Proud Mom Prom Alert

Tonight is Gilbert High School's prom. Our son and his girlfriend joined about 7 other couples in sharing a limo to the event, but they humored the parents long enough for a few pictures:



In spite of a fairly severe knee sprain suffered in a rugby game last night, he assured us he intended to dance the night away.

I'm also a proud second mom of his best friend for the past 13 years or so, so I have to show this "son" and his longtime girlfriend as well:



They are all great kids; we are thrilled with the privilege of parenting them.

Arbor Day is Tomorrow

Just a reminder that Morrison Ranch will be celebrating Arbor Day tomorrow, between 9 and 11 a.m., in the tot lot area of Higley Estates (at the corner of Windmill and Comstock). Bring the kids and enjoy the weather before it gets too hot.

Big League Gets Closer To Start

Yesterday I mentioned Higley Groves' neighbor to the west, the magnet school. Today's AZ Republic has an article about Highland Groves' neighbor to the east, Big League Dreams:

It's not a pipe dream anymore.

What will become Gilbert's largest multisports complex is soon to take shape.

Designers and town officials have been working the last few months to mold a publicly funded Big League Dreams baseball park into a reality.

The facility could open as soon as next summer, according to town officials.

A lot of the work so far has been done on paper, specifically on blueprint sketch pads and computer printouts.

But perhaps in a matter of weeks, the first clumps of dirt will be overturned, said Paul Mood, Gilbert's Capital Improvement Program coordinator.

Big League Dreams enters private-public partnerships with municipalities to build scaled-down sports fields with facades of major-league stadium backdrops.

Concepts for the Gilbert park include Fenway Park, Yankee Stadium, Wrigley Field and the Polo Grounds.

Arizona Diamondbacks fans need not fret - there will be a Chase Field.

Baseball isn't all that will go on at the park. Plans also call for a clubhouse, batting cages and a pavilion.

Photos of the project's replica stadiums have been shown at open houses held off-and-on the last few weeks. The last one was Wednesday.

Mood said many of the necessary design documents have been filed, allowing construction to begin in July. If that timeline holds, the facility could be ready to open by July 2007, he said.

Illustrations are just the latest development in Gilbert's nearly two-year-long plan to convert 63 acres of one-time alfalfa land into a revenue-generating mecca for sports and other entertainment in town.

The land is on Elliot Road between Recker and Power roads.

When completed, the Big League Dreams project will represent the largest one-time park expenditure in town history.

Under a development contract, Gilbert will cover all $23 million in construction costs, and Big League Dreams would pay for operations and maintenance.

Both entities will share the revenues. Gilbert's cut has been estimated at $500,000 to $1 million annually.

Big League Dreams and the town have had engineering sessions the last few months to find ways to keep construction and planning costs from inflating, said Don Webber, vice president of development for Big League Dreams USA LLC, the project's parent company. The company estimates that as many as 400,000 visitors would be drawn to the complex each year for tournaments, league games and other events, the study states.

I really understand the part about the planning all being on computers and sketch pads; it still amazes me how much work goes into a project before a single shovel full of dirt is moved. And I understand the desire to keep construction costs from inflating, too. In the office yesterday I overheard a comment that the costs of two more components have gone up, one of which is copper. Perhaps you saw the newspaper article saying that the cost of a penny is actually 1.7 cents right now; this makes the copper tubing used in constructing houses that much more valuable. If these folks have some way of keeping the costs of construction down - or even level -maybe we should sit in on their engineering sessions.

It Never Ends

Have you ever noticed how home improvement projects take on a life of their own, ever expanding and always -dare I say - taking longer and costing more? Well, office improvement projects seem to be the same way. At our office, we have replaced the cracked sidewalk with a nice slate cover, painted the outside, painted and wallpapered much of the inside, fixed some plumbing fixtures and light fixtures, and now this; a small leak repair in the roof has led to replacing the roof. Well, the current one has served for 50 plus years; I guess it might be time.



By the way, do you see the window on the corner at the bottom of the picture? My corner office.

