The Last Lecture

Oh. My. God.

Have you read it? ALL parents should read it. More than that, ALL people should read it. I honestly don't think a book has ever moved me the way this just did. And I haven't even heard/saw the actual lecture. If you've not heard about it, the isn't the actual lecture, it's the story behind the lecture.

I read the entire thing, though it's not all that long, today. Yup, just today.

There are so many quotes that I'd like to take from that book, print on beautiful paper, put in a frame, and hang in my home. So many incredible words to live by.

I put this off for awhile, not because I didn't want to read it, I just never got around to it. I'm sad I waited so long. I want to start it over again, right now.

Go buy it. Get it from the library. Whatever. Just read it.

Phoenix (5)

My aunt is a painter. We were lucky enough to get to go to the unveiling of one of her paintings while we were there. It was a first for me, and I was so excited to be there!

Like I've said before, my aunt and uncle live at the base of south mountain. The mountain is part of the Phoenix park system, encompassing more than 16,000 acres. The parks own a number of horses to help the rangers patrol the grounds. Last year, one of the city's favorite horses, Cisco, passed away.

No one had honored him, so my aunt decided to paint him, and gave the painting to the park, specifically to hang in the office of Ranger Don, who raised him.

Here is my aunt Jacque, Cisco, and Ranger Don.

(Ranger Don cried when the painting was unveiled. Cisco was a part of his family, and he was moved to have him honored this way).

My grandparents enjoying the morning.

Ranger Katie, Cisco, Cholla (pronounced Choy-uh) - Cisco's stallmate, and another ranger, I sadly forget his name.

Cisco and Cholla.

Can you see the "i" is dotted with a ladybug? And "Cisco" is written in rope. Too cute.

Cisco's final home. The wall above Ranger Don's desk.

Phoenix (4)

Friday, June 24th. The Diamondbacks vs. The Angels.

Chase Field (a.k.a. the BOB)

The "D-backs" has to be the worst nick-name in baseball. All I can think of whenever I hear it is "D-bags." It was fun to be there, though. It's a great, great stadium. Sadly, they suck. Just as bad as the Indians suck. Ugh.

The whole stadium.

Roof closed. Before the game started. They keep it closed all day, and open in just before game time (if it's not too hot, they basically keep it closed all the time in July and Aug).

Roof and side walls open. It takes just over 4 minutes to open the entire roof.

It's pretty crazy to watch how fast, and silently, it moves.

Phoenix (3)

Just some random pictures:

My aunt and uncles beautiful home. At the base of South Mountain.

A snake! For real! See it? In the front yard.

There he is again. A Bull Snake. He was easily 5-6 feet long.

(they're harmless, unless you count the heart attack my husband almost had when he found him about 2 feet from where he was standing, barefoot!)

Just another view from the house. That is their neighbor's house in the distance.

Phoenix (2)

One day, Ry and I took a road trip up to a town called Fountain Hills, a little northeast of Phoenix. This place is filled with absolutely beautiful homes - huge homes. It's at the foothills of some mountains (no clue what they're called). In the center of the town is a small lake. That was our ultimate destination.

In the center of this lake is a geyser. It is supposedly the tallest geyser in the US.

Little did I know, upon making the plans to go here, that the geyser is man-made.

Ry is still making fun of me for thinking it was real.

(aside from that - how cool is this bird in the pic?)

Whatever. It's still cool to see water shot 500 and some feet in the air.

And it was a beautiful day. (and the most green grass I've ever seen in the Phoenix area!)

Phoenix (1)

These are long overdue, but here are some pics from our trip to Phoenix. This first group is from our 2nd day there - we went down to a town called Eloy to an indoor skydiving center.

Here are some of the "professionals" flying around inside this giant windtunnel. They were pretty amazing. Fun to watch.

Next, my Uncle Tom and his grandson, Grant, getting reading for their first flight. Grant is 7 years old. He was excited, but very nervous too. For a minute, I wasn't sure he was going to go through with it.

Uncle Tom flying. (they were never without one of the pro's)

Grant, loving it!

How adorable is he? He had a blast, but said he doesn't ever need to do it again!

(more from the whole vacation to come)

Eat Pray Love

I just starting reading this book this afternoon. I'm only four (very short) chapters in. I'm not entirely sure I'm going to enjoy this book just yet, but I'm not giving up. (My mom really didn't like it much, my cousin loved it.) So, who knows where I'll end up.

