The pantry and freezer had bare spots–it was time for a trip to Tucson but we had a more exciting reason for the trip than grocery shopping. Emmi had a minor vet appointment in Green Valley which is near the home of Gay and Joe of Good-Times-Rollin fame. We have communicated for years, read our respective blogs but had never met until Wednesday. It was as if we were meeting life long friends–we had the best time in the two hours spent at Manuel’s–I think we could have spent the entire afternoon chatting away. What awesome, positive people with whom we have so much in common.
After Gay and Joe met Emmi who had been patiently sleeping in the truck we headed for Tucson. As we are zooming along I-19 in heavy traffic I spotted a small crested saguaro alongside the freeway!!! Of course there was no stopping for photos! Our Walmart pickup order was ready–that store was busy–then it was off to Costco. The nose piece on one pair of my glasses had fallen off and my sunglasses which were purchased at our Montana Costco last summer have never fit correctly. Costco optical departments are notoriously busy–you can wait a very long time to see an optician. Wednesday I walked right up to the counter and an optician who said, “how may I help you?” I told her I was heading straight out to purchase a lottery ticket, it was my lucky day!! And it was my lucky day–that young woman spent 15 minutes helping me with the nose piece and the fit of all three pairs of glasses. Typically in our Montana Costco it’s a 2-3 minute process and you walk away with glasses that still don’t fit correctly. I should have bought a lottery ticket!!
I’ve passed a milestone–I’ve given up my registered nurse license. In Montana it was easy to maintain the license which I’ve done all these years even though I have been retired for a long time. It was time to renew in December and I just decided it was time to no longer be a license carrying nurse. Do I have regrets–not one.
The garden box is doing OK in spite of our frigid temps here in sunny Arizona! The Cowboy puts a light inside the box and covers it with a blanket at night. We hit 22 degrees Wednesday night and the box was above freezing Thursday morning. Sunday morning it was 20 degrees outside and the grow box was 31 degrees inside–good enough for radishes and lettuce. And the lettuce has sprouted!
During coffee hour on Thursday morning (or maybe it was coffee hour #2) we were treated to a wildlife happening–three extremely fat javelinas waddled past the porch door and out across the yard. As Jodee recently talked about in her blog post–I stayed in the moment, just watching the waddling, not worrying about jumping up to find a camera.
Our weather has been awful–I keep reminding myself that even though we are in Arizona, it is still winter. Sue sent me an email early saying it was 29 degrees one morning in Quartzsite–that’s cold for Yuma, AZ country! We had a half inch of rain, gusty, strong, bitterly cold winds and frigid temps. The forecast for the next week continues those frigid night time temps and chilly days–but at least the sun is shining!
The ice maker in our refrigerator started to leak last season forming one big impossible to use mass of ice in the bucket. It wasn’t a priority for the Cowboy but all of a sudden I made it a priority!😋. Friday my handy husband installed our new ice maker and I’m a happy camper!
Several years ago the Cowboy and I started eating our main meal at lunch time–some time between noon and 1pm. We would then eat a lighter dinner–popcorn and fruit, soup, a leftover from the refrigerator, etc. While we all enjoy the ambiance of a nice dinner party, none of us sleep well after indulging in all that food later in the evening. Dan and Louanne have also recently started doing lunch as their main meal. Today they came to our house for Sunday brunch and even though it wasn’t evening we still dined like kings. I cooked bacon in the oven, made a fruit salad and a very sinful/unhealthy coffee cake–it’s made from canned biscuits of all things! Some people refer to the coffee cake as monkey bread, my recipe is for cinnamon nut ring. Whatever you call it, the dang thing is delicious! Louanne makes the best scrambled eggs so she was in charge of those when she arrived. Yep, we dined like kings!
The Cowboy grew up doing jigsaw puzzles, I did not. We didn’t jump on the pandemic puzzle wave but recently decided to give it a try, borrowing one from Louanne. It’s addictive!
I’m off to play Rummikub with the ladies and will schedule this blog to post later this evening. Life is good!
