Through The Ringer

So yesterday I got a call from the hospital where I had my mammogram last week. They wanted to get some more views of my right breast, and when could I come in. No explanation, really, and very casual. They happened to have an appointment available this morning at 8:30am, which I immediately jumped at. If there was something going on, I wanted to know sooner rather than later.

So on a day that I didn't have to work until 2pm, I dragged my groggy ass out of bed at 6:30am. I drove down to the John C. Lincoln Breast Care Hospital and had my right boob lifted, adjusted, prodded, and smooshed three more times. The first time I'd gone in it really wasn't so bad--sadly comical more than anything--you never want to see your boob smashed flat to popping status under a bit of plexiglas. This time, they were really going for a good view, and DAMN. If you've never had a mammogram, they basically try to flatten out your boob to take an xray of it. You feel a bit like a puppet as they move not only your breast, but your entire body--hips, shoulders, arms--to get the best "sitting" of the breast on the xray plate. Then there is another flat bit of plastic--clear with black D shapes on it, apparently to indicate where the breast is supposed to fit in--that moves in to crush you against the xray plate.

Anyway. After the second set of screens were taken the nice lady that took the shots (the mammogramologist? seems too unwieldy a title) informed me that the radiologist still wanted a better look and was requesting an ultrasound. However, there was not a room available (and it was iffy at that) until around 11am. She assured me that it wasn't really anything to worry about, and sent me home with a card and a number to call in an hour's time.

So, feeling a bit brutalised and a lot concerned--despite Sharon's assurances--I headed home for a bit. When I called back, I was told that they could work my ultrasound in at 11:30am, so back I went. Not knowing how long it would last, but knowing full well about doctor's schedules, I'd already called work and told them I might be late--or absent, depending on the outcome of my visits. Good thing too, because they were finally able to work me in a little after 1pm.

The ultrasound itself was pretty cool. She turned the monitor so I could see what was coming up, and explained how the process worked, and what she was looking for. All I saw was a lot of white stripes and grey and black blobs. But she seemed to be making sense of it somehow. She took a couple of snapshots and headed off to the radiologist once again to see what he could see. I cleaned up the goo they use for the ultrasound (it's sticky and slimy all at the same time.ugh.), and sat down to wait.

Sharon came in a bit later and told me, basically, that everything is fine. I have some calcification going on that they were concerned about, but after all that mauling and whatnot they have concluded that the calcifications are benign. Normal wear and tear, I'm told. Shouldn't have to worry about another mammogram until I hit 40 (but I can pretty much tell you right now that I'm going to request another one 3 years from now, if not sooner).

I made it to work around 3:30pm, and still have not removed my wrist band from the hospital. I guess it's sort of my Badge of Courage for the day. I feel pretty exhausted, mentally and physically. I'm sore. I'm happy. There were a couple hours during the day today that I was going through all the "what-ifs". Wondering what would happen, how I would tell people--especially my family, how it would affect my life... I have always wished I'd been less blessed in the curve department, and I was pretty terrified for a bit today that I'd get my wish of a reduction. Scary stuff.

But it's all good. I'm keeping the girls for now. I'll bitch and complain that I can't find shirts that fit properly. I'll hold 'em when I go downstairs, and I'll continue to put on two sports bras when I go for a run or a bike ride. And you know what?? I'll LIKE IT!

whelmed

Not currently *over*whelmed. Just whelmed.

I was reading some of my other favourite blogs, and feeling a bit bitchy about the fact that a couple of them haven't updated in a while when I remembered that I haven't jotted anything of note here in over a week. I haven't heard any complaints, so I guess no one is missing me, but still. Far be it from me to bitch about something I'm so guilty of. So, in order that I may bitch free from guilt, here's my update.

1) got the lawnmower back from Small Engine World last week. Apparently the carborator(sp) was jacked from all the rainwater, so they replaced that and gave it a general tune up and it's as good as new to the tune of about $40. Well worth it, I'd say. It took several passes at the 18" grass to get it managable again, but the dogs will no longer have to fret at having grass tickle their butts when they try to poop.

2) after spending rather a long time in the yard yesterday doing said mowing, I ended up with a gargantuan migraine that I thought was going to render me permenently blind. It snuck up on me, and by the time I thought to take anything, it was already full swing, causing dizziness, nausea, and aforementioned blindness. Russell put me to bed around 7pm and I thrashed around for about 2 hours before finally falling asleep. I slept until about 8:30 this morning. Go figure. Less sun, more water for me.

3) I finally got the two new tubes and tires put on my bike, along with new handlebar grips--as my old ones were disintegrating at an alarming pace. I took it for a ride the other night, and so far all systems are go. Woohoo. It's even been Tolerably Warm out the last few days, instead of the usual Stiflingly Hot. When I say "warm" let me just clarify that it's only 93 degrees outside instead of 105. Russell even put the top down on the convertable yesterday on his way home. Fall is on it's way, folks!

4) I'm beside myself with joy becuase I'm going back to KC for a week in September. My best friend had a baby, as you know if you've been paying attention, and I'm going to go meet her! I'm also going to get a chance to hit up the Kansas City Renaissance Festival, do some shopping in Lawrence, KS (sigh, how I miss that place), and visit my folks in Missouri for a couple of days. I haven't taken a vacation....ever. And although this isn't very luxurious or exotic, I really can't think of anyplace I'd rather go right now.

So there you have a brief history of the past week or so. I can go bitch to my fellow bloggers now....

Read This!

I've said it before, I'll say it again. You must readDooce.

Thursday grog

I'm fuzzy today. Had diffuculty waking up this morning, and I think that was due, in large part, to the wacko dreams I had last night. There were two primaries, and they were entwined in such a way that, while I knew I was dealing with two hugely separate issues, I had to treat it as one big problem.

As most dreams go, I can't really describe what was happening--it's mostly gone at this point. One of the big themes, though, was that I was doing a triathlon and had forgotten my bike. And all of my gear. And sportsbras and socks and shoes... I finished up the swim part in fine shape, but when I got out of the water I realised I was completely screwed. This realisation was followed by much running around and scrambling for gear--including going back to my family's house in Siloam Springs, Arkansas (we haven't lived there for over 10 years!) where I discovered a broken/rotted garage door.

The other part of the dream was that this triathlon was happening as something of an aside in a big camp/getaway thing. We had been setting up camp just before the seemingly spontaneous start of the tri, and I remember seeing various couples go off to their little white tents together. And a LOT of laundry.

Anyway, when I have dreams like that--rather detailed (at least at the time) and particularly stressful--I just never feel rested upon awaking.

As a not-altogether-unrelated-aside, I got a lot done yesterday, including some yard work and taking the lawnmower to a repair shop. (Sorry, David, but I would rather let someone else take it apart and make it better--at least until I get my own air-conditioned shop with all tools at the ready and no need to clean it up at the end of the day!) I think all the sunshine and heat must've wilted my brain cells a bit, causing the restless night.

The B&S, For NoviDavid

Okay, here it is...The Lawnmower.


I will be impressed if you can tell from a few crappy photos and a description what I need to do!
I have cleaned out the fuel filter and changed the spark plug, but it appears that I'm getting no spark. The mower was left outside all of last fall, and it rained quite a bit. The fuel could be contaminated, but the lack of spark is--I think--the primary issue. I'm a bit wary to take it apart myself, although I have found some nice online instruction on DIY mower maintenance.
What's your verdict, Mister Fixit? :D

Farewell, Crowley

Crowley is free. After a week of wondering if he would ever eat, whether his cage was the right temperature, etc. etc., we decided to return him to the "wild". He was released a few days ago under a big bush in the front yard. Shortly thereafter it stormed madly for 1/2 hour or so, blowing up dust and torrentially raining for about 5 minutes. I hope he's okay. We just figured he'd be better off out there where he belongs--we can always get a captive born snake that is past the fiddly bit of having the first meal/first shedding... Miss him, though.

Hold for Heat

Seems like everything in my world is on hold due to the heat.

I need to do some yard work: It's too hot to work outside.

I need to change the tire on my mountain bike: It's too hot to work in the garage, and besides, if I'm not riding at 3am, it's too hot to ride.

I need to clean out the spare room and bring some things in from storage: The boxes need to be broken down for recycling, which involves going outside where it is--you know the story--too hot.

I have done the ironing and hooked my speakers up to my stereo finally. I called the AZ Herpetological Society and not gotten much helpful information about Caring for Crowley. I called the lawmmower repair shop down the street and was told it's about a $20 charge to walk in the door and have them look at the machine, and $54/hour for repairs. The exorbitantly expensive lawn care guy I "interviewed" last week suggested another place a ways from here, but they only charge $16/hour labour and he claims they do good work. Convenience, or far less expense? The lady at the shop I called today suggested that I check a particular cable, so I'll start there...but you know what? It's just too damn hot to mess with right now!

as requested

This is our little wee one, aka Crowley.

This photo was taken about 10 minutes ago, when I finally turned off his light and he decided to make an appearance. I think he's about 7" or 8" long, and his head is about as big as my pinky fingernail. He hasn't eaten his crickets yet, but I put some actual water in his bowl this morning (in lieu of the gel stuff), and he drank and drank. It was *very* cool to watch. I'm thinking we may have to take the crickets out and put fresh ones in--after we cut them down to size a bit. Apparently these little guys can take up to one and a half times their girth in food size, but even so these crickets might be too big.

It's late and I have to work in the morning, so enjoy the snake...oh, and this precious photo of Bucket. It's one I like to call "Barfight!"


Precious, ain't he?

New Addition!

