Is it March already?

During our Florida stay my mother in law was kind enough to indulge me with a classic childhood photograph of my husband Rob.  What a cute face and adorable "Robert" t-shirt, so innocent he was back in the day.

Even more random excitement happened the other day when I witnessed my beta fish Churro jump out of his bowl and nip at my 14 year old cat Zeppy after the feline got a little bit too close for comfort.  Zeppy only leaned in for a quick sniff and possible lapping up of the water when Churro made a stand in defense of his watery abode.  It was a Youtube moment that I wish I had captured...it would've been a money maker. 

Counting down...4 more days until spring break, mom visiting and sleeping in! ☺

Florida Vacation, Wedding Celebration!

We got on a plane late wednesday afternoon with the rush of the day still on my shoulders we boarded our flight to visit with Rob's mother Joyce (now my mom, too) and the family to share cousin Kristen's wedding celebration.  I hadn't seen most of Rob's family since our wedding so it was nice to reunite with some and get to know more of the others.  I thought my family was extensive.  Although, I do believe this little mini break proved me wrong.  

Joyce & Sonny welcomed us with open arms late last Wednesday night and we were quickly brought to visit with some family already in for the weeknd events.  It was nice to see some familiar faces when I walked into the room.  The following day Joyce & Sonny took us down to Ft. Laurderdale beach.  We walked around and took in the sights oceanside.   

Here is Rob & his mom Joyce posing for the camera woman.  The weather was slightly overcast Thursday.  It wasn't the 77 that we left back in the desert but we made the best of it.  When I return to the ocean, I realize how much I miss it every single time...the small of the beach, the wide open Atlantic Ocean...even though I have been out in Arizona almost 15 years a part of me still considers the ocean smelling like home.  Thursday night we met up with more of the family for a big pizza dinner in Deerfield Beach.  Sixteen of us, some tables and some good Italian food hit the spot which made for a perfect first full day in Florida.

Friday morning we started the day off with a great big breakfast and relaxed at the condo.  The clouds were starting to part mid day before we started to get ready for a cocktail party at 7:30.  We got there early and walked around viewing the night life and ran into tennis pro John McEnroe in the middle of Atlantic Avenue...wasn't expecting that.  We soon made it to the cocktail hour location. This is where we saw all of Rob's family.  There were 180 people invited to the wedding.  I would say that at least 100 were there at the Calypso Restaurant that evening.  I have never gotten so many hugs and kisses in one evening, they all welcomed me into the family, it was the best feeling ever! Everyone was getting really excited to celebrate the big day for Kristen and Mike (who, I found out lived in Newton, MA).  Many of his friends were in from that area too.   I tell you it's a small world. 

Saturday morning we had a quick breakfast followed by getting ourselves ready for the wedding.  Since we were 25 minutes from the wedding location in Delray we wore clothes for the wedding at 2 pm and made plans to change at the resort (reception location) at 6 pm.  With our evening best in the car we were off to Delray Beach.  We stopped for a deli sandwich break, what a tasty treat and made it to the church on time.  The interior was all wood with bright lamps scattered across the tiers of the ceiling for a beautiful traditional setting for the wedding vows.

With a classic church wedding and the I do's said and done we met everyone poolside at the Delray Marriott Resort for drinks and relaxing before the cocktail/hors d'oeuvre hour and reception.  We were able to catch the bride in the foyer of the resort.  Here is Rob and his cousin Kristen posing for me before the reception.  She made a stunning bride.  Remember her mother Grace read a Navajo poem at our wedding. We were very happy to be part of her daughter Kristen's wedding day.  It was a beautiful wedding weekend.  I believe Kristen & Mike are still enjoying their honeymoon in the St. Lucia islands, ahhh the honeymoon days ☺

 The wedding lasted well into the night.  We were filled with great food, great memories and great fun!  The next morning we woke up early to go have a breakfast with Sonny's daughter and husband who were in town too.  We quickly turned ourselves around, all packed and ready to go to Boynton Beach to meet with Rob's family for a bbq.  This is where we finalized our Florida vacation time.  Thanks to Joey & Wendy we got another couple hours to hang with everyone and say our goodbyes with lots of food in our bellies.  I am very lucky to have married into such a great family, they all made me feel like I've been a there for years...what a great feeling that is.☺ A great big thanks to all my extended Mazza & Tardy family!  A special thanks to Joyce & Sonny who put us up during the 5 days...we miss you!

