tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-64816464902509401192024-03-13T20:09:05.415-07:00Hagler Household BlogThe Haglershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11680062636425044727noreply@blogger.comBlogger156125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6481646490250940119.post-3574373621496762582024-02-10T16:22:00.000-08:002024-02-10T17:25:29.346-08:00Another Year<p>12/17 We had to take Nathan to urgent care because he hurt his arm playing laser tag at Funtasticks the day before.</p><p>12/19 Dawn went to Winterhaven by herself because her family didn't want to go. </p><p>12/21 Dawn and Nathan went to the Desert Museum.</p><p>12/24 We attended the candlelight service at New Testament for Christmas Eve. </p><p>Christmas was low key. No ornaments on the tree. Going to Chicago for a funeral during the holidays put added stress and less time to get things done for Christmas. Nathan got nerf guns and a few other things for Christmas. Paul decided to purchase a camera for Dawn for Christmas/Birthday. At first he said it was too expensive. Then he changed his mind. Her parents put in half, $1500. She got the Nikon D850. Paul made breakfast, but Starbucks was closed. Dawn did some cleaning and went for a walk only to find out she left her Fitbit charging. Dawn bought some Honey Baked Ham for herself. We watched How the Grinch Stole Christmas. </p><p>The next day Dawn convinced Nathan to go to the Reid Park Zoo Lights. </p><p>12/27 Dawn and Nathan went up to Scottsdale to go to OdySea and to eat at Grimaldi's. Nathan always like visiting Jalapeno, the pufferfish. </p><p>12/28 Nathan had his annual pediatrician check up. </p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space-collapse: preserve;">He is 5'6 and in the 70th percentile for height. We actually thought he was even taller than that because he doesn't seem that much shorter than dad who is 5'11. However, he is taller than most kids his age. Of course he told me that there is an 8th grader at his school who is 6'9 and another one who is 7' tall! That is just crazy! He passed me up shortly after he turned 12! </span></p><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><p style="font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">He weighs 133 lbs and is in the 79% <span style="font-family: inherit;"><a style="color: #385898; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit;" tabindex="-1"></a></span>percentile for weight. She said that is just about right considering his height. His BMI is 21.3 and in the 76th percentile. She said height and weight look good. He really had a growth spurt in the last couple of years. He grew 4 inches between 12 and 13 and another 3 inches this past year. He just turned 14 on 12/15. We just keep warning him that if he continues to eat the way he does he is going to have problems later when he is no longer growing taller. He eats like he is a bottomless pit! Sometimes I think he doesn't know how to control his eating, especially when it comes to candy! His favorite food these days, though, is steak! </p><p style="font-family: inherit; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">He has mild scoliosis which they discovered at last year's visit. She still doesn't seem concerned about it at this point.</span></p><p style="font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">Last year they also heard some wheezing and asked if he had asthma. We said not that we knew of. This past year he says he notices he gets winded running long distance or with extreme physical exercise. She said she didn't hear any wheezing this time around. However, she sent over a prescription to our pharmacy for an inhaler. She said to give it a try the next time he feels out of breath and see if it helps. If it doesn't help, then he doesn't have asthma. He says he is a fast sprinter, but has trouble with long distance running. </p><p style="font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">She asked about his vision. I told her he gets an eye exam every year with an optometrist and that every year he has close to perfect vision with no need for corrective lenses.</p><p style="font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">She asked how he is doing in school. We told her that he doesn't like school, but that he is smart and gets good grades. We mentioned that he has switched schools a couple of times trying to find one that he likes. I think because he is so smart he gets bored sometimes at school because he already knows a lot of what they are teaching. He also gets frustrated with other peers who don't care about school and their grades, especially when he has to work on group projects with them. He also just doesn't like some of the teachers. </p><p style="font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">Not much else to report. All in all, he is doing well. Today's visit was actually a lot better than previous visits. There was hardly anyone there today being the holiday break. This is the first year that they didn't have me fill out lengthy paperwork regarding how many servings of vegetables and fruits he eats, how much screen time he gets, how much physical exercise he gets, etc... Last year they even had us answer questions about mental health, sexual preference/identity, etc... I was in shock last year about everything they wanted to know. I was relieved that they didn't ask us any of that this year.</p></div><p>12/30 we went to the Phoenix Zoo as an early celebration for Dawn's birthday. We ate at Rainforest Cafe. </p><p>New Years Eve was boring as usual. </p><p>Dawn's New Year's Resolutions:</p><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">1) 10k steps/day. I want to lose another 20 pounds before I turn 50 on 1/2/25. My Fitbit reminds me each hour (between 9 and 6) to get at least <span style="font-family: inherit;"><a style="color: #385898; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit;" tabindex="-1"></a></span>250 steps so I want to be more mindful of that. I want to drink more water and less coffee (but I’m not giving coffee up!). </div></div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">2) Read my Bible more and just work on being a better Christian.</div></div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">3) Declutter, Declutter, Declutter!</div></div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">4) Work on pictures and “scrapbooks “. I have tons of picture projects I need to work on, including scanning many (like the ones from my grandma that family members want me to share once scanned).</div></div><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; white-space-collapse: preserve;">5) Start using my new camera and keep improving my photography skills</span> </p><p>1/2 was Dawn's 49th birthday. She spent the day by herself in Sabino Canyon. </p><p>Nathan got all As the 2nd quarter and got the Principal's Pride certificate. Dad promised him that he would take him to the Brazilian Steakhouse if he got all As so that motivated him. </p><p>Dawn went to the zoo 1/16. Tried out her new camera. Tried to take pictures of the baby zebra that was born on Christmas Day, but she was laying down the entire time.</p><p>1/16 We had to take Nathan to urgent care. This time he had a headache and his eyes were sensitive to light. They thought it could be the start of a sinus infection. We are hoping it is not the start of migraines. </p><p>1/24 Dawn went to Catalina State Park. </p><p>1/25 Dawn went to the Desert Museum to take pictures of the raptor show with her new camera. She also stopped at Sweetwater Wetlands, but didn't see much there other than a bobcat. </p><p>2/3 Dawn went back to Catalina State Park. She ended up buying an annual pass. Paul and Nathan went to the Kino Gem & Mineral Show. </p><p>2/5 Dawn went to Reid Park Zoo to photograph the baby zebra and and the baby giraffe who was born on Martin Luther King Day. She also went to the Tucson Botanical Gardens. She found out that the baby zebra died the following day after running into a fence. </p><p>2/9 Nathan went to a nerf activity at Sun & Shield Baptist Church.</p><p>2/10 Paul and Nathan went to the Tucson Gem & Mineral Show at the Tucson Convention Center.</p><p>Dawn managed to maintain her weight during the holidays . As of today, she is about 143 pounds. Hoping to lose another 20 pounds before she turns 50 next year, but that is unlikely to happen. Perimenopause is working against her. Going on a decade now. </p>The Haglershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11680062636425044727noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6481646490250940119.post-26463917842523971812023-12-16T20:26:00.000-08:002024-02-10T16:04:39.967-08:00Christmas is almost here...already!<p> Wow, this year flew by fast.</p><p>11/2, I went to the Reid Park Rose Garden, Reid Park and to Pima County Cooperative Extension Gardens. </p><p>11/4, My First Light bloomed.</p><p>11/5, My First Light and June Noon bloomed. Nathan and I went to Wildlife World Zoo while Paul went to a NASCAR race. </p><p>11/6 My June Noon bloomed.</p><p>11/13, I went to Reid Park Zoo.</p><p>11/16, I went to the Desert Museum to see the Raptor Free Flight show and drove through Saguaro National Park.</p><p>12/1, My grandma passed away. She was 105. I went to Catalina State Park that day. On the way home, there was a full rainbow, a sign from my grandma in heaven.</p><p>We left for Chicago on 12/6 to attend my grandma's funeral the next day on 12/7. The funeral was at Faith Baptist led by Brother Bill. There was a good turnout, including Michelle, Dave and Katie from Mount Vernon. Paul was a pallbearer. The lunch was a Papa Joe's in Orland Park. The next day we met Michelle, Dave, Katie and my parents at Olive Garden in Orland Park for lunch. Paul had to work back at the hotel room. My mom bought Nathan a pug birthday cake so we had a little impromptu birthday party for him. We met John and Lisa, my parents and Michelle, Dave and Katie at Ledo's for lunch on 12/9 before our flight back to Phoenix. </p><p>12/14, I went to Green Things Nursery to photograph the poinsettias and to Tucson Botanical Gardens.</p><p>Nathan turned 14 on 12/15. It was also his last half day of school before the winter break. He chose to go to Vivace for dinner to have...steak! I got Nathan a ping pong paddle, a Free Guy shirt, a Saving Private Ryan dvd and some candy. Paul had bought him Sluban Army apache bricks at the Pima Air & Space Museum when they went to the paper airplane contest. Nathan also picked out a small cookies & cream cake at Walmart. Nathan also got his Q2 report card. He got straight As (Geometry 91, English 90, Literature 93, Science 90, Social Studies 91, Coding 99 and PE 97). He had to take his final exams early since he missed 3 days of school to go to GG's funeral. However, he did great on them. He got a 90 on Geometry, 90 on English, 95 on Literature, 87 on Science, 87 on Social Studies, 100 on Coding and 100 on PE. For the First Semester final grades he got a 92 in Geometry, 92 in English, 94 in Literature, 87 in Science, 90 in Social Studies, 99 in Coding and 97 in PE. </p><p>Paul took Nathan to Funtasticks and Olive Garden on 12/16.</p><p><br /></p>The Haglershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11680062636425044727noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6481646490250940119.post-38662067920987188682023-10-21T12:49:00.005-07:002023-10-21T14:17:31.848-07:00One quarter down<p>August 11, I went to Green Things Nursery, Pima County Cooperative Extension Gardens and Tucson Botanical Gardens.</p><p>August 15, I went to Reid Park Zoo for the debut of Gwen the sloth. </p><p>August 16, I went to the Desert Museum because a lot of their cacti were blooming. It was a really hot day, though, so I didn't stay long. </p><p>August 19, I went to Pima Prickly Park. </p><p>Paul traveled to San Diego for work 8/21-8/24.</p><p>My First Light and June Noon bloomed on August 29.</p><p>My First Light bloomed again on 9/9.</p><p>I went to Pima County Cooperative Extension Gardens on 9/11. </p><p>Paul turned 53 on 9/20. We went to Vivace for his birthday on 9/16. We went to Guadalajara Grill on his actual birthday. </p><p>Grandma and Grandpa celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary on 9/17. </p><p>9/30, we went to Apple Annie's to pick our pumpkins. I tried to take pictures of the sunflowers, but it was a windy day. They didn't seem to have as many as last year either. But I would like to go again to see if I can get better pictures. </p><p>I went to Pima County Cooperative Extension Gardens on 10/5 </p><p>Nathan passed his geometry readiness test so he is actually the only student at his school taking geometry this year. He said they haven't had a geometry student there in several years. Plus, he got an A the first quarter! Nathan also made honor roll the first quarter! He got an 89 in social studies, 83 in science, 99 in coding, 96 in PE, 93 in geometry, 95 in literature and 95 in English for a 92.857 (3.714) GPA . </p><p>Nathan tried out for the boys volleyball team. There were 3 days of tryouts (10/2-10/4). He said a couple of boys were selected to pick teams two of the days and he wasn't chosen so he sat on the sidelines the entire time. Doesn't seem like a very fair tryout. He didn't make the team. It really doesn't make sense because he was the only one trying out who had been on a competitive volleyball team before. A few supposedly were on an intramural team prior. Nathan said that even a 6th grader made the competitive team and he isn't very good. Nathan did make the intramural team, but he decided not to participate. The intramural games are all on Saturdays and are at different Legacy campuses that are far away. He felt he should have made the competitive team and we agree. The coach was also supposed to contact us prior to practices to tell us when practices started and give us more information. We were never contacted, but supposedly they started practices the Monday right after they got back from Fall Break. The coach scolded Nathan on Tuesday for not going to practices, but he didn't even know they started. He didn't want to be on the team anyway. We talked to the Vice Principal/Athletic Director on Tuesday night at the High School Information night and told him that we were never contacted, but that Nathan didn't want to be on the intramural team. I had corresponded with him twice about the tryouts and our shock that he didn't make the competitive team. He just said that they support their coaches' methods and decisions. Typical response. </p><p>Nathan has expressed an interest in joining the flag football team next quarter, but he says no other 8th graders are really interested in playing. They all want to do tackle football. Then there is soccer the last quarter. So we'll see what he decides. </p><p>This past Tuesday (10/17) they had a high school information night at his school. Mountain View was there so we talked to them a lot. Thursday night (10/19) we went to an open house at Pusch Ridge Christian Academy. We were pretty impressed. It is further away and it costs like $7k/year, but there are some different financing options. There are currently only 12 open 9th grade positions at Pusch Ridge and the admissions process is rigorous. I think we are going to apply at both schools. Paul is in charge of this, though and I am not sure if he will get it all done in time. Push Ridge says applications should be complete by the middle of December. We have a little more time for Mountain View. </p><p>For Nathan' Fall Break, we went to Chicago 10/7/23-10/15/23. Paul had to work in the hotel room most of the time, but he took Friday off. Michelle and Dave came in town that first weekend so we went to dinner at Uncle Julio's near our hotel in Downers Grove with them and Grandma and Grandpa the Saturday Night that we got in town. The Chocolate Pinata was awesome! Sunday we all went to church together at Faith and then went to lunch at New Horizon. Monday, Dawn and Nathan went to Cantigny Park with Debbie and her kids. Nathan was happy to go to Olive Garden for lunch afterward because he likes their 6oz sirloin. The boy wants to eat steak for every meal these days. Tuesday, Dawn and Nathan went to Brookfield Zoo. It was a free day (we just had to pay for parking). That evening we met Lisa, John, Connor, Aubrie, Donnie, Austin, Grandma and Grandpa at Ledo's Pizza for dinner. We celebrated Donnie's 54th birthday (10/20) and Grandpa's 75th birthday (10/18). Wednesday, Dawn went back to Cantigny Park to check out the flowers and to Morton Arboretum. The trees were just starting to change in the area. Thursday I drove around a little bit. I wanted to go back to 31st St in Oak Brook to check out a castle looking house Nathan and I saw on the way to Brookfield Zoo. I found a forest preserve in the area so I went for a short hike. It was a beautiful day and I loved the trees starting to change colors. Then I drove around some of the housing areas to admire the huge homes, nice properties and surrounding Fall colors. That night we met Tracy at the BD's Mongolian Grill in Bolingbrook. Shane and Aaron didn't make it :( The food was great. I chose just the right sauces so I really enjoyed my meal. Friday, Paul, Dawn and Nathan went downtown to Shedd Aquarium and the Museum of Science of Industry. We saw ONE pufferfish at the aquarium. Dawn and Nathan also saw one when we went to the Brookfield Zoo. The most memorable part of the Museum was the U-505 submarine exhibit. Dawn was pretty bored there. The museum was always cool during the holidays when they have the Christmas trees decorated from around the world so that is the time that I like to go there. Traffic getting to and leaving downtown was horrible...don't miss that! We ended up going back to Ledo's Pizza for dinner. Saturday we did family pictures with the grandparents and GG. GG is 105! She is not doing so great, but hanging in there. We thought this may be our last chance to see her and so Paul decided that he wanted to get family pictures taken at JC Penney. Afterward we went to Olive Garden for dinner where Carol Lambros, Terry Ganzer and Janet Hardy met us. Paul realized when we went to pay that he had lost his credit card. Back to JC Penney we went to look for it, but no luck. He used it for brunch earlier that day at Lumes, but they were closed. We didn't find the card so we had to report it lost. Not a fun way to end a "vacation", but these things happen. Sunday we returned back to Tucson. Thursday-Sunday it turned cold and rainy in Chicago so it was nice to leave at that time, but it was still around 100 when we got back to Tucson! </p><p>The weather in Tucson has been hotter than normal. It was a long brutal summer that seemed to never end. They say it should finally cool down to normal Fall temps next week. We need to get up to Mt. Lemmon. Maybe next Saturday. I may try to go up during the week, too. There are a lot of Fall activities I would like to do, but there is just never enough time or energy! Butterfly Magic started at Tucson Botanical Gardens, the raptor free flight starts up again at the Desert Museum 10/27 (I didn't make it last year), there's Glowing Pumpkins at Tohono Chul Park, I would like to check out the sunflowers at the Marana Pumpkin Patch, it would be nice to go back to Apple Annie's to photograph the sunflowers there again, etc... Today they were feeding the animals pumpkins at Reid Park Zoo so I missed that :( In November I would like to catch the Fall colors in Sabino Canyon and Ramsey Canyon. I remember in years past I would be out taking pictures about twice a week and now it seems like I rarely have a chance to go out. The weather hasn't cooperated either. </p><p>July 18th, I had a gynecologist appointment. The blood tests results weren't very good and I had gained a lot of the weight back that I had lost in 2019/2020. Shortly after that is when Paul had his diabetic emergency and Nathan went to Academy of Math & Science that was far away (and he joined sports)! I was so busy taking care of them that I couldn't focus on my own health. After this doctor visit I decided it was time to get serious about my health again. I was 153 lbs when I started this new journey after July 18. That wasn't my all time high, though, because I think my all time high was around 161. I aimed to get 10k steps/day again and cut down on my iced lattes/sweets. After it cooled down a bit in the mornings I was able to start walking around the neighborhood for about 45 minutes. I worked myself up to an hour on the elliptical almost every day. The pounds started coming off pretty quickly. Then the progress slowed. Going to Chicago a week ago didn't help because I got out of my exercise routine. As of today I am 144 lbs so I have lost close to 10 lbs in the last 3 months. I can already notice a difference, but I have a long way to go. I was around 135 lbs when we got married. I was 110 back in college. Realistically, I don't think I will ever see anywhere near 110 again. However, my goal is 120-125 lbs. It's hard being so short because every extra pound shows. Going through peri menopause makes weight loss difficult, too. With the weather finally cooling down I hope I can out more to hike and to take pictures around town. I haven't been happy with my camera ever since I bought it so I am still considering buying a new one (even though I have only had this one for a couple of years). We are getting into the holidays, too, which means I will be busy and stressed and that always hinders weight loss as well. One day at a time. </p><p>Halloween is 10 days away. Nathan has decided not to dress up this year. Last year he was disappointed because his Ghillie costume was big on him and kept falling down. Of course I had asked him to try it on before Halloween and he didn't. </p><p>10/30 Nathan is supposed to get yearbook pictures retaken. This is the first year we want retakes. I wanted retakes in some years past, but I was outvoted. This year everyone agreed that we needed retakes. Nathan did his fake smile and the picture just wasn't good. Some said it looked like the Elvis smile. Others said he reminds them of Val Kilmer. Regardless, the picture wasn't good. They had picture retakes, but none of the junior high school students were called to do them! I contacted the principal so now they have another picture retake day scheduled for 10/30. She said they will also have 8th grade graduation pictures taken later in the school year. At least we got some good pictures taken of him at JC Penney when we did family pictures in Chicago (Matteson) last week. </p>The Haglershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11680062636425044727noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6481646490250940119.post-25471593081308016562023-08-03T09:35:00.000-07:002023-08-03T09:35:13.281-07:00Nathan is so smart! <p> Academy of Math & Science sent us Nathan's transcripts and state test scores on 8/1. I forwarded those on to Legacy. Nathan will be taking a geometry readiness test this week. If he performs well on it, he and the one other kid will be taking Algebra, but the teacher will give them individual instruction on Geometry.