Party Ducks

Back in the Saddle Again.

2009-10-20T23:06:00.003-05:00

Or, back to the saddle again?

I've slept since then (though hardly well or a lot), so bear with me as I attempt to recount The Round Up.

Rob and his son having fully prepared our horses' tack, all we had left to do was mount up and make sure they were watered well before we headed off to meet up with the other folks. One thing was instantly clear about our mounts--they were very close friends and did not ken to being separated. When one trotted, the other trotted, when one walked, the others walked. When one galloped...we all screamed our heads of and nearly died (totally just exaggerating, mom!)...but that's a story for a later time.

We met up with the other riders--the real horsemen and women who brought their own horses and trailers and gear. It would have been a perfect opportunity for anyone of them to get snippy or holier than thou, or even just weirdly protective, but everyone was perfectly lovely and treated us and our rental horses as equals. It was pretty cool.

We got the lowdown on where we'd be headed, approximately where we would find the cattle (they had actually already been rounded up for the most part and brought in to a basin a few miles from the ranch--to save us all a lot of time and hassle), and where we were going to be bringing them. And then we rode. And rode. And then we rode some more. It was beautiful and sunny and cool, and just about as close to heaven as I could imagine. If there had been chocolate and a live band, it could have passed.

When we finally got to the basin where the cattle were hangin out, there were a few yet that had to be wrangled. We let the more experienced riders do this, instead opting to sit on our horses and listen to the incessant bleating of the calves and the lowing of the cows as they wondered what the HELL was going on. Damn, cattle are a noisy lot! Oddly, though, the acoustics were so amazing in the basin that even over the cacophony of the cattle, we could hear every word of every conversation being held--we could even hear the folks on the far edge of the basin chatting up the cows they were trying to bring in closer. Perhaps it was a shepherd who originally "invented" the outdoor amphitheatre?

Anyway, after we got all the strays collected, it was time to start moving them all back towards the ranch. We again had positions assigned along the creek bed to ensure that no one bolted from the pack and tried to backtrack into the sunset. I did not fully understand Princess' attachment to the other horses until I was given a spot in a tucked-back area, out of sight from nearly everyone else. She whinnied and pawed at the ground and shook her head and was generally a right bitch. I had to continuously walk her in circles just to keep her busy.

And then, all of the sudden...cattle! Many and lots of cattle, ambling by, wailing and moaning as though they were on some sort of cow-death-march (perhaps after all they were about to go through at the ranch, they were only wishing for death as a less torturous alternative). Just when I thought that this was all for show and that I would never have to actually *do* anything, there they were! A momma and her yearling broke ranks about 20 yards, one 2ft ledge, and 1 treeline from me. The fellow manning that spot had just left it to hustle in another errant pair, leaving a big ole hole that this couple wasted no time filling. I gave Princess a nudge and she LEAPED up the ledge (scaring the pee outta me) and in front of the cow and her calf. They looked stunned for half a second and then grudgingly got back in line, bellowing all the while.

Woohoo! I was a cowpoke for reals! I was so proud of myself, and of course NO one saw it, cos they were too busy doing the same thing. But it was cool, trust me!

After we got the cattle out of the creek bed, it was just an easy walk back to the ranch with them hugging the fenceline and us sort of walking along beside them telling them to hurry the hell up. Damned hoof-draggers.

After we got them little doggies (ha!) safely to the work pens, we turned our horses towards camp. And woe is me for forgetting the nature of the trail horse. Slow to go out, but DAMN when it's time to go home they always tend to move a little faster. A lot faster in our case, because S and I were a little pony-crazed and are speed demons to boot. So we nudged them from a trot to a canter, and then when they realised they were so close to "the Barn", they took off like bats outta Hades-full gallop. I'm fairly certain I was screaming like a banshee (with glee more than fear...but a little fear), and I know for a fact that I was gripping the pommel like it was the last remaining hope in a world of doom (it pretty much was, because at that point I'd lost at least one of my stirrups and I was kind of flailing).

It was terrifying, but OH it was fun! But it just meant that we were back in camp that much sooner and it was time to give the horses a rest and go eat lunch. Yep. All this was before lunch on the first day!!

Of course I don't have photos of any of this, because I didn't have saddlebags, and I wasn't about to risk losing my camera. Besides, when all the good stuff was goin' down, I was far too busy actually doin my job to take snapshots. ;)

There are a few other good stories to tell, and I'll tell them. But most of the rest of the weekend was trailrides, eating, sleeping, reading, eating, and more trailrides. Oh, and the Ride Up Bar. Oh yeah. Mimosas and Bloody Marys on horseback? Heck yeah.

More on that later.

First Things First (Linkolicious!)

2009-10-17T23:19:00.005-05:00

Something cool happened today.

I went for a Mountain Bike Ride at Pemberton this morning. It was about 1 hour and 45 minutes worth of climbing and scrambling and slogging through sand and blazing down hill. When we got back to the parking lot and started loading up, changing clothes, and getting ready to hit town for a good breakfast, I noticed that my little metal wallet(mine is orange, not pink!) was missing. I ransacked the xTerra, had other people go through my Camelbak in case I was just momentarily blind, and finally threatened to re-ride the entire trail to look for it.

Fortunately, the folks I was with talked me down from that stance, reminding me of the heat (it got up to around 100 degrees today!! In October!!) and the fact that it was highly likely that someone would find the wallet before I did and I'd just be wasting my time. So I stopped off at the visitors' station to give my description and my phone number, in case anyone happened to turn it in.

A fellow who happened to be there purchasing a yearly pass to the park asked where I thought I might have lost it. I showed him our route on the map, and the approximate location where we'd stopped and I dug a GU pack out of the top pocket of the Camelbak. My wallet had been in the same pocket, and I felt pretty confident that I'd just fumbled around enough to knock it out. He said he was just getting ready to head out on the trails and that he'd keep an eye out for it. I gave him my thanks and figured that'd be the last of it, since..well..stuff like that never works out, does it?

IT DOES!!

Shortly after arriving home and determining to thoroughly clean out the entire vehicle in case the wallet had slid between the seats or gotten buried under a heap of papers, my phone rang. The caller ID said "Blocked" but I figured I'd take a chance and answer it.

"Is this Kerri?" Yes! Yes it is! "Hi, this is McDowell Mt. Park Visitors' Center calling; someone has turned in your wallet. The gentleman is standing right here, would you like to talk to him?" Wow, yes, please! "Hi, this is the guy you talked to earlier--the wallet was exactly where you said it would be. I can meet you somewhere if you'd like...."

After recovering from fainting, taking a moment to do a little happy dance, give prayer to the Karma Gods, and catching my breath, I agreed to meet him on his way back into town.

He warned me that he saw a coyote loping away from the scene when he arrived and that I might ought to watch my charges for a while, lest any random ACME purchases show up (i.e. dynamite, bird feed, or road runner traps). :D

He also refused to accept my offers to send him some sort of thank you (a gift card to the bike shop of his choice, for example), the only part of this story that sucks. So do something nice for a stranger, won't you? Pass it on?

I'll get back to the horsey trails soon, really. But my Mini-Machine's battery is about to poof, so I gotta go juice it up. I need a nap too, come to think of it.

Got A Good Grip?

2009-10-16T01:11:00.003-05:00

Hope so, cos you're gonna have to keep hangin....

I went down to let the dogs out one more time before bed and got caught up in the trainwreck that is television. "House" was on, and before I could save myself, I had gotten sucked in. So it's late, and I'm sleepy, and I don't want to tell a long story about how awesome the cattle drive was.

Until I return, enjoy this sweet photo of Princess during her "Are you still on my back?" phase of Saturday afternoon:

Head 'em up, move 'em out...

2009-10-15T01:08:00.002-05:00

Yeah, yeah, I know I promised this to you yesterday, but I dragged myself to bed later than I had hoped to and I just wanted to sleep. You may point out that it's later still tonight than even Monday's post, but this is by choice. I decided that since the dogs are plotting against me EVER getting a full night's sleep this week (Bucket crying to go out and poo at 2:30am Tuesday morning, Delilah barking at who knows what this morning at 4am), that I'd just roll with it and quit trying to go to bed early. But I digress.

Country Catering and Cattle Round Ups. That's why you're here. I may not make it much past breakfast today, because, well...I am tired. But we'll get there eventually.

So there was this big whiteboard advertising breakfast from 6am to 6:45am that we had seen the night before. And sure enough, 6am rolled around and there was an honest-to-god breakfast bell. It wasn't a triangle or an iron bell like we used to have waaaay back when on "the farm", but it was a giant oversized copper cowbell of sorts. And they weren't shy about using it to let us know that it was time to get up and get movin.

Breakfast done cowboy style, but with a bit more finesse... Pancakes (I passed), bacon (I sure as heck didn't!), eggs to order, fresh fruit, juice, coffee, cocoa. It was an amazing spread and we ate as though we wouldn't see food again for days. Probably a bad choice, looking back on it, as it was just a gateway meal to many other overindulgences, but boy was it good.

We met up with our rental horse wrangler, Rob, who gave us our assignments. My horse? Princess, a formal barrel horse with "some spunk". Eep. Considering that I hadn't ridden in something like 6 or 7 years, and then only for a short short stint around the jousting ranch in OKC, I was the tiniest bit nervous about whether or not I would be able to sit a "spunky" horse. S would be on Dunbar, and Roommate K would be on Sunflower, whom S had ridden the year previous and had warned us was a big ole stick in the mud. If K was at all disappointed, she didn't show it, but took it in perfect stride.

We went and got our cowduds on (yes, we ate in our pajamas, but lest anyone worry themselves about me traipsing around in a tank top and holy pajama bottoms, let me remind you that we were camping. on a ranch. in october. I was sharing a tent with two other people, and it was chilly. I was more clothed than I often am during the Phoenix summer!), and went to where the horses were kept. To our surprise, Rob and his son had gotten all of our horses completely ready and saddled. All we had to do was water them and tighten the cinches and make sure our stirrups were set to the right height.

I really do have photos, and I really will post some someday. But for now I'll just tell you that while I dreamed for months of having a paint pony or a buckskin, and dreaded the ever-popular "brown horse", that's pretty much what Princess was. Almost a Bay, but too scruffy to pass. Not light enough to pass for Sorrel... (and here I act like I know what the hell I'm talking about! ha!). But she was a tall horse, and relatively narrow, for which I would be eternally grateful. She tested me a bit, but we eventually got along like...well, like a trail horse and a noob rider. :)

Dunbar was a stocky little thing, and even sassier than Princess, and more brown and plain. But he totally suited S--they looked like they'd been together forever. And Sunflower was the perfect match for Roommate K...a gorgeous palomino paint that looked like it had been created just for the shiny, bubbly blond.

After we watered up and rode around the camp for a bit to get adjusted, it was time to ride out.

And true to form, I've exhausted myself in the telling thus far, and my eyes are stinging me to sleep. So the actual tale of the ride will have to wait, yet again!

I like to keep you hangin. ;)

Poke Poke Poke*

2009-10-12T23:04:00.004-05:00

So last week I was entirely too excited and busy to tell you about my then upcoming weekend. I wanted to just jot a quick note about it, but was afraid that I would just ramble on and on and never get any sleep (such as I am likely about to do).

What could possibly have been so exciting, you ask? Another epic mountain bike ride? A fantastic hike? A trip to Parts Unknown?

No no no. I went on a cattle drive! My friend S mentioned it to me months ago when we first met. Said she: "There is this cattle drive in October, and anyone can go and they rent horses if you don't have one and it's full of win and awesomesauce." Said I: "Count me in!"

And time passed and I got the infos and I sent in my registration and my horse rental fees. I got a three man tent, a sleeping bag, and a sleeping pad of my own (thanks, Folks, for the REI gift certificate!!). I made a concerted effort to shed a few pounds, lest I break the back of whatever pitiful pony I got to ride. I got out my old black motorcycle boots and planned and packed my gear for days before hand (although not as painstakingly as my friend Shanny might have ;) ).

Thursday came and S and Roommate arrived to whisk me away to The Ranch. The place is just about an hour north of Phoenix, but we got a late start and arrived long after dark. We managed to set up my never-before-used tent easily (/flex!), and got ready for a good night's sleep before the 6am breakfast bell set to clangin.

Little did we know that we were surrounded by pens full of deer, and these deer had the most peculiar and baleful calls ever heard. We were caught up being simultaneously creeped out and curious about these calls when the horses started whinnying. As we lay cramped together in the tent listening to the cacophony, Roommate K ventured to ask what the horses might have been saying to one another. S was only too happy to oblige us with a translation, which included her very own rendition of "pony speak". I'm sure our camping neighbours were befuddled, to say the least, at the arrival of these three girls whinnying and giggling til all hours in their tent.

