I think I'll stick to TMP...

The husband and I ventured out of our comfort zone to see a movie yesterday.  No, watching movies isn't out of our comfort zone; we do that all the time.  However, we almost always go to Tempe Market Place because it is very close to the house and closer still to Barnes and Nobles (BN is the shit!).  We ventured to the "other" theater in Tempe because we wanted to watch different movies and it had Promethus (for him) and Magic Mike (for me) both showing at 4:15.

I thought that the theater was great.  We did forget our loyalty cups, but my forgetfulness can't really be blamed on the venue. 

After the movie...I wanted to like Magic Mike more than I did...we decided to walk around the mall because it's air conditioned.  This is our first summer in Pheonix, and we have been making a game out of finding things to do in the AC.  The mall was a little scary.  I've worked the past 8 years with gang afiliated youth, and I lost count of the people I saw walking around with various gang paraphenial and markers on.  I don't think I have ever been to a mall before that had armed security...and this counts the one in Fayettevill, NC where someone gets shot there what seems to be every weekend.

All in all, I think I will save the trip to AZ Mills for when there is something that has to be seen in IMAX or when I'm feeling lucky. 

Flogging Molly at Tempe Beach Park

I know, I know.  I usually try to come up with interesting or at least witty titles for my posts.  That said, I am still to impressed with the show that Flogging Molly put on for St. Paddy's Day - that if you were there, you would think that "Flogging Molly at Tempe Beach Park" was interesting.  (If you weren't there, I am told that they come every year...and you should seriously consider making it a priority next year.)

Okay...Okay...enough with the intro. I'll tell you about St. Paddy's Day in Tempe. 

The hubby and I rode the free Orbit bus down to Mill to pick up our tickets from will call early in the afternoon.  It was the first time that I had taken advantage of the free ride down to mill, and I was impressed with the cleanliness of the buses.  Finding out that the concert didn't start until a lot later that night, we decided that a nap was in order.

Fast forward to 7pm.

We took the bus back down to mill, and decided to have dinner before the show.  Since it was St. Patrick's Day and there were so many people on Mill, we knew that there would be a killer wait pretty much anywhere we picked.  A little off Mill we saw Slices Pizza (http://slicespizzajoint.com/) and had a great dinner.  You can't beat pizza and a drink for a little under 5 bucks.  I really like thin crust New York style pizza, so I was in heaven.

Then on to the concert. 


I love Flogging Molly and have since my sister introduced me to them a million years ago.  This was the first time that I got to see them in concert.  It was worth the wait.  I danced and danced to all of my favorites and generally had an amazing time.  I can't wait to see them again (after teaching hubby a few more songs).

Wack-a-mole Champion of the World!

I am married to the Wack-a-Mole champion of the world.  We had made plans to go see the rerelease of the first Star Wars movie (in 3D), but I had read the movie schedule wrong so we arrived at Tempe Market Place 7 minutes late to see the movie.  We decided to see the movie some other time and just grab a bite to eat and come back at a later time to catch the movie. 

We stopped in to have a bite at Axio's Pizza at Tempe Market Place.  The Hawaiian volcano pizza was really good, I especially liked that the crust wasn't too thick.  I have a hard time believing that it took me thirty years to discover pineapple pizza with jalapenos, but it is simply the best flavor combination I can think of.  The pizza was also really cheap.  A slice and a drink were only 3.50 when you showed them a movie ticket stub...that simply cannot be beat!

We still weren't ready to come home after our pizza so we decided to step into to Dave and Busters after our dinner.  John set the high score on wack-a-mole and ended up winning me a Dave and Busters coffee mug that I can't wait to use tomorrow morning when I make my morning coffee.

Wheels and Wings in Tempe

I am officially married to a genius!  No really, ASU agrees with me.  We went out to celebrate the hubby making straight A's this semester.  This is his first straight A semester since starting college a million years ago - and he was understandably excited about it. 

I offered to take him out for dinner in celebration; he picked Buffalo Wild Wings (a chain that we went to a lot when we lived in NC).  (www.buffalowildwings.com)  The food and the service we excellent as always. 

We noticed Tempe Bicycle next door and since he wants to get a bike to ride to campus we decided to stop in.  The show was crammed to the gills with bicycles of all kinds.  It was amazing to me since I have never learned how to ride a bike, so I didn't know that there were so many two-wheeled options.  (http://tempebicycle.com/)  We were helped by the manager of the campus store, Debbie.  She was awesome.  It didn't take long at all for her to have him sized and taking several bikes for a test ride.  If you know how to ride a bike...I don't...I highly suggest you go down to talk to her.  My goal for this time in AZ is to learn how to ride a bike...so if anyone knows of bike lessons....

Art, Boats, and a Man Test

I don't know how we manage to cram so many unrelated things into a weekend, but I think this one takes the proverbial cake. 

Last night I was reading the local paper (we get weekend delivery) and saw a write up that Evermore Nevermore was going out of business and last night's 2nd Friday was going to be their last day.  I am a lover of all things weird, and the hubby likes comic books so we decided to go check it out.  I had high hopes for stocking stuffers.  Mesa has a 2nd Friday art walk (http://www.2ndfridaynightout.com/), and I have to say that it was very enjoyable.  There were unique arts and crafts type items along main street.  My favorites were a booth that sold "Harry Potter" type wands and one that sold unicorn horns.  There are several pop culture type shops - and one seemed to feature awesome t-shirts.  We stopped in at Lo-Fi coffee shop (http://www.loficoffee.com/) for a warming cup of coffee as we walked.  I wasn't impressed with their pumpkin spiced latte, but the hubby said that the chai tea was really good. 