All I know is that in the 3rd chapter, the author pretty much sums up my thoughts on God, or religion. in different bits and pieces of different paragraphs. So, I thought I'd share them, in an effort for you to understand my point too:

...let me first explain why I use the word God, when I could just as easily used the words Jehovah, Allah, Shiva, Brahma, Vishnu or Zeus...for this same reason, when I pray, I do not address my prayers to The Universe, The Great Void, The Force, The Supreme Self, The Whole, The Creator, The Light, The Higher Power...

I have nothing against any of these terms. I feel they are all equal because they are all equally adequate and inadequate descriptions of the idescribable.

Culturally, though not theologically, I'm a Christian...and while I do love the great teacher of peace who was called Jesus, and while I do reserve the right to ask myself in certain trying situations what indeed He would do, I can't swallow that one fixed rule of Christianity insisting that Christ is the only path to God. Strictly speaking, then, I cannot call myself a Christian...

In the end, what I have come to believe about God is simple. It's like this - I used to have this really great dog. She came from the pound. She was a mixture of about ten different breed, but seemed to have inherited the finest features of them all. She was brown. When people asked me, "What kind of dog is that?" I would always give the same answer: "She's a brown dog." Similarly, when the question is raised, "What kind of God do you believe in?" my answer is easy: "I believe in a magnificent God."

And there you have it. That's me, re: God, in a nutshell. Thanks Elizabeth Gilbert.

Oh my gosh...my husband is O-L-D!

Yeah, but I'm still older. Sadly, I suppose I can't change that!

Happy 30th Birthday R!

I hope your day is fabulous!
I LOVE YOU!

This was R's birthday celebration 2 years ago. In NYC.

That's MD, Mickey D, *Ben from Dublin - our favorite NYC bartender*, me & R.

At O'Lunney's. (we went in for A beer, and left $360 later...)

Happy BIRTHday Today!

My friends, JZ (not the famous one) and EZ (that sounds bad), had their first baby today.

Kira Blair Z

was born this morning at 3:38 am., one week early.

7 lb 6 oz

20 1/4 inches

Cannot wait to meet you Baby Z!

Love, hugs, and kisses,

Sarah

I'm not complaining,

I'm just saying, it's June 30 and it's only 66 degrees outside right now (at 9:30pm).

I'm enjoying it.

We've yet to turn our air conditioning on. Granted, if we would have been home last week, I'm sure we would have. But I love having the windows open instead, and so far our house hasn't really gotten too warm.

(blow-drying my hair is another story, but I survive)

...mmmm...right now someone in our neighborhood is burning a fire. smells so good...

(funny joke)

Two young boys walked into a pharmacy one day, picked out a box of tampons and proceeded to the checkout counter.

The man at the counter asked the older boy, "Son, how old are you?"

"Eight," the boy replied.

The man continued, "do you know what these are used for?"

The boy replied, "not exactly, but they aren't for me. They're for him. He's
my brother. He's four. We saw on TV that if you use these you would be able
to swim and ride a bike.

Right now, he can't do either."

I'm Home!

Actually, we've been home since late Sunday night. I've got pics to share, but they're still on my camera, and I don't see them jumping into my computer any time this week - too busy. But they shall come, I promise.

The middle of my trip

Today is the halfway point of my visit to AZ. It's flying by. I can't stand that.

Let me just tell you that I have the best family in the world. (I'm sure you can argue the same thing, but no matter what, I won't believe you.) We're staying with my aunt and uncle, and they could not be more gracious hosts.

Highlights so far:

-the aunt and uncle live at the base of south mountain (the southern mtn that makes Phoenix a valley). Their backyard is part of a wildlife refuge. This means that we have already seen a few coyote, some wild boar, a ton of jackrabbits, hawks and other birds. We've even seen two, yes two, scorpions in their house! That is EXTREMELY rare. It has something to do with the weather and the fact that they live in the middle of protected land. Don't worry, the large animals have no way of entering their yard - they've got a pretty massive fence. It's just so pretty.

-We took a trip down to the town of Eloy, near Casa Grand, and about halfway or so between Phoenix and Tuscon. In Eloy, they have an indoor skydiving place. We watched my uncle and 7 year old cousin spend time in the simulator. It was awesome, and I have a couple great pictures to share later.

