FSAF #3 A day in Papago Park

Today V and I went to the Desert Botanical Garden with Alanna. The garden was cool as always, even though there were no special exhibits going on. We walked around, checked out plants, stopped to feed V on a shady bench, got to go in some Tohono O'odham dwellings (they were a native american tribe indigenious to this area). Ground some mesquite beans, then hit the gift shop while V took a nap. I got a pretty cool book detailing all the edible plants in the southwest, so as long as I bring it or memorize it we'll be all set if we get stranded in the wilderness! After that we decided to go climb up to the Hole in the rock at Papago Park. Hung out up in the hole for a while, then climbed down and hung out in the shade under a ramada. Here's some pics, CLICK ON THE THUMBNAILS FOR LARGER IMAGES!!!!!!

FSAF #1 DESERT LOVIN'

No, not like that. Get your mind out of the gutter! Ever wonder why we like something? I'm not talking about Facebook, I'm talking real life. Today I took Vincent on a trip up to Lake Pleasant to get some pictures and be outside in the beautiful weather. We drove around inside of Lake Pleasant State Park, checked out the visitors center, took some pics of where I almost rolled our truck into the lake last weekend (that's a story for a different time), and walked around on the trails looking for wildlife I was going to head home. When I got back to Castle Hot Springs road I knew I should go left and head home, but instead I went right. While I was doing this Theresa's words were running through my head. When she had called less than an hour before, she said something to the effect of "don't do anything stupid, you have our son with you. You know sometimes you take dirt roads and trails and realize after it wasn't the best idea". She was right, that's how I almost put us into Lake Pleasant upside down in the Montero the previous weekend. So even with her voice in my head telling me not to, I headed north on Castle Hot Springs road off into the desert. Vincent was asleep so I reasoned that if it got really bumpy or sketchy looking I'd turn around, after all I had very little water for myself, no extra bottles for him, and no tire repair kit. As I explored, and took more pictures, I was thinking about the fact I love the desert. I don't know why, but I find it absolutely fascinating and beautiful. It could be because it's the polar opposite of the terrain I grew up around. Back in New England it's all grass and trees, it rains frequently, it snows way too much. Here we get almost no rain, no snow at all, the trees are few and far between, there are cacti everywhere. See, totally different. But I love it. I know it can be deadly, there are venomous snakes and lizards, the summer temperatures always exceed 100 degrees, the winter nights can get down below freezing. So, why do I love it? Is it because we can camp all year round? Is it because it's so different? Is it all the unsettled land we can go out and explore? Is it because desert racing is so friggen cool? Is it because of all the great mexican food? Maybe. Here's some pics (click on the thumbnails for bigger pics), enjoy!

diaper dilemma

Okay. So. The word "dilemma" implies that there is a really big issue or concern about something. And in some eyes, this might not seem like a dilemma at all. But in mine it is.

So here goes...

Other than being terrible for the environment and just collecting dust in landfills, I have now learned that all disposable diapers test on animals.

Seriously.

And by "testing on animals", I don't mean that they put the diapers on the animals to make sure they fit. No. Not even close. What I mean by "testing on animals" is that they apparently have to test the toxicity of the gels that the diapers use to soak up the baby's waste.

And that disgusts me...especially since the term "toxicity" refers to the levels at which something is harmful or damaging to a living (or non-living, I guess) being. So, in the fullest sense of the word, they are using animals to test how harmful the chemicals in diapers are.

And that mental picture is so much more gross and disturbing that the dirtiest diaper mess.

I will admit - I really love disposable diapers because they are so quick and easy. And because V goes to a babysitter during the day, it's really the most convenient option to just hand his sitter a bag of diapers so she can change him while I am at work.

But now I am seriously thinking of possibly switching to cloth diapers for all the times that V is NOT at the sitter. I wouldn't be comfortable asking the sitter to use cloth diapers while he is under her care...but for the times before work, after work, and on the weekends...I am seriously considering it.

And like I said before, this might not seem like a dilemma at all. Besides, people use disposable diapers all the time. Our parents used them on us. We use them on V. Millions of other people use them on their children. It's completely normal and accepted.

But something in my gut now cringes knowing that it's so bad not only for the environment but for the lives of animals who don't even know what diapers are.

So now I will leave my questions for you...

What are your thoughts on using cloth diapers? Is it messier? More time consuming to clean? Does it cause more diaper rash?

And...in a family of parents who both work, is it really possible to switch to cloth diapers 100% of the time?

the elephants have come and gone

The fact that our last blog entry was 4 months ago is abominable. My entry about The Cove yesterday doesn't count because it was my attempt at a PSA. So I count the last true McGresa blog entry as June 23rd. Really? It's October people!! What in the name of all that is holy have we been doing since then?

Well...

I remember talking about the elephants walking down the street in downtown Phoenix. That means our circus adventure has come and gone and obviously those elephants are long gone as well. But they were so cute. The circus was actually super entertaining altogether and I'm really glad that we all went. I really like the elephants, but the tigers were actually pretty amazing, too, because there was a big circular cage with one man and nine tigers. Yep...you saw that right. NINE tigers. ONE man. That guy has some major cojones, I'll tell you that much! I think my favorite part of the circus, though, was the motorcycle cage ball thingiedoo. There was one point when the cage had 7 bikes riding around and around. Utterly amazing. So, just as a quick summary - the circus was AWESOME!



Also...remember me talking about those pounds I lost? Yeah. Definitely gained some of them back. Not all of them. Not even half of them. But definitely a few. So my goal of losing 50 pounds in one year was not reached. Oh well...the fight goes on, right?

