Creations

/1/12 Watching secret of nymh. I showed it to Veronica last week when she was sick and I think she has watched it four times since.

4/2/12 Had practice evacuation drills at higley high today. When I got home the school nurse was on the phone. Paige had a fever of 101. Fell asleep w Paige on the couch and the phone rang two hours later. The nurse said Veronica needed to go home because she had a fever of 101. Now neither of them are allowed to go back to school tomorrow. Well at least they have eachother.

4/3/12 Paige and Veronica are sicker if that is possible. Paige is throwing up and they both have fevers. They stayed home today and they will stay home tomorrow too. Matthew is in Canada for a business trip. I had bus evacuation training at power ranch grade school today. I also turned in my contract with higley unified school district today. So I will drive buses next year too. Looking for a summer job until then. Tomorrow I am getting braces. Weird.

4/4/12 Teeth hurt. Paige threw up all day and she has a fever. Veronica had a bloody nose and she has a fever. Feeding Paige tiny ice chips granted it has only been 15 minutes but so far it is the only thing she has kept down for two days. She's not supposed to chew or suck ice w her expander in her teeth but it was either ice chips or an I've at the Er and I can't miss anymore work.

4/5/12 Trying to eat a bagel all morning. It's been two hours and I have the equivelant of two bites eaten. I'm not sick. I'm just learning to eat. Braces. Paige kept down the ice chips last night and she had some more today. I think she might be getting better. Veronica is too. Thank goodness. They were ultra sick yesterday.

4/6/12 The scale says "lo". That must mean my weight is so low it doesn't even register. Or it could mean it needs new batteries. I'm going to have to try the battery theory because I'd like to see my weight. Since I haven't been able to eat these past few days I'm thinking I might have lost some weight. Maybe I am "lo"er than I was before. Matthew is flying home today. Veronica and Paige are feeling better. We are doing homework and cleaning and we'll go to FedEx to get Matthews package and the orthodontist to fix a hurting spot on my teeth. Can't believ I didn't mention the mountain lion. Cortina kids weren't allowed outside. Because it was spotted in the cortina neighborhood. Desert mountain school is two miles down from us on the same ditch and they had staff spot the mountain lion too. There were helicopters and k9 police cars every where. I haven't heard if they found it yet. We had one in the neighborhood about two years ago too. I just got my coach flip flops. The are unbelievable. Indescribable. Wow.

4/12/12 It's Thursday. My bus won't beep when it backs up. So I drove three or four buses before I found one I like to drive for now. I miss 42 but 36 is just like it so I'm ok. We have baby birds growing in a nest in our front yard. It's our family secret so no one knows where they are except for us. We watch them grow and eat. The mom and dad are always there. It's so cute. Matthew found them. He found them last year too. I wanted sushi tonight. Who knows whatever for. So we asked queen creek friends and found a groupon for a sushi place here by our house. Very delicious.

4/14/12 I've had my phone for two 1/2 years and the iden serviice is going away. I am forced to get a new phone. I might have found a phone to replace it. How in the world am I so sad to have to upgrade my phone?

4/14/12 Sunday. Veronica's team didn't win but she blocked about 15 shots. She did such a good job and she even got fouled out of the game. She wasn't trying to foul she was just playing hard. So we took her to McDonald's to celebrate. Today Matthew and I painted the concrete in our backyard. It took all day. Now I'm at the iron chef Chinese takeout restaurant getting dinner while he puts the sealer on it. I ordered a new phone. It should get here in a couple of days. This summer I hope to finish my little girl trilogy and post it on amazon and finish crocheting Veronica's curtain.

4/17/12 Matthew is on a business trip. He left this morning. Veronica and Paige have aims tests today at school. I walked around our neighborhood w my neighbor and when I got home I was starving. So I made French toast. Yum. This weekend we stained the concrete in our backyard. It took 12 hours. I'm sore today. I stepped on the scale and I lost another pound. Since the cruise I have lost 5 pounds. Sweet. I was hoping my new phone came in the mail. It didn't but the free lightbulbs I ordered from the electric company did. Back to work. Saturday I clapped so hard at Veronica's game I cracked the band on my blue topaz ring. I'll have to decide if I want another one or if I want to restyle the stone.

