Why, Hello to You, Dangerous Animals

I'm pretty sure I haven't mentioned the first time I saw a coyote. I hear coyotes every night. A few times a night they bay and howl, usually after they find a, um, snack. In December I was sitting at the table, working away, when I noticed a dog outside the window. I thought, "What a pretty dog. Oh, it doesn't have a collar. Maybe it's a wild dog! Like a dingo! Or....crap." A quick Google images search confirmed: Coyote. Right outside the window in the middle of the day.


He stayed by the house for most of the afternoon. Sam never noticed. Good guard dogging, buddy.

Last week, a cat slinked into the yard. Some neighbors had recently posted signs about their lost cat, so immediately I thought it might be that cat. No, that one was black and this is gold with black coloring. And this one doesn't have a collar. Man, those are some big paws, and I've never seen such a muscular house cat.....crap. Google confirmed it: Bobcat. Right in the front yard in the middle of the afternoon. Fantastic.

You can see it if you can zoom into the photo, he's heading toward the brick wall:

Today Skip called out for me to keep Sam out of the office. When I asked why, he responded, "Do you really want to know?" That could mean only one thing: snake. Sure enough, somehow - and for the first time since he's lived here - a snake got into the house. He captured it and escorted it away, and we're pretty sure it wasn't a rattlesnake, but I'm guessing I'm not going to get a lot of sleep tonight.

On Second Thought...

Saturday we spent a large part of the day in cars. In the morning we drove to a vineyard to replenish the champagne coffers, the afternoon brought a trip to Costco, and the evening saw a journey to north London for cheese with Kevin and Craig.

The whole time I was in the autos, I kept wondering: how are the streets of London not littered with the bodies of bikers and cyclists?

Sweet Sassy Molassy, it is INSANE. Narrow roads barely big enough for two cars, plus cyclists and bikers weaving in and out of traffic. I honestly don't know how they survive the journey. My nerves were shot and I was a *passenger*. Good grief. Suddenly the train/bus/walking journey seems far preferable.

I Love Market Research

Friday night we had a nice quiet evening in. The second we got home the jammies went on and cocktails were poured. We decided Indian food was in order, and fortuitously, there are two Indian restaurants just down the road, mere blocks away. No one had tried either restaurant yet, so we had a dilemma: at which restaurant did we place our order?

When two people who work for a marketing strategy firm are faced with this dilemma, there can be only one solution: place an identical order at both restaurants so we can do side by side comparisons.

Once the orders were placed, Excel was launched and our tracking sheet was created. Beyond taste, we tracked ease of ordering, delivery time, packaging and presentation, etc, etc.

It was pretty amazing how the experiences differed. They both had strengths and weaknesses, but overall were very good. Really, there was no way we were losing - I mean, look at the deliciousness:

I Miss My Car

I'm in lovely London Town. It's all very charming, the accents, the shoppes, the black cabs, the red buses. Just lovely.

The fact that it takes an hour to get anywhere is a bit much. To travel 5 miles last weekend, I walked for 20+ minutes, took a bus, and two overland trains. It only took 90 minutes and $9. *5 miles*, people. A cab for the same trip costs close to $40. You really have to make a decision - which is more valuable to you, your time or your money?

I miss my car.

Hard to believe it's been a year!

On February 29, 2008 I sold my condo. I can not believe it's already been a year. It's amazing how quickly time passes. It's astounding how much has changed in the year.

So where am I today? In London, of course. Skip was flying through on his way to Kilimanjaro, so I tagged along. We had a few busy days catching up with friends. He's now in Moshi, and I'm staying in London with Andy and Beth. He is now awaiting the dawn to begin his hike up the mountain. I await the dawn to .... hit the snooze alarm. Guess not everything has changed in a year.

Arizona 85718

As my Illinois car registration expires in February, I could no longer stall. It was time to register my car in Arizona, which meant giving up my Illinois driver’s license. Many of you have seen it and would agree; my license picture is one of the best photos ever taken of me. Go figure. Seriously, strangers comment on how great a picture it is. It was with great pain that I gave it up.