From left to right: Joyce, Sonny, Aunt Barbara, Uncle Tony, Aunt Annettee & Rob in the back.

Remembering Copperwynd...Our Wedding Location

This Valentine, Olympic watching and eventful three day weekend got off to a great start.  The kids at school all had Valentine's Day fun with candy, parties and lots of cupcakes.  I ended up getting  an assortment of little cards, gifts and a carnation.  I think it was the most stuff I had received in years.  I need to stay away from the cupcakes though.  They should have made the pictures but I over indulged.   

I had to pull over to the side of the road on Friday to capture the sun setting.  It was like an egg yolk dipping down into the background. The silhouette of the rural landscape made for an interesting horizon line.

Saturday night was Rob and I's official Valentine's Day dinner at Alchemy at Copperwynd.  Copperwynd Resort was our wedding location.  If you click on their website you will see that the dining restaurant is the only open accomodations to the public.  The resort itself has been closed for 6 months now although there were lights on in some of the rooms when Rob and I took a romantic, reminiscent stroll after dinner.  

Our reservations were for 5 pm.  Yes, that is early but Rob works at an ungodly morning hour.  Having a 7 o'clock reservation would have put both of us at the point of starving.  We eat dinner practically every night around 6 pm, if not earlier.  Rob started to open the front door of Copperwynd for me just in time to catch these 4 men oddly dressed up in full "cowboy" attire.  You don't usually see that walking around Fountain Hills but I figured hey, I hadn't been out to this spot since October of '08 so maybe things have changed...my mind was open for any and all possibilities.

We got seated right at the window closest to the great view.  A moment after we got our menus and the waiter took our drink order in walks the unordinarly dressed cowboys.  All four men took the same steps into the Alchemy Resturant that I took just before I walked "down the aisle" for my wedding.  Since we were one of only two patrons dining at that moment the men appeared to be walking straight for our table.  They paused and turned to the party right next to us and proceeded to break out into song.  Their rendition of classic love songs filled the dining room.  Our waiter couldn't even speak loud enough to tell us the specials or take our order, he basically mimicked that he'd have to wait until they were finished.  Two guitar accompanied tunes and one a cappella song later the early evening entertainment had come to an end. 

Although the real humorous end to this unexpected musical adventure quickly unfolded before my eyes.  The four "cowboys" had to take a  commemorative photo with the ladies they serenaded.  My handy cell phone camera quickly made an appearence just in time to make Rob become a part of the literal end of the cowboy's performance.  Rob's face pretty much says it all...priceless! 

Our choice of entrees were different than the night of the wedding.  Rob had pork and I had the duck (Dad would've approved).  My duck was paired with butternut squash ravioli and drizzled glaze that was quite delightful.  I rarely, if ever, have duck and Rob tends to pick other choices over pork but for some reason we were both inspired.  Was it the cowboy quartet? Or the romantic wedding spot? Or the waiter's suggestions? Who knows ...it was a great meal although I wouldn't pick the pear tartlette next time, a piece of our wedding cake would have been a better ending to the meal. 

The night sky quickly surrounded us bringing our dinner to an end yet Rob said we should still take a walk out onto the grass we got married on.  We preceeded to walk out on the terrace where we had our cocktail hour between our ceremony and reception, down the stairs under the tree where they took all our traditional wedding photos and finally out onto the grass, under the stars where we said our vows to each other.  The grass was not green and all the flowers weren't in bloom but we stood there recalling the day of our wedding with the stars still shining bright and that same breathtaking view.  We marked each special spot with a Valentine's Day kiss...I guess I need to credit Rob with those romantic moments.  ♥ Thanks sweetheart ♥ 

On Sunday Rob gave me a sweet Valentine's Day card with his hand written personal words included as always and a dvd of This is it, a documentary of Michael Jackson's last days on his world tour preparations.  It was one of many dvd's I had been wanting.  With all the 3D movies coming out now MJ's live concert performance would have been leading the pack.*  I made Rob ginger cookies from scratch, the scent of the warm cookies still lingers in the house.   I also got him a gift card to his favorite hardware store Harbor Freight.  He will put that to good use for sure.  All and all it made for an interesting weekend.   We have planned a bike ride after Rob gets off work Monday which will finish off a great three day weekend.  ☺

Here is my MJ side note.  *I remember back in the late 80's my family travelled to Disney World.  There was a Michael Jackson 3D movie they were showing in the Epcot Center part of the park.  It was one of his short movies, like the one he did for Thriller.  It was very sci fi and it had an edge to it, all I remember is that it amazed me!  There were lazers and smoke the enhance the scenes.  I remember coming out of it like I was coming back from a different part the world...an epic movie/video going experience...

