Happy NewYear

Joined Good Neighbor Kelley for a New Year's Eve feast. Great dinner of home made tamales and salad excellence! And of course, champagne!

Calabria Italian Geocery & Deli

Package arrives

The package arrived from my sister. I have been waiting to see this engineering feat after she told me the story about the shipping episode.

Here is an excerpt from her email:

The guy in the store was a 30 something tattooed dude (all over his head and neck – I didn’t look anywhere else) that I learned that he was the owner’s son. I was watching him in the back struggling to find a box that would fit, so he came back up front and asked me if I would have a concern with what the box would look like. I told him no, just as long as it gets to you I didn’t care what the box was and that he could reuse some boxes that he had lying around (again, better for the environment). Well, he took it to heart and found a box, put the stuff in, slit the box down the sides a few inches, then folded them in to form a shorter box, then taped the heck out of it. It looks like crap. He had it half way done and turned around to look at something up front and saw the look on my face (half shock, half laughter wanting to tell you the story). He asked “Is this ok?” I just said “Sure” and he went on, all proud of his engineering ability.

Red Leopard's First Home

Coming soon...Red Leopard...the new company

Stevie Wonder Concert

Stevie Wonder was so, well, Stevie. Great show and such an entertainer. I don't know if I could play in his band. He goes from song to song so quickly, then off on tangents to other music. Musical ADD? The concert was at the jobing.com Arena in Glendale, AZ. Our seats were on the floor in row 37. The crowd was on its feet for most of the concert. Played a lot of my favorites and some new peices. He also voiced his political/social/economic opinion...all to song.

Pat's birthday celebration

Cheesecake factory

Ladee K. Rickard, MBA
Sent from my iPhone

Jim's Surprise Party

Belated Happy Birthday to Jim! This was a wild west cookout and party in the desert at 136th Street and Dynamite Road. Janie had planned this for earlier in the year, but due to a family emergency the party was postponed. Friends and family all gathered at 3PM on Sunday to drive out to the outlying area of Scottsdale. Hosted by a friend of the family, we all joined in on the western fun with horses, cactus and a great clear sky. Jim was certainly surprised when he arrived in a horse drawn wagon to a "small gathering of friends" that turned out to be a crowd gathered in his behalf. Great job, Janie!!

Lined around a huge bonfire were about 10 Dutch ovens, cooking everything from appetizers to chicken and peach cobbler for desert. The ovens were placed on coals, and more coals were put on the lid. The orchestration of rotating the ovens (HOT ovens), and making coffee, all while telling outrageous (but true) cowboy stories made a fun night for all.

Jim saunters up to the table to get his fill of chicken, potatoes, beans, onions and other delights. Dinner was followed by an all star performance of "Oklahoma" , and country western dancing with lessons given by a favorite dance instructor. Jim learned the Arizona Two-Step and weaved his way around the dance floor.