Tomorrow, 6am Cowboy breakfast, and my first cattle drive!

*get it? Cowpoke? :)

October

2009-10-04T00:50:00.003-05:00

Time, she does fly. It's October already? I'm certainly not complaining, as the beginning of month ten has ushered in a cold front (ha!) of sorts for us desert dwellers. The mornings are crisp again, and the highs have hovered around 90 for the later part of this week, and it has been glorious.

Of course, that also means that I don't have any more excuses for not getting off my butt and out of the house. To that end, I went out today and bought some new "road" tires for my old Giant Cadex. I'm going to use it as my commuter bike so that I don't have to swap out tires on my Jamis, or remove the panniers and trunk every time I want to go for an actual mt. bike ride. I don't aim to ride every day of the week, but at 10 miles round trip, even a few days a week will be a good addition of exercise and fresh air to my world--not to mention a bit of a savings on gas for the Jeep.

Now, if I and the other 2 bike commuters at work could just convince the powers that be to put a shower into one of our ginormous bathrooms at work, we'd be set. Until then, I'll just stock up on baby wipes and be thankful that I work in a non-public office with a bunch of engineers and geeks who think dressing up is tucking their t-shirts into a pair of jeans.

Big Brother is watching...your click throughs?

2009-10-01T00:15:00.004-05:00

I went to an offsite seminar for work today. It was a training/informational workshop regarding email marketing through a company called Constant Contact.

While from a business perspective it was totally exciting to learn about the amazing amount of information they could collect and compile regarding customers' response to emails, from a personal perspective it was downright creepy.

They can tell what time of day you opened that email. They can tell whether or not you clicked any links--and which links you clicked! They can tell if you forwarded the email, and--in some cases--whether the person you forwarded it to has opened/clicked through.

And again, I was really excited to learn about all this and think of ways that it could help our little company market our products more effectively... The resources, tools, and data available through a company like this (there are many others in the same business; Constant Contact certainly haven't monopolised the market) are simply incredible, and invaluable if used correctly and consistently.

Still, I couldn't help but be a little creeped out by the thought that the next email I open is going to tell some stranger in a cubicle somewhere more about me than it ought. The next product I check out in that same email is going to peg me as "A cyclist" or "A camper" or "A Tree Hugger". It sort of makes me want to click on all the wrong things, just to jack with the system and see what kind of tweaked list it gets me into. Maybe I can get REI to stop sending me camping and cycling related emails, and start targeting me with climbing and scuba diving gearmails.

It was an interesting day, indeed. But hey, I got some amazing Thai food and 6 hours out of the office. Almost worth the feeling of paranoia instilled in me.

Summer Hiatus

2009-09-28T23:26:00.002-05:00

Are you buying that? I just made it up, but it's essentially what happened. In normal parts of the world, summer is the time for playing outdoors and having adventures and whatnot. In Phoenix, summer is the time for hiding in the shaded air conditioning for all daylight hours and most of the night.

I didn't figure that anyone would be terribly excited to hear about the many ways one can find to slack off in the A/C during the Phoenix summer, so I simply quit writing. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.

However, the temperature is at least starting to hint at taking a downturn here (it gets all the way down to 75 degrees at night now, instead of hovering around 100, which means I can wear a regular t-shirt on my 6am dog walks instead of the ever-present tank top), and so the calendar starts to fill with things like biking excursions and cattle round-ups. Yes. More on that later.

I just got back today from a trip back to Kansas City to visit my best friend and my parents. It was a quick long weekend, just so that I could see my friend as a pregnant woman before baby number two makes her arrival. I missed it the first time around (saving the photos), and have never forgiven myself for it. Babies and the whole giving birth thing have always freaked me out, so I'll just say that it was pretty crazy seeing my best high school buddy three weeks from doing so.

I not so secretly hoped that she would go into labour while I was there so I could be around for it, but not even being jostled around by zealous Social Distortion fans at the concert on Saturday night had any real effect. C is just not ready for the world yet, I suppose, and you can't blame the kid for wanting to take her time. It's a jungle out here, after all.

Anyway. With the onset of fall and cooler weather, I hope to be getting out of the house more and have some stories to tell. Next big adventure: the aforementioned Cattle Round Up. I had a few small adventures a bit later in the summer that may bear mentioning, but we'll just have to see about that another time. K and her babies wear me out, and I've got to get some shuteye.

Edumacation

2009-05-28T23:55:00.003-05:00

Today, as most students are celebrating the end of the school year, I'm just getting started with my photography class. Yes! I finally signed myself up for a class so that I will become a little more familiar with (and a lot less scared of) my new camera. Tonight was the first night of 6 classes-including one field trip to the Desert Botanical Gardens. It started with a quiz to prove how nublet we all are, and ended with 2 homework assignments to produce four photographs proving our calculated experimentations with shutter speed and aperture.

I'm wildly excited by the whole thing, despite being nervous and freaked out just a day or so ago. I'm still a little nervous and anxious about the possibility that I'm really not a photographer, but just lucky with a camera so far. I suppose there has to be room to learn, however. So perhaps even if I'm not now, I will someday be.

I'll probably be doing the homework this weekend as part of it involves bright sunlight and moving vehicles. I'll let you know how that goes. :)

The Downhill is a Lie

2009-05-25T23:30:00.011-05:00

I signed up for the Flagstaff to Sedona ride on the mistaken belief that it was "all downhill". I knew, of course, that it wouldn't *all* be down hill, but we were led to believe by several sources that it was at least primarily downhill. This turned out to be an awful awful lie.

One fellow, after the ride, posted his GPS results here (click on the "player" button on the far right to see a pretty cool animation of the ride). Apparently we climbed 2143feet and descended 4824 feet. That, my friends, is a LOT of climbing. Especially when the bulk of the trail looks like this:

This meant that we spent a lot of our time doing this:

The pine needles mixed with the clayey mud formed what must be the world's strongest natural cement on our bikes. Several times, people with caliper breaks found that their wheels would simply no longer turn. Folks like me (a bit on the heavier side) found that even after cleaning all the gunk off of our tires, it still felt like we were running on flats. It wasn't like riding through mud...it was, literally, riding through mud.
Oh, and did I mention that it was a 40+ mile ride? Yes. Bike computers varied, but were in the range of 39-41 miles. I had no business on a ride like this, but feeling confident that it was "All Downhill", I figured I could manage. Well. What the organizers advertised as a 4-5 hour ride ended up taking close to 7(nearly 8 according to the above linked data, which I think is slightly off), I think? Perhaps longer. And it was mostly because yours truly averaged approximately 6mph--even with the 30+mph downhills factored in. I just wasn't ready for it. But with many stops and a bit of walking up some of the more heinous climbs, I made it. And while it was all beautiful, the views towards the end of the ride down Schnebly Hill Road were just...awesome. Here are some more shots from the day. I'll let most of them speak for themselves, as I am both tired and lazy at this point in the day.

I busted my chain about 3 miles into the ride. Good times. Fortunately there were mechanically inclined people there to help. And people with cameras and no sympathy. :)

Don't let this photo fool you. I was usually *much* farther behind the pack than this...

After trudging through the rain up Schnebly Hill with a sore knee and thoughts of heralding one of the many Forest Service Trucks, we (the other 2 fellows willing to take it easy with me) simultaneously topped a hill and rounded a corner to see the views in the last 4 photos. It was a completely jaw-dropping moment. I'm fairly certain that I squealed, dropped my bike and ran to the edge of the road/overlook and just gaped for several minutes. I won't say that I forgot the incredible pain and shame of the previous part of the ride, climbing and trudging through all that mud--but I will say that these views really did make it all worthwhile.
Well, the views and the bragging rights. I rode a 40 mile bike ride, uphill, through mud and rain. I rode from Flagstaff to Sedona!

IOU

2009-05-24T23:20:00.007-05:00

Stories. And photos.

For the past two weekends, I've been out galavanting on the trails of Arizona with my trusty bike. Last weekend it was trails around Bell Rock in Sedona. It was supposed to be a relatively easy 3.5 miles out and back (7mi round trip). It ended up being 12 miles total, uphill in all directions, but with some really awesome singletrack technical(ish) stuff that I loved. I also met some really cool folks, with whom I also rode yesterday. More about that in a moment. Let's look at some photographic evidence of the Bell Rock Ride:

Really godawful facial expression here, but I like it! This was a rocky, nasty climb that many people hike-a-biked (I cleaned it on the first try with much grunting and an amazingly loud cry of triumph at the top). The guy that took the photo had perched at the base of the climb and I very nearly ran him over.

I like this one much better. I don't look completely ridiculous, and besides, you get lovely Cathedral Rock in the background!

After the ride, we drove down to Oak Creek and played in the water for a while, and happened to bear witness to a rather unique wedding. There was a pathway of rocks across part of the creek where we were, and at one point we saw a gentleman with a Native American Flute and an amplifier stepping carefully across. When we asked him what he was doing way out here with an amp, he simply replied "A Wedding" and geststured across the creek. Up on a little hill above the creek was a gazebo, and we all assumed it would be there; but shortly after crossing the creek, he set up his stuff in the middle of a flat slick-rock type area and began to play.

Shortly thereafter, we saw an American Indian (no idea what tribe) coming down the hill--he was a shaman or priest or spiritual leader of some sort--in full regalia. Feathers, full buckskin, a huge drum, and a half-gourd with sage and feathers. Closely behind him were the bride and groom--in traditional white gown and tux. She took off her high heels to walk across the creek rocks, and her groom was good enough to carry both her shoes and her flowers so that she could keep better balance. Unable to stand there speechless, one of our group members mentioned something about her pedicure, to which she responded "All the way from England!". So it turns out that this couple had traveled to this tiny little creek in the middle of nowhere Arizona to be married in a Vortex area by an Indian (I'll call him) Shaman. They did the blanket transfer, and held the feathers and the shaman cleansed the area with the sage. We watched from a distance, and several people egged me to take photos, but I refused. It just didn't seem right.

Trust me when I tell you, though...it was pretty damn cool to bear witness to such a thing. Oh, and the bike ride...it was awesome too.

And tomorrow, since I'm off work (hooray!), I'll tell you the story of Flagstaff to Sedona. Here's a preview:

Ride Ride Ride

2009-05-17T23:25:00.002-05:00

I'm a big fan of Meetup.com. True, I don't often partake of the myriad opportunities it provides, but I've never regretted it on the rare occasions that I do.

Yesterday I went on a bike ride in Sedona. It was advertised as 3.5 miles of easy to moderate riding--beginners welcome. I'm far from being a beginner, but I am rather out of shape, so I figured it was right up my alley. Well, 11 miles later I was huffing and puffing and gasping for breath--and at one point I was seriously concerned about the possibility of heat exhaustion once again. There were far more climbs than anticipated, and I hadn't taken into account the relatively high altitude. I was at the back of the pack (and if you know me at all, you know that that is *NOT* my comfort zone) the entire time, and doing a great deal of hike-a-bike.

And I would do it again tomorrow if I could!

Although completely exhausted afterwards, I was also oddly energized. Perhaps it was the vortexes in and around Bell Rock. Perhaps it was just the adrenaline. Perhaps it's just that my heart is *still* beating a bit above the normally recognised limit (not true, not true...just a figure of speech!)... At any rate, although it was so difficult and painful at times, it was also just incredibly beautiful to be out there. I rode with a great bunch of people and pushed myself beyond anything I'd ever attempt on my own little jaunts around here.

Ultimately, I think that was the most enjoyable part--pushing myself to do something that would have been so easy to give up on. I tried--and succeeded--riding some technical bits that not everyone else could clear. I tried--and failed--on many more. But I was out there pushing myself and that was its own reward.

And on that note, it's 9:38pm and I'm going to sleep. I'm still exhausted! And 5:30am with the hounds will be here all too soon. I'll try to post some photos in the next couple days. <3

The New Telly, Part One: A Haiku

2009-05-11T00:05:00.002-05:00

Ordered on Amazon
You arrived beautiful, but broken.
Well, shit.

aka: where the last week went

2009-05-10T00:04:00.004-05:00

It's been a busy week--not really because I have anything going on in my real life, but because WoW has these insidious in-game "events" with linked achievements. The ocd part of me (approximately 85% percent) is compelled to participate and complete these little mini games, which causes late nights and errors in judgement.

Such as...not fixing the salmon as soon as I should have.

I bought salmon at the grocery last Sunday, much like I often do. I generally cook it the same night or the next. Very occasionally I'll cook it two days later. This week, I waited until Wednesday, because for some odd reason both Monday and Tuesday found us with other dinner plans. I should have ignored the nagging voice in my head saying "Don't waste it; it'll be fine!". I should *not* have ignored the extraordinarily fishy smell when I unwrapped my dinner-to-be. And I really should have just reached for a Lean Cuisine dinner as the salmon steamed and went through a particularly nasty phase of stink. But it *looked* fine. It *tasted* fine...
(R, the luckiest man alive, was feeling a bit low that night and slept right through dinner, and escaped my cruel fate...)