</p><p>We were so impressed with Nathan's state test scores! <span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">His ELA score was 2600 out of 2648. He is highly proficient. His Math score was 3714 out of 3739. Also highly proficient. He is so smart! </span></span></p><p>So Nathan's first day of school was yesterday. It was half a day since all Wednesdays are half days. He didn't like it that much. He obviously wants to get out of his 8th grade math class and get into Algebra/Geometry. They didn't have time yesterday to do the Geometry readiness test, but he should be taking it today. He got overheated during the day and didn't have time to refill his water bottle. PE is his last period. They were inside yesterday, but the teacher said most days they will be outside. Nathan was concerned he would get overheated in PE being outside in the heat since he was already getting overheated in the morning. The other days he will have a lunch period so he should be able to refill his water bottle then. We called the school and they gave him the option to change his elective PE to something else (3D art like sculpting, music, Spanish or study hall). He chose to stay in PE. I am not sure why he wouldn't want the study hall. It may come in handy when he joins sports later in the year and needs time to get homework done. He said he is the only student in his Coding class who knows any coding languages. He taught himself a couple of coding languages. One kid in his grade was at Leman with him and another kid went to AMS with him last year. So at least there are a couple of kids there who he knows. Clubs have not been determined yet. They need to see what clubs teachers and parents are willing to lead. Nathan decided against playing Baseball at the start of the year. He realizes that it is more difficult than it looks and he has never played on a baseball team before. He doesn't think their team will be very good this year either because a lot of the good players graduated last year. He is interested in playing soccer and volleyball again, which are later in the year. We got there pretty early yesterday because we didn't know how crazy the first day would be. There was no traffic so we sat in the parking lot for awhile until they opened the campus. Picking him up, however, took a lot longer. I got there about a half hour early and was waiting in line the whole time. Today we left the house later. Traffic was worse today and so we had a long wait to drop him off on campus. I think we will have to leave later than yesterday, but earlier than today. I would rather sit in the parking lot than sit in traffic. Hopefully, next week things will start smoothing out and the drop offs and pick ups won't be as bad. </p>The Haglershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11680062636425044727noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6481646490250940119.post-69874704976042988242023-07-31T15:40:00.001-07:002023-08-03T09:14:01.448-07:00Back to School already!<p><span style="font-family: inherit;">6/9/23: I went to Lowe's, Pima Cooperative Extension Gardens and Reid Park Rose Garden. It was such a nice day with cloud cover that it didn't feel like summer. My camera was in the shop, but I took pictures with my phone.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">6/12-6/16 was VBS at our church. Nathan went with me and was able to help this year. He helped with the games for the kids. I helped with the penny offering. It was stressful this year because they wanted us to record every transaction writing down the name and how many pennies bought for each child. We also had to write raffle tickets for them. It was a lot of work and I am not sure if I would want to do it again next year. I have helped with the penny offering in the past and it was not that difficult. With our Assistant Pastor Grant and his wife taking over the VBS this year, this is the way they decided to do it. Hopefully, they do not do it the same way next year. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">For Father's Day, 6/17, Paul wanted to go to Vivace. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">6/24-7/8 We went to Canada. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">We flew to Washington on 6/24 and drove over to Canada with a rental car. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span color="var(--primary-text)" style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">We first went to Banff National Park. The two main sites are Moraine Lake and Lake Louise. Both are beautiful, but I liked Moraine Lake the best. For one, it wasn’t as crowded as Lake Louise. Lake Louise has the Château and the ski resort which make it a tad more commercialized. Vehicles are not allowed at Moraine Lake so you are forced to take a </span><span color="var(--primary-text)" style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><a style="color: #385898; cursor: pointer;" tabindex="-1"></a></span><span color="var(--primary-text)" style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">shuttle bus. That actually works out great because the shuttle takes you to both lakes and runs every 20 minutes. </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span color="var(--primary-text)" style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">We</span><span color="var(--primary-text)" style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"> stayed in Radium Hot Springs which was a couple of hours from the Lake Louise Ski Resort where you get on the shuttle. There’s plenty to see on that drive including wildlife and waterfalls. We saw quite a bit of wildlife while in the Canadian National Parks including a fox, bighorn sheep, mountain goats, bears, elk, deer, golden-mantled squirrels, magpies, etc…. The one animal we wanted to see, but never did, is the moose.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span color="var(--primary-text)" style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">W</span><span color="var(--primary-text)" style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">e didn’t really care for Downtown Banff because it was way too crowded. Well, Nathan did…because he’s a city boy!</span></span></p><p><span color="var(--primary-text)" style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">6/25 We went to Moraine Lake and Lake Louise. At Lake Louise, we ate at the Chateau. We also did the ski lift at Lake Louise. Unfortunately, they had lightning in the area and shut it down. We ate lunch at the top and they had to drive us back down in a work van. On the way back to our hotel, we stopped at Numa Falls in Kootenay National Park. We also saw some bighorn sheep near our hotel in Radium Hot Springs.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span color="var(--primary-text)" style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">6/26 We went by the Continental Divide. We went back to Moraine Lake and Lake Louise. We saw the Bow Falls at the </span><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">convergence of Bow River and Spray River near downtown Banff. We also took some pictures of the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel. We took a quick tour of Cave and Basin National Historic Site which is part of Banff National Park. It is a very small cave. Nathan couldn't handle the smell of sulfur. They also had some rare snails in the basin, but we couldn't really see them. </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span color="var(--primary-text)" style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">6/27 Fr</span><span color="var(--primary-text)" style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">om Banff, we headed to Jasper along the Icefields Parkway. There’s a reason why this is one of the most scenic drives you can ever experience. Again, lots of wildlife, waterfalls, turquoise lakes and of course the glaciers, including Athabasca. We walked up to Athabasca Glacier. If we had more time, I would have liked to do the Ice Explorer Glacier tour where they take this monster truck bus right on the glacier and let you get out to walk on the glacier as well as the Glacier Skywalk (kind of like the Grand Canyon Skywalk). We saw a fox along Highway 93 on the way to Icelands Parkway. Along the Icelands Parkway, we saw mountain goats and elk. We stopped at Bow Lake. We also stopped at Marble Canyon where we did a short hike to a waterfall. Another waterfall right off of Icelands Parkway was Tangle Creek Falls. </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span color="var(--primary-text)" style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">We</span><span color="var(--primary-text)" style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"> liked the town of Jasper since it was small and quaint. We stayed at our first airbnb there. </span></span></p><p><span color="var(--primary-text)" style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">6/28, We drove back on the Icelands Parkway to visit some new spots and to see Athabasca Glacier again. We saw an elk on the side of the road as we were leaving Jasper. We stopped at Athabasca Falls. </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span color="var(--primary-text)" style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">6/29 Fr</span><span color="var(--primary-text)" style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">om Jasper, we headed to Vancouver which was an all day drive. We stopped at a couple of waterfalls along the way., including Overlander Falls and Rearguart Falls. </span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">We had been to Vancouver once before with Nathan a little over 5 years ago. We returned because he likes aquariums and I remembered we really liked the Vancouver Aquarium. It is an amazing aquarium (they even have sloths!), but Nathan was disappointed because they didn’t have any pufferfish. They had some at one time, but not on this visit. </span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">6/30 We did Vancouver Aquarium in Stanley Park. Then I went over and took some pictures of the rose garden in Stanley Park. From there we headed to Gastown to eat dinner and see the steam clock.</span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">7/1 was Canada Day. The City of Vancouver didn't do fireworks this year. We went to a small event at Rocky Point Park in Port Moody.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; white-space-collapse: preserve;">7/2 </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; white-space-collapse: preserve;">We did the Capilano Suspension </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><a style="color: #385898; cursor: pointer;" tabindex="-1"></a></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Bridge Park which was cool, but overpriced. We went to the Railway Museum of British Columbia. We drove the Sea to Sky highway. This is a very scenic route, however there are minimal pullouts and those pullouts don’t offer the best views. I did the Sea to Sky Gondola and quickly took some pictures of Shannon Falls nearby. </span></span></p><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">From Vancouver we took a car ferry over to Vancouver Island. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">7/4, Our first outing on Vancouver Island was at Butchart Gardens. It is one of the best gardens I have been to. I took tons of pictures. It was a little strange not being in the U.S. for our Independence Day. We went to a great Greek restaurant for dinner in Victoria that night. I loved their avgolemono soup and their Greek potatoes. <br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">7/6 Nathan and I went to the Victoria Butterfly Gardens. It is on the smaller side, but they have butterflies, parrots, koi, a flamingo, frogs, insects, tropical plants/flowers, etc. That evening the 3 of us went out first to see a castle, but it had a huge crane in front of it. Then we went to see a lighthouse which was small and in need of a paint job. Then we went to Fisherman’s Wharf which was small, but made for some decent pictures. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">There really didn’t seem to be much else to do on this island. The island is hard to maneuver and the downtown area of Victoria (the capital) looks kind of dumpy. So I think one day on Vancouver Island seeing Butchart Gardens would have been enough.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">7/8 The last day we took a ferry back to Vancouver, drove to Washington and then flew home.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">7/18, I went to the gynecologist and also got my mammogram. Mammogram came back normal. The gynecologist appointment was disappointing. I weighed 153, about 12 pounds more than what I weighed in 2019 when I lost about 20 pounds. My blood pressure was good - 116/68. I had blood tests done that day and the results were not good. They put me in the pre-diabetes category because my A1C was .1 away from the normal range. Mine was 5.7. My vitamin D was actually on the higher side at 60.8 and I realized that several of my supplements have vitamin D so I need to cut back on them. The worst part was my lipid panel. I did not have one done last year, but the results this year were worse than a couple of years ago. My lipids have never been good. Obviously being so short it is hard to maintain a healthy weight and BMI. My cholesterol was 238 compared to 214 in 2019. My triglycerides, however, were 416 compared to 233 in 2019. Basically, I know it is time to get back to healthier habits. I have had to dramatically cut down my Starbucks iced lattes. I am trying to cut down on sweets and fats. My body was hurting for several days after returning from our vacation and it is still so hot out, but I also need to get back to 10k steps a day, including doing the elliptical. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">7/20, Since Nathan didn't get to see any pufferfish at the Vancouver Aquarium, I took him to Odysea to see Jalapeno! We also ate lunch at our favorite pizza place Grimaldi's!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">7/24, I had 8 cactus blooms in our yard: 5 First Light flowers, 1 June Noon and 2 June Noon Hybrids. Another June Noon tried to open the next day, but never fully opened because of the heat. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">7/27, Nathan went to Nerf Day at Greg Lyons' house with Arizona Adventures Camp. I think about 17 kids were expected, but there ended up being about 12. Nathan had a great time. They were also doing water games and having a movie night. Nathan couldn't stay for that because he had his Back to School Night at Legacy that night. So that was between 4-7. We got there around 5. The parking lot was a nightmare trying to find a parking space. Then it was chaotic the rest of the time trying to find all of his teachers, getting his school supplies, etc... We talked to the Principal and the registrar. They put Nathan in 8th grade math as opposed to Algebra or Geometry. The registrar said they never got a transcript or his state test scores. So they along with the Principal and us are trying to get that information from Academy of Math & Science. Nathan had Algebra last year. It didn't start out so well, but he ended the year with an A. The Principal mentioned that there is currently only one other 8th grader who is doing Geometry this year. School starts on 8/2 so I am not sure if this will all be resolved before then. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">8/2 is the first day of 8th grade at Legacy. This will be another new school for Nathan. He doesn't like going to school and he already has a bad attitude about going back. There have been some things which have set off some minor alarms for me with our limited dealing with Legacy so far. However, I think it is going to be a lot better than Academy of Science last year. For one thing, it is closer! The Principal has been there many years and I really like her. All of his teachers that we met at Back to School Night seem nice. I think some of his classes he will like. We need to get the math class straightened out. He is going to be taking American History with a lot of focus on wars which is right up his alley. He will be taking a coding class and he loves that. He thinks it may be a little too easy for him, but he will be learning some coding languages he hasn't worked with before. He will also have Science, English, Literature and PE. His PE teacher is his homeroom teacher, Mr. Jones. I think he is new this year and came from Pusch Ridge. Paul and Nathan are still talking about the possibility of Nathan going to Pusch Ridge for high school. I think it is too late to get in there at this point. I think he is going to end up at Mountain View. We will know soon enough because that process will be starting in just a few months!</span></p></div>The Haglershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11680062636425044727noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6481646490250940119.post-59112341301802807472023-06-05T22:36:00.004-07:002023-07-31T10:40:32.040-07:00School's Out!<p> April 1st, my pink claret cups bloomed!</p><p>4/3, I went to Tucson Botanical Gardens and Pima County Cooperative Extension gardens. Nathan's soccer team had their 1st home game against Red Rock Elementary. He wore #35. They lost 1-2.</p><p>4/4, My June Noon hybrid bloomed. I also went to Tohono Chul Park.</p><p>4/5, Nathan's soccer team had a home game against Academy Del Sol, Star Valley and they lost 0-2.</p><p>4/6, My flying saucer bloomed. My windshield got cracked :( Nathan's soccer team had an away game at Academy Del Sol, Roger Rd and they won 14-0! Nathan wore the #3 jersey.</p><p>Easter was 4/9. Nathan now knows there is no Santa Claus or Easter Bunny and that mom makes his Easter baskets. He had a nice basket full of otter pops, some books, candy, etc... He and I went to church together while Paul went to his church. Then we took a drive to see the flowers at Round Mountain Park in Globe. We also got to eat at Grimaldi's in Gilbert. The flowers along the way were amazing as well.</p><p>4/10, I went to see the irises at Tucson Botanical Gardens, Green Things Nursery and Pima Prickly Park.</p><p>4/11, Nathan's soccer team played an away game at Academy Del Sol, Star Valley. They lost 3-5. I drove through Saguaro National Park on the way home and caught the sunset there.</p><p>4/12, I went to Pima County Cooperative Extension Gardens, Catalina State Park to see the mariposa lilies, Oro Valley Hospital to see the cactus flowers, the Lambert Lane claret cups and my own white cactus and flying saucer bloomed in our yard.</p><p>4/13 My Argentine Giant Big Bertha bloomed. I also went to Pima Prickly Park.</p><p>4/15, I photographed the prickly pears in the River Rd median. I am the crazy median lady taking pictures every year!</p><p>4/16, My Argentine Giant Big Bertha bloomed.</p><p>4/17, I went to Tucson Botanical Gardens and Pima County Cooperative Extension Gardens. Nathan's soccer team had a home game against Academy Del Sol, Roger Rd and won 10-1! Nathan even got a goal!</p><p>4/18, I went to the Reid Park Rose Garden and Pima Prickly Park.</p><p>4/19, I went to Bach's Cactus Nursery, Pima County Cooperative Extension Gardens, Green Things Nursery and Pima Prickly Park.</p><p>4/21, I went to the Pima County Cooperative Extension Gardens, Pima Prickly Park and Tucson Botanical Gardens. </p><p>4/24, My First Light and June Noon cacti bloomed. I went to Pima Prickly Park, Pima County Cooperative Extension Gardens, Reid Park Rose Garden and to Tucson Botanical Gardens to see the irises. Nathan's soccer team had an away game at Red Rock Elementary and they won 3-2! </p><p>4/26, I photographed the saguaro flowers on a low arm across the street from Mountain View High School. Nathan's soccer team had a home game against Red Rock Elementary and they tied 1-1.</p><p>4/27, I went to Bach's Cactus Nursery, Pima Prickly Park, Pima County Cooperative Extension Gardens and to Tucson Botanical Gardens to see the irises. At Pima Prickly Park, the stars of the show this day were the cholla! There were so many in bloom and this park has every color imaginable. I've never seen so much cholla together in one place. The prickly pears were a close second. The unique colors I saw this year were amazing.