FREE

...translation: Danny and I were on our way home from our, sad to say, regular Sonic creamslush and mozzarella sticks run when we drove by one of the newer $500,000 homes around the corner from our house. In the driveway, it there was this sofa (as you can see from the photos) with a sign that read: "FREE".

Off handedly, we giggled that we should call Tony and his friends to check out this treasure. We are Garzas after all, so a good deal is worth a stop-and-look-see and a FREE deal is even better! We get home to find Tony and Marisa playing on the computer and phone with a netflix movie in the DVD player and volume on full blast. Danny mentions to Tony the FREE sofa. With a mouth full of microwaved chicken nuggets, Tony bolts for the door.

"Wait a minute!", we holler after him. Danny gets in the car and they drive half a block to the home that is offering such a sweet deal. Within 2 minutes, I hear the garage door open. Tony bursts through the door asking where he can find the armor all.

As you can see, the sofa cleans up pretty well for a FREE sofa. Now...next question: how in tarnation is Tony going to get this oversized, shiny, slick, kicked to the curb, FREE, black, fake leather sofa out of the garage and into his room? Remember the hammack stand...

Under Construction

The City is repaving our street and upgrading the sidewalk corners. Once they are done I'm sure it will be beautiful. But for now, it's inconvenient, loud, dusty, and ugly.

View from our front porch

Close up

From the other direction

Looking at our house from the street

Yep, inconvenient, loud, dusty, and ugly...for now.

Pergola Party

Morning! It's been awhile since my last post. My camera is out of commission and that seems to put a damper on my posting. Marisa has been kind enough to lend me her camera, so now I have quite a "few" photo-story tales to tell. First, let me start by saying that I have been wanting a pergola for 10 years. Finally, on Mother's Day, Danny and Tony start the "Garza Pergola Building Project". The motivation was not that it was a present for me, the Mom, it was because Tony had a birthday coming up and he wanted a "party place". So, here goes...

In order to build the pergola, the boys had to rent a truck from Home Depot to deliver the wood. It was a drizzly day, but they had two factions to contend with: this was my Mother's Day present and Tony wanted a "party place". No stopping now that the ball was rolling or that the truck was here to deliver wood!

Next step was staining the wood, over 110 pieces of 10-16ft planks. They just started the long project as you can see from their smiling faces. Only two weeks until the party of the year.

Now as the planks are drying, it's time to set the ground. Holes are dug, cement is poured. What you don't see is the sprinkler system that had to be cut and rerouted in order for the post holes to be set. (To this day, the sprinkler has not been reconnected...that's another "Garza Rerouting and Reconnecting Sprinkler Project").

We are starting to see Tony's fun factor fade and true boredom set in. Here, he is pulling the leather cover off an old baseball for our 5-month-old pooch monster, KC.

This is the view from Marisa's window. Pretty cool, actually. She could step out her window onto the top of the pergola and...sorry I had a flashback to when I snuck out of my parent's house via second story window.

Ground view. This is a few days into the project. Progress is slowing down, but it soon picks up. Mother's Day has passed, but the party is approaching.

KC was under foot the entire time. She is part goat. You see, she eats the wood blocks that fall to the ground. Those puppy teeth are now a full set of bully dog teeth. Doesn't she look so carefree and playful? She is, but with a punch or a bite!

UGH! Tony decided he was going to build a chair from the spare parts. Son! I think Dad needs help with the structure, not accessories. Can you refocus, please...

Alrighty! Back on track. Each piece had to be carved per Garza design. All you Garza's know that Papi would be EXTREMELY proud of the "favorite one". The design turned out great. Neighbors were peeking over the fence giving praise. I was surprised at the size of this pergola. I'm kinda getting excited about this. It's a great Mother's Day present. And the party to come...Wow!

There's Marisa. Staying out of the way. She might be asked to help, heaven forbid!

I can't seem to get a good angle on this camera. So, I go to the corner of the yard by the grape vines. We have not worked the backyard this Spring because our pup has either eaten or dug up everything. For those that love perfection in the yard...ain't gonna find it here!

Another angle. See Tony on the top putting in the last of the planks? And, Marisa...in the chair, looking through her first High School yearbook. It's like a bible for teens.

Tony sure does move at his own pace. He was exhausted by this time. Only 3 more days until the party. Now is a good time to talk about the party. Tony was told he could invited only 15 friends and the boys could stay for the night. They would come over, hang out, go swimming, hang out, eat, play guitar hero, eat, hang out, then the girls would go home and the boys would stay. Casually one afternoon Tony mentions...hey, I got 28 people coming to the party. WHAT? Now, after a few words of inappropriate parental confusion and exclamations, we start figuring the COST of food. Not to mention our liability for 28 14-year-olds at our house!

Needless to say, the party was awesome. I was a bit surprised at the dress of the girls. But, it's a sign of the times.

With the radio blarring on the porch, under the now completed pergola, the kids cut loose and have a good time. I'm the photographer and "bartender" (a great way to supervise without supervising).

Thank goodness not all 28 showed up, even though they said they would and we bought food for 28 teens. Once all that showed up that was going to show up, they walked to the rec center for a swim. Danny drove over to meet them and pay admission. What a gang!

Two hours later, they returned, hungrier than ever! Turns out, food for 28 teens actually feeds 16 teens and 2 exhausted parents just fine.

