End of March

1/19 Nathan made homemade pizza!

1/21 I went to Pima County Cooperative Extension Gardens, Green Things Nursery and Tucson Botanical Gardens.

1/24/26 All 3 of us attended the Missions Luncheon with New Testament Baptist Church.  Nathan was initially excited about the 3 course meal, but ended up not caring for it.  

1/25 was the parade of flags at New Testament Baptist Church.  Once again I carried a flag.  Nathan didn't have to this year.  

1/26 I photographed the flowers at Lowe's and Home Depot.

1/28 We ended up taking Nathan to the pediatrician because he still had his cough.  She concurred that it probably turned into bronchitis and prescribed an antibiotic.  At first she prescribed a penicillin, but we called her to explain that we thought he was allergic to penicillin.  She asked when he had an allergic reaction and what kind of reaction he had.  I honestly couldn't remember.  I know past reactions he has were full body rashes, but I think that was for bactrim.  Since I am allergic to penicillin and bactrim, I think we erred on the side of caution and said Nathan was allergic to both as well.  However, the pediatrician agreed to prescribe something else, azithromycin.  That night after taking the first dosage, Nathan woke up in the middle of the night having hallucinations, seeing shadows and people.  We ended up taking him to northwest emergency center at Marana which is part of the Oro Valley Hospital network.  They did a bunch of tests on him to make sure there wasn't something else going on to cause the hallucinations, but everything checked out ok.  After spending hours there, the hallucinations had stopped and we returned home.        

1/29 I was supposed to have a gingivitis follow up, but since we got home from the emergency room with Nathan early in the morning, I couldn't make it to my appointment.  I called and rescheduled for 2/2.  I thought it would be a quick and easy visit.  Instead, I was there almost an hour while she picked and prodded at my teeth.  She said my gums looked a little better, but the visit was actually painful.  After that visit, I rushed to the Desert Museum to catch their free flight show.  My pictures didn't come out that great because I was having problems with the shutter speed.  I finally took my camera to Tucson Camera Repair and he had to clean the shutter magnets and the inside of the camera for $225, but it seems to have helped my shutter speed problem.  I got it back on 3/13 in time for the air show we went to on 3/22.  

2/4 I photographed the flowers at Home Depot.

2/7 I went to Pima County Cooperative Extension Gardens.  Then I went to Mesquite Valley Growers to photograph their flowers.  I love that place!  It is probably my favorite Nursery in Tucson.  Green Things is probably 2nd.  

2/12 I went to Green Things Nursery, Tucson Botanical Gardens and Lowe's to photograph the flowers

2/17 was our 23rd anniversary.  Paul and I went out to dinner at Wild Garlic.  

2/18 I went to photograph the flowers at Home Depot.  

2/23 I went to Catalina State Park and hiked the Alamo Canyon trail to check out the wildflowers.  There were some, but not as many as we saw there a few years ago.  I did see a rattler, though.  I also some coyotes in the distance.  

2/25 Nathan had his annual pediatrician visit.  We usually go around his birthday in December, but we couldn't get him in until the end of February because his doctor was on maternity leave.  At his visit, he measured only 5' 8 or 9, but we think he is more like 5'10.  I think he weighed around 145.  She agreed with me that he should see his dermatologist again because his acne was returning.  She also suggested that we see an allergist since he seems to have so many allergic reactions to medications.  She referred us to Banner.  However, I am putting off contacting them because there is too much going on right now.  He missed several days of school during the 3rd quarter because of his bronchitis and some of his grades suffered as a result, particularly German which he was excelling in.  I don't want him missing more school time during the 4th quarter for doctor visits.  Plus, starting up acne treatment again will mean monthly visits for that.  Nathan also had to miss some school time that day for his pediatrician visit.  After I took him to school, I went to Pima County Cooperative Extension Gardens, Green Things Nursery and Mesquite Valley Growers.

2/26-2/27 were Rodeo Days.  Nathan didn't want to go with us, so Paul and I took a drive to check out wildflowers on 2/27.  We went up to Bartlett Lake.  We saw some wildflowers, but again not a lot.  In fact, a week or so prior I think there were more.  We had an early wildflower season this year due to early heat and even though we had good winter rain, the heat also shortened the wildflower season and prevented a superbloom.  Areas in California got a superbloom, like Anza Borrego Desert State Park and Death Valley.  After Bartlett Lake we drove to Round Mountain Park in Globe.  It was getting late by then so the lighting wasn't the best, but there was some night-scented stock still in bloom.  However, once again I think we were several days late because the bloom was already dying down.  We also ate lunch at Grimaldi's that day.   

3/2 I had a follow up with my gynecologist about my HRT.  We decided to increase my dosage since I was still having night sweats.  I asked to do blood tests to determine my current hormone levels.  She agreed so I did the blood test the same day in their office.  The results came back showing my levels were "normal".  She sent me a message and said it seemed like my body was absorbing the estrogen medication well and that the increase she prescribed should be OK, too.  After my gynecologist appointment, I went to Pima County Cooperative Extension Gardens, Tucson Botanical Gardens and Home Depot to photograph the flowers.  

3/6 I went to Lowe's to photograph their flowers.

3/7 I went back to Catalina State Park and hiked part of the Sutherland trail because I heard there were a lot of wildflowers on that trail.  They were right!  I thought there were more wildflowers than what I had seen on the Alamo Canyon trail a couple of weeks prior.  