</p><p>4/30, It reached 100 degrees! Yuk! </p><p>5/1, I went to Pima Prickly Park, Tohono Chul Park to see the pink ocotillo and their unique prickly pears, Pima County Cooperative Extension Gardens and Lowe's to see the flowers. Nathan's soccer team had an away game at Legacy Traditional, NW Tucson. They lost 1-5.</p><p>5/2, Nathan wasn't feeling good so he stayed home from school and I took him to the doctor. His throat was hurting. Strep test came back negative. She noticed wheezing and asked if he ever had asthma, which he hasn't. But that is another thing we have to keep an eye on. We treated with over the counter meds and eventually the bacterial test came back negative so it must have been some kind of viral infection or allergies (pollen). </p><p>5/3, Nathan decided to go to school so that he could play in their soccer game. It was an away game at Coolidge Junior High School and I also drove Kayden and Berto. They won 6-2. Earlier that day I went to Saguaro National Park where I saw a deer (only had my phone with me, though).</p><p>5/4, Nathan's soccer team had their last game of the season away at Desert Wind Middle School. Once again I drove Kayden and Berto. They won 3-2! The team went to Barro's in Maricopa after the game to celebrate. Kayden wasn't feeling well and ended up throwing up in my car. That was a fun hour and a half ride home! So their record for the season was 5 wins, 5 losses and 1 tie. </p><p>5/5, I went to Tucson Botanical Gardens and Pima County Cooperative Extension Gardens. </p><p>Well, we thought soccer was over and then we got the news that they made the playoffs. The playoffs were in Glendale on 5/6. They lost 0-4 and Nathan was pretty upset that he barely got to play that day. He didn't get to play as often as he wanted the whole season. It was a coed team and 4 girls had to be on the field at all times. Many of them played defense like Nathan so he got less playing time. After the game, we went to Grimaldi's in Peoria. Then we went to a George Strait concert at State Farm Stadium in Glendale. Chris Stapleton and Little Big Town opened. They played long sets. When George finally got on stage it was already pretty late. We ended up leaving before the concert was over because it was getting so late. We were so tired from the soccer game earlier in the day and we still had to drive a couple of hours home. </p><p>5/8, I went to Pima County Cooperative Extension Gardens, Pima Prickly Park and to see the saguaro flowers on the saguaro across from Mountain View High School again.</p><p>5/10, I went to Tucson Botanical Gardens and to Pima County Cooperative Extension Gardens to see the hollyhocks.</p><p>5/11, My hot pink cactus bloomed with 2 flowers. I went to Bach's Cactus Nursery where their ironwood tree was in bloom. I also went back to see the saguaro across from Mountain View High School. </p><p>5/12, I went to the Pima County Cooperative Extension Gardens and to see the saguaro across from Mountain View High School. . Nathan had his music recital at school that evening. He wasn't happy about going, but it was part of his guitar class grade. Only 3 out of 10 in his class showed up! He did a great job, though. </p><p>Mother's Day was on 5/14. Paul made chicken kebabs for me, per my request and he got me flowers. Nathan went to church with me. My mom got me 2 massage gift certificates. </p><p>5/15, My June Noon bloomed. I went to Pima Prickly Park, Pima County Cooperative Extension Gardens to see the hollyhocks, Tucson Botanical Gardens and to see the saguaro across from Mountain View High School. </p><p>5/16, I went to Pima Prickly Park.</p><p>5/17, I went to Pima County Cooperative Extension Gardens to see the hollyhocks. I went to Starbucks at River and Stone and photographed the saguaro flowers there. I found a crested saguaro at River and Sabino Rd. I went to Sabino Canyon and it was amazing with all of the flowers in bloom (prickly pear, cholla, saguaros, palo verde trees). I didn't have a lot of time at Sabino Canyon so I stayed close to the visitor center, but I had plenty to take pictures of!</p><p>5/18, My hot pink cactus bloomed. Nathan soccer team got their awards at school. He got a certificate for Most Versatile. He played pretty much every position during the season, but mostly defense. I went back to Sabino Canyon and took the tram up this time. Then I walked down most of the way until about stop #3 and got back on the tram. I saw lots of cool lizards. </p><p> 5/19, My hot pink cactus, white cactus and June Noon all bloomed!</p><p>5/22, I went to Tucson Botanical Gardens and Pima County Cooperative Extension Gardens.</p><p>5/23, I went to Tohono Chul Park, Pima County Cooperative Extension Gardens and Pima Prickly Park. It was also Nathan's last day of 7th grade! He got an Honor Roll certificate. He's happy to be done at Academy of Math & Science. Next year he will be going to Legacy. </p><p>5/24, I went to Tohono Chul Park, Tucson Botanical Gardens and Pima County Cooperative Extension Gardens.</p><p>5/25, Right outside our garage was a gecko. It looked like it was surfing because it was on a leaf. I don't think I have ever seen a gecko like that in our yard before. My Apricot Glow bloomed. I went to Tohono Chul Park, Tucson Botanical Garden, Pima County Cooperative Extension Gardens and Green Things Nursery. Lots of cactus flowers were blooming at Tohono Chul Park. Unfortunately, they had many of them blocked off due to Cooper's Hawk nesting. I snuck in and took some quick pictures anyway. I was shocked they would keep visitors away from all of those blooms. That area was adjacent to the nesting area and I think would have been safe for visitors. Or, they could have moved some of the pots prior before the blooms because it was evident several days prior that they would all be blooming together in just a few days. </p><p>5/26, My June Noon hybrid and my purple hedgehog bloomed.</p><p>5/27, My white cactus, purple hedgehog and First Light bloomed.</p><p>5/29, I started doing 10k steps including 30 minutes on the elliptical again.</p><p>My grandma turned 105 on 6/2! We were not able to go to Chicago this year to celebrate with her. Maybe later in the year. We're getting ready to go on our own vacation up to Canada the end of the month (if we get Nathan's passport card in time). </p><p>6/3, Nathan did a baseball lesson at The Hitting Factory since he wants to join the baseball team at Legacy next year. He's never played on a baseball team before so he has a lot to learn. </p><p><br /></p>The Haglershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11680062636425044727noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6481646490250940119.post-48416605178499428882023-04-01T22:32:00.002-07:002023-05-19T22:31:42.186-07:00Goodbye Spring Break<p> 2/27 I went to Tucson Botanical Gardens.</p><p>3/2 The Big Snow! It snowed in Tucson. I joined many others by Gates Pass to capture the beauty. I drove through Saguaro National Park thereafter, but the snow was melting quickly. It's quite magical to see snow on saguaros! I also went over to Pima Canyon.</p><p>3/7 Paul weighs 140 lbs! He's making progress.</p><p>3/9 I went to Picacho Peak State Park. The wildflowers looked amazing. </p><p>3/11 We went to Peridot Mesa to see the poppies and other wildflowers. It wasn't quite peak yet, but the flowers were beautiful and there was hardly anyone there. </p><p>3/14 I went to Tucson Botanical Gardens. They had the most beautiful tulips all around the gardens. </p><p>3/16 I went to Pima County Cooperative Extension Gardens.</p><p>We decided to go to San Diego for Spring Break. We could only go for a few days since Lisa was going to be coming to visit us during part of our break. We left Friday 3/17 to drive to San Diego.</p><p>3/18 I went to see the Carlsbad Flower Fields, something that has been on my bucket list. You can't actually walk down all of the rows of flowers, but you can walk around the edges and still get pretty close to some of them to get pictures. The flowers were just starting so only about 1/4 of the fields were in bloom. Ranunculus in every color. After going there I headed a few minutes away to the San Diego Botanic Gardens. They are doing some construction in that garden so unfortunately part of that construction was the waterlily/lotus pond that I love to see. They had the most beautiful orchid exhibit, though. </p><p>3/19 I went to the San Diego Zoo. Paul and Nathan went to the Air & Space Museum and to the USS Midway. </p><p>It was a partially rainy day on 3/20 so we did Birch Aquarium in La Jolla. Paul and I really liked the Leafy Sea Dragon exhibit. We ate lunch in La Jolla, then went to the Cave Store where you can pay a few bucks to see a sea cave. There was even a mom and baby sea lion/seal in the cave. We also saw the seals at Children's Pool and more sea lion/seals at the Underwater Park a little further down closer to the Cave Store. We also got to see Brown Pelicans and the Cormorants nesting with their babies. That was a first for us to see the cormorant babies. </p><p>We had to drive back home the next day and it was raining like crazy. Unfortunately, because of the rain we opted not to go to Anza Borrego to see the wildflowers.</p><p>Lisa arrived 3/22. </p><p>3/23 Paul, Nathan and Lisa went to a White Sox spring training game while I went to the Wildlife World Zoo. The White Sox lost. </p><p>3/24 We went to Colossal Cave. Paul and Nathan had been there once before, but I had never been there. The cave was pretty cool. Coatis like to hang out there, but we didn't get to see any this time :( However, they have awesome soft serve prickly pear ice cream!</p><p>3/25 Nathan went with Lisa and her in-laws on a jeep tour. They were all in Tucson visiting Lisa's great-niece who is going to U of A. Paul and I went to the Thunderbirds air show. </p><p>3/26 They all went to Bisbee and Tombstone. I was going to go to church, but I was so exhausted that I stayed home and cleaned while nobody was there. </p><p>3/27 Nathan went back to school and had soccer practice after school.</p><p>3/28 My first yard cactus bloomed for the year. It was my June Noon hybrid. One flower bloomed that day and then another one opened up the following day. I took Lisa to Picacho Peak State Park to see the wildflowers. Unfortunately, the super bloom was over. There were flowers scattered here and there so we pretty much just did the nature trail. There were a few light purple/pink lupines right off the side of the road and I had never seen them in that color before. There were also a couple of hedgehogs blooming as well as many cactus buds getting ready to bloom! I have never been to that park before to see the cactus flowers so I may go back. Nathan had his first soccer game against Legacy NW where he will be going to school next year. Unfortunately, they lost 1-4. Nathan was upset that he didn't get to play much. Part of the problem is that he wanted to play midfield, but the coach put him in defense. Most of the other girls on the team are also defense. Since you have to have a certain amount of girls on the field at all times (4, I think), that doesn't give Nathan a lot of play time. She said those who didn't play much that game would get to play more the following game so we will see if that is the case. She is considering letting him play midfield so that may be better for him. He wore the #6 jersey and if I remember right I think I may have been #6 at least one of the years I played high school soccer. </p><p>3/29 It was Lisa's last day so Paul brought her to the airport. I had to pick Nathan up from school at 1:10 and then we had to go back over that way for his soccer practice at 4. </p><p>3/30 I went to Bach's Cactus Nursery. I finally found a pink claret cup cactus so I bought it! They had another pink/red claret cup that I liked and should have bought, but I didn't. I went back the next day and didn't see it. There was another similar one so I bought that one. The pink claret cup had two flowers today and the other deeper pink claret cup that I bought yesterday had one flower today. It was partially open yesterday when I bought it yesterday, but opened more today. </p><p>3/31 I also went over by Oro Valley Hospital and saw some orange claret cups in bloom as well as a few Argentine Giants. </p>The Haglershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11680062636425044727noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6481646490250940119.post-71572688798180772182023-02-26T16:56:00.001-08:002023-11-14T16:05:29.500-08:00No Rodeo Days<p> I turned 48 on 1/2. A depressing birthday as I get nearer to 50. Nathan bought me a big stuffed animal sloth so that was nice. </p><p>Nathan's last day of Winter Break was on 1/3 so he and I went to the Desert Museum. We also drove through Saguaro National Park on the way home so I stopped to take some sunset pictures.</p><p>Paul had a great check up at the doctor. On 1/11 we got the results of his recent blood test and his A1C was 6.3! Now gaining weight back while maintaining his blood sugar seems to be his main challenge. </p><p>I went back to Saguaro National Park to photograph the sunset on 1/22.</p><p>1/23 it was snowing in Tucson! I first went to Saguaro National Park, but didn't see a lot of snow there. So then I decided to go to Catalina State Park. There was quite a bit of water flowing in the wash so I decided not to cross. I did the nature trail which I had never done before. </p><p>Nathan was the victim of bullying at school on 1/25! I guess they were playing soccer at recess and Nathan accidentally kicked the ball out of the school grounds. About half of his class, around 10 boys, ganged up on him and threatened to beat him up. The main bully was Jace, who takes boxing. Nathan said the rest of them just don't want to stand up to Jace so they join his group. Nathan went to the Dean. Those boys all got detentions and their parents had to meet with the Dean. Nathan was afraid they would retaliate because they called him a snitch and he got them in trouble. Several of those boys were even on his volleyball team who he had previously considered friends. </p><p>On 2/2, I went to Pima County Cooperative Extension Gardens. Not much was blooming there. So then I went to Tucson Botanical Gardens. The butterfly exhibit was great and there were lots of orchids blooming. They also had daffodils and other flowers blooming in the gardens. </p><p>On Valentine's Day it snowed again! I went to Sabino Canyon. I still didn't see a lot of snow there, but I enjoyed it. Near the visitor center I saw their Cristate Saguaro which I don't think I had ever seen there before. When I went to pick Nathan up from school, he wasn't coming out. He finally came out 20 minutes late and he had been crying. He said he was talking to the vice principal because there was another bullying incident. I was so mad that I went to the office and asked to speak with someone in admin like the principal. I looked up and the principal was right there. She asked if he had just talked to Mr. Roddy, the vice principal. I said yes, but now I wanted to talk to someone. She said since he talked to Mr. Roddy that he should be the one to handle the situation. I said that Nathan said Mr Roddy was going in a meeting, though. She just walked away and let the staff handled it! I was so upset. They confirmed Mr Roddy was in a meeting and said he would call me in 10-15 minutes. We talked on the phone. He said he wanted to talk to Nathan some more the next day to get more details about what happened. Nathan said a boy gave him a paper full of ink. He did it just to be mean. Nathan didn't want to get ink all over him and he was afraid to get up to throw it away because he thought he would get in trouble. I guess he passed it along to another boy who got upset and went to the vice principal. Mr Roddy, the vice principal didn't think Nathan intended any harm to the boy and that it was a minor misunderstanding. So Nathan and the vice principal talked about it for awhile. I guess this boy was upset because HE just had his nails done! Nathan told Mr Roddy about how they are always being mean to him, though. He wanted to switch classes, but ultimately that didn't happen. Mr. Roddy came and talked to the class the next day and basically scolded them for their behavior. Nathan seemed satisfied with that so I decided to let it go for now. Surprisingly, Nathan still wanted to try out for the co-ed soccer team even though many in his class would be trying out, too. </p><p>Paul and I celebrated our 20th anniversary on 2/17. He had bought me flowers and some lab created emerald earrings on Ebay for about $120. He researched the significance of the 20th anniversary and saw that the emerald was the symbol so that is why he wanted to buy me emerald jewelry. We didn't actually do anything on our anniversary, though. He worked and I had to take Nathan to school. He didn't even plan dinner out or anything. </p><p>On 2/20 I went to Picacho Peak State Park to check out the poppies. They were looking amazing! Then after school I took Nathan to his soccer tryout. A couple of his friends were trying out as well, like Killian who spent his birthday with him. </p><p>We were supposed to go to San Diego for Rodeo Days 2/23-2/27. Unfortunately, it was forecasted to rain and snow and be cold there the whole time so we cancelled our trip. We are going to try again for Spring Break. However, Lisa is coming to visit the latter part of that week so we can only go to San Diego for a few days. </p><p>I decided to go back to Picacho Peak State Park on 2/24. The poppies were still amazing and I saw a big patch of purple flowers in one area, too. We also found out that day that Nathan made the soccer team! Unfortunately, his friends like Killian did not make the team. Nathan was still happy to make the team. I am going to have to take him to all of his practices and games so it's going to be busy the next couple of months. </p><p>We also just found out that Nathan has been accepted into Legacy for next year! So we completed the registration and now they just have to approve that. Legacy is closer, is supposed to be a good school, but it is also a tough school with more homework than he is used to this year. </p>The Haglershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11680062636425044727noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6481646490250940119.post-17472190375287395112022-12-30T15:33:00.003-08:002023-02-26T15:09:19.426-08:00The year is almost over!<p> Nathan finished volleyball. They didn't win any more games. I drove Nathan, Killian and Berto to the game at Red Rock Elementary on 11/28. 12/6 they played MASSA. 12/7 was their last day of volleyball and they did a double header in Casa Grande. I drove Nathan, Killian and Berto again. We all went to Chick-Fil-A afterward. Killian went home with his grandma. Berto ended up going in the car with the other group back to the school because Ben went home with his brother. That way we didn't have to go all of the way back to the school and back track to our house. Nathan got a certificate for Most Improved for the season.</p><p>Nathan had his Winter Recital at school on 12/9. He played Jingle Bell Rock on the guitar with his class. He is supposed to be one of the lead guitarists in the upcoming Spring Recital. He is also expanding his horizons and got a ukulele for Christmas/Birthday using the guitar center gift cards that Aunt Lisa and Aunt Tracy sent him. He has already taught himself how to play Jingle Bell Rock on the ukulele. I am impressed that he can play both given there are some differences between the two. <span face=""Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Guitars have six strings tuned from the lowest to highest (most often E-A-D-G-B-E), while ukuleles only have four and don't follow low-to-high order" We tried recording him playing Jingle Bell Rock on the ukulele to send to Aunt Lisa and Aunt Tracy. He said he kept messing up at the end. He didn't give up, though. He kept doing it until he got right. </span>He also wants to get a banjo. Grandma June sent him money for Christmas/Birthday to get a banjo.