-We're having some special time with my grandparents. It's really hard to think about without crying, so that's all I'm saying.

-Ry and I took a little trip by ourselves yesterday to a town called Fountain Hills, which is near Scottsdale. There they have the tallest geyser in the world. So what if I didn't realize it was man-made when I decided to go. (that's disappointing, but still cool to see). Then we drove around the ASU campus. Looks like a fun place - oh, wait, it is always on the biggest party schools in the country! Then we stopped and had some margs and chips and salsa at a favorite little restaurant of mine out here, Z Tejas. We had a fun day.

-Oh, had a 20-person party for Father's Day on Sunday. Saw lots of our extended, a.k.a. acquired-because-they-have-no-other-family-in-AZ, family from out here. Another good day.

-Today some other cousins will be joining us from Ohio. Dinner at Nando's - GREAT Mexican and Margs! Mmmm...one of the best bonuses of being here, really fantastic Mexican food!

For the rest of the week - a casino trip for a couple hours of blackjack, a Diamondback's-Angels game, and evening out at the Tempe bars with my cousin and her new fiance.

Oh, how I wish this could last a month instead of a week!

Some fun

Bored?

Even if you're not, you should check out this lovely website, Texts From Last Night.

No explanation needed. Just hilarious.

Blogger was making me mad

I no longer can adjust the size of the pictures I upload into posts. What's that all about? So everything I was posting was cut in half. I couldn't figure it out, so I decided to change layouts.

And I get bored quickly anyway, so this is cool.

Not that I've been all too regular at posting things around here lately, but please excuse the upcoming break

I'M GOING TO PHOENIX!

You all have no idea how excited I am for this trip. We're leaving this Friday, the 19th, we'll be out there until Sunday the 28th. I've got some family out there - grandparents, aunt & uncle, cousins...and a (YAY!) newly engaged cousin!

It's been 5 years since I've been out there. Whoa. That's entirely too long of a time, and it makes me sad. They've all been here a time or two since then, but still. My grandparents have had a rough year, they're getting up there in age and it's extremely difficult for me to deal with. (I know it's hard for the rest of my family too...but ask anyone, I'm my grandma's favorite. She'll even tell you that! And yes, I'm a brat about it. We've got that special connection.) It's difficult because it's them, but it's also difficult to be so far away, and see all the burden placed on my one aunt.

We've got a few things planned while we're out there, but nothing major. My plan is to spend as much time and have as many laughs as possible with my family. I was told to just sit and listen to my grandparents talk to each other - apparently it's the best entertainment around. We'll be going to at least one Diamondback's game (my aunt and uncle have awesome season tickets), and hopefully we'll make a day trip to Caduceus Cellars and Merkin Vineyards to support our boy, Maynard James Keenan. (**pseudo bonus points if you know who he is). We'll celebrate that new engagement, and a couple birthdays. I might get to go flying with someone who is actually a patient of mine. (Yes, she lives in AZ, but she's worn hearing aids since she was a little girl, and she doesn't trust anyone but us! And since she's a pilot, she doesn't have a hard time getting here!). I want to go up with her like crazy. My husband....not so much. We shall see.

I just know that little Lila is going to be born, as well as another baby girl who is yet to be named, while we're away. Sure, I'll have access to the internet out there, but I plan on being too busy to check it very often. It also pains me that I'll be so [relatively] close to Lila and her parents and won't actually see them! Doi! Oh babies! So fun.

The weather report for Phoenix, AZ over the next week or so. 99/99/103/107/108! Holy cow, we'll be hot. :) Duh.

I obviously don't remember how to use blogger.

The previous post is a mess.

I'm too tired and still not feeling well, so I'm not going to mess with it.

Sorry, AJ. ;)

Because I'm proud. And she's cool.

My mom's sister, Aunt Jacque, is an artist. A painter, to be more specific. (anyone who has been

in my home has seen a ton of her work, and her website, QuantumArtInc is always linked on the sidebar).

I just got this email from her. She and her business partner, John (who works with copper) were recently featured in an arts magazine in their homestate of Arizona.

This is the two of them on the cover.

Abercrombie & Fitch is Smelly. Ew.

