SPRING CLEANING

I WISH I was as good as my one sister on spring cleaning. You can eat off her floors/walls/window sills/you name it. She was taught cleaning by our maternal grandmother and is the best. We are planning on visiting there in July and she is already at it!!

So, this morning I looked around and boy do I have a lot of cleaning to do. It's really hard to stay indoors when the weather is getting so nice and there's all kinds of cleaning and things to do outside. But I have to go thru the closet, thoroughly clean the bedroom. bed, windows, drawers, etc. ...and that's just the spare bedroom. My neice is coming for a visit in April and I will have to find another place to throw my clothes...you know, the ones that are cleaned but you just don't take time to put away when the bed is handy!!!!!

Now, Ron is estatic. He has a new Romba...the little circle sweeper that moves on its own from room to room. It was either a Romba or a dog and you don't have to feed the Romba. You would have thought it was Christmas time and he just got the gift he asked for. I had gone to bed early and he even woke me up to show it to me when UPS delivered it the other evening! He was waiting on a spa part that he needed the next day and the delivery of the Romba was like icing on a cake! So I don't have to worry about the floors in my cleaning.

I really do hate cleaning windows but it is time even if they will be opened. It's also a good time to pitch things and go thru paperwork.

So I think this weekend is going to be very busy!!!

BRANDON 3-21-10

WhenBrandon arrived Saturday afternoon he was not a happy camper. They had been to the Festival, he had not had a nap, he was hungry and he knew Mom & Dad were going to be leaving. However with toys, entertainment, and food he was out cold for the night at 7:30.

When he woke up at 3:30 in the morning he was a very happy little boy. Grandpa had been up earlier on the computer so he had some milk and played with grandpa and the toys. I got up around 5:30 and Grandpa went back to bed for a bit of a nap and Brandon just wanted to play and watch TV with Grandma.

Waffles and ham for breakfast. He was a hungry little boy by the time breakfast rolled around and was still wanting to play with the toys and the books. Grandpa was on the computer and Brandon was going thru the books...he loves books.

Then down for a bit of a nap at 10:30. Mom and Dad came and when he woke up he was even happier. His little face lights up when he sees his mommy. Daddy always walks him around the yard touching trees and talking about what things are. Brandon was also very interested in the boards Grandpa was cutting for Daddy.

Such a sweetie!!!!!

JOCELYN 3-19-10

Grandpa starts Joci on the "sugar" high right off...shopping at Sam's Club and eating a chocolate ice cream sundae!!! Joci is so very different than Joe...and should be. She's a girl and 2 years younger. I could see a lot of what Joe was like at 4 and more. She is definitely her own little person and so in control.

We started out Friday with donuts...homemade out of biscuits. Grandpa is so patient and lets her assist him, only she got a little bit of a grease splatter on top of her hand but she was way to busy with the donuts to worry about it until later.

Grandpa had a spa job so Jocie and Grandma ran errands. We got dressed and Joci decided that she wanted to weat her dress instead of shorts. First to Walmart to get some felt. I needed purple and dark blue but they only had dark blue so we got that and a pair of Cinderella PJs, of course. Then off to look for some sandles. We ended up at JoAnn's Fabrics and got the purple felt and a few other items like the Cinderella wooden doll that needed to be painted.

It was time for lunch and Grandpa wanted to go to run some errands so we stopped and ate at Ruby Tuesdays. Joci has always been a good little eater. She had the salad bar and really loved the spinach dip with the dark tortilla chips. AND, as you can see by the photo everyone thought she was the cat's meow!

Next on the agenda was Pedicures at Walmart at Signal Butt. You would have thought that no one in the place had ever seen a little girl all dressed up. You would have thought she was the queen of England. There were about 10 chairs and we had to wait...pretty much all filled with grandmas. And the staff were making such a big deal over and talking to her, etc. She picked out "pink" (of course) polish and they put flowers on her toes. (Grandpa could not believe how little they were as her toe nails are very little!). While they finished up with me she very politely sat with three ladies and chit chatted like a grown up. When we left she got hugs and waved good by to everyone. So cute!!!!

Home...grandma and grandpa were getting tired but just like Joe, Joci said she was not at all tired. However, after dinner, some ice cream and a bit of TV she was out!!!

Saturday we had to go back to JoAnn's for more fabric. I needed to make a couple of tri-folds/displays for CFR and Joci was my helper. She really did help with holding the material when I cut it and pressing out the bubbles when I glued it. She even had her own little display...hmmm...mommy forgot to take that...I wonder if that was on purpose!! :) She and grandpa also put some rock around the fire pit to make it look nicer. Even though she did not get in the spa she had to wear her green goggles around for a while and helped pick oranges and make juice.