</p><p>We got snow on 12/12. I first went to Sabino Canyon to see it, but it was raining heavy at the time and very foggy. I heard there was snow in Oracle so I headed that way. It was snowing pretty good there, but there was really no place to pull over for pictures. I was going to go to Oracle State Park, but decided I did not want to risk getting stuck in the snow with my car. I headed back and saw a lot of snow on the Catalinas on the north side so I stopped at Catalina State Park. I am really glad I did. I hiked across the wash since there was no water running. I saw some javelina crossing the wash with me. I usually don't go across the wash so it was great to get closer to the mountain and take pictures of the snow. </p><p>I went back to Sabino Canyon on 12/13. There really wasn't much snow there so it was disappointing. The Fall colors were just about gone. There was some water flowing. I always like going to Sabino Canyon so it was still a good day. </p><p>Nathan turned 13 on 12/15. We have a teenager! He asked a few friends to go to Funtasticks after school that day, but Killian was the only one who could make it. Dad took them and they had a good time. We got Nathan a Nerf cake at Walmart. That day was also the end of Q2 at school and his last day before Winter Break. Nathan ended the quarter on honor roll with all As and 2 Bs! He even got his Algebra grade up from a D to a B, with dad's help. He got a 97.84 in social studies, 99.33 in computer science, 100 in PE, 98.67 in guitar, 84.91 in science, 88.09 in algebra, 100 in russian and 95.57 in humanities for a GPA of 95.55. </p><p>Nathan and I went to Odyssey and Butterfly Wonderland on 12/21 and then to eat at Grimaldi's. We didn't see Jalapeno, the pufferfish at first, but thanks to mom we went back to the water tunnel where he lives and he came out! </p><p>Nathan had his annual checkup at the pediatrician's office on 12/22. I was really shocked at the questionnaire they gave us when we got there. Now that he is a teenager, I guess this is the questionnaire they give them. ?s about alcohol use, drug use, smoking, sexual activity, sexual orientation, depression, if there is a gun in the house, etc... He just turned 13 and he has a room full of stuffed animals! He really isn't even interested in girls yet. I guess it is time for dad to have the sex talk with him soon, though. He probably knows more than we think he does. Nathan weighs 112 lbs and he is in the 68th percentile for his age. He is 63.4 inches (5'3.5") tall and he is in the 69th percentile for height for his age. He grew 4" this past year. People even notice how big his feet are. He is wearing a size 9 and dad wears a size 10. So I hope that means that he is still going to grow taller. I don't want him to be short like me, although he has already passed me up! His BMI is 19.5 which is the 64th percentile. He got his second HPV vaccination this visit. She also said that he has mild scoliosis. She could tell right away because his shoulders are uneven. She said most likely he won't experience any symptoms at his age, but it could cause him back pain later that may require physical therapy. </p><p>We went to Winterhaven 12/22. Paul and Nathan did not make the whole thing. They went back to the car. Most of the houses were the same as last year. I didn't see the grandma got ran over by a reindeer house, though. I don't think they decorated this year. </p><p>We all went to NTBC Christmas Eve since I was singing in the choir. Christmas Day we both had church at our churches so we went to church that day, too. Nathan "opened" his gifts that morning. A couple of weeks ago he told me in the car that he knew there was no santa. I asked him what made him think that. I don't remember what his response was, but I basically confirmed. He seemed upset and asked why parents lie to kids like that. I was caught off guard. I said that there isn't just one santa, but that we are all like santa because Christmas is the season of giving. I also said Christmas is about Jesus, though. Since he knows there is no santa now and since he and dad picked out most of his gifts at Hobby Lobby and Walmart, he told me I didn't have to wrap them. So I stuck them all in a gift bag. We didn't even get ornaments on the tree this year. Paul didn't get the tree up until late and there was only like 10 days until Christmas so I didn't think it was worth the time and effort to put the ornaments on. Nathan still seemed happy on Christmas Day with his gifts. </p><p>Nathan and I went to Reid Park Zoo on 12/26. We also went to see the TWO wood ducks in Reid Park. Nathan was getting impatient with me taking pictures of the ducks. Then we ate at Sauce and returned to the zoo for Zoo Lights. </p><p>We all went to Wildlife World Zoo the next day on 12/27. We ate dinner there at Dillon's. </p><p> </p>The Haglershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11680062636425044727noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6481646490250940119.post-13497761436293882092022-11-26T10:37:00.001-08:002022-11-26T10:37:39.415-08:00Quick Updates<p> Nathan had an away volleyball game as MASSA on Wednesday. It turned into quite the ordeal. It was early release day at school so I was supposed to pick him up from school at 1:10. We were going to go home, grab a bite to eat and then head to MASSA to be there by 4. I was at the school to pick him up when I got a phone call from Paul. Nathan called home and asked if he could go with some teammates to the game. Several of them were going to get pizza and go to the game together. Paul told him yes. There were several problems with that. One, I was already at the school to pick him up. Two, we don't even know the parents of the boy who was going to take them from school and drive them to the game. Three, Nathan didn't have his volleyball clothes with him because he was supposed to come home first. So I didn't go to the game. I texted Paul and told him that Nathan's volleyball clothes were sitting on the couch. He didn't get the text in time. Nathan also called home and left a message about the clothes, but Paul was in the shower and never got the message. Paul went to the game. Nathan was unable to play because he didn't have his clothes and his team lost. This was their sister school who they actually won against when they had a home game. A very disappointing day. Lesson learned is to not make those kind of decisions last minute without thinking everything through. It takes me 20+ minutes to drive to the school and I was already there. I was not a happy camper. Nathan ended up not being a happy camper either because he didn't get to play. </p><p>They have another away game on Monday at Red Rock Elementary. The coach is asking for parents to drive the team there. Not sure yet how we are going to handle that.</p><p>Thanksgiving we stayed home and didn't do anything. Paul just cooked out some steaks and hot dogs. </p><p>The day after Thanksgiving we decided to put Bella down. I had told Paul earlier in the week that if he wanted to do it, he would have to call and set it up because I couldn't handle it. He decided to do it on Friday. He wanted to "get it done" so that he could shampoo the carpets and get the Christmas tree up. I had prolonging it ever since Bella had her exam several months ago and her bloodwork came back abnormal. The vet told us at that time that he would support any decision we made about her quality of life. I was not ready to lose her yet because we just lost Tulla on 6/30. Bella had arthritis and recently was having trouble controlling her bowels. I knew it was time. It doesn't make it any easier. I was very close to her. Paul took her to the vet yesterday to get the procedure done while Nathan and I stayed home. We thought it would be easiest that way. </p>The Haglershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11680062636425044727noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6481646490250940119.post-82222048396403970732022-11-17T18:34:00.004-08:002022-11-22T21:37:55.403-08:00It's the end of the year already!<p> Nathan finished the 1st quarter of school and decided he didn't want to continue Chess Club. He got a discipline signature while in Chess Club because he drew a bad picture on one of the boy's papers. He said the boy had been bothering him and the Chess Club leader (who is also his Guitar teacher) wasn't doing anything about it. We told him that was not an excuse to do what he did. He really wasn't enjoying Chess Club, though. I think he was better than most of the other kids so it wasn't challenging enough. He got a second signature in his planner for horseplay. Supposedly another boy hit him in passing in between classes so Nathan ran after him to ask him why he hit him. Running was considered horseplay. </p><p>Nathan also struggled academically the 1st quarter, at least in Math. He ended the quarter with a D! Nathan has never got below a B in any class his entire life. It was quite frustrating. They got a new math teacher partway into the 1st quarter. Supposedly, the new teacher is fresh out of college. I sent him a message showing our concern about Nathan's grade and asked what we could do about it, even suggesting Nathan stay after school for help. He never replied. I then sent a message to the Vice Principal and also did not get a reply. When I sent a 2nd message to him he finally replied, but by then the quarter was almost over and there was not much to be done. He told me that this year they moved the 7th grade up 2 levels in math to Algebra 1 instead of just being 1 level up. Not sure why they would do that because Nathan said the 6th graders didn't get very good grades in math last year to justify such a move. The Vice Principal confirmed the whole 7th grade was struggling in Algebra so they were going to discuss to see how to go forward. The math teacher put in a bunch of grades in the system on the LAST day of the quarter and then replied to me the following day to tell me that he put more grades in the system and that Nathan was doing better in the class. I replied that he put all of the grades in on the last day of quarter which did not help us know how he was doing DURING the quarter and that his grade didn't even improve much because he still ended up with a D! Once again, he never replied. However, the Vice Principal eventually sent out a message to everyone saying that they decided to go down TWO levels for the 7th graders so that they will be doing actual 7th grade math. I thought this would take effect the 2nd quarter. However, they are still doing Algebra this quarter. Supposedly, they are making it a little bit easier, but Nathan is still struggling. As of this writing, he is getting a C in Algebra. Paul started going over the work with him and part of the problem is that Nathan is not writing out his work and not spending enough time doing the homework. He can no longer breeze by in math like he used to do. He has to do actual work and he's being too lazy. Anyway, I guess they will go down to 7th grade math in the 2nd semester so we will see how that goes. </p><p>Nathan ended Q1:</p><p>93.5 Social Studies</p><p>99.4 Computer Science </p><p>96 PE</p><p>95.71 Guitar</p><p>100 Russian</p><p>89.79 Humanities</p><p>85.55 Science</p><p>68.52 Algebra 1</p><p>91.1 GPA</p><p>So he still ended the quarter on "honor roll". Another disappointing part, though, was that he had all As going except Algebra up until the last week when they were "finalizing" the grades for the quarter. His Humanities went down from a 90.58 to 89.79 and Science changed from 100 to 85.55! That is why I hate that teachers put in so many grades right at the end of the quarter when there is nothing that can be done to improve them at that point and they can dramatically affect their GPA. </p><p>Nathan had been struggling in Guitar class, too, because he was one of the few who had never played before. We decided to buy him a guitar and get him lessons. He had his first lesson on 9/10. We have extended those lessons so every Saturday he has been going to his guitar lessons. He has a music concert coming up at school on 12/9. He is going to be one of the lead guitarists! He also taught himself how to play happy birthday on the guitar so I recorded him and sent that to grandpa on his birthday 10/18. </p><p>Nathan also joined the boys volleyball team at school. His first game was 10/27 at home against Legacy Casa Grande. They lost, but it was close. They lost the first game, won the second, but then lost the tiebreaker. Paul and I both went to the game at Sporting Chance in Tucson. Their next game was on 11/1 at Grande Innovation Academy in Casa Grande! I made the long drive to see the game. They lost :( They had another home game at Sporting Chance in Tucson against MASSA, their sister school on 11/3. They won! They lost the 1st game, won the 2nd and then won the tiebreaker! Paul and I were both at the game to see Nathan win! Their next game was on 11/7 at Desert Wind Middle School in Maricopa. I made the long drive again to see his game only to get there and be told that our school was having transportation troubles and may not show up. Luckily, they arrived 5 minutes late and were able to still play. Unfortunately, they lost. They lost the 1st and 2nd games so they didn't even have to play a tiebreaker. Their next game was on 11/10 at home at Sporting Chance against Red Rock Elementary. Unfortunately, I was sick that day and unable to go to the game. Paul went to his game. They lost again. They lost the 1st and 2nd games so there was no tiebreaker. They were supposed to have a game on 11/14 away at MASSA (in Tucson), but it had to be rescheduled because our coach was sick that day. </p><p>On 8/11, I went up to Mount Lemmon. I didn't go all of the way to the top, but I was just hoping to see some waterfalls. So then I made a quick stop at Sabino Canyon to see the water flowing there, too.</p><p>On 8/15, I went to Tucson Botanical Gardens, Green Things Nursery and Pima County Cooperative Extension Gardens. </p><p>I went to Pima Prickly Park on 8/17 to see the barrel cacti blooming. At home my First Light and June Noon bloomed.</p><p>I went back up to Mount Lemmon on 8/22. </p><p>I went to Tohono Chul Park 8/25. </p><p>My June Noon bloomed again on 8/26.</p><p>I went to Reid Park Zoo 9/7. </p><p>I went to Tucson Botanical Gardens and Pima County Cooperative Extension Gardens on 9/9. </p><p>On 9/22, I went to Sweetwater Wetlands, Reid Park and Reid Park Zoo. </p><p>I went to Tucson Botanical Gardens 9/28.</p><p>I went back to the Tucson Botanical Gardens on 10/3 to see the opening of Butterfly Magic. I also went to the Pima County Cooperative Extension Gardens. </p><p>Nathan and I went to the Marana Pumpkin Patch Sunflower Festival on 10/6. This was the first year they were doing a sunflower festival. Unfortunately, we didn't spend a lot of time there because Nathan was getting a skin reaction from the sunflowers. The sunflowers were pretty, but they only had the one traditional kind. It was also expensive to go to it. It cost us close to $20 each to get tickets. They have a lot to learn from Apple Annie's who has a wide variety of sunflowers and it's free to see them!</p><p>I went up to Mount Lemmon to see if there were any Fall colors on 10/10. The colors were just getting started. What I didn't expect to see on the mountain that day was snow! I was coming back down and right by the one visitor center it was "snowing". The meteorologists called it graupel or sleet. It had rained on me off and on while I was on the mountain, but it was very surreal to see "snow". Right after I got out to take a few pictures of it, I went further down the mountain past Mount Bigelow and it turned back to rain. </p><p>I went to photograph the sunflowers at Apple Annie's on 10/14. It was nice to go by myself and take my time photographing instead of always been rushed by my family. They went to Apple Annie's on 10/1. I didn't go because I didn't think either of them really wanted to go. I thought they were just going for my benefit. When I said I didn't want to go they still went without me. They picked their pumpkins and bought some veggies to bring home. </p><p>Nathan's Fall Break was 10/15-10/23. We didn't go on a vacation due to Paul's health and his work schedule. Plus, we went to Hawaii earlier in the year which was an expensive trip. Nathan and I went to Odysea on 10/18 and ate at Grimaldi's. Nathan was excited to see the pufferfish at the aquarium. On 10/21, we all went up to see the Fall colors on Mount Lemmon. They were just about at peak. I don't think they were as good as last year, but it was still very pretty. We ate at the Iron Door while we were up there and had an enjoyable Fall day. </p><p>My June Noon bloomed on 10/27. I also went to the Pima County Cooperative Extension Gardens. </p><p>Nathan was a Ghillie for Halloween. Unfortunately, he didn't try on the costume before Halloween so the pants were big on him and kept falling down. So then he was complaining the whole time we were trick or treating and said that next year he was dressing up. Whatever dude! </p><p>The next day, 11/1, I decided to make one more trip up to Mount Lemmon to see the last of the Fall colors. I am glad I went up. The colors were almost over and the leaves falling quickly off the trees, but there was enough to satisfy me. </p><p>I went to Sabino Canyon on 11/8, I took the tram up and walked down. There was some pretty Fall colors starting in the canyon. </p><p>I went to Pima County Cooperative Extension Gardens to see the roses on 11/9. I then went to Tucson Botanical Gardens to see the butterflies again. Then I went to Reid Park hoping that the Rose Garden would be open, but once again they had it closed. They have half of the garden ripped up because they are replanting, but the other half looked good from what I could see from the fence. It's a shame they don't open it up so we can see what it is there. What is the point and having any of the roses if they don't let anyone see them?! While there I decided to try and find Woody, the wood duck. I finally found him! I had been there 2 times prior and couldn't find him so I was excited to finally see him. </p><p>Unfortunately, after going to Sabino Canyon on 11/8 and to the gardens on 11/9, I felt sick on 11/10. I had bodyaches, a sore throat, runny nose, I was hot/cold. I was in bed most of the day and took 3 baths in epson salt. I missed Nathan's volleyball game that day. The next day my bodyaches were gone, but it was still all in my head - runny nose, sore throat, watery eyes, sneezing. Eventually, most of that went away, but as of today the nose is still running. It's been a week so I am thinking it may now be a sinus infection. </p><p>Because I was sick, I also missed Nathan's Paper Airplane Flyoff at the Pima Air & Space Museum on 10/12. Nathan competed in his age group, but didn't make the top spots to continue on to the next round. In the family competition, I guess Nathan threw far, but Paul messed up. </p><p><br /></p>The Haglershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11680062636425044727noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6481646490250940119.post-47331984214443933832022-08-09T22:11:00.002-07:002022-11-17T17:44:48.252-08:00Day by Day...<p> I got a haircut on 7/21 so afterward I stopped at the Pima County Cooperative Extension Gardens. </p><p>I went and took some sunset pictures by Contzen Pass on 7/23.</p><p>Nathan's first day of school was 7/25. He got up, took a bath, got dressed, ate breakfast, took the garbage out and was ready to go! He even smiled for pictures. He tried to bribe me, but I convinced him to just smile and make mom happy. Nathan had a good first week back to school. A lot of subs to start which is kind of crazy. No homework the first week. Unfortunately, I picked him up on Friday, 7/29 and he said he had to go to the nurse (front office) because he got overheated during recess. They gave him an ice pack and he was able to go back to class. He felt better that night, but the next day he said he had an awful headache, his chest hurt and he wasn't feeling good. We took him to urgent care. They did an EKG which was fine, but they were concerned about his high heart rate and chest pain. He didn't have a fever. They suggested we go to the ER. So we went to the ER. They did another EKG, a chest xray, gave him some pain meds and then tested him for COVID. The COVID test was positive. They said to just treat with ibuprofin and tylenol. He was to stay home from school until Thursday, 8/4. We informed the school. They never returned our messages, though, to confirm that he could return on 8/4. Then they told Paul that he had to get a negative covid test before he could return. We couldn't find any place to do one that quick so we bought an at home kit from CVS. It was positive. The next day we scheduled a free test through the Walgreens drive-thru. It was positive, too. Many people told me that it is common to get a false positive after having covid for up to 6 months. Paul called the school again and they finally told him that he could return on Monday, 8/8. There were numerous other kids with COVID at the school, too. </p><p>7/28, I went to the Pima County Cooperative Extension Gardens, Tucson Botanical Gardens, Reid Park Rose Garden and Pima Prickly Park. </p><p>So Nathan went back to school on Monday, 8/8. Some of the kids were back who were sick, but others were gone because they were sick. They took a reading readiness test and he said he scored the highest in the class. He said they are learning cursive this year, but he already learned that at Leman. He said there are other things they are learning or reviewing that he already knows, too. He's kind of bored so far. He had chess club on Monday. He said there were about 9 kids there. Some of them had never played before so he won against them. He seemed to enjoy that. He has it again on Friday. </p><p>I went to Saguaro National Park, The Desert Museum and Gates Pass on 8/8. Saw a desert tortoise on the side of the road going through Saguaro National Park! </p><p>Today, Nathan and I got stuck in a monsoon on the way home from school. Got close to home and Linda Vista was flooded. So we turned around and went back on the highway to Cortaro. We decided to get Panda Express and Starbucks. After we ate, most of the storms had passed and we were able to get home.