No, not *the* child band of the 80s. Not construction on our home. A new mouth to feed!
I came home laaaate the other night (it's a long story involving a trip to the store, leaving my purse, and stopping for fuel sans money) and found a tiny little baby version of a Night Snake--larger version seen here--


in the garage just by the back door. He's sooo tiny--his eyes aren't even open, and we're not entirely sure what to feed him at this point, but he's curled up cozily in his rock pile in the terrarium I picked up yesterday. I'm headed to the petstore in a bit to pick up some itty bitty worms or insects for him. Apparently hatchlings don't normally eat until after the first shedding, but we have no idea if he as or not. I think not--he's too little. He will grow to be about 18-24" long, and is non-poisonous to humans (his saliva is apparently bad news for lizards and smaller amphibians).

I'm thinking of calling the Arizona Herpetological Society to see if they have any suggestions about feeding, but there is a plumber in the garage at the moment, and I can only be available to so many people at one time!

2 Things

I will never understand:

1) Why people let their dogs run off leash. It is dangerous to the dogs, it is dangerous to other critters, and it is dangerous to other people. Mostly is it dangerous to the dogs. And did I mention that it was dangerous to the dogs? This morning while walking Bucket, we ran into not one, but two dogs that were running off leash. Of course one of them ran up to Bucket and got in his face, and of course he freaked out and started acting like an overexcited heathen. With two hands on the leash and a prong collar around his neck I had a difficult time pulling him away. Psycho hounds notwithstanding, what if the unleashed dogs spotted a rabbit or lizard (this place is lousy with both) and ran out in front of a car? What if they cornered a scorpion or snake? It boggles my mind why people allow their dogs to run loose.

2) Why are all genius rock gods tiny little men? Prince. Ben Folds. Beck.
I rest my case. But why?

Gah!

TAG!!!

I got tagged by Shannon.

What was I doing 10 years ago:
I was 25 years old, living in Lawrence, Kansas and I had a colouring book page of a baby chicken up on my front door that said "I am a chick." My next door neighbour used to wake me up at 3:30am by beating on my front door and demanding that I make him a sandwich. I slept with a kilt pin under my pillow, because it was the closest thing I had to a weapon. I worked at an indie record store and went to free concerts all the time, and was up to my eyeballs in cool new music.
5 years ago:
I had just moved back to Lawrence from Omaha, where I'd lived for about three years with my then honey. I was working at Science City at Union Station, where I stage managed an amazing Jazz Show called "After Hours" starring the McFadden Brothers.
1 year ago:
I was trying to sell our new house in Oklahoma City so that I could move to Arizona to be with Russell.
Yesterday:
I worked at the store and then came home and played World of Warcraft until bedtime.

Snacks I enjoy:
1.anything chocolate
2.wasabi peas
3.ginger chews
4.cheese (mmm, cheese...good call, Shanny)
5.more chocolate

5 songs I know all the words to:
1.Fuck You--Ani Difranco (
2.Any David Garza tune
3.Kilkelly Ireland
....oh, who am I kidding, I have an uncanny way of learning the words to just about any tunes I'm currently listening to. Now, whether or not those are the *correct* words is another question entirely.

5 Things I would do with a $100 million:
1.pay off all our bills
2.buy two new mt. bikes, a road bike, and a tri-bike
3.invest well
4.take a trip to the British Isles
5.buy a pony

5 Locations I would like to run away to:
1.UK
2.New Zealand
3.someplace with lots of green and not a lot of heat
4.Kansas City to visit Kimbra and her new baby
5.Africa

5 Bad habits I have:
1.picking at scars
2.thinking, planning, or playing WoW every moment of the day
3.eating far too much refined sugar
4.knowing it all
5.using "..." waaaay too much (me too, Shanny, me too!)

5 Things I like doing:
1.mt. biking (although I don't do it nearly enough these days)
2.being outdoorsy
3.learning new stuff (how do you think I became such a know it all?)
4.making lists and crossing things off them
5.playin' with the hounds

5 TV shows I like:
err...I don't really watch much tv as I'm nearly always on the 'puter, but I *used* to love these shows (most are now off the air)
1.Keen Eddie
2.John Doe
3.Firefly (soon to be a movie! Woot!)
4.Scrubs
5.anything--and I mean anything--on HGTV, TLC, Discovery, or BBCA

5 Biggest joys of the moment:
1.Russell cleaned the HELL out of the house because we are possibly being inspected in the next few days/week, and it looks AMAZING!
2.I don't have to work tomorrow, so we have the day off together.
3.there is ice cream waiting for me downstairs
4.it's chocolate ice cream
5.Russell and I are going to eat that ice cream and curl up and watch a movie tonight...a date!

5 Favorite toys:
1.Bucket
2.Delilah
3.Russell
4.this computer
5.my outdoorsy girl stuff

5 next victims:
I will not inflict this on anyone else! PFFFFTTTT!

Reality Check

I've been hearing about this on the news, but like every other story, it seems to be somehow separate from my life. The Cave Creek Complex fire has so far burned almost 200,000 acres of desert, and is the second largest wildfire in Arizona history. "Cave Creek Complex" rings a bell, as our neighbourhood is just off of Cave Creek road, but however many times you hear about something like this, it just never seems real. The fire is only 20% contained, so there is much to be concerned about, and I've heard that one of the largest Saguaro cacti in existence has suffered the fire and will probably not survive. Still, like stories of the war in Iraq or refugees in Africa, it seemed like just that--a story. Something that happens to other people.

Last night, as I drove home from work, I could see something that looked very like this photo. I approached the turnoff into our neighbourhood and saw the huge orange glow in the distance. It immediately scared the hell out of me and piqued my curiousity. I got on the phone to call Russell and tell him that I had to drive closer--to see what I could see. I chase storms and tornados too. There is something in my psychology that begs me to get close and learn as much as possible about things that terrify me.
One of the many reasons I adore my honey: he didn't question me or tell me it was silly or try to talk me out of it. He knew it was something I needed to do and trusted me to be safe about it.
I drove north on Cave Creek about 11 or 12 miles, into the litte town of Carefree. I could see that the fire was still some distance away, but getting closer would have meant taking backroads that I was even less familiar with. My Xterra was already at about 1/4 tank, and I was loathe to be stranded in fire territory with no idea how to give directions to Russell, so I turned around and came home.
The fire had seemed so much closer from the intersection by our house, and I nearly broke into tears as I drove towards it. Whether it was fear of it overtaking our little neighbourhood, or just sadness at all of the destruction I do not know. However, the closer I got, the less sad and afraid I was. I found myself wanting to do something to help, and feeling frustrated at knowing there was little--if anything--I could do. I'm going to go read more about it--its origins, its path, and the efforts being made to stop it. Maybe that's enough...educating myself and empowering myself against the unknown. I hope so. If its not, perhaps in my search for information I'll find ways to help--from rebuilding trails to replanting flora, or assisting those who've lost their homes. . .

'spearmenting

er...so blogger has added photo-adding capabilities, but I'm pretending I'm a boy and not reading the directions. It will be exciting to see how--or if--this works. This photo is of my dad in his Big Orange speedboat. I believe it was taken in April of this year. He turned 77 in February. :D

I have to laugh...

...for otherwise I'd cry, as the saying goes.

I was listening to the radio this morning as I cleaned up our fantastically filthy kitchen, and the weather report said that (this is at around 9:30am, mind you) it was 95 degrees and 8% humidity. EIGHT PERCENT! No wonder all the old folks around here look like shriveled prunes. It made me want to go bathe in lotion.

That's all, really.

Mother's Day!

My very very very very Best Friend in the Entire World (Even England*) is a momma!

After about 24 hours of labour, the little one was born at O'God Thirty this morning, weighing in at a healthy 6.5lbs(ish), complete with all 20 girl-appropriate appendages, and reportedly with a head full of hair. I can't wait to see photos!

I'm getting ready for work, so I gotta blaze. Just needed to shout that out to the world!

*it's a long story--try nearly 20 years--grounded in the fact that we are both avid Anglophiles and at one point dreamed of moving to England and hooking up with members of Duran Duran. Not even *they* could be dearer to us than one another. :D

Grumpy Day!

I'm pissed off today, but it's all my fault.

A girl I work with can't close certain nights because her husband works double shifts and they have no one to take care of the kids, so could I close for her next Thursday??? Of course she asks me this as I have my hands full of baskets for a customer who is keeping me at work an HOUR longer than I should be there. I curse my parents for raising me to be too nice. I have no idea how to say "no". As in "No, I can't work for you next Thursday night because I have been closing nearly every night for the past two months and I want to spend time with my honey and mutts." As in "I'm sorry I can't help you with your GINORMOUS request for baskets as it's time for me to leave and I have plans, but let me just call someone who can work with you..."

WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH ME???

At least the lady spent $1600, and my co-worker owes me a favour. And I'll get to leave an hour early tomorrow. Well, I should say that I've been *approved* to leave an hour early tomorrow. We'll see if it actually happens.

*sigh.* just too damn nice.

11:11

The current time. Something magical about that time, although what it is I couldn't say.

So it's Sunday morning, and I'm currently in flight to Gadgetzan. Don't scratch yer heads too hard--it's a place in WoW. It's a long flight, so I'm taking the time to drop a quick note here. I already walked the dogs and cleaned up the yard as well as myself, so don't even *think* I'm pissing away my day with the game. We're actually just going to play for a bit before we run out to do some shoppin. Whee.

We watched The Village last night, and I have to say it was quite good. Twisty-turny as ever, but with some very philosophical bits that left me wishing I was still in college; we'd have had a field day with it in some of my classes. Anyway, I recommend it to you. Russell also picked up Sideways, so that's on the agenda for later today or this evening.