4/18/12 It's bedtime. Lights out and the girls are in bed. Then Veronica shows me I used glowing thread when I made her blanket a year ago. Seriously. How did I not know this all this time. I sewed stars on her blanket and the stars glow in the dark. It's just the blanket that keeps giving. I still need to finish Paige's blanket. Maybe in June. Thank goodness for summer brsummer he girls had aims again today and they will again tomorrow too. My phone didn't come in the mail today. Maybe tomorrow is the day.

4/19/12 My phone came today! It's super cool so far. The girls keep saying they want a ds phone now.

4/20/12 An older high school got on the bus w a box of donuts, a dozen roses, balloons and a stuffed animal. Plus he had his backpack and his gym shoes in his hands too. I asked him who's birthday it was and he said it was a prom invite. I'm so curious to see if she said yes. They shut down our street a mile in all directions because a police motorcycle was in an accident. They said he broke his leg. The general consensus has been that's awful he broke his leg but at the same time thank goodness he's ok. We took the girls to church school, tried a new sushi restaurant and took the girls to the cortina carnival. It was a lot of fun. I hadn't had the chance to walk around the carnival before because I always had my own booth. Matthew won a $50 gift card. Woohoo!

4/23/12 Saturday night we went to Ryan's birthday in his backyard under the stars. The cooked hotdogs on the fire, slept on tents and watched a movie on the backyard wall. It was Ernest goes to camp. Sunday the girls went to a birthday party at a reception hall called Noah's. It was cool there they played shuffle board, ping pong, pool and they had a dance off too. Paige won a fake mustache. Now she runs around pretending to be a pizza guy taking our orders. Speaking of Paige, we need to update her restaurant review website but we are so busy right now. Maybe after school gets out we can catch it up. Sunday after their party they went to the neighbors house to swim and we watched mission impossible. Today is Monday. The girls had dance practice for their recital next month and McDonald's for dinner. Tomorrow morning Matthew flies to San Jose I think. I have an extra high school run too. $$ chaching. The website I ordered my swimsuits from already shipped them. They told me it would take ten days processing. It wasn't ten days. Maybe they are likestar trek engineering. Always give them a longer estimate so they won't be disappointed. It was 104 degrees today.

4/26/12 It rained last night. It's beautiful today. 80 degrees and cloudy. Probably the last day of weather we will have until the monsoons in July. It poured while I took Paige to the orthodontist. It was beautiful. Paige stuck her hand out the window to feel it. By the time I got back to drive my bus it was clear and I don't get to use my wipers. Matthew lands tomorrow night from California. My neighbor brought us a homemade loaf of bread. It's totally delicious.

4/27/12 We were watching a cartoon called ninjago where these ninjas were fighting monsters that looked like at ats. Veronica said the at at monsters looked like Vader when he plays with bugs. She said except the bugs don't find their true potential and freeze Vader. For some reason (maybe it was her deadpan expression) it cracked me up.

4/29/12 Yesterday I went to the dentist early to get my tooth pulled. It was so easy. He gave me 4 shots w/out making my whole face numb and just pulled it right out. It was the easiest dentist visit I have had. I had to sit in the car for 30 minutes until my heart stopped pounding from the shots and went back home. There was a moment when I didn't want anyone around but I felt alone and then I felt better. We went to Veronica's award ceremony for her basketball league. Matthew Veronica and Paige ate burgers and we watched the coaches play a game. It was amazing. They went 5 overtimes. During the awards they called Matthew up and gave him an award for coaching. He and Veronica were so happy. Then we went to get ice cream and sushi. I couldn't imagine a better way to finish the day. Today we are going to Tucson for Monique's birthday.

3/2/12 Dr Seuss bday. Veronica has a recorder solo this morning and I'm missing it. These are the moments we don't get back. It's a blustery day pooh. Bought fabric from my industrial seamstress neighbor. She's having a yard sale. Score for me. Wish my passport would get here. I'm leaving Wednesday.

3/4/12 It's Sunday. There's no post on Sunday. I checked online and it says my passport has shipped overnight. Well, does that mean it will arrive tomorrow? Please please.

3/6/12 I'm leaving tomorrow. I still don't have my passport. It's 10:30 am and I'm on passport patrol. I still have to pack too. I can't believe I'm doing this. I have only left my girls 5 times since they were born. This is where I am supposed to be. It will be fun. It's a good time for me to go. The girls are growing up and this will be good for them and me. It's not going to be easy though.