Compounding the loss of the phenomenal photo is the fact that the Arizona license is good for a LONG time. Weirdly long. Like, until you’re 65 long. That’s a lot of pressure on a photo – it better come out good because you’re not taking a new one in 5 years. Suzie gave me some good tips on make up/ hair/ wardrobe, and off to the Registry I went.

While it wasn’t as good as my last license, it’s not awful. Which is good since I have to look at it until 2036.

Susan Tedeschi ROCKS

Last fall over dinner, our friend Jill went on and on about how great Susan Tedeschi is and lamented that her tour never came to Tucson. We talked about finding a fun city on her tour and making a trip of it to see her. After we cleaned up the dishes, my phone chimed to alert me to a new email, “On Sale Now – Susan Tedeschi in Tucson”. Not kidding. Figuring the universe was listening to us we immediately started talking about how great it would be to win the lottery.

The concert was last Wednesday. Her opening act was interesting – James Hunter. He was a tiny Englishmen with the energy of a hummingbird on crystal meth. His sound was R&B meets Do-Wop meets Otis Redding meets the Commitments. Not my cup of tea, but he was interesting and he was very good. We later learned he was a Grammy nominated artist. Not many times can you say the opening band was Grammy level good.

Then, Susan Tedeshi took the stage. I really didn’t know her stuff, so didn’t know what to expect. She kind of looked like a school teacher (maybe a grade school art teacher), and was soft spoken with a lovely lilt to her voice. Then the music started and she started ROCKING. Oh my word, it was so spectacular. She was like Bonnie Raitt + Janis Joplin but turned up to 11. She rocked one song so hard she was actually out of breath at the end. I can’t believe how great she was. You must go see her. The only way you won’t enjoy her is if you are dead and cold on the inside. There are lots of You Tube videos of her live performances, go listen to some of them.

She was like the female Marc Broussard. If they ever paired up, day would become night because the earth’s rotation would reverse in the wake of their magnificence. I can’t even imagine how great that would be. Someone needs to get on that.

53 in Chicago, 39 in Tucson

Um....?

This was Monday:


This is Tuesday:

What will Wednesday bring???

.

Two Words: Roller Derby

Saturday was opening night for the Tucson Roller Derby. I know, right? How do you *not* go?

The place was packed, which made me happy. So great to see local events do well, especially in tough economic times. None of us had been to roller derby before, so we had no idea what was happening. I was expecting to see hair pulling, tripping, lots of elbowing, but I was sadly disappointed. As Skip said, "huh, this is more like an actual sport." And it was. Rules, several refs, scoring. I've kind of figured out the rules, sort of, although I'm not entirely sure. But, we had fun anyway.


Now I want a bad-ass roller derby name. Any suggestions?

Happy Groundhog Day!

It has been quite a while since I've lasted posted here. No real reason, other than a powerful combination of busyness and laziness.

The last few months have been great. A quick recap:

For Thanksgiving Skip, Sam and I rented a house in Prescott, AZ. We had the full on turkey dinner, watched a lot of dvds, and basically spent a long weekend in our pj's eating and lounging. The house we stayed in was very warm and cozy, but what really kicked it up a notch:

Kids, those are 8-track tapes. And they worked, to varying degrees. Fan. Tastic.

December brought my usual extended winter break. I had three weeks off and did very little. It was great. Skip took me to Florida for my birthday, aaaaw. My brother spent a few days with us, it was very nice to see him. While in Jacksonville, we saw Marc Broussard again. I'm telling you, people, go see him.

Liz came to visit in mid-December. While she was here, it was cold and rainy. There was even snow in the mountains. One day it was warmer in Chicago than it was in Tucson. I felt so badly since she came here fleeing winter. There were several cold and gray days in December which I guess is typical winter in Tucson. It was nice to wear sweaters for a while.

For Christmas we stayed in Tucson. We had a lot of travel planned for early 2009 so we spent some lovely quiet time at home. It was really nice. Sam once again donned the festive head gear:

Doesn't he look thrilled about it?

