Life explained – sort of

Life – it’s complicated –  the ups and downs can be likened to a Disneyland E ticket ride.  If you were lucky enough to go to Disneyland in the 60’s, 70’s or the early 80’s the tickets were in a coupon book.  The best, fastest and scariest rides required an E ticket.

Life can be as dizzying as the spinning Mad Tea Party,  annoying as Small Small World  or like an E ticket drenching on Splash Mountain.  It’s pretty much the same for all of us.  I like to think of life as one long journey through the magic kingdom, the happiest place on earth.

Amusing Musings are just that, ponderings about the every day journey.  Monty and I are dressed for fun and ready to tackle any of life’s joy rides. Come join us!

Scroll down to see all the Musings.

Never Again

Are you familiar with the game Chat Pack?  Dorothy brought the deck to our luncheon last week and our group had a good time selecting cards and answering the questions.  The questions are thought provoking such as. “If you were writing your…
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My Sister Marilyn

This  is a celebration of a life well lived.  My sister, Marilyn, passed away one year ago,  October 15th, 2024.   Marilyn was my best friend, she listened without judgement, only offered advice when asked, and we shared secrets we…
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Durango 2025

We’re off to Durango, Colorado, one of our favorite places. Daisy agrees, she loves the grass and shade trees. Last year was our first  year without a motorhome so we started searching Airbnb, our criteria was, dog friendly with fenced…
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The Saucepan

In the beginning it was just about a  saucepan.  You know the small ones​ that are just the right size for a can of soup.  One day I came across what looked like a great saucepan at Big Lots.  It was the right size, non-stick, and it…
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Tick Tock

I’ve never thought too much about clocks; they are just part of the house like a refrigerator or a potty.  We have a digital alarm clock and of course digital readouts on our computers, Ipads and phones. We also have analog clocks in every…
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Traveling the Low Country

  I bet you have seen the ads for American Cruise line, the ships that cruise the inland waterways and rivers in America. I know they advertise on PBS and in the AARP magazine This cruise line goes up and down the Mississippi and…
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The Christmas Tree

Several years ago we bought a tabletop Christmas tree.  It was about three foot tall and fit perfectly on the entry table in our previous home.  The lighted tree looked pretty good for a couple of years and then the lights quit working and…
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The Dress

We’ve talked about my sister, Marilyn, many times on this blog so you might feel you know her as a friend.  Someone you might like to chat with over a cup of coffee. Marilyn is the opposite of a hoarder and has an intense desire to purge…
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Ask Amy

I was enjoying my morning ritual, of mini wheats, and OJ reading the paper on my IPad.  I could have said while I ate my avocado on whole grain toast, or scrambled eggs with a side of fruit.  But really, would you believe that? I digress,…
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Wash and Dry

When we remodeled and moved into our last home we created a closet sized laundry room and purchased a new midline washer and dryer from Sears.  Goodness knows they weren’t fancy appliances but they did wash and dry clothes, which, let’s…
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Our Fourth Quarter

Like the exciting fourth quarter of Super Bowl LVIII our personal quarter is turning out to be one of the best.  We are enjoying a new active lifestyle and it is great being closer to the children and grandchildren.  Like Super Bowl overtime,…
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The Dog Ate My . . .

The dog ate my homework.  Everyone knows a kid who has used that excuse.  I’m guessing teachers have heard it so often they just laugh it off.  I have a dog story for you but it does not involve homework. The story unfolded when Monty…
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The Wild Things

Our granddaughter, Jordan, invited us to spend the morning at the  Phoenix Zoo where she is a docent.  What a great time, we think of zoos as a place for children and indeed there must have been hundreds of parents' pushing every kind of high-tech…
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Pet Peeves

Pet Peeves, I have a few, I bet you do too.  Let’s see if any of them match up to move from pet peeve to pain in the tush status. I love pump top lotion bottles, but the problem comes in when the pump no longer does its thing and there…
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Bag This

Remember those brown paper grocery bags with the pull up handles?  They worked great, just toss a bunch of stuff in the bag, pull up the sturdy handles and off you go.  Then someone hugged a tree and the world decided we shouldn’t waste…
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The House Guest

We have a house guest.  We don’t usually have house guests' it’s just Monty, me and Miss Daisy and we are comfortable with that.  It turns out this guest is rather noisy, seems to have a mind of her own and apparently plans to run the…
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Hit the Road

When we retired in January of 2002 we decided it might be time to do some traveling instead of camping.  In our mind traveling was totally different from camping.  Although we still used the truck with the camper, but instead of parking overlooking…
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Jungle Moms

I’m hooked on the Internet when it comes to viewing wild animals, moms and their little ones are the best.   I love all the critters, the giant pandas who frolic in the snow or gently swing in panda hammocks.  They tussle with the little…
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Sooner Or Later

