Happy Mother's Day to all!
We're having a busy weekend so I'll have lots of pics to post as the week goes along, but wanted to wish everyone a Happy Mother's Day.

As is the custom in our home, I woke up to a delicious breakfast of steak, eggs, toast, fresh fruit, juice and coffee. Before today, I asked Terry to cut back on the size of the meal because I can never finish it. So he didn't make hash browns. :-)

Notice that Shredder is sitting in my chair. We were debating about whether she thought it was HER Mother's Day breakfast or she was guarding it until I was ready to sit down. In any case, she moved over to her own chair and I gave her a few treats since she is a mother too after all.

I love my gifts too! I got hydrangeas which are my favorite flower in the whole world. I wish they would grow here. Does anyone have any tips on keeping them alive in the desert? I also got dark chocolate, mmmmm. And although we don't normally do "real gifts" on Mother's Day, Terry got me a gift card for Christopher & Banks. What an amazing husband I have! He spoils me rotten.

Kevin just emailed a bit ago to say that the phones at the base are all backed up so he'll have to call later. It was good to hear from him and we'll look forward to talking to him soon. Amy just called and we got to visit a little too. I love my kids and am privileged to call them mine.

So we're off to Hope & Steve's for the Perkins family Mother's Day gathering. Of course, I'll have more pics from that gathering too, so watch for more to come soon...

Enjoy your day moms and pamper your wives and mothers, guys.

Shredder's Latest Antics

We've been trying to figure out what's up with Shredder. She's been doing all kinds of things that we haven't seen her do before. Maybe she's becoming senile or maybe she's just being more adventurous in her old age.

I caught her on the kitchen counter in the middle of the night even when I was sitting in the same room. She's also been climbing up on the bathroom counter. No idea why!

We've seen her fairly regularly drinking out of the swimming pool. Fortunately it's a salt water pool so the chlorine's not quite as strong as in other pools. I hope she doesn't fall in.

And she's been sitting on Terry's lap more, even though he says he doesn't like it.

Crazy cat!

Shredder's Lastest Tricks

We've been trying to figure out what's up with Shredder. She's been doing all kinds of things that we haven't seen her do before. Maybe she's becoming senile or maybe she's just being more adventurous in her old age.

I caught her on the kitchen counter in the middle of the night even when I was sitting in the same room. She's also been climbing up on the bathroom counter. No idea why!

We've seen her fairly regularly drinking out of the swimming pool. Fortunately it's a salt water pool so the chlorine's not quite as strong as in other pools. I hope she doesn't fall in.

And she's been sitting on Terry's lap more, even though he says he doesn't like it.

Crazy cat!

Busy weekend!
This weekend was busy with lots of fun things, but busy nonetheless.

Friday, I spent the day with my mom. We went to lunch, then ran a few errands, bought her some shoes at Ross, and stopped to check out a new Goodwill store where I found a top for myself. She thought the prices were too high, plus they had everything generically priced, for example, all long sleeve shirts were 5.99 no matter what the quality. She didn't like that, so we didn't stay too long.

Then while we were waiting for Terry to come over after work, I showed her how to use her new cell phone. She does pretty well for 85. Sometimes she gets a little frustrated and would rather not use a cell phone, but has agreed to carry it with her when she goes out, in case of emergency.

When I picked her up earlier in the day, she let me know that the Glendale Chocolate Affaire was going on this weekend. It's an outdoor chocolate festival that they have every year around Valentine's Day. Since we both LOVE chocolate, Terry and I have talked about going ever since we moved back from California. Mom lives less than a mile from the festival and had never been there herself. Fortunately, I had already set aside the whole day and evening for her, since I wasn't sure what we would be doing, so we decided to check it out that night with Terry.

It was interesting, but I have come to find out that most of these festivals are much too crowded and not nearly as great as they sound. We felt the same way about the Scottsdale Culinary Festival. Just too many people in one place at the same time. Amazingly mom navigated the festival quite handily with her walker. There was a nice policeman that told us we could use the handicapped parking even though she doesn't have a tag for the car, which helped with the walking distance getting TO the festival. Anyway, we bought some chocolate dipped strawberries which were good, sampled several types of fudge, including goat cheese fudge. Terry ended up buying some coconut & chocolate fudge. He also bought the T shirt above as a souvenir. Overall we had a little fun and were glad that we went, but probably won't go back. Once was enough.

Saturday, I went to an all day Nikon Photography seminar. I learned some new techniques and info about my camera and got some great information on multi-day photography workshops offered in the field around Arizona by the "Friends of Arizona Highways". They're a bit pricey, but I'd love to save my money to do one someday. I'm sure it would be a great learning experience.

Today after church, my friend Cathy and I went to the Willo Historic Home Tour in central Phoenix. This is a neighborhood of homes built in the 20's and 30's. A very eclectic neighborhood with all styles of architecture. The tour is also something that I've wanted to do for a long time, but have just always missed it somehow.
I was very pleasantly surprised and will definitely go again...hopefully every year.

These are just a few glimpses into some of the houses.

And I loved watching this little girl playing in the puddles.
Cathy and I already talked about setting aside more time next year and asking some more friends if they want to join us. We didn't have enough time to look at the unique craft booths or even to get to all the houses. The ones we visited were very nice and each one had so much character and gorgeous decorating. Just the things I love to look at. And because the tours are spread out over several blocks, it never really felt too crowded. Very manageable. The weather was gorgeous except for just a few sprinkles. We had a great time!

