The Starting Point

Here is the plot plan for our new house. This gives us the dimensions of what we will be working with when we begin to plan our landscaping. The back yard is approximately 100 feet wide and about 50 feet deep. We would also have two side yard areas that are 13 feet wide.

We are looking to put in a pool with a hot tub. I think the best location would be on the right side in front of the master bedroom. A basic rectangle or geometric shape should look nice. I would like some good shade and privacy trees along the side walls. This includes several citrus!! I want the overall landscape style to be desert, xeriscape. I'm not looking for lush or tropical. Think Desert Botanical Garden.

We toured the Home & Garden show yesterday and made some contacts for pool and landscape design. Once we get moved in, we should get a general plan together for the basic layout.

The Random Rocky Picture of the Day*

Wherever I lay my hat is my home

*Not a daily feature

Our New Home

The C&C partners have found a new home. After six weeks of searching, we have found a house to purchase. It's been rough. We've seen the good, the bad, the ugly.

But this is the one

It is located in Southeast Chandler in a new subdivision of semi-custom homes.

Front entrance showing the eat-in kitchen area:

Nice front entry that looks into a formal living & dining room:

Great kitchen with granite counters:

Master bath with split vanities:

And split shower and garden tub:

The upstairs has three bedrooms, one bath and a nice open loft area:

With a lovely view of the San Tan mountains:

And a blank canvas:

Look to the kitties!

These photos are courtesy of a colleague of mine. They offer an example for the rest of us. If we can learn to live together like the kitties, think how much better our world would be.

Working together, hand in hand, there's nothing we can't accomplish

Look to the kitties!

Rocky gives his thumbs up to this display of feline solidarity.

Belated Birthday

Happy birthday to my dad. His birthday was September 2 and I was remiss in not acknowledging it sooner.

Dad's birthday was always an interesting occasion, coming so close around the Labor Day holiday. That was the unofficial end to summer vacation, and more importantly, the start of another school year. My dad was a teacher as well, so this was our last celebration before getting back into the work routine.

When I was a kid, we would often travel over to Eugene Oregon where my grandparents lived. My dad also had two brothers that lived in the area. All of the families would go to Farrell's Ice Cream Parlour. (Farrell's is Fabulous Fun For Everyone). And we would order the Zoo. That was a gigantic silver bowl that was piled high with scoops of every flavor of ice cream you can think of. It weighed about 6 pounds and had to be carried by two people on a stretcher.

If you want to get a picture of what that was like, it's in a Simpson's episode. Matt Groening grew up in Portland, so he was familiar with Farrell's. In his versions, Homer and the kids go to Phineas Q. Butterfat's Ice Cream Parlor. When their order comes out, carried by four teenagers, one of them intones: "And God said, 'Gather ye two of every flavor, anoint them with 62 sauces,whipped cream, and nuts, and ye shall call it The Ark'"!

Fun times. Happy Birthday dad.

Feet Off For Half Off!

President Obama has inspired me to undertake a new business venture. As we know, the president has alerted us to the terrible scandal of doctors amputating diabetic feet for profit. Each foot chop gets the physician reimbursed anywhere from $30,000 to $50,000.

I see a market opportunity here. Beginning now, I will amputate any foot for only $15,000. That’s right, half the going rate. But I’m not doing this just for the money. Who will stand with me to fight back against the propaganda of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, the American College of Surgeons, and the California Medical Association – all of whom are merely paid stooges regurgitating the talking points of Big Amputators.

Let me cut off your feet. Don’t let those bastards get them. Show those fat cat doctors we are on to their schemes. Lift your stumps high and wave them in solidarity with the President as he exposes the foot stealers and the tonsil harvesters.

Repeat business is welcome.