Turning 49 & Alex's wedding

I'm turning 49 on Monday.

I was going to do a post about this phenomena, along with the trials and tribulations of being almost 50.

For one, I don't really look like this anymore:

Amazing how much your face changes in 7 years. 

I still style my hair like this, but I certainly look older now.

So, I was on a quest for pictures of what I look like now and in doing so, I came across this one of me and Annie taken a few months ago, before we went out to dinner with my mom.

Annie is back to bleaching her hair.

She'll learn ;)

Anyway, I noticed two things about this picture.

I don't have my shoes on yet and I'm wearing a dress that reminded me of the fact that I hadn't talked about my own son's wedding.

Bad mom!

Actually the fact is, it happened when I wasn't really blogging much and for some reason I thought I had posted about it.

Apparently not!

So, anyway, I flew out to Minneapolis on May 12th (Mother's Day weekend) to witness my son and his lovely bride Heather get married.

My kid married a beautiful girl and she loves him and he loves her, which is all I can really ask for.

Of course there was the mother son dance.

And then like all weddings... it was over before we knew it.

So, I'm turning 49.

My son is happily married.

Annie is going to college.

And I live in a house that I adore.

Getting old might not be so bad after all ;)

xo

rue

It's hot and thank you

So, this is kind of a random post, but I will start out by saying...

It's so hot here, I want to live in a pool until it's over.

Sadly, I don't have one.

Also, have I mentioned that I don't have central air?

Pretty sure I have.

 every.

single.

 summer.

Although it was invented in 1902, they didn't have it for regular folk's homes in 1930 and I'm not putting one in for 40 grand in 2017. So, here I sit listening to the loud humming of fans and a window air-conditioner that barely cools off the house enough to keep Bubba and Mini from panting.

Seriously...

This is my life:

a black hole.

Yes, I know it's that time of year, but it's a heat wave.

Yes, I know it's Arizona, but I live in the supposedly "cooler" mountain area.

And yes, I know it's vintage to not have air-conditioning.

But, I'm complaining anyway.

I don't care.

It's hot.

And I'm a wuss.

So there.

:p

Anyway, enough of that...

I know I missed a week of blogging, but I've been a tad busy.

My mom is in the process of moving to a new house, which I've been helping with and I've been honing in on my baking skills again.

Well, until the heat wave of hell got here.

And I've been a cleaning fool.

It's done now though.

Oh and watering.

A LOT of watering.

Lots of heat, no rain.

But I digress...

I have quite a few things to share with you, but for today, I just wanted to check in and tell you how much I appreciate all the lovely comments on my last post.

It was so nice to not only learn more about some of my old friends, but also to meet so many new friends.

A lot of you had never commented before on this blog or any blog for that matter and I'm truly flattered that you reached out to say hello.

Even if I never hear from some of you again, I'm happy to "meet" you :)

And those of you that didn't say hello, that's okay too.

I appreciate you coming by, comment or not.

I mean it.

So thank you too :)

I finished answering all your comments on the blog today, but I still have emails to get to.

I want to apologize for my terrible emailing.

I do see them, but I sometimes mark them for later because I'm in a hurry and don't get back to you for a long time.

Bad, bad rue.

But I promise I will get to them ASAP.

That said...

Thank you again from the bottom of my heart.

Without all of you I'd be sitting here talking to myself and I hear that's not healthy ;)

Love to all,

rue

A childhood wish

When I was a little girl, all I wanted was a miniature dollhouse.

Not one of those plastic kid toys, but a real dollhouse... the kind with actual replicas of furniture, linens, food, and lights that worked.

For years, it was all I dreamt about.

via google images

In fact, there was a restaurant that we went to all the time, with a miniatures shop next door and I'd always ask to go inside so I could look at all the wonderful items they had for sale, dreaming of the day when I could finally furnish one of my own.

One Christmas, much to my chagrin, my best friend, Stephanie woke up to find a dollhouse under her Christmas tree.