This morning the hubby and some of his friends from the motorcycle discussion boards decided to test their stuff against the "Man Test" 5k (http://www.man-test.com/).  I went for moral support and to work the camera.  It is a 5k that features several obstacles.  The race didn't live up to it's hype, but they looked like they were having fun when they took the giant slip and slide down to the finish line. 

Sabine (our friend that ran the Man Test with John) suggested that we go see the Tempe boat parade, so after a nap and some warming up we headed down to Tempe Town Lake to see the boats.(http://www.millavenue.com/events/fantasyoflights)  There were so many people that we couldn't see the boats on the water, but I really enjoyed walking down Mill Avenue and looking at the lights.  I even got my picture made with the Mellow Mushroom mascot outside the restaurant, even though we decided to eat at home when we got back and not go for a slice. 

I think John is going to run Camelback Mountain tomorrow with some friends while I stay home and try to finally beat the cold I have been fighting since last Monday.

Wild Animals and Irish Food

Our one year wedding anniversary was yesterday.  It has been quite a year in our mildly unorthodox marriage (more on being married by proxy later). We decided to make the most of the last good weather for a while and spend the afternoon at the Phoenix Zoo.  (http://www.phoenixzoo.org/)

One of the things that I really enjoyed about this zoo as opposed to the Nashville Zoo are Grassmere or the North Carolina zoo is how close to the animals you can actually get.  I was having a close conversation with these two giraffes until some loud children came up and scared them away. 

After walking around the zoo, we decided to go to an anniversary (late) lunch on Mill Avenue in Tempe.  We decided to try Rula Bula Irish Pub since I love Irish food.  (http://www.rulabula.com/) The atmosphere in the restaurant was very nice.  It was so well decorated; I thought I could very well leave the restaurant and step out onto the streets of Dublin. I had the Fish and Chips, and while the food was adequate; I really wasn't impressed.  The fish and chips were good, but the atmosphere made me expect and really want better than just typical pub fare. I will say that the service was perfect. 

Spending Black Friday at Sun Devil Stadium

We almost missed last night's football game because neither one of us remembered that we had bought the Groupon for the game until just a few hours before kickoff.  Luckily, we remembered in time to walk down to Will Call and pick up our tickets.  The Groupon was for side line seats not too far up - and we weren't disappointed.  My husband was quick to point out that our seats were right in front of the cheerleaders...

I love to people watch, and the game didn't disappoint.  There was a couple behind us having a pretty serious relationship discussion (the only thing that makes me smile more is when couples have very private fights on one another's facebook wall). 

We live about three miles from Sun Devil Stadium, so we like to walk down to Tempe when we are going to a show or game and then catch a cab back home.  We walked down to the stadium stopping at Quick Trip to get me a pumpkin cappuccino - my one vice.  The game was a good game even if the Sun Devils tried hard to lose (and ultimately succeeded).  Then when we went to catch a cab, we tried to get one of the cool green cabs, but there were none to be found.  We ended up riding back home in a cab that had the cab thingie on the roof, but absolutely no cab equipment on the inside.  (It was also more expensive than usual...live and learn, I guess).

We will be looking for free things to do in the next month around Tempe.  I lost my job and want to save all the pennies we have until I start working again. 

Black Friday

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. 

Music on the Mill

So...as you know if you are someone who follows along, then you know that I was laid off from my job as a curriculum developer in Scottsdale.  I've been frantically trying to find another position either in curriculum design again or back in a middle or elementary school classroom.  (Shameless plug alert: I'm awesome...hire me!)
My husband in a last ditched effort to make me feel better took me to dinner at one of my favorite restaurants...the Mellow Mushroom (http://www.mellowmushroom.com/).  The Hawaiian calazone that we always split was delicious as usual.  The really nice part of the evening was our walk up and down Mill Avenue in Tempe.  We didn't know that there would be lots of street musicians down on Mill.  I heard two who were really nice.  It was really enjoyable to walk hand and hand and look at all the of college-y shops while the pizza was digesting. 

What I learned from GWAR

Monday, I went to my very first heavy metal concert.  It was, to say the least, an eye opening experience.  My husband has taken it upon himself to broaden my horizons, and apparently this includes having a large alien like creature jack-off on me.  So...let's be honest.  I don't listen to heavy metal and didn't know anything about GWAR.
I was expecting the dread-locks and the questionable wardrobe choices.  I watched with a kind of egotistical detachment.  I'm nothing like "those" people.  Then I watched a very theatrical show.  I watched a group of people having a great time.  I watched my husband jumping up and down, loving life while the band sprayed synthetic bodily fluids at him.  I also saw a group of people come together in support of a fallen friend.  At the end of the show, there was a tribute to Cory Smoot - the recently fallen member of GWAR.  People came together and remembered.  In that moment, they weren't people who wouldn't be able to have a professional job...(unspoken - like me)...they were just people who were experiencing the universal emotions like sorrow and loss.

As for the touristy stuff:
The marquee theater was a gritty venue that seemed to mesh well with the music.  It was the first time I had been anywhere to see a concert where there were no seats.  I highly recommend seeing one of their shows.