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So hope you don't mind a funny story that happened yesturday.....

I had a short day at work and all the kiddos in the class I am in this year are fun (ok every year I say that) any way we were on the playground and shaking the leaves out of the one tree the kidos are allowed to climb (yea licensing isn't really happy but as long a staff is right there it is allowed) we were shaking down leaves and the kids tried to catch a falling leaf to make wishes on. As in "Catch a falling leaf, make a wish, give it a kiss, and blow it away" not as easy as it sounds. I caught a few leaves and the kids caught a few leaves and in explaining how to make a wish on a leaf I said to my leaf "I wish I had a chocolate chip cookie". Que time for rest and we all went in. The other staff laughed at my silly wish and we had a good rest time. While we were resting a grandparent come to the front desk and left the staff a plate of goodies This happens sometimes usually it is gift cards for coffee or ? anyway as you can guess the plate of goodies was still warm homemade chocolate chip cookies. The rest of the staff laughed and ate the cookies. (I have food allergies so since I don't know what they are made from I didn't eat any. But I think I made believers of my fellow staff. Yea the next leaf is going to be lotto numbers!

I am having trouble shifting into the “holiday season“ mental work mode. Maybe what I need to do is head into Flagstaff and get a string of USB Christmas lights to turn on at night to remind me I need to get to work so I can ship incoming Etsy orders out on time. The Arizona weather this week is certainly not reminding me that October is the start of the holiday season. Perhaps a slice of pumpkin pie would help? I already tried making popcorn the other night and that did not help but it was very tasty with seasoned salt and Parmesan Cheese sprinkled on it. A roasted Turkey sandwich with cranberry sauce? It does sound good. Maybe I just need chocolate fudge? There is a fudge store here in Tusayan and those Harvey Fudge counters are inside the Grand Canyon Park. I will just have to make some major financial investment sacrifices to keep my customers happy with lots of ready to ship inventory in stock.That fudge is not cheap to buy!

Good to hear your keeping busy Maki… I was able to come home quick before the main sugar beet harvest…. Mow some grass, toss more stuff… fill my water tank for trailer water when I get back. Tanks are full there… but I’ll have to get by three weeks. 12 hrs minimum per day everyday will give me zero time to worry about stuff like that. Then back to retirement!

NctryBen said:

Good to hear your keeping busy Maki… I was able to come home quick before the main sugar beet harvest…. Mow some grass, toss more stuff… fill my water tank for trailer water when I get back. Tanks are full there… but I’ll have to get by three weeks. 12 hrs minimum per day everyday will give me zero time to worry about stuff like that. Then back to retirement!

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I am glad you are feeling up to at least temporarily come out of retirement. That is real progress physically to have had that much healing of your hands and shoulder!

maki2 said:

I am having trouble shifting into the “holiday season“ mental work mode. Maybe what I need to do is head into Flagstaff and get a string of USB Christmas lights to turn on at night to remind me I need to get to work so I can ship incoming Etsy orders out on time. The Arizona weather this week is certainly not reminding me that October is the start of the holiday season. Perhaps a slice of pumpkin pie would help? I already tried making popcorn the other night and that did not help but it was very tasty with seasoned salt and Parmesan Cheese sprinkled on it. A roasted Turkey sandwich with cranberry sauce? It does sound good. Maybe I just need chocolate fudge? There is a fudge store here in Tusayan and those Harvey Fudge counters are inside the Grand Canyon Park. I will just have to make some major financial investment sacrifices to keep my customers happy with lots of ready to ship inventory in stock. That fudge is not cheap to buy!

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So maybe some crock pot fudge, that stuff is soooooo good and like I said my family is getting fat for Christmas got to/get to start baking and freezing soon... One kid gets sugar cookies one gets double chocolate cookies and all the neighbors get a mix of 4-5 types of cookies and some cider and some jam for everyone. The pears were not to productive so no pear booze this year.... Everyone gets their fav soup frozen for winter nights and of course now I add fudge, though the kids batches always seem a bit small as the route from the fudge cutting to the freezer is past me and well..... I make stuff to enter in the little local fair so Moms and DIL and #1son all got done early and now just have #2son and Stepdad and hubby left. They are never the easy ones.

My name is Maki, I am a sugar junky. Do not for the sake of yourself and your friends invite me to your Cristmas cookie gatherings.

