Hindsight….. again…..

Last week, I took the kids skiing in Flagstaff on Tuesday. It is a 90 minute drive from our house, which is surprising because we live in Phoenix, AZ. But when you drive up to 10,000 feet, even in Arizona, there is snow in the winter. A blustery storm had blown through the previous weekend and the mountain was p.e.r.f.e.c.t. for my three skiers. No, I didn’t ski. Being the planning maniac that I am, I brought a list of TO-DO items that I was going to have checked off while I sat in the cozy lodge sipping cocoa. Much to my dismay, there was no phone service NOR internet connectivity at the lodge. What century are we in? And I brought NOTHING else to do. My to-do-list-checking-self had a hard time for eight long hours, as you can imagine.

At one point, I folded my arms on the table, in the middle of the noisy ski chalet between the cafe and the bar, put my head on one of my children’s discarded sweatshirts and took an hour-long nap. Nap. Check!

Wednesday, I drove north again. This time to Sedona, land of the red rocks, where my husband was on a three-day work retreat and wives were invited. Unfortunately, the first day was Tuesday… ski day. Rick and I enjoyed a flavorful Mexican meal at our favorite stop Javalina Cantina. Unfortunately, my mind was still frozen from the previous day and I thoroughly squandered salsa loaded with cilantro. Cilantro is my newly discovered #2 highly allergic food. DUH. That night didn’t end comfortably.

Thursday, for the first time in my life, I visited Jerome, Arizona. Rumor has it, people drive for forever to go there. Seven of my homeschool-mom-peeps and I were spending Thursday through Sunday at a cabin in the woods in Prescott… just to get away from it all. It was sublime. Anyway, there is a “highway” from Sedona to Prescott that goes through Jerome, a very sleepy little mining town that is truly built on the side of a mountain. I’m convinced that a map of the town would look like a Chutes-N-Ladders game. Currently it is an artsy tourist metropolis with next-to-no parking. Public restroom are in the fire hall… FYI.

The “highway” reminded me of the Road to Hana in Maui…. however, palm trees were replaced with pine trees, the drop off the cliff into the ocean was replaced with sheer rock cliffs to solid rock cavern, and the one-lane bridges were replaced with very narrow jaunts through the town. I can add this adventure and then check it off my bucket list. Jerome. Check!

Sunday 1:00 in the afternoon… pending doom hit. I got chills that were multiplying. My body’s ability to regulate temperature was losing control. I climbed under the power that the electric blanket was supplying. It was electrifying. But I never shaped up. I needed a friend to drive my van home with me in it. After days of coughing, chills, fever, sweating and “sleeping” in my green birthday chair (instead of flat on my back in my bed) I succumbed to a doctor’s visit. Prognosis: Flu and Bronchitis. She inquired if a note was necessary for work to excuse me for several days so I could rest. I declined.

Then it started. ON THE WAY HOME FROM THE DOCTOR! I hadn’t even made it to the pharmacy to pick up my meds and my very first inhaler. “Can you swing by Costco and pick up a battery for the van?” “Mom, what’s for dinner?” “Can you cut my hair?” “We’re going to the park tomorrow, right?” “There’s a birthday party on Saturday.” “Can you please change a few things on my business receipt original copy?” “Are you washing laundry?” “I got Bon Jovi tickets for Saturday night!” “There’s no milk.” Oh my stars.

Never should I have declined the note qualifying my need for rest. What in the blazes was I thinking? I could have taped it on my bedroom door…. or my forehead. (I even declined the opportunity to see John in concert…. THAT’S how much rest I need!)

Rest well, my faithful readers. And use hand sanitizer. You don’t want what I got! Trust me!

Going Into Town

Where are currently staying is a 20 minute drive into town…. Walmart, Barnes & Noble, Taco Bell and Home Depot. We don’t have internet access at the cabin, so I’ve brought my laptop to B&N for short and sweet hook-up times.

We dropped into Home Depot earlier for some needed toilet parts and unbeknownst to us, torrential rain started while we shopped. We were all sporting t-shirts, flip-flops, shorts/capris without umbrellas as it was 90 degrees outside. Larisa and I waited in the exit doorway while Rick and Keeve ran to the van. The rain intensified while we waited and the much to our amusement, Home Depot people were frantically covering outdoor displays that were obviously not waterproof. Rick couldn’t get close to the door so he pointed back at the loading dock area. Larisa and I made our way over there, somewhat dryly and were picked up in style. We proceeded to drive two blocks away to a grocery store…. covered by clear skies. Arizona storms amaze and amuse me.

