L'aventure américaine

Sterling and I made a pact not to complain about being busy because it was certainly all self-imposed. But, as we whirlwind our way through 2012, it's hard not to get a little tired from time to time. However, we have to make sure to appreciate all of the fun things that we're doing lately. For starters... January: We headed to Flagstaff to celebrate Sterling's birthday in a great little hotel and stumbled upon a fantastic, tiny church. We had originally gone to replant our live Christmas tree, but decided it was too cold for the little fella and that his home would be Phoenix. We later found a perfect spot (see picture below). At the end of the month, my friend Jon came for a visit and we galavanted around Phoenix together. The buy of the month, however, was Sterling's Coronado home up the street (see Christmas tree photo). A real beautiful thing with great potential. Secondary buy of the month? 6 chickens (who now live with the tree and the house). February: ...

So, my blog fans, I am afraid that I'm going to have to close one of my very favorite chapters in this blog. Things have been going so well here in sunny Phoenix: two of my dear friends had incredibly joyful and healthy babies. Sterling closed on a fixer-upper down the street that will be the newest project. And I received an acceptance letter from my first grad school. Wonderful news and great reason for celebration. However, yesterday afternoon I was tearful for most of the day because of my dog. Two weeks ago, I was eating breakfast in a restaurant and Odie was tied up around back. When Sterling and I went to pick him up, a very angry young woman told me that my dog bit her and lunged after another staff member. I was, of course, extremely apologetic and gave her all of my information and took a look at the bite. It was really just a nick, but it did break skin. And while I think that she was silly to try to pet a dog that is tied up out back (he was far enough away from...

You know, I planned on posting for posterity's sake on the day when more people think of me than on my birthday. But, I had also planned on having a giant party on 11/11/11 or getting married on 11/11/11 or doing something momentous on 1111 11th Street from 11:11am to 11:11pm. After all, 11:11 only happens twice a day and 11/11/11 probably only happens once a lifetime. But, I didn't do any of those things... However, I did seize the day and had a wonderful time doing it. My 11/11/11: Called my mom when my clock digitally ticked those four great numbers and sang her the "11:11" song. Sterling and I drove to the Queen Creek Olive Mill where we enjoyed sandwiches and wine and meandered thru the olive groves and then enjoyed a lecture about extra virgin olive oil (buy extra virgin!) and a tour of the mill. Drove to the arty theatre in Scottsdale and watched "Like Crazy," while marveling at the similarities between Sterling and I and the film's protagonis...

VA.CA.TION... I believe that an extended period of time can consist of just one weekend and thus, I packed up again and headed north with my dog and new buddy, Sterling Engine (hereafter: Sterling). Tick, tick, tick went the thermostat as we drove away from Phoenix and yip, yip, yip went Odie in the backseat as he realized where we were headed. And a grin settled on my face as sweat stopped rolling down my back. 80 degrees is goooood. Top 5 Moments: 1. A harvest moon lent an air of daytime to the night... Pre-fantastic thunderstorm, that is. (Thank you, tent, for keeping us dry.) 2. Hobo dinner of vegetables and sausage and bacon and eggs in the morning... Oh so delicious. 3. Eating nectarines with Humphrey's Peak in the background and the distant Grand Canyon in the foreground in the middle of The Abineau/Bear Jaw Trail. 4. Not having cell phone service for 36 hours. 5. Signing the date, "9/11" in the hiking log yesterday and paying homage to the event, through me...

Now, I would have thought that that was fuzzy math before I spent a weekend camping in Flagstaff, but when I woke up one morning, it was 46 degrees. It has often been 96 degrees in the early morning when I walk before work. I could see my breath in Flagstaff. It was glorious. Flagstaff highlights: Odie and I hiked to the top of Humphrey's Peak: the highest point in Arizona at 12,600-ish feet. It started to get a bit stormy as we descended from the peak and note that my hair is starting to stand on end due to the electricity in the air. We booked it to tree line, obviously. Julia, Rich (friends from Phoenix and Odie's surrogate parents during my vacations), and Amigo (Odie's best friend), Odie and I hiked in a mile long lava tube near Flagstaff. We sat in the darkness and enjoyed the cool temperatures (32-42 degrees). We had to crouch in some places, but there were 30 foot high cathedral ceilings in others. Pretty fantastic! (Especially since I had just learned abo...

And Odie said to me, "I'm feeling a little bloated... Do you think we could work out more?" So, I responded, "Odie, my dear, it is so hot here. It's 90 degrees at 6am and 107 when I get off work. We just can't do our hikes during the summer!" But, he's so defensive and responded, "You won't *#&%-ing love me when I'm chubby!" I reassured him that I would love him more if he were chubby, but he kept insisting. So, here we are: Sorry about the camera angle...

