V2N3A

Nicole and Co.

This month we've had a chance to spend some time with Nicole Lachance, our niece from Washington, D.C., who has moved to Tucson recently to pursue her career in Landscape Architecture.

No one can say that Nicole doesn't have a sense of humor. When a group (10) of us went to Li'l Abner's (steakhouse) one night for dinner, she gamely went along, even though she's a vegetarian and our menu must have been as appealing as eating dirt. When the meal was over, we started gathering up the bones for her canine roommate. She said that 2 bones were enough cause she was trying to turn the dog into a vegetarian. Can you do that? Or will she just take a chunk out of an arm when she gets hungry? I don't know.

We did have a cute experience out on the desert with Avian, the dog. As she was walking along with us, every time she picked up a cactus spine with her foot, she'd stop and hold the leg up in the air for Nicole to take it out for her. It was comical to see her running along, and then stop on a dime, and hold her leg up in the air.

We also ate at a neat little Mexican Restaurant called La Inita with Nicole while we were here.

The crowning touch, however, was the vegetarian dinner, that we were invited to at Nicole's house. A house, I might add, that is full of resident vegetarians. I've never seen a collection of so many people at one time, who have never tasted the newest burger at McDonald's. I will say, most sincerely, that the dinner we had that evening was delicious. And the worst part is, it was probably better for us than the steaks at Li'l Abner's. My God, what is the world coming to?????

Blonde Bingo

By Sharon

Bingo at Valley of the Sun in Marana, AZ is not exactly "High Stakes Gambling." You can invest $1 for 2 cards. One evening Jayce, Anne and I decided to try our luck, and we bought four each. I carefully picked out 4 cards and waited for the numbers to be called. The cards looked somewhat familiar. They had the little red clear windows that slide across, like the traveling Bingo cards we had for the kids. After playing the first game, I commented to Jayce that I was having a hard time seeing through the windows, when the numbers were being called so fast. She informed me, politely holding back her laughter, that the red windows should remain open, and then slid across after the number is called. Duh!!! People have been saying that I have been doing very dumb blonde things lately. You see the Arizona sun has been turning my slightly graying hair.............blonde. At least that's the best excuse I can come up with.

SORRY, BRO

We had a very nice visit with my brother Ed and his wife Maxine here in Tucson. It was short, but nevertheless a good one.

It seems, however, that the location we (My sister Cookie and I) gave him for where we would be, left a little to be desired. While he knew that she would be staying at a Super 8 in Tucson, we didn't make it too clear which one. So he decided he would check all of them. I think there's only about 4 of them in town, but they're spread out pretty good. He finally settled into the one that was "nearest" the exit we told him, and we got together in the afternoon. He did "indicate" to us that the directions that we gave him were "a little incomplete and misleading." We took his word for it, he is our big brother.

Nicole (niece) selected a restaurant for dinner that night. It was a quaint little Mexican number with very good food called La Inita. Sharon and I had Chicken Mole', a dish with a sauce made out of Chocolate, Peanuts, Prunes and Salsa. What will they think of next.....

DisappeaRING

By Sharon

While celebrating Christmas Day at Jen and Tom's house before leaving on our trip, Jennifer and Jessica presented me with a very beautiful gift. They gave me a gold band with 8 diamonds on it. It is absolutely georgeous. Of course I wanted to wear it, even though it was too small for my ring finger. So I put it on my Pinky for the day, even though it was a little loose. I had no problem later doing the dishes, or finishing my packing later at home.

After happily crying, and thanking him, I put it in the box, promising myself not to wear it until it was resized. I took it to Arizona, hoping to find a jeweler I could trust.

While Bill's sister Cookie & her husband Bill were visiting us in Marana, I took the ring out to show her. It slipped out of our hands, bounced off the table and onto the floor, and into the heat register. With Bill in the shower, we frantically got a screwdriver, took the register apart, and found the ring. That week, I took it to a jeweler, waiting 45 minutes til he resized it. It is now hopefully, forever on my hand.