Restoration Cowboy Style 
Nice that you got to meet Gay and Joe finally. Such good folks.
I’m a jig saw puzzle addict (although I rarely hurry through them, a piece here and a piece there) and have a dedicated puzzle table in the livingroom at all times! That monkey bread whatever looks yummy!
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Mike tells when growing up his family did a lot of puzzles and his dad loved to put them together. It was so good to meet Joe and Gay!
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That’s the way they eat back east, or at least that’s how they used to eat. They called lunch, dinner and the later, light one supper.
My mouth waters when you write about all the good things you guys consume. :O)
Bobseyes
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That’s how it was in the south too–the evening meal was supper. We do eat well!
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Joe and I both agree we had such a fun time visiting with you & Michael and are so looking forward to the next visit…soon! I can so relate about your letting your nursing certificate expire! A nice feeling to close that chapter! A handy husband, new ice maker, wildlife sightings, lettuce in the garden box, and rainbows sure make for a wonderful week. But, Sunday brunch with friends, scrambled eggs and yummy “whatever you call it” is the best! Have a great week! Gay
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Yes, soon! It was a good week and brunch topped it off! And I won a game of Rummikub–that doesn’t happen often–there are some really good players in our group.
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Sounds like your finding things to keep you busy!
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We both stay busy but now it’s fun stuff (well, except for the ice maker!) and we are enjoying life!
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Really great getting together with friends & sharing meals too- not a peep about the knee,which means you’re good; terrific.All the best.
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We enjoy having friends over–always! Yes, I don’t think about the knee too much–it’s still swollen and ouch-y at times but getting better every day.
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Looks like the cowboy is slowing down on major projects and enjoying a slower pace. A nurse without a license is still a nurse,it took my wife a few years to give it up also.
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We have both slowed down and it’s been great! I guess you are right about the nurse without a license.:)
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I never paid much attention to puzzles as a younger person, but unlike you, discovered them during COVID. And yes, I am an addict. Sitting here in Lodi waiting for our last run home today, I am looking forward to getting back to doing a puzzle. And to my bed. And to home again. Love that you met more old friends. I loved how you described the meeting of someone you have known through blogging. Every time, with most every blogger who describes this, it sounds almost identical. Such a great benefit of blogging and the RV life, even when the RV is gone.
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So nice that you finally met Gay and Joe in person. It has been an usually cooler winter. We’ve only had a few warmer days, low 60’s. The 50’s with sun isn’t bad, but we have wind almost every day. We have to get to the tennis courts for our pickle/tennis paddle before 9:00 because the wind seems to really pick up by 10:00. The wind really chills it down. Glad your garden box is surviving. I used to make Monkey Bread with my students as a cooperative group activity. It is sooo good! Puzzles…my total down fall! I have well over 80 puzzles in our laundry room closet. I won’t spend over $10 for a puzzle and when I find a good bargain, I buy several. Buffalo Puzzles out of Buffalo, NY is my new favorite go to. I do repeat puzzles when I don’t have any new ones. I have a terrible time pulling myself away once I start. I do have a puzzle problem…haha!
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We can sit on our front porch in the sun if the wind is coming from the north–we do that in the afternoons for an hour or so–see, we have slowed down significantly! We are down to the hard part of this current puzzle but Mike spends a while every day and I drop in occasionally! 🙂
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I thought I already commented…that tells you how distracted I am these days with packing. 😦 So glad you got to meet up with friends whom you’ve been blog friends with for such a long time!
We’ve never taken up puzzling, but we used to play Rummikub with my folks every afternoon. It’s such a fun game! Even though my mom had dementia she still won almost every game. She was competitive, LOL.
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I can just bet you are distracted! I had never heard of Rummikub until last year when I began playing with the ladies here in AZ. We have a couple of very competitive ladies in this group too!
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Yay, more AZ fulltimer transplants have met 🙂 I have no doubt the four of you had a wonderful visit! Love your rainbow pics, just beautiful. The coffee cake looks like a work of art.
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It is so much fun to meet the people we call friends even though we’ve never met!
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