</p><p>Bella had her 6 month vet appointment on Saturday, 8/6. The vet said her blood tests and exam did not give very good results. She is a super senior at 14 1/2, She is also a large breed dog and large breeds do not usually live as long as smaller breeds. We knew she was having problems. For awhile she was getting so picky about food that she wasn't eating much so then she wasn't pooping much either. Her arthritis was getting bad and she was having breathing issues. However, I found her a dog food that she really likes, Purina moist and meaty. She has been eating more and her poop has been more normal, except she can't stand still to poop. I think her arthritis hurts too much. The blood test showed that she is anemic. She also lost significant weight, but some of that was because she wasn't eating much for awhile. He says she may have some internal bleeding and/or a tumor and that her liver could be failing. He said he would support any decision we would make in regard to her quality of life. We just lost Tulla about a month ago. Bella is my baby and I really don't want to lose her yet. But I also don't want her to be in pain. For now, we decided to switch her from Rimadyl for her arthritis to a new med that is easier on her liver. He also gave her a 2nd med to take for pain. However, it isn't a chewable and she's supposed to take 4 of them a day. They only had 9 left so I need to get more. However, Sunday she was having problems even standing to eat. Her back legs give in. I pretty much concluded that it is probably time to put her down. The next morning she seemed to eat better on her legs and she was getting around a little better. It's such a hard decision. I don't know if I should get more pain meds or put her down. I will probably get more tomorrow, but we are still taking this day by day and I suspect she only has weeks left, if that. </p>The Haglershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11680062636425044727noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6481646490250940119.post-63496630822394279692022-07-18T22:40:00.009-07:002022-11-17T18:39:20.299-08:00School is in session!<p><span face=""Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">5/26/22 was a pretty exciting day. I woke up to another bloom on my latest cactus purchase. It is a hybrid between a June Noon and something else. I saw it at Bach's Cactus Nursery and had to have it. This is the 2nd bloom. This is the day that I saw a coyote with its 2 pups and a king snake at Tohono Chul Park. I also went to the Pima County Cooperative Extension Gardens where I saw a roadrunner with its young ones and it had killed a lizard to feed them. That's a good photography day.</span> </p><p><span face=""Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">I didn't get a last day of school picture this year because Nathan actually didn't go to school the last half day. He developed a cough the night before. I got a picture of him at church a few days later. He impressed us once again with his Character Attributes Report the last quarter. He got excellent remarks including another increase from the previous quarter. His Best Effort went up from C (Consistent) to E (Exemplary). I think he is very relieved for the school year to be over and he is looking forward to starting a new school next year (which will be here before we know it because his first day of school is 7/25!). He just had to choose his electives for the upcoming school year. For Music, he had to choose between piano and guitar so he chose guitar. For Foreign Language, he he had to choose between Russian and Mandarin so he chose Russian. He had Spanish and Latin at Leman so he is ready to learn something new.</span></p><div class="kvgmc6g5 cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">5/31/22 Paul isn't doing well.<span style="font-family: inherit;"> He's very tired. His stomach is always hurting. He can't really seem to get his blood sugar below 200. He seems to be getting worse. His A1C came back at 12.9 </span>(should be 4-5.6).</div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">5/31/22 My First Light cactus bloomed. Paul went to the cardiologist. He </span>wanted to do an echo, scheduled for 6/29 after we got back from Hawaii. He switched his Simvastatin to Crestor. He may have to do a stress test. He ordered a T3 test to test his thyroid, which his PCP did on 6/2. He scheduled a follow up appointment with the cardiologist on 7/29. </div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">6/1/22 Paul saw the </span>ophthalmologist. His eyes looked healthy, but his vision has worsened in one eye. He may have to get corrective lenses before he has to renew his driving license next.</div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">6/2/22 My grandma turned 104. Paul saw the NP. They</span> doubled his Metformin dosage. She prescribed him the insulin, Lantus. She prescribed the pen, but insurance denied it. </div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">6/3/22 Paul went back to the NP. She was going to show him how to use the insulin, but since he didn't get the insulin.... She also looked at a lump that is on the back of his neck. They said it seems movable and not much of a concern, but they suggest having a surgeon remove it. So eventually he needs to find a surgeon in network who can do that, but he thinks that is near the bottom of his priority list right now.</div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">We decided to still go to Hawaii since most of it was already paid for. We also decided not to start up Paul's insulin since he wasn't shown how to do it and we didn't think it was a good time to start that on vacation. He made it through the vacation.<span style="font-family: inherit;"> He did most activities with us up until the last day. The last day, Nathan and I went to the Honolulu Zoo and the Waikiki Aquarium on our own and we met Paul for lunch/dinner. He didn't do a lot to control his diabetes during our vacation. </span></div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><div class="cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql o9v6fnle ii04i59q" style="margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">Here's a rundown of our vacation:</div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">6/14 We flew to Kona on the Big Island. That first night we stayed at the Volcano House inside Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. </div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">6/15 Nathan had to go urgent care. He ended up getting an antibiotic for an UTI. The infection seemed to go away and he had no more problems. Later that day, we were able to explore Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, including the Lava Tube. That night we stayed at Aloha Crater Lodge not too far from the Volcano House, but outside of the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. They had so many pretty flowers on their property. </div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">6/16 We went to Panaewa Rainforest Zoo and Gardens in Hilo. We made a stop at Rainbow Falls. I went to Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden. That is an awesome garden. Paul only gave me about an hour there so I did not get through the whole thing. I could have spent hours there. That night we stayed at the Royal Palm Cottage.</div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">6/17 We went to Akaka Falls State Park in Hilo. We stopped at the Waipio Lookout. Then we headed to Maui. There we checked into the Maui Sunset in Kihei, where we stayed for the week. </div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">6/18 We went to the Iao Valley State Monument. We tried to go to the Tropical Gardens of Maui where we got married 19 years ago, but they are permanently closed.<span class="pq6dq46d tbxw36s4 knj5qynh kvgmc6g5 ditlmg2l oygrvhab nvdbi5me sf5mxxl7 gl3lb2sf hhz5lgdu" style="display: inline-flex; font-family: inherit; height: 16px; margin: 0px 1px; vertical-align: middle; width: 16px;"><br /></span></div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">6/19 I went to the Kula Botanical Garden while the boys went to eat at Kula Lodge. That is another garden that I loved. My favorite flower there was the protea, which I had never seen in person before. Paul and I decided we really liked the Kula area. Kula is on the way up to Haleakala. There are rolling hills. It's less busy because we noticed how much busier the rest of Maui seems to be getting. There are jacaranda trees lining the roads. Morning glories are all along the sides of the road. There are eucalyptus trees with their beautiful rainbow bark. Later that day, we went to the Maui Ocean Center. Nathan and I enjoyed it. We seem to enjoy aquariums more than Paul. Nathan liked seeing the pufferfish. I was mesmerized by an octopus that kept changing colors. We all got Dole Whips there for a treat. </div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">6/20 We went on a kayaking and snorkeling group activity in Lahaina. Since there were 3 of us, I had to do a single kayak and I had never kayaked before. I had trouble keeping up with the group so the leader ended up tying my kayak to his. The snorkeling was disappointing. I didn't see much. I think most of the group was disappointed as well because we were all done with half our time (20 minutes) left. The worst part is that I forgot to put sunscreen on my upper arms and my legs so I got a bad sunburn. In fact, a couple of days ago the sunburn blistered and started peeling. After kayaking, we went to eat at the Cheeseburger in Paradise. We then got another Dole Whip in Lahaina after viewing the Banyon Tree there in town. The banyon trees in Hawaii are amazing. </div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">6/21 We laid low because of my sunburn. That night we went to the Royal Lahaina Luau. We all enjoyed it even though it rained on us. We also saw our one and only rainbow while in Hawaii that night.</div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">6/22 We ate lunch at Kula Lodge. Then we headed up to Haleakala National Park. We got to see a Chukar family, the endangered Nene endemic only to Hawaii and the silversword endemic only to Haleakala. </div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">6/23 We went to Maluaka Beach where we had renewed our vows for our 5th anniversary back in 2008. We stopped at a few other beaches including Secret Beach and Lava Fields. </div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">6/24 This was a very long day! This is the day we flew from Maui to Oahu. You would think it would not be that difficult flying from one island to another. However, we had to stand in long lines to check in our luggage and go through security. It is a good thing that we got to the airport early because it took probably 3 hours from that time to get through all of the lines and get on our plane. We took an Uber to our hotel, Waikiki Sand Villa in Honolulu, within walking distance to Waikiki Beach. </div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">6/25 We went to Pearl Harbor. Paul and I had been there before when we got married in Hawaii in 2003, but this was Nathan's first time going since this was his first trip to Hawaii. Unfortunately, he lost his point and shoot digital camera while we were there. That evening we took a walk to Waikiki Beach to eat dinner and do some shopping. </div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">6/26 Nathan and I went to Waikiki Aquarium and the Honolulu Zoo. The Aquarium was nice, but their Hawaiian Monk Seal was on temporary loan elsewhere so we did not get to see it. Again, Nathan enjoyed seeing the pufferfish there. Honolulu Zoo was disappointing. They had sloths, but sloths sleep most of the day so we did not get to see them. Nathan was excited to see the Komodo dragon. Many of the exhibits seemed to be closed due to COVID precautions or exhibit upgrades and other animals that we get to see were sleeping so we didn't really see much there. We met Paul for lunch/dinner on Waikiki Beach between the Aquarium and the Zoo, all of which were in walking distance from our hotel. </div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">6/27 <span style="font-family: inherit;">Our day started at 2 am (5 am Arizona time). 3 plane rides later we were in Arizona, after losing 3 hours in the process. It took us at least a half hour to find our car in the parking garage. Then we had to drive home from Phoenix. There was an accident on I10 which added about another hour to our trip. So we got home just after midnight. </span></div></div><div class="cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql o9v6fnle ii04i59q" style="margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><div class="kvgmc6g5 cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q" style="margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">6/30/22 We made the difficult decision to put our dog Tulla down. She hadn't been doing well since we got back from vacation and picked her up from the boarders. She wasn't doing very well before that, though. She was old and her health was declining. She was 15 1/2. We adopted her back in 2013. She had broken her leg as a pup (before we adopted her) so she had a pin in her leg. For the most part, that didn't hinder her getting around, but she was never a very playful dog. Recently, she was steadily losing weight, her hearing was mostly gone, she had a lump on her side getting bigger (she had one previously that was benign) and she wasn't all there mentally. Yesterday she threw up. Today she wouldn't even drink water and she had diarrhea, including black stool. We pretty much decided it was time to put her down so we took her to the vet who agreed and reassured us that it was probably the best decision given her age and current health status. He said the black stool indicated internal bleeding. During the euthanization process, he said he could tell that it was probably what she wanted as well. She finally relaxed and let go as if to thank us for taking away her pain. All 3 of us went with to the vet. I stayed in the room with Tulla during the process, but Nathan didn't want to be in there so he and Paul were not in the room. This is the 2nd time we have gone through this. We previously lost our dog Nina at this same vet back in 2012 (Nathan was only 3). Losing Tulla today was hard on Nathan and he was crying (along with me) while we were there. Tulla was his favorite dog between Bella and Tulla. I favored Bella, but today was still hard on me, especially considering everything else our family has been going through lately. Unfortunately, Bella is 14 and having health issues, too. It may not be long before we have to make this same decision for her. Plus, we are not sure how she is going to do without her "sister". <span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></div></div><div class="cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql o9v6fnle ii04i59q" style="margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">Tulla: Born 11/9/06 Adopted 1/19/13 Died 6/30/22</div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">We went to see the Minions movie on 7/4. If I had any idea about what those movies about I wouldn't have gone to see it. It's about a boy who wanted to be part of the most evil group in the world. The things they come up with these days, geared toward our kids, is disturbing. </div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">7/8/22 5 of the 9 First Light flowers opened. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Nathan and I went up to Mount Lemmon looking for ladybugs with no luck. I saw ONE ladybug and I couldn't even get a good picture of it. We did enjoy a nice lunch at the Iron Door, though. A man working there told Nathan that they get flocks of turkeys up there and he sees them once in awhile across the way by the slopes and in the Summerhaven area. So I was disappointed that I didn't see ladybugs and he was disappointed that we didn't see any turkeys. It was the end of the July last year when I saw a bunch of ladybugs up there. I tried to go back to that same area, but I think we got off track. Nathan was complaining the whole time that we were looking for them. He was getting tired of the hike, saying there were bugs, he wanted to go back, he doesn't like nature and that he is a city boy! Really, is this my child?! I am still thinking that maybe we are a little early to see ladybugs?</span></div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">7/9/22 the other 4 First Light flowers opened, 2 Apricot Glow flowers, 2 June Noon flowers, 1 hot pink flower, 1 white with green underside flower and then my purple hedgehogs opened. </span></div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">7/11/22 Nathan and I went to Golf N Stuff with Greg Lyons and his Arizona Adventures Camp.</span></div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">7/12/22 Took P</span><span color="var(--primary-text)" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem;">aul to ER. He lost more weight and was down to 122. He broke down with one of his employees on the phone so I told her I was taking him to the ER. </span><span style="background-color: #f0f2f5; font-family: inherit; white-space: normal;">They did a chest X-ray, a covid test, took blood, gave him an IV and did a ct scan of his abdomen. Wendi Miller came and got Nathan. They tried to contact his endocrinologist, but couldn't reach them so they said we needed to keep trying to get him in before his scheduled appointment on 7/28. I called from the ER and was able to get him an appointment for 7/14. They referred him to the same gastroenterologist that his NP referred him to. Chest x-ray was normal, covid test negative, ct scan of abdomen was normal. Bloodwork just indicated </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">high glucose. They released Paul from the hospital that same day. </span></div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><div class="cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql o9v6fnle ii04i59q" style="margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">7/13/22 Nathan and I went to church that night. I helped Dorothy with the kids snacks and Nathan's class had a nerf gun fight.</div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">7/14/22 We went to the endocrinologist. They increased the lantus insulin he was taking and switched to a pen which is easier to administer with his shaky hands. They gave him a 2nd insulin humalog to take before each meal. He’s to test his blood sugar before each meal and based on that reading determine how much insulin he should take. They changed his regular metformin to an extended release metformin per my suggestion which may be easier on his stomach. They wanted him to get blood work done as soon as possible, but it has to be done at 8am. He already had an ECG scheduled the next day at 8 so the bloodwork had to wait until Monday morning. One thing they are looking for is to see if he switched to type 1. She gave him a doctor note to be excused from jury duty so we faxed that over. When we called the next day the automated system said he did not have to report for jury duty the following week. She tested his feet and he still has good feeling there, no signs of neuropathy. Blood pressure was normal. The frustrating part is that she wants to see him back in 6 weeks, but she’s booked for the next 10 weeks so his next appointment is 9/22. This seems more urgent than waiting another 6-10 weeks to be seen again. They said we can call to see if there’s any appointment cancellations. </div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">7/15/22 Paul had his ECG. They didn't say anything to him after it was done so they must not have seen anything abnormal. He met with his NP that afternoon. <span style="font-family: inherit;">She was going to do bloodwork there that day, but I showed her the work order from the endocrinologist and she said they are testing for everything she would do. That bloodwork we did today, 7/18.. One of the things it will tell us if he's switched to type 1 which is what they are suspecting at this time because all of the other testing they have been doing has been normal for the most part. If his pancreas is no longer producing insulin then the body tries to get the insulin from the stored fat in your body which could explain his weight loss. I asked about cancer, like pancreatic cancer, and she said the ct scan of his abdomen they did at the ER probably would have revealed that, but it was normal. The next thing they want him to do is meet with the gastroenterologist. I called today and set up an appointment with the NP there at the gastroenterologist office for 7/25 at 3. That's Nathan's first day of school. So the NP at his PCP said with her, the endocrinologist, the cardiologist and the the gastroenterologist involved we should almost have a complete picture of what is going on with him. She wants to meet with him again 8/16. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">He said he felt a little better that day and had more mobility. He took all 4 shots of insulin and each blood sugar reading before doing so was lower. The next morning it was even better at 204. But then it went up again to </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">260 something in the afternoon, back down to 180 something in the evening, but then the following morning only around 120 (which is the lowest it has been in a very long time). So it fluctuated a lot. </span></div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">7/17/22 I decided to stay home from church because I was tired and perimenopause symptoms were crazy. I pretty much decided that helping with VBS the upcoming week was going to be too much, too. Paul's sugar varied a lot again that day with 2 readings in the 200s. Got a call that my uncle Les (Skeeter) Hoehn died. He was 72. </span></div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">7/18/22 We got Paul's bloodwork done for the endocrinologist. I called and got him the appointment at the gastroenterologist for 7/25.