L'aventure américaine

I visited Sedona for the first time this weekend and it was quite the getaway. I have heard about the vortexes (vertices... evidently both pronunciations are correct) and the red rocks, but mainly, I had heard that it was 10 degrees cooler there and I am sick of the heat here. Did you get that? The high is 107 degrees today. Honestly. Phoenix, for my birthday, I want a cool 85 degrees, okay? Okay. The Good Doctor (hereby referred to as TGD) took me on a weekend getaway and it was fabulous. We stayed at L'Auberge with a fantastic view of the Red Rocks and I learned what "turn-down service" was. I had the best scallops that I have ever tasted in my life and got to shower in an outdoor shower. Of course, I'm not quite sure why an outdoor shower is so luxurious, but for some reason, it was, so I used it the entire time. TGD and I hiked along the West Fork of Oak Creek and watched the sunset from Schnebly Hill. It was so beautiful up there on the red rocks and w...

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'...

When one is getting a fever and has the chills, all you have to do is sit outside to combat them. I think that I was the only person in Arizona this weekend to put on long pants, wool socks, a sweatshirt and turn off my air conditioning. Fortunately, the fever has passed. However, the 110 degree weather has not.

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...