Is he the worst dog or the best dog? Today on our hike, Odie ran up behind me with a big glob of brown stuck to his collar and the left side of the neck. It was in such an odd place that I assumed that it couldn't be poo, that he had to have been digging... But, of course not. Somehow, he had gotten poo stuck on his the buckle of his collar and the front, left side of his neck and NOWHERE else. I still don't understand how this happened, but I spent the remainder of the hike wondering how I would get this off and drive him home in the climate that I live in: one without water. Fortunately, there were several plastic bags at the end of the hike for poo clean-up on the hike (or at the end, in my lucky case). So, I "gloved" up with some plastic bags and took his collar off, then proceeded to dump a 1/3 full water bottle on him repeatedly, since the weak water fountain would only fill it up that much. I strapped him into the car and prayed that he didn't jump a...

Have you guys missed Odie? It has been almost a month since I have mentioned him, so I thought that you probably did. Odie and I sat down the other day and made our new year's resolutions, so I wanted to include some of his: "1. I resolve to master the treadmill (videos to come when Katherine can let go of the leash and videotape... we're not to that level yet since I learned how to jump off without rolling). 2. I resolve to cut down on my poop intake. I eat far too much of it. 3. I resolve to stop stealing Amigo's bed (my friend the Weimereiner-Lab mix who has a much bigger bed). Actually, no, if he's silly enough to give it up to me, I'm going to go ahead and take it. 4. I resolve to get at least 15 hours of sleep per 24 hour period and to stop waking up at 5:24am." Now, I had to correct some of spelling when I was transcribing, but those are the only changes I made! Oh, and I had to cut out expletives. Odie swears like a sailor.

I thought that I was a connoisseur of Christmas trees after years of diligently urging my parents and brother outside to chop down a tree while we sang, "O' Christmas Tree" and my dad recited "A Tree" by Joyce Kilmer . We would then drag it back to the house, my dad would fill a bucket with sand or gravel and Charles and I would hold the tree straight while he shoveled the filler in to hold it there. Afterwards, we would decorate it with cocktails and Christmas carols and Dad would subsequently take care of the watering. This was my first urban Christmas tree this year (last year I didn't have one), so I went with all good city and suburb folk to the nearest Home Depot and picked out my tree. People had had their trees trimmed so there were fir branches lying around, which I picked up and threw in my trunk in lieu of going out the white pine in the backyard to cut some greenery for the house (as I do at home). I was ambitious for my first tree and got a...

I had the bright idea that Odie and I should do a Christmas card together this year because I know that we both love the holiday season so much. So, one afternoon this week, I attempted to get a picture with my self-timer. I included the attempts below. Know that many are left out due to redundancy. And the camera was only knocked over one time! I chose this last one, although Odie didn't want me to. He said that he looked to mean and I told him, "Sometimes you are mean, Odie!" But he insisted that that wasn't in the holiday spirit. However, since he refused to cough up any money for the cards, his vote didn't count. I told him that he could pick the picture next time... but only if he pays.

It was my Phoenician year anniversary last Wednesday and I toasted myself a few times throughout the day. I just reviewed my postings from last year and revisited my Scottsdale neck of the woods yesterday when I took Odie to the vet. And I'm trying to reflect on lessons from my first year in Phoenix. 1. Do not run straight into Jumping Cholla cacti. (I actually learned this vicariously through Odie.) 2. If you leave a candle outside in the summer, you will have to fish inside the wax for the wick, which has long since sunk to the bottom. 3. Saguaro Cacti might be the coolest plants on earth (I have learned a lot of cactus facts.) 4. Odie may NEED shoes to run on the asphalt during the summer, but he doesn't like wearing them. 5. Inviting yourself to parties and camping trips pays off when you meet new friends. 6. Said parties and camping trips go down easier with a bit of beer. 7. Oncology is hard and sad and inspirational. 8. It's important to find a happiness/sadness b...

The weather was bearable enough yesterday for a hike around South Mountain and Odie and I were excited to put our hiking shoes on once again. Midway through the hike, I commenced another Phoenician intitiation ritual when I saw my first rattlesnake. We were at the top of the mountain, a little off trail to get a better view and when we started the trek back, I saw a snake about the width of my wrist. Odie snuck forward to investigate and a head popped out and the rattle commenced. Say what you will about my dog, but when I use my panicked voiced to call him, he comes!! Unfortunately, the snake was blocking our only trail, so we had to hightail it off trail, going the long way around to avoid Mr. Rattler. (Upon further investigate on Google... I think that it was a Sidewinder Rattlesnake .) I think that I reached my target heart rate yesterday. In other, more mundane, news. I have promised house pictures for ages. Note my "Welcome to Adulthood" couch. I'm very pr...

I believe that I have made many of blog readers watch this already, but you should watch it again. The Oregon Trail Official Trailer Funniest thing I have seen in ages. Plus, who didn't name a character "Poopface"? In other news, I'm back in Phoenix and it is hot. (Shocking.) It's good to be back and Odie was quite pleased to see me. He peed all over the porch in a fine form of salutation!