It looked much like this:

via google images

You could open the sides or the roof to see inside and it was completely furnished with little twinkling lights throughout.

I was so green with envy!

I went home and told my mom all about it and I'm sure, drove her insane, but when I asked her if I could have one, she just told me no. 

Something about me breaking it.

I was one sad little girl.

I still asked Santa for one of those lighted dollhouses every Christmas, but my wish never came true.

Funny thing... when I look back, I don't remember Stephanie ever playing with it. 

It just sat in her room untouched.

Sad, isn't it?

Eventually, I got older and put aside my dream of owning one of those beautiful creations.

But it remained somewhere in the back of my mind.

Then one day I was told about the miniatures museum in Tucson, called the The Mini Time Machine.

I was so excited!

Eventually I got the chance to go :)

This is the first house you see...

The next one had an automated door that opened when you walked up to it.

I was in heaven!

So much so that I forgot to take pictures at first, until I found a replica of the Gamble House by Greene and Greene.

My pictures are awful, because I was using my cell phone, but it was truly a work of art.

And there were so many more beautiful homes...

Even Scarlett O'Hara and Rhett were there ;)

And there was even miniatures in the floor...

Like I said, I was too busy gawking to take many pictures, but you can read more 'here'

and watch this video:

It was so much fun and it brought back all those childhood dreams that I had laid to rest.

By the way, what's the one thing you always wanted for Christmas?

Maybe it's time for your childhood wish to come true :)

xo

rue

A trip to the fair

I love going to the fair.

Big, small, it doesn't matter.

I've been to the local one in each place I've lived, but I think my favorite one so far is The Pima County Fair, here in Arizona.

Via google images

I went there a few weeks ago and had a great time.

It was HOT, but so worth it.

We had fun looking at antique farm equipment:

checking out all the animals and feeding some goats...

and of course, there was lots of eating!

No pictures of that though.

I don't think you needed a picture of us stuffing our faces ;)

Of course, we went there for all those things, but mostly we went to see country music star Josh Turner.

The concert was free to all those that paid to get in, so we just settled ourselves on the lawn, in front of the stage and enjoyed the show.

If he happens to come to your town, and you like country music, I highly recommend going to see him.

xo

rue

PS

Thank you so much for all your sweet words on my last post. 

You all are the best :)

Lowell life

When I went on a trip to Bisbee, I had another surprise waiting for me around the corner.

Literally.

You see, if you keep driving through Bisbee...

you'll see a mining operation....

then you'll go through a tunnel...

and an old town appears out of nowhere.

The town of Lowell.

"Lowell was at one time a sizable mining town located just to the southeast of Old Bisbee. The majority of the original townsite was consumed by the excavation of the Lavender Pit mine during the 1950s. All that is left today is a small portion of Erie Street, along with Evergreen Cemetery, Saginaw subdivision and Lowell Middle School. These days Lowell is considered by most of the local residents to be more of a place name than an actual community." via Western Mining History

It's a sad story, but fascinating at the same time.

You really feel as though you've stepped back in time, but all the residents vanished.

Well, except for some random tourists and bikers.

All the cars on the street are sitting there like someone just abandoned them.

I half expected Rod Serling to walk out.

Or perhaps Barney Fife.

Of course, you know I'd be happy as a little clam living there.

It just needs a little clean-up ;)

Going farther out, there's a neighborhood, where there's some rather large old homes overlooking some much smaller ones.

I'm guessing they're the ones that made all the dough (aka money) at the mines.

After that it was time to head home, back through Bisbee.

What a wonderful, quirky place :)

Oh and lastly, here's a picture of me and my son, Alex, while he was here visiting this past weekend.

Thank you for all the sweet words about his visit.

We had a great time :)

xo

rue

PS

Edited to add: The cars are owned by a man that owns a few of the buildings. The town is a project for him and some of his friends and they're fixing it up to be a sort of museum. There's only one business (that I know of) and it's a breakfast place. But yes, it's basically abandoned.