</span></div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Tomorrow, 7/19, Paul has a virtual appointment with a diabetic dietician. Nathan and I have his Meet and Greet with his teacher/s at his new school. </span></div><div class="cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql o9v6fnle ii04i59q" style="margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>The Haglershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11680062636425044727noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6481646490250940119.post-86217462280839458872022-05-24T22:02:00.000-07:002022-05-24T22:02:22.310-07:00Summer!<p>April 1st, my First Light cactus bloomed, the first cactus to bloom in our yard this Spring. My April Fool's joke this year was telling everyone that I dyed my hair red. I even photoshopped a picture of myself. Many people said they liked it and fell for it! Paul told me he does not want me to dye my hair red or cut it short. The hummingbird moths are back in our yard. They like to hang out on our lantanas. They were there every day for a week or two before we got them cut back and before the heat came. </p><p>Paul and Nathan went to Cubs spring training game on 4/2. I chose not to go because it was supposed to be hot and I didn't want to sit out in the sun. I guess the seats he got ended up being in the shade most of the time, though. Cubs lost :( I went back to the Desert Botanical Gardens while they were at the game. </p><p>On 4/5, I went to Tucson Botanical Gardens, Reid Park Rose Garden, Pima County Cooperative Extension Gardens and Pima Prickly Park.</p><p>The prickly pears in our yard started to bloom 4/6. </p><p>I went to Saguaro National Park and the Desert Museum on 4/7. </p><p>4/8, my First Light bloomed again, my white cactus bloomed and my hot pink cactus bloomed. I also saw claret cups in the median in Oro Valley. </p><p>I saw some cactus flowers in the median by Oro Valley Hospital on 4/9. More of my First Light cactus flowers opened up as well as another white cactus flower and my June Noon. </p><p>I went to see the Oro Valley Hospital cactus flowers in the medians, Tucson Botanical Gardens, Pima County Cooperative Extension Gardens and Pima Prickly Park on 4/11.</p><p>I went to the Lord's Supper at church on Tuesday, 4/12. We believe Jesus died the next day since the Bible says he died and rose again 3 days later. If we celebrate his resurrection on Easter Sunday, then he had to die on Wednesday not Good Friday. The tomb was empty Sunday morning so he arose Saturday night. </p><p>Easter was on 4/17. Nathan and I went to church. </p><p>I went to Tohono Chul Park, Tucson Botanical Gardens, Pima County Cooperative Extension Gardens, DeGrazia Gallery in the Sun and Green Things Nursery on 4/18.</p><p>I went to Pima Prickly Park 4/19.</p><p>I went to Pima Prickly Park 4/20.</p><p>My hot pink cactus flowered 4/23.</p><p>I went to the Reid Park Zoo to see the baby meerkats and Reid Park Rose Garden 4/25.</p><p>I went to the Desert Museum and Saguaro National Park 4/28/22.</p><p>I went to Tucson Botanical Gardens and Pima Prickly Park 4/29/22.</p><p>My First Light cactus bloomed again 5/2/22. I also saw a Great Horned Owlet in the nest in my neighborhood!</p><p>I went to Bach's Cactus Nursery and Tohono Chul Park 5/3/22. My June Noon and hot pink cacti bloomed that day, too. </p><p>On 5/4, I went to Tohono Chul Park and Reid Park Zoo. </p><p>I went to the Desert Museum and Saguaro National Park on 5/6. I also took some more pictures of the Great Horned Owlet in our neighborhood. That night we went for an early Mother's Day dinner at Vivace.</p><p>5/8 was Mother's Day. Nathan went to church with me. Afterward, Paul cooked out. </p><p>I had one bloom open on my First Light cactus 5/10. That one stayed open the next day and two more opened. </p><p>I went to Tucson Botanical Gardens and the Reid Park Rose Garden 5/12.</p><p>I went to the memorial service for Belinda Davis at church on 5/13. Afterward I made a quick stop at the Pima County Cooperative Extension Gardens 5/13. </p><p>On 5/18 my Apricot Glow cactus had 3 flowers, my new flying saucer had 2 flowers and my June Noon had a flower. </p><p>On 5/19, 2 of my new Argentine Giant Big Bertha flowers tried to open. The underside (outer petals) didn't look good. I am going to keep this cactus in the shade and hope it flowers better next time. I went to Bach's Cactus Nursery and found a pretty June Noon hybrid cactus so I bought that one. I also went to Tohono Chul Park and the Pima County Cooperative Extension Gardens. </p><p>My white cactus with the green underside bloomed on 5/20. That evening we ended up taking Paul to urgent care. He hasn't been controlling his diabetes the last couple of years. Lately he has felt very tired and he's been losing weight. He was in the 160s a couple of years ago and now he is in the 130s. A lot of that weight he thinks he has just lost since the first of this year. They checked his blood sugar at urgent care and did an EKG. His blood sugar was 280. She also thought she heard a heart murmur so she referred him to a cardiologist. She gave him one month prescriptions for Metformin and Simvastatin. She told him to stop taking the Trulicity insulin he started again a couple of weeks ago, one because it is expired and two because she didn't want him taking too many meds all at once until he follows up with a primary doctor and endocrinologist. </p><p>Paul got an appointment for today, 5/24, to see a nurse practitioner at his former primary doctor's office. They did some bloodwork and took a urine sample. They are going to do a chest xray, a colonoscopy, etc... They are going to be checking for different cancers like prostate and thyroid. He has a follow up appointment with them on 7/1. </p><p>Paul has a cardiologist appointment set up for next Tuesday, 5/31. He also has an appointment set up for the endocrinologist on 7/28. They are sending him a lab work order and he is supposed to get that done 2-3 weeks before his appointment. </p><p>We are supposed to go to Hawaii 6/14-6//27. We have already paid for most of it, but we are hoping that Paul will be well enough to go. Hopefully, we will find out some more answers about his health before our trip. He has been watching his diet, taking the meds that urgent care subscribed and going to see all of these different doctors. His blood sugar has been fluctuating the last several days. It has mostly been in the 200s. At one point yesterday it was in the 300s. This morning it was down to 180, but then went back up to the 200s after he ate breakfast. His blood pressure was a little high today, too, upper 130s over upper 80s. He's been having trouble going #2, too, only going like once a week. So he has a lot going on and we need to know if it is all related to the diabetes or something more. Hopefully, he can get his blood sugar better controlled and there is nothing else seriously wrong. The pandemic hit a couple of years so doctors weren't really seeing patients. His company got bought out around that time and work has been stressful ever since. So he stopped going to the doctors, stopped taking his medications and ate whatever he wanted. Now he is paying the price. We are praying that neglecting his health did not cause irreversible damage. </p><p>Nathan finished the 4th quarter of 6th grade with a 89.6 GPA! He just made honor roll! He needed 89.5 or above. He got a 84 in History/Geography, 91 in Science, 92 in Math, 88 in Latin, 93 in English, E (exceeding the standard) in Art, E in Music and M in P/E. He had his honors assembly today on 5/24/22. Yesterday they had a field trip to the Reid Park Zoo. He said a lot of it was closed off because they are doing construction/expansion. After the honors assembly they went to Harkins to see Fantastic Beasts and the Secrets of Dumbledore. Wednesday they have a Field Day at the school. Thursday, 5/26 is his last day and they have a half day. They are having a classroom pizza party. That night he goes over to the Academy of Math and Science to do a math placement test for next year. My hairdresser and Wendi at church recommended this school. We had applied to Legacy and Twin Peaks Elementary, but he was on a waiting list for both of those. This school is further away on Prince Road, but it is supposed to be a pretty good school. Nathan just wants to get out of his current school. So we will see how he does at this school next year. I hope he likes it and does well. </p>The Haglershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11680062636425044727noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6481646490250940119.post-57575904256368016422022-03-30T17:35:00.009-07:002022-03-30T21:20:31.621-07:00Spring time again<p>We went to lunch with the Almeters at Oregano's on 1/8. We owed them because they paid for dinner the last time we went to Hot Rods. </p><p>We met the Alvirs for lunch at Macayo's on 1/15. Afterward we went to Odysea. Nathan and I really enjoyed it, but Paul wasn't that impressed. </p><p>I bought a new camera from B&H Camera on 1/18. Mine had been dropped a couple of years ago at Petrified Forest National Park. I felt it didn't produce sharp pictures after that. I went a cheaper route and bought a Nikon D7500 to replace my D7200. It's basically the model that replaced my discontinued model. I paid $1k for it. I decided to just use the wide angle and telephoto lenses that I already had. I had previously purchased my D7200 back in 10/16 from Amazon for $1600 including the 2 lenses and other accessories. </p><p>On 1/21, I went to Tucson Botanical Gardens and Pima County Cooperative Extension Gardens. </p><p>Nathan had 1/2 days 2/9-2/11 for parent teacher conferences. We had our parent teacher conference on Friday, 2/11. His home room teacher, Mrs. Powers, had all good things to say about him. </p><p>Bella turned 14 on 2/11.</p><p>Nathan went to Nerf Day with Arizona Adventures Camp on 2/12. Paul and I went to eat at Cheesecake Factory to celebrate Valentine's Day and our 19th anniversary (2/17).</p><p>On our anniversary, 2/17, I went to the Desert Museum to celebrate! We went to dinner at Dominick's and I got the chicken piccata! </p><p>I went to Tucson Botanical Gardens and Pima County Cooperative Extension Gardens on 2/22.</p><p>Nathan had Rodeo Break on 2/24 & 2/25. </p><p>My printer died when we were trying to work on our taxes. We didn't think that buying a new printer would be such a big ordeal. I quickly researched printers and decided to get a HP OfficeJet Pro 9015e Wireless Color All-in-One Printer. There was only one available in the Tucson area at an Office Max on the south side. We paid for it online and Paul was going to pick it up after church on 2/27. Well, we got notice that they actually did not have one in stock so Paul looked around and found one in Mesa. He went all of the way to Mesa that Sunday to get our new printer! That was almost $300. We didn't realize that we actually bought our last printer back in 12/13 (8 years ago). We paid around $150 for our HP Photosmart 7520 wireless eallinone printer. </p><p>I went to Saguaro National Park on 2/28. I did some hiking near Contzen Pass. I saw a gilded flicker which was pretty exciting. Got some sunset pictures with the saguaros.</p><p>I went to Reid Park Zoo 3/1.</p><p>I went to Tohono Chul Park on 3/3, I was very disappointed because there was almost nothing in bloom. So then I decided to go to Tucson Botanical Gardens. </p><p>I had my annual gynecologist appointment and mammogram on 3/7. My mammogram came back normal. I had a new gynecologist this time because mine resigned. The new gynecologist could not really help me with my perimenopause symptoms. She said she hasn't had much feedback from her patients so if I find something that helps my symptoms to let her know. Thanks a lot! My weight is up again thanks to perimenopause. I had lost 20 pounds a few years ago and this past year or so I gained 15 of those pounds back. My blood pressure was normal. She ran some bloodwork for me. My glucose, A1C, CBC and thyroid were all in normal range. I didn't have her do a lipid panel so I am not sure what my cholesterol and triglycerides are and those are usually high. </p><p>On my walk 3/7, I noticed that there is a great horned owl in a nest in a palo verde tree in my subdivision! I went home and got my "big camera" to get some pictures. Looking forward to hopefully seeing some owl babies soon!</p><p>Nathan had a half day on 3/11 ending the 3rd quarter. Unfortunately, he just missed honor roll again this quarter and once again had a 89.2 GPA. He got a 85 in History/Geography, 95 in Science, 91 in Math, 84 in Latin, 91 in English, E (exceeding the standard) in Art, M (meeting the standard) in Music and M in P/E. He got great remarks from his teachers on his report card, though. His English teacher who is his homeroom teacher said he is a pleasure to have in class. His Music teacher and Art teacher also said he is a pleasure to have in class. It was partly his Latin grade that caused him to miss honor roll this quarter. Right at the end of the quarter she put in a grade of 20/30 for notebook check. Nathan wasn't sure why he didn't get all of the points. I tried emailing her, but she never responded. He had like a 95 in Latin up until the last week when she put in two grades that brought his grade down to a 84. This is one thing that frustrates me about this school. They take the grades down in the system the last week of the quarter so the teachers can finalize the grades. They can put anything in they want to and once they do so the grades are final and can't be changed. Nathan was so upset that he didn't make honor roll again. We rewarded him anyway because we know he tried his best. Yesterday, March 29, he brought home his Character Attributes Report. He has had great marks on this report all year and this quarter one of them even went up. Respect went up from a C (Consistent) to an E (Exemplary). The rest were the same as the previous two quarters. He got a C for Caring, E for Citizenship, E for Perseverance, E for Responsibility, E for Trustworthiness and C for Best Effort. So even though he is very unhappy at this school and his grades are falling just below honor roll status, he is still acting like a fine Christian young man so we are very proud of him. </p><p>So for Spring Break we planned to go down to Corpus Christi and San Antonio. We left on 3/12. Unfortunately, we didn't get far. We were headed on I10 and a semi in front of us kicked up a big metal pipe at us. It hit the front of the car and then went underneath the car. Our car seemed to be the only one affected because the pipe then went in the median. We got off the highway on the off ramp in San Simon, AZ. All of the antifreeze emptied out of the car so the car ran hot and we pulled over. It was no longer operational so we called Enterprise who we rented the car from. We told them our exit #, the city we were in, we had GPS coordinates, but they said they could not find us without a physical address. Who breaks down at a physical address?! They told us we had to arrange our own towing to a nearby location with a physical address. So we called our insurance company, State Farm, who had us towed to a nearby gas station. We had to pay for the towing even though we have roadside assistance on our insurance. We are waiting to be reimbursed for that. So then after we got towed we called Enterprise again. We talked to them multiple times and each time they had no record of our previous conversations. They told us that they had no more rentals within a 100 mile radius. They said the closest one was in Las Cruces, NM two hours away. However, they could not arrange Uber to take us that far so they said we had to arrange our own transportation to Las Cruces, arrange for our own lodging for the night and then we could go to the Enterprise there in the morning to get another rental. Essentially, Enterprise left us in the middle of nowhere. We decided that we just wanted to go home. We tried to get a Lyft to Tucson. Our credit card denied the charge thinking it was fraudulent. They sent me a text and asked me to approve. If it was a legitimate charge they said to have the merchant run the charge again. So we tried again and once again our credit card denied it! It seemed nothing was going right for us and it was getting later and later. We then decided to start calling friends who could come get us. We first tried Greg Lyons. Unfortunately, he was out of town himself. He said he could come get us later that night, but we really did not want to sit in our car with all of our luggage in the dark at this gas station in the middle of nowhere. Then we called Linda and Steve Almeter. They graciously agreed to come get us and take us home. We are so blessed to have great friends like them. They truly saved us. So we didn't make it to Texas. Sunday we stayed home and tried to recoup from our ordeal. Then we decided to go up to the Phoenix area for a few days. Our stuff was still packed and the dogs were still at the boarders. On 3/14, we all went to the Phoenix Zoo. Nathan loved seeing the Komodo Dragon. I went to the Desert Botanical Gardens on 3/15. There wasn't a lot in bloom, but there was still plenty to take pictures of. Nathan and I went to Odysea on 3/16. He loves to see the pufferfish. I took him back to the hotel and then went back to Butterfly Wonderland. On St Patrick's Day, we crossed one thing off my bucket list and went to Fountain Hills to see them turn the fountain green. Afterwards, we took a drive along Bush Highway and Butcher Jones Road to see the wildflowers. There isn't a superbloom this year, but there were some scattered patches of poppies and other wildflowers. We stopped at Portillo's before heading back home. We also ate at Grimaldi's TWICE while we were in town. That made Nathan and I very happy. </p><p>I went to Pima Prickly Park on 3/22. There wasn't a lot blooming there yet.</p><p>On 3/25, I went to Tucson Botanical Gardens and Pima County Cooperative Extension Gardens. </p><p>I went to Bach's Cactus Nursery on 3/30. Not a lot was blooming there. Mostly just some orange claret cups. I ended up buying 3 small cacti, including a pinecone cactus. Then I went to Tucson Botanical Gardens. </p>The Haglershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11680062636425044727noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6481646490250940119.post-49108876911554956872022-01-04T13:04:00.002-08:002022-03-30T17:49:05.423-07:00A New Year<p> For Halloween, Paul and Nathan both dressed up in their Top Gun flight suits. </p><p>On 11/2, I went to Reid Park Zoo and the Reid Park Rose Garden.</p><p>We went to a NASCAR race in Phoenix on 11/7. This is the first time we got to see the championship race in Phoenix. Kyle Larson ended up winning that day, but of course we did not stay until the end because Paul wanted to beat the crowds. </p><p>Tulla turned 15 on 11/9. She can't hear very well, but she is still getting along as crazy as ever.</p><p>Nathan did his Fun Run at school on 11/10. He was out of school 11/11 & 11/12 for Veteran's Day. </p><p>I went to Sabino Canyon 11/17 and 11/19 to see the Fall colors. I took the tram up and hiked down. </p><p>Nathan had the whole week off for Thanksgiving Break. 11/24 we all went to the Desert Museum. Thanksgiving Day, 11/25, we went to the Phoenix Zoo. Nathan was able to see a turkey that survived Thanksgiving dinner at the zoo.