WHAT A WEEKEND!!!

This has been a busy weekend to say the least!! Kerri decided to have a belated birthday party for Cameron with our family and a few close family friends. Cameron's favorite food is red chili meat. When I was a kid, that is what I always asked Mary to make for my birthday to invite friends over, so I totally understand this. So Friday morning, I put three roasts in the oven to cook slowly during the day.

I left school a little early to check on the roasts and to pick up my Aunt Teresa who was coming up for the events. She took the Agua Prieta/Douglas Shuttle and they dropped her at the Denny's on I10 and Baseline--you have got to see this to believe it!! I got to the Denny's just as the shuttle was pulling in. The driver was helping her out of the van that was completely full. Just about everyone on the shuttle spoke only Spanish. But that was fine with Teresa. She gets her novenas out and says them during the trip and she also finds a way to communicate with people in her own unique way!! The driver took her bag from the top of the van and we headed back to Gilbert to "string" the roasts. I had put three more on to cook before I left to pick her up.

Saturday morning I had two more roasts that I had cooked over night. I made those into green chili as that is Patrick's favorite and just to have a little variety........ Once again I thought about our wonderful Mary who taught me how to make all of this food!!

Saturday was the ASU/Georgia game. We were meeting all of the cousins in the parking lot around 2:00. My cousin, Teresa, and her husband, Don, were here for the game. Their daughter Allyson, her husband, Jason, and their darling baby were also here. Teresa and Don lived many years in Atlanta and most of their kids have gone to Georgia. So here we are tailgating in the 100 degree weather with Georgia fans no less!!!

One of the cousins, Mike, and his friends cooked a prime rib and all of the fixings. It was so hot I think that they could have cooked it without the grill!! Three years ago when ASU played USC during the day, I said I would not do this again.









And here I was again......... As always, we had a great time. Now if we could have just seen a better game.......I don't know about those Sun Devils this year!!

Today brought everyone over for red and green chili meat and beans. Cameron had a great time. I asked him what his favorite part was and he said, "I don't know. I liked it all." The kids played Rock Band on the Wii in Shenanigans and we were even serenaded by P.T. (That, too, is another post.) They went swimming and had an all around great time.

Teresa was able to meet her newest great, great niece which was the main reason she came up from Douglas!!

It is now around 7:30 and I am thinking that it is time to try to get some rest for the week ahead!

Thanks to everyone who was here today to make this a great weekend. Happy Belated Birthday, Cameron!!! We never really have to have a reason to get together and celebrate, but I am glad we were able to celebrate your birthday today!!!

Goodbye Kareem, Our Loyal Canine Friend!

As I write this post, Kerri and Judy have taken Kareem to the vet. Kareem has been Kerri's dog since she was 19 years old. She just turned 34.

I still remember the day that she brought him home--a bundle of white fur. I was not thrilled to have this chow puppy. She didn't ask if she could get him, she just brought him home. Kerri had dealt with a lot during that time. She lost a former boyfriend to suicide and had a couple of other traumatic things happen to her, so I didn't say much.

It didn't take long for me to fall in love with Kareem. He was so protective and any time I was alone for the night in the house, I never worried. I could have left all of the doors unlocked because Kareem would have protected me without a doubt. Kareem was definitely our protector.

Chows have a reputation that at times they can be mean. Kareem was never mean. He just was loyal--maybe to a fault. There were a couple of times when he bit someone over the years and spent time in doggie "jail." It was always when I think he was trying to protect us.

The last few years as he has gotten elderly, he started to exhibit signs just like a person does as they age. His eyes grew cataracts, he didn't always hear the doorbell or when someone came in, and he sometimes just stood and looked at the wall and stared. The doctor said that he had "doggie dementia." Sometimes he would go outside and then look in through the back doors and see us. He would wag his tail...it was almost like "hey, I know you guys in there!"

The past few weeks have been tough on Kareem. He tried to bite Patrick one time when he was surprised by him. Last Friday when Kerri tried to get him downstairs, he tried to bite her. I believe it was just a reaction from not being able to see or hear well. That is when Kerri made the final decision to call the vet. I know how difficult that phone call is to make.

