Guess I will try to catch up a little.
Since October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, it was fun to learn that Fairbanks has a pink Fire truck. October is also fire awareness month so on October 12 when I picked up MP for a BBBS outing, we saw the truck parked at the elementary school near her home. They had gone over there to do a fire safety program.
MP and I couldn't find anything exiting to do that day. She had just gotten a new boy friend so we just ended up going to the visitor center down town to do a quick walk through and then we went to get a little after school snack and headed home.
On Sunday, October 16th, we woke to a little bit of snow. It was good to know we had a pile of wood to help keep us warm this winter. We know this pile will not last us the full winter and we will more than likely be splitting more wood shortly after Christmas. It is just a little snow but it will stick around a while - possibly all winter.
On October 17, there was even more snow and reports of slippery roads. Lucky me had a dentist appointment about 9:30 that I had to go to. I left a little early and headed into town.
Maybe the sign says Moose next mile but I have never seen a moose in this area and would be content to not see one close to the road during the winter.
My dentist appointment literally took 15 minutes and then I started the 10 mile drive back home.
This is where I turn off Farmer's Loop onto Ballaine. It is about 3 miles from the corner of College and where Farmer's Loop turns into University Blvd.
A few miles up Ballaine the road goes over the hill.
Then back down a bit and goes by Blueberry Preserve.
Where Ballaine hits Goldstream Road is the Vallata - a fine dining restaurant down below our housing area. The restaurant is only in the curved area on the bottom level. The drive in was a little slippery but mainly it's just because it is the first week of snow and it takes a little time to get used to the winter driving again. Fortunately, unlike Montana and other states we've lived in, this snow will continue to accumulate and actually be easier to drive on than when it snows, sticks around a while, melts off and repeats. Another plus is that we don't have the wind so the snow isn't drifting around.
On October 18th, I saw the fire truck again. This time it was on the nightly news at the scene of an accident caused by the snowy slippery roads. On the 19th when I picked up MP for our BBBS outing she was a little concerned about even being on the roads as a friend of hers had flipped his vehicle driving to school that morning. We went and ate sushi (pretty bad sushi it was) and talked about school and the fact that I was leaving for a couple of weeks.
At about 11:30 PM on the night of October 20th, JW drove me to the airport so I could fly to Arizona for a week. My flight out was at 1:25 AM and I was very anxious to get on board and settle in for a few hours sleep before landing in Seattle.
I arrived in Phoenix at 10:30 am, picked up a rental car and drove to Cool-town just in time to get to Mom's house for lunch. We each grabbed a little frozen cuisine from the freezer. And we vegged for the afternoon. Mom's shoulder had been bothering her for a few weeks. It was her frozen shoulder but was just causing her a lot of pain - enough pain that she didn't even feel like doing any crocheting or working on a quilt she was making.
Sister Sue wasn't around as she had just gotten a new grandson so she was out of town until Sunday evening. abenanna stopped by Moms for a while in the late afternoon then headed home. I drove to KFC and picked up some chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy for dinner.
I had thought about driving to Safford for the weekend but because Mom wasn't feeling so great, I decided that instead we would just go to Tucson and look around a bit. abenanna went with us so our first stop on the way out of Cool-town was at Sonic to get a Route 44 drink to keep us hydrated for the day. I decided to have Ocean Water with extra lime.
Too bad we didn't get there before 8 so we could save money.
Waiting for our drinks.
abenanna ordered a diet lime-aid with extra lime.
Mom decided she didn't want anything to drink.
When we got to Tucson, our first stop was at the Farmers Market in Oro Valley. JW's brother Tom and his wife are there every weekend selling meat. Stacey had a crock pot of goat for tasting and it was delicious. They sell frozen cuts of meat and also do custom butchering for people.
After we visited for a while, we went for lunch. I thought it would be fun to go to Swensen's Ice Cream Factory since I hadn't been there in years. abenanna said she had never been there.
Everything looked the same inside (except for the menu) What to eat was the big question.
