This Christmas

Before Christmas, our friends Jac & Richard came over for dinner.















Christmas Eve at my mom's was as wonderful as usual. Maybe even better, since Colin was with us!

















Matt bonded with his favorite great-nephew

We all wore our paper crowns, just like the Queen of England

Leo was very interested in the picture taking

Three of our favorite nieces

Colin liked the pin that I got in my Christmas popper

Christmas was beyond a baby's wildest dreams

Quite the D'backs fan!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Once again Christmas has snuck up on us. But snow on the Catalinas and the San Xavier Christmas concert have set the mood, so bring it on!

Possibly the funniest television show ever

Anybody who likes to laugh should definitely check out the DVDs of the 1999 television series Action. We just finished watching, and even though we'd previously seen all the episodes on TV, this show is still hilarious. It really was funnier on TV when they bleeped out the bad words, but NOT when they pixillated them. I still believe that the show was canceled because it was too true about Hollywood.

Some things that make me happy

• Palm trees
• Dogs wagging their tails
• Flip-flops, and being able to wear them 6+ months a year
• Spring Training
• My great-nephew
• Maui
• Christmas Eve
• New Orleans French bread
• Driving with the sunroof open and the stereo on
• Hummingbirds
• The Santa Catalina mountains
• Saturday night dinners with my sweetie

Dogs

These are some of my favorite recent pictures of some of my favorite dogs.
















This month's puppy on our puppy calendar is a really cute little beagle on its back. Apparently Sand3aye thought she could be just as cute.

Cruising Arizona

My mom & I have recently taken some day trips around southern Arizona. It probably doesn't sound exciting to most people, but we love to see where roads go, and what various parts of the state look like. Last week we did the mining town tour -- San Manuel, Mammoth, Winkleman, Hayden, and Kearny. We liked Kearny the best. Yesterday we started out in the same direction, going through Mammoth and Winkleman, then up toward Globe before turning east toward Safford. We detoured through the town of San Carlos on the Apache reservation, then went to Coolidge Dam and along the south side of San Carlos Lake, then on to Pima, Bryce, Thatcher, Safford, then home through Willcox and Benson. A long day, but great weather, and beautiful and interesting scenery. Oh yes, and I learned that Pima cotton is not named for Pima County, but for the town of Pima, Arizona.



beisbolfan at Coolidge Dam


actual Pima cotton in Pima, Arizona

22 years!

Yesterday Mr. Beisbolfan & I celebrated our 22nd wedding anniversary. We had a great dinner at Vivace, and reminisced about our fun wedding all those years ago. If we had been the beisbolfans that we are today, we might not have gotten married during the World Series.

While the cat's away

We always wonder what the dogs are doing while we're gone. I got a partial answer last night. Matt was gone, but I was home. Apparently Sand3aye missed Matt. Since she couldn't be with him, she did the next best thing, and snuggled up to his pants and sock.

Autumn in the desert

This is one of the times of the year when we're really glad we live in Tucson. I recently looked at the 3 day forecast, and every day was the same -- high of 85, and low of 58. Perfect, sunny days, and great sleeping weather at night.

Yesterday the Mr. and I went to the West University Neighborhood home tour. What a perfect day to be out and about! It was really interesting to see what people had done to preserve and rennovate their 100 year old houses. It made me wonder whether 80 years from now my 80s tract home will be considered a retro classic. You never know!

Unfortunately my Diamondbacks have not shown up for the National League Championship Series. Their lack of consistent hitting has really caught up with them. It's been a good ride, and even though they're not officially done, we'll be cheering hard for the Rockies in the World Series.

Take me out to the ballgame

It's all baseball, all the time now that the playoffs are here. Tomorrow I'm going back to Phoenix to see game 1 of the NLCS. Mr. Beisbolfan has agreed to go to the game, and I've finally realized that I can wholeheartedly root for the Diamondbacks. I've actually followed both teams since spring training in March, but as I've watched the hype the last couple of days, I realize that I'm really much more familiar and comfortable with our Arizona D'backs. So now that I know who to cheer for, PLAY BALL!

World Series, Baby!

The Diamondbacks and Rockies will play each other for the chance to go to the World Series! I'll be rooting for the AZ team, but I can't say that I'll be sad if the Rockies win. I saw my first MLB regular season game at Coors Field, and fell in love with baseball all over again (after watching the AAA Seattle Rainiers in my childhood), so I have a HUGE soft spot in my heart for the Rockies. I really feel like the Rockies and Diamondbacks have a lot of similarities right now. They have a lot of young, talented, energetic players, and also loose clubhouses and good team chemistry. Obviously spring training in Tucson brought them major good kharma. Not so for the White Sox, who have officially dissed Tucson and are moving to Glendale.

War NL West!