We kicked the year off with a hike with Jeff and Jill on a gorgeous New Year's Day. I much prefer starting the year like that than I have the last 36+ New Years in sub-freezing temps. Skip's doing at lot of hiking as he prepares for his big climb in March. I didn't join him on this particular hike, but oh, the poor dog:

Not bad for a rain-coat made out of a garbage bag on the fly. That dog is a good sport.

In mid-January we headed to New Orleans for a trade show - FenceTech2009! It was my first time in New Orleans, and we had an amazing time. We stayed in this ridiculous house in Uptown, so pretty.

We spent most of the days at the Convention Center, but did get to see some of the city, had some beignets, and many, many, many drinks.

This weekend we went to San Diego to celebrate Jill's birthday. We rented a house on Mission Beach. Gorgeous.

We pretty much spent the weekend at the house (um, did you see that hot tub?) with a few walks and brief excursions to mix things up. There were lovely dinners, many many many cocktails, and even a french pirate.

Sign of the times - just a few condos for sale in this building in downtown San Diego:

We also had a SuperBowl party, as so many of us are Arizonans. There were Cardinals t-shirts, lots of temporary tattoos, and a good deal of heartbreak when they lost. Oh well.

Aside from celebrating Jill's birthday, Skip and I got to spend time with my cousin Terri and her husband David. We had a very nice visit, having lunch, sightseeing from Point Loma, and a lovely sunset view at the cliffs. Just fantastic.

It was awfully hard to leave San Diego this morning.

We're home for a few weeks, then we're off to London in late February. After London is North Carolina, then Chicago, then possibly Detroit. Like I mentioned, lots of travel this year. It's exhausting, but wonderful.

Giving Thanks

With all that's happening with our economy and world politics, it's easy to lose sight of how fortunate we truly are. Times aren't great, for sure. But, compared to many others we are favored beyond measure. Something I read today reminded me of that, which prompts me to write about http://www.kiva.org/

Kiva.org is a non-profit that provides micro-loans to people throughout the world. The loans go to entrepreneurs who work hard under tough circumstances to provide for their families and their communities. $500 may not seem like a lot of money for a 'business loan', but it can literally change people's lives.

The loans are funded in small amounts ($25) by many people, so no one bears any unreasonable risk if the loans default. Once the loan is repaid, you can re-lend the money to another entrepreneur. I've been lending to Kiva for 18+ months and have never had anyone default, so I've been able to lend the same funds several times. If you wish, you can make a donation in someone's name, or give them a gift card so they can choose who receives the loans. Makes a great holiday gift.

I've added the Kiva.org feed to the right side of the page, which shows three current loan requests. To learn more about those entrepreneurs, or thousands of others, click away. I know there are many ways to be charitable, I hope you consider http://www.kiva.org/ when looking to give.

Rattlesnakes and Scorpions and Brown Recluse Spiders, Oh My!

Ah, the desert. So pretty. So poisonous.

A few weeks ago I pulled into the driveway to find Skip with the dog, motioning me to stop. I thought he was being funny, but then I noticed he was pointing at a very colorful stick. Holy poop. He brought the dog into the house while I kept an eye on the rattlesnake to see where it went. I did this from the car, with windows up and doors locked (safety first!). Skip came back with a long pole, picked up the snake, and flung it back down the hill. As it was silhouetted against the sky while if flew through the air, I noticed it had a giant lump in the middle of it. Must have had a rat for lunch. Yeesh.

Last week I was walking barefoot down a hallway on my way to a pool when I spotted a scorpion on the floor. Thankfully, it was dead; someone had already crushed it. It wasn't so scary, since it was flat. I'm pretty sure I'll still freak out if I see a live one. I'm just grateful I didn't step on it with bare feet.

Yesterday I was unpacking groceries. When I started to fold the bag, a large black angry looking spider appeared. ACK. Black widow spiders are a big problem here. They won't kill you, you'll just wish you were dead because of all the pain. I trapped it under a Ziplock plastic container (those things are versatile!), and then asked Sam to go get Skip, who apparently didn't hear my earlier screams. Skip took a look and said, "oh, that's not a black widow. That's a brown recluse, far worse." Fantastic. He calmly walked it out of the house and set it free. Hope the snake enjoys it.

