Apologies!

To all my fans in the KC area, who didn't catch the fact that I was doing a retrospective here! Seems I got people all a-flutter, thinking I was headed back that way soon. Ah, that I could! I would love to catch the MBP reunion happening next weekend.

No no, what I meant was that the next time we talked (meaning, of course, the next time I rambled on endlessly in type and you read or skimmed the blogpost) I would tell you all about the Kansas City leg of my trip, wherein it became every more clear to me that once you have an adorable child (as does my Best Friend in the Entire World, Even England) the laws of physics and gravity and whatnot all go straight out the window.

Everything is centered around the little one. Where to eat, how to entertain ourselves, what we say...The World starts revolving around her. Not a bad thing, just wildly different than Life Without A Child. And honestly, I have no idea how ppl with children survive. After a day and a half I was absolutely wiped out. Exhausted. Waterballoon fights in the backyard? Hours spent trying to finagle a few teeny bites of food into her little mouth when she was otherwise distracted by some fancy artwork or an action packed football game? Painting and cutting and chalk art on the front steps, lots and lots and LOTS of lotion applications (oh boy does that little girl love lotion!). Blinky, whirly, blingy, springy toys. A trunk full of dress up clothes, and a tea set on the drum set. Trips to the park, where we were served handfulls of dirt "cupcakes", and where a giant worm proved far more fascinating (and terrifying) than anything I could have ever imagined:
At times I tried to hide in my room, but even that was useless, as bright and early in the morning the tiny little voice was at my door..."Where's Kewwi? KEWWI!! WAKE UP!" And you can't be mad at her--that's another bass-ackwards law of little people (and puppies and other baby animals)--she's just to adorable and honest and *real* to get mad at. She's incredibly smart, very funny, and generally a very cool little girl. I'm SO glad I got a chance to hang out with her, and I can't wait to do it again...but man, I'm glad I only have dogs and a boyfriend to take care of!

Then again, I don't think the puppies *or* R would ever want to take part in a miniature replica train ride:
I can't wait to go back and see her (and my best friend!) again. . .

Update! And Stuff...

So. In the past two days, Team Fatty has raised over $11,000 for the Lance Armstrong Foundation. Not too shabby. I personally haven't contributed a great deal towards that amount, but I have yet to put it out to our online gaming family, or to my hiking/cycling Meetup groups. Must. Push. Moar!

Yeah.

Back in Missouri (Mizzou-rah, or Misoo-ri, or Misery, depending on your regional dialect and/or personal mood), there were Thunderstorms to enjoy, hummingbirds to feed and laptop computers to connect.

I also got a refresher course in knitting, which for some odd reason I've always wanted to learn. Mom has tried on multiple occasions to teach me, but because I am quite unable to pick it up and immediately be good at it, it's never quite caught on. Because there is little to do in the boonies except watch one of the three available television channels, I got quite a lot of practice in while I was there. I even managed to knit...an oversized washcloth? a pint-sized towel? Looking at it again now (I keep it near me at all times, as a reminder of more crafty times.), it's more the size of a placemat--although it is wholly unsuited to that task as it would slide all over the table *and* get horrifically laden with crumbs to boot.

I was pretty pleased with my little washcloth/towel/placemat, and after I got back to Phoenix I promptly went out and purchased some inexpensive cotton yarn with which to continue apace. Thing is, I don't watch much telly here. And it's difficult to knit while sitting at the computer--much more difficult than you might imagine.

And so, alas, my sunshine yellow skein of yarn sits atop my tower, largely unused. I've got about 4 rows of what I'll optimistically call "seed stitch" on the needles, but since I haven't really done anything with them in approximately forever, I doubt there will be much more added to them.

I could seriously open my own shop with all of the half-finished projects I've got laying about.

Poing!

And later, Kansas City, here I come!

Brief Interlude

If you have spent any time around me in the last 2 years or so, you've heard me mention The Fat Cyclist. He is one of my favourite blog writers, he is a cyclist, and his wife is battling some pretty horrific cancer right now.

He's been involved with the Lance Armstrong Livestrong Foundation since her cancer came back, and they have helped immensely with referals, information, and sundry sorts of assistance. There are some really good posts about it, and other things here.

Last year as a community, Fatty's friends, family, and readers donated to the LAF via Mike Levin, who raised over $57,000 dollars for the cause. This year, Fatty has challenged us to create four Fat Cyclist teams (one for each city in which the Livestrong Challenge is held) in the hopes that we will be the biggest Mega-Team with the most gigantic-est funds raised--ever!

So. I've joined the San Jose Team. (They're close and they needed warm bodies!) You can find my donation site here. I know things are tight for all of us right now, but please consider donating even $10. Chances are excruciatingly high that you or someone you love will deal with some form of cancer in your lives. Donations to the Lance Armstrong Livestrong Foundation will enable research to continue towards treatments and cures, as well as provide a strong base of support for people currently dealing with cancer.

Thanks.

Yes, Goats!

When I went home to The Sticks, it was partially to celebrate my parents' anniversary, partially to celebrate my mom's birthday, partially to celebrate Mother's Day, and partially to celebrate my own birthday.

On my actual birthday, my mom asked what I wanted to do. . .go to town and go shopping, maybe? Maybe. . . But what I really wanted to do was go see the neighbour's goats. Mom had mentioned this neighbour and her menagerie countless times, knowing the odd affinity I have for all creatures great and small (and smelly). And aside from having goats, she also sounded like a pretty cool lady anyway, so I was excited to meet her. So we put on our grubby clothes and shoes--we'd be traipsing around in a goat pen, after all--and headed across the golf course.

Yes, there is a golf course smack dab in the middle of the neighbourhood where my folks live. And yes, there is a house off the 6th or 7th green with a yard full of goats. I couldn't make this up.

This is Billy. The Billy of the herd. He is one nasty dude. I was warned, but refused to believe in the foul habits of a billy goat. I don't think I got any photographic evidence, and believe me when I say this photo was taken *before* I witnessed it, but yes...billy goats pee on their beards.
It's quite a demonstration of agility and balance, really, but in the end I just wasn't as impressed as he possibly hoped. I guess his little trick works with the lady goats though, because there were dozens of little faces like this staring us down:I got to break out the goat treats and become everyone's best friend for a few minutes, and despite Billy giving me far more attention than the little ones dared, it was a really cool thing to do on my birthday. Yeah, that's me, turning 38 and livin' it up at a petting zoo, with a smelly pee-covered billy goat chasing me around and shoes covered in straw and poo. I am probably the world's cheapest date. And I'm okay with that.

I need my camera.

Because Delilah has just moved her achy bones from her bed to a sunny little patch on the floor behind me. The curtains are pulled back and the window is open, so she's getting a full facefull of direct sun. And she's squinting. It's pretty adorable, but it's a sight only for me today, because my camera is downstairs on the kitchen table. Probably out of juice anyway.

