Back from the Brink

Posted on March 26, 2012 by Karen of Scottsdale

Oh it’s good to be back to my digital life. This past month my computer died and my blog was hacked with malware. You may not have noticed the malware, but it made it difficult to log into my blog and write a post. And not having a computer made blogging and fixing my website all that more difficult. Fortunately, I was able to get a new computer. After much research and contemplation, I was able to successfully remove the malware. Basically I had to remove my entire WordPress installation and install a fresh copy of WordPress. Then I reloaded all of my theme files and tightened my hosting and blog security.

Hopefully things will remain copacetic!

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Les Paul Mary Ford

Posted on February 26, 2012 by azNorm

The names listed in today’s title are two of the musical favorites from the time I was growing up in Denver, and would spend hours glued to my G.E. AM Radio listening to the music out of that One little speaker.

As I think about how much I loved that music I was a little surprised that I didn’t drive my Mom and Dad nuts asking them to let me buy a gibson les paul classic custom guitar.  I might have been a great guitar player back then.

Posted in AZ Norm, Colorado, entertainment, memories | Comments Off

In a Great Mood.

Posted on February 25, 2012 by azNorm

I feel like having a cigar from  opus x cigars.

Now I’m not one who smokes but several times a year the mood just hits me, that I need to sit down and celebrate what’s going on in my life.

I have a lot to be happy about this week:   Sunday we had a flat tire.   Monday I spent $300.00 for 2 new tires.   Tuesday I found out our van needs $3,000.00 in work.   Thursday my one remaining hearing aid, gave up and died on me.   Friday, out dryer starting making so much noise we had to turn it off in fear it’s was going to tear itself apart.

Today, I’m just going to concentrate on enjoying a cigar.

Posted in AZ Norm, woe is me | Comments Off

Added to our Van

Posted on February 24, 2012 by azNorm

Several years ago I was here in Scottsdale and Karen was in San Diego and I was going to drive over in one of my rental wheelchair vans for a visit.   I was also going to bring back some of her stuff and for what ever reason needed more room than what comes in a full sized Chevy van.

So I went looking for  trailer hitches. After that I made sure that it was listed in the company’s advertising that particular van had a hitch.

To my surprise we had 6 inquiries and 3 rentals directly because of the fact that that van had a hitch.

 

 

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A Trip to Paris

Posted on January 26, 2012 by Karen of Scottsdale

A few days ago we celebrated 13 years of marriage! Norm took me to Paris for lunch. Well, not really, but it sure seems like we went to Paris. We visited Au Petit Four which is a French cafe and bakery newly located in Old Town Scottsdale. We happen to discover it last week while making a quick trip to the bank, which is right across the street. I told Norm that’s where I wanted to go for our anniversary.

It was a delightful lunch and it felt like we were in Paris because the owners and staff were speaking to each other in French and French music played the whole time we were there. Norm had a quiche and a field greens salad and I had a Panini and a simple pasta salad. All of it was quite tasty and fresh made. Then we splurged and had some kind of chocolate ganache dessert from the bakery. I don’t remember what it was called, but it was rich and tasty!

Check them out yourself!

Posted in food critic, life in Scottsdale, life with Norm | Comments Off

Can you keep a secret?

Posted on January 26, 2012 by Karen of Scottsdale

My wonderful husband and I rescued an abandoned shopping cart.  We were driving through part of town that’s rather industrial looking with lots of metal buildings around.  We go there as our secret way to get to In & Out Burger.  One day we noticed a couple of those grocery store type shopping carts along the side of the road.  I suggested to Norm that it would be handy to have one of those around the house so we could use it to bring all the bags of groceries in when we get home from the store.  We both laughed about it and went on.  Then, Norm was driving along the same area by himself a few weeks later and saw the same abandoned shopping carts.  So he brought one home.  It doesn’t have any identification as to which store it came from; it was just sitting out there all by itself exposed to the elements.  Now it has a good home and we make good use of it.  I hope we don’t get in trouble!

Posted in life with Norm | 1 Comment

Cajun Memories

Posted on January 13, 2012 by Karen of Scottsdale

Today we were going somewhere in the van and went past a Cajun bar and grill. We’ve never been there, and I don’t think we ever will, but the place got me thinking about my younger years living in Cajun country. This time of the year preparations for Mardi Gras begin in earnest. Many of the parents and relatives of my school buddies were active in the Mardi Gras set. Your family heritage and/or financial status determined what particular krewe you were a member of and what role you would play in the Mardi Gras traditions of galas and parade floats. Mardi Gras was always a big deal in our small town and the parade was the highlight.

Parades in the South are not like parades in other parts of the country. There are floats decorated around certain themes and those in costume and masks would throw candy and trinkets to the crowds. The trinkets consisted of decorative beaded necklaces and personalized coins. These coins were called doubloons and many of them were collectibles. It was custom to yell “throw me something” at the people on the floats. It was better than Halloween!

Oh the memories…

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Welcome to the Neighborhood

Posted on January 13, 2012 by Karen of Scottsdale

It seems we will be getting new neighbors this weekend. I met the family last weekend when they were doing some work on the house. It’s a rental property and the previous renters had to be evicted. The owner, who used to live in the house, had to get quite a bit of work done getting the place ready for new tenants. Apparently, it wasn’t finished and so the new tenants are doing some of the work themselves. I don’t blame them for wanting to thoroughly clean the place before they move in.

They seem like a nice family with five children. The youngest seems to be a toddler and the oldest is probably around 13. All boys and one young girl. I’ve never been in the backyard but I know there is a pool. I hope, for the sake of the children, that the owner has a cover pool or at least a fence with a lock.

I know one thing for sure, it’s going to be a lot noisier around here. I don’t mind if kids are nice and the parents don’t scream at them. So far from what I’ve observed they seem to be a happy family.

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