So, yeah....I'd better go make sure I survived the flight. ciao!

What day is it?

Oh, it's "Write ANOTHER letter to the Better Business Bureau" day! Wheeee.

I've failed to update on the Xterra Saga, as I had hoped that it was nearing completion and I could give you a happy-crappy song and dance of resolution. Alas.

Their Customer Service Manager phoned me about a week and a half ago, purportedly calling to see what they could do to make things right. As it turned out, they didn't really want to hear what I had to say--they just wanted to make an offer. I finally agreed to that offer, and threw in a bone of my own: reimburse me for the AC repairs, fix the rear leaky shocks, and reimburse me for the $100 deductible I paid to have the Exhaust Manifold fixed.

THEN she had the gall to ask me to split the charges with them, referring back to an offer I made TWO MONTHS ago when the car was originally in the shop. Ummm...lemme just think about that....HELL NO!

So she says she'll have to run it by her Service Manager and the GM of the place and will get back to me the following day. So the following day comes and goes and I hear nothing. Then Monday evening I get another email from my angel at the BBB with Bell Honda's most current update. Of course all it says is that they called me and tried to work out a deal and I declined. I have 7 days to respond or they will consider the case closed. Sheesh.

I responded, and how. I told Ms. BBB the entire story--not just the BS one that Mr. Bell Honda spouted. I'm beginning to think this will never be resolved. I wish I had money and resources to hire a lawyer, but hopefully this route will be as effective, if more drawn out. Anyway. That's what I did this morning.

Um, Shanny?

Walking out of the house right now is a little like opening the oven when you've had something baking for an hour or so--there is that gust of extraordinary heat that just envelopes you. Except with an oven you can shut the door or turn it off. This is pretty much an on-going thing. It's 10am and about 105 degrees already. Think I'm making it up?

Intellicast

AZCentra

Weather Central

The Weather Channel

I only point all this out because my dear friend Shannon, who lives in Portland and posts gorgeous photos of green wet stuff on a regular basis, recently bemoaned the coming summer heat in Oregon. What's it get up to? 85? Just kidding, Shanny--I know it gets up there, but try to remember that it could be much worse! :P

I was going to go out and run some errands today, but I think I'm going to sit around in my PJs and enjoy the a/c. I've got plenty to do around the house and I don't really need to spend the money anyway.

So.

. . .

Blogger has a drop-down box in the title field. Every time I start to type in a title for a blog, it shows me other titles I've entered that start with the same letter. It's cool in that it reminds me of some of my past posts, but annoying in that I find out how unoriginal I am. I've even used ellipses before!

So it's Monday, but I awoke this morning feeling discombobulated and wondering what day it was and when I needed to be up for work. More and more recently I've thought how nice it would be to have a regular schedule with regular hours and no more of this disjointedness. Thing is, I will likely have to settle for some mundane desk-jockey job that will eventually rot my brain and enable my already zaftig fat cells to completely take over my body. *sigh* It's a conundrum, really.

So I've been looking--somewhat halfheartedly, because I *do* like my job--at other options. Then I get into a funk again because it shouldn't be that difficult for a rather bright, educated person with an overdeveloped sense of responsibility to find gainful employ...but it is. I don't want to have to go through the temp agency again to prove myself, but that's a real possibility.

I shouldn't be allowed to post when I'm in these funks. Sorry--especially to my mother, who reads these things and assumes the worst! It's all good mom, I swear!!!

I'm going to go fix a salad and get ready for work. chow! :D

Better!

I got up (moderately) early this morning--after much cajoling from Russell (thanks hon--sincerely!!)--and got my butt down to the DMV. After so much bitching and moaning and being apprehensive about the whole thing, it went without a hitch. I was in and out inside of 45 minutes, and now I'm officially an Arizonan. The guy that ran the paperwork for me was less than professional, cussing up a storm when a supervisor brought his break schedule by (I'm serious--the word "shit" left his mouth no fewer than 3 times!), and the fella that took the photos made me feel like livestock being prodded down The Chute, but it's done. No more worries about having to get my actual birth certifical or having to pay $60 to get a Passport. No more stress about getting pulled over and trying to convince the officer that I've lived here less than a month. whew.

I even managed to get to the grocery afterwards, so all in all I'm feeling much better about things.

Now I have an hour to blow before work, so forgive me while I go blow off some steam!

items of note

Possibly "items" is the wrong word. Let us say: Thoughts.

According to weather.com, it's 101 degrees here, but feels like a mere 96. All I'm sayin' is that when the dogs refuse to hang out in the yard for more than 15 minutes (even Delilah, our sun-junkie) IT'S TOO DAMN HOT.

Perhaps I'm feeling it a bit more sharply, as I just spent 45 minutes in The Jungle, trimming hedges, chopping errant tree limbs out of my way, and picking up calcified dog doo. One thing about the Hot Dry weather here: there is hardly such a thing as fresh dog poop.

Some other stuff in my head is that there is just too much in my head. I have so much to do and to take care of that I, more often than not, simply do nothing. I feel so overwhelmed with the thought of not being able to get anything done that I do just that. I hadn't planned on doing yardwork today. I wanted to go get my AZ driver's license (a whole 'nother world of WTF?**) and go to the grocery store. And go to the bike shop for a patch kit for my tire. And go to Home Depot for some yard supplies. And unload the boxes that have been in my Xterra since Sunday. And some other things.

What I *did* do:
1) Played WoW for a short while.
2) Oscillated between watching TLC (who needs bonbons when you've got crack piped in via HDTV?) and organizing the CD Towers. Between Russell and I, there are far too many discs to fit on four towers purported to hold 180 cds each--that's 720 cds! I haven't even found them all yet. It's just as well; there is no room. My OC side took the lead in this little skit, so they are all in alphabetical order, with the exception of the compilations. Soundtracks, however...yeah.
3) Talked to my mom on the phone for a while. I don't call her enough, and for that I'm very sorry. They got a new digital camera recently, and she has learned how to use it--even learning to email photos from it! I'm so proud!
4) Cooked some chicken.
5) Did the aforementioned yard chores. Less pressing than getting my Driver's License, but the latter would have involved a lot more preparation and down time. I liked the idea of tossing on a swimsuit and chopping organic stuff up mere feet from the comfort of my A/C. The dogs stayed inside for most of it, by the way. Wimps.

That's it. I'm about to bathe. Woohoo. I don't have another day off until next Wednesday, so I have a suspicion that I will really regret not getting off my ass and getting some stuff done today, but I've got the uber blahs.

**The Arizona DMV will not accept an Oklahoma Driver's license as proof of identity. Something about the fact that OK doesn't require proof of citizenship to get a driver's license. I have to provide a Birth Certificate or Passport in order to get it switched. How messed up is that. I've got a certified copy of my "Birth Record", but I don't know if that passes. The Customer Service girl I talked to this morning said it would be "Up to the discretion of the supervisor at the DMV". Christ. By the time I'd talked to her, and then called my mom to see if my *actual* Birth Certificate existed in our possession (it does), I just didn't want to deal with it. I'm going to try to get up early tomorrow morning and do it--don't have to be at work until 2pm...surely....

So there is this Mexican restaurant we like. They make AMAZING margaritas. If you buy this fella (or his girly counterpart) for a mere $10, you can bring him back anytime for two free refills. What a deal! Of course, now I have to find a home for him. Somewhere on a high shelf. Behind some stuff. 

she's not the most graceful of beasts, but she sure is cute! 

they are just obsessed with this thing... 

Yesterday we found a Mysterious Green Bouncy Ball in the yard. The dogs, of course, thought that it was the best thing that had ever happened. The shots aren't all that great, but you get the idea of just how much these dorks love to play ball. 

Alannis Morrisette Should Write a song...

Oh, wait.

So yeah. My 13 year old mountain bike has been through a lot. I've ridden it over many surfaces, from pavement to gravel, dirt, sand and a sea of rocks. It's crunched over roserock, knobby logs, thorns, bits of glass, a couple of bits of metal rubble, and any manner of non-biodegradeable trail junk. I have never changed the tires. This is true. I have replaced one tube, but never the actual tires. Never needed to.

Until Monday. I went for a ride on the paths behind the house. Rode around on aforementioned sand, gravel and glass debris. Hit some rocks that looked suspiciously like lava rock. And then I hit the street for the ride home. There has been some construction in the neighbourhood and damn those messy contractors--I now have a 2-inch nail in my back tire!

I think I'll be able to patch it without actually buying new tires (because if I change one, I should really change the other one at this point); we'll have to see. I just find it a bit funny that after all this time it's a nail that finally did for the poor old thing.

Anyway.

tired of fighting

I am just exhausted with this "Down with Bell Honda" crap. It's worse knowing that they are the big corporate entity and that nothing will probably ever come of it.

I spent yesterday morning at Kinko's making copies of all my receipts and whatnot for the State Attorney General's Office (at their request--so at least it seems like they are looking into it), and got an email yesterday afternoon from the Better Business Bureau with a response from Bell Honda. So now I have to shoot off an email in response to that and make *additional* copies of all those papers and send them to the BBB--probably will send a copy to Eric Zimmerman, General Manager of Bell Honda himself as he apparently has NO idea what's going on (in his response to the BBB he says that my complaint falls far outside the 15 day period allowed. Au Contraire!! We started this nonsense on day 14, and I have the receipts to prove it!).

Anyway. I find myself sleeping (or trying to) a lot, simply because my dreams are a whole lot more easy to take than reality at this point. I want to just drop the whole thing and get start enjoying my "new" car and get on with life, but I'm stubborn and I hate to lose. So now I'm going to go finish my response to the BBB/Bell Honda and head to Kinko's--again--before I go to work.