Yesterday, as he was walking across the living room, he staggered and then had a hard time getting his balance.

So today Kerri got the leash and he was so excited. She took him in my car as it would be too hard for him to have gotten in her truck. She took a picture of him with his head out of the window as they drove to the vet's office. Kareem loved the wind on his face in the car!! Judy met her there and I stayed home with Cameron.

Dogs become family members and are so important in our lives. Kareem has been a part of our lives for the past 15 years. We will miss him, but know that he lived a great life and gave us unconditional love. I will miss him and I am not sure that I will ever feel as safe as I did knowing Kareem was there to protect me no matter what. He was our protector and brought joy to our lives in so many ways.

I found this wonderful poem and think it says it all... so to Kerri and Kareem with much love.........

If it should be....
If it should be that I grow frail and weak,
and pain should keep me from my sleep,
then you must do what must be done,
for we know this last battle can't be won.
You will be sad, I understand,
but don't let grief then stay your hand,
for this day, more than the rest,
your love and friendship must stand the test.
We've had so many happy years,
what is to come can hold no fears.

Would you want me to suffer?
So, when the time comes, please let me go.
Take me where my needs they'll tend,
only stay with me until the end,
and hold me firm and speak to me,
until my eyes no longer see.
It is a kindness that you do to me,
although my tail it's last has waved,
from pain and suffering I have been saved.

Do not grieve,
it should be you, who must decide this thing to do.
We've been so close, we two these years,
Don't let your heart hold any tears.

Author unknown

Labor Day Spent in the Chiricahuas

This past Labor Day weekend, we went to our cabin in the Chiricahuas. Our family, along with two families who have been very close friends for many years, went together to buy the cabin in 1960. I was in 6th grade that year. The cabin is in South Fork of Cave Creek Canyon which is on the eastern slope of the Chircahua Mountains. It is about 60 miles from Douglas. In order to get there, you must go into New Mexico and then back into Arizona. It takes about an hour to get there from Douglas.

After we got the cabin, we went up almost every Sunday after church and spent the day. So many of my wonderful memories have to do with this cabin. It is in what I consider probably the most beautiful place on earth. There is only one other cabin in South Fork and a picnic area about a mile up. You can't get television, radio, or telephone access there so you are truly isolated from the world.

It is truly a cabin. We have no running water. You have to go down to the spring in the creek to get water. We have a kitchen with a sink and a stove and you have to boil the water on the stove to get water to do the dishes and to wash up. There is an outhouse and a small shed for a generator to make electricity.

I have been to some wonderful cabins of friends over the years. They are called cabins, but they really are homes in the forests and are beautiful places to visit. Our cabin is truly a cabin in the woods.

There is a creek that runs behind it that is absolutely awesome! The water is so clear and very cold. As a child, I remember spending hours in the creek or up the mountain exploring caves or anything else we could find.

During the years that we spent the summers in Douglas when my kids were young, we spent a lot of time at the cabin. They have always loved going there. And now we are able to share this experience with Cameron.

We have a guest book that is amazing. One of my favorite entries in it is from my 13th birthday party that was held there in January. I was able to invite friends and we spent the night. It was freezing, but we had a wonderful time. It is so fun to look back and see what people have written over the years. I think Judy was in about second grade then and to see her handwriting as a second grader is so fun.

Seeing my kids entries when they were little and what they wrote and how they wrote it is something so special. What a legacy it has been.

This past weekend, the weather could not have been better. It was cool and a bit overcast. We got some rain while we were there. The ground was quite wet from all of the rain that they have gotten over the past few months. The creek was quite full and was absolutely beautiful.

There is a natural swimming hole about a mile from the picnic area. The road stops at the picnic area and you have to walk from then on. We call the swimming hole "The Bathtub" and I have so many wonderful memories of going there over the years. We decided to go there on Sunday. In order to get to "The Bathtub," you have to walk across the creek three times. The rain that southeastern Arizona has gotten during this season has been a lot. The amount of water has actually changed the creek in a couple of spots and wiped out the trail. If we hadn't been familiar with the area, I think we may have had a hard time finding the trail. It was amazing what nature can do!!

