Murraytalk

As I was shopping for my little fourth of July gathering tomorrow I started thinking about my first year of celebrating the 4th in Phoenix. It was 1989 and we moved from Tucson to the big city. As silly as it seems it was a culture shock for me even though I was less than 200 miles away from my old stomping grounds. It was a whole new ball game in Phoenix - difficult meeting people, everyone rushing, few mom and pops businesses, not so friendly people, and lots of traffic. Anyway, we decided to take the kids to one of the big 4th celebrations at Wesley Bolin Plaza.  On our drive home they all needed the bathroom, so needless to say the argument was who would be first to the toilet. My daughter Melissa jumped out of the car as soon as we pulled in the driveway and begin ringing the doorbell - little did we know that signaled the robber inside that we had arrived. My husband opened the door and I noticed his shot gun in the entry way. I asked him why he left his gun laying...

My brother, sister in law, her brother and my nephew stopped by to visit me yesterday on their way home to Tucson from Sequoia National Park. I seldom see them since all of them with the exception of my brother work at Sequoia National Park. So I cooked and we hung out and caught up. As we were catching up, Kathleen, my sister in law was telling me that she does Geocaching.  http://www.geocaching.com/  I had never heard of it before. As she explained to me that it's a worldwide treasure hunt my question was how do you win? There are no winners and no prizes she explained. You just hunt for an object and sign your name when you find it. Although I didn't really get the point in doing it, my daughter Melissa and I decided to go with her to help her find a couple before they headed home. It was after 9pm so of course dark when we jumped in the car to seek the treasures. Kathleen said the first one was at the park by my house which actually turned out to be the desert. We neede...

Yup, it's Monday and for me it begins with Makenna - luckily I was asleep when she was dropped off this morning so she fell asleep. Usually she stays awake and is a ball of energy from the time she gets here until bedtime. I had a really good day yesterday catching up with my niece Diana from Tucson. I moved to Phoenix when she was young so it seems like funerals and facebook have really been our only connection. We're really not that far from each other, but we hate driving from Phoenix to Tucson and vice versa. But we're both going to work on all of the family getting together more often. I'm lucky if I see my sisters and brother a couple times a year - that needs to change. Speaking of family and facebook - if you're not my friend on facebook you don't know that 2 of my granddaughters made the cheer squad at their middle school - really proud of them. Also, one of my grandsons tried out for the basketball team at his school. He's in second grade and...

I just got home from Tucson - I had no wifi so I couldn't blog. We went to visit Tom's mom and help out around the house. We took three of our granddaughters along to help clean. Although her house really didn't need any cleaning, but the girls had fun helping out. After cleaning we took her out to lunch and from there I went to visit my sister. She's been having heart problems and can no longer work so I wanted to check up on her. We had a short but nice visit. As usual I'm exhausted from the road trip, but fortunately I came home to a clean house and dinner waiting... Thanks Kelsey! Sipping my wine and then I'm off to bed. Hope your Saturday was fabulous!

Its been a busy morning with no time to really sit and write. But I had this saved and thought I would share it... it makes sense! Update on my father in law:  He's still hanging on. We did face time with him last night -  we all talked and told him that we loved him... nice for those that couldn't make it to Tucson. Have an awesome Tuesday!

While I was in Tucson I was looking through my father in laws scrapbook. He had this debonair look to him in all of his photos - looked like he lived an amazing life. I love that he has an album of his life for generations of the family to reflect on.                                                         I'm so thankful that God blessed me with having this caring and loving man in my life for 35 years. We're all still praying that he goes peacefully. When I spoke to my husband this morning he said that he's comatose. It's all so sad, but the family is abiding by his wishes to not to have feeding tubes or anything that would prolong his life. So all we can do is pray and wait. Many blessings on your Monday!

Home from Tucson... tired but happy that I went. My father in law came home on Saturday - I ended up seeing him after I said I wasn't. He was very aware of who was in the room - he tried sitting up to greet each of us and answered when we spoke to him. He didn't look as bad as I anticipated so I'm glad that I saw him again. On Friday the nurse said we were looking at 2 days - today she said Monday or Tuesday, but it's all in God's time. I'm just praying that he leaves us in his sleep with no pain. I did my Eegees and  Lucky Wishbone run and it was delicious!

