Road Trip

On my way to see Elizabeth in Denver Co. So far, I made it to Gallup New Mexico. My plan was to be there by tonight, but yesterday I kept stopping to take pictures. I have seen some beautiful, interesting sights. First was Montezuma Castle outside of Flagstaff Az, then Route 66 had tons of Indian trading posts and jewelery. I bought the kids souveniers from each stop, and got my mom some earrings. Got pulled over by a cop in Az for speeding, (good thing he didnt ask for a green card) got out of the ticket, then made it to New Mexico. I cried when I saw the beautiful mountains, then stopped in Gallup to a shady motel that wasnt worth the 40 bucks I spent. Oh well. It was all worth it. Oh and did I mention, I almost hit a cow, he came pretty close, then I took his picture and gave him an orange slice and sunflower seeds. I think he liked it.

Recycle (at the Taco Shop)

This was an unexpected random sight. I dropped the boys off at Seans for the weekend in Riverside and Tom and I stayed at the beautiful Mission Inn. Along the way, we came across this taco shop/art house/randomness. Anyway, good thing I take my camera EVERYWHERE. Everything was made of used scraps of metal, beer bottles, bottle caps, etc.

Vegas baby!!!!

So Gram along with Martin, her "friend" stayed in a timeshare for a week in Vegas. My sister and I grew up with Martin around Grams house a lot. He was her handy man always fixing things around her home, only we referred to him as Mr Chase. I'm not sure when he went from Mr Chase, to Martin. He and my Gram are road trip buddies, bowling partners, and they fight like an old married couple. However, Gram has always made it a point that Martin is a friend and nothing more. To be honest, we all accept Martin and no one would judge her otherwise if there was something more than a friendship. So going to one of the busiest cities in the U.S with Gram showed me another side of her. Gram can only be described as Classy. A very poised, polite, immaculately dressed, woman with old fashioned values, something that is so out of the ordinary in this day and age, especially in a city like Las Vegas. Watching her maneuver her way around the city via public transportation was amusing. She is so polite and sweet and everyone else just seemed to be in such a hurry, so impatient while she counted out the perfect change for our bus ride, people were rude and yet she stayed cool as a cucumber. She was challenged and kept her composure throughout the pushy people trying to cut in front of us in lines, the loud drunken mess standing in front of us at the Treasure Island show, the smokers that blew there smoke in our faces, the rude cabbie that didn't open the door for her. It all really made me kind of sad that people of her generation that work hard, are honest, and compassionate, aren't around anymore. She is such an amazing woman that I love and admire more than she will ever know. What a privilege to have grown up with such a role model.

I also got to accompany Steveo on his first flight ever. He had the hugest grin on his face and luckily, had a window seat. We ended up doing the whole tourist thing, and I noticed he was a little homesick. He told me he was tired and couldnt wait to get home. Unfortunatley, we flew out of Burbank so it was a 2 hour drive from the airport. He has been sleeping most of the day.

Im going to be a mama again!!!!!!!!

To a cute little baby that was on Solano Street in Indio. There he was, digging through trash, dirty, but oh soooooooooo cute!!!!! Had to have him. And he had to have me. I stopped my car in the middle of the street and said " hey baby, wanna come home with me" And he happily jumped into my car. He is so sweet, brave, beautiful, and now squeaky clean. Tom and I gave him a good scrubbing, he has a big yard to run around in, puppy food, and a loving family. I always believed people dont choose there animals, there animals choose them. So we have yet to think of a name for him, we call him Jorge for now. I just love him. Now we need to get Charlie to quit hating on him.

Update: Charlie and Jorge are running around the yard, and not killing each other. Okay, so its confirmed, it was meant to be.