When we got to "The Bathtub" it was full of water and so beautiful. Everyone decided to go in (not me--the water is freezing.) When you jump into the water, it almost takes your breath away. Everyone had such fun. Cameron was hesitant, but decided to try jumping in. There is a waterfall that you sit on and it pushes you into the water. He did it a couple of times.

I forget how relaxing it is to spend time there. There is nothing to worry about and what goes on in the world will wait until you get back to read the newspaper or listen to the news. In our fast paced world, that is so refreshing.

I am hoping that we can get back soon as I truly believe that this is my very favorite spot on earth. If you have never been to the Chiricahuas, you are missing seeing some of the most beautiful scenery in Arizona, the U. S., and probably the world. People come from all over the globe to visit. It is well worth the trip. I just wish it was closer to us!! It was a great weekend spent enjoying the beauty of nature!!

Thirty Nine Years Ago Today

Where does the time go? In my post from yesterday, it didn't seem possible that so much time had elapsed since Kerri was born and also since Cameron was born.

I remember the day that Kerri was born in 1974. It had been a long labor, but I remember the one thing that I was worried about at that time. Not the length of the labor, but the date that she was born.

I wanted it to happen before August 30. You see, that was the date in 1969 that my dear Uncle Johnny died. He meant so much to me and I didn't want the dates to be the same.

He died unexpectedly of an aneurysm on August 30, 1969. He had gone to the mountains to go fishing and had stopped because of some car trouble on the way back. He was transported to the hospital in Douglas where he lived for a very short time. He had a terrible pain in his stomach and it turned out to be an aneurysm.

I still remember the call that we received in the middle of the night to get to the hospital as soon as possible. By the time we got there, he was gone. I remember sitting in the living room with Judy and listening to the phone calls that my mom and Teresa made to the family to tell them about what had happened. I remember thinking that I didn't want to hear it one more time.

That summer I had worked at the smelter after attending ASU. Johnny was so proud that I was working there to make money for college. He worked in the power plant at the smelter. Earlier that month, my mom, Teresa, and Judy had gone to California for my cousin Jan's wedding. So it was just Johnny and I for about a week. It was a great time because we were able to talk and laugh about many things. I knew how proud he was that I was going to college and that I was working at the smelter.

I remember sitting in the living room with him at the end of July watching the landing on the moon when Neil Armstrong walked on the moon. Johnny was so excited about this historical event.

I also remember that summer after he died and I was still working at the smelter in the human resources department. I remember having to remove his personnel file after died. I was only 20 years old at the time and it left a lasting impression on me.

To this day I am so grateful that I had this wonderful man in my life!!! He was just an ordinary man who went to work every day and never drew attention to himself. After he died, we found out about all of the little things that he had done for a lot of elderly people around Douglas. He would go to their houses and change light bulbs or fix things for them, but he never told anyone. It was so touching to find out how many people he had helped over the years in his kind and gentle way.

Johnny was my mom's oldest brother. I have written about him before and I will say again how much he meant to me and to Judy. He was truly a man of character in every sense of the word.

"Those we love are never really gone as long as their stories are told." I tell my own children and Cameron stories about Johnny as often as I can.

John Bernard Scott
Feb. 5, 1903-Aug. 30, 1969

Two Special Birthdays!!

August 29, 1974--Kerri Marie was born in Mesa. Today she celebrates her 34th birthday!! Where have all of the years gone? I couldn't be more proud of the adult that she has become. So happy birthday, Kerri. You are a wonderful daughter!!







September 1, 1998--Cameron Patrick was also born in Mesa, His birthday is Monday, Labor Day. It doesn't seem possible that he will be 10 years old on Monday. The time flies by so fast from the darling baby boy to a fourth grader this year.

