Life on the High Plains

I'm totally in love with the Arizona desert.  I dream of some day living here although leaving my Colorado mountains behind would be a real sacrifice.  Maybe I can at least live there in the winter. The vegetation is amazing. These saguaros are amazing!  You don't really fully appreciate how big they are until you stand next to one.  They can grow to over 70 feet tall and can live for 150 years. Amazing! Happy Skywatch Friday!

I think it's time for a cute kitten/dog video. Sophie and Diesel continue to be best friends.  Sophie is going to be so sad when Diesel moves away this summer.  Diesel will probably only be sad because he's leaving his Grammy. We'll think about that later....for now we can just enjoy some kitten cuteness.

Just a quick update.... Everything went fine during the procedure yesterday except that they didn't knock me out enough.  I can remember everything about the procedure including the doctor's and technician's shoes, their conversations, and I felt every single needle going in.  They just kept telling me to breath deeply.  All I can say is "ouch"!  More drugs next time please! I went home feeling like I'd been kicked in the back by my horse, but Irv took care of me wonderfully.  For some reason I decided to come back to work for half a day today which was a poor decision, but when you have a boss who doesn't think anyone should ever take time off, that's what you do.  Today I'm just dealing with some soreness, nausea, and the hives and itching from my sensitive skin's reaction to adhesive. It will take two weeks to know if this procedure worked so please keep your fingers crossed.

This little white capsule has had an amazing effect on my life for the last several months.  I didn't realize just how much until a couple weeks ago when I had to stop taking it. Lyrica has done an amazing job of controlling the pain I've experienced for 3 1/2 years.  I saw a pain specialist a few weeks ago who wanted to do some testing on the nerves in my spine and he needed me to be in "maximum" pain so I stopped the Lyrica. All I will say is that the past two weeks have been almost unbearable made even worse by swinging  a golf club and participating in a 10K last weekend.  I can't sit, I can't stand, and I especially can't lay down without substantial pain.  I really don't know how I tolerated that pain for as long as I did and I really don't know how I manage to get up and go to work day after day.  Lyrica has really been a Godsend. According to the medial branch nerve block I had done two weeks ago, my doctor believes my pain was red...

Last week we went to Arizona for D's baby shower.  Let me start by saying that my daughter has some very creative and talented friends. This must be the right place!  (Sorry about the shadow!)   The home was exquisitely decorated with a purple and gray theme.     Both myself and A's mom had supplied photographs of the parents to be in their early years.  I love how they were displayed.     Look at these tables and the "shower" umbrellas hanging above them.  Amazing!     There was a special seat for the mama to be.   I love it when ladies set the table with the china and silver for special occasions.  I like to do this too, but my kids always make fun of me for using the good stuff on holidays.  What's the point of owning china and silver if you're never going to use them?   The lunch was simple, elegant, and delicious! The mimosas were festive ...

We had a great time Saturday night at Top Golf in Gilbert, Arizona. Have you ever been there? Let me try to explain it.  It's a three story driving range type game where you get a "lane" and everyone takes turns hitting balls onto the range aiming at holes that are various distances from the tee box.  Everyone's balls are chipped with their name so when they go in a hole the golfer gets points for whichever hole their ball goes into. After arriving at Top Golf we had about an hour and a half wait for our lane so we enjoyed some dinner and this beautiful Arizona sunset. After dinner we all got our swing on. (See the holes in the distance that are all lit up?) Of course the men aim for the hole that's worth the most points and the farthest distance away.   The ladies soon learned that hitting the balls into the closest holes may not be worth as many points, but it was more doable than those holes far away.   No matter how good we di...

What a great weekend! The highlight of the weekend was definitely the baby shower, but on Sunday we had a great time too! Arizona Rock n Roll Marathon and 1/2 (and 10K for the whimps).   When you go to a big run like this they put you in corrals based on what you expect your finishing time to be.  There were 20 corrals and guess where we started? Corral 20 was right in front of the UPS trucks that haul the runner's gear from the start line to the finish line. This is what it looks like from Corral 20 when there are 22,000 other runners in front of you. Yes, it takes a long time just to reach the start line when you're in Corral 20 especially when they close the course every 5th corral or so to allow the light rail trains to pass. Finally, we're moving! You know what's really great about a Rock n Roll run?  They have bands scattered throughout the course.  This one was an army rock n roll band. You know what's really nice abo...

There's something mighty fun about to happen. A baby shower for my first granddaughter! I love my sweet grandson more than life itself, he has been the brightest star in my universe for the last almost 14 years.  I've watched Mr. Beans and Irv get to do all the fun "manly" things together including the annual man trips.  He's even accompanied us on several 5K's over the last year and this year he's going to try out for the track team at school.  Woohoo! In this picture he ran back to accompany his old grammy to the finish line at the Run to the Shrine last year.  What a sweet young man! I'm so thankful for him, but now it's time to welcome another girl into the family.  The "woman" trips will start in just a few years and I can't wait to introduce this sweet girl to Broadway in New York, Disney World, and Yellowstone just to name a few. First, though, we get to welcome her into the world before she even gets here with a s...

It's been cold in Colorado this winter.  Lots of snow, wind, ice, and bone-chilling cold. I was so excited yesterday because the sun was supposed to come out and the high was going to be in the 30s.  Woohoo! In town, where I work, the streets were thawing and when it hit 31 degrees I thought I'd died and gone to heaven. Then I drove home.  Apparently the plains east of town where I live were still enshrouded in the clouds and fog because it was still the frozen tundra out there. Icicles hanging from the garage with a magnificent Colorado sunset in the background. Happy Skywatch Friday!

Snow. Fog. Freezing drizzle. Cold. We seem to have a theme going on in this part of the country.  Tomorrow, however, the sun is forecast to shine.  Woohoo! Our life has been crazy as usual the last few days.  Here's some of the highlights. Last Friday I got to take the day off to go tabulate for the 4-H National Western Roundup horse judging contest.  I've done this for the last couple years as a volunteer.  This year I became a member of the paid staff!  I got to spend a little time over at the Coliseum where the contest takes place.  Gosh, do I miss the days of traveling with the team to judging contests across the country. After the contest it took us 3 hours to drive home from Denver--more of that snow and fog. On Saturday I got to do my favorite thing of the week--my painting lesson.  Here's the current state of my coyote.  Please keep in mind that I have about 473 1/2 more layers to put on which will take app...