The ONLY shorts my husband will wear are from A&F.  (y'know...the cargo/khaki shorts that seem to be on every guy all summer long).  Today he went to the mall all by himself, which is a big deal in itself, but that's another story not worth telling.

He got home and showed me his purchases, then handed the shorts to me so that I can take out the drawstrings that he hates.  The scent of their stupid cologne blind-sided me.  Do you know that they actually pump that shit out of misters in the ceiling all day long?  Gggguuuuhhhh-ross.

I can't imagine working there.  I mean, when the store first opened here, I liked the smell.  Now it's just abused.  I think working there would match right up with working at McDonald's, and smelling like grease.  Or working at Tim Horton's and smelling like a bagel bakery.

Now my cat is playing in the bag.  I probably won't be able to cuddle with him tonight because he's going to be a stinkercrombie and fitch cat soon.

I've got the icks.

Well, since Monday late night, I've been battling a sore throat.  I think it's just post-nasal drip (ew), there are no red or white bumps on the back of my tonsil-less throat.  It just looks red and raw.

I can't blow a darn thing from my nose, so wherever it's coming from it just keeps dripping and dripping.

Problems with this:  1. I can't sleep.  Every time I try I wake up coughing or choking on the drippage.  2. Most of this drippage is making it's way right now into my stomach (ew, again) which always always makes me throw-up.  (check.  did it once last night).

Now, I feel like I'm losing my voice.  This has only happened to me once before.

My question to you:  Have you ever used a nettie pot?  I'm intrigued and terrified of these things all at the same time.  The concept makes sense to me, but holy hell!  I'm not sure I can do that to myself!  Please share your experiences, even if they're gross.

The wandering...it happens again

Still doing the same task. Sending letters to patients. I'm in the B's now.

New name: Beauregard

I go straight to Willy Wonka.

Violet Beauregard: What is this? A freakout?

And Sam Beauregard:

Violet, you're turning violet, Violet.

Don't talk to me about contracts, Wonka. I use them myself. They're strictly for suckers.

I want the world. I want the whole world. I want to lock it all up in my pocket. It's my bar of chololate. Give it to me now!

-----

I think this means I'm terribly bored with this task.

Fraud Alert

I received 2 phone calls today on my cell phone from 302-731-1166. I didn't answer either of them, and they did not leave a message. I google the number and found all of this info on fraudulent activity to Bank of America cards.

Wait...I have a Bank of America credit card. I've had it for 10 years. It's in my wallet. I very, very, very rarely use it. I never carry a balance. Hmmm....

So then I access my acct online, only to find over $1500 worth of pending charges to my acct that I DID NOT MAKE! I immidiately called the number on the back of my card. They were extraordinarily helpful. Cancelled my acct and will watch those pending charges. If they actually are charged, my acct will be credited. No other questions asked.

This has NEVER happened to me before. It freaked me out and now my head feels like someone is hitting it repeated with a hammer.

This stuff just pisses me off.

You wanna know what bothers me?

The people who use ETSY like it's Ebay.

Like the "vintage red teapot" I just saw for sale.

Dude, you didn't make that, so it doesn't belong on ETSY.

My mind wanders...

Do you ever have those days? Or those thoughts?

Just now, I'm sending out some letters to patients. There were a few I had to send to people with the last name Callahan (I'm fairly certain I'm not violating any HIPPA regs here, that's almost like saying the name Smith).

I think about the name Callahan.
Then I think of Callahan Auto Parts (Tommy Boy).
Then I start singing fat guy in a little coat.

Then I'm just laughing at myself. All alone. In my office.

Weirdo.

Hello, Twitter?

I haven't been able to get into the website all day?

What's up with that?

(No TweetDeck at work. Just the regular website)

Random Thoughts

I've obviously not been blogging much the last few months. Not exactly sure why, but I guess there has been a lot going on in my life. (Don't worry - things are fine).

That being said, here's what's on my mind:

-John & Kate. Whoa. That episode was disturbing. It made me sad. I DO NOT agree with everyone that says they signed up for all this attention. I think it started out at this little story, and it just took off, out of control. What does make me mad is that if all this attention and Kate's new job, etc. are what is causing their problems - quit. Make a change. And if they're under contract by TLC - shame on TLC for not letting them out to work on their lives.

