Visit to North Carolina

I recently took a short trip out to Havelock, NC to visit my friend Christine and her husband Dave and 10 month old son Brenden. We had a great time exploring the nearby coastal towns and I took a bunch of pictures (shocking)! I will post a slideshow below - hopefully it works so you can see the captions too! Lots of historic homes with interesting architecture. I also got quite a few shots of Brenden the Boss man (aka The Cute)!! He is learning to walk and getting up to 8 steps or so now.......lookout Dave and Christine! I was sorry to go but have lots of great memories from my trip! Of course playing with Brenden was awesome too!!

Nature in the City

I go home to Phoenix somewhat often to visit my parents and even though I grew up there, I forget sometimes that there are a lot of pockets of nature right in the middle of the city. North Mountain is one of those pockets.

My Mom and I are planning to hike the Grand Canyon ....sometime in the next year or so. Hiking the local spots is one way that my Mom is trying to get ready for the big hike, so we hiked to the top of North Mountain this past Saturday and Sunday. For those of you who have done this hike, you know that the main path is paved with asphalt.....not exactly a natural trail. However, there is a back way up the mountain that is definitely more challenging (lots of loose dirt and rock) and worth the views. This first shot was taken near the beginning of the hike - this is a neighborhood that backs right into the base of North Mountain.

The trails offers many views of Phoenix...mostly looking south until you get to the top of the mountain. Here are more photos:








This is my Mom on the trail - the Nordic walking poles are very handy for hiking!! Especially on a trail like this where you have so much loose rock and dirt with steep climbs.







This landscape shot shows an eastern view from the side of the mountain with a couple sunspots on the side. We started our hike early in the morning, so the sun was rising as we continued up the trail.








This shot just shows how steep the trail is in some parts and how much loose rock there is. My Mom is just getting to the top of this steep part!





This next photo shows me (or at least my shoes) hanging off the edge of the trail with more of North Mountain park below me. Yes, I had my hiking stick too!
















This photo is looking down Central Avenue which is lined with trees (as it gets closer to downtown). During this hike I made the comment that it's amazing how many trees and greenery you can see. It makes you forget that you are in the middle of the desert.




We did get to see a few cacti that were in bloom. This cholla has a couple purple flowers that were opening up and the Ocotillo was showing signs of blooming as well.





This is a closer shot of downtown with Central Avenue bisecting the shot diagonally.

If you get a chance you should check out the North Mountain hike next time you are in the Phoenix area! Springtime is the best - it's not too warm yet. Make sure you bring your water!!

Balboa Park

Along museum row, this guy was playing a didgeridoo!

San Diego has many great places to explore and many times I feel the need to feel like I am NOT in a huge city anymore. Balboa Park offers a great escape! True, it is a VERY popular place for many people to go at all times of the day every day of the week BUT there are a lot of trails that go around the park and through it. These trails take you away from the mainstream area of Balboa park and allow you to enjoy nature without having the disruption of traffic noise or people!

This was a view of part of Balboa park over a great picnic spot!

So this past Sunday I needed an escape and Balboa park is nice and close. I did an hour long "tour" through the park zigzagging my way from museum row to the back trails. There are PLENTY of photo opportunities in the park but unfortunately I just had my cell phone camera with me. So I have a couple pics to share but hope to bring you more in the near future!


This is the lawn bowling club at Balboa park....reminds me of a movie set in the 1800's.

Ode to Leroy

I’m not sure how to begin….maybe I should start out by telling you that I am not a cat person and Leroy was a cat. Leroy was such a unique cat with so much personality that you couldn’t help but love him. I remember when he was in his prime – he looked like a mini panther. All black, muscular, sleek, and definitely a hunter. When I stroked his back and went all the way to the tip of his tail, I could feel the muscle in his tail even! He was a strong cat for a long time. He was big too! Larger than the housecats I was used to seeing growing up. Leroy’s head was the size of my two fists combined! He weighed around 15 lbs in his prime and was all muscle! He regularly defended his territory, fighting off many cats that attempted to move in on his area. He also scared the heck out of my parents' dogs and they are labs! He brought home many “presents” to his owner/Mom, my Aunt Carol. His conquests included lots of lizards, mice, and birds that he would bring to her (much to her dismay). He was a very proud cat and very vocal. He would “talk” to you when you came into the room and answer you when you talked to him. He had a very strong and loud voice that he used often – especially when it was dinnertime! He was always begging for treats…and when you gave him a couple, he’d ask for more! He was funny. He loved having his chin scratched and LOVED being on your lap! If there were a couple people on the couch, he would test out each lap and settle on the one he deemed best. Once he settled in and you started petting him, he would start drooling!! Honest to Pete!! Leroy would have droplets of drool sliding down his whiskers and his purr was so strong you could hear it several feet away. One thing I almost forgot about (thank you Christine) - Leroy LOVED having his coat vacuumed! Too funny! He would actually come running when the vacuum was turned on (while my parents' dogs would run away). He loved having the excess hair vacuumed out of his coat-it was the funniest thing I've ever seen! Another quirk was that Leroy liked to get into cupboards. He would spend as much time as he needed to open up the cupboard under my kitchen sink or bathroom sink. Once he got inside, he liked to push everything out of the cabinet. Not sure if he just thought it needed to be rearranged or if he planned to move into the space!