There's Danny, the grill master. Another covert parental supervision task.

And they feed...music goes up a notch. Pergola is holding up nicely.

The girl in pink is Tony's girlfriend at the moment.

Tummies are full. Guitar Hero Wars start. It's so flippin' loud at this point. Danny and I clean up and I do my photo thing again. No one seems to notice. Where's the other half of the party?

Playing Guitar Hero in the basement. Looky there....Tony! In the middle of the girls. That's a McDowell frat boy for ya, huh Uncle Jase?

Back under the pergola, Tony is center of attention. Tony's vision of a Pergola Party comes to fruition. Happy Birthday, baby! Glad you had a good time...

The Party

We always kick off summer with Tony's birthday party. This year he wanted to "organize" the party himself. Okay, he'll be 14 years old. He knows his friends. So, one night he sat at the computer and made the invitations. Guest limit: 15 friends.

To date he has 28 RSVPs. Stay tuned...the party is this upcoming Saturday!

Happy Mother's Day

Well, we went with stimulating the economy. We started off the Mother's Day weekend by buying lumber and materials for a porch covering. Then, we went to eat at Benihana's. That was a blast! I remember going there when the kids were very young. We used to bring home leftovers. Not anymore!

Today, on Mother's Day we hung around the house. The weather was overcast, but Danny and Tony stained the wood for the porch. In the afternoon, we went to see Star Trek in IMAX. Loved it! And, I'm not a trek fan, but the movie was great. Everyone had fun.

My sister-in-law and I are totally stuck on the games in facebook. This weekend we have played Sorority Life, Mafia Wars, Farm Town, YoVille, and Vampire Wars. It's been fun IM'ing and playing the games with her.

And for lunch today, I made ribs, baked beans, fried okra, and baked potatoes. So, all in all, it was a nice Mother's Day. Dad and I talked twice. He went to church with his friends. He and Jase had celebrated yesterday by going to Mom's favorite Mexican restaurant. I know my mom would be happy today knowing we had a good time. Love you, Mom. Miss you!

Weekend

What to do for Mother's Day? Somehow with the economy the way it is, I do feel quilty with any self-indulgence luxury. But, on the other hand, it would be nice to stimulate the economy a little. So, I'm here with Tony and Danny, waiting for Marisa to wake up. Then, we will decide what to do for Mother's Day. See, at our house, with teenagers, if they don't agree with what to do, the day will be filled with complaints and attitude. Yea, I'm keeping it real.

Happy Mother's Day weekend to you ladies...enjoy!

Reflection

Mother's Day is approaching...fast. This will be the first one I experience without my mom being here to celebrate. I went back through posts from last May. Mom was entering into hospice this time last year. So, we have come full circle.

I think I have been strong since Mom passed away. I have kept on going and have kept everyone else going. Today, I give myself permission to...be.

May Day

Happy May Day! Although it's calling for rain here in Colorado, hope everyone enjoys this weekend!

MammoWipes

I had my yearly mammogram today. It was uneventful....I hope. The results will be sent to me by next week. Anyway, for you ladies that have had these before, you know the room is cold and dim. On the chair was the little gown top and a wipette called MammoWipe. I had to laugh.

"MammoWipe is a premoistened towelette for general wash-up and patient skin cleansing. MammoWipe is effective for removing residual oils, powder and deordorant prior to procedures such as mammography. MammoWipe leaves no residue and dries in seconds."

Always looking for the humor in a stressful situation...

A Colorado Photomontage

When Danny's family was here, we did lots of things...depending on the weather! They were lucky because they were able to experience a typical Colorado spring: one day snow, one day rain, one day sunshine, one day cold, one day cool, one day warm. You get the idea. Here is a photomontage, taken by Eileen, of our adventures.
This one of Tony was taken at Pearl Street Mall in the alley of a restaurant, the Rio Grande. Tony has taken up photography. To look the part, he has been collecting the appropriate attire to go with it. The trench is from ARC. The hat is from Estes. And, the camera is a 1978 Cannon, courtesy of his Papa. Eileen ps'ed the photo to give it a "Dick-Tracey-era-cartoon-look".

This one of Marisa is so typical of her mood lately: pensive. We were at the Stanley Hotel awaiting our ghost tour. She was checking her text messages. Give this girl a deck of cards and poker chips. Who can tell what she is really thinking?

This is the front of the Stanley Hotel. It had been snowing, but the sunshine melted enough snow away and we went to Estes Park for the day. We saw lots of history this day, both inanimate and spiritual! I'm too afraid to post pictures of our ghost tour. You will just have to log onto facebook and check out Eileen's posts for those.

This is a wonderful shot of the landscape from the Stanley's front steps. Breathtaking!

Before we got to go to Estes Park, we were homebound due to snow in Broomfield. The snow this time was wet and very heavy. This is our backyard. Makes me feel cold just looking at it.

Another view of the backyard. This was a very cold and wet day. However, we managed to get to JoAnn's Fabrics for yarn on this day!

Two days later, Marisa is out on the golf course. Putting and chipping. Chipping and putting. All afternoon long!

The golf coach invited Eileen and Omar to putt and chip. They preferred to spectate. Thanks, Eileen, for the photos!

This is the pond by our house. With all the rain and snow, the pond was flooding the pathways. Still beautiful!

Another view of the pond on the greenbelt. I will miss this when we moved back to Texas...