Goodbye Big Red

Even before selling our AZ home, Hubby and I have been lamenting how we would park our two vehicles in the standard double-stall condo garage. We rearranged storage options and workbenches in the garage. We decluttered. Both vehicles, the F-150 and the Edge would fit, BUT it was impossible to get into either vehicle and back out without removing the other when we wanted to go anywhere. We have an HOA with snow removal anytime it snows 2 inches or more, so keeping the truck outside was not a very good option. Thus began the hunt for a smaller, more-convenient-to-park-in-the-garage, vehicle. After searching and researching, Hubby found a Honda Ridgeline pickup.

He really went outside his box by getting the white, 2018 vehicle at the end of September. (He really likes red ones!) We love how both vehicles can be parked inside, and driver doors can be opened without damage to the wall or other vehicle. We have yet to miss Big Red.

Life is good. 

Cabaret with Miss W

 November 25th Miss W performed in Our Songs, The Lincoln High School Cabaret. Twelve songs were performed by the 19 high school kids who auditioned and were selected. 

She was a member of the three songs performed by the ensemble and had two other numbers.

she had the third solo in the song

her solo in "Oh, What a Beautiful Morning" from Oklahoma

"Footloose"

having fun with "Footloose"

her duet "Stepsisters' Lament"

song from Cinderella

I love her facial expressions

finale "Be the Hero" from Big Fish

She asked Grandpa to take her to lunch that day. Then he surprised her with flowers after the performance.

Proud Grandparent moment!

Just an FYI: There were 5 songs (and choreography) to learn for this chorus event. She performed four songs in the Fall Choir Concert on October 24th. I am keeping track as she has two more performances in 2025.

Another FYI: Yes, we go EARLY to get a good seat. We're retired! We have nothing else that is more important!

November Northern Lights

 South Dakota and states as far south as Arizona (a friend sent a photo) were treated to another awesome Northern Lights display on November 11th, the night before the deck was demolished!

Here are some of my photos beginning at 7:31 and ending at 8:38 PM.

All the photos are from the deck of the condo using my iPhone without any editing. I did some research and wanted to try some features in the camera mode, but did not get the chance the next night. The guys working on the deck had placed some plywood on the runners so I could step out safely, but the light display just wasn't there on November 12th. I feel so fortunate to have seen such a magnificent display twice in the same year!

The Deck - Before and After

Hubby and I stained the deck for the second time in June 2022, since we moved into the new condo in the fall of 2018.

dirty after a rainstorm

By the summer of 2024 we realized it was in need of another facelift and neither of us was looking forward to the job.

The next four photos are from the summer of 2025.  The rug covered much of the area, but it was an eyesore to say the least.

Not to show off the cucumbers after adding flowers to the bed, but to emphasize the chipped stain on the steps.

We didn't even pressure wash the deck last spring for fear of losing all the stain.

Even the front door stoop was showing chipping. On one of his almost daily summer bike rides, Hubby talked to guys installing a Trex three-season room on a house in the neighborhood. He asked questions and visited the business showroom. Within a week we chose a style, color and were on the list to replace our cedar deck and stoop.

Demolition started on November 11, after the first light snowfall and prior to a major frost. The floor and steps were removed on November 12th.

For several days the only entrance to the house was through the garage. The front door stoop was the first to be completed. Smaller job.

Thankfully, they could work around the raised cucumber bed. It looks very bare. 

the front door stoop on November 14th

the floor of the deck on November 14th

almost done on November 19th

The HOA lawn service people had aerated the lawn while they were working on building the deck. We may have had some rain during that time, also.  Although the weather was decent the ten days the two guys worked on the project, the side lawn was a muddy mess, as were the deck, stoop and driveway.

We LOVE the new deck and will really enjoy it come spring! Even now, the metal railing gives us a more open view.

Scrapbooks and Technology

 The minister started his children's sermon this morning by asking if any of them knew what a scrapbook was? Then he said, "It was a really popular way to preserve photos in the 1900s." OMG! He was so right. It was a popular thing of the last century. He went on to talk about all the photos he has saved on his iPad and how it (technology) has replaced the scrapbook. There was much more to this opening, but it was the scrapbook, 1900s, and technology that had me thinking and rethinking about my blog postings.

1. We have dear friends and acquaintances who are not on Facebook so do not see my postings of proud grandparent moments or other what I consider worthy posting activities. Some of them remind me that I haven't posted in a couple of months.

2. Hubby, especially, uses the blog as a way of looking back at what we did, where we went, what was happening, and how much the grandkids have grown and changed...like one would if it were a scrapbook. We also use the blog posts to verify the year, date, location, etc. of a specific item or event we can't remember.

3. Back in the 1900s, I did make scrapbooks and photo albums. Both were a lot of work. Nobody looks at the scrapbooks or photo albums. Once the picture was printed, it was done. (Who saved the negatives?) I have probably a hundred or more printed photos (from the 1900s) that did not make it into a scrapbook or photo album. They are still aligned in a shoe box, in the envelope marked with a year (if they are lucky).

3. Since the 21st century, I have thousands of photos to commemorate a person, place, activity, occasion, etc., but only I have access to those thousands of photos. (Only 8400 are on my phone. The other 40K are on a back-up device.) If I do not share the photos, who will remember? Who will know what happened last month? Last year? 

All of this is to say, what I post may not be of interest or importance to you, but it is a visual reminder of something important to me, to us. So Thank You Pastor Jason for reminding me why I need to continue posting on my blog. Not just when we take a trip. Not just to post proud grandparent moments, but to post the everyday things to help us remember the changes, the events, the people. 

There will be new blog posts starting now. I have lots to share in our family scrapbook.