I'm fried! I'm so exhausted from the week... I feel like I could sleep for 24 hours. It's the kind of exhaustion where you can't even have a conversation because your words come out completely wrong and you pretty much forget what you were going to say by the time you get the right words out. (maybe that part is old age) I'm not sure if I shared with you that my 2.5 year old granddaughter loves to drop the F bomb - once  she starts she just keeps going with it like she's possessed. Here's an example - My daughter's boyfriend came over and here comes Makenna walking down the hall with her hands on her hips..."What you doing in my house, you here every night, this is my house you need to get the F out. (her hand is now waving and head bobbing) You go to your F***ing house, this not your F***ing house."  That's just part of the dialog that went on.                                   ...

I stayed the night in Tucson Saturday at my in-laws home. I was actually excited to get away for some much needed rest and quiet. I love my solitude and haven't had it in a few months - I knew I would be able to sit and read with no noise or interruptions since they nap all day and go to bed at 7p.m. What I didn't anticipate was me eating dinner at 4:30 p.m. and falling asleep at 8 and actually sleeping through the night... love senior living! As for my husband, going to bed at 8 had him awake at 4 a.m sitting in the dark reading on his nook. I was going to blog from their house, but remembered that they have dial up - no one has time for that. So, we did a few chores around the house for them... like digging up a tree and St Joseph - replanting the tree in a different area and reburying St. Joseph... ate breakfast and headed back to Phoenix. Back to reality! Have a blessed Sunday! Senior Humor http://www.pruneville.com/

Paul Bunyan in Tucson, AZ Today is National Paul Bunyan Day. All I could think of when I read that today is National Paul Bunyan Day is growing up in Tucson, Arizona and seeing the statue on the corner of Stone and Glenn. (2811 North Stone Ave.) I remember as a kid always being in awe of it for some crazy reason, and years down the road pointing him out to my children - even pulling into the parking lot for my kids to stand by him and touch him. All my Tucson friends probably know that this statue has been used to navigate people since the 60s and has been seen in movies such as Easy Rider, Pocket Money, and Alice Doesn't Live Here Any More. I heard that his axe was stolen but replaced, and that a new paint job was given to Mr. Bunyan with Coronado Heights Neighborhood." written across his chest. Author:Deanie Burris Paul Bunyan was purchased by Leo Toia (owner of Leo's Auto & Home Supply) in 1964.  Paul was delivered via flat bed trailer from Cali...

I'm torn on what I want to talk about this morning since I have a few things on my mind. But what I'm thinking about at this moment is my son moving back to Phoenix over the weekend. If you have read some of my previous blogs you know that my son's biological mother did drugs during her pregnancy and my son was born drug addicted. It has been a roller coaster ride for all involved for many years now. On January 1st he moved to Tucson so I thought maybe he had finally hit rock bottom, had an epiphany, or maybe he had just had enough. All that mattered was that he had removed himself from a toxic environment and was going to change. Although his initial intention may have been to get it all together, something changed. Unfortunately, that means it has changed for each of us. The lies, items getting stolen from the house, mood swings, no job or motivation to get one, and broken promise after broken promise. Every drug addict or alcoholic that I know all have the same stori...

Yesterday we did a quick road trip to Tucson to visit my son...he is currently living with my sister and brother in law.  The trip started out okay...Kelsey brought homework to work on, I brought a book and a sick two year old,( Makenna) and Tom drove. Here we are flying down the freeway listening to our jams with Makenna's arms raised in the air while squealing wee like she's on a roller coaster ride, as we drive over the ramp. Then Tom  say's, "There goes one of our hubcaps... there goes another one.             I'm hoping this isn't a sign that this is going to be a bad road trip. Seriously, we're only driving 130 miles. But shortly after the hubcaps flew off Makenna's Tylenol wore off. She wants to get out of her seat so she slips both arms out of the straps as she begins throwing everything in reach while screaming No! Yup, this is definitely the road trip from Hell. Why do I do this to myself? I knew I should of brought my wine purse pack...

How many of you have major hair issues? I've been fighting with my hair since my first hair cut it in 6th grade. It probably didn't help that it was cut at the neighborhood barber shop - Al's in Tucson. There's times that I miss the days of my braided pigtails being held up by the rubber bands with the big colorful balls...hair life was easy back then. If you're not African American or don't have thick curly hair, you probably haven't experienced the nightmare of finding someone to give you a good cut. It was Feb 16, 2011 when I last cut my hair. I went to an acquaintance that I like and trusted - he assured me he could cut ethnic hair. I'm not going to judge him and say that he can't, but mine he couldn't. I also have to take into consideration that he had just returned from New York Fashion Week interviewing designers and celebrities for a week. As a result, he was exhausted and over booked when he returned. I know, that should have been my red...