</p><p>I went back to Sabino Canyon on 12/2 to catch more of the Fall colors. Again I took the tram up and hiked down. </p><p>Grandma and Grandpa and Carol Lambros came to visit us for Nathan's birthday. They decided to rent a car and do a road trip. I think they left 12/8 and arrived at our house 12/10. The following day, 12/11, I attended a funeral for my friend Wendi Miller at church whose dad passed away. 12/13, I picked up a birthday cake that Nathan wanted who I had my friend Kelly Price from church make. It was a tank cake and Nathan loved it. She did a great job. Nathan also had a dentist appointment that afternoon, but that evening we celebrated his birthday a couple of days early. Nathan turned 12 on 12/15. My baby is now a pre-teen! He is also about as tall as me now. We all took the wagon ride at Winterhaven on 12/16. They didn't have the Winterhaven event the previous year due to COVID-19. It was nice to be able to see it again. </p><p>Nathan had a half day on 12/17 ending the 2nd quarter. Unfortunately, he just missed honor roll this quarter, the first time he has ever not been on honor roll. He had a 89.2 GPA. He got a 88 in History/Geography, 86 in Science, 91 in Math, 90 in Latin, 91 in English, E (exceeding the standard) in Art, M (meeting the standard) in Music and M in P/E. He got great remarks from his teachers on his report card, though. His English teacher who is his homeroom teacher said he is a pleasure to have in class. His Latin, Science and Art teachers also said he is a pleasure to have in class. His History teacher said he uses class time constructively. It was partly his Math grade that caused him to miss honor roll this quarter. Right at the end of the quarter she put in a grade of 65/100 for Q1 & Q2 notebook check. I am not sure why she put both quarters all in Q2, but I guess that his notes were sloppy and not very detailed. His take on it, and I tend to agree, is why does it matter how his notes are if he performs well on the tests and in the class in general? He at least knows what to focus on in the 2nd semester to keep his Math grade up. He is a very intelligent boy, but he lacks neatness and organization. That's just the way he is. He also rushes to be done with his work which sometimes means he makes careless mistakes. I think he is bored and not being challenged enough so he is not putting forth his best effort. He hasn't liked this school for awhile now so he really wants to change schools. The problem is that I am not sure changing schools would help. I keep trying to tell him that school, like life, is not always going to be fun. There will always be problems to deal with. There will always be people there who you don't like or don't get along with. This is the 3rd school he has been at. He attended preschool at Kid City Christian Preschool which is part of Casas Christian. He had some minor behavioral problems even back then. He went to Sonoran Science Academy for Kindergarten. Academically, it was challenging, but he really excelled. He didn't really like his teacher or some of his peers, though. We changed him to Leman Academy the following year because we learned about the Muslim background of Sonoran Science Academy. This is Nathan's 6th year at Leman. There has been a lot of turnover there. We had some concerns from the beginning. For example, I think they have too many students there and not only is there not enough physical room for them, but I don't think they can handle that many students. Bullying has been a constant issue. In fact, Nathan punched a couple of boys last year because they had been bullying him and the administration was not doing anything about it. Each year, we have felt that the school has degraded. Nathan and his peers are not doing as well on the standardized testing compared to their earlier years. They have changed Principals and staff a lot. Kids have left and new ones have come. Nathan had an 8 year old in his 6th grade class the first semester. He was not getting good grades and he was having behavioral problems. He was removed from the class this semester. Not sure if he is in a different 6th grade class, if he got demoted to a grade level more appropriate for his age or if he left the school. They decided to move around several of the students in middle school this 2nd semester. We think that is odd to do mid-school year as well. So, Paul and Nathan are considering switching him to Legacy or another school next year. </p><p>Nathan got great marks again on his Character Attributes Report for Q2. They were all the same as Q1. C for Caring, E for Citizenship, E for Perseverance, C for Respect, E for Responsibility, EE for Trustworthiness and C for Best Effort. C is Consistent and E is Exemplary. </p><p>On 12/18, I had choir practice at church for our Christmas Cantata the following day. The next day, everyone went with me to church to see our Christmas Cantata. We went to lunch at Cheesecake Factory and then they hit the road to return home before Christmas. </p><p>Paul, Nathan and I decided to return to Winterhaven on 12/21. This time we walked it so that we could see it better and get better pictures. The Christmas Vacation house was awesome and a great new addition was the Grandma Got Ran Over By A Reindeer house. </p><p>Christmas Eve we went to my church and then Christmas Day we just watched Nathan open up his gifts (nerf guns, Lego sets, Pug shirts, Nintendo Switch games, etc...). </p><p>Nathan and I went to Reid Park Zoo on 12/28. He was getting pretty bored during the Winter Break after grandma and grandpa left so he actually wanted to go to the zoo with me. We had a great time. </p><p>12/29, Nathan had his 12 year wellness doctor appointment. He is 4'11 (59.4 in). He is in the 56th height percentile. He is about the same height as me, but will quickly surpass me. He weighs 101.5 lbs and he is in the 71st weight percentile. His BMI is 20.3. I expressed some concern with his weight. He has put on quite a few pounds in the last couple of years. He has gained over 40 pounds since his 10 year visit. He's grown 7 inches since then, too, though. The doctor said they like to see the height and weight both be at about the same percentile, but she is not overly concerned about his weight at this point. However, we know that he needs to cut down on the candy and sugar. I yell at him all of the time for eating that junk, but Paul keeps buying it for him. I warned that it is not only his weight that we have to worry about, but we don't want him to get diabetes like Paul. We don't eat a lot of meals together at the table and we eat out a lot, but he does like Greek food, salads and healthy food, too. He also spends too much time on electronics. Again, that is something that Paul and I disagree about. Paul doesn't see a problem with the amount of time he spends playing video games. After all, Nathan wants to be a Computer Programmer some day. But I would rather see him drawing (which is he so good at), reading or better yet being active outside. The problem is that he does not like nature and hiking. One of the reasons that he doesn't like it is because he gets a lot of mosquito bites and we think that he may be allergic to them. The bites get very big and hurt. We brought that up to the doctor as well. She said we should consider bringing him in the next time that happens or showing her photographs of the bites. If it is an allergic reaction, she suggested possibly going on a daily allergy medication like Zyrtec. Everything else checked out fine at his appointment. </p><p>New Years Eve we were all in bed long before midnight. We wanted to get a good night's sleep in order to head to Phoenix early the next morning. We decided to go to Wildlife World Zoo on New Year's Day. We ate dinner at Grimaldi's and picked up Portillo's on the way home. </p><p>I turned 47 on 1/2. Everyone says I still look youthful, but some days I really feel my age. My knee had been hurting for like a week prior to my birthday. Fortunately, it seemed to be much better in time for my birthday. We went to church and ate at Cheesecake Factory for lunch. </p><p>Nathan had to return to school on 1/3. Paul actually had the day off work so he and I had a rare day together to ourselves so we decided to go to the Desert Museum. </p><p> </p>The Haglershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11680062636425044727noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6481646490250940119.post-5146789176214682742021-10-27T17:58:00.003-07:002022-03-30T17:41:34.123-07:00It's Fall!<p> On 7/26, I went up to Mount Lemmon to see the waterfalls since we had so much rain this summer. I wasn't disappointed. Lots of waterfalls. I met my friend Greg Lyons from church and his summer camp kids up on the top for a short hike. We found LOTS of ladybugs. It was awesome.</p><p>Nathan had his meet and greet at school on 7/30. This is his first year of middle school (6th grade). His homeroom and ELA teacher is Mrs. Powers. This is the first teacher he will have different teachers for each class and a locker. He has Tompkins for Latin, Currie for History, Mena for Science, Ferbeyre for Art, Lowe for Music, McRae (Coach Bam) for PE and Woods for Math. </p><p>My "Flying Saucer" bloomed on 8/1. I put that in quotes because the nursery told me it is a flying saucer, but I don't think it is. However, it is still very beautiful. The summer rains also brought out summer poppies and the beautiful barrel cactus flowers this year. I went and took pictures of the summer poppies on Skyline and Sunrise. Then I photographed the barrel cacti by Lazyboy on Ina and La Cholla. </p><p>Nathan's first day of 6th grade at Leman Academy was on 8/4. I went to the Reid Park Rose Garden that day. It was finally open. There were beautiful roses, but the garden hasn't been maintained in some time. </p><p>I went to Reid Park Zoo on 8/12. I also photographed the barrel cacti at Lazyboy on Ina and La Cholla.</p><p>I photographed more barrel cacti at Lazyboy on Ina and La Cholla on 8/15.</p><p>My June Noon torch cactus bloomed on 8/17.</p><p>I went to the Desert Museum on 8/20. I also photographed the summer poppies and other wildflowers to and from the Desert Museum. Plus I found a pretty red barrel cactus on Hartman Lane to photograph.</p><p>I photographed the wildflowers and barrel cacti along Lambert Lane on 8/21. I also photographed more of the barrel cacti at Lazyboy on Ina and La Cholla. And I went to the Pima County Cooperative Extension Gardens.</p><p>On 8/25 I photographed the datura growing wild along Hartman Lane.</p><p>I went to Tohono Chul Park, Pima Prickly Park and photographed the barrel cacti at Lazyboy on Ina and La Cholla on 8/26.</p><p>On 9/3, I went to Sabino Canyon. There was actually a lot of water flowing. So much so that the tram only went up to the first bridge. I decided to walk it. I went through the water at the first bridge, but then decided to turn around. Everything was very green in the canyon. It was a good day to go, too, because I saw a desert tortoise (the first time seeing one there or in the wild, for that matter) and a group of javelina including some babies. </p><p>We went to Scottsdale to have lunch with the Alvirs at Grimaldi's on 9/4.</p><p>We went to Apple Annie's on 9/6. Their peach crops got ruined, but they shipped some in. So we bought some peaches and some other items. We also ate some yummy roasted corn while there. </p><p>I went to Catalina State Park on 9/13 to see the morning glories. I had never seen so many morning glories in my life, and there were multiple colors. I love them. Reminds me of Georgia O'Keeffe paintings.</p><p>My June Noon bloomed again on 9/28. I also went to Tucson Botanical Gardens and the Pima County Cooperative Extension Gardens. There were a lot of bird of paradise blooming at Tucson Botanical Gardens. </p><p>On went back up to Mount Lemmon on 9/30. Everything was very green, but no Fall colors yet. </p><p>I went to Tucson Botanical Gardens on 10/1 to see the opening of the Butterfly exhibit. It was closed last year due to COVID-19 precautions. I was rather disappointed because I only saw a handful of butterflies in there. However, I found some morning glories growing in their parking lot so that kept me busy for awhile. Afterward I stopped at Green Things Nursery. </p><p>We went back to Apple Annie's on 10/9 to pick our pumpkins and to photograph the sunflowers. I picked a peach pumpkin, Paul picked a traditional orange pumpkin and Nathan picked white and warty pumpkins. </p><p>Nathan made honor roll the first quarter, but just barely with a 90.6. He got a 94 in History, 88 in Science, 91 in Math, 90 in Latin and 90 in ELA. His English, Latin and Art teachers said Scholar is a pleasure to have in class. His History teacher said he tackles new challenges with a positive attitude. His Math teacher said Scholar is a pleasure to have in class AND he tackles new challenges with a positive attitude. He got a C (Consistent) for Caring, E (Exemplary) for Citizenship, E for Perseverance, C for Respect, E for Responsibility, E for Trustworthiness and a C for Best Effort. No Ds for Developing or Rs for Rare. Not bad at all for a kid who doesn't like school this year. He doesn't think he is being challenged enough at school. I think he is bored. He doesn't really like a lot of his teachers, the administration or his peers. Part of the problem is that they have a lot of turnover in staff. That should tell you something right there. I have always said they have too many kids going to that school and not enough space for all of them. They keep adding more schools within Leman without working out the kinks in the present schools. Bullying is a issue. This year Nathan says swearing is a big problem with the 6th graders. It is hard for him to be raised in a Christian home, but then be exposed to kids like that every day. We are considering switching schools next year, but there aren't a lot of options. We don't want him going to the regular public schools so we have to find a good charter or private Christian school. </p><p>On 10/16, Nathan and I went to Reid Park Zoo to see the animals being fed pumpkins and to see the new baby zebra. Nathan had Fall break that week, but we didn't go anywhere this year because Paul had to work. I was surprised that Nathan actually wanted to go to the zoo with me, but I think he just wanted to get out of the house after being there all week. Being a Saturday and Fall Break, the zoo was very crowded. </p><p>I went to Pima County Cooperative Extension Gardens on 10/22.</p><p>We went up to Mount Lemmon to see the Fall colors on 10/23. Bear Wallow had the most color as usual. We ate at the Iron Door for lunch. There was quite a bit of yellow up there. We drove through Summerhaven and there was some color there as well. It was a beautiful Fall day. </p><p>My June Noon torch cactus bloomed AGAIN on 10/24. </p><p> </p>The Haglershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11680062636425044727noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6481646490250940119.post-28767348989002988382021-07-24T16:34:00.005-07:002021-07-24T16:47:42.008-07:00Active Monsoon Summer!<p>June 19th we flew to Seattle. We rented a car and headed toward Glacier National Park. We stopped at Snoqualmie Falls. We stayed the night at Rimrock Lodge in Thompson Falls, MT. We were unable to get tickets for the Going to the Sun Road the next day, but we also learned that it was still not completely open for the season. That morning we stopped by the ranger station and they told us that after 5 pm we could go on the Going to the Sun Road. So we went to the east side and did the Many Glacier road. We saw bears along the side of the road and a young big horn sheep near the Many Glacier Hotel. After 5 pm we headed to the Jackson Glacier overlook on the Going to the Sun Road. That is as far as they had the road open. Looks like we are going to have to return a 3rd time to Glacier to travel the entire Going to the Sun Road when it is fully open. We found out that it opened like 4 days after we were there! That night we stayed at the Baymont by Wyndham Helena Helena, MT. 6/21 we headed to Yellowstone. We were greeted by elk near the entrance. We went to Mammoth Springs and then Dawn went to see some other hot springs including the Steamboat Geyser. That night we stayed at Cabin Village in Island Park, ID. The next morning (6/22) we got up early to go see Old Faithful. We were lucky to see a herd of buffalo with their babies and they came up right along the side of our car. It was cooler out in the morning and so Paul and Nathan chickened out in the car while Dawn waited for Old Faithful to erupt. We went over to Grand Prismatic Spring later in the morning, but the fog was still pretty heavy that you couldn't see the colors that well. From there we headed to Grand Teton National Park. We tried to go to Jenny Lake. It was crowded and Nathan was complaining because he got bit up by mosquitos. We didn't stay long and headed out of the park. We didn't get to see much there this trip. We ate dinner at Sidewinders where we ate in the Spring. That night we stayed at Targhee Lodge By Grand Targhee Resort in Alta, WY. The next day (6/23) was a long driving day as we made our way toward Cannon Beach. We stayed the night at River Lodge and Grill in Boardman, OR. The next day (6/24) we stopped at Horsetail Falls and Multnomah Falls. We ate lunch there at Multnomah Falls. We arrived in Cannon Beach and checked in at Sea Breeze Court. Paul and Nathan stayed in the room while Dawn went to walk the beach and explore the tide pools. The next morning (6/25) Dawn got up early to go see the tide pools again. She saw sand dollars on the beach as well as a salp and crystal jellyfish. There were lots of starfish and even some sea slugs/nudibranches in the tide pools. It was hard to spot the puffins there, but I did get one decent picture of one flying. We did some shopping in Cannon Beach that day and Nathan played on the beach a little. The next day (6/26), we headed to Seaside and went to Seaside Aquarium. It is a small aquarium, but we fed the seals there. From there we headed to Ecola State Park to see the Tillamock Rock Lighthouse. Dawn ended up doing a hike to Indian Beach hoping to see some better views of the lighthouse. After some time, Paul and Nathan picked her up over by Indian Beach. That night we caught the sunset on Cannon Beach. The next day (6/27) we started our drive to Seattle to fly back home. It was VERY hot that day. We stopped at the Cape Disappointment Lighthouse and North Head Lighthouse. </p><p>Nathan lost his 17th tooth on June 22 when we were on vacation at Glacier National Park. We held it until we got home and the tooth fairy came on 6/28. The tooth fairy gave him $17. He has 3 baby teeth to go. </p><p>We went to church on Fourth of July. Then Paul cooked out for us and we did smores. That night Paul and I watched the fireworks from our balcony, but Nathan wasn't interested. </p><p>Nathan lost his 18th tooth on July 10. The tooth fairy gave him $18. He has 2 baby teeth to go. </p><p>Nathan went with me to New Testament Baptist Church to attend their VBS 7/12-7/16. He ended up winning 9th place for the most points earned so he picked out a nerf gun as his prize. I helped with the penny table. </p><p>Nathan lost his 19th tooth on July 16. The tooth fairy gave him $20 (she must not have had $19 in change!). He has one baby tooth to go!</p><p>7/18, Paul and Nathan found out at the evening church service that Pastor Morris will be stepping down as pastor due to his cancer. The doctors said it is not a matter of if the cancer will return, but when.</p><p>Nathan lost his last tooth on July 23! The tooth fairy gave him $20.</p>The Haglershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11680062636425044727noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6481646490250940119.post-8822602565777919482021-06-07T11:26:00.005-07:002021-07-24T16:45:19.130-07:00Summer Heat<p> On May 11, I went to Tohono Chul Park, Tucson Botanical Gardens and Pima County Cooperative Extension Gardens.</p><p>On May 21, I went to Tohono Chul Park, Tucson Botanical Gardens, Reid Park Rose Garden and Pima County Cooperative Extension Gardens.</p><p>Nathan got his Master Club awards on May 25. He earned 4 badges. </p><p>Nathan's last day of 5th grade was on May 26. He made high honor roll and the principal's award all year (cumulative GPA > 95.5%). Even though he has made honor roll every year, I think this is his first year getting the principal's award all year. To do this during a tough year of back and forth remote learning and on campus learning is pretty impressive to me. He also got the Go Against the Grain Award. He got a 90 for English Languages (teacher noted that he returns homework and assignments timely), 96 in History/Geography, 100 in Math, 98 in Reading, 98 in Science an E (exceeding the standard) in Latin and his Latin teacher noted that he is a pleasure to have in class, a M (meeting the standard) in Art and his Art teacher noted that he is a pleasure to have in class, a M in Music and a M in PE. Next year Nathan will be entering middle school!</p><p>The day after Nathan finished school we flew out to Chicago. We celebrated my grandma's 103rd birthday on 5/29. Her actual birthday was 6/2. Paul and Nathan went up to Paw Paw, MI on May 30 to meet Lisa and her in-laws. Nathan went fishing, but didn't catch anything. On Memorial Day (5/31), we went to Cantigny Park in Wheaton, IL. My cousin Rick Cox told us about it at my grandma's birthday party. They had a bunch of military tanks for Nathan to climb on and a lot of gardens on the ground for me to photograph flowers. They had tons of peonies! On June 1, I went to Brookfield Zoo. I went to Lake Katherine on 6/2. I saw waterlilies and other flowers, a snake!, bullfrogs, dragonflies, turtles, a great blue heron, swans, geese with their babies, etc... That night we met Lisa, John, Aubrie, Donnie, Austin and his girlfriend at Ledo's for dinner. I went to Morton Arboretum on 6/3. I was disappointed because there wasn't a lot to photograph. Lots of green trees. The most exciting thing was a few magnolia trees. I think it is much prettier to see in the Fall when the trees change colors. We met my friend Debbie Madl and her kids at Portillo's for dinner on June 3. We left Chicago and came home June 4. </p><p>Nathan lost his 16th tooth on June 6. He got $16 from the tooth fairy. He has 4 baby teeth to go. </p>The Haglershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11680062636425044727noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6481646490250940119.post-54526550077008082902021-05-10T11:23:00.005-07:002021-05-24T08:37:27.757-07:00Spring in the Desert<p>On 3/26, I went to Tucson Botanical Gardens, Pima County Cooperative Extension Gardens and Pima Prickly Park.</p><p>My Apricot Glow bloomed on 3/28 & 3/29!</p><p>On 4/1, I went to Bach's Cactus Nursery, Tohono Chul Park, Pima County Cooperative Extension Gardens and Tucson Botanical Gardens.</p><p>On 4/3, I photographed the claret cups on Lambert Lane and then other cactus flowers by the Oro Valley Hospital.</p><p>Easter was on 4/4. Nathan got an Easter basket from the Easter Bunny and did an Easter egg hunt. </p><p>On 4/5, I went back over to Lambert Lane and Oro Valley Hospital, then to Pima County Cooperative Extension Gardens, Green Things Nursery, Tucson Botanical Gardens and Pima Prickly Park. </p><p>I did a 3rd trip to Lambert Lane and Oro Valley Hospital on 4/6.</p><p>I went to the Desert Museum and Saguaro National Park on 4/8.</p><p>On 4/12, I went to Pima County Cooperative Extension Gardens, Tucson Botanical Gardens and Pima Prickly Park.</p><p>I went to Bach's Cactus Nursery and Pima Prickly Park on 4/15. I bought a pink hedgehog cactus at Bach's for $12.73.</p><p>I went to Tucson Botanical Gardens on 4/16.</p><p>I went to Pima County Cooperative Extension Gardens, Tucson Botanical Gardens and Pima Prickly Park on 4/20.</p><p>On 4/22, I went to Tohono Chul Park, Pima County Cooperative Extension Gardens and Tucson Botanical Gardens.</p><p>I went to Pima Prickly Park on 4/24.</p><p>My June Noon bloomed on 4/26 and I went to the Desert Museum.