P.S.

Nat, this is an ode to you and I after our recent conversations. Damn, it's hard to be us!

Arizona, Days 1-2 (Horses & more)

Just flew back yesterday from a much needed vaca to Arizona to soak up some sun and visit my sister's family. Also I had the purpose in mind of finding an apartment that I can move into in 2 years for the winter months--I'm thinking January through March or at the very least, Jan & Feb. More on that later!

Friday I flew out there with my friend K (who also accompanied me last spring to Houston). We got there late that night, what with the trip from the airport to the car rental taking as long as the flight from Omaha to Phoenix! But fortunately things went much better after that.

Saturday we went to a horse ranch and did a 1.5 hour beautiful desert ride.

My neices came along for the free pony rides.

Here is my neice Laurn; she's my goddaughter as well. I think she looks a lot like Lm and her sister Sof looks a lot like Lk.

Here she is with her helmet on, all ready to go!

We wait for our horses...

I won't elaborate here (or elsewhere for that matter) but K&I have basically the identical relationship that my sister had with her ex-boyfriend. Which is really too bad considering what nice guys they are and very easy to get along with. But it's ended up more of a friendship, though a good one at that.

This was an exciting experience for me. Though I'm from a farm, I have only done a couple of trail rides in my life, embarrassingly enough.

And we're off! I gave my sister the camera to take pics of my neices on the ponies.

The horse ride was for me an amazing and inspiring experience. Words nor pictures can describe the beauty that we saw. It was simply a gorgeous landscape with cacti, the mountains, and the desert. The guy who owns and runs the ranch was the inspiration for the Horse Whisperer character in the movie.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch...

...my adorable neices got their pony rides. So cute!

I just want to squeeze those chubby cheeks! Such a cutie.

I had a couple of close calls out on the range, with my horse wanting to eat some of the greenery along the way; he got frightfully close to a cactus on a couple of occasions! Otherwise, definitely an experience that I want to repeat.

Later my sister took my neices to the local park and Sof told a woman there about her pony ride:

"My horse didn't have a penis," she announced.

The woman didn't raise an eyebrow, she just said, "Oh, so yours was a girl horse?"

"Yeah," Sof said. Gotta love her! She is a card!

My boys are going to love it when I take them to that ranch on our next vacation.

Arizona Day 3 (Church, glass, & ribs)

Sunday found K&I at the 10:15 morning Mass at my sister's church. My mom had reminded me several times to go, and I knew she would be calling to ask me about it, so I dragged poor K along to the service. He's a devout agnostic and a couple of times my mom has made reference that I should bring him toward the faith. But after the boring 2 hour service, which included a rock band and a million songs, lots of hand holding with our neighbors, ceremonies throughout for the children (a baptism was even thrown in that lasted 40 minutes), swaying and blessings--I can say he's probably closer to bringing me his way than the other way around!

It did make me thank God for my own parish, which cuts out all that nonsense and sticks to the basics (and gets us out of there in 45 minutes). There is a huge cultural difference in the services on the west coast versus the east coast and midwest. The west coast churches are into the sort of false bonhomie and ribbon-waving that I associate with game show hosts and used car salesmen. Everyone's all smiley and huggy, but no one really gets to truly know each other like they do in the area where I live.

I can see the draw for a lot of people who don't like the more serious services, but I want to just focus on God when I'm there, not rockin' out and socializing during the actual service. K, for his part, thought it was entertaining.

After that we went to the botanical garden and glass show in Pheonix. It was truly amazing! I've been to a lot of exhibits in my day, but this was unique.

Next we drove to the park to meet up with my sister's family.

Here is L. Isn't she a sweetie? A few months ago she was diagnosed with a heart condition that has had my sister very worried. She's such a happy kid, very like her cousin Lm in that regard. It's heartbreaking to think something could happen to our little dolls.

Here's a pic of she and I last year when I came out for her baptism....