Cousin Mo Comes to Visit

**WARNING** THIS POST IS RATED PG13!!!!!!

This week we have had a visitor at our house. Maurice Antonio Gomez Gabaldon, also known to our pugs as Cousin Mo, is spending the week with us. Cousin Mo is the "only pug" of my cousin Yaya who is in California for the week. She wanted him to be around other pugs. Mo is actually the reason we have our three pugs. When Yaya got Mo a few years ago, Cameron absolutely loved him so that is how we got Pedro.

So Matt H. brought Mo over last Friday. Pancho was thrilled to see him, Pedro was stand-offish as he is a prissy pug, and Lucy wasn't quite sure what to do. Mo was ecstatic to be around other dogs his size, at least in height. You see, Mo is a bit chubbier than our pugs.

Right from the "mo"ment he got here, Mo decided that he needed to "hump" my poor, little Lucy. All of these pugs have been fixed....... However, Mo must have felt the need to show some dominance or something... Of course, since they have all been fixed, this humping was not quite up to par, so to speak. Both Matt and I told Mo how "mo"rtified Yaya would be at his im"mo"ral behavior. Mo paid us no mind.

Throughout the weekend Mo continued to try to "hump" my innocent little Lucy. The one advantage that she has is that she, along with Pedro and Pancho, can get away from Mo because they can jump up on the furniture and on the bed. Mo is not quite able to make that leap as he is just a bit chubby. As the weekend wore on, Mo decided that his next "mo"ve would be to try and hump Pancho. Now Pancho wanted nothing to do with this. So Pancho was able to get away by jumping up on the couch or a chair.

Meanwhile, the one pug who may have enjoyed this, our prissy pug Pedro, just watched from his perch on the chair or the back of the couch.

We have decided that Mo is a very appropriate name for him as it is probably short for "MO"lester. Last night I called Yaya in California to let her know about her pug, "MO"lester. Of course, she was "mo"rtified. She is thinking that when she comes home, she may have to get another pug so that Mo won't be an only pug and will learn proper behavior!

I can hardly wait until we have five pugs in our house if Yaya goes out of town again!!!

(Hope you enjoy the music that goes along with this post. If you listen carefully to the words, I think you will see why I chose it.)

That Was Easy or Should It Be, Was That Easy?

I don't often write about things that happen at school, but this event was priceless!!! I won't use any names so that I don't break any confidentiality.

I have the utmost respect for kindergarten teachers. I can do almost anything at school from being a crossing guard to working in the cafeteria. But there are two things I can't and won't do--blood and kindergarten. Doing discipline with kindergarteners is probably one of the most difficult jobs that I have ever encountered over the years. Trying to reason with these little children who are five is a whole story in itself.

Yesterday, one of my wonderful kindergarten teachers brought one of her students to my office for a "little chat." This darling little girl sat in the chair in front of my desk and waited patiently for what I had to say. I asked her why she was in my office. She said it was because she had "misrespected" one of the adults who works in her classroom. I tried to process what that meant and I thought I did a fairly good job.........

Next we discussed her "threat to kill" another student in the classroom and how serious that is. She admitted to everything that she had done and we talked about appropriate behavior at school.

I have an "Easy Button" on my desk that was given to me by our receptionist a few years ago. I had noticed that it was at the front of my desk close to where the little girl was sitting. As she told me of her misdeeds, she kept looking at the Easy Button. I had this feeling that this might not turn out for the best and that my "authority" might not be taken as seriously as I had hoped.

Well, that feeling panned out......... After we finished the discussion, the little five year old just could not resist the temptation. She punched the Easy Button and the "that was easy" phrase came out. It was all that I could do to keep from bursting into laughter. Her teacher could not even make eye contact with me. I asked the little girl to go sit in the chair close to my office and wait for her teacher. She got up and went out of my office and her teacher and I burst into laughter as silent as we possibly could muster at that point!!

I can only hope that I made some type of an impression on this young lady! I know she did on me. This is why I continue to go to my job every day!!!

Each night when I come home from school from this point forward, I know that I will process my day and realize one thing..............

"THAT WAS EASY!"

If I can remember this phrase, I know that I will be able to continue for a few more years.........