The School Next Door

The East Valley Tribune has an article today telling us the longterm plan for the Technology and Leadership Academy, located just to the west of Higley Groves West:

The Gilbert Unified School District governing board unanimously approved a classical-style school Tuesday night.

The seventh- through 12th-grade academy — the district’s newest magnet school — will eventually replace the Technology and Leadership Academy, an aviation-focused high school that is being phased out due to stagnant student enrollment. The new school will open in August 2007.

The school will focus on developing critical thinking skills, and will require courses in logic, rhetoric, philosophy, debate and Latin. Seniors will also be required to complete a thesis and community service before graduation.

The 350-student school will also be included in 1A athletics — the state’s smallest athletic division. The remainder of Gilbert’s high schools participate in 5A — the state’s largest.

Over the next year, school officials will work to develop admissions and graduation requirements, curriculum, incorporation of technology, school uniforms, and a name.

“There are a lot of things that we will still need to pursue,” said Gilbert Superintendent Brad Barrett.

So that's the plan, anyway. I don't really know that much about magnet schools, but I do have friends who are avid supporters of classical curriculum. I always enjoy watching the Technology and Leadership students marching in formation along the canal bank. I don't suppose the new students will be gathered there to practice their Socratic oration...

Getting Rid of Paper

There's a very long article in today's AZ Republic about the shredding business and the lack of government regulation. It starts this way:

The shredding industry in Arizona is on a tear.

Demand for document destruction services in Arizona is at an all-time high, driven by high identity-theft rates and new rules requiring businesses to properly dispose of personal information.

Companies large and small, homegrown and from other states, are stepping up to meet the need.

But while the shredding blitz has provided an economic boon, it also is causing concern among some longtime operators.

Their worries: No state or federal agency regulates the industry.

Companies largely police themselves, guided by a non-profit trade group based in Phoenix called the National Association for Information Destruction Inc., or NAID.

Although no incidents have been reported in Arizona, some industry watchers fear that unscrupulous firms could pose as shredders, persuade businesses to hand over papers, and steal all kinds of information.

"The industry has exploded," said David Friedman, owner of Security Data Destruction Inc. in Phoenix and an NAID certified member. "Arizona businesses have been very active in demanding this service."

The surge in individuals wanting to shred documents is partly because Arizona ranks No. 1 in the country in identity thefts, according to the Federal Trade Commission.

In 2005, 6,406 Arizona consumers filed identity-theft complaints to the FTC. The Las Vegas and Riverside/San Bernardino, Calif., areas rounded out the top three.

If you have time to read the rest of the article there are some interesting tidbits there. My interest revolves around taking our office paperless. The process has gone in fits and starts, and lately my attention to the paperless side of life has been slowed a bit. But, human nature being what it is, I have several boxes of old files and scanned documents that are ready for destruction. Hmm, I wonder if my lack of "getting around to" calling a shredding company has more to do with no time or holding on to those papers just a little bit longer for my own false sense of security? The document retrieval system has worked very well for me; as long as I have input the document into the computer, I've been able to find it when I need it. Methinks I need to believe in the system enough to lead the charge in shredding the paper.

On the other hand, that would require me to actually BE at the office; and I've been working from home of late. Maybe Staples will have a sale of those round tuits, and I can go buy some. Yeah, that should do it.

Crazy Busy

A friend recently chose that phrase to describe life at The Missus and Mister's lately. It seems appropriate. For the next three weeks, my blog posts may be a little sporadic as we gear up for our first wedding. The Mister and I traveled last week for a few days for a mixture of business and pleasure, and part of the pleasure was working on our grandparenting skills as we prepare for the future:




But that was the last breath of fresh air available as we count down the days until our youngest daughter and her fiance become Mr. and Mrs.



I'll keep you posted on some of the goings-on, though I'll try not to bore you. The wedding will actually be held outside, next to the lake at Morrison Town Center, and the reception will be there as well, though that will have to be tented, since our temperatures are rising. As you might suspect, it is turning out to be a fairly large event in attendance; it will be a great celebration.

