March in Like a Lion

Of course, everyone knows the weather axiom, ā€œMarch in like a lion and out like a lamb.ā€Ā  March being March is unpredictable. It’s never really fair to treat Phoenix weather as typical, but March is certainly acting as transitional here as it is in other parts of the country.  Gorgeous pool weather last week and […]

Pet Food Storage

The pet feeding and watering station recently moved from the laundry room to the kitchen.  Which I’ll explain shortly.  But the pet food storage situation was quite unattractive and needed some attention if it was going to remain in such a prominent space in the house. We’ve had some litter box issues the past few […]

Costco Haul and RecommendationsĀ Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā 

Today I’m sharing a portion of our Costco haul and recommendations on what we like. My allergies have been insane this month and I needed some more generic Allegra.  Costco has the best price on that (cough, cough) so we took the plunge and headed there on a Sunday morning.  Everyone who doesn’t go to […]

Time for a New Routine

One month into retirement, two sets of house guests, 4,000 miles across the country and I’m saying it’s time for a new routine.  Time to start living my new life as a retiree.  Again, that is. I haven’t had a chance to establish a new routine, so now I’m plotting that out. Cooking and Cleaning […]

Hitting the Road with Some of My Oldest Friends

Because gifted authors use settings as characters which are rich and alive, our road trip traveling through the South has made me feel like I was hitting the road with some of my oldest friends as many wonderful books were brought to mind. Texas Friends Traveling between Austin and San Antonio brought to mind Tres […]

Baton Rouge, New Orleans, Biloxi and Mobile

Moving on from the wonderful time we had in the Lafayette area, we visited Baton Rouge, New Orleans, then Biloxi and Mobile.  Here are a few things we did. Louisiana’s state capitol in Baton Rouge was a new stop for us. I’ve been to NOLA several times, but not BR. No offense to anyone in […]

Lafayette, Louisiana Highlights

Would you call me crazy if I said trees were my favorite of the Lafayette, Louisiana highlights?  I am utterly obsessed with Southern Live Oaks and magnolia trees.  The camellias here are also as large as trees so let’s throw them into the mix too. There must be a hundred photos on my phone of […]

Choosing Between Chain and Boutique Hotels

While planning our trip we batted around lodging choices and even considered camping along the way.  Somehow that got nixed so we’ve been staying in hotels. This is how we’ve been choosing between chain and boutique hotels. It’s a balance between budget, comfort, safety and hopefully a little charm if we can find that too. […]

Packing a Portable Party

My darling friend Jann and her fam get together from different states and do a big super bowl party in a casino suite in Reno where she lives. They love this tradition and love it even more when their team the Seahawks are playing. Well, no such luck this year, but they’re doing it up […]

One Way to Pack Clothes for a Long Road Trip

There are a number of ways to get creative when packing clothes for a long road trip.  Here’s what I decided to do. DF Shira has a lot of experience with long trips and gave me the suggestion of packing daily outfits in two-gallon storage bags, placing them in bins and then transferring daily needs […]