My iPhone is charging about a foot from me, but it was so dead that if I pull it off the charger to take a photo it will just die again. I'm obviously not terribly good with electronics that require proximity or charges.

Anyway. It's Saturday morning, just about a quarter to 9am here in Arizona where we don't change our clocks. I have no idea what time zone we're a part of these days. When people ask, I just say "Arizona Time" and let them figure it out.

We're going to a movie later this morning, but I thought I'd take this quick bit of quiet time to bring everyone up to speed on my doings for the past months. Everyone. Ha. The two people who still even bother to check to see if this thing has been added to. The other two people who read it have long moved on to other things. But I digress.

My last post was towards the end of April, and shortly after that I went home to Missouri to see my folks and my Best Friend in The Entire World, Even England (long story dating back to highschool).

Going back to my folks' house, which is smack dab in the middle of Boonies, MidAmerica, should be a relaxing, idyllic thing. They live close to a ginormous lake, where there are a lot of fish. They are surrounded by miles and miles and miles of woodland trails, and there are birds singing and squirrels chucking nuts down at your every move. But when I go home, it's always Project Time. Here's dad, preparing the lawnmower for me. See all that grass behind him? That's about 20% of what there is to mow. And see my above allusion to the fact that there are a LOT of trees to mow around.

I also got to move some newly cut firewood around. Baby snakes like big piles of wood.So do frogs with bright yellow legs. I didn't get to save any baby mice this time, but I do always enjoy finding critters; especially if I get to pick them up and put them on other critters.Snickers did *not* approve. I'm not sure the frog enjoyed it much either. But it was amusing to us humans, and no one got hurt.

I did get to spend some quality time in the woods, hunting for morels. Sadly, after many many hours, we had to settle for, well, nothing. Fortunately the neighbours had enormously better luck than we did, and they were in a sharing mood. Anyway. It was pretty in them thar woods:Another critter! Can you see him? Look real close!And that, my friends is day one of my trip to Missouri. Well, it could have been days one and three. I've slept since then, and even yesterday was a blur, so I'm not really going to make much of a stab at getting things from 7 months ago in chronological order. Anyway.

Tomorrow, Goats!

I am Thankful. . .

...that my mom and dad never fail to mention the fact that I never write on my blog anymore. Every single time we talk, for the past 7 months since I last wrote, my dad especially asks why I haven't updated my blog. And every time they mention it, I reply that yes, I really need to get back to writing. And then I get sidetracked until the next time they ask about it.

So thanks, folks, for nagging me back into writing. :P We'll see if it sticks this time.

There are a lot of other things I'm thankful for, but that I won't go into here. I think it's enough to just say that I appreciate my life and I realise that things could be much different for me and mine.

We have a lot of catching up to do, but I'm going to also leave that for another time. It's late on Thanksgiving and despite having eaten entirely too much food earlier today, I've got a bit of the midnight munchies. I'm going to go snag a bite of leftovers and hit the hay.

Love,
me

My Tree Hugger License: Revoked

I did in fact get up early to do some yard work. I've been trying to get some grass growing again after the dogs and I effectively ruined the lawn when we first moved in.

It rained incessantly for the first month or so that we lived here, and they chose one corner of the yard in which to tear around/play. With the ground being so wet, they ripped up all of the grass. I also had left the lawnmower out in the yard thinking "We're in the Desert! It will be fine tucked away in this little corner here!" It didn't really work out that way, and I'm thinking all the rain may have also had a part in the death of the mower. So the one corner was screwed up in that there was just nothing growing anymore, and the rest of the lawn was screwed up in that I didn't mow for...let's just say a VERY LONG TIME...and the weeds of course made it up and sprouted before anything else.

I finally got the lawnmower fixed (professionally; the carburetor was jacked and no amount of cleaning the air filter--the extent of my small engine repair skills--was going to fix that) and managed to mow the weeds back, but it seemed pretty much a lost cause.

So I then got this genius idea to renovate the lawn. We'd have to block off part of the lawn so that the dogs couldn't run around and stir up all the grass seed. I devised quite possibly the most white-trash looking contraption ever to do the job:Yep, it's an old tarp cut into strips and stapled to fencing stakes. It wasn't pretty, but it served its purpose--for a while at least. The birds loved the new grass seed, and the dogs hated the birds, so when they got accustomed to the silver flashing and the tarp flapping, in they'd go to chase their winged nemeses.

Despite all of these incursions, the grass seed did sprout. It was terribly exciting to think that we might actually have a lawn again (or at least a corner of lawn), instead of a wastland of packed dirt and weeds. Funny thing is, it came up and looked glorious for a time, and then turned into this:
Patchy patchy dark green grass, patchy patchy thatchy grass, lots of bare spots, and lots of weeds. It's very odd, and I'm not sure why exactly there is such a difference in the types of grass that popped up. We love the dark grass--it's lush and soft. The rest of it... not so much.

Anyway, I've been out in the yard a couple times a week for the past month or two. Pulling weeds. Lots and lots of weeds. I don't know what they are, but they are smart, these weeds. They break off right at the top of the taproot, forcing me to dig and dig. And when I dig, I invariably come up with several yards of crabgrass.

And here it is, the reason my Tree Hugger License is Revoked: I HATE CRABGRASS. I unconditionally loathe the stuff. Yes, it's natural. Yes, it's green in this horrid brown scrubland. But I really really hate it. It makes the work of pulling all these other weeds so much worse, because it effectively creates a sort of impenetrable mesh guard. If you want to pull up a weed, you must first loosen the grip of the crabgrass, and the more crabgrass you loosen, the more crabgrass you find. It's awful awful stuff, and I hate it.

But hey, I've got time on my hands, right? I'll just keep diggin' and pullin' and pullin' and diggin'. I've considered a controlled burn or possibly a land mine, but the parts of me that cling to treehugger status disdain those ideas. I'm considering chemicals as well, but again--as long as I've got time, I might as well get dirty.

Living in Sci-Fi Movie

I had forgotten about Ozone Alerts. They happen with such regularity during the summer months here, that we begin to tune them out and just go about our business. The first warning of the season (yesterday--the day after Earth Day, ironically enough), though, always sort of stops me in my tracks and gives me a serious case of the heebie jeebies. Don't go outside? Don't run gas-powered engines? Including driving--don't drive anywhere unless you ABSOLUTELY HAVE TO. Don't spill any gasoline if you have to fill your tank--and for heaven's sake, don't fill it before 4pm!! It's all a bit creepy, really.

It's only supposed to be in the high 80s today, and I was in fact going to do some yard work. I'm not quite ready to get back on the bike with Bucket, but I figured I could at least get some weeds pulled and maybe some grass seed planted. Perhaps tomorrow I'll get an earlier start and just not turn on the radio--then I won't hear about how the air itself will sear my lungs.

