Category: Adventures

I worked 18 hours straight yesterday and 12 hours straight today. It is going to be so nice when I am finished with these projects and can actually have some of my life back. All I keep thinking about is that there must be some kind of way out of the dark black pit and I keep screaming that we are going the wrong way…but in 40 days and 40 nights I will be on the path to the happily ever after in Arizona. Some of you will recognize the references there.

So, 40 days and we are leaving Florida for good on our way back to Arizona. In 8 days we will be driving out to bring my dog and my truck and some of our stuff out and get the keys to our house. It is going to be very exciting.

Did I tell you that I am job hunting? Yes. After four years of running a business and juggling so many balls in the air while attempting to walk a tightrope with grace, I have decided to take off most of the many hats I wear and get a job and benefits and paid vacations and do what I love to do which is programming. It is time to let someone else deal with employees and payroll and workers comp and unemployment insurance and corporate filings and tax audits and all of that fun stuff.

Anyway, I have a few job interviews lined up for the beginning of May when I am out in Phoenix and then we will be flying back here for a few weeks before we make our journey around the country and across route 66 for a fun-filled adventure like no other. It’s going to be phenomenal, and after a year of planning and counting the days, it is so fantabulous that it is finally almost here.

I went to Vegas this past weekend to visit my best friend for the last time before I move to Florida. It was really nice to see her. It is too bad that the physical distance between us is going to increase even more. I remember when we both lived in Yuma, AZ and spent so much time together. We went through so much together during the early 1990s.


She took me for a little ride on the back of her motorcycle on Sunday. That was cool. I was her first passenger!!


Saturday we hung out at a nude resort all day. I got to sun my buns and relax. It was a very nice weekend.

Karl and I went sailing today on Lake Pleasant. One of my customers from work needed to work on the trailer that holds her sailboat and, in order to do that, needed the boat to be off of the trailer. So, I was asked to take the boat out for the day and asked Karl to be my captain. It was a wonderful day at the lake and all went perfectly. Now I am a bit sunburned (in spite of the fact that I used sunblock). It was a fabulous day.

Yesterday, Karl and I and the boys and our dog, Charlie, all went up to Northern Arizona to find a christmas tree. I received a permit to cut down a tree and the spot that I was assigned to do this was just a bit south of Winslow. We headed up in the morning and got there about 12:30 or so. It was raining and it was muddy. My truck got almost completely covered in mud which was pretty cool. We all got pretty muddy as well. Charlie seemed to really love being in the woods and having the freedom to sniff and run around. We hiked around in the mud and rain for about 4 hours, then returned to the truck to have some hot cocoa and get warmed up and then we continued to look for a tree. We finally found a suitable tree and cut it down and loaded it into the truck. Then we headed for flagstaff for some supper and warmth and relaxation and then headed home. Today, we decorated the tree and I put some snowy stuff in the front windows with some christmas window applications. It’s beginning to look a lot like christmas. Yippie!!

My Sister, Stacy, was already in town and my brother, Bill, arrived while Karl and I were at the opera. Tonight, I invited Karl and Julie over along with my sister and brother for a little shin-dig at my house.

Karl and I went to the Compass Room for dinner and the Arizona Opera at The Phoenix Symphony hall. We were all dressed up and the night could not have been more wonderful.

We started out the night at the Compass Room restaurant which is a rotating restaurant with a full view of Phoenix. The restaurant is also right across the street from the Symphony Hall where the opera was playing. We saw La Traviata put on by the Arizona Opera

Thursday night, Karl and I went camping in Northern Arizona at Locket Meadow. We left work a little early and took Friday off.

During the drive up, the sky looked really cool with all the clouds. There is actually a rainbow in these two pics, but it is hard to see.

We got in late and set up camp and created a fire and ate some food and drank some seagrams and 7-up and relaxed. It was nice. Next morning, here I am eating oatmeal

While eating, I took a couple pictures of the view straight above my head

Straight above my head again, this time clear blue sky

And I had to get a picture of my shadow showing off the braids in my hair like Pippie Longstocking

This tree is really close to falling. In the wind, we heard it creak. Getting a better look revealed a pretty good crack down the center of it.

It started to rain and we hung out in the tent and read some books and took a nap

Scenery on the drive home was nice to look at