Girls Nite Out & Short Work Days

This weekend was a celebration/ farewell to Cindy who will be moving at the end of the month.  We needed one final girls night out.  Cindy, Stacey, Orla, Jen, Kelly, Kristene & I began the evening at Caffe Boa for some good wine and organic bistro dining, which then led to a new Irish bar in tempe called Robbie Fox and finally we closed out the night at the Big Bang, a dualing piano bar.  

Tempe has changed so much.  I think Cafe Boa used to be a spaghetti Italian joint that was one of the first restaurants my parents and I ate at out here.  It has been many different places since then.  Robbie Fox use to be this bar called Palapa Bar, which was one of the many bars that I once bar hopped back in my college days.  If I'm not mistaken the Big Bang was once just a resturant. The wide open grassy knoll is no more and the high rised buildings surrounding Mill Ave practically swallow it whole.  I only see a small glimpse of what Tempe once was back when I moved out here in '95.  Although the scenery has changed the good times had with friends has not. 

It's been a while since I have spent a night out on the town yet I think it was long overdue.  We even got the girls up on stage to serenade Cindy with the classic song Mekong.  I couldn't resist capturing the moment on camera. I can't even count the number of Refreshment & Peacemakers songs that they could have played to remind us of all the good time we've had over the years.  Another milestone...

☻ The rest of this week is parent teacher conference week so the days will be shorter so all the parents can come and talk to their kid's teachers about report cards and such.  This is usually the time when I, professionally, get a lot of organizing and preparation accomplished.  In elementary school parents rarely, if ever, visit their child's art teacher.  If they do, it's usually to just give a friendly hello while they are on campus.  I do very much enjoy the shortened days during this week though (no complaints here).☻

The Ski Legs Return in Pinetop!

Rob and I ventured up to Pinetop, AZ with a whole crew of winter weather fans, 16 people to be exact.  The group was able to rent a beautiful chalet and guest house for the weekend.  The wood oasis gave us lots of room, a home-like appeal and opened the inner love for bear paraphernalia.  The house was fully decorated with them.  Rob and I had the cutest little room upstair there was no denying the owners really loved this place. 

We were the last car to make the trek up north and the driving conditions were a little tough at the end.  I don't usually see heavy fog and large snow drifts.  Our fearless driver made it safety up to our destination just north of Show Low, AZ.  The next day we were ready to start early and head to Sunrise Mountain for some long awaited skiing. 

We were up early and ready to go.  Most of the group was heading to  Sunrise yet some of the crew stayed back and planned a sledding adventure instead.  This is where Rob and I went our separate ways.  His heel hurt yet he felt okay enough to hit the sled slopes, if you will.  We even travelled up with this truck inner tube that Rob had inflated and we all got high off the rubber fumes while adjusting to the higher altitudes on the car ride up.  I jumped in the car with a bunch of skiers anxious to see if I could actually ski after 9 years. 

Thankfully after strapping on some rented skis, slipping into my old ski boots and pushing myself up into the lift line I knew I was back in my element.  The 20 some odd years of skiing under my belt had not vanished.  It was official, I got my ski legs back!  The cold metal seat of the chair lift, the wind nipping at your face and the aches and pain of ski gear brought it all back...I used to do this practically every winter for most of my young life.  9 years couldn't hide that fact.

I managed to do 7 runs while most of the skiing crew, except one, cashed in their chips early realizing that skiing indeed does a job on your body.  We had a couple snowboards in the group but they weren't any different than I would say 70% of the mountains population.  The two ski route is almost obsolete.  Sunrise was FILLED with snowboarders, the new craze that I rarely saw years ago on the slopes...now its like a sea of winter surfers floating down the white hills.  I have tried the snowboarding in the past and it requires some skill but it's not for me.  Times have changed, I accept that yet I will not bow down to that trend...I am sticking with the classsic Rossignal boards. 

