I slept well last night. Went to bed early, and got up early. Took a nap this afternoon; I’m assuming this was my mistake. I cannot wake up, I’m sleepy and dragging. I want to go back to bed. And the busiest part of the day is just getting started.

Five hours and I’m going to bed! This had better let up tomorrow.

Hope y’all are having an OK Monday! 

Love,

3T

This is one of those days when I wish I could fly out to Washington, and spend the day with you! I want you to know that I consider you to be a wonderful father, and one of my dearest friends! I spent a good part of today working with scanning old photos, and uploading them into a set named Memory Lane. This was in honor of your Birthday, Dad.

Looking back through time brought warm smiles and a few tears, as I remember all of us as a family, together in the same house, and the same state. I know we cannot turn back time, but having these photos, locks me in those moments so many years ago. It was a sentimental journey I enjoyed, and I hope you will too. This set is dedicated to you, this special day. I love you Dad! And I treasure our phone calls and our visits, when we go to Washington, or when you come here to Arizona.

I’m counting the days until we hop a flight this April. Until then I send great big hugs, lots of love and many, many prayers your way.

Love you,

Teri

Dad-Approximately 30 years ago.
Dad - Now

Mom & Dad - Then
Mom & Dad - Now

I love you Dad! And I hope you have a wonderful Birthday week!

Teri

Danalyn from Weblog Design Studios here to spread the word that WDS servers are DOWN!

I know many of our clients read 3T’s blog, I just would like to apologize for the inconvenience, and want to let you know that I am in contact with the techs as the data center right now.  It looks like it may be a hardware failure.

We are working to at least get WDS moved to a new server, so we can handle support tickets (as I’m sure we have many waiting to yell at us).  But for now, f you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to email me at: .

Thanks,
Danalyn

Delta, my girlfriend of 20 years is here visiting me for the week. So far we are having a wonderful time together!

My blogging will be practically nill while she is here. I did want to let readers and those who I read know I won’t be around until Monday morning of next week.

I hope each of you has a fabtastic week and weekend!

Love,

3T

I haven’t abandoned this blog. Although from the looks of it, one might argue otherwise.

Where have I been? Well, besides hiding from my February curse, which is now officially over, I’ve betrayed my own sand box by playing in a new sandbox! Possibly revealing yet another symptom of my imaginary ADD. It’s time again, to add balance to my blogging time, while remembering to post here on occasion.

This new sandbox is part of the Arizona Republic’s website called Plugged In - SE Valley.  For those who live in the Southeast Valley, it’s worth having a look-see. I’ve learned some about my community, and participated in a few discussions.

Plugged In is the umbrella name for the AZ Republic newspaper’s online blogs; and they have a set for each area of Maricopa County. So you may take your pick, depending upon where you live.

I promise to post more often, now that some of the newness of Plugged In has worn off. Being easily distracted has benefits that I do enjoy. I discover what’s new, or new to me anyway. The downside is it makes for flakey and sporadic blog posts. I’m OK with that. 

On a Personal Note:

I have had some fun time with my children. From playing Yahtzee to roasting marshmallows over a bonfire, Tayler and Riley have been a complete joy to hang out with. Taking time to really listen to what your children have to say is not only rewarding for them, but for parents as well. For me, I’ve discovered qualities in them I genuinely enjoy. From their sense of humor to what is on their minds, they are enjoyable individuals.

Tayler, Kevin & Riley enjoying the crab legs.

Kevin and I had a crab feast with the kids, that besides being delicious was fun! It gave the hubby and I a chance to cook together in the kitchen as well. One of our favorites of all-time dishes, which as far as we know is only served at Houston’s, is their grilled artichokes served with a “secret sauce.”

Well Houston’s, I’m here to say eat your artichoke heart out! We (the hubby and I) have mastered the grilled artichoke and their secret sauce, for which they refused to give us the recipe. Houston’s in Scottsdale has been a favorite restaurant now for years. One of the reasons has been their grilled artichokes which are only on the menu for the season.

We have watched out favorite restaurant cut their quality little by little over the last couple of years. Albeit subtly, but nonetheless cutting away at the little touches that had made them a favorite to begin with. Their prime rib, once a HUGE slab of meat that literally melted in your mouth, has been sliced in half, and although I cannot say for sure, I’d be willing to bet the grade of meat is no longer the quality of years past.

Their $9.00 salad, that we willingly ordered and payed the price for, has replaced their boiled eggs with kernels of corn. Their smoked, freshly made bacon bits, are now maybe three or four on the salad, and again, the quality lacking what it once was.