By the way, any resident served by the Morrison Ranch Community Council can have an event at the lake, with permission and the proper paperwork. I have suggested to my office mates several times that some type of reception center would be a great fit in Morrison Ranch. Since one has yet to exist, I guess I'll create my own for this wedding...

Arbor Day is Coming

Let me be the first to invite you - or the second or third - to our Arbor Day celebration next Saturday, April 29. Here is the official invitation:

An Invitation from the

Morrison Ranch Residential

Association

An Arbor Day Celebration

Saturday, April 29^th

9:00 – 11:00 a.m.

Join us at the Tot

Lot/Retention Area

within Higley Estates at the

Corner of Windmill and

Comstock

(1 block west of Higley, 1

block south of Elliot)

Activities will include:

Petting Zoo

Pony Rides

“Gigantic Jump” Bounce

House

Tree planting demonstration

Tree seedling transplanting exhibit

…and more

Please join us if you can!

Good News for the Oasis

Sorry for the lack of posting; The Mister and I are out of town, and I didn't get the chance to tell you our great news. We got the word yesterday that the Zone Cafe has signed a lease for a spot in the oasis at Lakeview Village. This is an eating place that provides a tasty (and healthy) alternative to fast food eating. You can learn more about their philosophy at their website here.

Of course, the signing of the lease is just the first step; now they will go through the process of getting their improvements approved, and then implemented, so it's not as if we'll see them opening next week. Still, it's very encouraging to see the Oasis start to fill up.

Office Field Trip

We think field trips aren't just for school kids; our office gang will occasionally pile into a vehicle and drive together to look at something of interest, or to educate ourselves. We've looked at housing communities, plant material, artificial grass, parks, freeway overpass ramps and a myriad of small details. Yesterday after lunch The First Cousin asked if we were going on a field trip, and so we did, but it was a short drive around Morrison Ranch to check out some ongoing questions. What better time of year to be outside?

Our first stop was at the lakes at Highland Groves. You may be aware that the fountain in the north lake has been on and cycling, and that the recirculators in both lakes are doing their job. If so, you might also be aware that the south fountain has yet to flow, and there are often folks at the pump stations, sometimes with small boats and guys in scuba gear. The Water Expert had a short chat with the fellows at the pump station, and reported to us that they were getting ready to fire up the big pumps that will allow the lake water to be used for irrigation. There are different pumps for the recirculation and aerating features; these are the main pumps that move the water from the lake to the landscape.

As we were leaving, we watched an SRP truck "pulling tape" which is quite literal. The developer installs the conduit for the copper wires for electricity, but not the wires themselves. When it's time to provide power to individual homes, SRP hooks up a pickup truck to a special hard-to-break tape and pulls it several hundred feet through the conduit, dragging the wire along behind it. As The Mister explained the process to me, it reminded me of using a safety pin to pull a drawstring through a waistband after it's come out during the wash.

Leaving Highland Groves we notice that the corn planted across the street is already several inches high. There has been some discussion about weekly pictures of how fast the corn will grow. The old saying "knee-high by 4th of July" looks like it will be far outdated, and that corn will be much taller than me before July hits.

From there we went to Lakeview Village to look at the distressed elm trees on the south end of the parking lot. Why do they look dead, yet the plant cover at their bases looks fine? The jury is still out on that question.

While there we noticed that "In The Raw" has a sign in the corner shop inviting job applicants; this is the juice/coffee bar that is coming soon. My last information on them is that they are in the process of getting their improvements approved by the town.

There was a brief contemplation of looking at some bushy grass plant material as our next stop, but work was beckoning, and it seemed time to wrap up our mini field trip for the day and get back to the indoors. It was nice to get some actual sun to brighten up my computer tan.

Government By the People

This week's Independent looks at proposed legislation that would force larger cities to move the timing of their elections to correspond with state elections:

A new state law mandating municipalities with populations over 175,000 change their council elections from spring to November in order to coincide with state and federal elections has Gilbert town officials thinking proactively.

“Pick your poison,” Gilbert Mayor Steve Berman said. “The Legislature has done a great job sticking their nose in our town’s business. We might as well change our own election dates before they make us. We can wait until 2010 or we can do it now.”