Leroy had a good and long life. As of today, Leroy was 22 years old! I verified this with the vet because I always thought my aunt was exaggerating his age. But no…he was 22! I didn’t know cats could even live that long! It wasn’t until the past couple of months that his health started to fade – Carol had been taking him in to the vet every few days to get fluids and B vitamins. He had become much less active in the last few years, as we all do when we age. But he was still able to get around without any trouble. In the past couple of months his kidneys started to go and at the end the vet said he had dementia too. In the last couple of days he had been having a lot of trouble walking, dragging his back legs a lot, and he couldn’t see. He would try to walk into another room and then walk right into a wall or a door. He had also fallen off the bed a couple times because he had gotten up and didn’t realize where he was. Today when I got home, Carol was gone, so I checked on Leroy to see how he was doing. He was laying on the floor and his breathing was labored. It was heart wrenching to see him like that. I held him for awhile until Carol got home and then we took him into the vet to put him to sleep. He had deteriorated so much that it seemed like he almost went before the vet even injected him. It was definitely time for him to go…he was a shadow of his former self at that point. But I will always remember him as the strong little panther that strutted around the house and greeted me with his loud MEOW! He was one of the few cats I will ever love and he will definitely be missed! Rest in Peace Leroy! XOXO

What the...?

Is it a runaway zit? Or maybe a reaction to some cosmetic? Those of you who know me, know that it's not cosmetics!! I don't wear any! It look like a Botox injection gone wrong!! Actually, it's a spider bite. Yep, that's what I said - a SPIDER bite. At first I just felt the heat in that area and thought I had gotten sunburned. However, I've never had a sunburn that only covers a one inch square area. When I went to get a better look in the mirror I noticed that there was some swelling along with the redness. Pretty, isn't it? I am curious to see how much more it will grow....maybe I will start to look like Hellboy with only one horn. Here are more photos for your viewing pleasure! The one on the left shows a lovely profile view where you can see the swelling. The one on the right is a great view from above to show you the bite and the swelling more clearly! Enjoy!

Resolution Shmesolution

Another year has come and gone...and SO quickly!! New Year's Eve 2008 is upon us and I feel like it should still be summer! I toyed with the idea of making a resolution...for about five seconds and decided there wasn't any point! Why should it make any difference if I make a resolution now or in three months? there's nothing magical about New Year's Eve....or at least there hasn't been for the past 33 that I have experienced. So for those of you who might be wavering on whether or not to make a resolution, here are some statistics for you to ponder:

* 45% of Americans usually set New Year’s Resolutions; 17% infrequently set resolutions; 38% absolutely never set resolutions.

* Only 8% of people are always successful in achieving their resolutions. 19% achieve their resolutions every other year. 49% have infrequent success. 24% (one in four people) NEVER succeed and have failed on every resolution every year. That means that 3 out of 4 people almost never succeed.

* Of those who do set resolutions (these add to more than 100% because some people set multiple resolutions):
o 34% set resolutions related to money
o 38% set resolutions related to weight
o 47% set resolutions related to self-improvement or education
o 31% set resolutions related to relationships

* It appears that the younger you are, the more likely you are to achieve your resolutions

o 39% of those in their twenties achieve their resolutions every year or every other year

o Less than 15% of those over 50 achieve their resolutions every year or every other year

* The less happy you are, the more likely you are to set New Year’s Resolutions. This is especially true for those who set money-related resolutions: 41% are not happy, 34% are moderately happy, and 25% are happy.



* And here’s the punchline - There is no correlation between happiness and resolution setting/success. People who achieve their resolutions every year are NO happier than those who do not set resolutions or who are unsuccessful in achieving them.

Soooo....what's your New Year's resolution? Maybe to not have one this year? One less thing to worry about!! Happy New Year!!!

Bouquet Toss

The practice of the tossing the bridal bouquet is believed to be an outgrowth of an idea that was popular in the 14th century, particularly in early French tradition. It was considered lucky to get a fragment of the bride's clothing. In those days, the bride was treated poorly. Guests would grab at her wedding dress in order to tear off pieces. Although brides continued to believe that they would not be wearing their wedding gowns again, they objected to its wanton destruction. They looked for an alternative and, instead began the custom of throwing personal articles, such as the garter, to the guests.

I understand that this has been a tradition for a long time HOWEVER not all of us are overjoyed to be involved. Being 33 and still single, I am one of those that avoid this particular tradition at all costs!! At recent weddings of friends, I use this time to capture the moment with my camera so I couldn’t possibly participate! It usually works…. On the weekend after Thanksgiving I was in a wedding for a friend I have known since first grade….my friend Niki. I haven’t seen her much over the last several years because we now live in different states, but when I do see her and Stanley (her new husband), they are always trying to set me up with someone or give me advice on finding someone.

At her reception, she dragged me out to the front of the group of women for the bouquet toss. As if that wasn’t bad enough, she pointed me out to the DJ, so when she turned around and I slipped behind everyone, HE called me back to the front! Then when she went to toss it,

I ducked down to avoid catching it.

However, she had faked tossing it….. Instead she just turned around and threw it to me. My instinctual reaction was to get it away from me, so I brushed it to the side and right into the hands of her nineteen year old niece! Whew!! Catastrophe avoided!! Please remind me of this when I get married and I’m planning my reception….