I bet it's nice and humid and non-threatening in Missouri, where I'll be in four days! Hooray for trees and grass and green! And family and friends. :)

Every Rose Has Its Thorns, or Earth Day Takes a Bite Outta Me

I don't think I've mentioned it in the blog before now, although I've meant to for a couple weeks.

I've been teaching Bucket to run with me while I ride my bike. He's been doing remarkably well, and it's been really nice to get him some good exercise finally. He's much more quiet when he's pooped. Plus, I really enjoy riding my bike, and my dream is to be able to have him ride trails with me. It's a longshot, but as well as he's been doing on the road, I no longer think it's impossible.

This morning, however, I could tell something was off. He just wasn't paying attention. Granted, he normally has the attention span of a gnat, but it's something. I should have taken that observation to the thoughtful part of my brain and turned it into something intelligent, like a beeline for the house. Instead, I figured it was just a passing bout of ADD and that we'd be fine.

Here's the result of that lack of using my better judgement:
I also have a nice bit of road rash on my right elbow, and my right hip is going to have a fantastic bruise.

The worst part about all of this is that I have NO IDEA what distracted him and caused him to suddenly stop in the middle of a run. I am very diligent about watching out for people, cats, dogs, birds, plastic bags, oddly shaped rocks, and shadows that might grab his attention. There was nothing. My best guess is that another dog had stopped to leave his mark and Bucket, never one to be outdone, felt the urge to "overwrite" said mark. Normally I can just pull him through this type of distraction with a sharp "Leave It", but this one was so abrupt that I never had a chance.

Poor Delilah, who only ever gets a short walk on account of her gimpy knees, could only bounce around and look confused as I bypassed her and her longing looks and headed straight for the sink and the hydrogen peroxide. I've gotten myself washed off and rinsed down and the stinging has commenced in a purposeful way. I've commandeered the ice packs and downed a fistful of ibuprofen, but I think Delilah's walk and any subsequent hard labor I had planned for the day have just taken a backseat to me wallowing in pain.

And, by the way...Happy Earth Day! I've given of myself to the Earth today (literally!); what are you going to do?

Delilah the Sun Seeker

Our little princess Delilah is quite the sunbather. If you ever need to locate her, whether inside the house or out in the yard, you need simply to find the spot of sun and there she will be. I've tried many times to catch her on "film", but when I get up for the camera, she generally thinks she's getting a cookie (or a pain pill or maybe even a walk!) and immediately moves.
The other morning, however, I was standing in the kitchen and the camera was a step away on the table. Here's what I saw:
Isn't she gorgeous?

Rainy Days and Mondays. . .

hm. It's not rainy. It's Arizona, for pete's sake. It's not Monday. In fact, despite a fervent wish by the subconscious and cupcake/fantastic brownie craving part of my brain that it be at *least* Friday (we have Saturday morning sweets at the Wicked Bakery), it is only Tuesday.

So! I must not be down!

I should have a mood or index rating on here. Today would be "meh". It's tax day, and although I filed mine back in February, I just mailed my $90 to the State of Arizona today. Why give it to them any sooner than I have to? I got back a little bit from Federal, and I'm really looking forward to my "Economic Stimulus" bonus check. At least Dubya's looking out for me, even if the State of Arizona's Unemployment Office won't.

Aside from it being the Ides of April? Not much else to report. It has started to get ungodly hot at ungodly hours of the mornining, and although it's only going to get worse, I've begun my "get all my stuff done outside before most people have left for work" tactic. I watered the lawn and pulled some weeds this morning. Took the dogs out for walks. Dropped off a movie at Blockbuster. By 11am, it was all indoor work; washed some dishes, put some laundry up, thought about what to make for dinner and what to pick up at the grocery. Researched how to help Delilah out with her flop-bottom issues, and then did something about it (Anal gland expression; not one of the more glamorous things about owning pets). In general, it's been a pretty bland day.

But, I did happen to see that some folks have looked at *and* commented on some of my photos, and for that I am very excited and very grateful! Thank you for taking the time to look and for the kind comments. :)

Last Week

It wasn't really an uneventful week, despite the lack of posts. In fact, quite a lot happened.

Monday, I went down to Kartchner Caverns with a meetup friend. I don't have any photos to share, because they do not allow cameras inside the caves themselves. You'll just have to go to google images or something and do a search. There is also a really good article about it here. Trust me when I tell you, there are some amazing things going on inside these caverns.

To keep them safe and preserved, they actually hose down the pathways inside the caves every night. The paths are all built with "walls" about a foot and a half high or so, with grates in the flooring every so often. Because we haul so much crap in on our shoes and our bodies, they wash it all down the grates, which lead to a sump, which then washes and recycles the water into non-potable water for the rest of the site--watering plants on the site, going into the washrooms, etc. In addition to that, they actually run visitors through a heavily misted tunnel before even going into the caves--to keep the dust and fibers and hairs and dryskin and *whatever* from coming off us in the first place.

The caverns are "alive" and "wet", which means that they are still growing and changing, unlike many other caves that have been opened to the public. They have maintained this by creating a series of airlocks into the caves that keep the dry Arizona air out, and the incredibly (98-99% humidity--no exaggeration) wet cave air in. They have humidifiers inside the caves to maintain it, and they check it several times a week to make sure it's a stable environment. The most amazing part to me was a path through the mud that the original discoverers used when they first entered the caves. They were so concerned with preserving the caverns' integrity that they used the *exact* path on future trips into the caves. Even when workers started coming in, they used the same path, so the surrounding mud is absolutely untouched. In fact, I believe they said that only about 15% of the cave had been disturbed in any physical way. Pretty cool.

There are two distinct areas of the caverns, the Rotunda/Throne room, and what they call The Big Room. We decided to do both tours, as it's a three hour drive and it's not likely that we'll get down there any time soon. It was a really nice road trip, an amazing look inside--literally--the mountains of southern Arizona.

So I was in a good mood when I got home, and R told me I had a letter from the unemployment office. Yes, I had recently applied for unemployement, at the behest of my father. I kinda figured it was a lost cause, since I had actually quit my job of my own volition, but he insisted that I give it a shot. I was actually getting hopeful after getting a call from one of my old coworkers telling me that the store had missed the deadline for protesting the claim. Maybe this letter was acknowledgement and a statement of benefits. No. It was a letter saying I'd been denied. I quit my job and, despite my trying to explain that it was primarily a function of saving myself a whole lot of physical pain (I know I've talked about physical therapy, my herniated discs, and the ginormous amount of pain I was in pretty much 100% of the time I worked there), that's all that concerns them. So, physical hardship or no, I should have stayed at that job--risking further injury. At least according to the State.

Can you tell I'm a bit peeved about the whole thing? I'm not sure why, but it *really* set me back, reading another rejection letter. Getting rejected for a job is one thing. Getting rejected for unemployment? I felt like a complete and utter failure. I had a pretty harsh meltdown, in which I cried a lot and moped around for a day or so.