The Diamondbacks and Rockies each have a 2-0 lead in their playoff series. Woo hoo! The atmosphere at Chase Field for the 2 Diamondbacks games was great. We were afraid that there would be more Cubs fans than Diamondbacks fans at the games, but we were wrong. Last night we were sandwiched between Cubs fans, but they were pretty nice. All around us were vocal Diamondbacks fans. It felt bad when the D'backs went behind, 2-0, but that only lasted a short time until Chris Young's 3-run homer. That felt great! We had plenty of chances to cheer & jump up & down for our team, along with most of the other 48,000+ people there. The Cubs fans got quiet in a hurry. So now what happens if my 2 favorite teams end up playing each other for the National League championship? I can't imagine a better scenario. I honestly think I would be happy no matter which of those teams won. The Cubs and Phillies are LOSERS!

Too much excitement

It's almost too much to handle. Both of my favorite baseball teams are in the playoffs! Last night's Colorado Rockies' win was incredible. 13 innings of back and forth lead changes, errors, and heroics. My stomach was a mess. After close to 5 hours of play, the good guys won. It was a controversial play at the plate. Did Matt Holliday touch the plate? The umpire said yes, so he did. I can't help but point out that 25% of the 8 teams in the MLB playoffs do spring training in Tucson.

Ganga of the week

Here's an example of the things that make me happy. A couple of weeks ago I saw a microfiber cloth that I thought would be perfect for drying and cleaning my glasses. But I just couldn't bring myself to pay $17 for a little piece of cloth. Then a few days ago at Target I found (in the cleaning supply section) a package of 2 microfiber cloths for cleaning glass. Two for $5.99. These things are amazing. I've been using an old dishcloth, that I thought did a pretty decent job on my glasses. Well, this new cloth dries the lenses like magic, and doesn't leave any little pieces of lint. I swear I can actually see better. See how easy to please I am?

Pretty Girls

Aren't these just the prettiest dogs? They smell as good as they look, thanks to PetsMart. I'm not sure what they did while they were there being washed & clipped, but PetsMart called twice to tell us to come pick them up.

Playoffs!

The Diamondbacks are going to the playoffs! And so am I! I can admit it now. I bought tickets a few days ago, before anybody even knew that the D'backs would be playing next week. Woo hoo! I have to give props to the entire team. They have really had some amazing plays and efforts all season. I do recall saying as early as Spring Training that the Diamondbacks and Rockies would be fun to watch, and they certainly have been. It's amazing to invest 162 games -- 6 months -- in a team, and then have it pay off, and the season continue. There is nothing like being at a game and cheering for your team. The first time I really felt that was way back when my Seattle Supersonics basketball team clinched their first playoff birth. Don't ask me the year, but it was a LONG time ago, and I was at the game with my brother, and the Sonics beat their rivals, the Portland Trailblazers, to make the playoffs for the first time. What a rush to be with 14,000+ people all cheering for their team. It's really a catharsis -- a release for all the emotions from daily life. The funnest baseball game I've ever attended was Game 1 of the 2001 playoffs in Phoenix. My sweetie & I sat in the Infiniti Level at "BOB" (as it was known then) and watched Curt Schilling of the D'backs outpitch Matt Morris of the Cardinals in a gem of a game. Who knew then that the Diamondbacks would go on to win the World Series over the New York Yankees, after the events of 9/11. Who says sports aren't important?

Nordie Day

Yesterday I drove to Phoenix for a visit to my favorite store, Nordstrom. I've almost given up on Tucson ever getting one. Although they say now that Pima County has hit the magic 1 million mark in population, it may be more likely. At one time, there was speculation that Nordstrom could move into the Tucson Mall, since there's now an empty department store there. I don't know. I went to the Tucson Mall today for the first time in a long time, and it seemed kind of empty. Most of the stores were occupied, but there weren't a whole lot of shoppers. Of course, it's Thursday, but still. Whenever I've got to Scottsdale Fashion Square, it's always hopping.

Be that as it may, it was nice to shop at Nordstrom. I had to return a skirt that I didn't use on the Alaska cruise, and I ended up getting some nice, comfy jeans. Had a nice chat with the salesgirl who was from Tucson, Sahuaro High. Then I went to check out Whole Foods in Tempe. I was somewhat disappointed. It didn't have as much neat stuff as Whole Foods I've been to in New Orleans, Seattle, and Boulder. It was more like a Wild Oats (boo). But there was still enough good prepared food that I got things for a couple of meals. I'm still glad that the Tucson Wild Oats stores will become Whole Foods, but I'm not as excited as I was before.

