Monday, May 28, 2007

Monday, May 28, 2007

Our last day here and we had to catch a plane in the afternoon.  We tried to get up & get going early, but that just wasn't possible somehow. ;)  We were able to spend an hour or so at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum and got to see the desert cats.  Very cool!  And then it was off to the airport and another mad dash through Dallas airport for both my sis and me.  This time, we made it with 10 minutes or so to spare.  ;)

And there was my Galahad waiting to pick me up at midnight at the airport.  And, omg did I miss my Kitten!  Apparently she missed me, too, as she gave me lots of snuggles when I got home.  =)

Sunday, May 27, 2007

Sunday, May 27, 2007

Again, I was awake way too early.  This time I was quieter in the kitchen, although my sis woke up soon after with a migraine.  :(  This was one of the few times I actually got to take care of someone else's migraine.  I did all the same stuff that I want -- an ice pack that I'm too lazy (READ: the pain isn't worth the result) to get for myself, hand-delivered meds, and a glass of water.  She was so grateful even though it really isn't any effort for someone who feels okay.  We had planned to go hiking today but told her it was fine if we didn't.  She didn't want to be the person who holds everyone back, and I know that feeling well.  So, we went but took it extremely easy.  My brother didn't get to drive fast through all the swerving mountain roads.  He survived although his new diesel truck almost didn't.  Apparently we all learned that diesels have a sweet spot of fuel efficiency, and we weren't in it.  But that's later...

We stopped at one of the trail-heads to try hiking.  I figured the fresh air might help my sis.  Haha, here I thought I'm in the best shape of my life, and I could barely make it 100 feet up the trail.  The altitude almost killed me since I live at 3 feet above sea level and this was close to 9000.  My leg muscles never got sore, but omg, I couldn't catch my breath.  Needless to say, I was happy to stop and rest and just enjoy the beauty.  We talked for a bit and munched some beef jerky, and she encouraged us to go hiking and she'd wait for us.  Neither my bro nor I wanted to leave her, so we just ambled a little bit (which was about as fast as I could go anyway without oxygen).  And, she's stubborn so she pushed herself a bit to keep up.  The fresh air (and meds) did help a bit.  We maybe only ended up a quarter mile up the trail before we turned around, but some of that was over 45 degrees steep. 

We continued to the top of Mt. Lemmon to get a bite at the little town.  At that point, my brother realized that his truck burned through way more diesel than it should have and we were in danger of running out.  When I say little town, I mean one store and one cafe (which was closed, the fkrs), and no gas station.  So, we tried to coast down, without going too fast so my sis and I wouldn't get carsick lol.  It was a harrowing ride down watching the Distance to Empty gauge count down until it just read out Lo Fuel.  We barely made it to the gas station and were happy when they had diesel there and we could refuel. 

Saturday, May 26, 2007

Saturday, May 26, 2007

We stayed up sooo late talking when we got back to his house.  And we met his new doggie, Bella, who is fkn adorable.  She's a Sicilian Mastiff and the most adorable one ever!  So, of course her aunties had to spoil her and play with all of her toys.  =D  I'm really glad she turned out well as I was the one who talked him into getting her.  She was a rescue puppy that he learned about just when his Tibetan Mastiff died.  He had just moved across the country and wasn't sure he was ready for a new dog.  Once he showed me her picture, I knew she needed him almost as much as he needed her. 

I woke up early cuz I was still on EDT, so I had about 3-4 hours of sleep.  I tried to be quiet while everyone else was sleeping, but my quest for food woke up my sis.  She mumbled something barely intelligible like "you'd better be making coffee," so I started a pot for her. 

We all sat around most of the morning catching up and chatting (and playing with Bella!).  By the time we decided we wanted to do something, half the day was gone, so we spent an hour or so at the Botanical Gardens before they closed.  Then it was off to Trader Joe's to get some food.  We don't have those in Florida, so it was a treat for both my brother and me, although now that he lives there, I'm sure he'll be there often.  My sis cooked us up some yummy, healthy food back at his house,  and again we stayed up all night talking.  :)

Friday, May 25, 2007

Friday, May 25, 2007

My connecting flight to Dallas was 90 minutes late.  Fortunately, we made up time in the air, so I had a leisurely 15 minutes to catch my next flight.  Unfortunately, we burned up that 15 minutes sitting within 10 feet of the gate.  Well, I needed the exercise since I was missing my Friday night class at the dojo.  :)

I texted my sister, who was also connecting to that flight, that she needed to hold the plane cuz I was running for it!  The airlines told me they wouldn't hold it and since it was the last flight of the night, I might get stuck in Dallas the whole sold-out holiday weekend.  Cheerful pessimists they were. ;)  I knew how my sister is and I knew I'm in pretty good shape with a damn nice wheeled carry-on.  It never tipped!  Thanks, my friend, for letting me borrow it and thanks also to Delsey for designing it.  So I ran like a spider monkey hopped up on Mountain Dew.  Of course my next gate was in a completely different terminal. 

My sister is a smart cookie and started chatting to anyone who would listen; and somehow she got lots of people caring if her little sister whom she hadn't seen in 2 years would make the plane.   Laugh, she was the last person in line to board and yelled my name when she saw me running.  I came tearing over, and the flight attendant was very nonplussed.  He made some comment to my sis like why'd you make a federal case out of this.  :p  Of course, when I actually walked onto the plane behind my sis, almost everyone cheered to see I had made it.  And, because she's an amazing sister, she had snacks ready for me!!  =))  I had assumed I would have 90 minutes in Dallas to grab a a bite to eat.

She called my brother from our seats to let him know I had made the plane, and he picked us up with a huge smile at the Tucson airport.  :)

Thursday, May 24, 2007

Thursday, May 24, 2007

I'm going to feel so much better when I see Kitten eating a baby iguana.  I knew they were a menace, but I had no idea how bad they had become in some neighborhoods.

Iguana Plague