Category — Linda

Happy 24th Birthday to my gorgeous, talented, loving, conscientious, kind, beautiful, wonderful daughter, Marissa!

I’m hoping you won’t mind all these pictures I’m going to post here. From this top one taken during the last months of your senior year at the University of Arizona… to this one when you were the only ballerina in black tights – when you were just over four years old.

Then there is this next picture, taken on your fourth birthday. You were obviously NOT happy that there was snow on the saguaros on December 1st in Arizona! Some things don’t change – you’re still always saying it’s too cold.

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As I mentioned yesterday, the Phoenix New Times was going to put up a little article on their food blog, Chow Bella, about my dream food day. It was supposed to go up today, but instead, it was posted early yesterday morning. I love how it turned out and I’d love it even more if you would go to THIS LINK and check it out and also check the little “like” button there or leave a comment.  Just in case you’re not up for all that… here it is below. :-0

Oh, and hopefully you’ll notice that I don’t just talk the talk, I walk the walk! Several of my favorite things are already shared here with you in my previous posts… from the Brussels Sprout Salad to the Bacon BonBons and the De Lujo Margarita. I’m always thinking about you people!

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It’s no secret, I love my birthday. Do you know that person who complains that they are another year older? Yeah, I am the complete opposite of that person. Birthdays are a gift unto themselves.

I love October. I love the 27th. I love that I was born in a year ending with zero. What can I say? I just love my birthday. In fact, when I schedule posts in advance on this very blog, I set them up to post at 10:27 AM. So there you go, now you know.

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photo courtesy of http://www.verdecanyonrr.com/

On Saturday, Dave and I drove 25 miles from Sedona to Clarkdale to ride the Verde Canyon Railroad through the Verde Canyon along the beautiful Verde River in Northern Arizona. The train passes by ancient Sinagua Indian dwellings carved into the mountainsides and ends up in Perkinsville, a deserted ghost ranch, and then turns around and comes back.  In the 1960’s a few scenes from the classic western “How the West Was Won” featuring George Peppard, Debbie Reynolds, and Eli Wallach, was filmed in Perkinsville.

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What the heck, people?!?  I pour my pain, my suffering, and my heart out to you people about my serious ankle injury and the one and only empathetic comment I get is one from my mother-in-law!?!  This just makes me sad. Not sad because my MIL commented – that made me happy and it was very kind and very sweet of her!  No, I am sad because none of the rest of you had anything nice or funny or even sarcastic to say. 🙁

OK, I’m going to give you all another chance. Maybe I didn’t post nasty enough pictures of my foot. It’s actually looking worst now, so to get the sympathy I deserve… more photos for you to “man up” and comment on!
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I have issues! Camera issues sleep issues, calendar issues, phone issues, and worst of all… website issues! It must have been the full moon. At least I hope so because the full moon only lasts one day and these issues need to cease! Let us address each issue, one at a time.

Camera – I had complete short-term memory loss on how to work my own camera yesterday morning when I took the photos for tomorrow’s post. A small portion of the problem could have been that it was about 4 AM when they were taken and that was after I had gone to the grocery store to get the coconut I could have sworn I had in my pantry. Obviously another memory loss issue on the coconut! One happy side note…when you shop at 3:30 AM, there is only you, the cleaning people, and the stocking staff in the store… kinda awesome!

Sleep – Already noted above, I cannot sleep! I fall asleep fine, but if something wakes me up, that’s it – I am up! Hate that! I really and truly hate that!!!

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Have you noticed the “new” thing in stores and catalogs like Pottery Barn are these “found” items for sale? Sure, I want to buy just about every one I see, but those prices… ouch! Well, I found my own treasure this past weekend while out on a girls’ shopping afternoon with Peggy. This super cool vintage chemistry set! I can only imagine what “finding” it at PB would have cost me… I paid $25 for it. Why I thought I needed a vintage chemistry set, I do not know, but it was one of those things that caught my eye and I could not pass it up. It is perfect for Halloween decor, so at least it has a purpose for the next few weeks.

