Dentists in the Family?

...You be the judge.

I should note that this is an activity that takes place after most meals. The two psychomutts shove their faces into one anothers' mouths and do a thorough cleaning. It's pretty gross, but fantastically entertaining. Sort of like the oft-referred to "train wreck". Anyway. This is the best shot I've gotten of it so far, as they seem to be easily distracted from the task at hand when they hear the camera wind up.

Keeping Up Attention Spans

In an effort to keep you coming back, and to force myself into more regular or at least more frequent posting, I have returned this evening to give you photos of some stuff I've seen recently:



One of my favourite/must visit places in Lawrence, Kansas. Waxman Candles. I have a box full of candles here at the house, but I *had* to buy more when I was there. It's just what ya do. I also prefer to give gifts from there above any other place, so it's nice to have stock on hand.



Another favourite, and home of the Sweet Sweet Salsa, is La Familia. Also in Lawrence, it sits next to The Bottleneck, another mecca of sorts, for the musically inclined. Soooo many good shows there. I was spoiled. At any rate, La Familia. Yummy yummy mexican, and the sweet salsa is the thing around which all other foods are consumed. mmmmmm

And that's it for now. I've promised the pups a walk in the morning before work. That means 4am. Yawn.

wonderment

I got carded today at the grocery store. That was a nice moment.

Aside from that there is so much going on that I don't really have a lot to say. I'm not really feeling 100% at the moment, although I'm not sure why. I don't feel sick in a physical way, besides having a slight headache. I'm sleepy and a bit stressed, and I'm sure that's an unfortunate combination for any living organism.

Anyway. The arbitration hearing for my craptastic Xterra was yesterday. Should have some results from that in a week or so.

Every time my phone rings I expect it to be my mother or Aunt with news of Grandma Tocco's whereabouts, be it in this world or the next. She's been hanging on for something like three weeks now, in true Gran fashion...(Eddie Izzard. wot a gem he is) I got to talk to her today, which is a bit misleading of course, because it was more that I talked *at* her. She's hardly in the mood to waste precious energy talking back to me, is she? She's got a long trip ahead! :D At any rate it was nice to say my hellos and goodbyes to her, and it really got me all teary eyed for the first time since I found out she was very ill.

Anyway. Perhaps those things are preoccupying my upper consciousness and making me feel out of sorts. Perhaps I just need to sleep more and worry less. Maybe I just need chocolate and a cuddle with my honeys. That always seems to cure all ills.

4.5 hours

...is a long time to spend alone in an airport with your thoughts. Thoughts like "Where is the closest water fountain? Are there bathrooms in this prison of Gate 32? Why aren't there sleeping cots for situations like this? How come all the people selling food and entertaining cryptoquote books got to go home? Why is the ceiling a webbed matrix of concrete diamonds? And how long has it been since they cleaned under those waiting room seats?"

Our flight was grounded in Detroit for inclement weather. The lady at the check in counter teased me mercilessly, saying they were putting us on a different flight and would be going out around the same time anyway, and not to worry. Twice she told me this; I double checked before I went through the search and seizure gates, because my best friend lives just minutes from the airport and I could have just had her come back for me. No, no, you're switching planes, no worries.

So in I went, only to sit for the next four hours listening to announcements stating that indeed we would not be leaving until 11:55....12:20...12:35...12:55...1:15...

We were able to start boarding our flight at around 1:15am (KC time), but the storm that had caused all this delay in the first place seemed to have made a phenomenal track SE to KC, and was now pummelling the tarmac with monsoon-like rains. We'd watched the lightning show for an hour or so before the flight arrived, with little more than a slight rumble of thunder as accompaniment. As soon as our plane touched down, though, all bets were off.

After another 30 minutes or so of on-board waiting, we were off. Flying into and through the storm might have been a fun time--the bouncing and jostling something akin to my favourite roller coaster or a good bike ride--had it not been for the fact that we were several thousand feet in the air.

We did land in Phoenix with no further problems at around 2:30am, I think. It's all a bit fuzzy at this point. I had been scheduled to work at 6am today, but luckily had the forethought to call my boss during the 4 hour hiatus. He swapped me with our AGM, so I'm closing tonight which sucks in all kinds of ways, but at least I got some rest. I can be fully alert for the madness of being the only closing manager on my first shift back in nearly two weeks. Hooray!

Anyway, I'm home, and I'm happy, and the dogs are whining for attention, so I'm off to rub some puppy belly. Ciao for now....

On My Summer Vacation I . . .