During my moping phase, I got yet another email from the airlines, touting their great getaway flights. Out of curiosity, I plugged in KCMO as my destination and found that I could fly in for 99$ one way (out slightly more), and within the next few weeks. R had mentioned to me some months ago that I should use my time off to go visit family/friends, but I felt odd taking a vacation from my "vacation" of unemployment. Add to that the fact that my mom and dad *always* tell me I should come visit them (my dad has another List that he needs help with!). So I mentioned to R the great fares and he again encouraged me to go for it. He thinks maybe what I need is a bit of time away from the stress of thinking about and looking for jobs--that I'll come back refreshed and ready to take on the world! I hope he's right, cos I'm going to Kansas City/Stockton for the last week of April/first of May. :D

The Palo Verde Trail, or The Bartlett Lake Allergen Death March

I went on a hike yesterday morning. Check out the Flickr badge to the left there for new photos, which despite everything, turned out quite nicely I think.

It was another Meetup hike, with a new group this time. I was all excited because it was a) A hike by a lake b) a (supposedly) relatively flat trail and c) it was up here on the north side of town. It was a longer hike--7 to 8 miles--but since it was more "cross country" than "mountain" I thought it would be a breeze.

Not so much.

I should have known things were going to be a bit doom and gloom when I started sneezing about 20 minutes into the hike. I'd had good intentions of taking some allergy meds before I left the house yesterday morning, as well as packing some extra for good measure. Ah, the best laid plans. I got the Kashi bars and the trail mix, the frozen bottles of water, the tp (just in case), the sunscreen, and the bandanas. I got the cell phone, the digicam and even my nifty new GorrillaPod (mine's pink!). But I forgot all about the allergy meds.

It's spring here in the desert, which means, contrary to logical thinking, that there are flowers EVERYWHERE.
As you might note, in addition to the multitudinous flowers, there is also quite a steep climb happening in this photo. This was not a rare occasion. My moutainbiking friends and I might call this a "whoop-te-do" trail; a rollercoaster of sorts, filled with a great many ups and downs. My knees loved it not. As far as the flowers go? My pants were covered in pollen. The water's edge was yellow with the stuff. And I kept sneezing. Before we were halfway out, I was feeling pretty miserable. The sneezes kept coming, and I was getting that fun sinus pressure headache that inevitably accompanies any allergy attacks I have. Before we hit the halfway point I was seriously considering hitching a ride back with one of the numerous fishing boats we saw. "Back to the Marina!" I'd cry, "I must blow my nose!"

I'm glad I took a lot of photos on the "out" part of the hike, because on the "back" portion, I was mindful only of staying upright and dabbing my constantly running nose with one of my bandanas (See!? I knew they'd come in handy!). I was getting hot, my head hurt, my nose was leeching any hydration I'd previously stocked up from my body, and I was getting clumsy.

Don't get me wrong--The Palo Verde Trail at Bartlett Lake is a beautiful walk. But next time, I think I'll go earlier in the winter, earlier in the day, and make my turnaround point much closer to my starting point.

I came home and sniffled my way through the evening, and ended up sleeping about 10 or 11 hours. I feel much much better now! However, I think I'll stay inside today. :)

Be sure to check out the flickr photos; you can see the giant old saguaro, more pretty flowers, and a really pissed off rattlesnake!

Ah, nostalgia!

Found this cool video on YouTube today. I miss the Muppets!








(if you are somehow unfamiliar with the "RickRoll'd" concept, just do a google search, or look it up on Wikipedia. It's an interwebs thing!)

From Bathrooms to Bushes, or, How To Poing: My Continual Battle with Tangents

I started out my day--around 6 am today--cleaning my bathroom. It was sorely in need of good scrubdown, and I was getting into it. Witness:
I don't often, but when I do, I get nuts about it. The toothbrush was to encourage the CLR to do its work around the faucet and the nasty little drain holes, as well as around the back of the sink. We have really*REALLY* hard water out here, and the gunk it leaves is amazing.

I digress. It's what I do, evidently.

It's 9:43a.m. right now, and the bathroom still looks exactly like that. I do, however, have another photo to show you:
This is the massive trimmings from the honeysuckle bush between us and the neighbours' drive. It hasn't been sitting there for days. Oh no! I just trimmed, pulled, and broke it off that massive, nasty bush.

How, you might ask, did I go from scrubbing down the bathroom, to wildly hacking at a honeysuckle bush? The steps aren't few, but they're relatively easy to follow:

1. Scrubbing down the bathroom, including the use of CLR, which has to sit for a bit on whatever it is you're hoping it will de-calcify.

2. Take a "break" to allow CLR to do its work.

3. Wash hands at kitchen sink and decide that I should finish the dishes so I can run the dishwasher before 9am (energy saving thing here in the desert).

4. Washing dishes generally means also clearing away whatever paper towels and other bits of trash that might by laying about.

5. While throwing the trash away, recall that it's Monday, and trash day--better take the big bin to the curb.

6. Get into the back yard with the trash, note that there is still a fair amount of space left in the bin, and toss in a few errant branches and pick a few more weeds.

7. Haul the now mostly full bin to the curb, walking by the weeping honeysuckle bush.

8. Note to self that those branches that are sticking out really need to be trimmed. The bin still has room, and it would only take a moment.

9. Oh look! Weeds by the driveway out front as well! Spend a few minutes pulling weeds in the front yard--toss them in the increasingly full bin.

10. Walk *back* by the honeysuckle bush and recall that the branches need trimming.

11. Jog to the back yard for the loppers--too much for the job, but they are handy.

12. Proceed to lop off the offending branches and think to self..."Hm, those dead branches really need clearing out. Might as well do it while I'm here."

13. With each dead branch pulled out, 6 more reveal themselves as candidates for extraction.

14. Periodically jam a handful of branches in the brimming trash bin and think "I really should stop now..."

15. Keep hacking away

16. Realise that the pile of brush I've created is now going to fill the bin full *again* after the men have come to empty it today.

17. Use that, as well as the fact that the sun is starting to get in my eyes, as an excuse to wrap it up. For now.

After all, I've got a bathroom to clean...

Best Laid Plans?

So yeah. I've stuttered and stumbled and again fallen off the blogwagon. I was talking to a friend of mine the other day who asked if I'd given up on it. I hadn't really thought about it, but my immediate answer was "No, I just don't feel as though I have anything to write about."

Being unemployed, there is no ridiculous co-worker drama to discuss. There is no "corporate bigwigs are idiots" rant to be done. I don't have a surplus of cash, so I don't do a lot of shopping that doesn't involve chicken breasts, milk, eggs, assorted fruits and veggies. For the same reason, I haven't been on a lot of kick ass excursions. I have done a few really nice hikes, and worked at a Habitat For Humanity house, but for whatever reason I neglected to expound on the occasion.

