.  He only allowed about 15 to 20 minutes - it really did take a little more than an hour because there was a traffic slowdown on I-17 due to a crash at Indian School road, so we were late to the dentist.  When we were finished there we found Kohl's store but he did not find the exact suit he wanted so we looked for a restaurant for lunch.  Saw a wonderful Vietnamese restaurant but my husband is not adventurous when it comes to food so we found a place that served stuff more to his Connecticut Yankee palate.  We also found D & I Beads - I have been there before - but when you have your husband with you, there is no such thing as taking one's time to look - so I had to go through the store at the "speed of light" and we left for Prescott.  All in all we traveled around 300+ miles in the space of 24 hours - oh yes, it was a change of pace I suppose, but certainly not relaxing.  I had envisioned driving to Mesa, eating dinner, seeing the concert and the lights and then going to the motel around 8.30pm and relaxing.  Life still is in a blender even when we do a "Getaway weekend".

Baby visit - the second day.

Saturday dawned early - babies have a habit of making things early.  I went in to see Sara and he was snuggling with his mother - and quite comfortable at that.
Bill went to the YMCA to do his exercise routine and while he was gone, Sara and I sat down for some serious family story and picture time.  We need to do everything we can to keep the family stories alive and passed along.  I wish I had been told more family stories than I was told.
At 10am we were all at the Prescott Public Library where we watched a performance of the Nutcracker by the girls who study at the YMCA school of Ballet.  August sat up and took note of all that was happening.  For a five month old baby, he was quite interested in the music - at times moving in time with the beat and the movement of the dancers held his gaze.  Bill and I had seen the performance at the Mall a week or so ago but a lady sitting behind us wanted me to take pictures of her grand daughter for her because we were in the front row - so I did and I missed a lot of the dance but got some great pictures for the lady.  This performance at the library was just for me to see and enjoy - no photography for other people.
After the performance, we wandered around the library - Sara was very interested in the library set up because that is what she does for a living.  While there Bill and I renewed our library cards - everything is so high tech these days - they even have a pin for access to their system.
Sara wanted to go to the library in Prescott Valley - it is the newest public library here in the area.  So we went there for an hour or two and then it was past lunch time.  We stopped at Golden Corral - a.k.a. Glutton's Garage - a smorgasbord of food selections and local hang out.
At last we were at home and the baby was able to rest a while.  We really ran his legs off this visit and he was not on any kind of a schedule.
At 6pm we were at the Church Christmas Social and we ate there.  By 7.30 we were at downtown Prescott trying to find the Safeway Christmas Dinner.  They were supposed to be eating at the Prescott Brewery Restaurant but when we got there they were nowhere to be found.  Just as we were leaving to return home, one of the hostesses from the Brewery came out to find us. She was Really glad that she found us and she proceeded to tell us that the Safeway crowd had been at PBR but there was not enough room for them all, so they left for Rosa's which is an Italian Pizzeria and Pub a few blocks away.  We walked down there in the cold but found the group, were welcomed warmly and found that they had already ordered food.  We had already eaten anyway but the wait staff offered appetizers.  I asked for the Shrimp plate and they were the most tasty things I have ever eaten.  Found out that the Pharmacy Boss is named John Cyr and that he is part of the Madawaska, Maine, Cyr clan.  We had a church member in Augusta, Maine, named Cyr from Madawaska.  I guess it is really a very small world after all.
We got home around 9.30pm and we all collapsed into bed.
On Sunday morning, we got up, ate breakfast and then off to church.  We had to leave right after the Sacrament meeting so that we could feed Sara her lunch, get the baby situated and then off to the bus to send them back to Nebraska.  This was a very sad parting to be sure, but it was really wonderful that Sara and baby could be with us for even this short time.

