Thanksgiving Weekend 2009

Well ... with Julie in Nicaragua and Matt up in Boston visiting his girl friend's parents we were really on our own this year for our Thanksgiving holiday so we decided to make the best of it and HAD A BLAST! Our Thanksgiving weekend was such good fun first having dinner with friends on Thursday and then Fran and I “getting away from it all” on Friday and Saturday!

Thursday the 26th … Thanksgiving Day we had dinner at Simon and Wendy’s house with several of their friends and had a wonderful time dining and making new acquaintances. The broiled turkey was a great hit and showed us a new way of using our backyard cooker to serve up a tender and moist bird with little trouble.

Friday and Saturday Fran and I did a ”staycation” … that’s where you stay at a local resort and enjoy the amenities but save on travel costs J We ended up going to the local JW Marriott near our house and spent two nights at “neighbor” rates which is quite a good deal. The resort has low occupancy during the Thanksgiving Holiday so they welcome locals with great rates. Being always on the lockout for good deals … well Fran is … I’m just catching on to making sure I get the best deals ... we also had a wonderful meal at the Meritage Steakhouse inside the Marriott for ½ price entrees ( 2 for 1) because of my PBS membership. And because we were staying at the JW we got our Appetizers for free and because it was our anniversary we got our desert for free too! I felt a little guilty getting such a fabulous dinner for the price we paid. After dinner we went to the “Blue Martini” at City North and only stayed for a hour as it was getting past my bed time but we both enjoyed the time there. An excellent live band kept us entertained, and it was packed in there so we did not get a chance to sit down. If we go there again we’ll need to get there earlier to get a seat! The nice thing about a staycation is the trip home did not take that long ,,, 10 minutes J AND we did not have to board our dog we just came home to make sure he had water and food. We could not quite see our house from the pool area because of the vegetation but we could picture that it was just over the horizon ... and while looking we had good fun in the jacuzzi and swimming in the lazy river. Cheers!

2009 ASU Homecoming Parade: Oct 31

Mom Ryan joined Fran and I in the ASU Homecoming Parade on Saturday October 31st. We walked the 1/2 mile down University Boulevard with the ASU Parents Association "float". We had about 80 parents, students, young kids, and professors participate as the Parents Association celebrated it's 25 anniversary as an organization supporting ASU.

Leading the parade were four antique cars with the current and prior three ASU Professors of the Year at ASU. They were followed by about 70 dancers and singers moving to the music of Otis Day and the Knights. Lots of fun! Mom, Fran and I ended up holding signs with names of three of the professors and walked next to them and their cars.

A really cute setting was after the parade when we met at the PA tent for cake and coffee and one of our scholarship winners made friends with Mom. "Dawn" is a Chinese girl who has been in the US for 10 years with her father and separated from the rest of her family in China. They are sacrificing so much for her to be able to have an education in the US and when she met Mom she developed an instant connection with a grandmother figure she so misses in China. Their photo together symbolizes so much to me ... from bridging generations ... to bridging cultures ... to bringing the unconditional love into a young persons life that a parent can share.