Thursday morning I had a 7am appointment for a boob-squishin. I woke up at about 5:30am with a massive, MASSIVE headache, but chalked it up to not getting enough sleep. Made it into my appointment, had the girls checked out, and headed to work. The headache got worse and worse and, having had my own little wimpy versions of migraines before, I chalked the mounting nausea up to the intense pain in my noggin. And then, despite the chilliness of the office, I began to sweat. I felt dizzy, and couldn't focus on my work. I did, however, manage to focus a few moments to the CDC page on symptoms of the H1-N1 flu... It seemed possible, but not likely, so I just continued to believe it was the headache.

And then, after whining to my coworker that I felt like I was going to throw up...I did. R swears that I threw up while we had the house in OKC, but I honestly don't remember throwing up since I lived in Lawrence--that would be something like 8 years ago. I just don't throw up. So when I actually did, I did three things. 1) Felt immensely better, tho not...good, 2) Immediately went home, and 3) started considering the fact that it very well could have been my stinky salmon doing these horrible things to me.

When I got home I rolled around in agony for a few more hours, throwing up twice more in the process. To those of you who manage to experience this bodily function with relative regularity, I apologise. The mere thought of it is often enough to elicit sympathy hurls, I know. But it's just such an oddity for me, and I find it fascinating. It really felt like my body wanted to turn itself inside out. It was completely awful and, thankfully, it was completely over by about 3 or 4pm. I still had a ridiculous headache, but I was no longer beading with sweat, feeling hot and then freezing, threatening to topple over anytime I stood up, or going cross-eyed trying to read my book, my mail, or my computer screen.

I left work around 10am, so missed a good portion of the day. I went in an hour early and stayed about 1.30 late on Friday, both trying to catch up and get ahead for Monday. It's a shame that I missed so many hours this week, because I'd found out on Monday last that I'm getting a raise! A whole $1.00/hour! I'm totally not being facaetious with that comment either. A dollar raise is huge in any situation, but particularly now with the economy being the way it is, and with our little company plugging away tenuously at best... So I was very excited and proud of myself on that note, but missing most of the day Thursday will probably just put me back where I have been! Oh well, there is always next pay period. :)

I could go on, and relate the Saga of the New Telly...but it's late, and 6am no longer guarantees temperatures below 80`.

I would like to send a thank you to Shanny for her naming suggestions. While I literally lol'd when I read them, I will respectfully decline them. Especially Jedadiah. Mostly becuase I'm pretty sure my eeePC is a girl. It's very ambiguous at this point, and could honestly go either way. But Jedadiah is a strapping young lad who works on a farm with his Pa and studies scripture fervently. Not that there is *anything* wrong with such a life. I just think that we're looking for something a little..different. Perhaps I could call it Eric. If ever an inanimate object summoned demons, it was assuredly a computer.

See, I should have just told the telly story. Much safer. :)

Happy Birthday to my Mom!

2009-05-04T00:09:00.003-05:00

Today was my mom's birthday. I won't say her age, because that is only up to her to divulge, but I will say that she's every bit as lovely as she's ever been.

She's very silly, very creative, wildly thoughtful, and has never met a stranger. She can talk to anyone, about anything, anywhere. It used to kind of embarrass me when I was a kid (sorry mom!), but now I realise what a gift it is--and how rare it is for people to express such a talent, even if they have it. On a related note, she makes friends so easily, a talent of which I'm very envious--but also that I'm thankful she has. She has moved around with my dad and I so many times--and now she's out in the boonies of Missouri, far away from family and old friends. But since moving there, she's made a whole new batch of amazing friends. They have parties for each other and have their own little adventures; she has a better social life than I do at this point, honestly! It's always fun to hear what she's been up to, whether it be a garage sale excursion, or a neighbourhood fish fry.

She's creative and talented--a fiendish knitter and a connoisseur of all things crafty. She has made me beautiful afghans, gorgeous little hand towels, fun funky boho-bags, and she once fashioned the most amazing angel out of embroidery floss, lace, and beads (it currently serves as our Christmas Tree-Topper). She loves learning new things, and like me, always has some sort of project going.

She's also a great cook and, for better or for worse, I have inherited her willingness to improvise and/or "make do" with the ingredients at hand. This doesn't always turn out as well for me as it does for her, but it does make for some interesting kitchen adventures (I think R might have another name for the results of *my* concoctions!).

I could go on. And on... and on...but it's already past my bedtime. Suffice it to say that my mom ROCKS! Happy Birthday Mom. I LOVE YOU!! <3!!1one!11!1!!1!!!

Accessories and Accoutrements!

2009-05-03T00:31:00.004-05:00

I went to REI today, because I had a 20% coupon burning a hole in my hot little hand. I've been needing both new running shoes (I use the term lightly, because what I generally do amounts to little more than speed walking with the dogs--with the occasional 1/2 block jog thrown in for good measure), and wanted to check into some new bike shorts. The place was packed to the gills--apparently outdoorsy folk are *not* feeling the pinch these days--and I quickly gave up on any real attempts at trying on clothing.

But I looked around a LOT and found some amazingly adorable small purses/mini messenger bags that I think might look *fantastic* wrapped around my little eeePC (which, incidentally, I've decided needs a name. Taking all suggestions, but reserve the right to poo poo any and all comers). I was going to post links, but once I got to looking on their site, I got far too distracted and just blew another 30 minutes poking around and window shopping. Suffice it to say: I now have an added reason to head back to REI soon (as if I ever really needed one), since I will have to take my 'puter with me to try on some bags.

And there is a tent I'm eyeing, and while I'm at it, I could use a new sleeping bag. Because, you know, I go camping *so* frequently... The fubar'd logic here is that I'll be more apt to go if I actually have the gear. I'd be better suited, I think, to invest in some friends who would drag me out of the house from time to time to go on such adventures.

But I digress. Toys for my toy. I still intend to post some of my favourite skin options for your review, but I always manage to be too tired to mess with it by the time I get here. And all my bookmarks are waaaaaaay over there on that computer. So I'd have to spend even more time looking them up again. But I need to dress this baby up. Black is always in, but basic black 'puter is basic. We need some pizazz! Skinz and Bags, Skinz and Bags. And then when she's all dressed up, I'll take her photo for your viewing pleasure. Because doesn't everyone just *long* to see a pimped out netbook? Geeks like me say "Yes!" <3

A Sure Sign

2009-05-01T01:05:00.002-05:00

Movies will rot your brain!

Every time I hear another report about the Swine Flu (Pending) Pandemic, I fully expect to hear a tinge of panic in the announcer's voice as she explains that there have been significant mutations in the virus which are causing horrific reactions in the afflicted parties. The main reaction, of course, being Zombieism.

Then again, having watched those movies, I am now well versed in Zombie Avoidance and Methods of Zombie Annihilation. So....yeah.

Murphy Knew His, um...Stuff

2009-04-28T00:11:00.003-05:00

I don't believe I've mentioned it here, but I recently paid off my Xterra. (**EDIT: Wow, I just mentioned it two posts ago. But I've slept since then...) It's very exciting, to have that portion of my (relatively minimal) debt taken care of. I should, in fact, have the title in my hot little hands sometime this week. What a nice birthday present to myself!

Now, the flip side of that was knowing that as soon as I had paid it off, something else would come up. It always does. Every time I've ever paid off a credit card, car payment, or otherwise gotten something truly daunting out of my hair and/or off of my plate, something else ugly has reared its head--preventing me from every *truly* getting ahead myself.

This time, I naturally assumed it was going to be the Xterra itself. It is, after all, nearly 10 years old. It's in remarkably good shape for its age, and the Xterra--despite having a super slick new look in recent model years--has something of a timeless style. However, as we all know, time is cruel, and I'm just waiting for the ball to drop.

I really hope it doesn't soon. Because the ugly spectre with the raised and howling head this time is the telly. Our behemoth died a very sudden death sometime between Saturday night and Sunday afternoon. When R tried to turn it on yesterday, it was just dead. No flickering lights, no warning signals that failure was immenent. Just a black, blank screen and a whole lot of "WTF"??

Personally, I think all of the MMA fighting and mafia violence of the recently resurrected Sopranos disc set finally did it in. :D That, or all the butter and sugar in Paula Deen's cookin has soaked in. Whatever the case, we find ourselves without a tv. It doesn't trouble me too much, as I rarely watch it aside from the occasional bout of CNN Headline News while I get ready in the morning, or the aforementioned Paula Deen (along with Giada/Ina Garten/Rachel Ray during the "dinner hour"). Oh, and Thursday night NBC. Love.

Anyway. I digress. We are going to have to get a new tv, because now that I can't play with the Wii, I want to desperately even though I haven't touched it in ages. I LONG to finish watching The Tudors discs that we got from Netflix something like 4 months ago (or longer)! It's amazing, isn't it, how you always want what you can't have?

Hopefully, after we deal with the annoyance of finding someone to pick up and haul off the old telly, and setting up the new one, there will be a few months of monetary peace where I can put some of the "extra" money towards our remaining credit card bills. Until then, I suppose I should just thank Murphy that his laws had the good graces to at least wait to kill the telly until *after* my car was paid off.

Thanks, Murphy, thanks a lot. ;)

Canooks!

2009-04-25T01:31:00.002-05:00

I have recently been raving (to R and to my best friend and...well, that's about it, since I've got no one else to crow to) about the glory of Radio Paradise. And I DO love Radio Paradise. It is a constant joy to listen to, and the peacelovinhippiechick in me revels in the primarily happy mellow world folk rock thing they've got goin on.

But earlier this week at work I stumbled onto CBC Radio 3, and DAMN if it isn't the perfectly sexy bad boy to lure me away from my tried and true. It's pretty much all new, totally unfamiliar, dirty rockin stuff--with the occasional sweetly french pop tune thrown in for good measure. Granted, I only catch glimpses while I'm at work, and I'm dialed in right now as I write, but what I've heard I love.

I've gone a long time without discovering and appreciating new music, and for anyone who knows me, that's saying a lot. Music used to be pretty much the be-all end-all for me (have I used that phrase recently? typing it out gave me an annoying sense of deja-vu). So it's really nice to rediscover that aspect of myself. I don't think I'll ever find myself going to concerts 4-5 nights a week again, and it's unlikely that my cd collection (mp3 file collection these days, I suppose) will grow as exponentially as it did when I was working at the record store, but it's enough for me that I'm hearing some stuff that makes me pause and look up the artist name and make a note to check it out later.

In other "new stuff" news...I got my hair cut today. Woohoo. It's not really anything different, so don't go begging for photos or anything. I basically don't look like I'm wearing a pile of straw on my head anymore.

In "I can't decide which new stuff to get news", I cannot decide which skin shall adorn my new lil puter. So when I have more energy for it, I'm going to post some options here and ask for a vote of sorts. Which, I guess, basically means that Shanny will be the one who decides, as no one else ever says so much as "Boo!". :P

And, with that, good night. It's nearing midnight and the heat comes earlier and earlier these days... If I want to breathe fresh air tomorrow, I'd better get some sleep!

New Toy, Happy Early Birthday!

2009-04-23T00:38:00.005-05:00

Ever since I became enamoured of the idea of being able to blog from bed, I've been rendered incapable of putting two words together at my desktop computer. I just can't get my thoughts together out there. To many distractions, too, too many.

In one of my typical interweb ramblings, I discovered "netbooks" and was instantly smitten. They are tiny, portable, very basic, and very inexpensive. I read and read and researched and discovered the lovely Asus eeePC 1000HE.

I mentioned it to R and, although he was skeptical at first, I think my earnest interest finally won him over and he checked it out. I was honestly going to buy it myself, having just paid off my car and feeling the joy of "extra money"...but with my birthday coming up, he was havin' none of that. The Asus would be my birthday present, and so it is! We ordered it over the weekend, and it came in today. It's black, and will soon be covered in a nifty skin of some sort--because it really is a fingerprint magnet. And because skinz are just cool.

So I'm sitting here in bed, happily tapping away and listening to CBC Radio 3. The reviews were right; the sound is far from audiophile-approved, but it's certainly fine for my current purposes. And while I could stay up all night toying with all the features and settings, I must, at this point, put it away. Summer has come early to the desert (our first 100+ degree day was yesterday!) and I have to get the hounds out the door before 6am if I don't want to roast.

I know I've said it before, but I have to say it again--I think I'll be around more often now. Writing before bed(in bed!) clears my brain of some of the flotsam and jetsam it collects during the day, and I really believe it helps me sleep better. And since I'm going to be getting up at 5:30 or earlier for the next few months, I'm going to need all the help I can get!

