Hike No. 3

This was not a good hiking day for me. I believe that my hiking season is over unless I am done by 10 am. To start with we had to travel .6 of a mile on unmaintained road, well suffice it to say that their idea of a maintained road makes me car sick. We parked before the road ended and walked to the trail, the sun was blazing down on me and there was not a lick of shade in sight. The landscape was very green after having rained a lot the past few weekends, okay by a lot I mean 4 inches from October through January. If you are wondering where Pat and Mike are, they are always five hundred feet ahead of us, and then they stop and when we catch up they are ready to move on, so William and I never get to rest. I was sweaty and cranky and decided enough was enough. Pat and Mike continued on and William and I turned back. I found a nice little rock in the shade and when I went to sit down to rest, there was a plant nearby some kind of cactus tree that attacked me, literally jumped over and attacked me, first my pants and then when I jumped it grabbed my arm and stuck its prickly little things in me until I ripped it off and was left with blood and pain. So this is how William and I ended our hike:

That's right, lounging in the van, with a cool breeze blowing through the open doors and a hawk flying overhead.

PSA No. 9 - Get a Pedicure

If you live where sandals are worn 12 months a year it is your civic duty to keep your feet looking good. Believe me no one wants to see dirty crusty toenails popping out from your flip-flops. I take my duties very seriously and therefore I am obligated to get regular pedicures. This is my latest, with a lovely shade of dark pinkish red.

PSA No. 7 update

Look at the difference a week can make in the life of a van. Thanks to Sterling Auto Body for the great job they did fixing the little mishap on my van. Now all I have to do is stay away from poles in the parking lot and we should be okay.

Rant No. 11 - What Happened to the Wave?

I am not talking about that thing they do at sporting events, I am talking about the courtesy wave when you let a driver cut in. When you spend close to two hours a day in bumper to bumper traffic there are plenty of opportunities to let someone cut in. When they speed up to the front of a long line of waiting cars to cut over just so they don't have to sit in the long line, because they are too important to wait, and you let them in, is a courtesy wave too much to expect? I hardly think so, yet I would say nine times out of ten I do not get a wave. Also nine times out of ten, people out here won't let you in. But the discourteous drivers of AZ are best saved for another rant. All I am asking for is a little wave of the hand, I will not be holding my breath. (End of rant)

PSA No. 8 - Thank a Mailman Day

Today is Thank a Mailman Day (don't ask how I know, I just do) so thank your mailman for coming out six days a week in every kind of weather imaginable, it could be 12 inches of snow in the midwest or 120 degrees of heat in the southwest, they are there day in and day out. Thank you Mary, for being the Mailperson of the Day, at least in my mind.

Chocolate Fest

Today was the annual Chocolate Festival in Glendale. Yes, Glendale where we went to the Glitter and Glow Festival and the same Glendale that is hosting the SuperBowl tomorrow. It is quite the happening town, I guess. The festival is a chocolate lover's dream. There was everything imaginable covered in chocolate - bananas, strawberries, pineapple, apples, pretzels, cheesecake, key lime pie, cream puffs, rice krispie bars, and William. The Build Your Own Chocolate Pizza was a must do attraction. It takes a lot of concentration to get the ingredients just right, but William was up to the task. First they fill a mold with melted chocolate, add some marshmallows and peanut butter chips, then your choice, of raisins and walnuts and mint chips, mix it all together, drizzle white chocolate on top and let it set, voila you have a chocolate pizza. Now the temptation of eating all those delectable items covered in chocolate before it hardens is just too much for some. So there was a bit of sampling while still soft and gooey and yummy. My favorite was the mini cream puffs on a skewer covered in chocolate. To sum it all up: MMMMMMMM!!! As a side note, check out the striped shirt and plaid pants on the guy in the background of the picture of Pat. I could have spent the day watching the people and taking pictures of the oddities, but this one happened by sheer luck.