Author: Rudy

Thursday: I woke up early today — like around 5 a.m. I spent a bit of time at the computer. After breakfast I read my Osama book — and continued to read that throughout the day. At around 11 Sue and I went for a decent hike around Silly Mountain.

After lunch Sue called Ken Neufeld on his cell phone — and found out that our friends are going golfing (18 holes) after lunch. We tried to book our own tee time but were surprised to find that nothing before 3:50 was available. That’s too late for us — we are hosting a dinner party tonight and need to be home for them by around 5:30. So we decided to forego golfing today. We both read for most of the early afternoon. Then, at around 3:30, we went to the golf course and hit a couple of buckets of balls. Didn’t really settle anything.

We came home and I showered while Sue started supper. And soon enough, our friends showed up. We sat around and visited; then I barbecued, then we had supper around the table. It all turned out pretty good. The food and the conversations were both great.

Our friends , the Newfelds and the Driedgers, seem to have had a good expeience here. Tomorrow the Driedgers will take Ken and Kaaren to the airport and bid them farewell. And then on Sunday we will take the Driedgers to the airport for their trip to Hawaii.

We watched a bit of ‘news’ (Republican Presidential debates) before going to bed.

Wednesday: A bit of reading this morning — still reading my Osama book which I find very interesting. After lunch we hopped on our bikes and returned our rental to Walgreen’s. Also took a spin through Mountain Brook (hoping to see Eric and Joyce?) on our way home. I did my best on the downhill but only managed 62.1 kph — 1 kph less than my record.

After showering, at around 4pm, we headed out in the van. We were supposed to be at Al & Shirl’s mobile home at around 4:30, but our ‘pit stop’ at the Wine Store in Santan Village took more time (and money) than we had planned on. Still, it was a good stop.

Shirley was sitting in a lawn chair on the driveway, reading, when we pulled into the trailer park. After a short tour of the trailer (where it appears they have put in some serious time cleaning and fixing things up), Shirley suggested that we go back to Santan to a Mexican restaurant for supper. Which we did. And there I stood outside and waited for them to show up. Which they didn’t. And Sue was none too happy about me ‘taking off’ on them. But they knew the address, and the direction, and they programmed it into their GPS.

Finally Sue asked to use the restaurant phone and phoned Al. They were lost. Just around the block. (Well, actually, as it turned out, they had missed the turn-off and had done a 12 mile loop along the 202 freeway first!) Okay, I’ll stand out here a bit longer and flag them down while Sue sits in a booth inside the restaurant and warms up. My shorts and sandals are NOT the right gear for this. And they don’t come driving by. For a long time. Sue finally calls Al again. Where are they? In front of such-and-such a restaurant. Hey, that’s 50 yards from where we are! I go back out to wave them in. They park the van. They were lost. Oh well, now they’re here. Let’s celebrate.

We had a nice meal. Then we visited. Then we started talking about whether or not Al should buy that trailer. And Sue and I basically said what we thought — which was exactly what we had decided we would NOT say. And Rudy thinks that Al will probably still buy it, and Sue thinks that Al will probably NOT buy it. We’ll see. Anyway, after all that, we still had a good visit. We’ll likely see them one more time before they head back home.

Back home we stopped at Bashas (what else is new?) for some more groceries before unloading our purchases and restocking our fridge. Then a glass of wine and some late night TV. And that’s the kind of day it’s been.

Tuesday: What a great day! Made a couple of phone calls this morning and then read my book again — which I hadn’t done for quite a few days. We had a late lunch. Sue went to Bashas to pick up some groceries. Then we high-tailed it out to Mountain Brook for our 3pm tee time. We hit a bucket of balls on the driving range before the round. Our games were okay — not as good as we thought we could have golfed, but the sky was clear, the sun was shining, and we were having fun.

After golf we went to Walgreen’s to pick up our movie rental. Then another stop at Bashas for beer and hotdog buns. I burned the burgers on the barbecue a bit, but that was probably the only disappointment of the day. After supper we sat down to watch our DVD — a pretty good movie called “The Ides of March”. After the movie we watched Frontline on PBS. All in all, a very good day.

Monday: After making a few ‘business’ phone calls Sue and I went for our morning hike up Silly Mountain. We walked quickly and managed to find a ‘new’ trail with great views of Superstition Mountain (under a dark cloudy sky — remnants of the weekend’s cool rainy weather). We were back home for lunch (and a load of laundry) by noon. After lunch Sue went to Bashas to buy supplies for tonight’s dinner.