Sara and August visited us

It was supposed to be a surprise for me, and I do well with surprises - it is 'shock' that I do not do well with.  So Sara cooked it up with Bill that she would come to visit for Thanksgiving but we had a house full to say the least, so she came on Thursday 12th Dec and left today, Dec. 15.  I wanted to make it the most meaningful visit so we did wonderful things together.  One of the best things we did was go through the family pictures.  Many of them she has not seen and many of them she wants to have copies made for her collection. When I was growing up, we did not take many pictures - if we did, then they were few and far between and so my growing up years are not well documented and many pictures have been lost. That is what happens when a parent dies, a new spouse moves in, and all "meaningless things" get tossed.  So, on a trip home some years ago, my father gave me the salvaged photo's and they are treasures to be sure.  The stories that go with each picture have now been passed on and lives have been enriched.
On Friday, Bill had the morning off from work.  He and Sara went shopping. There are some things that always  need to be purchased for the baby.  One interesting thing is the baby formula.  The specific formula he has now comes in small packets that can be mixed with water and easily carried in the baby bag.  He seemed to go on a "food binge" when he was here and seemed to not be filled up.  So he went through two boxes of the formula.  For lunch we packed the baby up and off we went to the Olive Garden for lunch.  After that, Bill went to work and Sara and I went to the Family History Center Christmas Party.  We went home after that and rested.  We needed a rest.  At the Olive Garden, August found a friend in a little girl who is one year old and he was flirting with her.  He flirts with everyone but prefers older women.

Thanksgiving 2013 and 70th birthday

It is not every day one turns 70 years of age, but I did and it was a wonderful experience.

Well, I should back up a bit and say that I was very disappointed that David chose not to come home for Thanksgiving and also for Christmas and the New  Year.  All I could see was a gloomy holiday season without our son being home.  My hope was that he would be with us from Christmas to New Year at least with a couple of days for Thanksgiving. He told us that the people he lives with had decided to make Thanksgiving and Christmas a celebration connected with them moving into their brand new home.  At least that is the explanation that David gave.

So with such a gloomy prospect before me, I prepared to just sit at home and have no fun at all.

At this juncture, Roxana, Bill's sister called up and asked if it was still ok for them to come for Thanksgiving?  Of course it was ok.  Life looked a lot brighter in an instant.  She and her husband Gordon live in Seattle and they had their tickets bought for the trip.   A few days later I received a call from Elena, their daughter, telling me that she and her children would be here for the Thanksgiving celebration as well.  We only have a small house, but I thought that with enough floor space, we could accommodate the three of them.

In the meantime, my friend Mary from Maine called me to wish me a happy birthday.  We talked for a long time and it was very heartwarming to hear from her.  She has adopted a new Aussie Heeler to go with her Aussie Shepherd and both of these (herding) dogs, herd the 4 cats that she already has in the house.  She is also a foster parent to the stray kittens from the pound so she has a house full of critters.

Roxana and Gordon were slated to be at our home on Monday Nov 25, but Elena called and said that she was going to pick them up at the airport and take them to see some friends in South Scottsdale .  I thought it was a little strange that Elena should travel from Durango, Colorado, to Phoenix, to pick up her parents to help them not have to pay the shuttle fare up to Prescott.  It was only later that I found out that Elena and her daughter Tania had been in Phoenix for the week.  On the way up to Prescott, they stopped in Cave Creek and the four of them took a hot air balloon ride.  (a few days later a hot air balloon crashed in south Phoenix - I am glad that the family had a safe ride).  They arrived on Tuesday 26 November at about 2.30pm and then the fun began.  Elena told me that Daudi, her ex husband, was flying in to Prescott on Wednesday and would be bringing their son Reuben to stay for Thanksgiving.  Elena and the two children would be staying with a friend out in Williamson Valley, Daudi was to sleep at our home as well as Roxana and Gordon.  It got to be very confusing.  Roxana had a goal of baking the pies for Thanksgiving - 2 pumpkin, 1 Pecan and I made a custard pie.

Roxana is a big football fan so while the Turkey was cooking on Thursday morning, she watched the Greenbay Packers get sent packing by the opposing team.  What a disappointment that was for her.  Daudi left about mid morning to fly back to Durango to be with his mother for Thanksgiving dinner.  So when all the fixin's were finished, all 7 of us sat down to a Thanksgiving meal.

