TRADITIONALLY

EMBRACING ARIZONA {2}

IN CONSTANT EFFORT to find love for Arizona, here is another such moment. My grandparents live in Safford. My entire life we traveled back and forth past the Pima cotton fields; it was my favorite part of the drive, still we never stopped. Finally, 28 years later I stopped and looked and smelled and felt at sundown. It was beautiful and in that moment there was no other place I would have liked to be than Arizona in that cotton field.

AVIAN RIPARIAN PARK

NEARLY EVERY SATURDAY Shelby and I go to this amazing bird sanctuary in Gilbert. She asks all week long to go feed the ducks. I love it when Saturday comes and I can get her all excited and actually go! There are so many birds, we always have to bring an entire loaf of bread.
Some pictures from our day.












THIS WAS NOT there 2 weeks ago! It cracked me up. I realize the scientific validity of it all but still.... Hilarious!

BIRTHDAY THANK YOU'S

I JUST WANTED to send out a thank you to everyone who wished me a happy birthday. My friends and family always find a way to make it special. Thank you for all of the emails, cards, food and phone calls. Thank you Aunt Carol for dinner(s) and the cutest mother/daughter aprons, etc..! Thank you to my team at work (Veronica & Michelle) for the cake and the lovely decorations that made it difficult to get into my cubicle that morning! The best part...coming home after work to find my big garbage can wheeled over to my front door protecting and hiding the biggest most beautiful bouquet of flowers I have ever gotten! Thanks about a billion zillion times Amy Jo for not only doing that while you were on your trip in California but for making my birthday one of the best ever!
Even when its hard to keep in touch, I hope all of my friends and family know how grateful I am for them everyday.

BROKEN GETS YELLOW NYLON AND VERSED

EARLY SUNDAY AFTERNOON Shelby and I, whole loaf of bread in tow, loaded up to go to the Avian Riparian Park to feed the ducks, walk around and take some pictures. After getting all strapped in I went to turn the key and... nothin! Just this weird clicking noise. So after several attempts to jump the truck I decided to find a way to tow it to the dealership since it was still under warranty. Lucky me it was closed, so we dropped my keys in an envelope in a slot and without any loaner or rental car got home wondering about work and everything else I had to do the next day without a car. Luckily I found a ride and all was well. I got a call later that day from the dealership telling me that it was in fact the battery and that it would be $187.00 please (quietly - its not covered under your warranty). WHAT!!! two hundred bucks for a battery?! Oh and a list if $1900 worth of routine maintenance that needs to be done, needless to say we skipped that but paid for the stupid battery or I should say, paid for the stupid 10 minutes of labor at the dealership.

WHAT ABOUT THE Versed you ask? Oh, what is Versed?... Versed, A.K.A. Midazolam, is used to produce sleepiness or drowsiness and to relieve anxiety before surgery or certain procedures. It is also used to produce loss of consciousness before and during surgery. (drugs.com)
THE NEXT BROKEN was my nose. (6 days before my insurance benefits kick in) Tuesday morning before work I was getting some laundry out of the dryer (stacked on top of the washer), next to the dryer is a shelf, on the shelf is a dutch oven that I bumped knocking off the lid and onto my face. I am so lucky that the whole thing didn't fall off and crack open my skull. Needless to say I made a trip to the ER, they called in plastics and thankfully the bridge bone was not broken but the cartilage was, well, screwed. A few hours, some Versed, Valium and who knows what else I got that started with a V later. I was fixed. Hopefully well. Under bandage I still have yet to see my nose. Fingers are crossed!

MY RIDICULOUS NEW accessory...



THE CULPRIT...

A 'MINI SERIES' #2

YESTERDAY I FLAT ironed all of Shelbys curls away for some girly fun. She looked so dang cute, here is another little series of her.

INSTANT KARMA

LAST FRIDAY NIGHT after a long day at work and after picking Shelby up from daycare, we headed to the grocery store for a few essential items like bread, milk, eggs, oatmeal, a few veggies and stuff for lunches this week. Shelby decided that she wanted to ride in the "big" basket (where all the groceries go), so in the hopes of averting disaster I moved the eggs up to the "little" basket where kids should be sitting I also at that point moved my purse to the same spot due to Shelbys sneaky ability to riffle through it searching for my credit cards and their fun little slots (instinct I suppose). After checking out and reaching the truck I loaded up the little astronaut and realized I had forgotten to pay for the eggs that were still sitting under my purse. Hungry and tired with a 2 year old already buckled in, I decided that the economy at least owed my family a carton of eggs (all the while realizing that I was in fact trying to justify stealing and I would not want to teach my daughter this behavior). Once home I unloaded everything including the astronaut and realized very quickly that the bagger/check out person at the store forgot to in fact give me my milk. How could I be upset...I totally deserved that!

WHAT A HALLOWEEN

WORK

THE THEME WE went with at work was scrubs/vampires. Not much of a dress up for me...like getting ready to .. well .. go to work at the last job. I personally voted for 80's rockers but I was out voted. It was still a great day, really fun, very, VERY unproductive shift, it was nice!

