Hey,
To start off November we would have to talk about a team-building event that I attended for work. Basically, we took half the day off and worked with others outside of our teams. It wasn’t hard for me as everyone was based in Florida or India at this point in my group. I was the only one remaining from Corporate Capabilities in AZ. Vince had taken another role, and Wayne (who I took over all of his projects) had retired. It was a fun event, it really pushed people to connect with other people. I can’t say that I have stayed in contact with these people, but from the company standpoint, it was good to have as it made you feel like you were part of something much bigger than yourself.
Around this time Arabella got into some lipstick. She decided to go painting in the house, on our doors and walls. It was a MESS! She really liked to paint with it (I’m sure she thought that since my parents just painted most of the house, so maybe I’ll do some as well!). It wasn’t so fun to clean up. There was another time she got into nail polish and was coloring our carpet in our closet. Needless to say, that did not come out.
Next is a picture of some art called “Release the Fear” hence the person statue with their arms up. It was made up of guns and other metal weapons. They allowed the base of the art to keep its original form. Such a cool thing. I also love the mission statement they have “To counter the effects of violence in our communities by turning fear, anger, and hate, into acceptance, hope, and self-empowerment by bridging endless possibilities through the creative process”
Then the unthinkable. Everyone (as far as I knew) was prepared and ready for Hilary Clinton to become America’s first Woman President. I suppose there was a feeling of ‘coasting to victory’ and most everywhere that I knew was flabbergasted when Trump started winning. He became president. Are you kidding me? I couldn’t believe it and I was honestly devastated over this. I also had been watching Madam Secretary (a show on CBS) and it was based in part on Hilary Clinton and her time as Secretary of State. I had really grown to like her the more that I learned about her. Anyway, she lost. Terrible but true. I had a sick feeling that if Trump won, this would change the way that presidents behaved in the future.
Later that month we had planned to have EVERYONE out to see the new house- and to take family photos. Gramps had a fun time the year before going from place to place and we thought it would be nice to have Grams out, along with Grammy and Grampy. A trip with everyone! My parents would be visiting from California and so we would use our car and the extra space in their car to have everyone get around.
This is the trip where we visited: Tortilla Flat, a chocolate factory, Tombstone, Dobbins lookout, San Xavier del Bac mission, dairy farms, cotton fields, and the snow globe known as Prescott for a rare November snowstorm. We had Thanksgiving dinner outside and under our back porch with a firepit keeping everyone warm as the night grew cool and the conversations drew long.
Fun story on the Tombstone wine photo. We were used to free wine tasting as a thing to do. After we had tried this wine in Tombstone we noticed a sign that stated wine tasting was at some fixed cost. However, the person running the shop didn’t care and didn’t end up charging us. It was some of the best wine I have ever had and had zero taste that was bad. If it wouldn’t have been so expensive we would have gotten a bottle. Apparently growing grapes to make wine in the desert southwest is not an easy task so there were a lot of steps this person had to do to cultivate and allow for wine. The wines are made from grapes grown locally in Cochise County. If you ever get a chance visit Silvery Strike Winery.
This visit was super fun. We were able to get photos that we didn’t think we would ever have. The whole family together – having fun and without outside influence. The above photos are some of the group pictures that we took. The left was taken in Tombstone – the middle at Central and the right was taken in our living room after we decorated the tree and had the grandparents create custom ornaments.
December is next.
just Pray
note: this post was published on 07/22/22 but moved the publish date back to the end of November 2016 to keep chronological order.