I think, primarily, I've been a bit...down...about the whole job thing. I've actually started looking again, and, as per usual, I went into it with high hopes and a great self image. After being rejected and/or completely overlooked by everything I've applied for, I'm feeling quite shot down. I don't suppose most corporate managers can see their way to hiring a retail manager for a sit down admin job. Funny though, when I'd been a sit down admin for the past three years, retail had no problem snatching me up. Yes, I've bounced around a lot, and this is probably the major issue with my resume--3 years is the longest I've held a job in recent memory. Perhaps ever. I have a short attention span, I suppose. I get bored easily, or--more likely--disillusioned with my current situation. Or, I just move. At any rate, I'm sure many employers balk at the "dates held" section of my resume.

Anyway anyway, I didn't intend for this to be come a diatribe on my lack of gainful employment. I just wanted to say hi, and that no, I haven't given up on this. Really.

Foolin around with Vimeo

I was out in the yard this morning, marveling at the perfectness of the day. And then I thought about my friends and family back in Missouri, where it is currently 19-21 degrees (it's 69 here). So I grabbed the camera and filmed the following in the back yard. It's my first time playing with Vimeo, but Dooce likes it, so it must be good. :)


Untitled from swtkaroline on Vimeo.

Once

I had the telly on yesterday morning while I cleaned the kitchen. VH1 Jumpstart was on (and that's an entirely different post, because, really, how do they get off calling it "Jumpstart"? it's all mellow music...), and Falling Slowly came on. I love this song. I love Once.
I sang along and enjoyed it, another video came on, and I went about my business. Then last night I dreamed of the song. A playground swing set and that song. Then this morning, because I had heard a couple songs I really liked yesterday, I turned on the telly again. First video that came on? Falling Slowly. I can't see the video or hear the song without thinking of the movie, which I watched some months ago.

So I now have to proselytize about this film. It's not exciting. It's not terribly cheerful. It doesn't have bright colors or particularly attractive people in it. It *is* gorgeous and touching and full of heartbreak and joy, bleakness and beauty. The music is amazing, and there is a slight twist in the end that, while making it a happy--or at least hopefull-ending, is not the ending you've been cheering for the entire time.

I had heard what a great movie this was from different sources, but after watching it I sort of thought "Hm, that was nice, but I don't see what the fuss is about." Now, 3 months later, I still relive the entire movie when I hear that song. I wonder how the characters' stories turned out, and I long to hear the music again and again. I dream about it.

If that's not a good review for a movie, I don't know what is.

Noticeably Absent

The volunteer staff for the Superbowl gig posted photos of the process here. Somehow I managed *not* to be in any of them. Don't even bother checking out the "organized" photos--they didn't manage to get a single one of our cable crew. There might be a shot of the back of my head somewhere in the crowd shots, but I couldn't find one. Boo Hiss. However, there are some really interesting shots of the process, so I think they're worth checking out.

So I Went to The Superbowl. . .

And Cap was right... It was a day of World Class Standing Around.

First we drove a million miles west of town to the Maricopa Events Center in Sun City West. I had no idea it was legal to drive golf carts on city streets, but here in the land of retired golf fanatics, it's done with gusto. I saw no fewer than five on my way in, driving around like it was the most normal thing in the world.

Our check in time was 11:30 a.m. and they had food waiting for us, along with all the PRE-pregame goodness showing on the projection screen in the auditorium.
We sat and watched and chit chatted for about an hour or so before they loaded us into our busses to head over to the stadium. Luxury, baby! We got the Deer Valley Schoolbusses, complete with slide down windows and extra noise. Good to know that somethings never change. With one exception...Our schoolbusses got a POLICE ESCORT!Yes, we had 4-6 police bikes leading us--and stopping traffic for us--to the stadium. This was particularly cool once we hit the interstate, and the cops actually pulled out ahead of us to totally stop traffic so we could pull out as a group. We also got to completely bypass all of the traffic going into the Superbowl lots. We just drove in the center lane and waved at the hundreds of cars stuck there. Good times. The photo below is *after* we'd bypassed the bulk of the traffic--here we're just getting ready to pull into the Complex.
Once we actually got the busses parked, it was more sitting around and waiting, while they got us into groups so we could head in to the security point. We entered a different way than the paying folks, but we all had to go through the same "mags".
Once we got past screening, however, for a few brief moments we were Right There--the entrance to the SuperBowl.
They were selling bottles of beer for $10. Yes. TEN DOLLARS for a 20oz bottle of beer. I shudder to think what a bottle of water might have run me. I needn't have worried however, because as volunteers, we neither had the leeway to spend this crazy money, nor the need. We were quickly ferried off to The Compound to wait around some more. You might have said to yourself, in looking at the above photos, "My, it doesn't look very crowded for the Superbowl." Well remember, these photos were taking probably around 1:30pm. The game won't start for nearly 3 hours...
Once we make it to our little tent, we watch some *more* pregame stuff, including the ASU Band rehearsal, which is happening right outside. A few more people graffiti their stage pieces, a few others exchange emails and phone numbers, and Cap comes in to tell more stories and tell us how crazy he is about us. I love that man.
It can't be easy to hold 400+ people in rapt attention, but he sure does. And when he's done speaking, people clamor around him, just trying to thank him or ask him a question, or tell him about some achievement. We're like puppies, vying for attention. It's absolutely remarkable.

I digress. Somewhere near the end of the 1st Quarter, we get to start lining up. We troupe down to The Tray (a big flat space where they store the field when it's not in use). There is a big long ramp down to The Tray, and I was so so glad that we didn't have to push a cart up or down it. Some folks did, just not my team. Go Cable Team!
Another *great* aspect of being on the cable team was that for some bizarre reason that I'll never argue but always question, we got to go *inside* to wait. We didn't get to see much, but we were in the back hallway on the Giants' side. Here's the view:
We stood back in this little storage area off to the side of the hall for most of the rest of the quarter. There were televisions for those who didn't want to crane their necks to see the Giant Screen on the back wall of the Stadium. Inexplicably, when we arrived, two of the 5 televisions were showing some ice skating program.

Anyhow, with about 5 minutes left in the second quarter, we were taken to the opposite hallway. We were supposed to enter the field on this side and cross to the other, which would have been great and might have meant that someone in my friends and family network *might* have seen me--but it's showbusiness, as they say, and things change. So. Here's *that* view.
Fascinating, yes? All those folks in red were security people. We walked out with them, and they stood facing the crowd in a big long line. A big red wall. I think they must have been there to create a barrier between the rabid fans in the stands and the players, who would soon be exiting the field. At any rate, with 2 minutes left on the clock, we went out onto the field--well, the sidelines.

So there I was, standing DIRECTLY behind the Patriots, on the field at the Superbowl, with 2 clock minutes (which we all know translates to roughly 1 hour in the real world), and my phone/camera went completely dead. Absolutely, completely dead. So, I have no other photos.