*sigh*

not yet summer

but the temperature for the past three days has been over 110. Today it's only supposed to get up to about 105, dropping into the low 90s by next Monday.

Arizona. I want to go north for the summer! :(

So I was really sleepy when I entered that last post, and thankyou Joann for the kind words. I literally scribbled most of it down as I was driving home from my overnight shift--on the back of a work schedule. Silly me, I'd left my voice recorder home on the kitchen table. Note to self: put it in the car, where you do most of yer thinkin...

Anyway. I'm off to finish my draft email to 3 On Your Side--the local news consumer protection folks. Wheeehah!

Luna

I saw the moon tonight
nearly full
golden and beckoning
just before it slipped over the Western Horizon

it took my breath away
like a long-forgotten lover
tempting me to follow
as it slipped over the Western Horizon

tomorrow it will rise
again
and I will dream
of its cool journey through the heavens
the sun a distant memory
when it slips over the Western Horizon

Continuing Attempts

...at regaining a certain level of fitness and accomplishment. I went riding yesterday morning with a girl from work and her fiance. We road about 8 miles of a "flat", fast, sandy trail that lead eventually up to the base of a mountain and some cool indian ruins. I liked this trail the most of the whopping three I've been on so far in Arizona because it's fast and did not brutally beat my rigid-bike riding body. I'll be going back to that trail.
The view from the ruins was beautiful--and even the ride up was pretty. We went early in the morning, so there were cactus flowers in bloom and everything was still lush and green. I had every intention of taking the digicam, but the battery is dead and we're not sure where the charger is. :(
I'm working a super-whacked schedule this week--8pm-2am M-W, so I won't be doing any riding this week unless it cools wayyyy down. It's 11:15am and 91 degrees already. Yes, today I will be staying in and doing around-the-house stuff!

Guilt Complex

I have this *thing* about not wasting my days off. I wish I could just kickit and relax like other folks, but on those days that I have spent sitting around in my pajamas eating bonbons, I end up feeling like complete and utter shit. Like somehow that one day's respite from responsibility and mom-dom and all that is going to send me on a non-stop bullet train to slacker hell.

So. Today being a day off, I did stuff. I ironed clothes, while watching Hackers (Angelina Jolie...mmmmm) and avoiding the Chocolate Chip Cookies. I went for a bike ride--albeit brief--around our local "mountain" (see recent photos of green desert). My butt was aching pretty badly from Tuesday's ride and I really didn't think I'd make it three blocks, but after a mile or so a certain numbness sets in and it's all good. I found a nice mellow trail that circles the base of said mountain, so I'm going to make an effort to ride it somewhat regularly in an attempt to get back to a shape that says "I will not keel over or crash horribly if you invite me to go riding with you."

I came home and chopped a few errant bits from the shrubbery in the front yard, lest we incur the wrath of the HOA--again. I ironed a few more shirts and started the shower with the intention of bathing myself, but Bucket butted in. I invited him to jump in the bathtub (this is BEFORE I got in myself, mind you), and he did! So he had an impromptu bath, which he is now ruining by racing around the house wrestling with the still-filthy Delilah.

I had my shower and now, at 2:21 in the afternoon, I am going to slack a bit.

Insight

I survived and even enjoyed the bike ride yesterday, but there were moments when I thought the End was Nigh. I am not in as good of shape as I like to fool myself into thinking. Could be this pizza I'm currently noshing? Or the box of cookies from the mound of same at work? Or the fact that the ride yesterday was the first one in something like 2 months?

Possibly.

I should have taken the camera, because I'm pretty sure I'll never to that ascent again--it was an amazing view, and I was quite proud of having made it to the top. However, now knowing what's ahead, I don't know that I would ever take that particular trail again. OH! how I miss the single track dirt and leaves of Oklahoma!

Back to the Whack

The luxury days of having a regular M-F schedule at work have flown the coop. They hired a full time POS person, despite my fervent hand raising and look-at-me attempts to get demoted to the position. So I have today and Thursday off this week.

I have plans to go for a mt. bike ride with a guy from work who seems overly concerned that I'm going to have a spectacular wreck or just keel over from exhaustion. Am I that out-of-shape looking?

So that's in about two hours and with the new Mike Doughty CD blarin on the stereo, I'm going to chill out a bit before I go to my apparent Doom.

Last one for today. My attempt at artsy-fartsy. Probably could be cropped a bit, but as raw material, I quite like it. 

Another photo proof of all the rain we got here this "winter". I need to take some comparative photos now so you can see what it normally looks like! 

Alas, we have not any mt. trails very near our house, but we do have flat desert trails in spades. Here's a photo from a few weeks ago when it was lush and green and I actually liked it here! 

Delilah looking regal on her rock..she's a climber! We are looking forward to taking both pups with us on the local mt. trails. 

A few pics of the hounds I took some weeks ago. We've only just found the usb cord for the camera! More to come, but here's Smilin' Bucket. 

Chores

Waking up today was the first chore. The pups have become used to me waking up no later than 5am in recent weeks, and are very insistant about eating at that time, despite the fact that they didn't eat until about 1130 last night. For the last two days, however, I've closed the store, and not gotten home until about 1030 or so. This means that I am up until the wee hours, playing and winding down. So when 3am rolled around last night and I finally got to bed, I should have known that it would be merely a nap. The hounds awoke at 7am, 8am, 9am and I finally gave in and got up around 930. It's not their fault, I know, They are so starved for food, treats, and attention! :P

Next chore involved wrangling down the air filter here in the house. Our rental contract actually states that we must change it once a month. When I first read that I thought it was ludicrous and overzealous, but Arizona is the dustiest place on the planet and a monthly change is probably too infrequent. Sadly, I haven't changed it in about 2-3 months, so it was a horrific mess of grime, and was making a sickly whistling sound. Bucket was standing at the base of the stepstool (which, out of necessity, was placed just at the edge of top of the stairs) and I held my breath in anticipation of him bolting after some unseen offender and sending me to my doom. He didn't, I lived, and the filter has been changed.

I of course had to drag out the vacuum to suck the nastiness off of the grill that holds the filter in place and that evolved into a quick zip around the loft. I had NO intention of doing any vacuuming today, but those things just sort of evolve for me. It's some bizarre form of ADD.

I now have to empty the vacuum cleaner of its sludge, which will digress into yardwork. Here is the progression: I have to take the vacuum "bucket" out to the trash bin to empty it. The bin is currently on the front walk because it's pickup day. They should have come by now, so I will drag the bin to the back yard, where there are bags of pulled weeds and bits of trees that the dogs have chewed off. These will, of course, have to be tidied up. Then, while I'm doing that, I will note the abundance of poo and commence poo patrol. The vacuum cleaner will be emptied, but vacuuming the remainder of the house will go to the bottom of the list. This is why there are so many half projects in my life. I Poing.

I hear the dogs doing something naughty. I must be off...

On a Lighter Note

Who has ever eaten *half* a package of Ramen noodles? Seriously.

I took both dogs on a walk tonight after work. At the same time. It went pretty well, really. Shockingly well. Efficiency, how do I love thee?

I wrote letters to the Better Business Bureau and the State Attorney General's office this morning. Tomorrow I'll hit the tv stations. In the meantime I'm going to eat my ENTIRE PACKAGE of ramen and munch on Wasabi Peas while I play a bit of WoW.

Campaign Bell Honda Sucks Begins!

I have my Xterra back. It's still in a sickly way, although after I left a rather scathing message with the General Manager Monday evening, they did call me back and say they would take care of the O2 sensor (about a $300 repair). Still no relief on the a/c being bad (the PRIMARY reason I even wanted a new car in the first place!), the leaking shocks, or the other minor things like the air/fuel filters. And the second shop claims that there was no code on the diagnostic stating that the Knock Sensor was bad--only that a code came up indicating a possible problem and that it could have been caused by the O2 sensor going out.

The long and short of it is, I'm still screwed on a vehicle that I bought 3 weeks weeks ago. I'm filing complaints with the Better Business Bureau, the state Attorney General's office, and a couple of local television news channels that do "Consumer Protection" type stories. I'm taking the fraud angle on things, because I feel that most--if not all of these problems existed before the vehicle left their lot and that I should have been informed or made aware of them. The general maintenance stuff should have been taken care of when they did this so-called 128point inspection that I was told the vehicle went through. The crack in the Exhaust manifold? Techs should have caught that if they were doing any sort of real inspection.

When I picked it up at the second dealership yesterday evening, the service manager there even asked about it: "How long have you had the car?" "The problems started less than two weeks after I brought it home." "And all they are taking care of is the O2 sensor? I would definately pursue this..." And he gave me his card. I may just give him a buzz as well and ask him what he might suggest.

And if any of you have any suggestions, I'm open. Russell is considering doing a little webpage about the whole fiasco, and I'm considering hanging out at the dealership (in cognito, of course) and chit-chatting with some of the customers about my experiences.

Anyway. I'm taking a little break from the bitch fest now. Thanks for listening

Drama

So, I mentioned my "new" car, right? Well it's been in the shop since Monday afternoon.

The a/c had been doing funny things--like not working all of the time--and then Sunday afternoon the Service Engine Light came on. I called Bell Honda, where I got it, and was basically told that I was SOL and that I would have to take care of all of it--and that it probably wasn't a big deal anyway (I'm not kidding). I took the truck to a Nissan dealership, since they know the vehicles and I didn't want anything to do with Bell Honda any more than I had to.