At 8pm on Thanksgiving night, Elena took Roxy and Tania and Reuben up to the mall to shop.  I would liked to have gone but was not invited so I stayed home and cleaned up the kitchen - it really was a mess.

Friday November 29th, Elena and the children left for Durango and Roxy watched more football or did Sudoku.  I sat and sewed more hexagons together, Gordon occupied himself on the computer and Bill was at work. 

Saturday Nov 30 was my 70th birthday celebration.  At 10am I went to Sharlot Hall Museum to pick up my Slot Canyon Quilt.  It has been wandering through a number of venues being shown with other quilts that were part of the 100 Quilts for 100 years celebration for the Arizona Centennial.  The kick off for the Centennial was in Prescott, the weekend we left for Salt Lake to enter the missionary training center in Provo in preparation for our mission in Maine.  For the year 2012 the quilt hung in the art museum in Tucson and we went down to see it hanging there when we got back to Prescott from our mission.  It then hung in the Sharlot Hall Museum here in Prescott for 4 or 5 months then journeyed over to Sedona to hang there till November this year (2013) and now it has come home from its travels and hangs in my home.  So I picked up my quilt and now it has an acid free box to sleep in should I take it down from the wall. 

We went to the bus station and picked up David.  Jim was supposed to put him on the 8.15am bus but he put him on the 7.15am bus so David came home earlier than expected.  He occupied his time talking to Gordon about computers and managed to talk Gordon into giving him the tablet that Gordon had been using for reading books.  Gordon had already given an Acer computer to Tania so that she now has her own computer and does not have to use her mother's computer.

In the early evening we went to Red Lobster where Roxana treated us all to dinner - which was my birthday gift from her and Gordon.  We left there and went to Prescott Fine Arts theater to watch a concert being given there.  It was a real tree hugger concert but rather good just the same.

On Sunday, 1 Dec. we all went to church.  Gordon and Roxy seemed to have enjoyed the services and I heard that David contributed a lot in the classes he attended.  We came home to Turkey leftovers and other stuff.  Gordon had been asking about genealogy and so he and I began a search of the Familysearch.org website and found his family there.  He was delighted and so I continued to work on it finding more people for him while Roxy made grilled cheese etc. sandwiches for everyone.  I did not get to eat because I was busy finding people for Gordon and I printed off all the stuff I found for him.  He  was so impressed with what I had done that he agreed that he would like to have a copy of Roots Magic genealogy program for himself, so I ordered one from Roots Magic to be sent to him for his Christmas Present.  Roxy became enamored with the flat griddle that I have and asked if I could get one sent to her for Christmas.  Found one on Amazon.com  and they delivered it by drone.  She found it early in the morning, two days after I ordered it and we know that it was not from the post man or the UPS man - it was delivered by drone. 

I received a phone call from Uncle Ivan wishing me a happy birthday.  I told him we were going to be in Australia next March and he said we could not stay with him due to Aunty Jean being so ill.  They are in their mid 80's.  Pam also called me.  I asked her if we could stay with her and she was not too happy about that, but said we could stay there.  It will only be for 2 or 3 nights, then we are off to Perth for a holiday for 5 days then come back to the States.

Bill went to work on Monday morning and I put Roxy and Gordon on the shuttle to Phoenix to catch their plane back to Seattle.  David wanted to eat Chinese so we went out for lunch, did the rest of his Christmas Shopping and then I put him on the shuttle back to Phoenix.

All in all we had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday but the best part was a couple of days later when I received an email from a person I knew in Japan - have not heard from or about him for 41 years but I was directed to Find a Grave website by a genealogist friend, where a memorial note was left for his mother who passed recently  and there was an email address there so I wrote to it, and now I have been able to make contact with my friend of a long time ago because his brother left a memorial for their mother.  I had looked all over the California Birth, Death and Marriage website, checked the Social Security Death index to see if he was still alive but no luck.  No wonder, he now lives in Australia, of all places.  No wonder we could not find him.