3/10 Paul had his dentist appointment.  I think he had the same hygienist as me this time and she tried to get him to do the laser gum treatment, too.  She quoted him even more than what I paid.  He refused, knowing that they did the same thing to me.  Additionally, every other time he has gone there they have told him that his teeth and gums look great and that he is a model patient.  So he found it fishy that all of a sudden he would have gum issues.  We suspected that they were trying to scam us.  I did a little research and saw some Yelp reviews from other patients saying the same thing.  So this new dentist who took over appears to be dishonest.  I also noticed at my visit on 3/2 that Ryan in the front office was not there and neither was the dental assistant who used to work there with the previous dentist.  So it seems that ALL former staff is no longer working there.  

3/11 I went to Pima County Cooperative Extension Gardens and Home Depot to photograph their flowers.  Later that day, Nathan had his dentist appointment.  We were really curious if they were going to try to pull something with him, too.  He had the same hygienist as Paul and I.  I think she recognized me so she said something to her assistant about his teeth still developing so she didn't want to pick and prod at them.  So she just did the standard cleaning.  She did mention to him that he needs to spend more time brushing his gums.  Then she asked me if I had already scheduled MY next appointment.  I said yes, but I couldn't remember when it was.  She looked it up and told me it was 4/22.  That confirmed that she recognized me so I think that is the main reason that she did not suggest that Nathan get laser treatment for his gums, too.  It would look too suspicious that I needed it and my son needed it.  She probably did not realize that she treated my husband the day prior and tried it with him.  So now we are considering transferring to Aeris Family Dental where our previous hygienist April works.  We need to call them to set up appointments and then cancel our next appointments with Cortaro Dental.  We need to do this soon since my next appointment is in a few weeks.  I wondered why my next cleaning is in April when my previous cleaning was in December.  That would only be 4 months and then I remembered that she wanted me to do 3 cleanings during the year because of my gum issues and that one of those cleanings would have to be paid out of pocket.  That is another reason why I do not want to return there.  My husband pointed out that we don't even pay that much for our dental insurance for all 3 of us for the year.  So the amount they made me pay out of pocket for the laser gum treatment was ridiculous.  I paid $148.  Now they want me to pay for a dental cleaning, too.  I hate to think the worst of people, but it sure does seem like they are upselling and taking advantage of us.  I believed it because she asked me if I was having hormone changes or extra stress and I was.  I was going through perimenopause, I recently started HRT and I was stressed because it was during the holidays.  So I believed her.  But when she said the same thing about Paul, that just didn't seem right.  

3/12 and 3/13 Nathan had half days for the end of Q3 and then he was off for Spring Break until 3/22.  3/13 I went to Lowe's to photograph their flowers.  3/14 Paul and I decided to go to Catalina State Park since I told him how good the wildflowers were on the Sutherland trail.  Unfortunately, it had been hot that week so I was afraid that there wouldn't be many wildflowers left.  I was right, but there were still some and Paul was satisfied with what we saw.  We also ran across 1 or two rattlers that day (could have been the same one that we saw twice).  After doing a good portion of the Sutherland trail, we decided to do the Canyon Loop trail.  We did get to see some mariposa lilies on that trail.  I was getting hot and tired by then, though.  It was another hot day.  

3/21 we went up to Phoenix to go to a Phoenix Suns game.  We stopped at Grimaldi's and had lunch.  We checked into a hotel for the night.  Then we went to the game.  They started out strong, but then ended up losing 105-108.  3/22 We went to Luke Days to see both the Blue Angels and Thunderbirds perform.  It was a great show, but unfortunately, very hot at 100+.  It was slightly cooler than the Saturday show and there was a little bit of cloud cover that day which helped, but it would have been much more pleasant if it weren't so hot.  Nathan wasn't a happy camper because he didn't want to go in the first place.  He ended up getting some sunburn even though he put some sunblock on.  

Nathan ended Q3 with a C (78.8) in German, an A (100) in Marketing, an A (93.7) in AP World History, a B (86.1) in Pre-AP Chemistry, an A (89.9) in Pre-Calculus and a B (87.7) in Pre-AP English.  His German teacher said He Participates/Highly Motivated and a Pleasure to have in class.  His AP World History teacher said he is Excelling in class.  His Pre-AP English teacher said he is a Pleasure to have in class.     

3/23 I went to Pima County Cooperative Extension Gardens and Green Things Nursery.

3/24 Chas Roberts did our Spring Maintenance.  They said we needed a capacitor for the upstairs A/C which we turned down the previous time so we did it this time and paid $365.  I saw that we paid for 2 capacitors in 2024 and 2022 and since we have 2 A/C units I am not sure why we have had to have 3 capacitors replaced.  He also mentioned that soon we will probably have to replace the whole system.  We installed that system in 2014 and paid $15k.  So that will be a big expense if we have to replace the system again before we try to sell our house in a few years.  

3/25 I went to Tucson Botanical Gardens, Pima Prickly Park and Home Depot to photograph their flowers.

3/26 The claret cups were blooming on Lambert Lane.

3/27 Tucson Cactus and Succulent Society came and removed the saguaro that Paul had put in our backyard.  I thought it would eventually cause problems and be even harder to remove the taller and bigger it got.  It was close to the pool as well as our back fence so I feared it would cause problems with those, too.  I finally got Paul to agree so they removed it for free and they are going to relocate it.  I initially thought they were going to put it in Pima Prickly Park, but now I think one of them may put it in their own yard.