I love my lil netbook! Thank you baby! <3

MPG

2009-03-29T00:32:00.003-05:00

We haven't really talked a lot about mileage lately. Today, however, I finally got off my butt and went for a nice long(ish) bike ride, so I feel a bit better about broaching the subject.

For example, the pain of admitting that nearly the entire month of February was spent doing a whole lot of nothing is dulled a bit by being able to say that I rode for about 10 miles today. Of course, my total for the week is a paltry 15 miles or so, and admitting that is as though someone cut off my morphine.

I blame it on the dog. Bucket and I went for a nice long romp in the desert last Sunday. As much as I preach against it, there are times when I just want to see the boy run, so I let him off leash. He's quite good out there in the middle of nowhere, and as long as we never run into another dog, we should be just fine. He has chased many a lizard, what I presume to have been a rabbit, and this past Sunday found and tactfully avoided a rattlesnake (thank heavens he had the good sense to step away; I'm not sure what I'd have done if he'd decided it would make a fun chew toy). It's a real joy to see him exploring and occasionally looking over his shoulder to make sure I'm in sight. He comes when he's called (as long as there are no major distractions) and never gets too far away. If he can't hear my footsteps, he'll stand stock still and start looking fervently for me--I stop from time to time and "hide" just to make sure he's paying attention!

Anyway. The desert being what it is... I normally am the considerate parent and check his lil tootsies when we get home, but for some reason last Sunday I spaced it. I think I was just exhausted--5 miles of running through the desert on a toasty Spring afternoon will do that to a girl. I was laying on the bed, mustering up the energy to take a shower when Bucket walked up to the side of the bed and looked at me plaintively while lifting up one paw.

Sure enough, he had a GINORMOUS thorn in one of his pads. We had to get the needlenose pliers after it, and he shrieked like the little girl he is. Anyone would have thought we were poking a searing cattle prod in his eye or something. We cleaned it up and watched him limp around the house for the rest of the afternoon, clearly hoping that more attention would come his way.

The Monday morning walk of course had to be cancelled. We wanted to give him time to heal up properly, and taking Delilah and not him would have been paramount to asking for the animal kingdom's version of wailing and gnashing of teeth. Since he was no longer limping and showed no other signs of distress with the foot, I decided to take him for a short walk on Tuesday, which went just fine. Hooray.

Wednesday I'll have to blame on myself. I had decided to take my 24 allergy meds before bed, since they were making me a bit groggy during the morning, and when I tried to wake up at 6 am, I felt like I'd been beaten around the head with a sack of lead. Same result when I tried to wake up at 6:45, 7:15, and 7:45. I finally hauled my sorry self out of bed shortly after 8am, so no walkies Wednesday.

I have no idea why we didn't walk Thursday morning. I'm going to have to go with sheer laziness.

Friday? Well, lets just say that Bucket had a tummy ache on Thursday night and Friday morning and leave it there. I mean, I don't need to go into detail about what was going on with my boy's butt. It was gross. And it needed to be taken care of at 2am and again at 4am. And I'm pretty sure I didn't sleep at all really between those two times. So when 6am rolled around, I had long since re-set the alarm for a friendlier hour.

Wow, so it seems that I can really only blame the boy for 3 days of suckage this week. The rest of it was all me. But his days are the majority, so I'm going to stick with my previous assesment that it's all his fault.

And on an entirely different note, R took Bucket and Delilah with him to get coffee this afternoon. The rear windows in the xTerra were up, so the girl at the window couldn't see the dogs, but she could hear Bucket whining and chirping like he does. She honestly asked R if he had "a little chihuahua back there". I'm not sure how he stifled what surely must have been the world's loudest guffaw, but he simply rolled down the rear window and let Bucket stick his head out. The coffee girl was shocked, to say the least. A little chihuahua indeed!

So yeah. Lowish miles this week overall, but today was a good day. I'm hoping to make that a more regular ride, as it's fast, easy (totally non-technical so I can push the speed and get the heart rate up!), and variable enough to keep me from getting bored. The cupcake bites have really been a bane to any sort of "get skinny" plan; my only hope is to get more active! With summer fast approaching, my outdoor activity window grows slimmer and slimmer--unlike my belly!

I'll get some totals together soon; I'm not entirely sure where I stand overall and it would be good information to have. But now...sleep!

Buzz buzz buzz

2009-03-26T00:32:00.005-05:00

I recently bought an air purifier for our bedroom, as my allergies--especially overnight, for some reason--have gotten more annoying. I can't tell if it's doing much at all really, but I've become accustomed to the humming of the fans; they create a lovely white noise in the room. However, they do keep me from thinking deeply. I could think of nothing else when trying to name tonight's post. Or perhaps there's really nothing else to call such ramblings.

Thank you to my dear Shanny, who has, through the miracle of technology, set herself up to receive an email whenever I update my blog. She is also one of the only folks who ever post comments on my blog (coughcoughpointedcough). I want to link to her blog, which is much more regularly updated than mine, although not as much as I'd like (coughcough)--but since I'm on the laptop, I don't have the faintest idea how to find her.*** What on earth would I ever do without my bookmarks?

Anyway.

No crazy bizaare dreams to report from the past two nights. Oh, don't doubt that I had them! I just can't recall the content at this point. We watched two episodes of Lost tonight, though, so I'm sure it will be a fun-filled venture into insanity when I drift of to sleep in a bit.

Holy Crap. Season Three of the Venture Brothers came out yesterday and I totally forgot about it. Not that I've even seen Season Two yet, but season one was really amazingly good. Clever and ridiculous and insidious and buzz buzz buzz.... Maybe it's time to go shopping.

See what I did there? The weird, invisible tangential leap between talking about the insanity of Lost to "zomg Venture Brothers!"? It's kind of hard to follow, even for me, but this is how it goes**:

We watched two episodes of Lost(which is a total trip).
In my head, but not written down: "I think it's better to wait until the DVDs come out--or at least until the end of the season so we can watch them all at once."
"You know", (still in my head) I need to clean out the DVD shelves downstairs."
Then, as I visualise the DVD shelves, I can see the Venture Brothers very near the LOST set(s) on the shelf (television collections are filed together, of course...duh!).
Then I remember hearing a blurb about the Venture Brothers Season Three set coming out on Tuesday. (On NPR, of all places! *THAT'S* how cool the Venture Brothers are.)

So now that you've had that tasty little peek inside my whacko brain, I'm going to leave you to chew on it a bit while I head off to what will surely be animated dreams of angry butterflies, smoke monsters, hippies, and assassins. Good times!

**OR...it may have had something to do with the fact that I'd just used the word "venture" in the line previous. Amazing what you find out when you re-read something you've just written. Although everything else is true, too.

***Wow. I really need to hang out around here more often. There is a link to Shanny's site, right over there << on the side bar.

I am the Optimist Doctor

2009-03-23T23:21:00.002-05:00

The one who refuses to let the patient die. The one who never delivers the "I'm so sorry...." speech. The one who constantly has another trick up her sleeve.

I have let this blog fade so so many times, and yet I keep coming back. Small wonder no one reads along; I have a hard time following blogs that post 3-4 times a week, much less one that might post 3-4 times every 6 months! No, I can't blame my readers for my...lack of readers. I have only myself and my lackadaisical posting attitudes to fault for that.

My most recent excuse was, of course, the incoming parentals. The prep work for their visit, their visit, and the downtime afterward was my rationale for abandoning The Blog. But they left almost 2 months ago, for crying out loud! I guess I just find it hard to jump back on the bandwagon once I've fallen off. Those cart horses do go quickly, you know.

At any rate, I've this night found the laptop sitting on the bed. R was feelin crappy today (so I'm probably catching back my cooties even as I type), and had the computer in here so he could email in sick (aaaahhhh technology! don't even have to talk to the boss any more--just send him an email!).

It was calling to me and it makes sense--I've journaled since I was a teenager, and I always wrote before bed. Got my thoughts out of my brain and allowed me, usually, to get to sleep more easily. And it kept me from having wildly whacko dreams, like the one a couple weeks ago where I was being chased by a mountain lion that eventually grabbed the back of my hand with one of his ginormous claws, which stuck in like nature's own grappling hook. Or the one last night featuring a huge smooth quarry-like pit in the earth, strewn with the skeletons of the people who had fallen in and couldn't get out. Among other things.

Yeah, those things I can do without. So perhaps blogging about the mundanities of my days will keep me here, keep some of you here (Hi Mom! Hi Dad!), and get me some much needed sweet dreams!

Regretting the Expenditure

2009-01-25T22:40:00.007-06:00

Because gadgets that make me feel like a slacker suck.

I bought a Pedometer just after Christmas. Despite the fact that I have a really snazzy GarminForerunner 301 which works just fine (except for the download/online stuff, which I've never managed to be able to access), I wanted to see exactly how many steps I was taking each day--to see how close I was to the magical 10,000 steps mark.

Not. Very. Close.

I wore the pedometer every day last week, from the time I got up in the morning to the time I went to bed. I wanted the full day's worth of steps. Admittedly, there are limits to what the pedometer can measure--it only starts counting after like 4 consecutive seconds of walking, and erratic steps or moving too quickly or too slowly sometimes means it won't register your movements. Still. I figured I was in a pretty good position for 10-15k steps a day. Right?

Like most people, I grossly overestimated the number of steps I take on any given day. On days when I started out by walking 3-3.5 miles with the dogs, I came in only around 8-9k. Still short of the mark. On days that I didn't walk the dogs (I know, I know, for shame...), I came in around 3k. Miserable machine!

My one triumph was Wednesday, when I both walked the dogs in the morning (3.69miles), and went for a hike that evening (3.5 miles). Steps that day: 17,890! But let's be honest, the odds of me doing anything remotely like that on a regular basis are slim to none. I've taken to walking in place in the kitchen while making dinner, but I think it only serves to make me look ridiculous; I'm not sure the pedometer even "sees" those steps. le sigh.

Anyway, here's the breakdown for the week:

Day / Miles / Steps
Sunday / 8.57-bike / no ped yet
Monday / 3.02-walk / 9485
Tuesday / 0.00 / 3117
Wednesday / 7.19-walk / 17,890
Thursday / 0.0 / 3445
Friday / 3.47-walk / 8562
Saturday / 0.0 / forgot to wear the ped
TOTALS: 22.25 miles / 42,499 steps

I have no idea where that puts me for the month, because I forgot to look at my old post and I've been too lazy to write it down in my planner, where it really should go. It would save me a lot of time at the end/beginning of the week when I'm doing these recaps. There is a lot of button pushing and scrolling through workouts to get to the numbers. So perhaps I'll get on that.

The 'rents are coming in on Wednesday for a week's visit, weather allowing. Supposedly some big ice storm is set to hit their neck of the woods, just in time to make driving 2 hours to the airport a real fiasco. Here's hoping the weatherman is wrong this time too. All this is to say that, assuming my folks make their flight, chances are high that I *won't* be posting much this week.

That's funny. It implies that in other circumstances I might post 5 times a day or some such. lol.

You get my meaning. So that promised excursion to the summer of '08 will likely wait a little longer. But here are a couple photos from a hiking trip I took way back then (to Woods Canyon Lake), just to keep you interested:
It was so amazingly beautiful up there. Green. And green. With wind and water and vegetation that was green. /sigh

Giddy

2009-01-20T21:44:00.002-06:00

I am thankful that I have a job that allowed me to watch streaming video of Today's Events. I was able to successfully complete my assigned tasks, but I will admit that there were a lot of breaks taken to oogle the massive display of hope and excitement and pride playing out on my computer screen.

I was stunned at the numbers of people who showed up for the event, and even more blown away by the amount of preparation that went into providing for them--the miles of chairs, 20 or so giant screens(I'm totally guessing here) that allowed the folks over a half mile away to see what was happening at the podium, the warming stations, the blankets that were handed out, the security, the transporation...it was mind blowing.

I was awed by the enormity of the occasion itself. The formality of it all really made me proud. We, as Americans, don't have a lot of real "culture" to call our own--it's all a mishmash of the immigrant communities that make us These United States--but oh, the ceremony of the day! The motorcades and the banners and flags, the military personnel stationed at every gateway and portal. . . And the millions of people clamoring for the tiniest view of the new president--the joy and hope on the faces as the cameras panned the crowd... It really felt like America.

I am not naive enough to think that things are going to change overnight. I am, however, giddy with the thought that we have finally come together as a country and spoken out about some changes that we'd *like* to see--that we *need* to see. I believe that we have chosen the administration to bring about some of those changes. It's not going to be painless, and in fact it's probably going to get worse before it gets better, but I believe that it will happen.

Yes, It Can.

