A New Career In A New Town

Being the last day of June, this marks one month that I've now been in Phoenix. It took me a week to find an apartment, another week before I moved in most of my stuff, and the remainder of the month to fill in the cracks. I've been wanting to post some pictures in case anyone was curious, so now everyone will know what to expect when they arrive for camping trip Round Two, at the Phoenix State Park.

The majority of homes in Phoenix lack a grass lawn. It's easiest to find grass and trees within the oldest neighborhoods. In fact, I think that some newer neighborhoods place restrictions on putting in new lawns. Dad's complete lack of watering and attention to his lawn would be warmly welcomed by city officials here. Anyway, I was pleased to find a house that had a little bit of grass, and was even happier to find that a grapefruit tree was included. There are still a few grapefruits near the top of the tree.

When you step inside, I've got a laundry room and then my kitchen. It's not a large kitchen, but it makes up for it by having an enormous old stove. The windows face east so it's a very sunny room, which is just how I like my kitchens.

Next to the kitchen is my small dining room. It's just big enough to hold my table and give a little breathing space around it. Yes, Steve and Rachel, that's a copy of Cuisine At Home that showed up in the mail the other day. Thanks for that birthday present! And yes, Janell, that's a copy of my bread book sitting on the table also. I'm looking forward to the return of cooler months when I'll be a little more apt to pop stuff into the stove in the evenings.

Stepping into the back of the house is my bedroom/office. The back wall is all windows, looking out over the lawn. It's a pleasant view, though I also have to put up with a flock of pigeons that cruise by every morning and decide to decamp in the grapefruit tree while they map out the daily parking lot beat.

More windows, and some curtains that Amber made for me.

And finally, my living room. Yes, Daniel, that's the sectional that you got me for my birthday. Thank you again. I was told that the fireplace actually works, though with these kind of temperatures (today was a high of 112!) I shudder to think about bringing heat into my home. Hopefully the winters will get cold enough to make that a pleasant thought again.

So that's my house. I'm hoping that people will find a way to come visit sometime, though I'd recommend they hold off on travel plans during these summer months. I've got some little cacti outside in the sun, and more often than not they're looking very hot and very thirsty. When a cactus is looking uncomfortable about the weather, you know it's bad.

A Princess Birthday Celebration

The garden lawn of the Hancock Barnhart residence was the recent setting of an elegant birthday reception for Elisabeth Anne Barnhart, age 3. Attendees included her immediate family - Mom, Dad, big sister Ella and younger brother Peter, her best friend Olivia along with her family - Ms. Julie, older brother Cameron and younger sister Heidi, and Grandma Rowe and Papa Rowe. (Mr. Kit was unable to attend due to Father's Day commitments with his paternal parental figure and his grandfather).

The activities included a luncheon of freshly grilled meats and accompanying side-dishes, a dessert of fresh strawberry shortcakes, some baseball on the lawn, low-flying airplane rides, and gift-opening. All parties involved had a smashing-good time, as evidenced in these photographic records.

Elisabeth and Olivia amidst the wrappings and unwrappings of birthday presents.

Grandma Rowe oversees more gift opening.

Three princesses enjoy an airplane ride ensemble.

Two princesses await their "Princes Charming" in the early twilight hours.

Nikki and Twila come up short

Since Daniel was gone today and all the other children live out of town, Nikki and Twila valiantly tried to make Fathers Day special for me. First it was breakfast in bed, but I just couldn't crack the chicken bones like they do, so they laid on the bed and ate mine too. Later they took me outside to see some landscaping they had done, but it only looked like more trenches crisscrossing the yard. And finally they talked me into letting them loose to go get a special treat for me, but when they came back with a fresh, half eaten rabbit, I decided the gulf between man and animal is just too big to bridge- even if they are man's best friend. A good try, but they came up a little short.

In the mean time, I received calls from all my children and that was good.