Very VERY long story short, the A/C had been overcharged with freon, which was causing it to cut out from time to time. The Knock Sensor and O2 Sensors had gone bad, the latter as a result of a crack in the exhaust manifold. Total estimated charges: about $1500.

At the recommendation of both the service manager at Pinnacle Nissan (the good guys), and a salesman at Scottsdale Volkswagon (Russell also bought a new car on Monday!), I called Bell Honda again and spoke to the Used Car Sales Manager. Supposedly he is working with his Service Manager to see what they can do to take care of the Sensors (the Exhaust Manifold is covered under the warranty I bought--but of course that part costs less than 1/3 of the total estimate, AND has a $100 deductible).

Still waiting to hear back from the folks at Bell Honda. I leave for work in an hour and then won't get to do much--if anything--about it until tomorrow when I get off work at about 1pm. Needless to say I'm rather frustrated and more than slightly bummed to be shelling out big bucks for my 2 week old (to me, anyway) car--ON MY BIRTHDAY.

*sigh*

Looming

My 35th birthday. It's just around the corner. Less than a week away. It was hip and fashionable to be 31 and 32. 33 and 34 were a little depressing, and 35 is just going to beat me upside the head and leave me bleeding in a ditch on the outskirts of madness.

I don't *feel* old, and I certainly like to think I don't *look* old. Generally speaking I don't *act* old (except that I have to go to bed around 8-9pm on account of having to be at work at 6am lately). So how come a number can assign that attribute to me?

I started taking a Glucosamine/Chondroitin supplement a couple of weeks ago, at the suggestion of a co-worker who had listened to me complain about the soreness in my hands and knees. It has helped wonders, but everytime I take it I think "old....old..." I was also pleased to see the reduction of fine lines in my face when I used some sampling of anti-wrinkle cream that mom had recieved from Lancome. I have wrinkles! I have wrinkle cream! What's the world coming to???

At least I have a sporty yellow Xterra and the ablility to wear my hair in pigtails. I listen to relatively cool music and my best friend at work is 23 years old. That's gotta count for something!

Kerfluffle

it's just a word I've had on my brain for about 5 days now. not sure why.

So the deal with the last post--in abridged form--was that there was a woman at the shoe store talking, VERY CALMLY, to her signifigant other about some sort of major "no I don't want a divorce, but..." issue. The entire time I was there, she strolled around on the phone, casually trying on shoes and telling this person that she couldn't believe he'd lie about this and blahblahblah. I couldn't decide if she was my hero for being so calm and together about it, or if she was a total nutcase for the very same reason.

But the computer choked, and here we are.

Here's what I know:

1) I am SERIOUSLY missing my best friend Kimbra, who will be having a baby in a couple of months. I feel horrible that I am not there for her right now, and for the first time in my life I am fascinated with babies. (No mom, I don't want one of my own...I'm just paying more attention to them now.)

2) I bought a new car last week! I went out "just to look" and ended up getting suckered into driving and listening to the spiel on a 2000 Nissan Xterra. If you know me at all, you know that I've *always* wanted an Xterra. If you know Russell the least little bit, you know that his jousting colours are Black and Gold. So there sat a Yellow and Black Xterra, and they gave me a smokin' deal, in addition to $2000 for my faithful but sad little truck. I now have AC, a CD/cassette stereo, a moonroof, a backseat that I can haul relatives around in, should they grace us with their presence again, and automatic doorlocks--a luxury I cannot get used to.

3) My feet hurt today.

4) Bucket has the weakest stomach of any creature on the planet, evidenced by his throwing up not once but three times before Russell left for work the other day-- and once (or twice) more in the crate waiting for me when I got home.

5) There is always more to say than I can recall sitting here at the keyboard.

Heroin or Heroine? You be the judge...

**a multitude of expletives escape me at this point**

I just spent a good portion of time writing about a funny thing that happened to me today, and when I tried to post Blogger told me, in no uncertain terms, to push off.

I'm pissed, cos it was a good story and now I don't have time to re-write it. Maybe I'll come back to it sometime when I'm not worried about my makeup and hair.

(date night tonight)

poing!

I have said it before and I will say it again: If nothing in the world about blogging appeals to you, you have never read Dooce. Please please please check it out.

That said, I would like you to know about my afternoon of Poo Patrol here at Casa Hoefs-Benson. It has become an exercise in danger and futility. The back yard has become a field (albeit tiny) of pampas grass or, as I now like to call it, pompous grass--due to the way it just sort of sneeringly waves at me as I walk around scouting for poo. "Ha Ha! We grow stonger and longer and there is nothing you can do.ah.ah.ah."
Our lawnmower has ceased to function, likely a result of being left outside during the multitude of winter rainshowers. I've cleaned the filters, checked the fuel and oil, and changed the sparkplug to no avail. My dad recommended checking to see if there is indeed even a spark to plug, but my arms aren't long enough to pull the rope *and* hold the sparkplug up to the metal surface of the mower. Long story short, I haven't mowed since about 3 weeks after we moved in. It's amazing how long the grass has gotten really. The dogs don't like to poop in certain areas because the grass is so long. It tickles their butts, and no one wants that. When they do poo in the long grass it is impossible to see, so that when I do finally get the mower working (or we break down and buy or borrow another one), I will be treading on a veritable graveyard of crunchy-white dog doo.

Anyway. That's my dog doo tale. How was your day?

The Circus Has Left Town

Cavalia has finally packed up and moved on. It was a Cirque du Soleil production involving typical Cirque pagentry and acrobatics and...horses. They have been here since roughly the beginning of the year, and their tents on the grounds of the Princess Resort had become something of a fixture for me as I drove by them every day on my way to work. They were visible for miles, much to my delight, although this does make me something of a hypocrite, I suppose.

We finally went to see the show last week when my parents were in town. I wasn't sure what the show entailed, as the website is VERY vague, but knowing it was associated with Cirque and that my favourite scratch and sniff critters were involved was enough for me. It's a young show--only 18 months on the ground--and there were moments that dragged on forever, but on the whole, it was a great experience. Gorgeous animals, beautiful music, amazing feats of agility, balance, and daring--fantastic (in the truest sense of the word) atmosphere... The fact that my folks sincerely enjoyed it made it that much better. They don't go out much (save for boat races!), and see shows...well, never that I know of, so I was really hoping this would be a nice treat. My dad tried chatting up the sound/light technician who was in a "box" near our seats. We caught him playing solitaire before the show, and dad thought to give him a few pointers. He was, of course, French-Canadian however, and I think only nodded and grinned out of politeness.

At any rate, as I was driving to work last night, the huge white tents were down and all that remained were the scaffolds upon which they had been anchored. By 6am, everthing was gone save the workers' tents.

Now what will I dream of on my way to work?

dark ages

Blogger is having some issues today and I'm uncertain whether this post will ever see the masses. I've been trying to log in for about 15 minutes now, and what I've finally gotten into looks, at best, like a poor Beta version of a blogging engine. This does not happen infrequently--I usually just give up before now. I may look into other blogoptions.

So. It's 12:18pm on Monday afternoon and I need to stay awake until about 7am tomorrow morning. Perhaps a nap is in order for later this evening, think? Here's the nutshell:

Four weeks ago I was told that I had been volunteered two work three weeks of overnights. Wahoo.
On the last day of the second week of overnights we were told that we would go back to days for one week and then back to nights. Damn.
On the second DAY back to days, I was told that I would NOT be going back to overnights the following week.
Two days later, I was told that I would be going BACK TO OVERNIGHTS this week.
The week after I come back from working 10pm-6am (a week in which I will sleep from roughly 7am-3pm), I will be working M-F 7AM to 3PM!!!!

Can you see my frustration at the scheduling going on? I'm exhausted just thinking about it.

However, the happy bottom line of it all is that for the next two weeks I'll get to be home in the evenings and on the weekends with my honey! That is the most best news in a long time!

Overall, the past few weeks have allowed me more time to spend with him on the weekends and evenings, and has made me all the more aware of the fact that, although I *do* enjoy my job (most of the time), it's far more important to me and to our relationship that I get to spend more time with Russell. So I'm looking, I'm looking.

Good Friday

I don't know exactly what that means--"Good Friday". Shouldn't it be "Bad Friday" in the views of Christians? Perhaps I have my facts skewed, but to call it Good Friday seems a bit contradictory. Anyway.

It is Friday, isn't it? My schedule--as always--has got me all befuddled in regards to what day of the week it is. I'm back on days at least, and I'm still adjusting to that. Can't say I'm overjoyed to be back in the mayhem of the store and dealing with all of that customer stuff. At one point yesterday I was dealing with one couple in the store about furniture, another irate "lady" at the counter complaining about the fact that she was an idiot and couldn't interpret one of our signs (i.e. she wanted the discount on something that was CLEARLY not part of the sale), had two calls on hold and an employee who wanted to go on lunch. All this while I was ringing up customers at the register. I'm not kidding. Nor am I exaggerating. I wish like hell I was.

Anyway. That's why, instead of blogging, I should be working on my resume. I've started looking in earnest for a nice, boring, M-F 8-5 kinda job. So I'll have to deal with some traffic. So I'll have to dress up a bit. At this point I SO don't mind any of those things. I want a regular schedule every week. I want to be able to make appointments and not have to change them at the last minute because when I go into work the next day my schedule has changed. I want to be able to plan to go places with Russell on the weekends, and have time to spend with him in the evenings. It would be nice to have dinner with him from time to time!

Oh hell. It's 10:15 and I have to leave in 15 minutes to go to work. Bleh. Later.

