I'm BAAAAAACK!

I did not drop off the face of the planet. Nobody in my family was ill or passed away (thank God!). I have not been stuck in prison in the Philippines. I just...

...didn't have anything to say!

Anyone who has spent more than five minutes with me knows the above statement is a near impossibility. I always have something to say.

We have been busy.

Work is good.

My son got his ear tubes and weathered his first cold ever that did not morph into an ear infection.

Things are moving forward.

I am exhausted tonight, so I'm keeping it short, but I will share this with you:

Check out this photo from today's morning commute.

I also saw one of these on the drive as well:

Photo by Roger N. Clark

Can't beat the scenery on the drive to work today. I love my job!

Next time I'll have to tell you all about this place...

In a word, eeeeewwww!

Day #58...weather delayed

Yesterday was a long, busy, productive day at work. I got to spend the day at a high school on the White Mountain Apache reservation in east central Arizona, up in the beautiful mountains...ahhhh! I accomplished a lot and made some great contacts at the school. The day started with an expression of disappointment that I had arrived, and not my boss, but ended with a request for ME (not my boss) to return in a couple weeks for more assistance.

As the day was drawing to a close, the clouds outside were looking pretty dark and threatening. (HUGE understatement!)

I drove 175 miles home, three-quarters of which was through what today has been described as the worst storm to pass through AZ in memory. We had hurricane strength winds of 80-100 mph! Thankfully, the most treacherous part of the drive, through the Salt River Canyon, was the one part of the drive where the storm gave me a break.

The path of yesterday's storm was the same route I had to take home, so I certainly got a workout. Thank goodness for a heavy, low-profile car. My Maxima may have almost 200,000 miles on it, but it was a ROCK on the drive! It earned itself a reprieve from the trade-in lot for the time being. It's old, it's ugly, it's got a zillion miles on it, but after yesterday I can't bear to let it go!

Driving my girls to school this morning we saw scores of trees that had been torn up by the winds last night. Many had branches torn off, and some were simply uprooted. I even saw one huge tree that had not only been ripped out by the roots, it had been flung into the middle of the road by the storm!

I am truly grateful for arriving home safely last night. I knew it was a rough drive, but only now do I realize how extreme yesterday's weather was.

Day #57

Still loving the new job!

Tomorrow is a loooooong day. I leave my house before 5AM to head up to the White Mountains for the day. It's so nice to get paid to spend some time in a place that looks more like this:

...than like this:

No, that's not my house up there, but I think that photo really captures the ugliness that is Phoenix in my mind. I'm just not desert girl at heart.

Day #56

When my daughters were both toddlers, throwing temper tantrums and making day-to-day life, er...challenging, people would tell me that things only get harder.

They were right.

Fortunately the tantrums are much fewer and farther-between, but a whole new set of challenges arose when they got older. I have two daughters, eighteen months apart, both approaching middle school age. The hormones are starting to kick up. Emotions are running high. Friends are becoming more important in the grand scheme of things. I'm getting scared.

Right now the biggest challenge for me is trying to navigate my way through the maze of girl diplomacy.

I love the friends my older daughter has chosen. This is a group of sweet, sensitive girls with great values. She spent Saturday volunteering at a local shelter, preparing meals and serving food to the homeless alongside her friend Mariah's family. There is no drama in this group of friends. All the families are so nice, and the girls get along wonderfully.

My younger daughter, however, is another story. She has some nice friends, but this group has a lot of drama going on. Again, the families are nice enough, but there are some discrepancies in values here. I'm not sure how to address this. I don't want to be the mom who tells her nine year old, "You can't play with so-and-so anymore!", but I am trying to passively discourage certain friendships. Is that bad?

I clearly see certain friendships leading to some very hurt feelings in the future. There are some mean-girls-in-training in this group, and my younger daughter tends to be more of a follower. She is already so concerned with what her friends think. As we tried to plan her birthday party, she was most concerned with when it would be convenient for her friends, and what her friends would like to do most. I kept telling her it was supposed to be her day to choose an activity that would be special to her, not a time to try and please her friends. She didn't get it.

How can I help her become more of a leader and less of a follower? How do I guide her toward friends who will lift her up, not drag her down?

Those folks who said it only gets harder weren't kidding. At least we're done with tears in the checkout line at the market when Mommy says no to candy.

Oh wait, I have an almost-toddler on my hands...

Here we go again!

Day #55...Huh?

If you ever want to feel better about yourself and what you've eaten, check out this website.

Personally, I don't get it. I realize there are some who would accuse bloggers of having "nothing better to do", but FoodFeed just makes no sense to me whatsoever!

I guess it's useful if you're having regrets about that extra brownie you had this morning. Yeah, I had brownies for breakfast. Have I mentioned I'm going to lose 25 pounds before my 100th day of blogging is up?

Day #54

There are babies in the air!

No, I am not pregnant. Following the birth of our son last fall, my husband and I made absolutely certain there would be no more. I was a little sad about that. Saying a permanent goodbye to one's childbearing phase is bittersweet. Sometimes more bitter than sweet. In a way it's an acknowledgement of one's mortality, as in, "I am getting too old to carry another pregnancy". I don't like addressing that reality one bit!

It was also a little sad because I realized our son would be somewhat of an only child. The age difference (8+ years) between him and our next-youngest child is so great that in many ways he'll always be on his own. Our daughters were so close in age, they were practically twins. They always had a companion (and sparring partner), but our little guy will never have that. I feel kind of bad about it.

However, my friends and family have unknowingly stepped into the gap and are providing my little boy with some age-compatible playmates! I have recently learned that I am going to be an aunt for the first time (so excited!), and one of my oldest friends here in AZ (one of my grad school roommates, actually) is expecting as well. Come spring, there will be new babies buzzing around the periphery of my life. I can't wait! I'll get my itty-bitty baby fix, AND, a little later on, my son will have some playmates at family functions and social get-togethers.

There are a few other friends out there who I know are working on joining the "Mommy to Be" club (you know who you are, ladies). Here's hoping the Baby Magic comes your way soon!

Day #53

Next week I will be spending three days in Yuma for work. If Phoenix is Hell, then Yuma is the lowest level of Hell. I was amused by a quote from the Yuma tourism website:

"Mild winters and temperate summers make Yuma an ideal destination for all your vacation needs."

I'm trying to figure out in which parallel universe regular temperatures in excess of 110 degrees is considered "temperate".

My dad once shared with me the fact that Yuma is often used as a test site for aircraft (he's an aerospace engineer). Apparently Yuma is a good location for testing hot takeoff and landing conditions. Notice, it's not utilized for its "temperate" climate.

I can't stand temperatures above 72 degrees, personally. I know, what am I doing living in Phoenix, right? You know a city is hot when someone from Phoenix is nervous about going there due to the heat...