Finally!!!

At last! We are experiencing a true winter in Arizona. Low's in the evenings in the mid to upper 40's, and mid 60's to 70's during the day with wonderful sunshine. If this is what it's all about, then we can certainly tolerate winters here.

We have experienced just about every kind of weather here...rain, snow, wind, cold, warm, sunny, earthquake. What?! Yeah, earthquake that registered a 3.2 on the Richter scale. Oh no, that's right, that wasn't a true earthquake. It was me hitting the ground on the tennis court. Not a pretty sight at all. Luckily, I do bounce quite well. It wasn't easy explaining to the residents that it was not a true earthquake, and that the hole in the court would be fixed in no time.

Our new life is pretty darned good. I liken it to when we were newlyweds without all the heavy breathing. But seriously, it's just the two of us and the dog in a small living space, and we are adjusting much as we did 40 years ago in our first apartment. Actually, the first apartment was a bit bigger, except the kitchen in the apartment was a converted closet and you had to stand at the side to open the oven, but it too was cozy. Mike and I work together fixing meals and cleaning up. No dishwasher, but washing and drying of the dishes is as minimal as possible. That's not to say we don't fix nice meals, or that I don't bake anymore, because we do. We also get to do whatever we want whenever we want. We highly recommend it to anyone who wants to reconnect in their marriage.

Mike and I participated in a tennis invitational with another resort. It was strictly for fun, and lasted the entire day. Good fun, tennis, and sun. Then last night we were included in a "block" party. About 26 of us gathered with our chairs in the street around a propane powered fire pit. One neighbor cooked the hot dogs and the rest of us brought a dish. What fun!!

We're hoping to plan a hike up part of Superstition Mountain this week. We'll find out how much hiking and climbing I can tolerate. We plan to carry a lunch with us and just take our time and see how far we can go. Saturday, we are both volunteers for the FDR Golf Tournament. Can you imagine, we are part of "security". Woo hoo. Mike's hoping we get to carry firearms. We will be on the 17th green, and have no idea all that we are required to do. Should be great fun, plus maybe we'll get to see some famous golfers up close and personal. Then on Sunday, we are hoping to attend the National Hoop Dancing contest at the Heard Museum of the America Arts. It will be a chance to see a lot of Native American activities and art. I have to thank my baby brother Phil for telling us about it.

That's about it for now. Hope you are all tolerating the winter as well as we. Spring is just around the corner. Take care and drop an email once in a while.

Love, Mike & Sandy