Since I decided to place it on the living room fireplace hearth, it inspired me to go to town on the mantel. I spent an hour or so this morning at the .99 store looking for cheap stuff to accessorize with.  Another thing that I’ve been admiring at Pottery Barn are these News Text Pillar Candles, but then again, do I really need another candle in this house… the answer is NO… so I made my own text candles.

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I want to say thank you to each and every one of you who left me such kind, loving, and compassionate comments – not only here on the blog – but also on Facebook, by phone, and by email. So many of you have reached out and it means more than you will ever know.

And thank you to my sweet neighbors who brought me flowers and my friends who sent sympathy cards. A special thank you to my gorgeous BFF who came by yesterday to help ease my pain and who will help me later today at the reception, held here at the house, after the service. I am truly blessed with wonderful friends and family, I am beyond grateful.

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My parents lost the youngest of their two sons and I lost my younger brother, Andy, earlier this week.  In truth, we lost him a long long time ago. And even saying that we lost him earlier this week – that isn’t quite accurate –  he died earlier this month, but we only learned of his death this past Tuesday.

That’s how it is when someone you love gives his or her life away; you never know what is going on with them until it is over or after it is far too late to offer help.

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Along with eight other good citizens, I made it through our 8-day trial and now I can tell you all about it.

The nine of us were culled from a pool of 45 potential jurors. I have to say, the lawyers and the judge did a commendable job of weeding us out, they managed to get nine sane, reasonable, and intelligent people. Trust me, there were some people I saw in the larger group who were far removed from sanity and intelligence!

As I mentioned back on August 31st, I had a suspicion that there were nine of us, instead of the usual eight, because of me. And then again, on September 3rd, I told you how I had been called into the judge’s chambers… well now I can tell you the whole story.

On that first selection day, after going through the potential juror questionnaire with all 45 of us, the judge said that if any of us felt the need to add something, in private, to raise our hands. My hand flew up, I was hoping for this opportunity. This was a civil case, not criminal, like many of you may have assumed.

A case of malpractice where a woman and her husband were suing her OB/GYN. Now I know that most physicians take out medical malpractice insurance to protect them from financial claims, but I wasn’t aware that these cases could be taken to court where healthcare professionals could be sent to prison! I knew this was going to be a very serious case, but not only because of the nature of the claim. From the very moment we walked into the courtroom and learned what the case was about, I knew I may have a problem. And the reason I wanted to speak of it in private was because I didn’t want to share my issue with 44 complete strangers. And some of them were very strange!

So why don’t I mind sharing it with you? You know me, and you care about me, and you’re not strange at all! Additionally, it was so appalling to watch these people try to squirm their way out of service, that I did not want anyone to perceive that that was what I was trying to do. I’m so glad that these people decided to contact a malpractice attorney, no one should feel afraid to bring justice to people who have been affected by a medical issue that has caused them problems. I didn’t have a problem serving. I mean for as much as I may have complained about it here, I would certainly want competent people there for me, if I was ever in need. Anything to do with malpractice engages the attention of someone, especially if it extends to pediatric malpractice – luckily this case didn’t but I’ve heard it happens! Anyway seriously, it’s all a lot of information to take in but it is very interesting after all. I recommend you find out more here so you can educate yourself on the issue – it’s worth knowing about.

I completely respect and appreciate the process and I am grateful, especially on this poignant weekend, that I live in a country where you are judged by a jury of your peers and have an opportunity to prove your innocence! ….. I just didn’t want to pass out while doing my duty.

You see, I have an extreme and uncontrollable physical reaction to the visual and especially verbal descriptions of the inner workings of the human anatomy. I really don’t know how else to describe it other than that. Possibly a few actual examples of my life experience will show you just how vulnerable I am. Here we go…

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