Now I have to get a baseball thought off my chest. A lot has been said about players who do and don't "play through pain". Roger Clemens has been made out to be Superman because at age 63 or however old he is, he gets cortisone shots and still pitches. Nothing is ever said about Randy Johnson. He's had 2 back surgeries in the last year, and I have to think that's pretty unpleasant. He has pitched with back pain for who knows how much of his career (including last year in NY when he still won 16 games, but the fans didn't appreciate him), and is one of the best left-handed pitchers of all time, if not one of the best pitchers, period. I really hope he comes back and pitches next year, whether he gets the appreciation he deserves or not. I feel fortunate that I've gotten to see him pitch quite a few times.

Baseball

Yesterday we went to the Diamondbacks' last home game of the season. It was fun, although the good guys lost. And once again, I didn't win a "shirt off their D-backs". I bought plenty of scratch tickets for the annual season-end promotion, and this year I didn't even win a consolation prize. Oh well. At least our donations are tax deductible. And my second favorite team, the Colorado Rockies, helped the Diamondbacks' cause as well as their own by beating the Padres again. It was a truly bizarre game with Milton Bradley (snicker) self-destructing, being wrestled to the ground by his own manager, and sustaining a season-ending knee injury. All you can really ask for after a long baseball season is to have your team still in the race in the last week of play. And to have the Diamondbacks and Rockies both still contending is fantastic.

Speaking of baseball, I have a great marketing idea. MLB doesn't seem to have realized that many women are baseball fans, and are willing to spend money on team merchandise. (Note to MLB: this just in: women like to shop.) So I would like MLB to partner with some good nail polish company, like OPI, to sell team color nail polish. Can't you see the market for Sedona Red, Dodger Blue, etc.? Unfortunately with all the licensing requirements, etc. this would take a herd of high-priced lawyers to pull off. I've considered contacting Alyssa Milano, who has an excellent baseball blog on mlb.com and has started a line of womens' MLB clothing, to give her the idea. When will corporate America wake up to the idea that there's an untapped market for women's items in traditionally male markets? For years I searched for feminine business items, like briefcases in colors other than black or brown, but nothing seems to exist, at least in Tucson.

Happy birthday, little bro!

Today is my little brother's birthday. He's spending it with friends in our childhood state of Washington. It made me very happy to hear that he's spending the evening with good friends Dick and Ann, and they were about to tap the pony keg of Coors Light and watch the Washington Huskies play UCLA. Go Dawgs, and happy birthday to Neil & Lute!

Impoliteness

Before I started this blog, my sweetie had suggested that I should start one, mainly as a vehicle for getting some of the more negative thoughts out of my system. Apparently he doesn't want to be the only audience for my rants. I think I'm a generally positive person, and my intent is not to subject any readers to negativity. But I just have to get this off my chest. It has recently been noted that the world has become less polite than it used to be. Here's an example. Some people seem to think that it has become acceptable to use shopping carts as trash cans. What are people thinking when they throw their garbage into a cart? It used to be that selecting a shopping cart at the grocery store or Target just meant finding one without wobbles and squeaks. Now I also reject the ones that have other peoples' trash in them. I guess I could help by cleaning them out, but eeew. So the poor store employees have to pick up after all the thoughtless slobs. That probably isn't even specified in their job descriptions. Of course, plenty of the store employees don't want to deal with icky garbage any more than I do, and they just bring in the carts from wherever they've been left all over the parking lot, and leave the trash where it is. I can't really blame them.

Our other summer vacation

We hadn't even recovered from Alaska and Seattle when it was time to go to Colorado. What a rough life! Once again, we had wonderful weather (for the most part). It was great going to Crystal Lakes up in the beautiful Rocky Mountains, even though the Labor Day crowds scared the fish into not biting. And of course, we had to go to a game at Coors Field, which was lots of fun (the Rockies beat the Padres -- woo hoo!), and once again, it was a beautiful evening for baseball. It was nice being in Greeley, too, and eating at JB's -- yum! Dogs make vacations even better, and they help keep us from missing our own two goofdogs.

What a difference a day makes

Last night the Diamondbacks played a wonderful game, and beat the Giants 5-0. Micah Owings pitched a 2-hit complete game shutout. And with her usual luck, my mom was at the game. She saw a good one! They opened the roof at Chase Field and it was a beautiful evening in Phoenix. That's what makes baseball great. Good weather, a hot dog, a cold beverage, and even better, your team winning. The world looks much brighter after my team wins. And Kirk Herbstreit is predicting that my alma mater, Washington, will upset UCLA in football. Sometimes the anticipation is better than the event. Let's savor the moment.

How I spent my summer vacation

What could be more perfect -- an Alaska cruise, beginning and ending with time in my old hometown, Seattle. The weather was wonderful (most of the time), and even the few times when it was cool and rainy, it was OK with us desert rats. Pictures hardly do justice to the beauty and majesty of Alaska. And to think that we only saw bits of the very southern tail of the enormous state. Being back in Seattle was much better than I thought it would be. I love everything about it, except the weather. Vacations are great, but there's no place like home!