But do invite me anyway! Oh and bag up all those leftovers, I will gladly take them home with me. My dog loves treats. He is so cute,how can you resist giving him treats? His name is Brio, he is a purebred standard red poodle. But he stays at home on the sailboat with “dad” when I am not around. I have to eat all the chocolate as it is bad for dogs. He also has food allergies so that means I have eat all the cookies and other snacks too. But I willingly do it for his sake to keep him safe.

NctryBen said:

Good to hear your keeping busy...

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Your're.

maki2 said:

My name is Maki, I am a sugar junky. Do not for the sake of yourself and your friends invite me to your Cristmas cookie gatherings.

But do invite me anyway! Oh and bag up all those leftovers, I will gladly take them home with me. My dog loves treats. He is so cute,how can you resist giving him treats? His name is Brio, he is a purebred standard red poodle. But he stays at home on the sailboat with “dad” when I am not around. I have to eat all the chocolate as it is bad for dogs. He also has food allergies so that means I have eat all the cookies and other snacks too. But I willingly do it for his sake to keep him safe.
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Oh yea I often make doggy cookies just for that side of the family. I would invite you, but I don't think you are in this neck of the woods in the winter. I always make enough for half the island.

I just looked out the window and there was a man with a small bucket picking of “berries” under the juniper trees. Not sure if he is going to use them for making gin or for seasoning a meat dish and not curious enough to ask . A couple of tears ago I gathered up a few dried seeds from those berries to see how easy it would be to put a whole in them to make the “seed bead” necklaces out of them that are a traditional native craft in the Southwest. It was fairly easy to do but very “Fiddly” and time consuming.

vanbrat said:

Oh yea I often make doggy cookies just for that side of the family. I would invite you, but I don't think you are in this neck of the woods in the winter. I always make enough for half the island.

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not to worry, I do have a mail forewarding service or is it a forewarning service? I guess that just depends on what people send me

LargeMarge said:

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You are having the same trouble as me…
You’re

I finally committed to leaving the Grand Canyon area by placing an Amazon order that will show up in Flagstaff this coming weekend. It is going to get up to 90 degrees at the South rim of the Canyon later in the week! I am into
The Park this morning to the post office in the Village area to ship out an Etsy order and at 9 am the sun in the big asphalt parking lot already had the air temperature too hot for having my coffee out at a picnic table. The deli inside the grocery store has Starbucks drip coffee. $3.00 for the small size with free refills. That is a bargain considering what every other place in the area charges! I need to come in early (for me) as the post office pick up time for out-going mail is 9:30. So today it was wake up, look at orders that came in while I was sleeping, download the postage, get out my printer, set it up, print, stuff an envelope with the right kit and hustle to get into the entry line at the park before a real line formed up. I only had to wait on two other vehicles ahead of me at one of three entry kiosk that were open. As I have a senior pass and have that in my hand when I pull up that reduces delay time. This year they are not scanning in those cards and driver’s licenses as they were the two previous years.

I will likely return tomorrow with my laundry and to get a shower. That is easier to do here and cost less than Flagstaff! Sitting here in the park working on my coffee refill the photo from the park entry webcam shows why I go in by 9am! Even on weekdays that line gets long in the mornings and there are now two extra lanes opened since I entered. By lunch time the line will more than triple in length.

WOW, looks like Chicago!

I did get to chat on messenger with my friend in Florida who was in the hurricane path. Everyone in her family is safe. One of them came to stay there to wait out the store and brought along a generator. Power has now been restored and the generator had kept the refrigerator running during the outage. On their property the only damage was several big tree branches got knocked down into the grounds but did not hit any buildings, vehicles or the power lines. They were very lucky in those high wind conditions!

Feeling so lucky to be having such fantastic fall weather this year, not too hot and not too cold and mostly sunny here in Northern Arizona.

I went into the local “big city” of Flagstaff yesterday to pick up Amazon packages and get a few groceries. All spring and summer the traffic was not that bad. But yesterday it was a real mess, especially over by the University. I took interstate 40 into town and that went smoothly. When I got on it to head back to camp it quickly turned into a dead stoppage of nothing but big semis as far as I could see and lots of them pulled over on the right hand shoulder. I was just barely able in the nick of time to prevent hours sitting in the car to take an exit to a side road back into Flagstaff. Then fortunately I knew how to get across that end of town and over to hwy 180. That was a peaceful
not at all busy with traffic drive back to camp. Also a very beautiful drive. The only reason I did not choose to travel that route as my first option is that I was going to stop off in Bellemont and have a short visit with a friend who is camping there as well as gas up as that Pilot truck stop as it has the lowest fuel prices around.