Mom and Joe came to pick Joci up and I think she did miss them a little!
Grandkids are the BEST....

Joeseph 3-17-10

Joe/Grandpa/Grandma: Spring break so grandma took off work and the three of us spent a wonderful day together. As you can tell by the photos there was ice cream, sleeping/resting, using Google Earth to travel around, fishing, shopping, the ZOO, checking out Town Lake's rushing water and a beer (root) at the bar at Dirtwater Springs. Needless to say when I left for work this morning Joe was still asleep. I believe even though he kept saying he was not really tired...he really was tired!

The best was getting Joe his shark tooth necklace at the Zoo which came with 5 other different shark teeth. He now has them all memorized and ready to show and tell! They have been studying sharks at school and I had given him one on a black necklace cord that I had picked up from a garage sale and he could not find it to take to school. So he and grandpa, while googling earth also looked up where you could buy shark teeth and low and behold...the Zoo!!! Ron and I had not been to the Zoo for a long time so it was kind of nice to go, however Spring Break...WOW...lots of kids, groups, grandparents, moms!!!!!!

Joe is growing up so fast and gave us a wealth of information he has learned at school. I was amazed at how much he knows about animals and see why he still wants to be a Vet when he grows up. And when he's quiet you know he is taking in everything around him. I love that he still says I love you and hugs and kisses and says thank you and please, etc. etc. He is such a joy.

Me, I'm tired too...I wish I could have slept in!!!

HEARTS

The generosity given to Casting for Recovery and Breast Cancer Survivors from the Fly Fishing Community is unbelievable and wonderful!!!!!!!!

EVENTS

Mark your calendars and check back for more information:

Saturday, 3/6/10: Bass Pro Shop spring Fishing Classic

Saturday/Sunday, 3/27-28/10: AZ Game & Fish Dept. Expo at Ben Avery Shooting Facility

Sunday, 4/25/10: Desert Sportsmen's In-Store Expo, SW corner of Scottsdale Rd at Gold Dust...just south of shea blvd.

Saturday, 5/1/10: Rise for Recovery Bike Run ... stay tuned for more details soon

Sunday, 8/8/10: BUNCO for CFR at Mesa Hilton's Pavo Room ... stay tuned for more details

Saturday, 10/2/10: First Release ... Wine Tasting Event ... stay tuned for more details

81

...women have signed up to date for the Arizona Casting for Recovery retreat this year. 81!!!!! that is so wonderful in so many ways but also so sad. We can only have 14 survivors at our retreats so that leaves 67 ladies that won't be able to attend...that's very sad.

Even if they found a cure today, this very minute, think how many survivors are out there that need the support and recovery guidance...we will always be out there!!

Next year we will have two retreats...May and September...and that will allow 28 women to have this wonderful experience...which is great! We will continue to work toward more and more retreats so that more and more women will have this opportunity.

That said, we need to GROW...volunteers and funds. We are currently looking for someone to be our "contact" person(s). Be the one that rallies the troops when needed...keeps everyone in the cirlce of "know" as to happenings, etc. ...be that "contact" for the team. Please let me know if you can help us.

Also, keep going to our website, www.castingforrecovery.org They are constantly updating information, etc. and it has really grown as well.

Thank you all for your interest, consideration and support!!!

SUCCESS

OMG...the International Sportsmen Expo was a HUGE success. Our booth was three rows from the pond where they were having fly casting displays and contests. We met soooooooo many wonderful peope from such a wide variety of sports. And of course the fly fishing community was there. Our booth must have become known as the "HUG" booth...I know everyone knew where the "pink" ladies were located!!!

It is just amazing how many people are and have been touched by Breast Cancer. The weekend was a lot about hope. I am 7 years out. Anyone over 7 years is my hope...AND...I am hope for anyone under 7 years...and of course there were tears and hugs!

I got a lot of stuff for our retreat and events coming up and am still amazed by the generosity of so many. Reminds me of attending the "Pink Out" at Skyline High School last month. All you hear about are the "bad" teens. Let me tell you...that night I met a lot of "wonderful" teens.

I am a talker and really don't know too many strangers. I have to leave you with this one happening. As we were leaving Friday night I ran into one of the security guards. Very nice man. I asked if he had seen the "Night at the Museum" movie...about how many "mounted" animals were in the building and I hoped there weren't too many noises. We both had a big laugh...however....I sure would not have wanted to be there all night by myself with all of those animals!!!!!