3/7/12 My passport came! Last night it was in my mailbox when I checked at 5:00 pm. Talk about down to the last minute. I packed almost all night and Matthew and the girls drove me to the airport this morning. Now we are waiting to board. QaI've only flown twice in the last 10 years. A lot has changed since then. Everyone is nice so far. President Obama is going to be at Charlotte at the same time I land. Every president since bush sr has blocked me. It must finally be Obamas turn. We are flying over nm and there is snow on the ground. I wonder where the other cruise girls are. Shoot I forgot my cute little coach purse.

3/8/12 It's Debbie's bday. I've decided to make it my job to tell everybody. I finally got some coffee. Now I can be nice easier than it was when I woke up. Veronica and Paige are going to school in 10 minutes so I don't have to worry about them for now. Next we take the shuttle to the cruise. Sweet. This hotel has been so nice. Shuttles and corkscrews and trundle beds. My cell phone lost reception as soon as we left port. And the Internet is 65 cents a minute. I will have to use the wifi to call my family.

3/9/12 Had coffee room service. Ate at the buffet for breakfast. Sunburned by the pool while we watched the bellyflop competition. Sat in the hot tub watching the water go by.

3/12/12 It's Monday. The cruise is over. The girls have flown home. I'm staying in my hotel tonight alone. The ship was beautiful. The room was beautiful. Debbie and Margo had a balcony we could sit outside watch the water and feel the wind. Tammy Sheila and I had the most forward room on the ship our window faced the ships point. We watched people stand on the tip like titanic day and night. Just downstairs from our floor was the ships mall called the prominade. They had ice cream and pizza and cupcakes and clothes and watches and jewelry and perfume and purses. Just below that floor was the casino and the dance club called the catecombs. tammy said the catecombs is a place in Europe where they collected bones and put them in the walls of this place. We ate dinner every night with three ladies. A great grandma named Sandra, her daughter named Beth and Beth's friend named Eileen. The waitstaff was amazing. They brought us whatever we wanted. Sometimes they went to other parts of the ship to find what we needed. One time the whole staff sang a song. Debbie want to see them sing on the grand staircase. She said it was beautiful. We ate breakfast every morning upstairs at a buffet on the 11th floor called windjammer. We sat over the water and ate in the sun. There was a track on the top floor above the three pools. I walked the track every day. I could look over the edge and see the forward point that we could see from our window. It was so far down to the water from up there. Photographers took pictures the whole time. By the end of the trip we had 43 professional pics on a cd. Sheila has it. She is going to burn copies for each of us. We went to see an ice skating show. It was beautiful. I think one of us got video of it. I wanted to skate but I ran out of time the same thing happened with the surfing. I finally had time to boogy board and got signed up for it and they just closed the line on the last day. The ship was full of spring breakers. We didn't expect it and it made for an interesting trip. Tons and tons of college kids.on our. Is it to Cozumel we rented a jeep and Sheila drove it. We drove around the whole island. We went to see a crocodile and a lighthouse and climbed a tower and went snorkeling and I slept in a hammock and ate fish tacos and we went to Mayan ruins and shopping in the shops and saw iguanas and storks and flamingos. We were so exhausted and I was sunburned. It was amazing. The ruins were magical and I could have spent all day just there.when the cruise ended we left the ship and walked through customs which wasn't as scary as I remember 12 years ago. The agents joked with us and they were helpful too. We got back to the hotel and walked to a restaurant. It was on the water and had a list of famous people who ate there. For $14 including tip I had an ice tea and more crab than I could eat. Oh my goodness it was so good and so beautiful and such a great price. I am definitely eating there again. I might come back just to eat there again. Now the girls are at home and tomorrow I have free breakfast. Score I fly through philidelphia to eat a real cheesesteak before I land in Phx and meet my family at 9:00 tomorrow night.

3/13/12 I'm actually in Philly and I just finished a Philly cheesesteak. Yum! Now I'm waiting for my connecting flight to Phx to land at 8:30 and see my family at 9:00. It will be a long day. This flight will be 5 hours? Omgoodness. At least there is no one in the middle seat. I'm still on my marathon flight. I'm afraid my battery will die before we get there. Flying from philadelphia to Phx were covering almost all of the us. It's beautiful. The square mile farms. I saw one with a diagonal fire across the entire square. I've seen rivers crossing north and south. We have chased the sun our entire flight. It's been sunset for almost an hour. The buildings used to all reflect the sunset but we are past that now. They are in the earths shadow and we are still in the sunset.