Although they were small changes that the sporadic patron may not notice, those of us who were regular and devoted patrons not only noticed but relegated their restaurant to sporadic visits. One reason that has kept us coming back was their grilled artichokes with that special sauce. No more.

While the hubby scoured the internet and cookbooks, looking for a recipe for grilled artichokes, I played mad scientist in the kitchen with spices to re-create the sauce that was served with it. Mission accomplished. Although my sauce may not be exact, it comes very close to what is served at Houston’s. The only draw left to the Scottsdale Houston’s is their perfectly mixed Cosmopolitan, and the friendly bartender who mixed it. One more trip, and watching her mix my Cosmo, and the Scottsdale Houstons will be scratched from our list of date night restaurants.

If there is a lesson for restaurant managers to learn, it would be that cutting out to save a few pennies here and there in the end will lose you a customer base that has been devoted and spent far more than the few pennies you saved tweaking your menu. (Just my two cents worth)

And now I have to get back to some spring cleaning. My girlfriend Delta, from Washington state will be here this next week, and she deserves to sleep in a room that doesn’t look like a tornado hit it. Tayler has a spring orchestra concert tonight that I need to prepare for, so it doesn’t look like a tornado hit me.

Hope everyone is having a great start to the week!

Love,

3T

Kevin & Smokey with Kevin’s new toy/BBQ Grill

Riddle Me This :

What do you get, when you add the following?

February Curse + Mercury in Retrograde + Mean case of PMS = ???


The answer is this post :

Tuesday Morning ranting/typing
It was not even 11:00 AM, and I was stressed, disgusted, and worn out. The day started quickly, since the X was dropping Riley off, so I could take him to see the therapist he is seeing in regards to his ADD. Of course the hubby scheduled a drop-off for his new Bar-b-quer at the same time I needed to take Riley to his appointment.

The phone started ringing at 7:10 AM with the delivery guys calling to say they were on their way. After a little sweet talking and hinting that if they did it my way, there would be a tip involved, I convinced them to come after 9:15 AM, when I should be back from dropping Riley off at school. I did get the X to stick around the house, just in case they made it there before I made it home.

When I stepped on the front patio, there were several work trucks from the city of Mesa, digging something up on our little cul-de-sac, that had just about every driveway blocked off, including any area for backing out of your driveway.  Fortunately, mine had not been blocked off yet. Although now the X was parked behind me, and needed to try and maneuver out of the driveway for Riley and I to head to his appointment.

By the time we walked back in the front door, both phones were ringing, and since the area code was Tucson I didn’t bother to pick them up. I needed to give Riley some medicine for his cold, and write out a check for school lunches, since he let me know 30 seconds earlier he was out of lunch tickets.

I got both the X and Riley out of the door, for the cell to ring again, (same Tucson number) this time I picked it up. It was the delivery guys who were two minutes away, and wanted to make sure I was home.

Kevin had gone to purchase a new BBQer alone while I was busy this week. So I had no idea he had picked up one the size of a cadillac, and I now needed to find a spot for them to drop it, all neatly wrapped in cellophane plastic. Where it fit was a rocked area, so if we are to keep this in decent shape, now it really needs to be poured with concrete as well. I tipped the guys $12 and told them they didn’t need to “unwrap it,” that I’d let the husband play with his new toy when he got home from work. And since we here in the desert also received some of that wet stuff you Pacific Northwester’s call rain, the plastic would protect it from rusting before the hubby even has a chance to use it. He did pick up one that is all stainless steel though. Frankly, I don’t see the need for a cadillac of BBQer’s for a family of four, who at most may BBQ once a week. But then my veins are not coursing with testosterone that most likely inhibits my ability to understand the important purchases in life. Like a BBQer the size of a cadillac, for a family of four who at most BBQues once a week.

Now that everyone was gone, I could relax and load the dishwasher. I opened it up to stick a few cups in it, knowing it was full from when I loaded it last night, re-rinsing all the dishes stuck in there by others who didn’t bother to rinse food particles from said dishes. Yes, this is a pet peeve! Dishwashers are for STERILIZATION. They are not housewives, who with a dishcloth rinses off the food particles. This must be done by hand. I realize there are some cadillac of dishwashers that claim to take care of food particles. Ours is not one of those. The hubby was helpful last night by pouring soap into its container, to the point of overflowing and running down the side of the dishwasher. (I’m definitely digressing here and need help with far too many verbose banalities. Tough shit.)