And just for fun, here's a picture of Shredder exploring a shopping bag.

So, back to work tomorrow. I told Terry that I need a whole week off just to get my house in some kind of order. I've been ignoring it for a while...or I guess I just need to stop having so much fun on the weekend.

Let me know what you're up to. What are your Valentine's Day plans?

Merry Christmas!

I hope you all have an amazing holiday, celebrating the birth of our Lord!

Terry, Shredder and I are just relaxing this morning and will soon be wrapping presents...yes, just getting going on the wrapping. Don't you just love this pic of Terry and Shredder enjoying the Christmas paper together? I think Shredder is a bit put off by the fact that there's a PUPPY on the cover page! I mean really, what were they thinking?

Our sweet kitty is becoming more and more cuddly as she gets older (and the temperatures go down). Terry reluctantly lets her on his lap when my lap isn't available. So today we'll be lounging around most of the day, and also enjoy a special dinner together (just the two of us). We're hoping for a phone call from Kevin either today or Sunday (or both). We miss having all the kids here, but know that it's just another season of life that we're passing thru.

Our "official" Christmas won't be until Sunday when Amy & Andrew are here. We'll wait to open the majority of our gifts then.

Terry and I each opened our Christmas Eve gifts last night (pajamas and an ornament). Our Hann tradition is to get at least one ornament each year that relates to an event or interest. This year we got 3 ornaments.

The wooden one with the fruit tree we bought in New Hampshire in October at an artist's gallery. It reminds us of the gorgeous trees we saw there.

The camera is for me...self explanatory.

The wooden turtle is from Maui. We just bought it there earlier this month and it reminds us of the amazing animals and nature that we saw there.

I thought I'd share an updated photo of my branch as well. I've added the Christmas cards, photos and letters that we've received this year. It's so great looking at all those expressions of love and news from our dear friends and family when we walk in the front door. Thank you to all who took time out of their busy schedules to send them. I know that it gets more and more difficult every year to squeeze in all the holiday tasks. I didn't get a Christmas card or letter out yet this year but I'm seriously hoping to do one via email in the next week or so (since I'm off work).

Have a blessed day, filled with the love of family and friends.

Breakfast Company:

This is what Shredder looks like in the morning (and sometimes in the evening) when I'm sitting at my computer. The ritual is:

• Get up
• Give Terry a kiss (and say good morning & good bye)
  
• Get dressed
• Hair and makeup
• Bowl of Chex or Cheerios with some kind of fruit (fresh or dried) on top
• I go to the computer and check email and blogs before I leave for work. (I should be leaving right about now)
• Shredder keeps me company and gets a little bit of attention before her long lonely day
• And sometimes, if she seems interested I put my cereal bowl on the floor when I'm all done and she gets to drink the leftover drops of milk.

I'm alive and well!

Shhhh, don't let my "parents" know that I did this. I heard my "mom" and "dad" talking and they said some of you thought I was dead, so I thought I'd better post a quick note to let you know I'm alive and kicking (or at least alive and breathing).

While I'm here I thought I'd post a few pics to let you know what my day normally looks like.

This Longaberger basket is where I sleep at night. It sits right at the foot of the bed between "mom" & "dad". I know it's an expensive bed for a cat, but my dad kept getting mad because I was laying on top of his legs to keep warm in the middle of the night. He'd get so frustrated that he would accidentally kick me off the bed. I'm sure he didn't mean it, because he was half asleep, so I'd just climb back up on his legs after he got settled again. My mom thought it might be a good idea to help me find a warm place to sleep (besides dad's legs) so she bought several regular cat beds, but I just couldn't settle into them. I don't know, they were just scary and kinda lumpy and seemed so ordinary. Finally she remembered that I used to climb into the mail basket a lot so she tried out this one and I LOVED IT! What a smart lady she is. Anyway, this is my comfy cozy spot at night.

This winter I also started sleeping up between mom and dad once in a while when I know they're not going to roll over on me and sometimes when mom gets up in the morning, she leaves the covers on top of me and I get to snuggle under the blankets until I'm ready to get up.

The blue and white bench is my afternoon or evening spot where I sleep when mom and dad are in the family room. I like to be in the same room with them, so this is a good place where I can keep an eye on both of them to make sure I can get up quickly to follow them if they leave the room.

This red throw rug is a new favorite. I like to scrunch it up and wrap it around me during the day when mom and dad are gone. But be careful. You might trip on it when you come in the door.

And this last pic is just a shot to let you know what I look like when I just wake up or I'm a little grouchy. Don't mess with me then!

So the only thing left are my 3 other favorite times of day. Dinner time around 5:30 when Dad comes home from work and I harrass him until he feeds me. Then when mom sits down on the sofa in the evening I do a cute little trick by laying perfectly still and looking pathetic next to her until she gives me a few treats. She loves when I do that!

Oh yeah and bedtime which is around 10:00. I'm always there to get up and wait in the hallway to let them know that it's time to go to bed if they forget.

So that's pretty much my life: eat, sleep, nap, sleep, eat, and sleep. Don't you wish you were the Shred Head?

Our dear old Shredder...


I just had to take a picture of Shredder sitting in the sun. It's so cute how she picks a spot on the carpet where the sun is shining and lays there until the light moves.

I've realized lately that she has all these specific spots in different rooms where she goes to snooze at different times of the day. She's getting old but she's still a smart little creature.