This is one time that I agree with Mayor Berman. The Mister and I have long bemoaned the poor turnout for our town elections, and have thought that voting at the same time as state elections might make a difference. Why is it that we are so interested and involved, relatively speaking, in national elections, and yet seem so apathetic about the governing bodies in our own back yards? Local elections affect our daily lives so much more than the national ones.

Read the rest of the article for comments by various elected officials. One could argue about the merits of being forced by legislative fiat to move election dates; but my point is that I would love to see more participation - also known as voting - in the local political scene.

Tradition

When The Mister and I were newlyweds, I asked him about his family traditions. I was stunned to hear him say, "Well, we really don't have any traditions." Convinced that this was an inaccurate perception of a young man, I went to his mom for the truth. As you might suspect, any family that has lived in one place for as many years as this one has, and enjoyed as many holidays together as this one has, will have several traditions. I have embraced many of these, and watched new traditions form in the greater family, and have of course seen new traditions become embedded in my immediate family. Our family's world view is grounded in faith, and therefore the Easter holiday is especially meaningful to us as we celebrate the very underpinning of our belief, the resurrection of Christ. Here are a few traditions, new and old, that the Morrison Family at large revived this past weekend.


A darling girl in a pretty dress hunting eggs is common to many households, including ours:



For years our children have hunted eggs on Easter Saturday at The Mister's homestead. Bias For Action's kids are all still at home, our children are near enough to make the event, and the older brother's kids are willing to travel long distances as well. As the kids have grown, it seems a bit silly to continue hunting the eggs, so Grandmama decided to try something different this year. She organized the making of several baskets for East Valley Child Crisis Center. It was a great idea:


But not so fast; the egg hunt happened just as it has in years past, except that eggs on the ground were fair game for the older kids since there really aren't any very small kids anymore; and the event is now a veritable competition. We also engaged in egg boxing, and at my son's insistence, the raw egg toss.

A relatively new tradition, exclusive to my neighborhood, is getting egged every year. No gasps necessary; this is being egged in the nicest way:



All the front lawns except one on our street looked like this early Sunday morning; so my suspicions as to the mystery eggers are confirmed!

Most traditions become that way by accident. Our Easter weekends end with a meal that I didn't even know was a tradition until my offspring pointed it out to me. I generally fix an Easter Feast to be eaten midday; by the time Sunday evening rolls around, everyone is exhausted and full from the earlier feast. So one year when the kids were small, I whipped the colored eggs into deviled eggs, made some popcorn, and sat us all in front of the TV for a movie. Voila! Instant tradition! And so last night was a typical ending of the weekend for us, with deviled eggs, popcorn, and The Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe in the DVD player.

A Look From the Air

I am up to my eyeballs in tax returns, but The Water Expert is making sure your eyeballs get to look at something else. Here are the Highland Groves lakes from the air. The fountain is on in the north lake; there is still some fixing and fiddling with the south fountain, but the recirculators are on. And the first few houses near the lake show up as well:




This is from a farther vantage point, and it shows all of Highland Groves, and then moving from the bottom of the picture upward, you see Holliday Farms and then Higley Groves. The grain tanks are in the upper left hand corner. Remember, as always, you can click your cursor on the picture to enlarge it:

More on Taxes

It's a race to the finish line, and all the CPAs that I know are digging deep for the last burst of energy to sprint to April 17. Including me, I guess; various circumstances and wedding planning have left me with more tax returns to complete before next Monday than I had envisioned. There is, of course, always the option of extending the filing deadline, but for me that would just be prolonging one race at a time when I need to move on to the next one.

But because my eye is tuned to tax law and related issues, this article in the business section of The AZ Republic caught my eye this morning. It reminded me of an issue that many folks don't realize, or if they do, they don't give it much thought: Private Mortgage Insurance, or PMI. Here is the gist of the article:

The rising value of housing is letting some homeowners dump private mortgage insurance and keep a little extra money in their wallets every month.

Mortgage lenders typically want buyers to put 20 percent down on a house but that has become increasingly difficult as home prices zoomed higher.

The Valley led the country in home-price appreciation last year, with a 48.9 percent increase above 2004 levels, according to the National Association of Realtors.