</p><p>On 4/27, I went to Tohono Chul Park, Pima County Cooperative Extension Gardens and Tucson Botanical Gardens.</p><p>On 4/30, I went to Tohono Chul Park, Pima County Cooperative Extension Gardens, Tucson Botanical Gardens and Pima Prickly Park.</p><p>On 5/1, we decided to go see the Salt River horses. We found them pretty quick by Coon Bluff. We ate lunch at Grimaldi's and then picked up Portillo's to take home.</p><p>Nathan lost his 15th tooth on 5/3/21 and got $15 from the tooth fairy!</p><p>I went to the Desert Museum and Saguaro National Park on 5/5.</p><p>My June Noon and Flying Saucer bloomed on 5/6. Well, it was supposed to be a Flying Saucer, but I don't know if it really is because it doesn't like other Flying Saucers I have seen. It's still beautiful, though. I also went to Tohono Chul Park, Pima County Cooperative Extension Gardens, Tucson Botanical Gardens and Pima Prickly Park. </p><p>On 5/7, my June Noon bloomed again as well as my Apricot Glow. I went to the Desert Museum, Tucson Botanical Gardens and Pima County Cooperative Extension Gardens that day, too. I stopped by Bach's Cactus Nursery to buy a First Light torch cactus.</p><p>My Apricot Glow flowers were still open on 5/8 and my First Light torch cactus bloomed that I bought the day before. </p><p>We had a nice Mother's Day on 5/9. The day before, Paul let me stop at Pima County Cooperative Extension Gardens to take pictures of the cactus flowers. Then we headed up to Mt. Lemmon. We ate at the Iron Door Restaurant and then met my friend Greg Lyons from church with his Arizona Adventures Camp group up there. Nathan zip lined, participated in a shaving cream fight, played games and started the fire for the s'mores. On Mother's Day, Paul cooked out for me and gave me flowers and a card. </p>The Haglershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11680062636425044727noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6481646490250940119.post-54873031511982554382021-03-24T13:55:00.003-07:002021-03-24T14:46:08.412-07:00Spring is here?<p>Nathan went to see Wonder Woman 1984 with me on 1/15. It was a strange movie, but it is Wonder Woman and she is awesome! </p><p>I went to the Reid Park Zoo and the Pima County Cooperative Extension Gardens on 1/19.</p><p>I went to photograph the snow at Sabino Canyon on 1/26. I then went to Saguaro National Park East to photograph the snow, but it had pretty much already melted there by the time I got there. </p><p>1/28 Nathan got strep throat so he had to miss a day of school to go to the doctor. He got an antibiotic and permission to return to school the next day. We were thankful it was not COVID-19. </p><p>I went to the Desert Museum on 2/4.</p><p>I went to Reid Park Zoo and Tucson Botanical Gardens on 2/11. Bella also turned 13 on 2/11! </p><p>Paul and I celebrated our 18th anniversary on 2/17. He got me 2 dozen red roses for Valentine's Day and our anniversary. Nathan made me a great hand written Valentine's Day card. </p><p>Nathan got in school suspension 2/23 & 24. Some boys had been bullying him and his friends at recess. They would join the games they were playing, but they would cheat and call them names. Nathan and his friends kept telling the teachers and staff, but they didn't do anything about it. Nathan finally had enough and punched two of the boys. One was named Nathan and had just transferred to the school a few weeks ago. Nathan had to sit in the principal's office during his suspension. We had a meeting with the principal to explain what led to this incident. He seemed to understand and said that the staff would be more attentive at recess. </p><p>The Tucson Rodeo was canceled this year due to COVID-19. We never go anyway. Nathan still had those days off of school, though. So we went to Out of Africa on 2/25. Paul and Nathan fed a tiger there and we all got to meet Bart, the sloth (I LOVE sloths!). We went to see the Tom & Jerry movie on 2/26. Then we went to Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument on 2/27. <span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"> It was a last minute decision to go there so we could cross it off our bucket list. It would have been nice if there were more wildflowers there, but we didn't get enough rain this year. It took about 2.5 hours to get there. Then once we entered the park it was about 10 miles to the visitor center, if I remember correctly. At the visitor center they gave us the map that showed all of the scenic drives within the monument. It is big! There are 5 different routes listed as easy for passenger cars. There are 2 routes listed as medium for high clearance vehicles and one route listed as hard for high clearance 4wd. We took one of the "easy" routes since we just have a Ford Fusion. We decided on the Ajo Mountain Loop (right across the street from the visitor center) which is 21 miles long and has a dense concentration of saguaros and organ pipe cactus. The road was mostly rocky with just a few short paved sections. I thought it was pretty with the surrounding mountains which had colorful layers of rock. There were lots of saguaros, cholla, prickly pear, ocotillo (Paul's favorite) and of course organ pipe cactus. We stopped to hike a little bit of the Arch Canyon trail which is aptly named because there is an arch. I mistakenly did not bring my wide angle lens with me and only had my telephoto lens. So I took some shots with it and some shots with my phone. </span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">I photographed a few wildflowers along Tangerine Rd in Oro Valley on 3/3. There wasn't much, but there were a few here and there. </span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Texas Mountain Laurel flowers started to bloom over by Fry's on 3/6! They smell like grape candy!</span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">My 2014 Ford Fusion went over 100k miles on 3/7!</span></p><p>Nathan made honor roll for the 3rd quarter of 5th grade. He got a 94.6 average. He got a 96 in English Languages, 91 in History/Geography, M for Latin, 96 in Math, M for Art, M for Music, M for PE, 95 for Reading and 95 in Science. </p><p>For Spring Break, we decided to go to Glacier National Park and the Grand Tetons. We also wanted to go up to Canada to Banff and Jasper, but Canada was requiring a 2 week quarantine period. When we started making our plans we also did not realize that it was still "winter" up there. Most of the areas of the parks would be closed because they hadn't plowed the roads yet. The advantage was that there was less people. So on 3/12 we flew out to Spokane, WA and spent the night there. The next day we drove to Glacier National Park. We ate pizza pie for Pi Day and had huckleberry pie (with huckleberry ice cream). We drove around Lake McDonald that day. The next day we drove to the east side of the park to explore as much as we could until the road was closed off. 3/16 we drove 9+ hours from Glacier National Park to the Grand Tetons. I broke my 43 day streak of getting 10k steps :( I did not get to eat corned beef and cabbage on St Patty's Day, but I did make my own in the crockpot the week we left before our vacation. That day we explored part of the Grand Tetons. 3/18 we did a 4 hour tour too see more of the Grand Tetons. We saw moose, elk, coyotes, bighorn sheep, eagles, etc... We also took a "sleigh ride" to see the elk up close at the National Elk Refuge. It was a horse drawn wagon ride that was VERY bumpy. Our last day in the Grand Tetons we drove to Mormon Row. They had the road leading it to it closed, so I had to walk about 2 miles to get to Mormon Row and the 2 miles to get back to the car. It was worth it. We saw a big group of deer that morning. Then in the afternoon we did a scenic chair lift ride at Snow Mountain. We were going to go snow tubing there, but Nathan chickened out. 3/20 we drove from the Grand Tetons to Butte, MT. That was a 4+ hour drive and we had to go through the mountains in the snow. It was scary, especially when we saw the car directly in front of us almost slide off the road. The last day we drove from Butte to Spokane, WA. That was another 4+ hour drive and again it was snowing. We finally made it to the airport, but we weren't sure if our flights would be delayed/canceled since we had a connecting flight in Denver and Denver was going to get a snow storm. The first part of our flight went as scheduled. Our flight out of Denver was delayed because our flight crew was coming from Midway and they were delayed. We finally boarded the plane and then they had to de-ice it...while it was snowing pretty good. We left about an hour late. We hit some turbulence or something and I wasn't sure the plane was going to recover. That was probably my scariest moment flying. The rest of the flight was smooth, but we didn't get to Tucson until 11 pm and then didn't get home until midnight. Paul had to work the next day and Nathan had to go back to school! I don't think we will plan a trip that tight again in the future! </p>The Haglershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11680062636425044727noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6481646490250940119.post-47556002904645819152021-01-04T13:46:00.005-08:002021-03-24T13:57:07.565-07:002020 is over!<p>We went to the Wildlife World Zoo on 11/27, the day after Thanksgiving. </p><p>I went to Sabino Canyon on 12/8. I saw a coati!</p><p>Nathan turned 11 on 12/15! Nathan decided to make his own cake this year. We bought a cake from the Safeway bakery with plain white icing and he decorated the top to look like a castle. </p><p>Nathan's birthday ?s:<span style="font-size: 9pt;"> </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in;"><span face=""Helvetica",sans-serif" style="background: white; color: #1d2129; font-size: 10.5pt;">1) Favorite Color – Cyan</span><span face=""Helvetica",sans-serif" style="color: #1d2129; font-size: 10.5pt;"><br />
<span style="background: white;">2) Favorite Toy – Nintendo Switch</span><br />
<span style="background: white;">3) Favorite Show/Movie – Karate Kid<br />
<span class="textexposedshow">4) Favorite thing to eat for lunch - Pizza </span><br />
<span class="textexposedshow">5) Favorite thing to wear - Clothes</span><br />
<span class="textexposedshow">6) Favorite Game - Minecraft</span><br />
<span class="textexposedshow">7) Favorite Snack – Fruit Rollups</span><br />
<span class="textexposedshow">8) Favorite Animal – Dog</span><br />
<span class="textexposedshow">9) Favorite Song – Maxy Party (a song he made up
about his stuffed animal dog Max)</span><br />
<span class="textexposedshow">10) Favorite Book - Bible </span><br />
<span class="textexposedshow">11) Best Friend – Max (his stuffed animal dog)</span><br />
<span class="textexposedshow">12) Favorite Cereal – Lucky Charms<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in;"><span class="textexposedshow"><span face=""Helvetica",sans-serif" style="background: white; color: #1d2129; font-size: 10.5pt;">13) Favorite
thing to do outside/place to go – Dave & Busters<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in;"><span class="textexposedshow"><span face=""Helvetica",sans-serif" style="background: white; color: #1d2129; font-size: 10.5pt;">14) Favorite
Drink – Mango Lemonade</span></span><span face=""Helvetica",sans-serif" style="background: white; color: #1d2129; font-size: 10.5pt;"><br />
<span class="textexposedshow">15) Favorite Holiday - Christmas</span><br />
<span class="textexposedshow">16) What do you like to take to bed with you at
night - Tons of stuffed animals</span><br />
<span class="textexposedshow">17) Favorite thing to eat for breakfast – Pancakes</span><br />
<span class="textexposedshow">18) What do you want for dinner on your birthday – Grimaldi’s
</span><br />
<span class="textexposedshow">19) What do you want to be when you grow up – Computer
Programmer </span><br />
<span class="textexposedshow">20) Favorite thing to do at school - Lunch</span><br />
<span class="textexposedshow">21) Food you don't like – Bugs and Sushi<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in;"><span class="textexposedshow"><span face=""Helvetica",sans-serif" style="background: white; color: #1d2129; font-size: 10.5pt;">22) What is
something you are good at – Video Games</span></span><span face=""Helvetica",sans-serif" style="background: white; color: #1d2129; font-size: 10.5pt;"><br />
<span class="textexposedshow">23) Favorite Food - Pizza</span><br />
<span class="textexposedshow">24) Favorite Vegetables – Greek Potatoes</span><br />
<span class="textexposedshow">25) Favorite Dog – All dogs (Pug, St Benard,
Bulldog, Husky)</span><br />
<span class="textexposedshow">26) Favorite Reptile – Komodo Dragon and Yellow
Bellied Sea Snake</span><br />
<span class="textexposedshow">27) Favorite Bird – Puffin, Turkey, Turkey Vulture</span><br />
<span class="textexposedshow">28) Favorite Pizza Topping – Pepperoni, Green
Peppers and Oregano</span></span></p><p style="margin: 0in;"><span face="Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-size: 10.5pt;">29) Favorite
Car – Yellow McLaren P1</span> </p><p>I went to Reid Park Zoo on 12/17.</p><p>Christmas was low key at home with just the three of us. I never even got ornaments on the tree. We didn't put up the main tree downstairs because Paul's desk and Nathan's desk are now in our living room. We put up "Nathan's tree" in the loft/Dawn's office. Santa still found it! Nathan got a lot of art supplies, some Lego sets, Game Stop gift cards, an air hockey set, etc... </p><p>Nathan ended the 2nd quarter on high honor roll! He had a 95.6 GPA. He got a 94 in English Languages, 92 in History/Geography, M for Latin, 99 in Math, M for Art, E for Music, M for PE, 97 for Reading and 96 in Science. </p><p>I went back to Sabino Canyon on 12/27. Still hardly any water, but some nice yellow trees. </p><p>Nathan had his 11 year pediatrician appointment. His previous pediatrician had to retire early due to health issues. So he had a new pediatrician this time. He weighs 82 pounds and is in the 55th weight percentile. He is 56.3 in tall and is in the 49th height percentile. </p><p>New Years Eve was spent at home with just the 3 of us, too. We also celebrated my birthday with a Wonder Woman cake! We were all in bed by midnight!</p><p>I turned 46 on January 2. We went to the Phoenix Zoo, Grimaldi's for lunch and then picked up food to bring home from Portillo's. </p><p>Nathan started back at school today. This first week of the 3rd quarter is being done remotely. They are supposed to go back to campus next week. </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>The Haglershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11680062636425044727noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6481646490250940119.post-41589140971432223702020-11-22T13:18:00.002-08:002020-11-22T13:38:05.163-08:00The holidays look different this year<p>Nathan ended up being a Gladiator for Halloween. We weren't sure if we would get any trick or treaters or if neighbors would be handing out candy due to COVID-19 restrictions. We had a decent turnout, though, and Nathan did a little bit of trick or treating. They didn't do the costume parade at his school, but he did have a class party. </p><p>I went to Reid Park Zoo on 11/2. My June Noon bloomed again on 11/7. I think it was confused with the record heat we got this summer. I went to the Desert Museum on 11/12. Nathan lost 2 more teeth on 11/13 so he got $13 and $14, respectively, for his 13th and 14th tooth. I went to Tucson Botanical Gardens, Green Things Nursery and the Pima County Cooperative Extension Gardens on 11/20.</p><p>Nathan has the whole week off for Thanksgiving. We don't really have plans for Thanksgiving this year. Paul is working and is supposed to be off on Thursday and Friday. We plan to just have a small meal at home. However, I have a "cold" and have lost my sense of taste. I am really hoping it comes back by Thursday so I can enjoy some turkey and good food. Maybe we will get our Christmas tree up later this week, too. We decided not to put up our big one in the living room since Paul and Nathan have their desks in there now. Paul has been working from home and Nathan started off the school year doing remote learning so we set up that area as their office. I think we are only going to put up "Nathan's tree" in the loft/my office. It is really hard getting in the Christmas spirit. It's been a tough year with COVID-19 restrictions. It looks like cases are spiking again which they anticipated so it won't be a big surprise if they start closing things down again. I have also been struggling with peri-menopause this year. Now I am sick with a cold or whatever this may be. We have had miserable record heat and even today, 11/22, it is like 90 out there. I am hoping that 2021 is a better year. </p>The Haglershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11680062636425044727noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6481646490250940119.post-15475095705227098452020-10-29T15:45:00.003-07:002020-11-22T13:15:56.515-08:00Almost Halloween<p> Nathan lost his 11th tooth on 8/27</p><p>I went to the Desert Museum, Reid Park and Pima Prickly Park on 9/12.</p><p>I went to Reid Park Zoo on 9/14.</p><p>I went to Tucson Botanical Gardens and Pima County Cooperative Extension Gardens on 9/29.</p><p>We went to Apple Annie's on 10/3/ to pick our pumpkins. </p><p>On 10/10, we went up to look for Fall colors on Mt Lemmon. We found some in Bear Wallow! We were surprised by how much color there was there, especially after the bad recent fire. We ate the Iron Door Restaurant. </p><p>For Nathan's Fall Break, we decided to take a short trip to Sedona/Flagstaff to try to find some more Fall color. On 10/15, we went to Sedona. We ate lunch at Picazzo's (my favorite...they have the best chicken piccata). We went to Red Rock Crossing. There was some nice Fall color there, but also a lot of people. Sedona is becoming very crowded. We drove through Oak Creek Canyon on our way to our hotel in Flagstaff to stay the night. The next day we spent the day at Bearizona. The following day we went to Lockett Meadow. We drove our car (Ford Fusion 2018). The road was pretty bad and a lot of people were parking on the side about a mile and a half away from the trailhead. So we did, too. We walked to the trailhead and started walking the trail. Nathan didn't get very far before he complained he was tired and couldn't go any further. So he and dad stayed there while I continued on. There wasn't as much color as we were hoping for and many of the leaves had blown off. However, I hiked all the way to the top of the trail and there was more yellow to see of the Aspen trees. After hiking all the way back down and back to the car, I figured I did about 8 miles of hiking that day (I forgot my Fitbit at the hotel). Our last day we made a last minute decision to head to Meteor Crater, Winslow and to Petrified Forest National Park. </p><p>Nathan made high honor roll for the 1st quarter! The odd thing is that he said 70% of the class got high honor roll, another 20% got honor roll while only 10% did not make honor roll. It wasn't like that when I was going to school. Only the elite got honor roll. We hope that he is getting a good education. He performed well on the standardized tests last year so we will see how he does this year. </p><p>Nathan lost his 12th tooth on 10/24. He got $12 from the tooth fairy.</p>The Haglershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11680062636425044727noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6481646490250940119.post-56097780119701754652020-09-05T14:58:00.002-07:002020-09-05T14:58:36.949-07:00It's still hot!<p> This has been such a hot summer with very little monsoon action. We are still breaking heat records into September.</p><p>I had another June Noon bloom on 7/30.</p><p>On 8/1, I went over by Saguaro National Park to look for mammillaria in full bloom. I found one. I also saw some javelina with a baby. Unfortunately, my check engine light came on. I was without a car for a few days while the dealership looked at my car. It ended up needing a new sensor. </p><p>Nathan started 5th grade on 8/5. He was supposed to start in school learning, but the school changed their minds and said that only those scholars who had parents that were essential workers or who didn't have access to a computer/internet at home could be on campus. Even those on campus would be doing distance learning with monitors at the school. Nathan did distance learning for about a week and a half before the school decided to allow kids back on school....with masks. Distance learning was not going well for Nathan. He could not focus on school while being at home and he wasn't getting that interaction he needed with his peers, teacher, etc... Nathan started in school learning on 8/17. He was actually excited to be back at school! His teacher is Mrs. O'Connor. This year he says he actually likes all of the kids in his class and his teachers!</p><p>8/12 was the last night of VBS. It was water night so Nathan had fun getting wet and getting others wet!</p><p>I went to Pima County Cooperative Extension Gardens and Pima Prickly Park on 8/17. </p><p>Nathan lost his 10th tooth on 8/20. The tooth fairy gave him $10.</p><p>I went to Tucson Botanical Gardens, Pima County Cooperative Gardens and Pima Prickly Park on 8/21. </p><p>The zoo finally opened back up so I went on 8/27. I loved watching the baby elephant, Penzi! Nathan lost his 11th tooth on 8/27, too. The tooth fairy gave him $11. </p><p>On 8/28, I had another June Noon bloom.</p>The Haglershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11680062636425044727noreply@blogger.com0