OMG OMG OMG

I SOOOOOO don't want to go back to work today. They have switched us around so that we are working days again this week and going back to overnights next week. It's been nice in that I've had some nice time to spend with my folks, but they are leaving this evening, and I have to work all day today.

Plus I just dread being in that madhouse of a store again and dealing with all the crazy customers and I haven't been there in two weeks and won't know what the hell is going on anymore and there are at least 4 new employees that I've never even met.

phew.

So yeah. I don't want my folks to leave (they've been in town for a week but I feel as though I've hardly seen them) and I don't want to go back to work. Waaah waaah waaaah.... I know, I know.

Funk

I'm in it. A funk. Not sure what the deal is, but I'm just not feeling cheery and vivacious. I'm pissed of that I work my ass off and go above and beyond, and I ask for ONE DAY off and not only did I not get the day off, but I'm working overnights this week so that while my folks (and other family members) are here, I will see them even LESS because I'll be sleeping during the day.

All the same, I dread going back to days because I'll be working that frenetic store with no chance to start and finish a project and the ever changing schedule that my Tauren heart so loathes. I keep thinking about trying to find a new job and then I get depressed thinking about the fact that I'm going to be 35 this year and I still don't have a "career". 5 more years to 40 and I still haven't grown up yet. What the hell is wrong with me?

So yeah, I'm PMSing and all this stuff will be out of my head in about a week, but until then I'm going to wallow in my funk and probably eat a lot of chocolate. I need a vacation. And some good news!

Arrived

It's Friday, and although I don't know what the date is, the fact that it's finally Friday in so ingrained in my subconscious that nothing else really matters. It's so nice to be faced with a weekend during which I don't have to subject myself to snooty old Scottsdale people who haggle over a 10% off sign for an $8 item and then hand me a $100 bill to pay.

I was awakened by Bucket's whining at about 11:30 this morning, and I *tried* to stay awake since it was obvious that both dogs intended to report me to animal cruelty if I forced them to sleep any longer, but it just wasn't happening. They are so mistreated! I brought them up to the dark coolness of the bedroom and we all snoozed for another 2.5 hours. Whee.

Since awakening, I've been at work cleaning the kitchen. Eventually the rest of the house will fall in line, as my parents are coming to town on Tuesday and, although they are fully aware of what a slob I am, I don't intend to subject them to it.

It's 4:30 now and I haven't even finished the kitchen. I did stop to watch "Driven: Jennifer Garner" because she is so damn cute and I was eating lunch (breakfast?) anyway, but still you'd think I'd have gotten more done in 2 hours. I'm telling you, we are filthy slobs. Doesn't help that we live in the dustiest place on the face of the planet. If I don't dust every single day there is a 1/4 inch layer of desert on everything. *sigh*

On an up note, Russell will be home from work relatively soon, and I'll get to hang out with him ALL WEEKEND! What a treat! I've got to get a new job so I can do this "weekend" thing more often. :)

Still Standing

So I was admonished-by Russell!-yesterday for not updating my blog. Maybe some folks thought I fell over the side of a mountain on my ride last Friday. Not so. I'm still upright and breathing, no bumps or bruises to show for the outing. Only, in fact, a mild soreness in my neck and shoulders from absorbing all of the shock *not* absorbed by my rigid framed bike.

So yeah, it was a nice ride. South Mountain was a bit daunting on the approach in my truck. I really thought I might die that day. Thankfully my guides knew of some flat and easy bits, with blessedly few drops and climbs. There were, however, rocks and boulders galore and my desire--nay, NEED--for a suspension bike was jolted into my scrambled brain at every turn. I rode sandwiched between the two ladies, who used to ride cross country (my preferred ride), but now race downhill. I actually got a compliment from one of them, who said I have really good bike skills "...you just need a better bike..." No kidding. Ya think? My Giant Cadex has served me over-well, but it *is* 13 years old. So the search for a new two-wheeled ride has been added to my agenda as well.

Anyway.

I started working overnights this week, as I was volunteered for a Store Reset Project. So far it hasn't really been that bad; I stayed up late Saturday night so I would sleep Sunday, and the rest has been cake. Today, however, I forced myself to roll out of bed at what I thought was 2pm. I had to pee so bad I thought I'd rupture something if I didn't answer the call. I figured that 2pm had given me 7 hours of sleep, and that's not bad, so what the hell, right? (I knew I wouldn't be able to go back to bed on account of the dogs jumping at the chance to NOT be asleep anymore) So I got up and did my business, let the dogs out and chilled with them for a bit. Went into the kitchen to do something and looked at the clock on the microwave. 1:15. WTF?? Yeah. Apparently the bedroom clock has been shifted a bit, which is easy enough to do if you hit the wrong button while fumbling for the snooze--I've done it countless times myself. So now that I know I only got six hours of sleep I'm suddenly exhausted again. Prolly need to nap a bit this evening. Prolly won't.

It's all good though, because I'm *really* enjoying being able to be in the store and get stuff DONE without all those interruptions from pesky customers. :P

So now you know what's what and I'm going to go get some grub and see what mischief the dogs are in. It's blazing hot right now, so I think walkies will wait til later this evening (okay, hon?).

Whereupon I Gush About My Playdate...

So I was putzing around on the computer the other day, and finally stumbled across the MBAA (Mt. Biking Association of Arizona--or something) website. And from there I found a link to a women's riding group. And from there I found a link to some forums where these ladies post rides and such. And now I have a ride date scheduled with complete strangers at South Mountain, which is about 45 minutes from here.

Now, before everyone goes and gets all worked up about what a potential danger this is let me just say this: "Pipe down and let me enjoy this!"

I'm so excited about riding again I can hardly wait. I'm even MORE excited about meeting some new people and possibly making some new friends. There are two ladies meeting me--and they both race downhill so I fully expect to feel like a big dork smushing my out-of-shape pudge into bike shorts and a jersey and cruising up on my now 13 year old rigid bike... But they seem pretty nice and hopefully they can point me to a nice shop around where I can finally realise my age-old dream of upgrading (the bike--the body is mine to figure out!).

Anyway. I need to go clean up and lube the bike--it's been sitting dormant in the dusty garage for 6 months down. Would suck to have a chain die on the trail tomorrow! After that, a dog walk or two and I'm off to work where I have been warned I will get an earful from a pompous and pissy customer. Whoohoo.

Derailed

I was going to spend some time quoting some of my favourite bits of Pratchett--my current favourite brilliant author--but I'm a bit distracted and disconcerted by the very real nearly full-on brawl just enacted by the furkids. Their roughhousing just escalated to a very scary and potentially dangerous point. I actually had to pull them apart and "roll" Delilah because she wouldn't chill out. I think that a) their collars got stuck together or b) one's mouth got stuck in the other's collar because they seemed to be physically stuck together for a few seconds. That and the fact that normally when we scream "That's ENOUGH" they stop rumbling and give us the "What? Who? It wasn't me!" look and this time they didn't even hear me.

They are fine now, playing like normal and being pretty mellow, so I think it was just a fear thing--I know it scared the hell out of me.

Anyway. No Pratchett for you right now. I need to do walkies with the pups and then I'm going to REI to buy myself some new trail/running shoes. Now that the dogs are showing promise as climbing/running/trail buddies, I need to invest. My old running shoes are almost 2 years old, and that's SO wrong.

And it's my day off! Woohoo. Who knows what else the day holds? Hopefully a lot of slackin!

Guess!

You'll never believe what happened yesterday! It rained. Again. Twice. On my way to work and on my way home (maybe it's a sign?). The back yard is now so wet and muddy that Bucket actually stepped in mud this morning and sunk up to his ankle. It was pretty freaking funny too, as he glared at the ground as though it had just done the most offensive act ever. Just as another testament to the wetness here--after he sunk in the mud, his paw was merely wet--not really muddy. The ground is THAT sodden.

*sigh*

okay, well, I am a bit behind in my schedule today--I was having freakish dreams and feeling soooo exhausted that I hit snooze about 5 too many times this morning (Russell will find that amusing, I'm sure, after our little "discussion" about the alarm clock yesterday). So. I'd better get going; the natives are restless!

Wettest Desert EVER

In addition to the nearly complete week of rain we got last week, we had an out-and-out cloudburst yesterday evening. I was at work and was fairly certain that a freight train was rumbling over the roof of the store. Our back yard is a mud pit and there is a tiny pond where the pups had dug a little hole.

When Russell and I were driving to the trainer's on Monday we talked about the need for us to get some photos of the very green desert, because no one will believe it. I'll work on that for you. It's a bit freakish, really.

And despite my years of training in removing rocks from every yard of every house I've ever lived in, I now find myself removing clumps of grass and errant weeds from the rocks that make up our front yard.

Desert, my ass!

Apparently it was hailing in this area yesterday afternoon! If you have some time, go to this site and click on "Weather". From there you can view a slideshow (link in the center of the page) and see some proof. :)

Anyway. Time to walk the dogs.

Actual Letter

I just sent this email to our newly acquired Dog Trainer. We met with him last week for our introduction/evaluation, and went yesterday to our first lesson. He is amazing. I have hope!

Holy Moly, J.R.!

I can't believe learning how to use those prong collars has made all the difference in the world. Russell took Bucket out last night for a short walk and was amazed at the change, but we chalked it up to the lesson being fresh in his head.

I just came in from working with both dogs (seperately) and I have to say how completely shocked I am at the progress. We worked in the street and sidewalk in front of our house, and there were a few people walking and a number of cars drove by--nothing major, but some nice "easy" distractions.

Bucket was a champ--I hardly had the chance to make any corrections whatsoever after the intial check when we left the house. He still needs to be reminded to sit when we stop, but that's a minor detail.