Picked rocks, hickory nuts, and walnuts from the yard. I hauled logs up to the deck for winter fires. I cleaned abandoned bird nests from the birdboxes. I stuck my arm up to the elbow in a pvc pipe filled with mud and leaf sludge in an attempt to get the gutters running more smoothly. I climbed a tree with a bowsaw in hand and cut down an errant limb. I shoveled mulch and swept the driveway. I tried, and failed, to figure out the problem with my parents' printer. [EDIT: I wrote this up yesterday and it wouldn't publish from my folks' computer...this morning I DID fix the printer!]

I also had some really good grub (thanks mom!), got to walk around inside a house in the process of being built (If you've never built your own house, you will not understand why this is cool. Parents have "built" at least two of our houses, and I will forever be enthralled with the process, and consequently love walking around in unfinished homes.), and faced down the neighbourhood bully-dog(he's really just a misunderstood soul that needs to be loved).

I've been at my folks' house since Sunday evening, and had to quickly get over the aforementioned tree-freakout, since they are surrounded by greenness of all shapes sizes, and manner. When we sit out on the deck, I hear frogs and owls and all manner of fauna. Probably some flora, too--the trees tend to creak as they sway in the woods behind the house. Armadillo come on the deck to eat the cat's food, as do racoons. Dad tries to shoo them away, but I'd rather just watch them and pretend I'm on some kind of lame safari. It's a wilderness of sorts here, lush and homey. This is what I miss when I look out on the desert of Arizona.

Thoughts on Trees

So it's Wednesday, and I'm in Kansas City. There was a fairly spectacular storm outside my airplane window on the ride up, but fortunately it was far enough away that we got to enjoy the light show without any disruption of smooth sailing.

It was dark when we drove away from the airport last night and through the winding streets to Kimbra's house. This means that my shock at once again being surrounded by grass and trees had to wait until this morning. Sweet V's hiccoughs (Okay, actually it wasn't *technically* her hiccoughs that woke me up...it was the fact that they were so cute that I was giggling to myself. I giggled myself awake.)awoke me around 7:30am (Phoenix time), and she distracted me from the great outdoors for rather a long time with her amazing cuteness.

Anyway, when I looked outside I was a bit overwhelmed with the greenery. It's just...a lot. And it's close. I drove to Tasty Thai to pick up lunch and felt almost claustrophobic as I drove down the tree-lined street. A very unusual sensation, since I am the one who protested most vehemently about the lack of trees and green in Arizona. Truth is, I've gotten used to the barrens, and now the trees are kinda freaking me out. Don't get me wrong, it is beautiful, and given a choice, I would live with trees and grass...but it is hard to get used to again after so much wide-openness and rocks and scrub.

So there you have it. The Trees are weirding me out.

Full Suss!

er...I accidentally hit "enter" after typing the title to this entry, and it actually posted just a title. Odd.

I just wanted to beam a bit about the fact that I went for a ride on my NEW MOUNTAIN BIKE this morning, and for the first time in ages, I don't feel as though I've been pummeled by 1,000 angry fists!

Russell found out about a bike shop close to both his work and my work, and where a co-worker of his had recently gotten a bike and/or gear. We went to check it out on Saturday morning before I went to work, and I got all jazzed again about the prospect of getting new wheels. I went back in yesterday after work and rode this bike and a Fuji Diamond something-or-other. We tweaked the hell out of the Jamis so it would feel right, and after almost 2 hours I decided to take the plunge. It's a full suspension bike, and is rather heavier than I'd like, but I really don't have $2000 to spend on a featherweight fs. :) The extra weight just means I'll get more of a workout and be in better shape!

I'm very excited about it, and a little sad that I'm leaving for 10 days and won't get to ride!! I'm also very excited that Russell is showing an interest in riding as well; I can't tell you how cool it would be to go riding with him. We got to go a couple times before we moved from Oklahoma, and I can't wait to do it again.

So yeah, I'm going to Kansas City tomorrow. Woohoo! I'll be staying with my best friend for a few days, going to the KC Renaissance Faire, and then, hopefully, going to see my parents for a few days. Mom has had to suddenly go to Indiana to be with *her* mother, but hopefully everything will work out okay and she'll get to come home in time so that I can visit her. If not, Dad, I guess if you want some help around the house, you'll have to make the trip to KC to pick me up yourself! :D

I gotta run and get ready for work. ciao!

Fat Cyclist

Could apply to me, but really it's just a funny funny man trying to get his body back by biking. Check out the right hand sidebar. He's raising money for the MS 150. Brilliant.