The sidelines at the Superbowl are, I'm going to guess, about 40-50 feet wide. Some of that is "field" and some of that is wood. The field is where the players, coaches, cheerleaders, and many many many people of unknown purpose stand. The wood is where camera, sound, lighting, security, and volunteer peons stand. I'm not sure how they do it, but by some trick of filming, the shots of the Superbowl--at least the ones I've seen thus far--completely ignore the 20 or so feet of wood surrounding the field. The shots are lined up so as to show the field sidelines, but never ever would you even imagine that there is anything behind the players but the stadium itself. It's both genius, and a diabolical tragedy for those of us hoping for our 15 seconds of fame.

My job changed again on game day, and I was charged with keeping "The Box" from being ripped from the wall. Our Guitar's Umbilical Cord was attached to a control box on the wall, and if the pullers got overly zealous and ripped that box from the wall, all kinds of hell might have been unleashed. So I got to stand in the most invisible part of the entire field and protect it.

Once the cable was out and I was sure no more pulling would take place, you'd better believe I ran out onto the field, under the premise that I was checking on my crew and making sure they had the slack they needed and whatnot. I was also, seriously, checking the cable as I went, to see what other cables were over, under, through, and around it. It is a veritable spaghetti bonanza out there, and since our cable had to be pulled back with super speed, I wanted to make sure it wouldn't become entangled with the camera or speaker cables. And then there were the few guys that just didn't understand that the cable they were standing on (or in one guy's case, wrapped in--I'm not kidding, and I totally don't know how he managed it, but it was looped around his ankles!!), was about to go at whiplash speed across the field and then back to the sidelines. . .

Our job was done basically by the end of the first song. The big moving "guitar" that crashed into the stage was our critter. Once the lights went out on it, it pulled back, we pulled in and coiled the cable, and ran out to enjoy the show. I was off stage left, quite a bit back from the stage and any possible camera shots, so I'm fairly certain no one even knew I was there.

But that's okay with me, because for about 5 minutes of glee and 30 seconds of absolute heart pumping adrenaline, I was most definitely there and I helped make it happen.

Oh, and we got this:

Oh! It's Over. :(

It was over in the blink of an eye, but it was SO worth it. I'm afraid, though, that I have a rather massive headache that I'll go ahead and blame on the fact that we ate at about 11:30 this morning, and not again until after 7pm this evening.

So I'm going to bed, and tomorrow there will be blurry photos and much glee!

Soopahbowl!!

The Eyes Have It!

No. No they don't. They don't have Pink Eye. It was just a play on words. Get it?

I seem to have normal, if somewhat itchier than usual eyes. I did the warm compress thing yesterday, and rinsed them out a couple times with contact solution. Unless something go drastically wrong between now and 10am tomorrow morning, I'm going to the Superbowl!

We are supposed to show up at 11:30am at an offsite location, where they will have plasma tellys and food for us. I'm taking a couple games and some cards as well, since the game doesn't even start until 4pm. World Class Standing Around, as Cap says. I'll have my phone with me, so I'll at least try to get some shots of that. Whether I'll be able to get anything inside the Stadium is anyone's guess. I'm thinking no, since I'll be slightly preoccupied.

Horrific Realisations, Tremendous Glee, and More Horror!

So about 4 days ago I realised that in attending Dress Rehearsal on the 31st of January, 2008, I would be missing the season premiere of Lost. This was a horrible horrible comeuppance. I had been so excited, so enamoured of the whole thing, that I had completely forgotten about this *most* important show. We'd just gotten the disc set for the previous season, watched it feverishly, and were anxiously awaiting The Return (of the show and of the Lost-ees to civilisation--see what I did there?).

So I moaned about that for a few days and yesterday completely forgot about it again in my gleeful bouncing as I watched Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers THREE TIMES. Oh Dress Rehearsals how I love thee. All the excitement of the actual show, with very little of the stress. We finally got to run our cable in sort of real time and my, how the addition of 1600 people storming the field for the concert sort of puts some kinks in *that* process! But we got it done, and quite well, I'd say, for never having done it before. We were denied ninja hoods, much to my chagrin, but that just means that I have to get to the costume shop for some glow-in-the dark hair dye or something. I warned them!

**Oh, so here's about where you'll see me, if they show any of the prep. Right at the end of the second quarter, we'll start walking out onto the field. My group will be among the first ones out, if we are not very first. We'll enter from the Giants side, and hug the back wall behind the goal posts (Which, incidentally, are MUCH smaller in real life than they look on tv. If you are like me and have ever said "How did he *miss* that!?", lemme tell you...now I know.), cross to the Patriots side and walk up to about the 35-40 yard line. Our cable starts about there, and we'll run it to the opposite end of the field, crossing the field just past the 50 yard line. We've been told explicitly that the cable must not touch the Pat's logo, so it's likely that I'll be in that area keeping it off. Cord goes out, cord moves around, cord comes back as the aforementioned 1600 come rushing in. We coil it up again, and hit the field. I'm kind of standing back from the crowd, by the speakers on about the 35 yard line, dancing and cheering my head off (of course, we're warned that there will be hundreds more people just standing around on Sunday, so there may not be that much extra room there--I'll try be in that general area though, in case you're lookin for me). Afterwards we're hoping to linger on the sidelines for a bit longer as the stage comes down. They will be racing to get everything cleared off, and since our cable is already done we won't have much to do but wait.**

So, the final horror of this story, besides hearing that we *won't* all be getting ninja caps? As we stood around getting our final pep talk last night, my right eye was super itchy, and blurry, like I had a wad of translucent gum in it or something. When I got home, I checked it out again and found (stop right here if you're eating or weak stomached cos it's gonna get gross) a big ole glob of...mucous? pus? It was pretty nasty, and it was accompanied by a bit more that had sort of congealed in the corner of my eye, although I know I had "cleaned" that corner out during the pep talk. So my immediate thought is that somehow I've contracted Pink Eye. Dear lord. It would figure that three days before one of the most exciting moments of my life I find myself with a highly contagious and (more importantly!!) highly *unsightly* ailment.

I quickly got online and did some reading and my symptoms sure sound like Pink Eye. Itchy, red eyes, blurry vision, yellow to green mucous-y discharge. Great. Everything says "Treat It Immediately!" But hey, guess what? It's 11:30 at night, and besides that, I have no insurance at the moment. I was looking for free clinics online, but only finding those that are "urgent care"--they are open all the time, but still want insurance. I figured I'd resume my search in the morning, and resorted to looking up home remedies in the meantime. I found that chamomile tea bags used as compresses is one method, and I happen to have some, so I decided to run with that until I can figure out the doctor situation.

I scrubbed my face down really well, and washed my hands about every five minutes. Meanwhile, R was busy with the alcohol, wiping down every surface I might have touched. I was relegated to the spare room last night--just in case--so I got my bed ready while he disinfected light switches, the snooze on the alarm, and anything in between. I didn't sleep very well--a combination of being in a strange bed and the feeling of having a fully developed porcupine in my eye that I just had to let be. When R got ready to leave for work, though, he came in to check on me and said it didn't look so bad. I was dubious, but too tired to get up and look for myself. I went back to sleep for a little while and oh-so-carefully opened my eyes when I finally had enough. The eye(s) were *not* sealed shut, which was my biggest fear. In the bathroom, I checked them out and, while red and a bit "sleepy", they really *don't* look so bad.