Delilah scared the hell out of me by her freakish resistance to the "check". She leaped up into the air, flinging saliva everywhere. She pawed at the leash, pulled away as hard as she could, and flipped around like a dog possessed. If we hadn't seen you work with Bucket yesterday, I'd have probably given up on her, but I made her come to me--resistance and all. After about three or four scenes like this, she is a completely different dog. She's better than Bucket! She is relentlessly at my side--again, hardly giving me the chance to make any corrections. I can stop on a dime and she is on her butt at my side.

I'm so excited I can hardly stand it! I know we have a lot of work to do with getting them settled down and to be calm around new people and other dogs, but this is an amazing start to the process.

Thanks so much for spending the time with us that you have so far. We are really looking forward to learning more from you!

Sincerely,
Kerri, Russell, Bucket and Delilah




Smile! The world is around you. . .

Things I love about My Love

His gorgeous blue eyes.
He will do things like try Falafel, because I like it.
He always asks if I need anything when he goes downstairs for a drink or a snack.
He trusts me to drive his truck (sometimes with him in it!). :)
He looks like an angel when he sleeps.
I can burp or fart in his presence (and often get a hi-five!).
His hobbit toes.
He indulges me constantly with things that make him crazy.
When we fight, we still somehow laugh.
His amazing design talent.
His laugh.
Curling up on the couch in his arms.
His sexy tatoos.
He not only loves me despite my random bouts with melancholy and hysteria, but counsels me through them.
The way he looks at me when he says "I love you".
He is my best friend.

I'm sure there are others who think they could challenge me for the title, but I'm pretty sure I'm the luckiest girl in the world. Russell is just amazing...and...
HE's ALL MINE!!!

I love you, baby!

Pouring

Again. The rain KEEPS coming down. Here. In the DESERT. The back and side yards are flooded. There is a veritable river on our street. Cacti are drowning.

On an up note, we are going to the Arizona Renaissance Festival on Sunday (it's only supposed to rain through tomorrow, so while we will be traipsing through layers and layers of desert sand and mud, we won't actually get wet from the shins up)! I'm so excited I can hardly stand it. I'm not sure why, really. It's been such a long time since we've been to a faire, and they *do* hold a special place for us you know. Besides, it's just going to be really nice to get out of the house and do something! We are going with Russell's boss and his wife (VERY cool people) and hopefully a couple of his co-workers. The dogs, alas, will have to stay home. No dogs allowed. (I almost spelled it "aloud", which is kinda funny when you think about it.)

Speaking of the dogs, next week is a big money week for them. I've made them appointments at the Vet's next Wednesday-something which was long overdue--and the dog trainer guy is coming over Thursday evening to meet them and us and to see if we all like each other and whatnot. If that goes well and all his references check out, we will likely hire him on to train us to train our dogs so we can all live together in harmony. I'm not sure if he can train me to get off my fat butt and spend quality time leash training the beasts, but perhaps the pain of writing the check will help in that process.

Anyway. It's my day off and I've worked most of it, cleaning the hell out of this house. So I'm going to go play!

cya!

Bitter Apple?

So Shanny says....but Shanny doesn't know that Delilah LIKES Bitter Apple. I bought a bottle to spray on the wood chips at our old how so the pups wouldn't chew them. I sprayed some on my hand to see what the reaction would be... Bucket fled to the other side of the room with his nose in a knot--if a dog could spit, he'd have done so. Delilah on the other hand wagged her tail and licked and licked and licked my hand as though it was spread with the most delightful tastiness EVER.

Good try, tho :)

More Exhaustion

It's 5:06am. I was planning on waking up around 5:30 today anyway because I have to be at work at 7... But I've essentially been awake since around 3am. Why? Because we have dogs.

For some reason, Delilah found it appropriate to begin barking about *something* around said ungodly hour. The blinds to the back yard were open and she was probably pissed about the lawnmower sitting in the yard (I tried to mow yesterday but couldn't get it to start). Then again, maybe she just likes to hear the sound of her own voice. Some of us do.

I tried to get back to sleep after she shut up, but worried thoughts of what they might shred next now that they have no beds kept me awake. Then Bucket started in on the whining at around 4:30.

Why, oh why, have I been blessed with the ability to wake up at the settling of dust when I am partnered with a man who, if he had an American Indian name, would be called "Sleeps Through Hurricanes"?

Does Kevlar Make Dog Beds?

Because they've chewed through another one. Yes, honey, the little green one was in the basket and they pulled it out again and it was an explosion of batting on the loft floor. I'm fairly certain that Delilah is the instigator in all of this. She has this bizarre habit of sucking on fabric. That of course evolves to tearing little bits off which evolves into "Hey, let's go for broke and tear it to shreds!"

Anyway. Dogs don't really need beds anyway, do they? I mean, hell, they're not even really supposed to live indoors. Let 'em sleep on the floor! As long as she doesn't start shredding the carpet we'll be okay, right?

I've gotten a couple emails out to some dog trainers/behaviourists here in Phoenix, so we might be putting one to employ. The first task for him/her will be to convince us to spend more time with the dogs, I'm sure. That will be the hardest step, as we are willing addicts of a game that sucks the hours from the day at lightning speed.

On another note, I've started doing the Pilates workout dvd that Russell picked up--oh, about a year ago. :) I did it on Tuesday for the first time and it kicked my ass. I'm so sore--but it's a deep down soreness in my bones, not just the superficial soreness of the muscles that you get from lifting weights. I just ache. I consider this a good thing. I gave myself yesterday off and did it again today. I won't be able to walk by the weekend.

That's all really.

Mini-Vac

A world of translations there, really. Especially considering that on this, the first day of my four-day-weekend, I intend to do a lot of cleaning. I actually vacuumed the other day (when the dogs shredded the bed), so I can probably skip that step. However, since Arizona is the dirtiest place I've ever lived--enough dust here to choke a small country--I may just have to whip it out again. The vacuum cleaner that is.

So, yeah, I am the first recipient of the newly initiated Four Day Weekend. Supposedly this is a new, regular thing to be rotated amongst the supervisors for the rest of eternity. What a cool thing. I hope it does happen again and that I have some forewarning so we can actually plan to do something cool, like pawn the dogs off on someone and skip town. As it is, I plan on the aforementioned cleaning and some gaming. I'm going to try to convice Russell to go on a little hike with me at some point over the weekend, and I would LOVE to go look at some new wheels. The weather is going to turn hot sooner or later and I am going to roast in my truck. Oh, and I think tonight we're going to go see a co-worker of his play some music. Heaven!

I did put together (finally) the CD rack that Bucket tried to eat, and despite missing a few important bits (the kickboard and the top) it's not really too bad. Now I just need to wade through the storage unit to rescue the remainder of the CDs and it will all be good. Actually we just need to empty out the storage unit entirely and save ourselves the $80/month or whatever it is. Perhaps this weekend will be a "clean-out-the-second-bedroom-slash-junk-room" adventure.

I'll keep you posted.

There are days

The dogs ate one of their beds this morning. Well, it doesn't really look like much was ingested, so I suppose it's more truthful to say that they shredded one of their beds. It's been a long time coming--bits and bits and bits have been pulled and we shout "NO" and they stop until they think we've forgotten about it. This morning they went for broke and I awoke to find a loft full of fiberfil and cedar chips. Fun stuff.

Now they are laying on the naked carpet looking sad and I'm so cold all I can think is "HA! You did this to yourselves!"

It's the 26th of January and I don't really think that I have committed to living in Phoenix yet. I haven't changed my driver's license or my truck's license plate. I haven't taken the dogs in to get new Arizona tags. I don't do anything but play video games and work. I need to make some friends or somehow get involved in something here so I can start to make it home. I feel like I'm still in that limbo I was in before the house sold in OKC--like I don't really belong anywhere. I have a four day weekend coming up and no plans. I really should do something about that.

Okay. Well, that said, I'm off. To play. I was going to go for a walk, but who am I kidding? It's 10 past 8pm, it's dark, and it's probably raining again. Yes. More rain. All it ever does here in ARIZONA is rain. I'm not lying. Exaggerating, yes. Lying, no. There have been floods recently. Yesterday something like 6 of 8 water treatment plants were not functioning because of flood related problems.

Anyway.

untitled

why do I have to title my posts anyway? so much pressure! and then I feel obligated to stick to some sort of imposed theme or subject. "colour *inside* the lines!" bah.

So today has been Sunday. I was off work--at least the paying sort--so when Russell and I got up I went straight to housework, doing some dishes, laundry, and general cleaning stuff while Russell continued some work on a way cool website he's doing. I took Bucket to the dog park (again! twice in two days!?? amazing!), where he charmed most everyone with his big goofy grin. I say *most* everyone, because I don't think the woman whose folding chair cover he peed on was very impressed. ;)

We splurged and ordered out from Claimjumpers (it's a free day for us diet-wise--which is not to say that we are "dieting" as much as just trying to eat more healthfully and, well, less), and now we are waiting somewhat impatiently for our game's log-in servers to come up so we can play!

that's all really. just killin time.

Whack (out of)

It feels like Monday to me, which is oh-so-confusing because it is, indeed, Friday. I'm glad to be working primarily early and mid-day shifts lately, but the days off in the middle of the week thing still throws me for a loop every time.

So it's 20 til 9 and I have to leave in about one hour for work. The dogs are wrestling at my feet, eager to get out all their energies before they get to rest up again in their crates for the day. Tonight they'll do it all again. Will they *ever* slow down?

