Oh How Time Flies

 I'm not sure why, but time is just flying by!!  One minute I don't know what I will do with all the time on my hands, and the next it's time to start thinking about heading south.  People think I'm crazy for going to Arizona in the summertime, but there's the reason for my madness.

Believe it or not, the summer temperatures are pretty much the same between central California and southern Tucson, partly because my little slice of life is at around 3500 feet in elevation.  The other MAIN reason is because you can actually afford to keep your house cool in Arizona.  Their electricity is less than half the cost of California, yet they provide better service.  Interesting how that works.

I really didn't do much yesterday, just hung out waiting for company to arrive.  I worked on this quilt a bit more.  As you can see, there was lots of indecision hanging on the wall.  I still have eleven squares to sew, so it's going to remain mixed up until I can figure out what layout works.

With weird overcast skies threatening rain, Cooper and I were able to spend some time outside in cooler air.  Calling all gardeners!!  What the heck is wrong here?  I know a lot of this section is just weeds and not grass, but for the life of me, I cannot get it to turn green.  

There is a sprinkler in the middle at the bottom that I have changed three times, but for some reason water just doesn't land on this patch.  I keep thinking I have the wrong type of pop-up sprinkler head.  It says 12' spray.  Do I need a "shorter" version?  Maybe a 6' if they make such a thing?  There are two other spots around the yard doing the same thing.

Company finally arrived, whereupon we spent the next three hours solving all the family problems and figuring out why those tires she ordered for her car (which lives on Maui), seem to be located on the island of Oahu.  Not a bad problem to have in my book.

One thing we always do when she's here is head out to Applebees for dinner.  It's our claim to fame and the only decent restaurant within 30 miles.  Besides that, they have a 2 for $25 deal that's hard to beat.  This is what the menu picture looked like.  Although kinda close, this is NOT what my plate looked like.  The meal started out with a HUGE salad, which we polished off quickly.

I think they were running out of mashed potatoes, so they poured in twice the milk to make them go further.  Runny would be a good description.  It's okay though, because I'm a potato girl from WAY back.  It only takes one little allergy to potatoes when you are a kid, to make you crave them every day.  On the other hand, the chicken, shrimp and mushrooms were delicious!!

The evening was spent watching yet another rodeo in Texas.  It seems they are getting LOTS of rain, unusual for this time of year.  That arena was 3" deep in water and mud.  The guys riding the bulls were even wearing rain jackets to keep sort of dry.  The mud didn't stop a single competitor.

After lots of play time, Mr. Cooper finally crashed with his favorite lamb toy.  He seems to be about 98% better, but still a bit itchy here and there.

This is my all time favorite picture of him.  I'm winding up the stress level yet again ... tomorrow he goes for teeth cleaning.  Yup ... I'm a nervous wreck!!!  He's thirteen going on fourteen and I'd like him to stick around a few more years.

Meetings, meetings and MORE meetings tonight for the Elks.  I think I'll pick up a bottle of margarita mix on the way home, to get me through the teeth cleaning ordeal!!!  Maybe I'll snag one of Cooper's tranquilizers!!  I think I need them more than he does.