A note on mileages

2009-01-18T21:36:00.002-06:00

So I slacked off a bit last week, and I'm going to call it the fault of my allergies, which started kicking my BUTT on Sunday. I simply could not drag my sorry self out of bed early enough to get any exercise in for the next three days.

However, I did really well the previous week, and I've gotten this week off to a good start, so I'm not calling my Resolution a bust.

Here's what I have so far:
Week ending / Miles:
Jan 3 / 8.29(w)
Jan 10 / 6.71(w) 20.13(b)
Jan 17 / 8.63
Jan 24 / 8.57(b)

TOTAL: 52.33

Which means I've averaged 2.9 miles a day--barely over my goal, but beating it nonetheless. I'm feeling manky again today after my ride this morning, but I've managed to get some allergy meds down my gullet, so hopefully I'll get some decent sleep and be up and at 'em in the morning.

Oh, and the pedometer I ordered after Christmas has finally come in, so I'm going to play with that this week and see if I even get close to the magical 10,000 step mark.

Later this week: More on the joys of Wii Fit and my sundry hikes during my Summer of Freedom and Gloom 08. Woo.

I'd better get this done. . .

2009-01-14T21:44:00.004-06:00

Before another day goes by and I'm a full week without posting. Oh. The Horror.

So yeah, in real life, I rode my bike Saturday morning. TWENTY MILES. /flex

To be honest, I was not planning this. If someone had said to me before hand "we're going to ride about 2o miles today", I would have laughed nervously and suddenly remembered that I had a broken leg, or that I had to give birth later in the day and couldn't possibly work a ride that long into my schedule. As it was, we intended to ride about 10-12 miles....and just kept going.

It was a ride I joined via Meetup.com, so I didn't know the people (turned out a couple people bailed so it was just me and one other gal) I was riding with, and I was barely familiar with where we'd be riding (along the canals in Scottsdale, which was an enabler to the length of the ride--they are very fast and easy riding). As it turned out, though, the ride leader and I got along just fine, and ended up riding well past where we thought we'd end up. We also stopped at a groovy little farmers' market along the way and sampled some of Sam The Chocolate Guy's goods (mayan chocolate--yum!).

Unfortunately, I presumed that since I had ridden 20 miles that morning on my bike, I could eat anything I wanted in whatever quantity I deemed desireable. This turned out to be not such a good idea, as by Sunday morning I had not only gained back any previously lost poundage (truth be known, I'm chalking it up to muscle gain!! that's my story, and I'm stickin to it!), but also felt quite sick.

I really need to start jumping on the Wii Fit every morning again. There is nothing like a sweet little electronic voice "tsk tsking" at you to shore up your willpower against naughty things like cookies and sweet sweet coffee drinks.

At this point, though, I've gained back nearly all the weight I lost last summer, and I am loathe to climb aboard and watch the graph line shoot through the top of the telly. And I really don't think I can bear to hear the disappointment in my Wii trainer's voice. So the plan is to lose a bit more on my own before I go back to the balance board. I might just have to suck it up though, because if last Saturday was any indication, I'm pretty full of fail on the whole "do it yourself" mode of fitness.

Besides, I better get serious if I'm going to spend 6 months on an Australian island. (hahaha, I know the link is broken--I don't think they really anticipated the response. Fairly naive, I feel, if you're advertising to pay someone $100k to spend 6 months vacationing and blogging about their experiences.)

Link-o-Licious!
<3

Hump Day!

2009-01-07T20:18:00.002-06:00

Whenever I hear that phrase, I actually envision the week as a giant surly camel, with Wednesday teetering precariously on its hump (it's always a dromedary, because Wednesday is so big that it would simply sit across the humps of a bactrian camel. . . the single hump is key). True story.

Not only is it Wednesday, but it's also the 7th of January. Date-wise, we're a week into the New Year. Here are my totals so far:

8.34 miles last week
6.85 miles so far this week

Which makes for a grand total of 15.19 miles over the course of 7 days. Just over 2 miles a day; it appears that I'm barely ekeing by! Thing is, I've been doing a fair amount of non-linear exercising as well--I just don't know how to translate that into mileage.

Anyway.

Quickly, very quickly, as my computer cutoff for the evening is about to strike, let me jump back a month or so ago when I was telling stories of a trip to the Midwest.

You'll recall that I first hit the Casa De Parentals, and then zoomed up to KC to visit My Best Friend in the Whole World Even England. I was supposed to have left for home after visiting with her and her family for a few days, but I was compelled to go back and spend some more time in the boonies with no cable and intermittent DSL. So I called Southwest and switched my flight to a week later (hey, I was unemployed--what I lacked in money I more than made up for in Free Time), and back to the 'rents' I went.

I knitted some more, probably worked in the yard some more, surely played a lot of solitaire on the computer because there is only so much network television I can take (Honestly, I don't know how they do it. I'm SO showing them the glory of Hulu when they come visit!). It was a lovely lovely time, but eventually I had to come back to the reality of unemployment in Phoenix.

Fortunately, I had in my pocket a gift--or rather the promise of a gift. A gift that would distract me, entertain me, and enable me to get some exercise during the Months in Which I Do Not Leave The House. I had in my pocket a Wii Fit (well not *really*...more like a gift card...a LOT like a check in my name so that I could pick it up when I got back to Phoenix. Happy Birthday!).

Arbitrary Restart

2009-01-03T20:05:00.002-06:00

I'm a bit dubious of New Year's Resolutions. It's a great tradition and all, but it seems a bit callow to make a bunch of 180 degree turns in your personality and mannerisms just because of specific date on a calendar.

That said, I always make a couple. I guess I'm hopeful that some strange twist of fate or alignment of the stars will actually enable me to make things stick this time around--to help me make the changes that I'm apparently incapable of making on my own at any point in the year.

I like to leave my New Year's Resolutions kind of loose, so if I fail, it will be harder to pin it down as an absolute miss of the mark. I don't like to Resolve to lose 15 lbs. I prefer to say that I'll get in better shape. Nor will I say "I will no longer eat candy and consistently od on sugars." Rather, I say "I'll eat more healthfully."

This year I abandoned that tack, for the most part. I have made the obligatory promises to treat my body better--to exercise more and eat more veggies and whatnot--I would feel that I was letting down the Gods of Tradition if I left those out. But I have also made the following, quantitative, resolutions:

I will log, whether on foot or on bike (or swimming if it comes up), 60 miles a month. Sounds like a lot, but it's a paltry amount, really--and sadly more than I've managed to accumulate in recent memory. And I'm not talking about the distant that might be racked up in my numerous trips to see if anything nommable has suddenly appeared in the fridge. I'm talking about purposeful travel. Walking the dogs, hiking, going for a bike ride. Actual exercise.

I also originally thought that I might resolve to write three times a week here. But that seems, really, to be setting myself (and you?) up for disappointment. Once a week seems a better goal, given my propensity for getting wildly distracted and then overwhelmed with my own thoughts to the point of speechlessness.

Yes. Two *real* resolutions. I think it's about all I can handle. And so far I've done fairly well with them. I've logged 11.5 miles this year so far (so I can sit on my butt for a couple now??), and have written twice in three days.

And now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go play on the computer for the next 35 minutes so I can shut it down by 8pm. (It's another unspoken goal I've given myself, but I'm pretty sure it won't last, so I'm not going to mention it now.) Getting a full night of sleep has proven quite satisfying to me for the past couple nights, although I'm not sure what the dogs or the man make of me waking up before 6am on my own.

Today

2009-01-01T18:16:00.004-06:00

Today is the first day of the rest of this year. Profundity at its best, ladies and gents.

I had big plans for a big blowout of a post, to bring attention to the fact that I have resolved--yet again--to do better at this. To write more. To post more photos.

But the fact of the matter is, after a beautiful hike this morning at Pinnacle Peak Park:
I am pooped and have a whopping headache to boot. (yes, that's a house nestled at the foot of that mountain that I just hiked over. must suck for those people to have to live out here in the middle of a beautiful nature area, with all those trails out their back door. I feel sorry for them.)

So. Welcome to 2009. Welcome to my blog. When I shake this headache and get some rest, I'll be back!

Apologies!

2008-12-07T21:49:00.004-06:00

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...

2008-12-03T22:34:00.002-06:00

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

2008-12-01T20:20:00.005-06:00

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!

2008-11-30T18:41:00.005-06:00

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.

2008-11-29T09:36:00.011-06:00

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. . .

2008-11-28T00:22:00.002-06:00

...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

2008-04-25T12:36:00.006-05:00

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

2008-04-24T11:56:00.002-05:00

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

2008-04-22T10:49:00.003-05:00

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

2008-04-19T12:16:00.003-05:00

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. . .

2008-04-15T14:47:00.003-05:00

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

2008-04-13T22:28:00.003-05:00

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

2008-04-06T14:19:00.004-05:00

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!

2008-04-01T19:14:00.002-05:00

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

2008-03-31T11:32:00.004-05:00

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?

2008-03-27T16:29:00.002-05:00

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

2008-02-12T13:33:00.000-06:00

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

2008-02-12T10:25:00.001-06:00

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

2008-02-06T12:32:00.000-06:00

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. . .

2008-02-04T13:16:00.001-06:00

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. :(

2008-02-03T23:57:00.000-06:00

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!!

2008-02-03T17:43:00.000-06:00

The Eyes Have It!

2008-02-02T13:52:00.000-06:00

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!

2008-02-01T11:11:00.000-06:00

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!

2008-01-30T22:40:00.001-06:00

Just. Wow.

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

:D

Album Cover Game

2008-01-28T17:43:00.000-06:00

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

2008-01-27T22:10:00.000-06:00

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

2008-01-25T11:07:00.000-06:00

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...

2008-01-24T13:28:00.000-06:00

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

2008-01-19T11:16:00.000-06:00

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!

2008-01-16T22:01:00.000-06:00

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!

2008-01-14T17:01:00.000-06:00

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

2008-01-12T10:34:00.000-06:00

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.

2008-01-09T21:41:00.000-06:00

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....

2008-01-07T10:16:00.000-06:00

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

2008-01-05T13:17:00.000-06:00

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

Expounding

2007-12-16T14:21:00.000-06:00

So yeah. Yesterday I drove down to Fort Huachuca to visit our friend T, who was taking some classes. This was his last weekend in our neck of the woods (he and his wife live in San Antonio).

We'd been talking for months about visiting Tombstone and doing some hiking in the area, but the weather has been (relatively speaking, of course) remarkably bad here for the past couple weekends. Rain or shine, we decided, this weekend we'd do it. R stayed home to do Christmas stuff sans me--it was his only opportunity, since I'm here *all* the time!

Tombstone was kind of a bust. I don't know if we were missing the good stuff--maybe it's further off the beaten path--but it just seemed like an out-of-control kitsch market. There were historical markers and information, but they seemed few and far between. And completely overrun by the cheese. Perhaps I should have done more research. We walked around for a bit, saw a silly gunfight show, got handed eleventybillion flyers, and hightailed it back to Sierra Vista.

The photo in the previous post is from our trip up Carr Canyon. We drove a goodly portion of the way, until it became too icy. Yes. Icy! There was a bit of snow, and the air was thin and so so cold--it was wonderful. You see I broke out the stocking cap hat for the first time in over 3 years. I also got to break out the cozy wool socks and my underarmour. It was a great day. There are some actual trails up this mountain, so if T makes it back for another round of classes, I think we'll try those. But for the first excursion, the scenic road was really spectacular and a good appetizer!

Here are a couple more shots from the day--check out the Flikr badge to the left there if you want to see more.

Snow! OMG! Water! OMG!

2007-12-15T22:36:00.001-06:00

Went for a trip today. It was much pretty. And there was snow! And A Creek!

More to come....

<3

2007-12-01T12:54:00.000-06:00

December First. The Holiday Season is half over! We've survived Halloween and Thanksgiving, and have Christmas and New Years to weather yet. I can't tell you how thrilled I am to not be working retail during this time of year. My stress levels have plummeted, although I do miss seeing all the fun new stuff and having extra money to spend.

Haven't gotten out with either of the meetup groups lately, although our family did go to Sedona on Black Friday for a Pink Jeep Outing. (See the flickr badge on the left there for new photos.) It was my brilliant idea to take mom and dad up to Sedona the day after Thanksgiving and avoid the hordes of people out shopping here in Phoenix. It was a great plan, in theory. Unfortunately, aproximately 90% of Phoenecians had the same idea. The main street where the tour met up was packed with shoppers and tourists--we had to park blocks and blocks away. And it was COLD! Hats and gloves weather. And hot chocolate. It really was an amazing trip, though; I wish we could have spent more time *in* Sedona, but we were all frozen to the core by the time we got back from the Tour. It was all we could do to haul ourselves to a soup and sandwich shop before hightailing it back to the warmth of the car heaters.

