Tubac, AZ

Today Michel and I took a little road trip to Tubac. It reminded me a little of St. Andrew's with the little shops and restaurants.. it just missed the Atlantic Ocean. We saw a lot of cute Mexican things but decided to wait until we go back to Nogales as we are sure we can haggle a better deal! (I am still waiting for my new Canadian passport!) I did buy a cute headband. I had heard there were some cute yarn shops but have to admit I was disappointed! I have more yarn in my basket than these shops did! After exploring Tubac for a couple of hours we headed to Tucson and had dinner at the Olive Garden.. YUM. It was a great day... 28C in the shade!

Michel is gearing up for his 100 mile race tomorrow. It starts in the afternoon and goes all night. I hope it is not too warm out tomorrow and that he does well. I'll go cheer him on in the afternoon and take a photo or 2.

This is a picture of some dried chili pepper! You see them hanging on people's doors or in the form of wreaths.


Spring!


Tiles are a big thing around here. You can buy them in various sizes in all the Mexican shops. They make beautiful chairs and tables using the tiles. This is the first time I have seen them used in street signs. I thought it was cute so ... VOILA!

Scrapbook Challenge

I have been scrapbooking like crazy the last week or so. I finally finished the album from my trip to Europe in 1998. What a difference scrapbooking makes. It made some of my pictures look a lot better! Now I will concentrate on Dad's trip here in January. Michel has a conference in Anaheim, California in two weeks and I am going to tag along and hang out with Mickey Mouse!! That means more photos, so I want to get caught up before we go!!

Here are a few photos of this weeks pages:







I met a couple today on my walk from Prince Edward Island!! It was so nice to meet people from "home". They are wintering in Bisbee. They walk everyday where as my group only goes three times a week so I may join them on either Tuesday or Thursday next week.

Girl Scouts

I had to post a picture of my little Girl Scouts... Brownies and Jr. Girl Scouts to be exact. I have a big troop!! I just love working with them. They all go to the school where I was supposed to teach. Two of them were supposed to be in my class. Last night they became "official" members of the Girl Scouting family. Can you believe it has been a part of my life now for 19 years?!! We had a little graduation ceremony with cake and juice and over 50 adults were there too!! Wow! Originally they were part of a literacy program (through Girl Scouts) that was sponsored by a very generous donor. Now they are a traditional troop and will be doing traditional things like selling cookies and hopefully camping. Arizona is such a great place to go camping and yet this area doesn't seem to be into... YET! Girl Guide leader extraordinaire has arrived on the scene!! haha! During the ceremony last night, I actually started thinking... these are such great kids.... maybe we could fund raise for a trip to the Girl Guide Center in Mexico?! (that is kind of how the whole trip to Europe with the Minto girls started... you never know!!)

My paperwork has been filed for me to begin teaching in October. I should know in late April or May whether I have been successful in obtaining a visa. Please say a little prayer and/or cross your fingers and toes! I really miss teaching!

No big plans for the weekend... we are thinking of going to Tubac on Saturday. It is supposed to be an artsy/fartsy town. Sunday, Michel is running a 100 mile race... yes that is right.. 100 MILES!! I have two words for that... CRAZY FOOL!

Flooding...oops.. Watering the lawn

I have noticed many strange (or at least strange to me) things about living in the desert. One is that they don't water lawns, plants and flowers... they FLOOD THEM! There are little sprinklers in the ground all over the campus. They pop up in the early morning and evening and "water" the grounds. I took a photo to show you what is outside my apartment right now. I hope you can see the massive "puddle". That is the biggest lake you will see around here!



I am still in the scrapbook mood. Here are a couple of pages I did this morning. I am feeling guilty for missing the "scrapbook challenge" the last couple of weeks so thought I would post them even though I just posted some. Again, they are from my trip to Europe in university.

scrapbook challenge

I FINALLY scrapbooked. I just wasn't in the mood and rather than make a big mess in my book I decided to take a little break.... but I'm back! I did 9 pages yesterday... nothing overly spectacular but the fact that I did do some pages makes me feel better. I am working on my new 2007 album which starts with Dad's visit here in January as well as a teacher exchange I did in 1998 to England. Here are a few pictures of some of my pages:






The latest pair of socks completed:

Tumbleweed

Happy St Paddy's Day!

It has been a very quiet week here at the college as it is Spring Break. We have been having AMAZING weather. For me to say it is hot.. it must be... as I am usually cold. I have been doing some reading and knitting outside to try and get rid of my ghostly white legs!

Here is a picture of some tumbleweed that blew by one day. Michel took the picture for my sister who wanted to see some when she was here visiting last summer but had no luck.




I think I am a sockaholic! I just keep knitting and knitting them. Good news is I am going to start putting some away for Christmas! The first pair are knit from yummy yarn I bought on-line from a lady in Boston. They are so soft and I love the colors so much I am keeping them for me. The red ones are the fancier socks I have been learning how to do. I must say the second pair were much easier than the first.





And to make you all laugh.... Guess what just opened for the spring/summer season here in the Southwest!!?? Dairy Queen!! That's right folks... Dairy Queen closes here for the winter! I find that quite pathetic. I gulped down my first banana split of the season last night. I felt kind of guilty since I have not been running, but then I have to remind myself I need to "bulk up" for India... kind of like the Survivor contestants!

Spring Training

Michel and I spent the weekend in Tucson. We spent Saturday shopping... I bought some yarn (surprise) and a travel book on India. We had dinner and went to see the movie "Wild Hogs" (funny). Sunday we went to see a baseball game. It was the San Diego Padres against the Arizona Diamondbacks. It was fun to see but I have decided hockey is more my speed. It has been incredibly hot the last week... high 80's... and for those of you in the Celsius part of the world they say we are going to hit 34C later this week!!




I continue to knit, knit and knit! I have tons of scrapbooking to do but just can't seem to be creative and get anything done. Perhaps this week! Here is a picture of my finished lacy socks... I am currently making them in red!



And finally... another beautiful sunset!