-The humidity today is atrocious. That is why I left my hair curly today. I don't like it. (My husband's cousin told me I looked like a lion the last time I saw him with my curly hair. Now that's all I think of).

-I wish my Godson lived closer. I got to spend time with him this past weekend and I'm just completely in love with that little 2 y/o. I haven't stopped thinking of him.

-OH! I have a new obsession - www.Geni.com. A heard about it from a friend, and I've been working on it waaaaayyyy too much. I currently have 329 people in my tree, finding some birth/death dates back to the 1650's. (I'm finding most things at www.rootsweb.com, and then putting the info on Geni.) I've got a bunch of family members joinging my tree and helping me find dates and spouses and all kinds of stuff. I did a geneology project in high school, where I found ancestors back to the 1400's in France, but my parents have my binder, and I've yet to go get it from them. I can't wait to get my hands on that, so I can add more.

-I spent quite a lot of time this weekend trying to get the outside of my new house looking good. I never thought about having to work with a blank slate outside...but here I am. Our yard was hydro-seeded 3 weeks ago, and we're getting a nice yard. Patchy, but nice. I'm sure it will take a couple years of TLC to get the yard we want. I planted one of our flower beds, mulched, bought furniture for our front porch along with some planters. I'm in love. As much as I liked the look of our house when we moved in in October, I love it so much more now...it's starting to looked like a loved, lived-in home. (I'll get pics up here soon).

-I actually have a relatively free weekend this week. It'll be nice. No weddings (after 3 over the past 2 weekends), only a surprise birthday party for a neighbor, but since we can walk there, it's no big deal to me.

Cheers.

Happy Memorial Day.

More I Do's

Had another wedding this past saturday (2 actually, but only attended one) and we've got another one this saturday. Busy, busy wedding year, yet again.

It got me thinking about my wedding and all my friends weddings.

Questions:

1. What was your wedding song?
2. What were your colors?
3. Flowers?
4. Did you or your husband (wife) cry?
5. How long have you been married?

This isn't me right now (sure, there are days), but this is just funny to me.

My first book signing (as an attendee, not author)

Last night I too a short little road trip up with MickeyDee and Guilty Money to see my current favorite author, Jen Lancaster.

You can find her blog HERE
Her tweets HERE
You can buy her books HERE

Yeah, so I'm slightly obsessed. You will be too once you read her stuff.

Back to the signing. We had to drive about an hour and a half to get up there (I think Bloomfield Hills? I forget...even though I was the one driving. Thank God for Daniel, the GPS guy). We walked in just as it was all getting started. Problem! They were all sold out of her new release. Bummer - not only because I wanted her to sign it, but because I want to READ it! So, we all buy one of her old books to have signed.

We go upstairs and listen to her read aloud one of the chapters from the new book. Freakin' hilarious. (as we all thought - we should be her besties, she so funny). Then she does a question/answer. Some nice questions, some annoyingly dumb questions.

As we were listening, a girl walked up to me and asked me "who is this?"
ME: "Huh? It's Jen Lancaster" a) why are you at a book signing if you don't know who it is
DUMB-O "Oh, what does she write?" b) your talking is interrupting my listening to HER. I didn't come to listen to you!
ME: I'm just holding up my book because I'm not here to talk to you, I'm here to listen. Duh.
The dumb-o girl then walks up to another girl and bothers her. At least she understood my annoyance. Geeze.

So, then we wait. And wait. And wait. We're going to be the last ones to get our books signed. It's about 8:20 now, and we've got a drive home. Not to mention we haven't had dinner yet. Stomach's growling.

Then, nice Barne's and Noble lady walks up and asks us if we want to order the new book, they will have her sign it, then they will ship it to us for free.

Super.

Not one of us thought about NOT doing that.

We paid. We hit the road.

Had a great italian dinner.

Home at around 12:30.

Needless to say, I'm exhausted today.

Google Chrome

I'm impressed.

I just downloaded the Google Chrome browser, and so far, so good.  I've been thinking about it for awhile, but I was skeptical it would really be "so much faster."  

Well, it is.

I've got a rather slow computer.  It's a cheapy, really.  I just got it to finish up my last few months of school a couple years ago, and it served it's purpose, and them some.  But it is slow - very slow compared to my husband's MacBook (which I'd much rather use anyway, but it belongs to his school, so I don't always get it).

