Updates

by Martha

Today's high, keeping in mind, this is in the shade: 111.4.

Many people comment, "Oh, I imagine it's starting to cool off out there." Well, not really. Just take a look at today's high. It's been this hot, or hotter, all week. I guess if you consider 115 and 121, yeah, it's "cooling off."

I really miss Fall. At our NC house, I had planted mums everywhere and came to LOVE them. Our first year, I started with the small $1.99 plants, and by the time we left, they were not only blooming all year, they were absolutely HUGE. I'm sure they are in full bloom right now. Here, I'm just waiting for it to cool off so I can buy some "summer flowers." Apparently, gardening season is Oct/Nov until April. I love to garden and miss it very much. I can't wait to get some new container flowers since I can't actually have an in ground garden. I guess I'll have to buy some big, Arizona clay pots. I, check that, we all really miss Fall right now!

Our church update-we went to two, count them, two churches today. One was so bad we didn't even go in. The second one was awful too. We attended that service, and man, it was bad, from the music to the pastor, bad, bad, bad. I think we've now been to eight or nine churches. Basically, we've been to a new church every week since arriving, only missing our San Diego weekend. We're beyond frustrated and at the end of our line. There's just not more out there to try. I'm really so frustrated with it, I can't even begin to describe or write. Both Edward and I are absolutely shocked and blown away we're in such a strange situation. We both dearly miss having a church home and church friends. We haven't had any sort of Bible Study or Christian devotional group since the middle of June. For us, that's huge. We've always attended Sunday School/Bible Studies; we really enjoy them, and this is just unacceptable to us. There's nothing on post; we've checked. We just don't know where to go from here.

Another annoyance to report-THE POOL IS CLOSED FOR THE SEASON! What???? Yes, that's right, it's 111 degrees, and our pool is now closed until May. Aggh! We love the pool and walk over to use it every weekend (because it's been closed during the week all month). We were even there Friday night for a birthday party, and then again Saturday night for the big closing with a "Dive In Movie," which is basically showing a movie on a big screen at the pool. You can swim or not and watch the movie. We enjoyed Cars, but were sad to see the pool close.

Another new issue-Snowbirds. They are coming in droves with their huge Rvs, campers, and trailers. It's really insane. They say Yuma goes from 125,000 people to over 500,000 during the winter months. I believe it. Now, the lines at the stores are starting to get longer, and the roads are starting to get congested. Ahh, snowbirds. Edward and I realized that of the last seven plus years we've been married, we've spent over half of them in hot climates with snowbirds.

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On a brighter note, Madison is pleased with my most recent purchase. I saw this at Frys this weekend and had to get it for her. She sits at the counter, does her puzzles, and stares at the cactus. She'll even talk to it. It's very sweet.

Luke didn't seem to care about the cactus. As far as bringing things home from Frys, he requested tomatoes, which are his new favorite food. I buy a carton of the small grape tomatoes, and he'll eat all of them. The kid loves tomatoes, and so do I! I eat them pretty much everyday of the summer.