So maybe I was just allergic to something yesterday? I'm keeping a close eye (AHAHA) on it today, and I have the chamomile tea bags at the ready--and I'll probably use them just because it sounds soothing. I'm also continuing to check out clinics and other remedies, in case it flares up again. I'll take any prayers or well-wishes I can get as well. It's a silly thing to ask for, but it would really stink to miss the Superbowl at this point--especially on account of a Pink Eye scare.

Bibbity Bobbity BACON!

Just. Wow.

Oh, and for reference, if you're not sure how excellent bacon is...watch this.

:D

Album Cover Game

This is cool.

In order to make your own, you really need some sort of photoshop-ish tool, but looking at the existing ones and going through the steps is nearly as good.

My first band was Harwich Redoubt, and the album was called "Like to Call Normal." Sadly, I don't recall the photo, but it hardly matters with a cool band name like that, now does it?

Bullet Points

1. We had a rainy rehearsal tonight, but we were mostly inside the stadium^, so it wasn't so bad. Despite everything on the webpage and in the papers we had to sign stating that cell phones/cameras are not allowed at rehearsals, and by NO MEANS inside the stadium, many many people were not-so-surreptitiously snapping away inside. I am a good girl with a major guilt complex, so I did not take mine in. So this is all you get.

2. My official job is now "Cable Feeder". It's dirty, dirty work:
3. Some of that is grass stains, from the sinfully lush grass on the playing field. They had "The Tray" in tonight, so we got to see and walk around on (covered mostly with tarps, however) Superbowl Grass. I never thought I would covet grass, but damn. This guy does it. This is his 42nd Superbowl. He's a tough little dude. You don't mess with his grass, but I'm still trying to orchestrate a "fall" so I can roll around on it. It's that nice.

4. Cap told another genius story tonight, about growing up in rural Tennessee. When he was six years old, he was playing on the family farm when he saw a sharecropper plowing a field with his mule. He approached the man and told him that he wanted to learn how to plow with the mule. The sharecropper obliged and let him grab the plow handles and assisted him as he drove a few rows. When they were done, Cap noted that his rows were crooked and wobbly, whereas the sharecroppers rows were "as straight as the yard lines on this football field". Cap asked the sharecropper why this was. The reply?

"You have to pick a point and *aim* for it. Otherwise, you're just following the Ass."

Sage Words.

Today Is Friday

Another week down.

Rehearsal didn't really happen so much last night. It wasn't cancelled or anything, and I showed up along with a number of other folks. It's just that 160 people did NOT show up. See, it was sprinkling yesterday off and on, and rain was forecast for the evening as well. And despite the fact that the call board was never updated with any cancellation notices, those 160 people decided that they'd just stay home.

Those of us who *did* show up got a nice meal out of it, and a fairly long Q & A with "Cap", whose given name eludes me, but whose leadership skills and speaking prowess will never. Honestly I can't really tell you what his job is, except to sort of guide us all through this process and make it work. He's just really entertaining to listen to, and makes us feel like a valuable part of the show, instead of treating us like the untrained peons we really are. Of course the former is true as well, and I don't mean to discount that at all--they *could not* do this without the 400+ volunteers (as evidenced by the fact that with 160 short last night, we got to sit in a tent chatting with Cap instead of actually rehearsing). It's just really nice to be treated as a member of the team, and with respect, instead of just getting orders barked at us.

I talked to him about this after he wrapped up his answers and sent everyone on their way. I'm sure I came across as a total cheeseball suckup, but I told him that I was really impressed with his speaking and his leadership. We chatted for a bit about the fact that in order for it to work, the volunteers have to really *own* the process. They have to feel a part of the whole. Without that feeling of partnership, it will never come together. Cap lamented the fact that, as a society, we don't do things "together" anymore. Everyone runs around with their cell phones to their ears, in their own little worlds. No one wants to be spoken to by a stranger, let alone help them with something.

He talked about the days when there were barn raisings and community fire departments--times when people got together to help others out because it was the right thing to do--not because it was a paid job. This, in his mind, was harkening back to those activities. A bunch of strangers coming together to do something great. Not because we'll make a bunch of money, but because we can. Sure, it will be a lot of work for "Free". Most people probably signed up because they wanted to be on TV, or tell their buddies they were on the Superbowl.

Regardless of their reasons for signing up, for everyone involved it will be a huge learning experience and a chance to be part of something bigger than most of us will ever know. The production team, and Cap most notably, is ensuring our success by really including us, and not treating us as outsiders. I hope that a lot of people take that feeling away with them and remember to apply it in their everyday lives.

5 Words...

I never thought I'd hear myself say:

I'm going to the Superbowl!

It's true. As some of you know, Superbowl (mumblemumble because I have no idea what number it is...) is being held in Glendale, Arizona this year. Glendale is a whopping 20 minute drive from our house.

Orginally I wanted nothing to do with the debacle. I wanted to leave town for the week and rent our our house for $20,000 (no, that's not our house...but an example of some of the many many ads posted).

Then, a message was posted to one of my Meetup groups. Superbowl Productions needed people to help with the Pregame and Halftime shows. OH EM GEE! I may not know what number Superbowl it is, or even who's playing, but I do know that the Superbowl Halftime show is one of the biggest productions....EVER. A chance to be a part of that? Sign me up!

Sign up I did, and went to our first rehearsal last night. I had to sign a confidentiality waiver, so I can't say much about it, but I will say that it's amazing. The amount of preparation and coordination involved is staggering. I am so excited to be a part of this, I can't even describe it, but R can tell you stories of my bouncing around the house and jabbering constantly and incoherently when I got home last night. It is going to be one of the more memorable experiences of my life, I'm fairly certain.

So if you're going to be watching the game, don't miss the Halftime Show! I'll be on the field...somewhere. :)

mmmmmm

Last night I made these for dinner. Yum. Honestly, I think the "gravy" would make anything edible in and of itself. Sososo tasty. And easy? The hardest part was actually assembling the raviolis. I really need to buy myself a pastry brush. Because the whole dipping ones finger in water and wetting the wontons? Tedious! But oh so worth it. I've been told that we *will* be having these again--preferably as part of our weekly routine. :P

Taco Tooooosday!

Except not really though. For one thing, it's not Tuesday... We had grilled cheese sammiches and tomato soup, because it's just so dang cold here. And yeah yeah, my friends and family in truly cold places will scoff at that remark, but let me just say that when you're accustomed to 110 degree +, 50 degrees seems downright frigid.