3/14/12 Back to life back to reality. Had to make my own coffee this morning. Took the girls to basketball camp this morning. Time to do laundry. I have 9 kids in my house right now. How will a cruise goddess figure out what to make for dinner?

3/15/12 Today I took Paige to get braces, Veronica to get her glasses adjusted, me for more Zantac, and the girls to get haircuts. Time to make dinner and clean the kitchen.

3/17/12 Happy st Patrick's day. It's a good day to be Irish. Even people who aren't Irish are Irish today. Last night we had a little girl for a sleepover. We took her to see the lorax. Cute cute movie. We woke up this morning with coffee and pancakes. this morning I had a surprise. I lost a pound. I lost a pound when I got back from my cruise and then another half a pound this week. With this one today, that makes two and a half pounds this week! Cousin Sheila has been a big motivator every day. Thanks cousin Sheila. There are voices, whether they look me in the eye or scream in my head, who say I will never be better than who I was when I wasn't

3/18/12 Sunday. Veronica won her basketball game yesterday. She kicked some serious butt. Then she had a sleepover last night for a girls birthday party. When I went to get her this morning the birthday girls mom fed me chocolate chip pancakes w real maple syrup. Yum. Later today Vader was at the back door shaking because he was cold. I took Paige out with an old shirt and we turned his heater light on. Paige sat out in his house with him and then it started pounding hail. Paige and Vader were in his house and we were standing at the back door screaming back and forth because the hail was so loud. The hail was very pretty and Vader got warm.

3/19/12 It's the last day of spring break. That hail storm was part of a big storm that closed schools in Az and shut down 180 miles on i40.

3/20/12 5:00 am Forcast says 41 degrees and snow today. In queen creek AZ. I don't think I have ever seen snow in our forecast. I have seen it snow here twice in almost 20 years. I'm going out there to drive the school bus and I'm going to have to tell Veronica and Paige to dress very warm. It turned out to be a warm day. On my way to cortina to get the girls, the road was blocked so I had to take the long way around to the school. When I got there I was informed cortina was on lockdown because the bank on our corner was in a hostage situation. They released the kids in 20 minutes because the police talked the guy into letting the three tellers go. We went to the dentist and Paige's two cavities are filled now and ready for the spacers next week. I took the girls back to school and drove the bus for my afternoon shift. Then on the same intersection a terrible accident happened right while the buses were coming through. Veronica and Paige saw it right after it happened and when I came through a helicopter landed right in front of me. So I detoured. Meanwhile Matthew is flying right now and I have a terrible sinus infection. I called my ENT and left a message so hopefully I'll get a prescription tomorrow.

3/22/12 I did it! I got a printer jam and I did a computer search to fix it. I watched a video and cleared the jam. Woohoo me. I got Sheila's picture flash drive from the cruise today. We are beautiful. Thank you Sheila. Matthew is coming home tonight from Colorado. It will be good to see him home.

3/25/12 We went to see the hunger games last night. It was beautiful. The visuals and the emotion. They did such a good job. Thank goodness because it is such a well written book. Thank you kiresten for working on me for over a year to read it in the first place. Thank you Suzanne Collins for writing such a believable hero in a girl. Right now we are on a drive to Tucson to watch the horse races. Hopefully the horses stay healthy and we win big money.

3/26/12 Went to the hospital because I felt like it was hard to breathe. Nine hours later they said it wasn't my heart or my lungs but that I have gall stones whatever that means. Now I have to have them removed. Tomorrow is Paige's ortho appt. goodnight.

3/27/12 Tuesday Took Paige to the orthodontist appt today. They put an expander in between her top teeth. We have to turn a key every night starting tomorrow night. Hopefully it's not as awful as everyone says it is. Paige and I are going to bed. Matthew and Veronica are at basketball practice. Veronica has a game Saturday. It was 89 degrees today.

3/30/12 Veronica has a massive cold. Poor girl. She missed a day of school this week. She is going today since its Friday and she will have two days to recuperate. Took Paige's field trip to the seussical yesterday. Fun fun. Just saw a massive vulture on jacaranda the street that passes our fountain. The vulture was probably a foot tall and had a big red beak. Saw a passenger train on our train tracks. Never saw a passenger train on our tracks. Got Vera wang shoes and a relic watch last night to replace the watch I broke in the rip tide in Mexico.

paige has a website where she posts her food reviews. Go ahead and take a look. www.thetastypaige.blogspot.com

Comic book fans, creators mourn Arizona’s Atomic Comics

21 August 2011 4 Comments Jayson Peters

It’s the end of an era for many pop culture fanatics in the Valley as word spreads that the local comic book chain Atomic Comics has closed its doors.

