The Last Workday

Here's me hard at "work" on my last day! (Yeah, right!)

Dolores

Here's my coworker, Dolores, putting the finishing touches on a perfect event.

She not only arranged every last detail of this party, she also learned every single detail of the job I left so she can carry on after I'm gone. I couldn't have left it in better hands! (Just call her Wonder Woman!!)

The Gift

My generous coworkers were so glad to see me go they pooled their loose change and bought two trees and a bench for my backyard!

They even came and planted them for me! (Well, not the bench. They just dropped that off.)

The Husband

Fortunately Juan was able to leave his work early and attend.

We held the party at Bo's toolroom which is located just beyond the centerfield fence at Sancet Field on campus. What a great view!

The Family

The family was well represented. Jan and Ma & Pa made the perfunctory appearance. (Thanks!!)

Generous Vendor

RSC Equipment Rentals catered lunch for everyone! They're one of our favorite vendors, of course.

Good Food

And Good Company

Some More of the Guys

The Gold Watch

Well, I chose a nice clock, instead of a gold watch (or the standard plaque).

That's my very LAST boss, Bill, representing the dozen or so I worked for over the years.

Carrot Cake, Of Course!

Kathia

Kathia worked with me in Grounds for many years before transferring elsewhere in the department.

Texas Red Oak

Planting day!

They even brought some fall flowers for color while the trees are getting established!

This Quercus texana will be a medium-to-tall tree whose leaves turn red-orange in the fall.

Purple Orchid Tree

I loved the White Orchid tree on the UA campus so thought this variety would give us some interesting color.

See more about it at this website: http://www.floridata.com/ref/B/bauh_var.cfm

3:1 Ratio

Let's see, three supervisors and one hard worker. Yup, must be a Government job!

Just kidding! They all worked (some) and everyone had a great time. Thanks SO MUCH everyone!!

MEXICO TRIP - Aug 2007

To start our trip we drove to El Paso, Texas, to visit Juan's cousin Irene and her sister Nellie along with Irene's husband Jim. They were gracious to drive us to the Juarez airport where we caught a one-hour flight to Chihuahua.

(CLICK ON ANY PICTURE TO SEE IT FULL SIZE)

Juan's cousin Chayo and her husband Ron (from California) made plans to visit Mexico at the same time we did. They met us at the airport, helped us arrange a rental car, took us to dinner at this nice restaurant in Chihuahua, and got us on the right road to Anahuac where Juan's cousin Pavi and her husband Juan were expecting us.

Pavi's husband works at a big factory in Anahuac and they have two sons and a daughter, Paola, Josua, and Luis Carlos.

Paola and Josua took us to their neighborhood pool for a quick swim the next morning. Paola competes in swimming in school.

We met up with Ron and Chayo in Rubio where we visited this little church. The entire town block was owned by members of the Julian Marin (brother of Juan's Grandfather)family in the past, although this church dates from more recent times.

Ron, Chayo, me and Josua.

From here we drove out to Colonia Chupaderos to visit Juan's Uncles Chema and Carlos. Josua, who is 14-going-on-25, was our guide!

Juan was born at Campo 45 -- a tiny hospital about 5 miles from the family properties. This is the area but the hospital has since been torn down. Marlene Hebert was the Obstetrician for Juan's precious mother.

The church and school at Campo 45.

Uncle Chema hadn't seen Juan in years.

Uncle Chema with Juan, Chayo and Ron.

Juan's cousin Paco runs a tiny store in the front room of his house. Here's me and Chayo shopping, of course!

I asked about the post-it notes on the counter and was told they were reminders for people who needed to pay their bills at the store! On the left are the people being politely reminded what they owe (see inset). On the right are the people who will no longer be extended credit!

Everywhere we went they had these wonderful old stoves. They had modern gas stoves, too, for cooking, but these older ones were still used to heat the houses in the winter. This is Paco's kitchen.

Paco and Mimi are brother and sister and live next door to each other.

Vianey Susana immediately adopted us as her new best friends! She's a darling little 10-year-old who wanted us to stay forever. Mimi is her mother.

Paco's house.

Uncle Chema and Aunt Eva with their daughter Beatrice (center) and family. Her husband had just been injured by a horse who kicked his hand, requiring many stitches. The elder boy is starting at an engineering technical college in Cuahtemoc.

Yes, Aunt Eva really is that tiny! They all live together in this large house.

Cousin Carlitos (with bucket) helps his brother run their farm down the road from Chema and Eva. The big storage barn was hand built from rocks in the area.

Cousin Conrado in front of his barn.

Chayo grew up in this house as a little girl. It was about half a mile down the road from the others.

Carlitos with the cows at feeding time.

Conrado and his son had help from Carlitos to milk the 10-15 cows. They had some kind of milking machine to help. Some of this milk will become cheese.

Nothing like fresh milk!

Cousin Conrado makes cheese in a room at the back of his house. We took some as thank you gifts to all the other uncles we visited. It's a delicious light cheese that reminded me of a mozzarella in flavor but more firm -- it can be sliced like swiss cheese.

Uncle Chema and Aunt Eva in their dining room. The cabinet behind them held their good dishes which they proudly served all our meals on.

Another darling old stove in the corner of Eva's kitchen.

Uncle Chema let all the cows out to pasture except this little bull who wasn't all that happy about staying behind!

Aunt Eva fed the chickens every morning.

Saying goodbye to Uncle Chema.

They call him "Stringbean". I wonder why?!

On the road to Colonia Ortiz, we ran into Uncle Carlos who likes to ride for miles on his horse.

Uncle Gabriel lives in Colonia Ortiz just up the road from where we stayed.

Uncle Roberto (Beto, for short) and Aunt Emma had a very nice house with a more modern kitchen, but they still had a wonderful old stove that was mainly used to heat the house in the winter.

Colonia Ortiz is a very peaceful rural town of around 35 residents, according to Juan's cousin. Everyone has fences or walls around their property, but horses, cows, and sheep seemed to roam freely.

This canyon is a very popular tourist destination in the region. A rough dirt road just beyond Sainapuchi accesses the picnic area. They call it Maize which means corn. I think it's due to the strange rock formations that sort of look like corn cobs turned on end.

Here's Juan with his Uncle Roberto, Josua and cousin Baraquel. This was just before the rain started! We had to take cover a few times, but the weather eventually cleared.

Great barbecue! Lots of Juan's cousins and their spouses and kids came from Sainapuchi and there was, of course, lots of good food.