El Mirage, Arizona
I am trying to change the way I process and deal with things.
I’ve been stuck in an endless loop of second guessing and over analyzing my decisions, internal thoughts, and communications with others.
It’s unproductive and annoying.
Time for a change…
I now have the Nike swoosh imprinted on my brain, and repeating Nike’s slogan JUST DO IT! has become my mantra.
This should make things interesting as Rich and I work towards figuring out our next steps… 🙂
El Mirage, Arizona
We recently visited a very unique 55+ resort in Surprise. It’s called Happy Trails Resort.
(I didn’t take any pictures while we were there, so all of these have been harvested off of the Internet.)
What makes Happy Trails so unique is that each one of the nearly 2000 lots is individually owned and not owned by a corporation that rents or leases out to individuals.
In all of the other resorts we’ve been in, less than 5% at most of the lots are owned by individuals.
Because lots are individually owned, people put more of their own personal touches on them. Some of the outdoor kitchens were amazing.
And nearly all of the lots have full shade including over motor homes to protect them from the desert sun.
Many have two story casitas that have a washer and dryer, full bathroom, and extra storage.
Happy Trails is an intriguing and inviting community with dozens of activities and amenities.
But I do have one big concern about it…
When all of us Baby Boomers die off, the next generation isn’t going to understand the street names.
They have no idea who Trigger, Dale Evans, Roy Rogers, etc… are. 🙂
So maybe the trails won’t be as happy…
El Mirage, Arizona
We visited Cabela’s in  Glendale the other day. It’s a colossal store with over 160,000 square feet of retail space.
While the store size is amazing, the wildlife display is the focal point of the entire store.
Many of the animals are shown in action like this mountain goat jumping across from one rock to another.
The mountain is two stories high with animals ranging from bears to wolves.
You can get an idea of the mountain’s height by comparing it to the woman in white (with her arms raised) standing at the bottom of the canyon walls .
Because most hunting is done in the fall, the scenery shows the animals during hunting season.
Another section of the store shows African safari animals.
And just to make marine lovers feel at home, there is an extensive aquarium.
And one very cute little girl who called every fish in the aquarium a dog…
El Mirage, Arizona
We went for a fantastic hike yesterday with Dean and Lil in Ford Canyon located in the White Tank Mountains.
Simply stunning…
The views of the Valley of the Sun were amazing with hundreds of saguaro cacti looming large.
Happy hikers, one and all.
I love looking at dedications on park benches. This bench is dedicated to “Hiker Hal” Norris.
“Till we meet on the Heavenly Trail…
You will be in our hearts.”
El Mirage, Arizona
For Christmas I received a great gift from my wonderful friend Sharon.
Tangle Art: A Meditative Drawing Kit contains everything you need to get started in the playful and inspiring world of tangle art.
Also known as Zen doodling, tangle art is a popular trend that involves drawing repetitive lines, marks, circles, and shapes. Each mark is called a “tangle,” and you combine various tangles into patterns to create “tiles” or small square drawings. It is a fun, relaxing way to improve focus, spark creativity, and develop artistic confidence.
I just started tangling a few days ago, and I am really enjoying it.
The kit comes with everything needed to start tangling including detailed instructions for those of us who are scared to make a mistake and therefore delay starting new projects.
I’ve only done a few tangles on paper tiles that came in the kit, but I’ve noticed that I’m feeling more confident each time I tangle.
Perhaps more importantly, my tangling is becoming more free as I draw because I’m losing my sense of perfectionism…
All that being said, comparing my tangles to Sharon’s show that artistic ability counts. Sharon’s an amazing artist in multiple mediums.
But I know that both Sharon and I are enjoying our Zen moments as we tangle. We are relaxed, in the moment, and creative…
Thank you, Sharon, for the wonderful gift!
El Mirage, Arizona
We had an impromptu, leisurely, and lovely visit with Dean and Lil last night.
As we ate a scrumptious dinner, we were rewarded with the loveliest sunset I’ve ever seen…
While the desert  sunset was amazing, even more awesome was visiting with our wonderful friends again.
Felt like being home again like all those years we were next door neighbors.
Very bittersweet to feel such love at the same time as much sadness because we can’t do it more often.
El Mirage, Arizona
Like bazillions is other people, I recently bought/received a FitBit.