Up until Sunday, Atomic had stores at Country Club Drive and Southern Avenue in Mesa, Chandler Fashion Center, Metrocenter Mall in Phoenix and Paradise Valley Mall.

Former P.V. store manager Thomas Healy was among several employees to verify the growing reports Sunday on Twitter: “Yes @Atomic_Comics is now closed. I will miss running my store. I had the best staff ever!” He later clarified that all four stores were closed.

The chain had a reputation nationwide for a knowledgeable staff as well as frequent promotions and popular events that brought big-name industry talent to connect with fans in the Valley. The owner used his connections well, even managing to get the store’s brand featured as the comic book shop in last year’s big-screen adaptation of the Mark Millar-John Romita Jr. title Kick-Ass.

The business had recently shut down its online storefront, with a note that it would soon return; its store on eBay also was dark. Atomic, like all players in the print media game, faced major challenges from digital distribution schemes and the sluggish-at-best economy.

Sunday night, online reports of Atomic Comics’ demise from sites such as The Beat, The Outhouse and Newsarama spurred an emotional reaction on social networking sites like Twitter from patrons and comics industry figures.

“Horrified & upset to hear about Atomic Comics closing,” wrote Choker writer Ben McCool. “Was lucky enough to sign there last year & had the time of my life. Devastating blow. … Mike texted me to confirm. Sad but true.”

“Incredibly sad day today,” wrote Marvel Comics chief creative officer Joe Quesada. “The best retailer I’ve ever met closed his doors. There’s never been anyone like @atomicmike and there never will.”

Marvel writer Brian Michael Bendis said: “i don’t know what happened or whats up but @atomicmike is and will always be one of the best retailers ever!”

“@Atomicmike” is Mike Malve, the store’s owner, who did not wish to comment but used his final weekly newsletter to confirm the chain’s demise and elaborate on the financial situation that led to its closing.

“The villain in this tragedy is the economy,” he wrote. “I had hoped to be the superhero and triumph over the recession, but sadly the economic downturn of the past five years has proven to be unsustainable.”

Malve said plunging sales as the economy soured turned the leases at the chain’s four high-visibility locations, once considered a branding boon, into a burden.

Ultimately, however, Malve traces the downfall’s beginning to Halloween 2006, when a teenage girl drove a car through the Mesa store’s window, smashing water pipes and damaging nearly $1 million worth of inventory. It reopened five months later as a gathering spot for collectors and casual readers alike — but many regular patrons never came back.

“The damages were so severe we lost close to a million dollars in product. The loss of revenue due to being closed all those months as we headed into retail’s busiest season was astronomical,” Malve’s statement said. “What really stood out to me was how many of Atomics’ customers were lost as we rebuilt the store. It seemed as if half our customers never returned. The great mystery to me is what exactly happened to all those missing customers. I can only speculate that once you take away the habit of weekly buying-it is hard to jump back into it.”

He also revealed he has filed for bankruptcy and is losing a home that was used as security against the four stores’ broken leases.

Malve started the chain in 1988 as Bubba’s Comic Store in Phoenix. It moved to Mesa a year later and changed its name to Atomic Comics. For years it was in the now-defunct Fiesta Village Shopping Center at the corner of Southern Avenue and Alma School Road, across the street from Fiesta Mall, but it later moved to Southern and Country Club before getting its unplanned renovation.

The store on Metrocenter’s outer loop opened in 1993, moving to a new spot there fronting Dunlap Avenue in 2009.

The Chandler store opened in 1997, later moving to the mall area in 2002.

Paradise Valley got its location in 2001.

According to Malve’s statement, at one point the chain employed up to 60 people.

A sign posted outside the closed Mesa store Monday morning directed comic shoppers to other local spots, like the downtown drag’s recently opened Gotham City Comics & Coffee.

Matthew is in Washington DC taking lots of pictures.  Veronica and Paige are at school.  I'm just about to head in for the lunch rush at Cortina Elem.  It's been so much fun working for Cortina for the last two years. 

Veronica lost her silver tooth!