We have a water feature on our back patio.  I know you’ve seen the lovely rock waterfalls on the entry to many resorts. Beautiful rock formations, some with perfectly stacked stones and some with random rocks here and there, no doubt…
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Orchard Caper

Monty is shopping online, he is looking for a pair of farmer overalls.   Why, you ask, would he need farmer overalls like Mr. Green Jeans? I broached this question and discovered he is getting serious now that he is tending his orchard. …
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In The Review Mirror

On March 11, 2022 the moving truck pulled out of Tucson and arrived here in Sun Lakes, 91 miles to the North.  It doesn't seem possible we have been here a year.  We’ve survived a hotter than usual summer although we complained a lot and…
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Where I Am From

I’ve never really understood poetry.  I was not exposed to it in an academic setting and I’ve never bothered to try to understand it on my own.  It’s a failing I hope to rectify.  Limericks are the closest I've gotten to poetry.…
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Technology - Friend or Foe

Remember Maxwell Smart and his shoe phone?  We’ve come a long way since then. Has it been a vast improvement?  I’m not sure, every time Max picked up his phone he was connected to the party he was calling.  Can we say the same today? …
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Daisy's New Year's Resolutions

The best part of being a good dog is getting lots of treats.  I love treats and when I’m a good dog the treats just keep comin’. I’m not always a good dog and I resolve to be better in 2023.   I resolve not to do the scoochie…
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Thanksgiving Recap 2022

Our first Thanksgiving living near the family was just as I always pictured it would be.  In years past, making the trip from Tucson meant arriving at the festivities about 11:00 in the morning and heading home about 4:00 so we could get home…
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Welcome To Writers' Group

I've joined a writers' group here in Sun Lakes.  Although I've always enjoyed writing, I've never been part of a formal writing group. There are a lot of excellent writers in this community and each  one has a unique voice.  It is touching…
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Colorado Leaf-Peeping Fall 2022

Several years ago we attempted to do some serious leaf peeping on the East coast.  We’d been in the Northeast area often but always in the summer and never with a guided tour.  The fall trip with Caravan Tours was delightful and we saw…
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The Packing Project

After all the sorting and cleaning and approximately thirty trips to the Goodwill or church charities we were ready to put the house on the market.  (Read previous musings on new best friends,  downsizing and finding our perfect home.)  We…
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Our New BF's

It’s been a party atmosphere here. Folks come by the house and visit for a bit and leave with a treasure tucked under their arm. Our first new friend is Laura, she and her husband just moved here from New York. I discovered Laura on the…
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The Downsizing Project

Monty has been cleaning and rearranging the garage and is now tackling the storage shed on our back lot.  He is sorting into separate piles of Toss out, Goodwill and OMG would you look at that. The first pile is the usual: a wheelbarrow…
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We're Moving

You might have read the blog post entitled January 1949, that’s when the Johnson family arrived in Tucson.  I tell people we arrived in a covered wagon and had to fight dinosaurs all the way from Chicago. Some people appear to be skeptical…
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A Little Love

Every once in a while I hear people refer to themselves as dumb because the made they made a mistake or had trouble figuring something out.  Maybe they describe their hearing as deaf as a post, or complain because their memory isn’t what…
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Tock - Tick ~ Rules

The Oxford English Dictionary contains a quarter of a million entries. It is not only the words that can be confusing but the flow of each sentence.  I read a fun article from the BBC about some rules we know without really knowing them. (the…
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Winner!

Are you the winner, viewer number 14,000? This week surpassed 14,000 views on www.carriebonello.com.  I could offer number 14,000 a fabulous prize but I don’t know who you are. I enjoy the administrative background information that comes…
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Fall 2021

The brownies are safely stored in the oven for travel, I can hear Willie Nelson singing On The Road Again, and we are off on another adventure. The destination is Colorado, I know what you’re thinking don’t those folks go anywhere else? …
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Goodbye Friend

Once in a while, someone comes along, someone who just naturally makes everyone feel a little happier, a little more alive to life.  Suzette has been that someone to me. She has given me a new perspective on a lot of things - including myself.…
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Wild Kingdom

Monty and I have lived in what I affectionately call the ‘toe hills’ of the Santa Catalina Mountains for about twenty-five years. The foothills you hear about, the high rent district, is located to the north and west of us. The higher views…
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Gone Fishing

We spent a delightful long weekend at Big Lake in the White Mountains of Arizona with our good friends Susie and Bob.  Susie booked a double camping site and we snuggled their truck and trailer and our motorhome right into the grove of aspens,…
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Love the Eagles

On our recent trip to Colorado we drove up to Grand Mesa, one of the mountains that surround Grand Junction.  Whenever we visit Colorado there is a lot of reminiscing going back to Monty's boyhood growing up in Grand Junction.  He's mentioned…
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