The new USB/solar rechargeable Bug Zapper I received in my Amazon order was put into use last night. Carrying in groceries let several varieties of flying creatures into my trailer. This new zapper is a lot more powerful than the small one I had previously judging by how loud the sound was. My little one was pretty much silent when it did its kill but it still worked just fine. It took up less counter space as well. But this one is sturdier and should last a long time. I am a USB + solar rechargeable, small sized, bug zapper enthusiast. It truly feels like an essential bit of camping gear! This one also has a white USB light in it that can be switched on and off separately, plus the color changing party light. I do not need party lights but some people do enjoy them. I would show the Amazon link but it looks like it just got sold out. There were only 9 left when I ordered it. But there are plenty of similar ones on Amazon. If you hate swatting at mosquitos, flies and other winged creatures get one of these mini versions of bug zappers, they do a great job, are not power hungry and they are affordable. But they are hard to find in local stores so look online to buy them.

just took the public bus in Santo Domingo. It's not rocket science it's more complicated, and everyone but me knows what they're doing ... by the 3rd vehicle i found someone going to a landmark i knew i could walk home from. This city is huge, i have no idea where i just was. Talk about relying on the kindness of strangers. I hope i am as nice to foreigners when it's my turn as people have been to me here.

Back to work day. I am glad to have customers. In a fall that has so many events that are stressful featured in the news it is surprising that anyone is thinking of doing crafts or thinking about the upcoming holidays. I know my mood has been feeling more flattened about such things and that makes work just feel like …well work that I would rather escape. My escape is reading, watching movies and streaming late night comedy shows.

The other night on YouTube a recommendation link showed up for The old Tonight Show, hosted by Johnny Carson. It was the episode with comedian Robin Williams’ first appearance on the show. It was totally high energy, zany and hilarious. What an unbelievable mind inside Robins head. As fast of response time to anything Johnny said as any modern huge banks of parallel super computer responses to data inputs. Plus all his truly hilarious facial and physical antics to go with it. He had a one of a kind, genius level humor. But he was also a well trained and talented actor.

It is so nice to be able to have easy access to old shows and movies. There are some real treasures on YouTube among the everyday stuff that gets posted.

So the scenic waterfront promenade in the next town is totally under construction, my airbnb is NOT just 5 minutes away, when i try to show the "taxi" driver where to go Google picks that moment to decide it no longer believes im a human, bright sun, jackhammers, ok wing it, the vehicle is a sort of trailer attached to a motorbike, it shakes so much i'm afraid it's going to fall off, guy stops for gas, which they put into soda bottles that he tucks into the netting above his head, zoom zoom, steep hills ... this guy sitting outside the airbnb is flogging me every kind of service, Jesus was mentioned at some point, i think he just sits out there and i have to run the gauntlet every time i leave, the washer dryer is a figment of Airbnb's imagination BUT WEIRD GUYS SISTER HAS ONE, (these guys work hard i shouldnt make fun but its been a long time sincce the last bathrrom aaaaa) the bus into town is probably a pickup truck with 2 zillion people in it good fun. Then there's this

Omg theres another flight of stairs to a huge private balcony with 100x better view...

Morgana said:

So the scenic waterfront promenade in the next town is totally under construction, my airbnb is NOT just 5 minutes away, when i try to show the "taxi" driver where to go Google picks that moment to decide it no longer believes im a human, bright sun, jackhammers, ok wing it, the vehicle is a sort of trailer attached to a motorbike, it shakes so much i'm afraid it's going to fall off, guy stops for gas, which they put into soda bottles that he tucks into the netting above his head, zoom zoom, steep hills ... this guy sitting outside the airbnb is flogging me every kind of service, Jesus was mentioned at some point, i think he just sits out there and i have to run the gauntlet every time i leave, the washer dryer is a figment of Airbnb's imagination BUT WEIRD GUYS SISTER HAS ONE, (these guys work hard i shouldnt make fun but its been a long time sincce the last bathrrom aaaaa) the bus into town is probably a pickup truck with 2 zillion people in it good fun. Then there's this View attachment 36591

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At least it's not boring lol

3rd world travel! Just like in the comedy movies. A combination of frustration and laughter. What great memories you are creating. Thanks for sharing.