Anyone using Palmolive Eco Dishwasher Detergent?

Skip and I both randomly bought this detergent a few weeks ago. It might be earth friendly, but it's leaving white streaks on both our dishes, pots, and glasses. The streaks are hard to get off. It hardly seems eco-friendly when I have to wash the dishes by hand after running them through the dishwasher. That's a lot of wasted water, especially in the desert.

Anyone else having this issue, or is it just us?

Sportsapalooza

It's been a very big week, sports-wise.

Thursday night, I went to my first U of A basketball game. This is a big deal. Skip is a yooooge fan of basketball in general, but of the Cats in particular. If you're a college basketball fan, you may have heard something about the coaching drama that's unfolded over the past few weeks. It was an exhibition game, but the first test of the team's new interim leadership. I didn't go so well at first; at the end of the half, they were up only one point over University of Incarnate Word. University of Who? U of A is a great team, UIW is a division three team, and they were quite a challenge. But, the second half went much better and the Cats pulled it out. Whew.

Last night we went to see the Ice Cats, the U of A hockey team. Not an NCAA team, hockey here is a club sport. But, a club sport that sells tickets to games and has a loyal non-student following. They played Chicago's DuPaul University. Both teams were...not good. I guess it's club hockey in the desert, you can't expect much. It was great to be at a game, and we had fun. The Ice Cats lost, not looking like they're going to have a great season.

Yesterday afternoon - I played kickball. Yup, kickball. It was a lot of fun. Kickball smack talk is high-larious. No one took things seriously, so it didn't matter that most of us were terrible. I scored a run and pitched a no-hitter one inning, but I was frequently the third out. D'oh! Oh well. Sadly, I'm quite sore today from all the activity. How sad.

1 for 3 in the Fall Concert Series

We were super excited to see Chris Cornell, he of Soundgarden and Audioslave, at the Fox Theatre in late October. Even got the pricey tickets. Three hours before the concert was to start, we got an email telling us he was cancelling due to 'throat issues', otherwise known as 'crappy ticket sales'. Lame move, Cornell. Lame. Move.

Last week we made a mini road trip to Phoenix to see Matt Nathanson. We'd were unbelievably excited to see him as we had such a great time at his July concert. When we found the venue, the line was literally around the block an hour before doors opened. Not good. Rather than stand in line we went to dinner. After waiting for our food for an hour, we told them we were leaving. Our food magically appeared, they were very apologetic and took it off the bill. When we got our bill, they'd taken most of the drinks off too, so dinner for 4 with several cocktails = $6.00. Score.

We returned to the theatre to see the line even longer, and the inside already packed. Figuring we'd never get in, Skip told the manager at the door we wanted a refund because clearly they'd oversold the show. Instead, for no explainable reason, the dude just lifted the velvet rope and let us in. Score.

The place was jam packed but we managed to find seats on the patio with a partial view of the stage and good bar proximity. Super score.

Then the concert started.

And they closed the door that was giving us the view of the stage. Even if we'd wanted to, we couldn't have crammed ourselves into the main area to see the concert. We sat for a little while, but it basically was like listening to his CD, which we could do at home with cheaper drinks. So, Skip found the dude who let us in and said it was ridiculous, and kind of unsafe, so we were leaving and we'd like a refund. "Okay, no problem." What? I don't know why that guy was so accommodating to us, but he refunded our money. When we got outside, we realized you could see the stage pretty well from the sidewalk, so we stood outside and watched the show for 30 minutes before calling it a night. Far from our hoped for experience, but, hey, for $6 and a tank of gas, we had a pretty good time.

The one concert that went very well this fall was Shawn Mullins and Dar Williams. I've loved Dar for a long time, was super excited to see her in concert again. She didn't disappoint, she was great. Shawn Mullins was great too, first time I'd really heard most of his stuff. Another great music night in Tucson. Who knew this town had such a great music scene?