The folks got here on Tuesday before Thanksgiving and left the Tuesday afterwards, and I mean it when I say it was too short of a trip. I'm not sure why, but it seemed to pass very quickly and I wish they'd have stayed longer.

We had another houseguest over the weekend as well, a friend of ours who is in the military and is temporarily stationed down by Tucson for some classes. Now that he and my folks are gone, and R is back to work it's very very quiet in the house. I spend a lot of time talking to the dogs, and the oblige me by responding in whines and wookie noises. It's not the same as human interaction though, so I may just have to spend some more time (window) shopping over the next few weeks, just to get my human interaction fix.

And OH! Look:
I just took this photo out of the loft window here at the house!

It rained yesterday for no less than 7 hours--practically non-stop! It was glorious. It was all dark clouds and gloom and flooding in the streets, and although we are supposed to have showers all day today, the wall of blackness is breaking up, and we're getting wonderfully fluffy cumulus clouds. I'm not sure if I've ever seen these here before. It is still raining off and on, which is just fine with us. We rarely get to experience *weather* here, so it's a nice change. Break out the hot cocoa and chili--this is about as winter as it gets!

Wherein I Demonstrate My Skills Of Poing, and the Rewards Therein:

2007-11-19T12:56:00.001-06:00

These are the mysterious keys I found as a result of washing a shower curtain this morning.

Bear with me, this is a twisty ride. . . .

My parents are coming to town tomorrow for Turkey Day and other Festivities, so of course I have cleaning to do. I was working in the kitchen when R left for work, so I left my sink-scrubbin' for a moment to run upstairs and grab the shower curtain from the extra bathroom (we're on an energy-saving(s) plan that gives us a discount if we focus our energy consumption between 9pm and 9am, so I needed to get the washer goin).

Our washer and dryer are in the garage, and when I went out to put the curtain in the wash, I saw that the garage door wasn't closed (note to self: tell R his garage door clicker is out of whack). "Well" I though cleverly to myself, "Since the garage door is already open, I should move my car to the center of the garage so I can access it more easily when I clean it out later." I'm ever so efficient, you know, not wanting to have to open the garage door twice when once would do.

I moved the car, and realised that with all the crap in the garage I would not be able to pull up far enough to A) close the garage door and B) get *around* the car to clean it. "Hm. Well, why not just clean it out right now, while the garage door is open?" So I did. I really only needed to clean the trash out of it and give it a vacuum, but after I moved it I saw that the wee bit of armor all I'd wiped down some surfaces with yesterday had really made a difference. Enough of a difference that I figured I needed to finish the job to even it out. And as I did that I noticed that the windows were mighty ooky, what with all the doggie nose prints and stuff.

After the exterior of the car was nice and shiny and spot free, I tackled the inside. This is where the keys come in. I should preface this by saying that I have given my car what I thought was a good thorough cleaning before. And that I was told by the crappy crappy place from which I bought it (that should tell you something right there) that it had been fully detailed. I was vacuuming under the front seat when I spied something shiny (pause for giggles). I reached in and grabbed a key...which was attached to this keychain.

I've never owned a Toyota, and neither has R. We don't know anyone who owns a Toyota. Therefore, these mystery keys must have been lurking under the seat of my car for *at least THREE years*. How wierd is that? Someone can't ride his/her bike because I have the key to their Kryptonite lock. Looks to be a house key or two on there as well.

I know I should throw them away because we'll never find the owner, but...keys! I can't throw away keys. Can anyone? Everyone I've ever known has had that strange collection of orphaned keys. You're not sure where they came from, or what they go to, but we hang onto them, just in case.

Because you *never* know when I'll randomly meet someone who will tell me a funny story about how they used to love cycling until they lost their bike lock key and had to give it up because, well, Kryptonite!

So anyway. It's 12:20 and I've thus far cleaned part of the kitchen--including the sink, part of which I had to *re-scrub* because the residue from the clean had dried out and gotten crusty!--and unearthed oddities in my car. Oh, and I washed the shower curtain. There's so much more to do, and away I go!

Po-Ta-Toes!

2007-11-16T20:58:00.001-06:00

If you have dogs, you will find this as hysterically funny as I did. If you don't have dogs, you are SO missing out. Because this? This is EXACTLY what it's like.

For Your Consideration

2007-11-15T22:32:00.000-06:00

with love,
A Happy Dork in the Periwinkle

If...

2007-11-13T18:48:00.000-06:00

...I ever make it to my dream destination of the British Isles, I'm *SO* using The Landmark Trust.

Making Good Use of My Newly Emancipated Weekends

2007-11-10T15:16:00.000-06:00

I joined a couple meetup groups here in Phoenix, thinking that finally I'd be able to get out and meet people. Whaddya know?? It works! Went on a really beautiful hike this morning with a bunch of total strangers and it turned out to be a lot of fun.

Here is some cholla. It's evil. Don't ever ever ever touch this plant. It will bite and then cling forever to you.
Not that I know from experience or anything. . .

These little guys are apparently Barrel Cactus --NOT BABY SAGUARO. There was a sign that stated as much, but it had exclamation points and everything. They are kinda cute tho, what with the squattiness and the growing out of any nook or cranny. Plus, they're red. Within a sea of brown and more brown, with some brownish green accents, red is a nice lil punch of colour.

This was probably about the halfway point of the hike (which we were told was going to be about 4 miles, but I'm pretty sure was longer; next time I'm hookin the Forerunner up to my camelbak). See the two highest peaks? Just below them is a bit of a ridgeline. We hiked up and over there, and in the next shot you'll see the view looking down to the spot from which this photo was taken.

So. Right about in the center of the photo you can kind of sort of see a bare flat spot? Can't you? That's where the previous photo was taken, and here we are looking down. It's hard to believe that there is all this "wild" land in the middle of Phoenix, but it is. Off to the left of the photo you can see the rows and rows and streets and streets of homes. It's much the same to the south of this preserve as well. But it is nice that so much undisturbed land has been set aside. I hope it remains so.

So it was a lovely lovely morning, and I'm so glad I went. The downside of treks like these is that at this point they completely wear me out. I was home by 1pm, but spent most of the rest of the day crashed out--lounging with the puppies, or sitting right here at the computer. That just means I need to get up and out more and work on that endurance! We'll see about that!

Wherein I Continue To Digress. . .

2007-11-09T14:29:00.000-06:00

I realise I have (seemingly, apparently) completely dropped the ball in the whole "These-Are-All-My-Past-Jobs" vein I had started. I haven't forgotten about it though, I've just, well, dropped the ball. See it bouncing? Right over there in the corner? Yep, there it is. I see it. I'll get there.

In the meantime, I thought I'd post some photos I took this morning.

This is the big wide flat trail that starts near our house and runs...a ways...through Scottsdale--that is when it's not blocked due to highway construction. I only got to ride about 7 miles this morning because of that, which is fine, because my bike is making bad scrapey scratching sounds. We'll probably get to that in the bike maintenance class I'm going to in a few weeks, but the basic class last night only covered...basically nothing. And since I hope to ride between now and December 8th, I'm either going to have to suck it up and pay someone else to fix my bike, take a wild leap and try to fix it myself (which would mean having to buy certain tools anyway, as well as taking the chance that it won't come out quite as well as the vacuum cleaner extravaganza), and/or ride R's bike or my old one.

I'm thinking a trip to the bike shop is in order. So just send some happy thoughts my way, will ya? Something like "It's nothing major and will only cost about $20 to fix."

Thanks

I've always wanted to see myself in an ad like this...

2007-11-05T13:51:00.001-06:00

Several of the zine/papers that were run in the college towns I once inhabited ran an ad section called "Missing Persons". These were ads taken out by the lovelorn; someone sees another someone at a concert or a grocery store or walking down the street or whatever...and before they can muster up the courage to say hello, the potential object of their affection is gone. *poof*

The ads are a way of saying "I totally think you're cute/hot/interesting/cool and I want to meet you for coffee/hotsex/a debate on nihlism/to boost my ego. Sorry I'm a shy idiot and let you get away the first time. Please call me."

So I guess this girl in NY really made an impression on this guy. aww...

2007-11-02T15:28:00.000-05:00

Go Here. See the big gray banner? See the lower right corner where it says "View Volleys"?

Doo Eeeet.

It's much cool. And it's distracting me from the abundantly dusty job of organizing, dusting, sorting, dusting, and cleaning and dusting the CDs downstairs. We need more Bennos! Or fewer CDs.

Ahahahahahahahahahaha!!! ROFLMAO!!!

(I blame the dust. There are gremlins in the dust. I inhale the dust, they take over my brain.)

It's a slow going day, because in addition to the cleaning thing, I'm replacing broken cases, making sure the right CDs are in the right cases (something that you wouldn't think needs to be done, but apparently there are those of us in this household that are ...*impaired*... in regards to getting our toys back home.), and trying to figure out why we have 2 identical CDs with no cases (yeah, yeah, it crossed my mind too, but this particular selection came out *after* R and I got together....), and many cases with no CDs. Our front room is clearly a mystery wrapped in an enigma, and suffocating in dust.

And these won't mean anything to anyone that hasn't lived here for the past 3 years, but here are some shots of the living room, which I finished cleaning/re-organising yesterday:

They are a bit of the blahs, because we aren't supposed to paint or hang anything on the walls, but I'm sick of white white white, so I'm going to put up some of R's very cool artwork and photos, and some art done by some of his friends. And that hideous hole behind the telly?

It's getting some schmancy velvet curtains--a la theatre.

We're tired of looking at the backs of the stereo system and the rest of the music junk.

I find it amusing that the one thing you can really make out on our shelves is the Yahtzee game. :) We have all these games around, just in case a bunch of people ever show up at the house and they aren't sufficiently amused by the dogs or our wit. Of course, the last time any of them got any play was when we lived in Oklahoma City. But we keep them around, because you just never know. And they give me something to dust. :D

Mistakes made, never learned from.

2007-11-01T12:51:00.001-05:00

Once again, I've disobeyed my own 1st rule of blogging... Never ever read other blogs before posting. It garbles up whatever was in my brain to talk about, and makes me feel as though I really have nothing to say. I mean, check out what I put myself up against:

Pioneer Woman
The Fat Cyclist
Dooce
and
Shanny

(yes I know they are in the sidebar. But how often have you clicked the links from anyone's sidebar? hm? )

The closest I get to working calves is when I have to roll one of the pups for misbehavin' (Bucket *is* nearly as big as some of those critters, I think).

I did go for a bike ride this morning but there were no single track mountains of gorgeousity involved, and I only have 2 bikes in my arsenal, unlike Fatty, who has at least 6. And I haven't lost 40 lbs (I'd settle for 10).

Ah Dooce. No one wants to see my office space. But then again, it wasn't designed by an eco-artist. It wasn't designed at all! And even if it was, I don't think I could take such pretty photos of it.

Shanny--posts regularly about her insanely happy, amazingly normal life. New house, crazy critters, game-playing hubby...things I know about and can relate to! <3 Shanny

However, the problem still remains that I was going to jot down thoughts about my past week of "sick time", and/or continue my detailed delving into works past. And now, my brain is mush.

Maybe later.

Plans Awry

2007-10-25T15:15:00.000-05:00

On this, my first full day off work, I had planned to completely clean out the kitchen. It is now just after 1pm, and I have successfully done the last two shelves in the pantry (so I fibbed a bit last night--they were an afterthought, really), the cabinets above the fridge, and the fridge itself.

There are a couple of factors here that are hampering my progress, the first one being that things were a little messier, dirtier, clutteredier (!!) than I had anticipated. The second, and more problematic problem, is that I'm a bit, um, obsessive compulsive on the rare occasions that I *do* clean. My old toothbrush has already been donated to the fight against the grime that collects in every nook and cranny. I took everything. EVERYTHING. out of the fridge, checked dates, reorganized, *CLEANED OFF THE BOTTLES/BAGS/BAGGIES/ETC*, and tossed out the stuff that we should have consumed up to a year ago. Everything came off the front of the fridge as well. The top and sides of the fridge are sparkling, and that grill on the front--down on the bottom there? As clean as it's going to get.

I've done two loads of dishes, and handwashed the meat and veggie drawers that go in the fridge. I've taken out two loads of recycling (aforementioned past-their-prime bottles and such, primarily), and have nearly filled my second trash bag. The garage sale pile has even gotten a few new goodies.

So it's been a busy morning, but I haven't gotten nearly as much done as I had hoped. The one day kitchen project will probably be at least two. But hey--I've got 7.5 more paid days off work, none of which I'd planned on. So technically? Way ahead of the game!

Unemployment starting.....NOW!