We ended the day with most people in the lodge and me itching for one more run.  I attempted a black diamond, something I used to ski down with ease back in my heyday.  I saved it for last.  My eyes caught a steep trail, full of powder and slightly groomed from snowboarders.  At the top the fresh powder was up past my knees.  As I made my way on a groomed side of the trail I came to a point where it was all deep snow the rest of the way.  I took one final picture just in case I didn't make it down in one piece.  I turned around, bit the bullet and just gave it my best.  There were several turns where I felt like my legs were going to give out and I was going to hurl myself head over feet down the trail.  The sun was shining and I was determined to make it without any humiliation.  Jen was my witness, I did make it down safely with no spills yet my legs were shaking with fatigue.  It was worth it and it made for a super final run at Sunrise. 

After the long day of winter adventures we had a late dinner at Red Devil's pizza place down the street from the cabin and we pretty much all crashed after dinner.  The next day it was scrounging up some breakfast, packing our belongings and getting ready for the drive back to the valley.  We had a great trip, well worth the wait of 9 years.  Hopefully we will get up there again another winter season for some winter fun!  ☻

Wet Hands, Wet Week & Dusty Boots

I am working on a new project with my 6th graders.  We have been centered around a theme of advertisement in art this year.  My goal was to get them to understand that art is not just what they do in class with me.  Art has a common thread throughout and can be incorporated into other real life arenas.  So far, so good. 

I am borrowing another art teachers lesson idea and they are to create a giant paper mache candy bar.  The will be creative their own candy bar name and style.  I thought taking some step by step pictures on how to create the base or armature for the giant candy bar may help in the creative stage.   Many kids have a tough time on the building stage.  I have that sculpture mind and I try my best to get them to understand and use their sculptural part of their brain.  You will have to check back to see what the kids come up with for this project.   I am anxious to see the results.

Let me explain this one.  Don't flip your head to the side, this is the ceiling of the roof over our garage.  The bike is hanging upside down on hooks and the garage door is open.  The rain we had last week took yet another toll on our poor rented house's roof.  During the first wave of storms we had the management company send out their "fix-it" guy to mend the leak.  The patch job he did lent itself quickly to another leak with the next batch of storms.  It was falling apart and needed to be opened again to prevent the section from falling on my car.  Rob went up on the roof after the rain ceased and put a coat of tar on the tiles above this hole.  So far the rain hasn't come down hard enough for it to leak and he won't do a proper patch job on the interior until he sees if there's still a leak.  To make a long story short the hole remains open indefinitely.  It makes for a conversation piece.

Here is my sunset picture from the backyard.  It was cloudy most of last week.  Here is evidence of the 5% of cloudy weather days we see here in Arizona.  Crazy winds, pounding rain storms and even tornado watches hit the valley.  My school took on a pond-like status for three days because we just don't see a lot of rain around here and it turns things into a wet circus.  I had Rob's unbrella one day after school and the wind flipped the sucker inside out on  me...I thought that only happened in movies?  The weather has improved around here so far and I don't think we have any storms in our forecast. 

My old ski gear made an apperance over the weekend.  Here are my old ski boots ready for the slopes.  They are severely dusty but in good working condition.  With some adjustments I was back in them like old times.  I am without the long boards because they still prefer the cold weather back in Boston and I had never made the effort to lugged them to Arizona over the last 14 years.  I was just back there in December yet didn't know I would be going skiing sooner rather than later.  I will have to bring them back over the summer time...that should be interesting.  I have a tag on my ski coat that says 2001 Mount Sunapee, Newbury, NH. It's official, I have been off my "ski legs" for 9 years!  WAY TOO LONG! Now that's embrassing.  We are heading off this weekend ☺

We just made Chicken Kiev for dinner tonight.  Instead of butter inside I replaced it with cheddar cheese, green onions and thyme then dipping it in bread crumbs.  Now that was a tasty treat!  I skipped the chilling stage and it was a tad messy but it still turned out appetizing.  The husband (aka. human disposal) had no complaints.  We topped off things with dessert...a warm chocolate chip mint cookie bar with vanilla bean ice cream.♥

Low key, Long weekend

Long weekends are a tease.  Your body realizes it has an extra day to sleep in then BAM, you're  back to waking up a 5 am again the next day.  The weekend was pretty uneventful.  I didn't watch the Cardinals lose like most of the people in the valley, I went food shopping on Saturday night (I am OLD) and watched the Golden Globes from start to finish Sunday night.  The highlight of the long weekend was having Vicki and Jen come over for a girlie Monday lunch today.  I cooked up some beef tacos with chips and salsa and the dessert surprise was chocolate chip ice cream sandwiches.  Rob came home in the midst of our luncheon and had to partake in some of the food, no surprise there.  I am glad that were able to come by,for a good chat and hangin at the new pad. 

