My Crazy Life

Elf Time

Decided to do this with some of the pictures I had from our Houston trip......makes me laugh....

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The other day I was texting back and forth with my friend Christa and she asked me if I wanted to go to the Japanese Friendship Garden for a Tea Ceremony.......and I jumped at the chance....so today was the day.....it was AMAZING.........the serenity of this place is beyond words.....especially since it is right in the middle of downtown Phoenix....it sits on top of the deck park tunnel...next to Margaret T Hance Park.....the Tea Ceremony was held in the Musoan Tea House which means "Teahouse of Vision" or "Dream for the future" and it was named by Sen Soshitsu, the former tea master of the Urasenke School of Tea in Japan.....he is a fifteenth generation decendent of Sen Rikyu. We got to see the entire tea ceremony (short one)

This is the washing ceremony....you pick up the ladle in your right hand - scoop the water and pour into your left hand, switch and pour into your right hand, cup your hand and pour water into it and touch the water to your lips and then hold the ladle where the scoop is in the air and let the water run down the ladle - now you are ready to go into the Tea House

yes we all had to take off our shoes....and the shoes had to stay on the slate, since this is part of the outside and once your shoes are off you keep your feet on the wood slats...they had socks for us to wear.....

Here we are receiving our sweet prior to the tea....this is so the palette has a sweet on it before the bitter green tea....(Christa's mom Trisha is being served)

She is mixing the tea for us here....she has just ladled boiling hot water out of the container on the right and she will use the bamboo whisk on the far left to mix the tea

My tea....and it is customary that if you enjoyed the tea that you need to slurpe it out of the bowl....no matter what your mom tells you isn't good manners.....so slurpe I did.....guess I was pretty loud.....imagine that!

The tea itself.....the presentation of the tea is something to do at least once.....they do it once a month during the winter months (they aren't open June - September) by reservation only and there is a fee.

The rest of the time you can get into the Gardens anytime between 10-3 - Tuesday through Sunday and the fee is only $5 unless you are military/senior/student - then it is only $3 - definitely worth the price....

RO - Heron HO - Phoenix Bird EN - Garden

The name was chosen by its creators to reflect the devoted and friendly relationship between the Sister Cities of Phoenix and Himeji Japan.

Me, Christa and Trisha standing on the bridge over the Koi fish which they have over 300 of them....this bridge leads to the Zig Zag Bridge - this is perfect if you have evil spirits chasing you....they can't catch you on the Zig Zag Bridge....you didn't know that spirits couldn't zig or zag did you.....

So if you are in Arizona or passing through....put this little gem on your list - it will be well worth the trip!

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Crazy Hat and Crazy Weather

Spent the day at Sea World again yesterday....all the Christmas shows were on.....the Shamu show with the singers and musicians is so beautiful.......pictures don't come close to doing it justice......but here are a few from the day.....

I love these guys....Belugas are such gentle creatures and they always look like they have a smile on their face.....

I think this would be a awesome job to have....she was playing with the penguins and they followed her everywhere.....trumping this job of course would be playing with the dolphins or the whales.....but hey penguins are adorable too.

and who doesn't LOVE a manatee....

This show gets me every time I see it....all the animals in the show are picked up at the Humane Society and they train them.....it is an awesome show and they are having some of these animals do things that you would never believe......

Part of the Clyde and Seamore Christmas Show....it is really a good one.....

This big guy cracks me up......

Part of the show for Shamu.....so incredibly moving.....

The ending of today was spectacular....and we would have loved to have done it again but the weather was not cooperating this morning so we decided to have a down day.....it didn't really rain until after the sun went down but the wind was horrendous.....not even my hat was going to keep me warm....

So instead of having a beach day.....I just took pictures from the balcony......

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Happy Thanksgiving

Hope that everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We spent the day with some of the most awesome creatures on Earth......Orca Whales, Bottlenose Dolphins, Sea Otters......we have been at Sea World, San Diego all day. We had lunch with Shamu, who was actually named Corky....she is 40 years old...Orcas only live 25-30 in the wild....she weighs 8,000 lbs......and to think that I thought I had a weight problem...... :o)

We kind of just moseyed through the park today....saw the Clyde & Seamore Show - Dolphin Encounter and Believe (Shamu Show).....here are some of my favorite pictures.....

If you are on Facebook and haven't seen enough photos here....I have uploaded all of them from today on there.

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5 Days in Houston

Wow....this was an amazing trip....Timi is the most gracious hostess and her house is absolutely gorgeous. She had it all decorated for Christmas for her.....can you say 8 trees....yes 8 that is not a typo....and each one incredibly decorated. This one of course was my favorite.....actually the room was created just for me....purple walls....purple tree and an elephant in the room.....like she knew I was coming............

It was a fantastic time....we ate wonderful Tex-Mex at Pappasito's ; went to the Nutcracker Market ; had the Pink Store all to ourselves; had a fantastic class with Janet Hopkins; made jell-o shots (we might try a recipe next time); enjoyed each others company; checked out the Presidents; movies; Black Eyed Pea; Sam Moon ....can't imagine not having these girls as my friends.....