But that increase also has given some homeowners equity beyond the 20 percent that lenders want, which allows them to drop the mortgage insurance, called PMI, and pocket the money that they would have paid for it. PMI protects lenders from default and helps buyers without a lot of cash for a down payment qualify for a mortgage.

Read the rest of the article for more insight; some of the newer mortgages that combine a traditional mortgage with a credit line may not require PMI, and therefore this would be a meaningless exercise.

Different mortgages have different requirements for cancelling the PMI charges, but it's worth a look if it means keeping an extra $100 or $200 in your bank account every month, and with the increase in property values in Morrison Ranch, it's a good bet that most folks' equity would exceed the requirements.

I Was Just Wondering...

What are those grass lumps?




Walking around Higley Groves West, the green landscape is dotted with these tufts of grass in evenly spaced lumps. Having spread a little fertilizer by hand myself, my initial reaction was that these are the product of an errant fertilizer sprayer. The Mister tells me that my answer is partially correct. They are caused by fertilizer, but the fact that they are so frequent and even should tip me off that it isn't an occasional spill of the container. The landscaper inserts a probe-like instrument into the ground and injects liquid fertilizer 2 to 3 feet into the ground; when he removes the probe, some of the liquid drips off the end, and voila! Grass clumps.

The other key piece of information (for those of us without green thumbs and whose minds have been numbed by reading too much tax law) is that this is fertilizing the trees, not the grass. If you look closely, each tree is surrounded by 4 grass clumps, not next to the tree, but near the drip line of each tree. The water carries the fertilization to the tree roots, ensuring long healthy growth for those trees.

Now I get it.

A Welcome Sight

Usually when The Mister or The Water Expert send me pictures, I go through them and try to find the one that is most interesting, as well as the one that will show up best in a small viewing area. When The Water expert sent me pictures of the fountain on the north lake at Highland Groves, I loved them all, and my intention was to post them all. But for some reason, Blogger is being pugnacious this morning, and so I can only share one at the moment:




The fountain ran all weekend; the circulators are also turned on, and today should see the completion of the testing and work on the south lake fountain. It seems like a perfect fit for the lake.

Kudos to Tami Ryall

This article in the East Valley Tribune about the new dog park is well worth reading in its entirety. But the key paragraphs for me are these:

Four lakes glint a bright blue from the future Santan Freeway in Gilbert as if mirages — but they’re not.
They are part of Gilbert’s Cosmo and Discovery parks, nearing completion and expected to open by summer.

“These were all alfalfa fields,” said assistant town manager Tami Ryall this week as she looked over final work on the parks, which still need grass.

What would have been bare dirt water-retention basins for the freeway are instead being transformed into parks with picnic ramadas, multiuse sports fields and canine play structures, including a large black rock and climbing walls.

Tami's vision for Gilbert's parks and trail systems and freeway under and overpasses has been outstanding; "what would have been bare dirt..." is not, and that's true of more than just the dog park. Thanks, Tami!

Back on Monday

Going out of town today; I was hoping to be able to post pictures of the fountains at the lakes at Highland Groves, but that won't happen today. We do have electricity; The Water Expert ran the circulators yesterday, but there is still some testing and adjusting to do on the fountains before they can start running regularly.

This 'N' That

If you haven't driven by our office at Higley and Elliot lately, you might have missed the explosion of roses. They are varied and lovely and yesterday after lunch The Mister and I sniffed several different colors to select a favorite (mine tend to be the orangish ones). You know the old adage about "stop and smell the flowers"? It turns out to be true and very therapeutic. For a brief reminder about Grandma's roses from last year's post, go here. In the meantime, here is a sample of the variety from this year's new blooms:




There are always mixed feelings when a new project begins. It finalizes the reality that things are changing and will no longer be "the way they were." Yet there is excitement about the new thing to come and watching something emerge from a vision to reality. So it is with those mixed feelings that I present the paddle scrapers on Lakeview Trails North, preparing the pond for construction; soon they will be barreling back and forth across the field at what seems like high rates of speed:





After one gets over the mixed feelings of a project, along comes the impatience. Why on earth does it take so long to complete and how is it possible that there could be so many new problems and challenges popping up? Is it just me, or does it seem like this thing is dragging on forever? Well, there is indeed progress. Here is evidence of continuing work on the shops at Lakeview Village:






Who said building communities wasn't fraught with emotion of one kind or another? No one that I know.