I’m using it for motivation to move more and hopefully lose weight.
As of now, I’m moving more, but apparently part of my movement is toward the refrigerator because I’m not losing weight. 🙂
It has been fascinating to see how many steps and miles I put on my FitBit on a given day.
A goal of at least 10,000 steps isn’t too hard to reach if I take Sophie for a couple of extra long walks each day.
Playing pickleball adds steps exponentially. The other day I had over 7.5 miles logged during nine games played. And then I crashed… 🙂
My highest daily total: 21,014 for 9.49 miles. My lowest: 4,399 for 1.99 miles.
Carol recently had the flu and logged a whopping 700 steps on a sick day. One of these days, I’m go to see how low I can go. 🙂
I have no idea how accurate my FitBit is, but for a data geek like me it’s a lot of fun…
For those of you who are FitBit fanatics like I am, you might want to read this tongue-in-cheek essay in The New Yorker by David Sedaris: Stepping Out. (It’s long, but it’s hilarious!)
El Mirage, Arizona
Remember this scene towards the end of The Wizard of Oz?
The tethers that hold the balloon in place are broken, and the wizard sails away in his balloon without Dorothy.
Once more, Glinda, the Good Witch of the North, comes to the rescue in her shiny pink bubble.  Dorothy explains to her that the wizard was going to take her home, but that he is gone, and she will never be able to get back to Kansas. That’s when Glinda points with her wand to the ruby slippers, which have been on Dorothy’s feet the whole time she’s been in Oz.
“You had the power all along, my dear,” she tells Dorothy.
The shoes that Dorothy had taken from the wicked witch’s sister had the power to take her home whenever she wanted…
Recently I found out that I was like Dorothy. I had the power to connect both of us all along to the Internet at the same time, but I had no idea until a tech wizard at Walmart told me.
Last week I went to Wal-Mart to look into a Wi-Fi hotspot and talked with a wonderful salesman. I didn’t have my phone with me, but he could tell what type of Verizon plan I had based on how much I paid per month for a specific amount of data.
Turns out that my cell phone and plan have the power to act as a Wi-Fi hotspot and will allow other devices to connect to the Internet through it via tethering.
So, like Dorothy I had the power all along.
Well, actually my phone and plan had the power all along.
I just needed to hit the right buttons and throw some money at the problem. 🙂
El Mirage, Arizona
Wow! Saw some again last night:
Illuminating and decorative lights projected against an RV, trees, cacti, streets, patios. . .
To learn more about them, I did a  Google search for “illuminating and decorative lights”. Sounded good to me because I had no idea who makes them or what they are called.
Since coming to Phoenix, I have seen different patterns in blue, green, and red.
The patterns rotate and appear to dance across whatever they are projected on.
There’s a small projecter that can send the pattern up to about 25′ square before they lose clarity.
There are a couple of companies I have discovered that make lights that do this including SparkleMagic and BlissLights.
I still need to do some research on where and what to buy, but I know this is one of the first things I’ll buy when we get a home again especially if we buy a place with large trees. I’d use it throughout the year.
Here’s a video from one of the companies that shows how they work:
El Mirage, Arizona
Yesterday Carol and I played in a pickleball tournament together.
We had a blast! Won two matches; lost two. Met some wonderful people that I’d love to go to lunch with, and one or two I’d rather not.
Setting the scene for the rest of this post…
There’s a Netflix show called “Orange is the New Black.”
It’s about a group of women in prison.
Piper, the main character, was being bullied by Pennsatucky who is a religious zealot.
Pennsatucky forces Piper to pray an apology for her wrong doings. Pennsatucky watches Piper closely because she knows Piper has no relationship with God.
Piper: Dear Jesus…Â
Pennsatucky: That’s awfully familiar for somebody that doesn’t give Him the time of day.Â
Piper: Um… Dear Mr. Christ?Â
Pennsatucky nods her approval for the change in greeting.Â
Piper: Dear Mr. Christ…Â Â
I laughed and laughed when I heard that. 🙂
Back to today’s post…
Carol posted this picture of us on Facebook.
I was shocked at how old we looked and commented, “Jesus Christ! I can’t believe how old we look, Carol.”
Carol, who knows my lack of religious connection with Jesus responded, “That’s Mr. Christ to you, Kathy.”