As those of you who have seen me ride a bike, I am not the steadiest nor the most coordinated rider. Therefore, it was a small miracle that I hadn't yet taken a spill on Spinner while running Odie. Today was the day for that! However, you may rest assured that it was not Odie that pulled me over. It was more due to the fact that I was trying to put my bike helmet on while riding the bike and running my dog. I am a smart girl. Fortunately, I didn't sprain my wrist by landing on it. Instead, I kept my arm up to protect Odie, so therefore, fell on my face, shoulder and knee. I'm the only person I know who literally falls on her face so often. On a sidenote, I'm listening to the rain beat against the windows for the first time since I've lived in my little downtown abode. I am loving it.

I just finished "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" by Barbara Kingsolver and had to laugh at myself as I teared up in the final paragraph. Reading about the author and her young daughter, dancing together after finding that their turkey mother just hatched her first brood of chicks, I reminisced about my first baby chicks as well. I started this book quite some time ago, but a bout with the stomach flu stopped me for awhile since I was having trouble reading about food without getting nauseous. It was good to pick it up back and remind myself again why I'm trying to change the way I eat. There is no need for me to stand a soapbox and talk about the benefits of eating locally while this book exists, so I will only encourage you all to read it (although most of my Indiana folk have, I think). Since starting the book, I have joined a CSA called Desert Roots Farm, which I highly recommend to anyone in the Phoenix area. I have also been serious about my visits to the Farmer'...

I've broken both of my rules now. When I got a dog, I told Art Boy that if I ever called myself the dog's mother or put clothes on him, he could slap me across the face. I think that I may have said that he SHOULD slap me across the face if it came to that. Well, I now merit two solid slaps. I have filled out so much paperwork at Petsmart stating that I am the dog's parent and just got so used to the Petsmart employees calling me Odie's mom, that I started to doing to it too! (First it was for convenience's sake, but then it just seemed catchy.) Slap #1. This week, Odie, Spinner (my bike now has a name!) and I went to my new favorite lunch spot for a delicious (DELICIOUS!) sandwich. On the way back, Odie searched in vain for the shade and started prancing about and whining when on the asphalt. It has finally gotten hot enough in Phoenix to burn my dog's feet. And so, today, I looked for shoes for Odie. Slap #2. However, Petsmart didn't have shoes in O...

This weekend, I commenced in earnest, my quest to discover Arizona. I went camping with a friend from work and her friends in Show Low, Arizona where her boyfriend was doing a triatholon. Odie was very excited to go camping and waited outside with the tent and sleeping bag until I was finally ready as well. Our first stop ("our" referring to me and my pup) was at the Boyce-Thompson Arboretum in Superior, Arizona. This was started in the 19th centure by a man who, with incredible foresite, wanted to preserve the desert flora for future generations. He included native species and also desert plants from around the world. This included a very rare tree called the Boojum Tree. (BOOJUM! What a great name!) It was named by a man who saw it and thought it might look like Lewis Carroll's imaginary boojum tree from "Jabberwocky." It is a weird looking thing, it's true. Odie and I then continued on to Globe, which features the Besh-ba-Gowa ruins from the Sala...

I like to think that I'm pretty tolerant of different types of weather. This is probably not true, since I often find myself whining about cold rain and the temperature range between 35 and 50 degrees (it's awful). However, I always enjoy cold weather with snow and hot weather and thunderstorms and spring winds and fall crispness. But, I'm not sure that I've ever enjoyed weather like I am enjoying the Phoenix springtime. It takes all the best parts of spring: the green, the good smells of trees and flowers blooming, the blustery winds... and then it adds 25 degrees. So, I've got all the goods, plus 70 to 80 degree weather. Add that to palm trees and a pool and I'm living in a friggin' resort here. The only downside to this perfect weather is that when I compliment native Phoenicians on their fabulous spring, all that they can do is say, "Oh, you haven't experienced a summer here yet?? Just wait."

I made this video a couple of weeks ago, but had too much trouble uploading it. You can't tell, but this is in the middle of valley between Phoenix and Scottsdale, right off one of the main highways. Pretty neat, huh?

I'm afraid to say it, but my life currently revolves around bowel movements. You might think that this is common to all nurses, but I believe that the time that I spend cleaning up/helping enhance/facilitating bowel movements is much more than most. In the past week, I have spent around 13 hours repeatedly cleaning up bowel movements (that I caused, of course, with an enema). I have emptied several white buckets of more bowel movements. I have flushed away my own.* And lastly, I have recently switched Odie's dog food because of some unfortunate bowel movements (especially unfortunate when they greeted me after a 14 hour day of work) and thus I have been closely watching his bowel movements to make sure that his food agrees with him. It has come in all different shapes and sizes. Gross, you say? Nah... It's just poo. *I have started saving the water from my shower that is used while waiting for the water to get hot, it goes in a bucket, which I use to flush the toile...