Another Viewpoint on Lakes

I saw this article in the AZ Republic on Saturday morning right before my sister's wedding, and an astute reader pointed it out as well. It begins with a discussion on the demand for lakefront homes:

Living on the edge of a lake may seem anti-desert, but lakefront houses in the Southeast Valley are so popular they can cost $100,000 more than comparable houses.

In fact, a house in a community with a lake that isn't on the water can still cost $20,000 or more than comparable houses in communities with no water feature, real-estate agents say.

"It's considered a highly desirable amenity. There was a period of time where every community that came on line included lakes," said R. L. Brown, a Phoenix housing analyst.

"Then came criticism that they were wasting water. They may or may not be. That is in dispute. Generally they are back in favor."

Jack Lavelle, a spokesman for the Arizona Water Resources Department, said that although some people disagree, the lakes do provide some important functions. They gather rainwater and prevent flooding. And they enable reclaimed wastewater to be used to irrigate golf courses, park lawns and common areas.

"It (use of reclaimed water) is one of the key strategies in stretching our water supplies and protecting our groundwater from overpumping," he said.

Our philosophy at Morrison Ranch has always been to provide amenities that are accessible to all our residents. That's why we don't build houses right on the lakes; why we build pocket parks throughout the community; why we work at providing green view corridors for every resident. All of these amenities have dual purposes, of course. Our lakes hold reclaimed water that we use to irrigate our grass and trees in the common areas and parks. Some of our parks are retention basins. Our tree-lined streets provide shade in a big way. Kudos to our design team that integrated all these necessary functions into an aesthetically pleasing neighborhood. Why would we put our parks (retention basins) next to a busy arterial street? That doesn't seem very usable for the kids and parents. I guess it helps in the designing of a community when you plan to be a part of it. We have joked with some neighbors who are moving into newer projects like Higley Estates or Highland Groves; each neighborhood seems to get better as we incorporate new ideas or toss out ideas that haven't performed.

Not me; I'm staying put in Higley Groves West. I figure that when you start with good quality, there's no need to keep moving. Besides, I can just go visit those folks.

Lakes Are Full

The lakes at Highland Groves are filled now, and we hope to have electricity this week. We had a short celebration last Friday in one of the cul-de-sacs with the folks that have all worked hard to build the lakes. The Mister and I took 3 of our young nieces with us for some barbecue and to enjoy the view. Unfortunately, it was very very windy that day; this wasn't too much of a problem until one of the blue tarps, a few paper plates and bowls, and an entire pan of cilantro blew into the lake. You should have seen The Water Expert running at high speed but just missing grabbing the tarp, and The Mister following at high speed with his camera to get a picture of The Water Expert trying to keep his lake clean. The picture didn't turn out, or I would share it with you...

The original lake at Town Center is full as well; in fact it is overfull, and The Mister got a phone call late yesterday afternoon telling him that the lake was running over. He rushed over to meet The Water Expert and they assessed the situation, which is really not too dire; it will take a few days for the lake to recede to normal levels, and there is no damage done.

They were in the right place at the right time, however, to confront a man dumping dirt on "Mount Morrison", as we call it, with tongue firmly planted in cheek. This is the big mound of extra dirt behind the Albertson's shopping center, and it will be moved in the next few months as the grading begins on Lakeview Trails North. It's just too tempting, I guess, for those contractors looking for a convenient place to offload their extra dirt. This fellow is building a pool for someone in Higley Groves West, and this seemed so close by! He has agreed to remove all that he has dumped, and I'm quite sure the The Water Expert will encourage him to do so until it's finished.

Congratulations, Sis

My sister got married over the weekend. It's been a great time of catching up with family, and helping these two start their lives together. I'll get back to regular posting tomorrow.