I had my appointment with the good folks at Charles Schwab on Monday, and the guy agreed with me that my once fantastically performing IRA mutual fund is now a dog. A mangy, evil, kitten-eating dog. We discussed moving those funds into something else, and my interest is in a "socially repsonsible" fund--something that doesn't put a boatload of interest in oil, or mining, or the like. We found one that looks good, so I'm to see about selling/buying on my own via the online trading thing. I'm also going to *finally* reinvest some of the cash in my MM account into a smaller cap fund in the hopes of getting a little better return.

Don't I sound like I know what I'm talking about? Haha fooled you! I am anxious to learn more, indeed, and the Kiplinger magazine is pretty cool, as far as a magazine written in a foreign language about a subject that makes my head hurt can be. I think I'm picking up a few things here and there, but I doubt I'll ever be "investment savvy". Perhaps. I certainly have the time on my hands of late to do something about it. :)

Um so yeah. Hump Day! Not much else to say, unless you want to hear about how clean my bathroom is, or how much my toes hurt from trying to learn to jump rope again. Yeah, I was jumping rope barefoot, what of it?

Oh, and did I mention that it's COLD here? Supposed to get down to the 30s overnight! Oh no! I'd better run and dig up my flannel pj's!

Bulbous Bouffant!

A clever person with a lot of time on his or her hands has put Bulbous Bouffant by the Vestibules to "video". Please ignore the distasteful image that this person has chosen for their avatar, and instead just click play and enjoy!

Shirking

I like that word, "shirking". It sounds sort of playful and painful at the same time. Of course it means neither of those things, but that's okay because in it's actual definition it works as a title here.

I didn't tell you about my day Thursday. Or Friday. I was shirking my duties to you, denying you the minutae that makes up my daily drill. To make up for it, here is a quick recap.

I made:

A *really* tasty taco salad using Mezzetta Vinaigretta, which I don't have a link for because--shockingly and unbelievably--I cannot find any mention of online, save for a mention on Hot Coupon World. It's not even on the main Mezzetta webpage. Very very odd. Anyway, I found it in the salad dressing aisle, entirely by accident. There are a couple different flavours, and I went with Chipotle something-or-other. If you're familiar with Mezzetta, you'll recognize the jar full of all manner of veggies, steeped in a sauce of yummy spices. This stuff, though, is meant to be tossed up with salad greens and served as is. I dumped some in a skillet and sauteed the chicken in it, then mixed it all with shredded lettuce and served it in a homemade tortilla bowl. (GO ME!) Very good stuff.

An appointment to see someone at the local Charles Schwab office. My IRA has been languishing, so I'm going to try to take charge again. But first I need a refresher course. Oh, and thanks, Dad, for the Kiplinger subscription--I got two issues yesterday! Overload!

An online order for a paper shredder. We have a lot of old documents that it's time to get rid of, and me tearing them into tiny pieces is *not* going to happen, no matter how much free time I currently have. It should be here Monday. Let the destruction ensue!

Every muscle in the top third of my body ache. I went pretty nuts on the Bowflex yesterday, and then spent some quality time in the yard with the lopper. I will soon be as trim as the trees and bushes in the back yard.

I did some other stuff too, but I've slept since then, so that's all that springs to mind. Today is Saturday, so it's laundry and dishes day. And I'm going to go for a bike ride later this afternoon. And...yeah.

<3

Wherein I try to clear my head before bedtime.

So last night I went to bed with my head full of thoughts and ideas. Not about anything specific, just...stuff. So much so that I didn't fall asleep for quite a long while. I used to write in an actual pen-and-paper journal before bed, and although I wrote about a lot of nothing, it seemed to allow me to rid my brain of all the fluff and get to sleep more quickly and to sleep more soundly once I got there.

That's the long way of saying that I'm going to attempt to do a little of that here and see if it helps. Expect a LOT of randomness, since the day is done and my head is a little like a pail of trimmings from the day's catch, if you will.

Today I:

Emptied the dishwasher but didn't reload it. I'll pay for that tomorrow. Unless it eats at me so much over the next few minutes that I succumb to the guilt and go do it before bed.

Walked the dogs and worked out on the Bowflex a bit. Turned wonky and now I have a SharPei (much love to my best friend in the entire world Even England) in my right knee. Shame, cos there was another death march up Piestewa Peak this weekend that I was going to attempt. Now, not so much.

Played on the computer more than I should have.

Went and saw Sweeny Todd which, in retrospect, makes me wonder "What was I thinking?" I had heard about the gore, but somehow convinced myself that it really wouldn't be *that* bad. But OH! It was. Very very bad. But the worst part? All the shaving! Who knew? A movie with a subtitle "The Demon Barber of Fleet Street"? Oh yeah, and the tiny fact that I actually played Mrs. Lovett in a high school production of it (not the musical). Despite all that, I somehow blocked out the fact that it is a movie about SHAVING. I'm not sure if I've mentioned it before, but I have an unfounded, yet completely real and ginormous phobia of watching people shave. I can't watch Gilette commercials, for pete's sake. I have no trouble shaving myself (although I gave it up for about 12 years, which is another post completely), and I have, in fact, shaved other people when I worked with adults with developmental disabilities. But watching someone else shave makes my skin positively crawl. It makes my teeth hurt. It makes my butt cringe. It...gives me the heebie jeebies. All that aside, it was a great movie. Tim Burton+Johnny Depp= WIN!

Tomorrow I will:

Write more and tell you what I did.

Goodnight!

On the 7th Day....

Yes, yes, I'm well aware that we're a full week into the new year. And that not only haven't I posted any recaps or resolutions, but that I've only posted one measley photo and a few lines of text--AT ALL. Yes, yes, shame on me.

One of my tentative resolutions was to write something--anything--on this blog every day. That quickly changed to Monday-Friday, and then realism swooped in and I thought maybe 3 times/week would be manageable. And then a week went by with nary a post and I thought maybe "more" would be the proper terminology for it. I'll blog "more" this year.

So consider this. Two posts in 7 days. That's not so far off the 3/week mark. I need some material, though. I'll take requests. What do you want to hear about?

Oh, the mile high hike? You want to hear about that? Here it is in a nutshell: "Ohmygod we're still climbing are you serious I'm going to die on this mountain."

Squaw, or Piestewa, Peak is square in the middle of town, and although everything I've read about it claims that it's a "moderate" hike, and an "easy" trail, it's a real beast. It's about 1,200-1,300 elevation gain in 1.2 miles. I'm not a mathematician, so I don't know what kind of grade that translates to, but consider climbing stairs for 1.2 miles and you're pretty much there.
I made it all the way to the top my first time up, which is no mean feat, but I was humbled by a couple people that passed me at least once doing multiple ascents.

I'll get the rest of the photos up on Flikr here pretty quick. It was kind of an overcast day, so they're not great shots, but I'm going again soon, so maybe I'll get some better light next go 'round.

Happy New Year!

Squaw Peak

This is the view from where I sit at the moment. One mile--straight--
up! No joke. More photos to come!