So far Google Chrome has made my internet much speedier!

HDNet

Anyone get this channel?
If you do, do you ever watch it?

I typically have no idea what channel I'm watching, when I watching a show - except for those couple programs (Brother & Sisters and Castle, or sports) that I watch regularly.

BUT - HDNet (on Sundays). It's pretty awesome. They play a whole line-up of concerts every Sunday. Our TV has basically been on HDNet all day. (Channel #694 - part of the HDTV plus pack)

Today's list:
Backstreet Boys
Pink
Robyn
Tenacious D (on right now)
Queen & Paul Rogers
Mike & The Mechanics and Paul Carrack
The Moody Blues
Ringo Starr & The All Starr Band.

Fun stuff.

Corn on the Cob

How do you eat your corn on the cob?

Straight across, like a typewriter?

-or-

Around in circles, spiraling from one end to the other?

We had some for dinner tonight. It was surprisingly good for this early in the season.
I'm a spiral-eating girl.
R eats his like a typewriter.
Just thought it was kinda funny.

Today purchase

I got myself a little birthday present today. I guess 31 is when you start getting excited about and buying yourself cleaning tools for your birthday. So, today's Bed, Bath & Beyond purchase was the Shark Steam Mop. ($99 with that 20% office coupon works out pretty nicely).

Now, instead of that crappy little Swiffer Wetjet, or a dirty mop and bucket, I just have to fill this little guy with water, plug it in, wait 30 seconds for it to heat up, and mop. It's got these nifty pads that stick to the bottom that you just toss in the washing machine to clean and then reuse. (It was rather amazing how dirty that pad was after I used it tonight....ew.) And it's cleaning and sanitizing with nothing more than water/steam. No chemicals.

I like.

31derful.

It's very, very difficult to believe that it's been an entire year since I was freaking out about my 30th birthday. Today, I'm 31. Not nearly as heart-wrenching for me as the day I turned 30.

I was 30 for an entire year! Whoa. Seems like that went by unordinarily fast.

Friday after work, I came home to new patio furniture! Lovely.

Last night, I went to a MudHens game with 22 of my friend and family. (that sentence sounds really weird, but I can't work too hard fixing it right now...)

I got to hold a baby at his very first baseball game. And he was obnoxiously cute in his little red baseball cap. (He's 3 months old)

Had a blast. Ended up at a bar by my house with live music. Recognized the guitar player from an now broken-up band of my college days. They sang some Johnny Cash for me, and some OAR. I had too many shots and a few too many beers. But, I had so much fun. And then, for some reason unknown, 4 of us went to The Waffle House. My huband ordered 15 strips of bacon, and the waitress kinda freaked out. He ate them all. We laughed.

We laughed ALL night.

There's not much better than laughing for hours on end.

Happy Birthday to me.

Wedding!

This past Saturday, my cousin Emily got married! Saturday could not have been a more perfect day if they planned it - the weather was amazing!

HERE are some of the professional pictures by one of my favorites, Sarah J.

(I've got some to share too, but they obviously don't hold a candle to her work!....hopefully I'll get mine up tonight!)

To a fault...

You Are Chamomile

You are a peaceful, relaxed person. Nothing really gets under your skin. You appreciate coziness and comfort. There's nothing you like better than a good nap. You don't let yourself stress or worry. You believe all things work out in the end. You are able to remain serene in the middle of a storm. You believe it's important to be a gentle person.

What Herb are You?

One of my new favorite things.

(that would be Vanilla Light Silk Soymilk)

Mmmmmmm......

It's especially good on my Special K in the morning.

My Godson's 2nd Birthday

Nate is getting so big! It's crazy. Looks more and more like his daddy every time I see him!
And, he'll be a big brother any day, can't wait to meet little Hannah!

And yep, he's entered the "terrible two's!"
Here he's a little upset that his friend Caroline is hogging his swing.

Happy now that he gets to wear Aunt Lynn's sunglasses!

Joe Cool.

And now rockin' with his new guitar from us!

Puppies are coming!

(I honestly can't remember which one of you bloggers out there was talking about getting a puppy...)

BUT

I just learned that my boss took her dog to the breeders over the weekend, and we will be expecting puppies in May!

If you want more information, let me know!

(here's a pic of two of her other pups from a couple litters ago...Love those faces!)