Gram

My grandma, the epitome of warmth and grace, wanted to go out and take pictures. She let me pick the location. I usually go to cemeteries and old abandoned houses in the middle of the desert and although my Gram is pretty adventurous and up for just about anything, I knew I couldn't take her to one of those places. So I told her about Salvation Mountain in Niland, Ca. It was difficult to describe to her other than its super colorful. She packed a picnic basket and Steveo and I picked her up and off we went. She was excited as soon as we pulled up. We met the owner/creator who is a religious man. He happily explained how he made the trees from abandoned tractor tires found in the desert. He used the glass from windshields of cars left in the middle of the desert to make windows and used the paint brought in by volunteers. He is in his 70's and says he loves god, visitors, and getting his picture taken in that order. Up until very recently, I have tried to steer clear of Jesus freaks. I know there are a lot of good Christians out there that have a strong love and faith in there religion, however, I have met many Christians, who under the guise of that very same religion, express hate, judgement, and an intolerance for others who may not agree with them. For that reason, I have always been skeptical of anyone associated with an organized religion. So with that said, I realize that by my placing judgement on others, just how different am I from them? Maybe I could be a little more open-minded, afterall the old man at Salvation Mountain was nothing like I had expected. So okay, that was my moment of clarity. But like I have always said, I am a work in progress. I am just thrilled to have had such a good day with my gram and Steveo.

Life is short

Life moves fast, and is sometimes hard to keep up. I wish my friend Tom would have hung on longer, and I know this journey is a rough one, and I dont blame him for checking out early. It just saddens me. Life truly is a gift, and I am glad to be here.

Charlie the bi-polar dog, Nick, my Zen bedroom got more Zenny

Charlie... Who knew giving your dog people food would eventually lead to Canine Pancreatitis? So of course I had to take him to the vet when he wouldnt come with me to Starbucks like he usually does. I knew from that moment, something was very wrong with Charlie. He LOVES to go for car rides, and so I went alone to get my mochafrappacino and then surfed the internet to see what he may have had. Going on Google to try to diagnose your dog will almost always cause a panic attack. There were a million things it could have been and not one of them was good. When I took Charlie to the vet he: 1.) Tryed to bite the vet (he was a bit arrogant anyway)
2.) Pooped on the thermometer. 3.) Was led out the door in a muzzle they called "the party hat" to do labs, xrays, collect a urine specimen (via catheterization) and start IV fluids. It happened so fast, in an instant I was holding Charlie trying to calm his nerves all the while mine were shot, and next thing you know, the vet is barking (hee hee no pun intended) out orders to the vet tech, and Im left wondering if he's going to make it and also very selfishly wondering just how much all this is gonna cost me. Long story short. Diagnosis- Pancreatitis. Prognosis- good. Oh and the cost was a lot, but of course worth every penny for my Charlie. So after bringing him back home, he was weak and not himself for a few days, but now he's back to his normal grumpy self.
Onto Nick. Nick is now 2 inches taller than me. Everyday I see the changes in not only his appearance but his voice as well, oh and his sarcasm level has increased a bit. I was explaining our new alarm system for the house and he told me that "people will break in whether we have an alarm or not, so all this is a big waste of money and giving me a false sense of security" Yep, thats my Nick.
On Sunday I decided I wanted a Burnt Orange accent wall in the bedroom, so I went to Home Depot and bought a gallon of paint, and now have a Burnt Orange accent wall in my bedroom. I love how it enhanced the Zenniness (thats my new word) of the room.

things that make me smile

Tom my BFF, (how do you thank someone for being amazing)
Our doggy family (Pearl, Bellula, Charlie)
Roses (make my heart flutter in a good way)
Tom doing homework with Steveo, (the guy has infinite patience)
And hiking to Taquitz with Amy, (we had the best talk sitting on a rock, thanks Amy)

new beginnings

After taking 3 days of "me time", I feel tired but refreshed at the same time if that makes any sense. I had some time to really clear my head, got a cool oxygen facial, went on the master cleanse, caught up on sleep, and came home to my cozy warm bed completely re-hydrated (from all the cool spa-like hydrotherapy) Its good to be home, and tomorrow will be the best Valentines Day ever!!!!!

Beautiful Indio Blvd

I wonder which one Jimmy Swaggart was busted with the prostitute in.

RIP Mr Salinger

I get the feeling he didn't have the happiest of childhoods. He shunned fame, and became somewhat of a recluse, but "Catcher In The Rye" was a great book that got me interested in reading in the first place.

I think I will put that on my to read book shelf again.