Don't know if Shanny ever got to see the link, so I'll mention that the cool gift I got was an iPod Shuffle--a teensy little gadget that weighs about, oh, NOTHING, and holds 512k worth of songs. That's about 5-7 hours of music if I'm not mistaken. Woohoo! Plenty for me, and it shuffles everything automatically, so you never get the same mix of stuff. Very nifty. I downloaded and subsequently uploaded a bunch of stuff last night, and I'm going to do the crazy thing and listen to it on my way to work today. A test drive as it were.

Now, the aforementioned bump to the head is doing much better. The swelling has gone down and the scratch is crusting up sooooo nicely. :/ I was watching my feet instead of my head the other day at work, and in order to clear some clutter on the floor I had to sort of hop it. When I did this, I leaped unknowingly into the "Big Joe" (pallet jack) that was at half-mast *with* a pallet on it. My right temple met up with a corner of said pallet in a very dramatic fashion. I dropped to the floor and cried a bit before being ushered into a dark office with a bag of frozen vegetables. Fun times.

Breakfast time for me--ciao!

Lookeee!

My honey surprised me with a new toy when I got home last night, which was a welcome distraction from the aching head I had after leaping oh-so-ungracefully into the corner of a half-mast pallet lift at work. More about that later...

Check this out!

Combine this new gem with the news that I've finally gotten my cds out of storage (well, most of them) after over a year--I never really unpacked them/had access to them at The House in OK--and you have one VERY happy girl. And I have tomorrow off from work and perhaps this will be my new WoW!

Of course this is incentive to work out, so I need to get back down to the gym and shell out the bucks for that... ;)

And to shell out bucks, I need to work, and to work I need to be dressed and ready to leave in 20 minutes. Ack!

World of Difference

again, not writing for some time has garnered more responses than my actual posts.

hmm

Lots has been going on, primary being that I have a new job.

Not really. But it feels that way. My old boss was "suspended pending investigation" on New Year's Eve. Didn't see that coming, but as it turns out, it was painfully overdue. I'm finding out new horrors daily, such as: Small wonder we all felt strung out and frustrated and sick throughout the holiday season--we were apparently about 25-30 bodies short on staff. We had over 230 hours of overtime for the month of December; our new manager, who transferred from another store, was concerned that his previous location had around 30 hours. I have learned more and taken on more responsibility in the past two weeks than I had the previous two months.

We have a new General Manager and an additional Assistant GM, and they have been wonderful to work with. Communication is happening. Praise is being given. Organisation is happening. I like going to work now.

A great deal of that may have to do with the fact that we aren't as busy now that the holidays have passed. A bigger part may be that I have been working primarily day shifts for about a week and a half. All that really matters is that it is a much better place to be now, and I'm not nauseated before leaving for work anymore.

There's more, like how we went to Ikea to buy some CD cabinets and Bucket ate one of them before we even got it out of the box. And how horribly awful a movie Napoleon Dynamite is while, at the same time, being completely endearing. And that we are Arrested Development junkies (got the DVD collection for Christmas, if I didn't mention that previously). And how my best friend in the whole world even England is going to have a BABY!

But I won't go into all that right now. I'm stinky and need to bathe.

listen

I just had a beautiful two days--in a row--off with my honey. He has this week off from work (we won't discuss the enviousness I feel about this), and I somehow got Monday and Tuesday off, so after months of living the "two ships that pass in the night" life, we actually got to hang out. It was GREAT. We played WoW (of course), went shopping for a new office chair for me (one of my Christmas presents--woohoo!), took Bucket to the dog park that we accidentally discovered and which happens to be pretty damn close to the house, went grocery shopping--all the stuff that we used to do. We watched a couple episodes of "Arrested Development" (the first season DVD was another of my gifts), ate a bunch of junk food (New Years is just around the corner and we're bingeing before the Resolutions begin!), and just enjoyed our time together.

And now it's Wednesday and I have to be at work in just over an hour. And I feel sick. Not really physically sick, you know? It's all psychological. I DON'T want to go to work. I dread it. It's a long story, but there is a lot of bad feeling going around right now about certain people being played favourites to. There is also the non-suportive/non-communicative GM made *more* frustrating by the fact that the AGM is out of town this week. She is amazing and supportive and communicative and fun...and she's been gone since last Thursday. It's been very tough without her.

Anyway. It's time to start thinking very seriously about how to approach yet another job hunt. I would love to quit cold turkey, but the responsible side of me says "Wait until you've found something else!". So that's probably what I'll do. Sort of depends on how things work out for this Saturday. That's another long story (and ties in with the favouritism mentioned above)...I'll let you know how it turns out, at least.

later.

A Long Time Ago

Churches were the center of any town or community. The buildings were not merely used for religious practice; they were meeting halls and schools and, sometimes, centers of defense in times of need. They had very tall spires or towers so that people could locate them easily from miles around.

Yesterday morning I drove East on the 101 at 6:30 in the morning. In the distance I saw, to my horror, the giant blue spire that sits at the corner of the shopping district where I work. I had never realised that at night it is lit up and visible for miles and miles. So are shopping centers the new churches? Do they now give our cities their sense of self? "Here is Our Shopping Center! Behold its Majesty! Revel in its Importance to our Community!"

It kinda seems that way as the holiday approaches and there are so many thousands of people out fighting traffic and lines in order to gift family and friends with lots of "things". More than once as I have rung up a harried shopper's purchase at the store I have wondered when, if ever, these folks think about why Christmas even exists as a holiday. Pagan and Christian, there are pretty deep roots to all this "celebration", and I think all or most of it has been lost to the monsters of marketing.

So. Here's my challenge to you: if you are celebrating some sort of winter festival this year, be it Hannuka, Christmas, Solstice, Kwanzaa, or whatever...take a moment or two to stop and think about it. Give the season a little bit of reverence amidst the shopping and spending and wrapping and baking and eating. I'm not saying that all that stuff is wrong; I'd be a hypocrite to do so (I'm going out to finish my holiday shopping as soon as I'm done here)--I'm just saying that regrounding ourselves from time to time and remembering to be thankful and reverent (to Mother Nature or Jesus or, heck, yourself and your family--whomever floats yer boat) is a needed activity.

That said, I'm off to see the wizard... ;)

A Few Things. . .

If the hot cocoa cannister says "mix with 8oz warm milk..." don't imagine that substituting water will be a nice alternative. The cocoa folks know what they are talking about.

If you are holding a tube of pre-mixed pesto sauce and need to cut the top off for serving purposes, HOLD THE BOTTOM OF THE TUBE...not the top bit you are cutting off.

Guys: Soaking your dishes will win you points EVERY TIME. Leaving pizza sauce and cheese crusty plates in the sink to be washed will not.

Countdown

The desert is not a good place to have a holiday like Christmas. I'm having a hard enough time adjusting to the no-cold-no-green aspect; the lack of snow or even frost on my windshield just throws me completely off kilter. It doesn't seem possible that Christmas is 11 days away. I started shopping *yesterday* after a chat with my mom on the phone gave me the appropriate "D'OH" response.

On the up side, real trees are much less expensive here. Proximity to the mountains and all, I guess.

Another odd thing about this place is that there are trucks that hose down the desert. That's right. Any desert that encroaches on civilization (read that again and THINK about it...) is given a good water bath on a regular basis to keep the dust down. There is actually a sign in our neighbourhood that lists a toll-free number that residents can call if they feel the dust is not being appropriately nullified. Last night on my way home I found myself behind a big water truck that was spewing out thousands of gallons of water onto the side of the road.

*sigh*

ze's page

Oh! And explore ze's page!

It's fantastic stuff.

Okaaaaaaaay!

I've gotten more comments from *not* writing than when I was making a concerted effort. So while I wait for my mud mask to dry, I guess I can jot a few words (do we "jot" any more? sometimes pens feel so foreign in my hand) to my bereft readers.

You may have noticed that my last entry was November 21st. World of Warcraft came out on the 23rd. Hence my absence from most things resembling real life. WoW is the reason there is a layer of dogfur 1/4 inch thick covering every surface of the house. WoW is the reason frozen dinners are the meal of choice (well, that and the fact that I've been getting home from work at 12am and who wants to fire up the stove at that time of night?). The game consumes us as we try to attain levels and gear and OMG we are such geeks!

There are worse habits, you know. We are not drug addicts or gamblers. Neither of us smokes, robs liquor stores, or engages in kiddie porn. We pay roughly $30 a month to play a video game during most of our waking moments. There *ARE* worse habits.

So now that that has been loosed upon you, I'll return to matters more mundane, such as the fact that I have the next day and 1/2 off. What a welcome respite from the Wild World of Retail. I have promised myself for the past few days that I would spend my weekend looking for another job. I should hold myself to that. I've decided that a boring M-F 8-5 job might not be so bad after all. It's a trade off really... Do a job I enjoy during the worst possible hours, or do a job I can tolerate and have evenings and weekends to see my honey and have a life? I'd like to make my life and my job two separate entities, and right now that's just not happening. Who wants to socialise or shop or go for mt. bike rides at 2am? So maybe there are a few people, but I suspect they are a select group and not at all easy to hook up with. Thank you, but I'll take the travelled road on this one.

And then there is this. Totally unrelated, but something that has stuck with me for over a week now. I was driving to Mesa to deliver our rent check and I drove past what appeared to be a cotton field. Not sure that's what it was, as it seems unlikely that such a crop would grow in Arizona, but that's what it looked like. Big billowy tufts of white all dotting this huge field. And suddenly there I was, getting all verklempt thinking that it looked like snow and missing Oklahoma of all things! It's been raining here for days but we will not see snow unless we travel to the mountains. I miss winter.

Anyway. There you go.