And both of us this year at the park. She's gotten so mobile!

Then Sof ran off through the grassy area and it was hard to catch her...she's the little dot at the top!

That night, my sister and BIL got a sitter so that we could all go out to dinner. We had ribs at El Paso. I don't think I've ever NOT gone to that wonderful place any time I've been to AZ.

Arizona, Days 4-5 (Heaven, Bellinis, & babysitting)

Monday was just pure heaven. My sister suggested a resort spa that was the best of the best. I guess even Hollywood stars go there. It's called the Gol*den Door. I didn't bring my camera but below is a stock pic of the pool that doesn't do it justice.

K got a massage while I got a facial and manicure. If you get a service done, you get to use their pool, steam room and hot tub and hang out all day at the spa. We were basically just really decadent and did nothing but go in the jacuzzi, drink Bellinis, and eat shrimp poolside. The weather was absolutely perfect.



That night my sis and BIL went out for dinner while I babysat my neices. K went out to try to find cowboy hats that I could bring home to my hombres. We searched tons of shops and never found toddler cowboy hats. I had to settle for a couple of shirts instead.

With Sof looking so forward to me babysitting, I really felt the pressure to come up with some good games and entertainment! I braided her hair, then we played hide n seek, Simon Says, and School (I was the teacher), puzzles, and more. We fit a lot into that hour and a half. They're so much fun at this age.

Here she is showing off her foot drawing to my sis.

That night we went out to an Irish pub, then made it an early night. We had to be up at the crack of dawn (6:45!) to pack and make our flight.

It was sad to leave. Sof was really sad. I wish we lived closer.

My boys grew about a year in 4 days. I loved reuniting with my little guys!

Flash From the Past

Back in another life, I used to hang out occasionally with my friend Lisa at the tavern listed on the cap in this picture. This was a few years ago when I was right out of college. During college I had been a serious student and really never went through that party stage, but after graduation I cut loose for a couple of years. Lisa was a wild child and introduced me to this place, because before that (and certainly since), I'm more at home in a classy martini bar.

This place was a dive bar located near the correctional center, and it was oft debated which place had more crazy people. The bar had a couple of pool tables, a jar of pickled eggs behind the counter, the rancid smell of cigarette smoke combined with sweat and grease, and a Smith & Wesson next to the register. Lisa and I usually sat at the bar, chatted with the regulars, and chain smoked the night away. Now and then we'd get to watch a fight break out.

My dad caught wind of it (intentionally, I admit, I egged him on), and he didn't like to hear that his daughter was hanging out at such a rough place. So one day when he was delivering hay to a farm near there, he actually dragged my mom into this place for a beer, to find out how bad it really was!

"It cost 80 cents for a half pint!" he railed the next time he saw me. "And there were pickle cards all over the floor!"

Later, over a holiday dinner, we all laughed about it. My dad is a serious and quiet person, which made it all the more hilarious that he'd gone there. For his birthday that year (1996), I purchased this hat in the picture for his collection and he's only worn it a few times, choosing instead to mostly display it.

Last night he picked my kids up from daycare and when I came home, Lm was wearing it. Cracked me up! But it made me think--what if what goes around, comes around??

My kids had better never hang out in such a dive like that!! I would have to put my foot down for sure...

Another Sleepless Night

I got maybe a good 2 hours of sleep in last night. I woke up at 2am and couldn’t fall back asleep the entire night. T’was a combination of factors: just a lot of high pressure things coming to the fore right now in addition to bronchitis and Lk was up coughing half the night as well. Things at wrk are a train wreck now that we’re down to 3 vs. 6 people and me the only one left of the original group. It just seems that lately, absolutely nothing has gone my way.

The one thing I have to look forward to is being gone this weekend, I think it will do me a world of good! Maybe I’ll come back a little refreshed and make some decisions about a few things.

Well, I’m too tired to write anything more. Gotta splash some cold water on my face to make it through an afternoon meeting...