Anyway, where was I? Right, loading the cups to turn it on and run it. But, to my amazement, the dishwasher was empty. Assuming the hubby ran it last night when we went to bed, brought a warm smile to my heart. That is until I saw the container still closed, and overflowing with dishwasher soap. Did it not open when he ran it? (Which makes sense since this IS February; I would expect another broken appliance) I did glance into the cup cabinet to see the loaded cups, some with dripping dried coffee on the sides.  At this point, all I can deduce is the dishes WERE put away, WITHOUT running the dishwasher. Dirty dishes, mixed in helter skelter with the clean. The magnitude of what now lay ahead, slowly sinking in.

Yes, to a degree, admittedly, I am a germ freak. The thought of dirty silverware and dishes being used can bring vomit to the top of my throat. Which means I now need to reload a dishwasher, and run it, at least twice to insure no one ends up using germ and bacteria laden utensils and dishes. This was not on the agenda…

Eight days and counting.....

And this horrid month will be gone. I apologize if I worried any readers with my lack of a post, but going through February is an all-consuming activity. Usually if there are no traumas, like say, cancer, or operations, or pain, or death, there is usually an onslaught of minor but many bad luck occurences and/or broken appliances to deal with. This February, has been one of those.

I have a man digging up my cool decking in the back yard next to the pool. WHY, you may ask? Due to a main waterline that broke, that feeds the pool. This was discovered after a month, with a note and a $500.00bill for water usage. The note, of course, said we were using a gallon per minute, which is three times the amount we usually use.

We have been busy watching TV in our bedroom, since our equivalent of Tivo(known as the Cox DVR) just quit working, for no reason, and, of course, we had to wait until this morning to get a technician out to “fix it.”

Last night was a fun-filled evening of trying to rid our computer system of a Trojan that had been attached to our computer.  I have no idea who this was compliments of, but gee-golly, Thanks! (ad sarcasm) We were looking for an extra way to spend $30.00 for the MacAfee technician from India to scan the system and remove the trojan. As it was a fairly benign trojan as far as trojans go, I guess I should consider us lucky, huh?

This morning, while having my first cup of coffee, I clicked over to my flickr site, as I’m wont to do, when looking to download some photos. To discover that it had been hacked, or bugged, or there was a glitch, whatever-the-fuck you want to call it. In the place of my G-rated family-photos was a photo of a naked woman, one of a scary castle, and many, many, many other weird photos in the place of my family ones. Of course, there can be many explanations for this, and as soon as you think of one, let me know.

I’m well aware that there are a few of my friends who have my password, and if this was any of their idea of a prank, during this month, I’d have to say I don’t find it the least bit funny. (Although I don’t believe any of them would pull stunts like this)

A good portion of my February-Curse is nothing more than an over-emotional superstition. Granted, backed up by consistent and several occurrences during the month of February. But the driving factor is and always has been my emotional problems with more than a couple of these traumatic events.

Things like the wonderful gift my first husband gave me on Valentines Day. Oh, I didn’t mention it? Two black eyes and bruises from head to toes. Or worrying myself sick as my mother went under the knife to have a double mastectomy for her breast cancer. Or when we got the news that Paul had prostate cancer. How bout that lovely February when I writhed in pain with a bulged disc while my doctor tried to decide whether there was anything seriously wrong with me. Or the Valentines Day when husband number two was hit head on by a drunk driver while he went in search of last-minute flowers to give to me at work. There were no flowers, but Valentines Day that year was a bit expensive. Especially since the drunk-driver didn’t see the necessity of carrying auto insurance.

I KNOW this February curse in nothing but irrational over-emotional superstition. Does it make it any easier to deal with knowing this? I’m afraid not. If it’s going to break, it will be in February. Unfortunately that includes the humans in and around my life as well.

The flickr account fiasco cost me about a dozen photos that I felt compelled to remove, due to the rating and oddness of the ones that were put into my site. Last night’s Trojan? Just cost us $30.00 and and an evening of trying to remove it ourselves, before getting hold of said technician.

In closing, I apologize to those who may feel slighted by my lack of posts or communication. But even if we try and put a light humor to my battle with the February curse, for me it exists, all too real and full of emotional nuance.

I have done my best to take each day of this month as it comes. Regarding broken appliances and such as just part of life. Thanking God, none of my loved ones are sick right now.

And to the author/authors of the computer Trojan and the “Flickr-prank”: I hope it gave you all the fun-filled laughter and enjoyment I’m sure you were looking for. Who would have thunk that a Trojan and a cheap hack job to my photo album could occur within 24 hours of each other. Actually 12 hours. It’s almost enough to make a skeptic superstitious.