magnolia

It is that time of year again...when the Magnolia tree blooms and the bees come swarming in.

I know I showed you some photos of the bloom last year, but I just couldn't resist taking some pictures of it again.

 Look closely at the legs of this bee, he was buzzing his wings very quickly. But, can you see the little bundles of pollen he is carrying around with him? I think that is fascinating how they ball it up like that.

After the flower is done, which is only about a day or two, it starts to dry up and turn orange. The petals fall to the ground and leave behind the pretty insides.

It can bee a messy tree.
It can bee a beautiful tree.
But I will take it..bees and all.

call me

My mom drove in yesterday from Colorado for the youngest girls graduation. She brought me this old rotary telephone that was used for many years while we were growing up. I recall this one sitting on my Dad's desk in his home office. We have told our kids about these archaic phones that you have to 'dial' each number separately. And, we have told them how you were attached to the phone by the cord. You know, no wandering around everywhere while talking on the phone. The only way to say something privately was to put your hand over your mouth and whisper. My mom actually used this phone in her bedroom until about a year ago. She knows that I like old things, so she brought it with her to pass along to me. Pretty cool ! 

So, after dinner last night, I pulled it out of the box and unplugged our cordless base unit and plugged this one in. It looked all retro and cute sitting on the counter. I tested it for a dial tone and yep, it was there. I then used my cell phone to call the house number to see if the "new"phone would ring. It did! So, the youngest girl, said "Yes...this is so cool! Can I try it?" "Sure I said, just call me on my cell phone and  see if it works." So she did. 

First try:

Me:"Wait, you have to dial 1 first for long distance" (because  my cell phone still has the Colorado number). This is an interesting concept for kids that have never "dialed" a phone. She carefully dialed all the numbers. 

Me: "Wait...you have to take the receiver off the hook first and listen for a dial tone."

Her: "...."

Me: "dial tone...mmmmmmmmm".

Second try:
Her: "ok..." picks up receiver and listens then dials..."1 970 24...wait."
Me: " 1 970..."
Her " 1 9..."
Her: "1 wait..."

After many tries it finally worked. My cell phone rang.

Me: "Hello?"
Her: "Hello? How cool is this?!"

We hang up and by then the commercials were over for the Dancing with the Stars finale. Before I sit down the black phone rings. With our bundled telephone service we also have a feature that displays the caller and phone number on our t.v. screen. So, a number with 'Maricopa County' as the caller came on the screen. Unknown caller to us! Before I could answer, it rolled to our answering machine, which I thought was because I had unplugged the base set. So, I re-plugged our regular phone in and left the retro phone sitting on the counter. I joined everyone to watch t.v.

A few minutes later the doorbell rang. Unless we are expecting one of the boyfriends...our doorbell never rings. So, I went to answer it. I open the door and did not see anyone, so I said "Hello?"
I hear a manly voice from the other side of the patio.

Him: "Hello."
I step out the door and look over and a nice sheriff's officer is walking towards me.
Me: "Hi?"
Him: "Hello Mam. I'm Officer So and So from the Maricopa County Sheriff's department."
Me: "Yyyes?"
Him: "We had a 911 hang up call from this address and I am here to check it out."
Me: "You did?" We didn't call 911."
Him: (with a look of concern) "Mam, I'm here because we had two 911 hang-up calls. Is everything ok?"
Me: "Yes."
Him: (still concerned) "Are you sure? I was called out because there was a report of two 911 hang-up calls. The dispatcher even tried to call back but it rolled over to voice mail immediately".
Me: (starting to figure out what might have happened and remembering the Maricopa County phone number on the t.v. screen) "Oh dear." (words now spilling from my mouth) "You see my Mom ( while spastically waving towards her car, with out of state plates, parked in front of the house) brought this old retro rotary phone to me and we were trying it out to see if it works." (getting a little nervous and a wee bit embarrassed by now) " And...you see my daughter was calling my cell phone... and well, the phone must not work right..."( nervous chatter and laughter).
Him: "Well, we got two 911 calls with hang-ups."
Me: " Oh gosh...I'm so sorry..." (starting to feel a little perspiration building up)
Him: "You're sure everything is ok?"
Me: "Oh yes. It's fine. See, she brought this phone and we thought it would be fun to see if it works...blah blah blah..." nervouser and nervouser.
Him: "I've been standing out here awhile checking things out. You know...listening for screams."
Me: "No screaming. We are just watching Dancing with the Stars." sheesh... babble, babble, babble.
Me:    "I'm so sorry you got called out for this. We wouldn't do anything like that intentionally."
Him: "That's ok. I'd rather not have to find something terrible going on."

Just then, Reptile Wrangler finally decided to see where I was at.

Me: "Chuck, this officer was called out because I think Grandma's phone accidentally called 911."
       babble, babble, babble.
Chuck: "Oh no."
Chuck: "You see, her Mom just came for a visit and brought this old rotary phone...." babble babble, babble.
Him: "Ok folks, I'm just glad everything is ok. Have a good night."
Us: (nervous laughter) "okay, yes, thanks for checking on us and again, we are sorry".

This is what I think happened when the girl was trying the phone.

