Who among us hasn't had the dreaded alarm no-show? Yep. We had big plans to get out on Black Friday and pick up a few things we needed for the house. The hubby and I lay down last night at midnight, and he set his watch for a very Black Friday respectable ...0330. Then we awoke to the lights shining in our window at 7. Epic Fail.
Not ones to let adversity (or over sleeping) get us down...we packed up the Mustang and headed to Tempe Market Place. I was expecting a mad house - especially since we were getting there 5 hours after the shopping started. There weren't many people there at all. He left his gift certificate at home, so we ran back to get it, and I decided to stay home. Aspergers means that I don't do so well with crowds. He was able to get what he wanted with a minimum of fuss - although he said it had started to get crowded at 10 or so when he left.
I didn't get anything...being laid off means that I don't know when I'll have money again, and I don't want to spend it on things that aren't absolutely necessary...you know: electricity...food.
Living lean, doesn't mean living lonely. One of our friends came over to get help on her motorcycle and I made brunch. Turkey and Broccoli Quiche. Look for more recipes from me that include the star of our Thanksgiving dinner...we have two gallon sized zip bags worth of left overs. mmm mmm
I have hopes to hear from Foothills Academy since they want their new teacher to start Monday, but I am a little frustrated by the job search. Ok. I am a lot frustrated by the job search. It seems like everyone has an ad out looking for help, but I haven't even gotten a call back from the retail stores I applied with (and it has officially started the busy shopping season). It's all I can do not to take it out on my hapless spouse. We moved here so he could go to school, and I left a tenured position to do it. Since I had no intention of killing a student, I basically left a guaranteed job for one that ended after six months and left me with no income and a crap ton of bills.
Showing posts with label AZ. Show all posts
Showing posts with label AZ. Show all posts
Friday, November 25, 2011
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Weekend at Christopher Creek
We decided to escape the unseasonal heat in the valley and go in search of fall leaves. Since I am from "back East", I don't think that it is fall until I can make s'mores and crunch through leaves.
We drove up Friday after work to our cabin at Christoper Creek Lodge (www.christophercreeklodge.com). The cabin was really nice with a Franklin style stove near the bed - we weren't there very long before I had the hubby build a fire. (Hey! vacation in the woods...need a cozy fire, right?) We actually had the conversation that we could live there forever...if the bathroom was a little bigger. The lodge was dog friendly, so even Ginger - our Brittany Spaniel - got to go on our mini vacation.
We got an early start Saturday morning and headed to Tonto Natural Bridge. (http://www.pr.state.az.us/parks/TONA/index.html) Ginger was only allowed on the paved paths, so we saw the bridge from the top side. We did take a short hike without her, and walked down the 80 or so steps to see the waterfall. John raced me to the top and won even after spotting me 50 stairs. (Sometimes I love bad knees.)
We went into Payson for groceries and some lunch. The tourism information center (chamber of commence) gave us several dog friendly hikes we could take and told us about some attractions in Pine and Strawberry. We decided to hike around Woods Canyon Lake. It took about 2.5 hours and is about 6 miles around according to my phone. We didn't get to see the famed Eagles that live there, but we did see their nest. Ginger almost caught a chipmunk; I don't know who was more surprised about that...the dog or the chipmunk.
Once we made it back to the lodge, the husband prayed to the fire gods and grilled us some steak and asparagus. I don't know if it was just "that" delicious or if we were just "that" hungry - but it tasted amazing. He needed to know the score of the ASU/Oregon game so we walked down to this little bar/restaurant next to the lodge. The Landmark at the Creek is a little gourmet gem in the middle of nowhere...I had butternut squash lasagna.
Sunday, we tried to squeeze in a little more vacation before heading down the mountain and back to real life. We headed up to the little town of Pine, AZ. This is where we encountered our only icky spot in the entire trip. We were told to eat at the Randall House for breakfast...the food was not that good made worse by the world's slowest service. When we asked about our order (after waiting 45 minutes for pancakes and eggs), we were treated to rudeness. (I got to hear the waitress rant about our rudeness while I waited in line for the restroom.) We won't be back there. We headed up to Strawberry and the Goat Creamery. Directions to this place include the phrase "turn off the paved road", but the fudge and strawberry/jalapeno jelly is worth the dust on the car.
It was a great weekend...my only problem is now I need a vacation to recover from my vacation.
We drove up Friday after work to our cabin at Christoper Creek Lodge (www.christophercreeklodge.com). The cabin was really nice with a Franklin style stove near the bed - we weren't there very long before I had the hubby build a fire. (Hey! vacation in the woods...need a cozy fire, right?) We actually had the conversation that we could live there forever...if the bathroom was a little bigger. The lodge was dog friendly, so even Ginger - our Brittany Spaniel - got to go on our mini vacation.
We got an early start Saturday morning and headed to Tonto Natural Bridge. (http://www.pr.state.az.us/parks/TONA/index.html) Ginger was only allowed on the paved paths, so we saw the bridge from the top side. We did take a short hike without her, and walked down the 80 or so steps to see the waterfall. John raced me to the top and won even after spotting me 50 stairs. (Sometimes I love bad knees.)
We went into Payson for groceries and some lunch. The tourism information center (chamber of commence) gave us several dog friendly hikes we could take and told us about some attractions in Pine and Strawberry. We decided to hike around Woods Canyon Lake. It took about 2.5 hours and is about 6 miles around according to my phone. We didn't get to see the famed Eagles that live there, but we did see their nest. Ginger almost caught a chipmunk; I don't know who was more surprised about that...the dog or the chipmunk.
Once we made it back to the lodge, the husband prayed to the fire gods and grilled us some steak and asparagus. I don't know if it was just "that" delicious or if we were just "that" hungry - but it tasted amazing. He needed to know the score of the ASU/Oregon game so we walked down to this little bar/restaurant next to the lodge. The Landmark at the Creek is a little gourmet gem in the middle of nowhere...I had butternut squash lasagna.
Sunday, we tried to squeeze in a little more vacation before heading down the mountain and back to real life. We headed up to the little town of Pine, AZ. This is where we encountered our only icky spot in the entire trip. We were told to eat at the Randall House for breakfast...the food was not that good made worse by the world's slowest service. When we asked about our order (after waiting 45 minutes for pancakes and eggs), we were treated to rudeness. (I got to hear the waitress rant about our rudeness while I waited in line for the restroom.) We won't be back there. We headed up to Strawberry and the Goat Creamery. Directions to this place include the phrase "turn off the paved road", but the fudge and strawberry/jalapeno jelly is worth the dust on the car.
It was a great weekend...my only problem is now I need a vacation to recover from my vacation.
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