Beep, Beep
I’ve talked before about the interesting variety of birds we enjoy here in our AZ home. There are the ever-present mockingbirds, one of which has once again built a nest in the tree in our front yard. Bill knows this because the other day when he was cleaning up the yard, Mommy Mockingbird was scolding him like crazy. We have hummingbirds (because the neighbors feed them) and quail. We see the occasional hawk flying high above us in the sky. We have seen turkey vultures who once in a while hang out if Bill is working in the back yard. They are waiting for an accident to happen. This year we have a new addition to our bird family – a roadrunner. He/she is seen frequently running – as road runner are wont to do – across the our back yard cement block fence as it makes its way across all of our neighbors fences. The roadrunner  is very cute and it makes us laugh every time we see him (or her) run past. We, of course, think about the famous cartoon Road Runner and his nemesis Wile E. Coyote. We await the coyote’s arrival and watch the skies for a dropping anvil. See the resemblance?…..

Barbie Has to Use the Bathroom Too
I often stop and shop at the Dollar Tree store where everything is – ONE DOLLAR. I love the dollar store, but I have learned some lessons by shopping there. Some things are good to buy and some things are good to pass up. Greeting cards, for example, are great to buy at the dollar store because who really reads greeting cards anyway. If I’m taking food to a potluck and want to have a relatively pretty bowl, I will buy a clear plastic bowl at the dollar store because it’s fairly pretty and I don’t have to worry about cleaning it up or somehow getting it home. Toss it away – it was only a dollar. However, gift wrap – no; cleaning products – not so much; canned goods – I’d be too scared. Anyhoo, I recently was buying something at Dollar Tree and came across the teeny-tiniest package of toilet tissue I have ever seen. I don’t know if you can tell how small the rolls are in this photo where they are sitting next to my regularly-sized tissue rolls…..

The size made me laugh, but what really made me laugh is the notice on the front of the bag: 60% MORE SHEETS PER ROLL! My heavens, the rolls must seriously have only had about 25 sheets to them.

Surprise Visit
Jen was scheduled to fly home on Monday after spending the week out here visiting. We said our good-byes Sunday evening because she spent the night with Maggie and Mark and her grands. Her plane was to take off around 10 in the morning, so I was surprised to see my phone ring indicating a call from her around that time. Her flight had been canceled due to high winds in Denver. Jen’s son BJ lives in Fort Collins, and he said the winds were so high it could blow away a small dog! So she spent one more night than she expected. Her grands got a surprise when she was with Maggie to pick them up from school. Lilly was happy, but sternly told Jen, “Grammie, my grandpa is coming tomorrow, so you have to go home.” Mark’s dad arrived Tuesday from Chicago for a visit. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Our grandkids keep us honest.

Something For Everyone
Bill’s membership in the Screen Actors’ Guild allows us to see most of the movies that are ultimately nominated for Academy Awards. So we were able to see Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri, Lady Bird, I Tonya, and many others. The Shape of Water, which won the Oscar for best picture, is also available for us to watch, but no thanks. I am not interested in a love relationship between a mute woman and an amphibian/human creature. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

Ciao!