Me: "1 970 240-****"
Her: "9...wait..."
Me: "1 for long distance first."
Her: "1 ...wait..."
Her: "1 9... wait..."
Her: "1...wait"
Her: "1...wait"

If you look at the order of numbers you will see 9 1 1. Twice.  I forgot to tell her that when you make a mistake you have to hang up and wait for the dial tone again. Oops.

9 1 1. What's your emergency?

what is orange and black

and comes in a can?

 Well, it really didn't come in the can but it was going to leave in the can. Any guesses?

 Look closely.

 Ok. Let me put the flash on the camera so you can see it better.

Oh yes it is. It is the Gila Monster that crawled back under the fence into our yard a couple of weeks ago. Did you miss that little story? Click here if you want to read about it.

Why is the Gila in the can with the bird seed you ask?

An even better question. Why is the Gila in the can on the front seat of the car while the Reptile Wrangler is in the driver seat?  Oh, and Prom girl is peeking in the window.

Well, here's the story. And this could only occur in our backyard, it's uncanny (ha!)I tell ya. This is a picture of the back patio. Just around the corner by the black grill is where that Gila guy was spotted a couple of weeks ago. This time? Last Saturday, a couple of hours before the prom brigade was about to arrive (Birthday Boy Grandpa Johnny included), I opened the sliding door to go outside. 

Meandering right in front of the wood shelf unit was the Gila himself.  I shouted for the Prom Girl to, "come and see this"! The squeak of the sliding door made him take a left claw turn in between the shelf and the plant. As we went out to get a little closer look it had disappeared behind the shelf. And that is right where he was going to stay until Reptile Wrangler came home.

I don't think he believed me at first, that a Gila was back there, because the gap between the wall and the shelf is fairly narrow. But, apparently these buggers have a way of squishing themselves into small places (or under fences). Yep, there he is....

We decided since we were only minutes away from guests to arrive, the Wrangler would not be doing any wrangling. It had probably been around since I spotted him a couple of weeks earlier, so I didn't feel the need to start up the rodeo right then.

Prom pictures went on while he hung out behind the shelf. I wonder if he felt like he was up against a brick wall?

The next morning, the Wrangler pulled the shelf out a bit, and with a broom he gently coaxed the Gila into the metal can that he had set down on its side. The Gila walked right in, perhaps the few traces of bird seed helped to entice it, and our hero, the Wrangler, tipped up the can and put the lid on it. I took a few pictures and then he loaded the can with the Gila Monster into the front seat of the car. He drove it out to the open desert area and let it go. This time the Gila is away. Far away. Far from our backyard.

And then the Reptile Wrangler drove back home and fixed me a nice Mother's Day brunch of waffles and fresh strawberries. He wrangles and cooks! As long as he doesn't start cooking what he wrangles.

The most clever thing about the whole event was when Prom girl looked into the can to get a good look at the Gila (reminder:pronounced Hee-lah) and she asked, " how do you know it's not a Shee-lah"?

Think about that for a minute. Ha!

senior prom

Our last high school senior prom. It was a pretty one. Well, at least this girl was pretty. 

And her boyfriend date looked pretty nice too. They are a cute couple. You might recognize him from last year since he was her date then too. 

                                                                   Ryan and Leah

 They didn't think they could top the fun they had at last year's prom. But, he said they might have done just that. Topped the fun! The weather was ideal. The party bus was memorable and the prom itself sounded great. I'm glad you two had a great time.

This is her last week of high school. My goodness.
Hey Leah, you sure make me smile!

Mother's Day

To these three who call me Mom...
I couldn't be more proud to be your Mom. 
It's the highlight of my every day. 
I love your smiles.
I love you.




To all the other Mom's in my life, especially my Mom, Happy Mother's Day!
Enjoy your day.
I'll enjoy mine.
~norma~

columbine

As a nod to Colorado, and the flowers that would be abundant in that yard right now, we planted a purple columbine in a flower pot. The columbine is the state flower of Colorado and we had many different colors in our yard. It is a pretty little flower and we all enjoy seeing this one blooming. We planted it in this pot last spring and I was not sure that it would "summer" over because of the extreme heat. I guess it did. These grow wild in the mountains in Colorado. I like it as a potted plant too.

eighteen years and one week

ago,  this pretty girl came into our lives.  She did it with quiet style and has been that way ever since. She is our youngest. The baby. The one who has always sat back and contemplated life. The one who is always up with the sunrise, ready to start her day before everyone else. The one who holds her older brother and sister near to her heart. The one who shares a big smile with that brother and sister. The one that loves the moon and the stars. And the one who can do anything she sets her mind to do.

She is the one that has always had a rose to her cheeks and a twinkle in those pretty blue eyes.  The one who likes to sit and talk with you and the one that likes to quietly be by herself. The one who chooses her friendships wisely and who won't waste her time unnecessarily. The one who thinks less is more and words are greater. The one who made us a family of five and who will always be special to us.

                    Happy Birthday Little Leah Loo Who makes us smile every single day! We love you.



This post is one week late from her 18th birthday due to my computer being at the Apple shop for adjustments. And, for me just wanting to stretch this whole birthday thing out a little longer.