6/28/05 The move

Well, we made it. All our stuff is officially in Phoenix. In piles,
but at least here. We rented a Uhaul that was a piece of junk, but it
did surprisingly well on the freeway and we had most of the truck
unloaded by the time Reid (my old roommate and very good friend)
arrived to help with the really heavy stuff.

MA did a ton of work and is still working like crazy, even though she
is suffering from a cold. It's one of those racking coughs that makes
her sound like she's going to die. She complains constantly about the
dry heat and carries her little water bottle around to spray the air
and get a little moisture. It's really quite cute, except when she
sprays me instead of the air...

The washer ended up being really broken so we took it back yesterday
and are trying to figure out what to do for our next washer. I think
we'll buy new. Ugh!!!

We also need to buy a lawn mower...we have a little jungle out there
in back. It's about 12-18 inches in the tall spots.

This is at 9:25

This is at 9:25
Originally uploaded by Shugga.

More pictures of the traffic if you follow this picture to flickr.

Here is the first of my speed checks. 8:15 PM and 1963.4 miles. Hour 2 of traffic  

Here we were driving down a dirt road...you can kind of see the train that passed us on the left this was hour 5.5 of traffic.  

Here is the last speed check. 9:30 and 1964.4 miles 

A picture in my rear view mirror kind of...trying to show the long line of cars behind me. 

Here is a picture of a snow capped peak right beside the wind mills and a semi and other cars zooming past on the other side. 

Last trip before the move...

So I left early this morning to be there in time to receive our Washer
and Dryer and sure enough, I just made it. They delivered as I drove
up! Sweet! He installed everything and it seemed like they were
perfect until I turned the washer on to do the first load and noticed
it was leaking water! Ugh! I went ahead and did a bunch of laundry
that desperately needed to get done, but with towels on the floor to
soak up the excess water.

We've scheduled a technician to come out and look at the machine and
we'll see if we can't get it fixed. If not, we have 90 days to load
the 300 lbs washer into a truck and haul it back to the store! Ahhh!

I sure hope they fix it!!!

Love to all!

Another AZ trip.

Well we just got back from another trip to AZ. No really big accomplishments this weekend; i.e. painting another room. We did however get a washer and dryer...finally. We found the Sears outlet in Tempe, AZ and got a screaming deal on a slightly marred washer and dryer. We also lucked out and made it there on the 10% off day. So we were really happy.

Other than that we went to Phantom of the Opera at the ASU auditorium. It was fantastic, the troupe that performed was from New York and quite good. Mary Ann was almost brought to tears a couple of times. Course that could have been me rather than the show... I have a tendency to bring her to tears. :)

Anyway it was a fabulous weekend and we had a great time. Can't wait to see you guys in the heat.

6-6-05 Update

Just wanted to say hello to everyone. This is our first official update on the blog, and I wanted to make sure you all felt welcome commenting, etc.

So as you can see I've been posting a few things here and will continue to use flickr in conjunction. However, the latest and greatest will be found here, with intermittent posts going up at random times.

If you have any questions about the site, or what we've got going on let us know.

Welcome

Welcome
Originally uploaded by Shugga.

You can find the rest of my beach pictures if you go to my flicker photos.

Last night we went to the beach...Santa Monica

I'm posting the pictures today. It was MA's walk of frustration. She's been dealing with a couple of really crappy kids this year at school and the administration is VERY slow to do anything about it. She has felt physically threatened and has been verbally abused by this latest one, David. Kids these days can be real idiots!!

Anyway, last night after ANOTHER confrontation we walked it off. Or I should say she walked it off, as I trailed behind taking pictures and trying to get her to laugh every once in awhile. It took about 4 hours, but I did get one smile out of her. It didn't last long but...

We went in every store that she normally loves...Urban Outfitters, Old Navy, The Gap, Z Gallery, Pottery Barn. (I bought some Chino's from The Gap on sale for $20)

We then ate up on Montana Ave...a quaint little corner of Santa Monica, where the rich hang out. Rosti Tuscan Take Home, is what the restaurant is called. I had a Smoked Salmon Pasta that I couldn't finish; it was soooooo fishy. MA had a Puttanesca that tasted like capers.

Atmosphere was great though. :)

Enjoy the pics.

Boys

Boys
Originally uploaded by Shugga.

I thought these were great cultural picture descriptions for the girls and boys bathrooms when in Peru.

A lot of you have been asking me where I got this picture. Here you go...

The symbol for the girls bathroom in Peru 

The camera phone...at Craig Park 

I love this woman...

DSC_0684
Originally uploaded by Shugga.

It was a perfect day.

Cactus

Cactus
Originally uploaded by Shugga.

Read the sign...

FELICITATION!

Mon amour a du travail pour l'anee prochaine. Qu'est-ce que je sois content pour elle!

Mary Ann was hired by Higley High School

We're very excited that MA will be able to work for another little while.

The High School is right next to our house and doesn't start until
8:05. So much better than what she has to deal with at Beverly Hills.

Tell her congratulations.

Finally wedding pictures are coming...

We should have some more pictures to share with you before too long. We've finally heard that the pictures are finished. Maybe we can even get one to hang on the wall? That would be nice, eh?

Havasupai, Grand Canyon, AZ