I decided to have the grilled veggie Sandwich. It was very disappointing but the Swiss Orange Chip ice cream was as delicious as ever.
Mom wasn't very hungry. She did order a small chef salad but she didn't eat very much of it.
After we ate lunch, we stopped at the Cactus Quilt shop where I saw a quilt that I really liked. I was wanting to make one because of Arizona's Centennial next year and they just happened to have the perfect pattern.
The owner of the shop had designed the pattern back in 2003 so she didn't have all of the fabrics that she had used but I picked up a few fabrics in AZ and have quite a few in my stash that I can use for the quilt. It will have to wait until after Christmas for me to get started on it though.
Back in Cool-town, abenanna and I went to Robelto's to get some dinner. Mom said she was not hungry. I ate my dinner over at abenanna's house and then went back to Moms where she decided a few powdered doughnuts were just what she needed for dinner.
The rest of the week flew by. On Sunday, Oct 23, we went down to Mesa to watch abenanna's granddaughter Madison in the church program. Then Bri made delicious pizza for lunch - one was a broccolli alfredo pizza with a bisquick crust. After lunch we headed back to Cool-town as abenanna and some of the rest of the family were coming over to cook dinner - stir fry, egg rolls and rice.
On Monday, Oct 24th, Sister Sue, abenanna, Mom and I went to Casa Grande as she had an appointment for an MRI on her shoulder. When they came to take her back, we asked how long it would be and the lady said 30 minutes unless she moves and we have to redo it. After her MRI, we stopped for dinner and went to Jo-Anns to pick up a couple of things.
On Tuesday, Oct 25th, niece Elise came by Moms to visit for a bit and I coerced her into picking us up some lunch from Sonic. Her kids are getting so big. That afternoon, abenanna and I took Mom to the funeral home and met Sister Sue there so we could do a little planning. Mom had finally decided she wanted to go ahead and make arrangements and get them paid for since the cost of funerals just continues to climb like everything else. Maybe some people will feel this is morbid but it is just the practical thing to do. Course we all know Mom is going to outlive all of us.
Sister Sue said the MRI did not turn out and they wanted Mom to come back in for another one. The reason for the MRI was so they could determine if they should do a shoulder replacement. We discussed and do not think that a shoulder replacement at her age would make sense.
On Wednesday, Oct 26th, Sister Sue and I took Mom to a doctor in Coolidge to get him to refer her to a center for pain management. Mom also got a cortisone shot in her knee at that time. We also discussed the fact that Mom was taking oxycodone for her pain and how that was making her depressed and was causing her to not have any appetite. He prescribed a new medication that is non-narcotic and said he would get it approved for her to go to the pain management center.
That evening for dinner, niece Elise was cooking. She decided to try out a Mummy calzone which she was thinking of serving at her Halloween party. It was delicious and I had several pieces of mummy.
Thursday, Oct 27th, I headed to Phoenix at 4:00 PM. I had told a couple of people I had met on the Fairbanks Daily News Miner Arctic Cam that I would meet them for dinner at 6:45. Then I was just going to stay in Tempe that night as my flight out was at 6 the following morning.
I checked into my hotel (which was almost as bad as the one we stayed at in September but the price was good). Then I drove down the 101 to the 202 and hit the great American Parking lot. Boy how quickly you forget what a real traffic jam and rush hour traffic is like.
It took me a good hour and a half to drive from Tempe to the Claim Jumper restaurant in Avondale. According to mapquest it was about 24 miles.
Now, before I get yelled at for meeting people for dinner that I had met on the Internet, I had actually met one of the people in person at the Yukon Quest finish line in downtown Fairbanks and then she had sat with JW and I at our table at the Yukon Quest banquet. And she knew the other guy and his wife. They are all very nice people and we had an enjoyable dinner.
After dinner, it took me about a half hour to get back to my hotel and I was asleep a few minutes after I got there.
Another quick trip to AZ which just made me more aware of how much I love and miss everyone down there. I don't know if I could ever live down there again but it would be nice to live close enough to visit a little more often.
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