It's time to start thinking about getting some trivets

As I've told a few of you recently, I've been pushing to wrap up my kitchen remodel (and a few other projects) before my paying guest moves in (for those of you who don't know, I'm renting a room to Amy starting next month). I made some good progress this weekend by finally getting my laminate countertop glued down. Here are some pics of the fun.

Dry-fitting the sink (if you want to live sheer terror, I recommend cutting a sink opening without a template and then dropping the sink in while you hold your breath and hope it fits).

I've got the countertop base glued up (with contact cement) and the laminate is ready to set in place (you can see a corner of the laminate laying upside down on the floor). The wood strips keep the laminate from bonding immediately to the countertop while you get it into place.

The laminate sitting on top of the wood strips.

The laminate adhered to the countertop with the front edge clamped down (to make sure it forms a good bond).

Here's the little countertop that separates the kitchen and dining room.

And here's the full kitchen with countertops installed. Now to stain the cabinets, install a face edge on the countertop, put in a floor, reinstall doors/drawers, install a backsplash, paint, and move the appliances over. I have a feeling I'm not going to get this done in the next week...

Don't Forget!

Don't forget that it will be Lisa and Elisabeth's birthdays on the 20th. I already got Lisa her gift- a working car. Had it in the shop for transmission and antilock brake repairs. That should teach her to go around breaking her car.

Speaking of gifts.... in case anyone is looking for fathers day gift ideas- I just happen to have my list handy.

Dictionary- can be an old second hand one- I'm not into many new words, still confused with the old ones. Websters is good.

Utility razor knife- you can never have enough of these- I guess I lose them or something.

Black socks- large size such as 12-15 shoe size. Meijer has them now.

Hot pads for the kitchen- keep leaving them places and never get them back.

Work gloves- just heavy duty cotton work gloves, large or extra large. The yellow ones are nice

Beard trimmer- this is if you are feeling generous or want to go in with someone else.

Book about Hitler- am getting close to finishing book about Churchill, now I want to see what the other guys were thinking. 'The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich' may be a good one for me. Paperback is fine.

Pretty cheap ideas huh? I'm not really that hard to please. I good person to buy for in hard economic times.

Introduction

Over the last few months, Andy and I have been visiting Jimmy at Lutherbrook every couple weeks, and this last Sunday I finally brought my camera to take a couple pictures. We got to bring Ozzie with us (Jimmy has been asking when Ozzie can come see him) and decided to go to the park for a while. Then it started to sprinkle, so we made a quick stop at Walmart and headed over to the Chicago deliciousness that is Portillo's.

We're still in the beginning stages of getting our license - foster training classes are surprisingly hard to come by. In the mean time, Jimmy (who now prefers to be called James but I keep forgetting) is doing really well, and his counselor feels that he is benefiting from a more secure, consistent environment.

Freeesshh Fiissshhh!

The Prodigal Tomos has returned

After over a year and a half of riotous living in Muskegon Heights, the Prodigal Tomos Moped has returned. Rear fender broken, kick start in need of repair, clutch broken, no brakes and questionable ability to run, it swallowed it's pride and returned to it's garage on Giles road.

No crying father ran to greet the Tomos as it came halfway up the driveway, nor was a feast and music held in honor of it's return to the garage. No breaking out the gas cans of high octane gasoline or pouring of expensive oils over the achy street weary parts.

No, the Tomos came home humbly in the back of Judy's pickup truck, squeezed in with trash and yard refuse. It's way home found only by the keen eye of neighbor Todd Hinkle as he was searching for Moped parts for one of his projects and saw it parked in a ramshackle repair shop on Getty St. After the tip off from Todd, Daniel identified it and the police were summoned to release the prisoner from his captors.

For now a quiet night in the garage will do the Tomos good as the other Mopeds and various machines listen to his sad tale of freedom lost, of slavery to hard driving riders, and eventually the long road to recovery.

Although he has returned, his future is unsure, perhaps he will become just another project to be tended to in the garage full of projects to be tended to. But regardless, the Tomos has come home.