I am looking forward to a short work week.  Next weekend there is a 1st birthday party we will be attending on Friday.  The following weekend we will be making our way up to the high country to experience the cold that most of the nation is enduring.  This is what Arizona residents of the Valley do, they actually escape to the cold weather.  Most escape from the cold weather, ironic but that's how the desert people do it around here.  It should be interesting.  Most of the people who are going are from the midwest or east coast so it won't be too much of a shock to the system.  I am hoping to get myself on skies after a decade of not hitting the slopes. Pinetop, AZ here we come! 

The last time I skiied was with my father.  He wanted to take one more trip during my winter vacation home before the season was over.  We were both really rusty and even I felt old because it had been several years since I strapped on some boards.   Speaking of feeling old.  Here is a classic late 80's shot of my brother and father with Rossi's in hand ready for Attitash Mountain, NH.  I can't count how many times we took the ski lift up Attitash over and over again.  I remember the numb feeling in my hands and feet getting worse and worse with every run yet we kept going, my nose running like a river and the vision in my goggle was like a London fog.  After 5 runs (give or take) we would make our way into the ski lodge for some lunch; hot soup, hamburger or grilled cheese were among my favorites. Our clothes soaked with wet snow, fingers frozen barely able to take off enough gear to eat.  After stuffing our bellies with food we were back out there trying to get in as many runs before the last lift went up.  I  have to say some of the best times of my childhood, skiing up in New Hampshire with my family and friends.  I could go on and on about those stories...yet I digress. 

Treadmill ressurection, Spumoni ingestion

The exercise gods are smiling down on me tonight!  We now have resurrected the treadmill back to its original functioning order. The disasembled heap of metal in the office has left.  It required the purchasing of parts from the manufacturer to fashion the equipment back together again.  Necessary parts arrived and my highly skilled handyman husband Rob assembled it to its present state☻.  Morning, night or midday I will be able to get my exercise on, once again.  It's been way too long ♥.

The first week back to school was like a nice long deep breathe....namaste.  The first couple days of seeing kids was pretty mello then the moonset or position on Thursday must have created a cosmic wave and the behavior of the kids went wild!  Either that or they put something in the water.  Monday back today was fairly mellow.  I am back to teaching after school academy again.  My class was tiny today, 3 absent so we had a very small reading lesson.  Tomorrow is a long night with a WDEA Executive Board Meeting.  It sounds fancier than it is.  I get to be madame secretary and type all the lovely notes down from the meeting.  I am just hoping that we get out before 6:30pm.  The meeting tends to overshoot the finality of the timeline, I have to make efforts to enourage ending on time tomorrow.  We do get some yummy food that night in addition to the meeting though ☻.  Speaking of food....

Rob and I went to downtown Phoenix to celebrate dual birthdays (Mondo and Jennica) at the Old Spaghetti Factory.  A large Italian family joint converted from an old hotel it looks, resides next to the new light rail.  The rustic resturant had a home feel spread over a large space.  Most of the birthday celebrating crowd used the new light rail.  Phoenix has entered the age of commuter transportation.  The light rail is a new option for the people of the Valley.  They are even working to get the light rail to get people to just outside the airport to limit congestion at

Sky Harbor.Rob and I took the Prius and practically coasted our way down to Central Ave, not far from the Phoenix Art Museum.   The dinner was good and the bread was spectacular.  Rob and I filled up on bread, a no no but it was soft, tasty and too yummy to turn away.  My two meatball plate accompanied bread, salad, drink and spumoni.  Rob let me have one of his spinach pasta pieces.  Good bang for the buck for sure!  Fun Times!

There are very few things in this life that are free.  I, for one, after 14 years being a Phoenician still enjoy the sunsets here.  I almost missed it on Thursday!   The sun sets earlier now so I had to go out and snag what little the sky had to offer.  It was overcast this day so it was hard to get a good sunset picture.  There was a beautiful scattering of clouds overhead.  It kept changing with every second.   It was pretty incredible once again giving me reason to go out and takes these pictures. I take them with my regular digital camera or my blackberry phone camera, which does have its moments of capturing a good shot or two.  It sure beats snow squalls, zero visability and dark dreary cold evenings.  Even on an overcast day, it is nice out here.  ☼