2007-10-24T23:49:00.000-05:00

When my phone rang yesterday afternoon, I immediately recognised the phone number from work. I assumed they had finally figured out that they had scheduled one manager from 9-5, and the next manager from 7pm-3am (we're having the floors done), and that they'd be asking me to come in for a couple hours.

Not so much.

They basically said I don't have to come back, effective immediately. Seems I have an overabundance of sick time available (over 100 hours) that I will lose if it's not used. And they are WAY over budget on payroll hours. These two items are fact. So, as my "reward" for having such great attendance--read: never calling in sick, and going home early 2, maybe 3 times in the 3 years I was there--they offered to pay out my sick time. I get to stay home and get paid for it and they save on payroll hours. Win Win. Right? So why was I so suspicious and upset about it?

The unspoken bit of it is that they just don't want me around, stirring up the rest of the folks during my last 9 days of work. I am going back in for one final 11-7 shift next Saturday, November 3rd--it was going to be my last day anyway, and they have *graciously* said I could come in and work that day and they'd throw me a party and whatnot. Thing is, as of today, I've only personally told 4 people that I was leaving. Two of those were the GM and AGM, and one of them was as I was walking out the door today. I feel more than a little uncomfortable at not having told anyone myself. I made a copy of the phone roster before I left today, and I'm going to start making some personal calls over the next couple of days.

I also typed up a nice little letter for the boss guys to sign, indicating the reason that I was taking the last 8 of my 9 days in sick leave--specifically that it was not my request. As well it states that I will still be eligible to receive all vacation and float hours due to me, as well as accrue the whopping 3 or so hours of vacation that I would have gotten for working. I tried to cover all my bases because, quite frankly, I don't trust them.

So, yeah. I'm effectively unemployed, barring the token shift to say my farewells. After I dropped by the store today to get my little love note signed, I went to Home Depot to get some stuff for making our lawn pretty. Project time commences! I'm going to take some before and after photos, but I'm not showing you *anything* until I see some improvement. It's a pride thing. And the yard is really gruesome right now.

The pantry though? The pantry is already cleaned out. Like mother, like daughter! :D

Onward!

2007-10-23T22:57:00.000-05:00

When I realised that it was not a good thing that the company I was working for was moving out of our sweet sweet office space and into the owner's home--not to mention the fact that he was using money *I* was bringing in by booking bands out to pay the bands *he* was bringing in (instead of paying me and my bands), I started looking for an hourly job. Sound Warehouse it was. Wow. They are still around too. You may remember that it used to be a chain, but in a big hooray for the little indie stores, when the chain started to implode, Rudy and Holly bought out the place and made it their own. Or something like that. The fact that they are still around makes me happy.

When I worked there, it was a combination video/record store. Yes, records. Vinyl. Cassettes. Old school, baby. I discovered Akira Kurosawa there, and named my (best friend's and my, that is) first-outside-the-safety-of-my-parent's-home dog after him. My Akira ate a bottle of blue paint and lived to tell the tale, but that's another story for another time.

I worked with a guy named Kevin Blakely (he played bass for Punkinhead)--the first black guy I'd ever really spent time around. His buddies used to come in and they would start chatting in this unbelievably incomprehensible way; it was utterly fascinating. I was too naive not to express my curiousity, and thankfully he was too well brought up to make fun of me or take offense about it. Thus I learned my second foreign language. The only thing I really remember is "Aight den". Which, of course, means "All right then".

I got a lot of free cd's and a lot more free passes to this or that live show. Mike Watt of Firehose showed up on my doorstep one morning after a show. He'd lost a filling or a cap or something during the show, wasn't going to be able to get to a dentist for some time, and I happened to have had a prescription for Tylenol w/ codeine (I'd recently had my wisdom teeth out and couldn't stand to take the stuff). Sleuth that he is, he got my address off the bottle, and showed up for breakfast the next morning.

And this one time, I got a boot to the head at an Agnostic Front show. Damn crowd surfers (thanks Shanny, for the proofreading!)

The job itself? I don't remember a whole lot about it, except for the part where we used to have to handwrite all the receipts. I used to be able to tell which album and which record label was represented just from the barcode. No joke.

Stay tuned for tales of how I moved on from my life in the music biz. . .

It'sThe Little Things: Witness

2007-10-23T15:58:00.000-05:00

I just took this photo after the FOURTH time vacuuming the first floor of the house(the first two were sans belt). I'm shocked and a little embarassed at how filthy the carpet was/is. But I've got the new belt on, and a spare waiting in the wings. I'm ready for it!!

Sent from my iPhone

Vacuum Cleaning and Diagnostics

2007-10-22T17:52:00.000-05:00

Add that to my list of jobs?

Well, unofficially. Probably more of a hobby than anything, I suppose. I was wondering today why a simple stray string wasn't playing along with the whole vacuum-suction thing. So I upended the machine and took a screwdriver to it. Turns out that odd sweet smell I've been noticing for...oh, let's just say a rather long time...was a direct result of the belt having melted and fused to the roller brush. And then disintegrating. Turns out two heads of long hair are mightier than the Eureka Power Vroom or whatever the hell it's called. I think I pulled enough hair off of the roller mechanism to donate to Locks Of Love if I'd washed and combed it out. So we're in the market for a new belt in the short term...but high on the wish list is a whole new machine. I did feel rather...crafty...for having dived in and taken the thing apart. Would that I'd have done it months and months ago. Word to the wise: if you have long hair or other sorts of windy (wine-dy) stuff on your floors, clean your vacuum from time to time. I am available in the Phoenix markets if you need such a service performed.

What's that you say? How can I digress so boldly when I've neglected the completion of my epic saga of past employment. A-Ha! It was a lead in, don't you see?

So yeah. Jobs after college.

Booking agent for Rock Solid Entertainment and Supersports. I had a lot of nerve when I got out of college. When I moved to Fayetteville, I started calling around to all of the hot clubs in town and asking for jobs. Amazingly enough, Chris King of JR's Lightbulb Club knew of a guy who needed some help booking bands and events. I gave Beau Whalen a call, and he gave me my first job in the real world, although you could hardly call it that.

I was fresh out of college, sharing an apartment (and soon after, a house) with my best friend, booking the hottest bands in NW Arkansas. Don't laugh. There was a pretty hip music scene in Fayetteville back in the day (still is, for all I know). I worked with Punkinhead (omg, they're still around! amazing!) The Faith Healers, Gypsy, Cosmic Giggle Factory--several others whose names escape me. I worked part time, at best, rolling out of bed late in the morning, working from no earlier than 11am--usually going in after 1pm (the clubs we booked into weren't generally open before then, anyway) and staying only until 5 or 6 at the latest. I got paid cash commissions off the bookings, and got into free shows almost every night of the week. Oh, and we lived about 3 blocks from where I worked, so I walked every day. The primary clubs the agency booked *into* was less than a mile from where we lived, so we walked there as well. Ah, the good ole days.

Still to come: The realisation that a regular wage is better than commission only.

But first...sleep.

Working Title

2007-10-11T18:05:00.000-05:00

I did it. Last Friday I put in my notice at work. I gave them one month to replace me, given that A) it's the holiday season and they'll want to get someone in to train pretty quickly (although I've seen no movement to that effect) and B) I'll be hard to replace. :P

Of course I've been thinking about what I'm going to do next, aside from spending a couple days cleaning the HELL out of the house and perhaps hosting a garage sale to unload some of the stuff that's been boxed up for 3 years with nary a thought.

Thinking about what's next invariably gets me thinking about what's in the past, so I thought I'd share a rundown of my illustrious working history.

1. Babysitter. I don't know how old I was, but I know I was barely old enough to be left alone myself. I used to stay with my mom's friend's boy Ryan a lot. It was more like an unsupervised playdate than anything else. After Ryan there were a lot of in betweens, but the main other kids I sat with were Chris and Kyle Corbin, and the Lane boys, whose names escape me. I don't really recall ever babysitting little girls--at least on a regular basis, and I now find that odd. I always got along better with boys, anyway...

2. Video Store Clerk. I once made an error on a receipt that made it look as though we were $2,000,000 short at the end of the night. I didn't get fired!

3. Lifeguard. Yep. I worked as a lifeguard at a country club. Once, a friend of mine from school walked up to me and asked what the writing was on my hip. Turns out stretch marks don't tan well, and look like a form of writing from far away...

4. Disc Jockey. I was an unpaid DJ in college, and then one summer got a real live paying on air job at a local radio station. Power 105.9FM Northwest Arkansas' Best Music! I was the overnight weekend DJ. There are some freaky people up late at night, and they are not afraid to stalk the dj booth.

5. Baby Chicken Processor. Somehow I had in my head that this job would look good on a Peace Corps application. I debeaked and innoculated baby chickens, among other horrible, horrible things. It was godawful work, often for 16 hours a day. I saved a baby chicken from becoming chicken food once (oh how I wish I were kidding). Any "off coloured" chicks were tossed into the grinder, so I stowed a tiny black chick in my shirt pocket and took him home. He lived in a box in our front room and hung out with me on the front lawn. His name was Little Moufette.

6. College Radio Station Manager. After I was a dj for 2 years, I managed to become Station Manager. This entailed mainly making schedules, reading CMJ, and creating and booking a lot of live shows, including but not limited to: The Mongol Beach Party, Bunnies of Doom, and Sweet Baby. Ah the good old days of bands sleeping on the couches and floors of the house and getting their tour trailers stuck in the back yard. Good times, good times.

So that's the jobs up through college. Post college forays into the world of work will be for another day.

2007-10-04T20:50:00.001-05:00

This green behemoth is the last place I lived in Lawrence, Kansas. The window(s) just above the porch roof? Mine. I had a fantastic 2 br/1bath apartment, with the smallest kitchen known to man. My cookie sheets wouldn't even fit into the oven, it was so tiny. If I had owned a microwave at the time, it would have had to sit in my spare room because there was absolutely no place for it in that kitchen. Literally, I'd say it was probably about 7-10 square feet. And that's probably being generous.

But that wasn't the only quirky thing about this apartment, oh no! As you might have guessed from the exterior, it was an old house, and as we all know, things tend to sag as they get older... My apartment ran the length of the entire house, and if you stood at either end of it and put down a spherical object of any kind, it would roll to a point roughly in the middle of the apartment.

And then there was the fact that all of the utilities were included, but communal. What that means is that although I had purchased a spiffy window air conditioner a few years prior to moving in, I was not allowed to use it. That would have shifted the electric bill rather a ways up, but everyone split the bills, so no go. The house did have a/c, but it was woefully inadequate. My "scrape-the-freezer-ice" trick was put into play again, but I also cleverly parked my self in the main hallway of the house on the hottest nights. There was a vent at either end of the hallway (there was but one in my rather large room, which happened to sit over the open entryway of the house, so was bordered on three sides by hot hot air), so I hung blankets to keep the cold air in, and slept between them on the floor.

Ah, the good ole days! I lived on a brick street, the photo of which I can't show you because Blogger apparently hates me just at the moment. But I had always wanted to live on a brick street, from the very first time that I visited Lawrence (thank you thank you thank you to my good friend Kevin Waddell for moving there and inviting me up--and introducing me to the guys that sold me my very first mountain bike too, btw!), and this house gave me that dream. And let me tell you...it's no picnic, especially in the little pickup that I was driving at the time. Or on that mountain bike. But it sure was pretty.
Ah! Now it works. See? I told you it was pretty.

Ravaging Burros

2007-09-30T23:48:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, I went back to Lake Pleasant for National Public Lands Park Cleanup Day. I'm fairly certain that the wild burros were culprits behind all of the trash. They were clearly feeling surly about the fact that we were removing all the tasty styrofoam cups and Capri Sun pouches:
The day was strictly volunteer; I wasn't serving any community service for wrongdoings (despite the constant and very real urge to do bodily harm--or at the very least, curse at--the folks who frequent my place of work), and I wasn't having a guilt attack for tossing a huge pile of garbage out of my car window while driving down the highway (NEVER!). I just wanted to get outside, do something I could feel good about, and maybe meet some cool folks in the process.

So I took a floating holiday--and a lot of flak from my co-workers for having another Saturday off after having just been on vacation--and hauled myself out of bed at 5:30am in order to get to the lake by 7am. It's only a 30 minute drive, but a girl has to bathe and eat you know. I was paired with three other "singles": Krista--a girl about my age, Beverly--an older lady, and Arthur--a much older gentleman with what appeared to be Parkinson's. I only mention that because I was so amazed and impressed that he was out there climbing around and bending and lifting and shaking visibly the whole while.