I was sitting at my computer when Sue walks in with Al (Sue’s brother) and Shirl. They are staying in a trailer in Chandler. We had booked a 3pm tee time at Mountain Brook, so after a short bit of looking around our place we were off for 9 holes of golf.

The weather once again cooperated — it turned out to be a perfect afternoon for golf. By the ninth hole the sun was setting and doing its best to paint the shadows on Superstition Mountain.

We barbecued steak for supper. Sat around the table and visited. Had frozen yoghurt for dessert. By around 9pm Al and Shirl left. We arranged that we would take a drive out to their place in Chandler later this week. A bit of TV and then to bed.

Sunday: The usual routine today. Fareed and Reliable Sources on CNN, French toast with Sue, NFL Countdown, sit and watch football.

Game one today, the Ravens just barely eked out a win over the Houston Texans. Then Game two.

Wow! From the start the Giants looked like they were in the game. Taking it to the Packers. Eli was able to move the team up and down the field. Even when the refs blew a crucial call, the Giants were not to be deterred. Aaron Rodgers looked terrible — and when he did throw a good pass his receivers couldn’t catch the ball. It ended with the Giants winning 37-20 in Lambeau Field. Shocking!

Next Sunday New York will be in San Francisco, winner to go to the Super Bowl. It’s too bad I’ll miss the latter part of the game because I’ll be at the airport picking up the Hildebrands.

Supper was leftover chicken (again!). Weather was coolish, with a few drops of rain overnight. Tomorrow the Driedgers and Neufelds are off to Sedona for a couple of nights. Sue invited them here for supper on Thursday night. Tomorrow Al and Shirl are here in the afternoon — golf and supper.

We watched the Golden Globes in the evening — lots of beautiful people and it looks like there are a whole lot of great movies we still have to watch.

Saturday: Rudy and Sue re-watched the movie from last night (The Debt) – and were glad they did. It was a very good movie. We walked to Walgreen’s to return the DVD before having a late lunch back at our house. We watched NFL playoffs – first the Forty-niners beat the Saints, then the Patriots walloped Tim Tebow and the Broncos. Sue and Alex talked on the phone quite a while. We had leftover chicken for supper.

Friday: Rudy went for a golf clinic (driver) in the morning at Mountain Brook (presented by two young golf pros) – and came back feeling positive about what he learned. Kaaren and MaryLou arrived at our house around 4pm. The boys were golfing 9 holes at Mountain Brook.

We all met at Wine Canyon for wine tasting and appetizers and great sunset views of the Gold Canyon Golf Course. We picked up a couple of pizzas at the Firehouse Bar & Grill and all had supper together at our house. After supper we watched ‘The Debt’, a movie that Ken and Kaaren had seen before and recommended – but Rudy and Sue both slept through parts of the movie.

Thursday: Moving day for the Driedgers and Neufelds. Dave took two loads in his car to Tom Sung’s apartment (on Idaho Road). At around 4pm we left for Phoenix.

Dave had ordered us NBA tickets on StubHub.com. We parked not too far from the US Airways Center in downtown Phoenix and headed to the place where we had agreed to meet. The restaurant we had picked was closed but our friends were there waiting to meet us. We decided to go to another restaurant (Majerlys) just down the street.

After dinner we went to see our NBA game – the Cleveland Cavaliers versus the Phoenix Suns. It was an entertaining game even though the Suns lost. Steve Nash played well and was the top point-getter.

A big waning moon guided us back to our home near the Superstition Mountains.

Wednesday: Rudy and Sue cycled in the morning. After lunch Dave and Ken went golfing with Tom Sung. The rest of us went for a ride around the neighbourhood, where MaryLou took photos of mailboxes for her blog article.

While the Nikkels golfed nine holes at Mountain Brook, Kaaren and MaryLou made a chicken dinner.

Tuesday: Rudy, Sue, Ken, and Dave went for a long hike up Silly Mountain – probably not that good for Dave’s hip and Ken’s knees.

Kaaren and MaryLou went for a bike ride. They road 20kms! Right to Walgreen’s and back, with MaryLou riding the big purple bike! Very impressive. Dave and Ken golfed nine holes while Rudy and Sue hit a couple of buckets of balls on the driving range. We walked to Walgreen’s to pick up a movie. Ken barbecued salmon for supper. We watched our movie, ‘Higher Ground’. The theme? Religion.