THE TEAM

JOSH ANDERSON - ME - BRONSON HIGHAM






WORK HAD A few random make shift haunted houses. I slowed down the shutter speed inside and this is what came out...kinda creepy!






THE NOT DISTANT ENOUGH PAST


DURING MY LONG lunch break halloween afternoon, I drove down to the trailer park I spent the first 6 years of my life and the only years that I spent with my father. After I started work in south Phoenix, I knew I was close to it. The yard had been shortened and it was not the same trailer (after nearly 30 years, I would hope not) that I was brought home to. It was eeire. The street St.Catherine is how I got my middle name (leave off the Saint) and my first and worst memories are here. After it all, it was actually pretty cool to go back there. And oddly enough, there was a rooster in the yard...Amy must have put it there!





THE BEST PART

MY LITTLE ASTRONAUT loves the stars. Always pointing out just about every single star in the sky when she can see them as well as every star shape on shirts, in books, and every other place imaginable. No pretty princess in pink for this kid!



ABSOLUTELY CANNOT GO to the moon without Milhouse


HAPPY WITH A mouth full of milk chocolate.

SAN TAN FLATS

AMY CAME INTO town this week so her and I left our kiddo's with her hubby Friday night so that we could get out and 'cut loose'. We went to one of my favorite places in the valley out in Queen Creek. San Tan Flats, it's a family friendly saloon with a restaurant, fire pits for roastin marshmallows, live country music and dancing. The story behind this place is pretty awesome. "An article...in the East Valley Tribune straight out of the movie “Footloose” reports that Dale Bell, the owner of San Tan Flats was ordered to pay a $5000 fine for customers dancing in the open air. Bell has tried to curb dancing at his establishment. His response, “It’s impossible to … ensure no one breaks out in the waltz or two step,” I may have to file for a special permit myself as my son has been known to dance for no apparent reason. We’ve just moved to a new home near that area, but luckily Maricopa county is dance friendly." We had so much fun and so did the kids.

SHELBY HAD HER eye on Gage the whole night! They were so cute playing together.



ONCE AGAIN....SO nice to be back. (Halloween many moons ago)

JOINING THE MULTITUDE

ON SEPTEMBER 29TH I started a new job with University of Phoenix. Becoming part of corporate America was something that has never appealed to me...until now. My interest grew when the economy started to go down the tubes. I needed a better paying job with benefits for Shelby and myself. As wonderful as the hospital was it didn't pay the bills unless I was a nurse or doctor. I know I wont stay in this line of work forever but this experience so far has been refreshing. After setting down the sledge hammer I used to tear down the wall of "I will never conform , put on my black slacks and go to work to sit in my 'very own cubicle'". Something I always imagined to be a universe away. While I am trying to keep an open mind about it, I still hold on to pieces of the mortar that held together that wall. I don't feel that I completely fit, I was not meant to do this job forever but in the mean time I will welcome the bit of financial relief that the opposite used to so consistently eat away at my stomach, and we will use our shiny new benefits complete with dental, vision, full tuition coverage, 401k, and stock options. I have made some more new friends who I have been having a complete and insanely hilarious good time with.

THREE WEEKS OF training; this was our group (minus Kelly Jo who was on a call).



ADAM(left) AND MATT(right) were the two I sat next to everyday, 9 hours a day for these three weeks. Adam and I remained on the same team but Matt went to a different building. We miss him, he is quite possibly the most hilarious person I have ever met!


THIS IS THE view from my cube!


ADAM, ONE OF the more thoughtful people I have ever known, is helping put on the Race for Maggie's Place. A race to benefit the charity that supports mothers who need a home, health care and emotional support while they go through pregnancy and birth. There is a 9k run, 3k walk, and a kids dash for anyone interested in supporting by either coming out or by spreading the word. Here is the website:
www.race4maggiesplace.com
It is November 16th and all proceeds go to Maggie's Place.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM

TODAY IS MY moms birthday. There are so many things I could say, I have no clue where to start. If I keep it simple, maybe it will be more obvious how much i love her.

}December 1, 1980 - The day she gave birth to me

}March 26, 1983 - The day she gave birth to Michael

}Protector of my childhood

}Chaser of bad dreams

}Log cabins

}Big green van

}Tempeh experiments

}Bullets mama

}Nurse/public servant for 30+ years

}Her, Karen and Andrea...Watch Out!!

}April 18, 2006 - The day she became a wonderful grandmother

}...and so much more



I LOVE YOU MOM, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

THE LONELY TREE

EVERY TIME I go home and drive by this tree, I mean to stop and take a picture of it. For those of you who know the road between Heber and Snowflake, you probably know which tree I am talking about. People including myself refer to it as 'the lonely tree'. It is tradition in my car to wave to the statuesque landmark high on that hill to the north every time we drive by, even in the dark.