My dad introduced to me his summer specialty beverage at Starbucks: green tea frappaccino with peppermint and mocha chips. It tastes like Grasshopper Ice Cream with all the benefits of green tea. Yum! Much to mine and my father’s dismay, the B&N in Flagstaff is not a fully stocked, peppermint participating Starbucks AND it doesn‘t accept Starbucks cards. Sheesh. As I ordered my relished drink, the non-masculine fellow proceeded to tell me that they don’t serve peppermint. At all. Then he asked if I wanted whipped cream on my plain ordinary green tea frap. I answered nicely, “No, I’m not having a green tea frap anymore, because you wrecked it by not having peppermint.” Keeve proceeded to order and the guy asked him to repeat his name so he could write it on the cup. I spelled it, out of habit, because it is such an unusual name. The guy barked in his soft, lispy voice, “I know how to spell it!” I didn’t comment, but the line on the tip of my tongue was, “Wow! The first person in the world that knows how to spell KEEVE!” He misspelled Larisa’s name and just as I was leaving the counter, he added with charm, “What a cute purse!” Wow! As soon as we were out of earshot, Larisa mocked, “What a cute purse!” It is a cute purse… with cherries all over it and tan straps and corners… my friend Connie gave it to me and I love it. But GAH! Man-up, brother.

We are going back into town again, but I spied a real, stand-alone Starbucks that we will be stopping at to acquire peppermint drinks before our trip into B&N for internet access. This time I’m taking my umbrella.

Take Me Home, Country Roads

Our trip to Bountiful has proved to be much more of an adventure than I was prepared for. For ten days we are relishing in the somewhat cool mountain air twenty miles south of Flagstaff at Munds Park in Northern Arizona. Yes, it’s still been 90 degrees but that is a welcome luxury compared to the 115’s of Phoenix. Can’t say that I’m missing home right now. At all. I thought for a moment… and it’s true. Not at all.

Reading, sewing, relaxing, game playing and napping were all high on my list for this trip. I did manage to accomplish the finishing touches of one Bag for Zaza while here, and I’ve started the hand-embellished fancies for a cute little girl’s denim purse. One book down, two to go. Game playing has picked up with the arrival of the game-obsessed family members. :o) Naps have been plentiful as well. What I didn’t account for was the toll on my poor body.

Ice cream sandwiches were calling our names from the country store, so we ventured off for the 1.5 mile walk down the hill….. knowing the ice cream sandwiches would be a necessary fuel for the crawl back up the hill. Only ten or twelve houses down the sidewalk-less street, I noticed my 11-year-old son skid on some gravel. One house later there was a cement driveway covered in small black stones and I told the kids, “This is the kind of rocks that slip easily on pavement…..” and then I proceeded to demonstrate just how easy it was to slide on the small stones. My left leg slid down the hill and I gracefully, in slow motion, went down as my right knee kissed the gravel. Blood followed. Ouch! And drat it all, I ripped a hole in my favorite black Capri pants! We turned around and hiked back to the cabin to find the well equipped first aid box. Ouch! Ice cream sandwiches were calling more loudly at that point… so we drove down.

This cabin comes fully stocked with two quads for offroading adrenaline rushes. Helmets, goggles, gloves, etc. etc. etc. My husband and I took our eldest and youngest out for a tromp through the pine trees. We took turns riding and driving and bumping along the not-so-smooth paths. I knew I would be sore the next day simply from holding on! One particular tromp, my 16-year-old daughter was driving and I was on the back, holding on for dear life. Now I understand the phrase “holding on for dear life.” Anyway, we somehow got off the trail and were making our way through virgin forest when she spontaneously ducked to avoid being stabbed by tree branches…. and I did not. Just below my right collar-bone a branch stabbed me and I screamed out. No blood followed, but I do have a highly tender spot, a quality bruise with some good scratch marks. Ouch! Quadding is the dirtiest sport I’ve participated in throughout my entire life, I’m quite certain.

We have five more days of cool mountain air. I’m praying that I make it out alive. (I refrained from sharing my “slam my head into the A-frame beam story” …. but it did bring tears to my eyes.)

(New bag up for auction at www.BagsForZaza.wordpress.com!)