Our little posse spent about 5 hours picking up junk from a day camp site and a big ravine on the side of a roadway. It truly is amazing how many Capri Sun pouches we found. As many or more of them than beer or soda bottles. True story. Another odd fact: plastic cups and lids disintegrate at a touch after sitting in the dry Arizona heat for a few weeks or months. So many times I'd reach for one of those quick stop plastic lids, only to have it break into a thousand teeny pieces at my touch. Oh the humanity! We found socks, flip flops, a couple styrofoam coolers, feminine hygiene products, lots of diapers, and tons of plastic bottle caps and plastic shopping bags, among other things.

At the end of the day, I looked like I'd stuck my left
arm into a clump of these.........................................
(which I guess, sort of, I had)
and I was more tired than I recall being in a very very long time. More tired than I was after chasing my best friend's 2 year old all over Kansas City! I actually laid down and took a nap after lunch. I never nap!

So I got out of work, got out of the house, got some scratches, and got some sun. I didn't get Krista's number, which I should have, because she seemed pretty cool. My friend Shannon would have done it, because she's outgoing that way. I need to take some more lessons from her on that front. Despite coming away without any new buddies, I had a really good exhausting day! And yes, there is water in Arizona!

The 21st Street Duplex

2007-09-29T21:21:00.000-05:00

So as I mentioned a few days ago, I lived next to a psycho in that little brick duplex. I can't even really tell you how I discovered that he was a psycho. Maybe I just knew it all along. Sometimes you can just sense these things. I could probably count the number of times that I actually saw his face on one hand, but I immediately remember beady little eyes in a balding head--a sure sign of psychosis, right?

There were the long, long, long nights of extraordinarily loud music until about 4am (at a time when I had to be at work by 6am), and conversations that I listened to through the apparently thin wall separating us. I don't think he ever had anyone over to the apartment, so I *assume* he was on the phone, but you just never know. I couldn't hear everything, but I'm pretty sure I heard the words "score" and "rocks" on more than one occasion. I'm also pretty sure he wasn't talking about sports or music.

And then there was the night that he pounded on my door at around 3:00am demanding that I fix him something to eat. It had been a night of loud loud music, and he was obviously drunk/in an altered state. And he was pounding on my door. My door that shook visibly when pounded. My door that, I'm fairly certain, was less sturdy than even foam-core--"air core" if you will. And it wasn't a friendly "Hey, got any food in there?" Oh, no. It was a mean, drunken "HEY! Get up and make me some FOOD! Come on, damnit, I'm HUNGRY!" I happened to have locked my pitiful front door that night, which is a good thing, because he actually rattled the handle a few times.

Needless to say, I did *not* make him any food. I'm not even sure I responded to him at the time, at least not directly. I may have told him to go to bed. The action I did take consisted of protecting myself. I pulled my phone into my bedroom (this was back in the dark ages of land lines) and shut and locked the door. I think I stated before that from that point on, I slept with a steak knife under my pillow, but that was a lie. I was living alone, and I don't eat beef. I owned no steak knives! Besides, I'm far too much of a klutz to sleep with something so easily dangerous so close to my head. No, I slept with a cloak pin. Because that's safer than a steak knife, right? Thanks to an exboyfriend who happened also to have been a blacksmith, I had this little dandy in my Renaissance Faire repertoire. I'll pause for a moment to let all that sink in.

Renfaire geek with blacksmith boyfriend ---------> Recovering WoW addict with interactive web designer boyfriend. My how the times change.

Anyway. I called the property management place the next day and told them what had transpired. He remained there until long after I moved out (he was, in fact, still living there when I returned to Lawrence 3 years later--my old apartment was up for rent again and I would have moved back into it in a heartbeat had it not been for his presence), but the loud music ceased to be a problem and the drunken hunger rages were never directed at me again.

Didn't stop me from sleeping with my cloak pin for a long time afterward, and I *always* remembered to lock my door from then on.

There are more, slightly less life threatening stories from that apartment. Like the time I chiseled ice from my freezer and put it in a big metal bowl between my bed and a big fan because it was 115 degrees outside and I had no A/C. For three weeks it was over 100 degrees. I used to go hang out in the library for relief. So all winter long I saved and saved and saved and bought myself a really nice programmable window A/C unit for the following summer. And it never got above 90 degrees.

Good times. Good times.

We Interrupt This Program. . .

2007-09-28T00:45:00.000-05:00

...because I've been distracted...

yeah, I've traded one video game fixation with another. It's purty. But it gives me bad dreams if I play too close to bedtime!

At least it doesn't make me want to sleep with a steak knife under my pillow like the psycho that lived next door to me in this Lawrence, Kansas duplex:

I'm off tomorrow, and after I spend most of my morning waiting for my windshield to be replaced, I'll have pretty much all day to relay the story. So you'll just have to wait.

A little. Bit. More.

Hold That Thought

2007-09-26T01:47:00.000-05:00

The second installment of musing on past housing situations will have to wait. I ended up working about an hour late tonight and I've got a nasty headache. I'm tired and cranky (yeah, I know...what's new?), so your storytime will have to wait until I'm feeling cheeky enough to do it justice.

I have great news though...I just saved a TON of money on my car insurance.

No joke. I switched to AAA; I'm going to be saving almost $600/year for the same coverage I had under Progressive. Nice.

Memory Lane

2007-09-25T02:30:00.001-05:00

One of the other things when I did while in Lawrence was visit my old apartments/houses.

This little stone dandy I shared with 3 other folks, Annika and John and a boy named Kerry. Then he moved out and was replaced by a real jerk whose name escapes me. Annika's folks owned the house. They were from Dubai and her mom told me my toe ring was inappropriate because it meant I was married. Except that I was wearing it wrong because there were supposed to be two, etc. etc. She was actually quite lovely about it, and now I have that little tidbit to dish out. I lived in the basement. Those two little tiny windows at the base of the house? That's me. There used to be a giant tree smack in the middle of the front yard. I wonder why they removed it?

Annika volunteered at a wildlife rehabilitation place, so we always had odd critters in the house--sickly squirrels, baby owls and bats, rabbits with broken legs. . . When I found an abandoned nest of Starlings, though, she told me that the rehab place wouldn't support them--apparently they are considered the cockroaches of the bird world. Or something equally disdained.

She did, however, offer to show me how to take care of them. She showed me how to use a paintbrush to feed and water them (watered down and mushed up dog food--but you really have to jam it down in there. It's. . .disturbing!!), and I took them to work with me every day for at least a week or two in order to feed them every two hours. These were baby baby birds!

When they started to fledge, we put them in a laundry basket and created a screen to place over the top of it. Eventually they got big enough that they could fly up and push the screen off of the basket, and they actually used to fly (hop/flap) around my room and return to the cage on their own. Soon after this we figured it was time to start the release process, so I'd take them out to that front porch and remove the lid from the basket. They'd hop up on the edge and have a look around, but for the first few times, they'd just as quickly hop back in. Soon enough, though, they ventured off the basket's edge and out to that now-missing tree.

For one of the babies, that was that. He (she?) never came back. Just sat in that tree and cried and cried. The other one sat for a few minutes and decided he just wasn't ready for that much of a challenge and came back to the "nest". I left the basket out for a while longer, and while he jumped up to the edge again to sit and ponder the wide world, he didn't fly off. I brought him back inside for the night and we tried again the next day. Maybe he missed his brother/sister, or maybe he'd just decided the time was right. Whatever happened in his little bird brain, he took off for that tree, sat for a few minutes, looked back at me (I swear!), and flew away.

Tomorrow: Apartment #2. . .The Psycho Next Door

gimmegimmegimmemoremoremore

2007-09-23T09:55:00.001-05:00

Memory Lane

2007-09-23T00:30:00.000-05:00

When I visit Kansas City, one of my primary destinations is always Lawrence, Kansas. I lived there off and on for 6 years or so, and it holds a lot of good memories for me. Plus, there's good eats and good shopping! While I missed visits to *both* Papa Keno's and La Familia, I did get to visit one of my very very favourite non-food places: Clinton Lake. I sent a photo/post from my iphone that day. I'm far too lazy to create a link at this moment...just scroll down a bit; it was only about 4 posts ago! I took a bunch of photos with the regular camera as well, and I love the green green green path, so I'm going to spam the rest of this post with some of those shots. Enjoy!

This is the stealthy trail. Off to the left there, going up that slight embankment. Just south of the dam, on the west side of the road.No marking on any map that I've ever seen. I couldn't even tell you how I know about it. It was very overgrown, which sort of made me happy in that sort of "it's my little secret" way...and kind of sad in that "no one else knows about this wonderful place" way.

This is actually on the way *out* of the trail--the entrance would be just 20 yards or so on the other side of that very sunny ridge. Sorry for the sunspots, but then again, I kinda like the feel of 'em.
This one, it's just a close up of the rocky top of the trail. It can be a bit challenging to get down without fallin on yer butt. And it's the primary reason I never tried to take my mountain bike on this trail. :)

Just look at all that green, will ya? it's just...mmmm.... Bit overwhelming. Sort of like trying to work all these photos into one post. Blogger is not being friendly about the entire process, so I'm going to leave it at this for now. Trust me, there will be more!

In Flight

2007-09-21T15:13:00.001-05:00

Okay, I'm not actually *in* flight, as that would be both dangerous
and against the rules. I am, however, sitting in the Dallas airport,
awaiting my boarding call. If I may fess up to a most macabre facet
of my personality, I'll just say that I always check out my flying
companions, and wonder what it would be like to be stranded on a
remote island with them. Who would the leaders be? Who would cause
trouble? Who would try to steal my remaining protein bar, and my
bottle of water???

Yes, I'm ready for the new season of Lost.

And the plane? It's now ready for me! Next stop, Phoenix!

Sent from my iPhone

It's A Dirty Job. . .

2007-09-18T15:35:00.000-05:00

I mowed *part* of the ginormous lawn at my parents' house today, and
this is what I have to show for it. Those are NOT tan lines--that, my
friends, is layer upon layer of dirt and grass and, well, hair (I
haven't shaved in... a week?). I imagine there is even a chigger or
three (thousand) in there somewhere. I was actually talking to
someone in Arizona a few weeks ago who had never heard of chiggers, if
you can believe it! Another person had heard of them, but had assumed
they were mythical critters. I wish! Before mowing, I was picking up
walnuts, and I'm certain I felt the little buggers creeping around and
munching on my ankles. Ahhh, green stuff! How easy it is to recall
your beauty, but completely forget the terrors harbored within!!

Well the upside of doing all this work is that I'll have a mighty
appetite for the all-good-things-injected smoked turkey we are having
tonight, not to mention the Mad Mad Mud Pie ice cream and homemade
cookies coming up a little later this evening!!

Current View

2007-09-17T16:34:00.000-05:00

This is my current view, off the back deck of my parents' house. I
don't get good (any?) reception out here, so this will likely get to
the Internet *after* I've entered a blog from the computer proper. . .

Best seat in the house

2007-09-14T10:21:00.000-05:00

This is the view I have right this second. I'm at Clinton Lake--one
of my favorite places in Lawrence. When I lived here, I frequently
brought my backpack, a journal, and much more hike-friendly shoes out
here for the day. The point off in the distance there is the very old
site of a very old
home. The foundation created a secluded and oddly mystic place for me
to sit and read or write for hours. There is always a good wind off
the lake, and the constant lapping of the water is so soothing-- even
mixed with the cacophony(sp?) of all the seabirds that have somehow
found their way here.
My best friend was good enough to lend me her car for the half day she
is at work, so I made my "all the places I've previously lived" tour
and came right out here. If I have time when I've gotten my fill
here, I'll hit Mass street, but for now I'm really content with the
sounds of the lake.

Mini Calzone Maker

2007-09-13T23:07:00.000-05:00

When she told me that we were having mini calzones for dinner, I
assumed she meant that she had a mini calzone maker... This was not
what I had in mind.

Back east

2007-09-12T22:48:00.000-05:00

I made a comment to a couple from Louisiana the other day that they
were from "back east", which they did not find nearly as amusing as I
did...but I still maintain that, relative to phoenix, it is indeed
east--and since I grew up in the general region, I can certainly
qualify that description with "back".

So now, at this very moment, I am Back East. I'm in my best friend's
guest room, thumbing out this blog entry on my phone just for the
challenge of it. We stopped on the way home from the airport for some
Taco Bueno and caught the second half of the Princess Bride. It's
already shaping up to be a great trip :D

It's nearly 11 here and everyone else is fast asleep. When in Rome...

Sent from my iPhone

'spearmintin

2007-09-12T11:06:00.000-05:00

bear with me as I attempt to figure out this mobile blogging thing. yes, that's right! it's not enough that I neglect writing from the comfort of my own home. I want to compound the guilt I feel about not keeping up with the blog by enabling myself to blog from *anywhere*! :)

the photo of Bucket was supposed to have a line of text, which I do not see, so apparently there are kinks to work out. If things look a little whacky today and in the coming week, you now know why.

2007-09-12T02:54:00.000-05:00