I also remember talking about my jury duty experience a little bit, too. Well, I was NOT picked as I mentioned before and the trial was the State of Arizona against a young man accused of child abuse and the first degree murder of a 13-month old child. Apparently, from what I gather of the story, he and his girlfriend had a child together. Then they split up at some point and the girl got pregnant again by another man. Then the young man got back together with this girl and now they were taking care of both his child and the other man's child. Confused? Yeah. Well, anyway. He was accused of allegedly killing the child that was NOT his biological child but the 6-week-or-so-long trial ended up being declared a mistrial because the jury could not come to a unanimous verdict. In this case, preparations for a second trial were discussed but the young man ended up pleading guilty to manslaughter and will be sentenced at the end of this month. But manslaughter? That's it? Ugh.

In case you are curious about some of the case details, you can find more information here and here. In case you are not curious in the slightest, please press onward...

In addition to that, to name a few things that have happened since June:

1. we saw the Twilight Saga's Eclipse and Joe loved it
2. we went camping on Mingus Mountain
3. we went camping on Mount Lemmon
4. we babysat Lucy's boyfriend, Yuma
5. Joe took his FIRST trip to California!
6. we went camping on Mingus Mountain a second time and literally within 20 minutes of starting to set up camp Lucy had already dug up a squeaky ball she buried when we camped there 2 months earlier
   
7. Theresa sang in the wedding of a lifelong friend and biffed up one of the songs that had a Spanish verse (which really isn't the WORST thing in the world except for the fact that 90% of the people at the wedding spoke Spanish!)
   
8. Theresa celebrated her 2 year anniversary with University of Phoenix
9. Joe celebrated his 3 year anniversary with Powill Mfg & Eng
10. Joe ALSO celebrated his 2 year anniversary of having a new kidney (WOO HOO!!!)
    
11. Lucy celebrated her 3rd birthday (crazy!!)
12. we started preparing and planning to build a teardrop trailer...and we can't WAIT until we are able to camp in it!!

More things have happened since June, but that's all that comes to mind right now because we have to get going and take Lucy to the park for a play date with her boyfriend. Hope you enjoyed the quick recap of our crazy past 4 months. Hope you all are well.

XOXO,
T and Joe and Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds Fur

just checking in...

Greetings everyone!!

1. To those affected by the crazy weather in the Northeast, you are probably not even able to read this right now because you are without power (if you don't know what I'm talking about, click here). So even though you may not even be able to see this post, just know that our thoughts are with you as you have to deal with the lack of electricity, lack of heat and lack of all other things that are a Northeastern necessity during the winter months. Seriously, for the sake of all that is holy, I pray that the power situation is resolved soon. It's just terrible that this has happened during wintertime. Keep us posted!
2. I can't resist one more minute gone by without mentioning Twilight. Joe, Alanna and I went to see it on opening day and I wanted to talk about it right away, but wanted to wait. One reason is that I wanted to see the movie a second time, because that first time all I was noticing were the things that were different from the book. So, yes...the dork that I am...went to see it again. Joe actually went, too! I asked him many times if he wanted to see anything else other than Twilight and he just said "no"....only later did I find out that he only went to see it again to be supportive of my crazy obsession. He's so great, isn't he?? Anyway, we saw it again and I really liked it better because I could look at it more objectively. I know a lot of people gave it mixed reviews, but I liked it a lot. I think they did a really good job in selecting the actors and thought that everything they added just made the story really come alive. Yes, I may be crazy and should just stop talking about it already, but I just really enjoyed these books. And I hope that if they make a sequel, it's as well done as the first movie.
3. My friend, Lindsay, just had baby twins this past Sunday - Boston and Teagan. I am so thankful that everything has been going well for them. Her pregnancy started off a little rocky and there were many health concerns, but all is well. They have even posted some really precious pictures of the little ones, so take a gander if you are so inclined. I am just so happy that the family is finally all together and that mom and babies are doing well. Congratulations, Lindsay and Michael!!
   
4. Work is good. It's definitely been an adjustment, learning a new occupation, and I'm not 100% certain how it will all turn out. But for now, it's keeping me busy and keeping our bills paid, which is definitely something that not everyone can say right during this economic time. So, for having a job and roof over my head, I am definitely thankful. And I'm working overtime tomorrow which isn't really the first thing I think of doing on a Saturday morning, but will definitely help us out a little more, especially during the holidays!
   
5. The wedding is coming along like the little engine that could. The invitations just came in, so that is our big project for the weekend. Exciting!!! As for everything else, Joe and I are probably the biggest procrastinators in the universe (what a pair!!), so it's all coming together slowly. But it will be perfect. Normally I'm easily stressed out about big things, but right now I'm just excited and happy and I'm sure that everything will come together just fine.
6. Last, but not least, and update on Joey 3 Kidney Man! The Good News = he's healthy. It's been 2 months (time flies!!) since the transplant and all is well. He's doing fantastic and has never felt better. They are even starting to reduce and get rid of some of his prescriptions because his health keeps improving. And we got each other bikes for Christmas (see pictures here) and have been riding every day, so BOTH of us are more on the health track. The Bad News = Joe has to go back to work on Monday. (although, it's not terrible, because at least he'll be getting a full paycheck again). Plus, we'll be able to share in each other's misery again when we both get home from work every day and vent about how we wish we were independently wealthy and didn't have to go to work every day! (not holding our breath, though)

Hope all is well with everyone. Stay warm and safe this holiday season!!

see...it DOES rain in Arizona!

For those of you across the country and elsewhere, we're not sure if you've heard anything about "Monsoon 2008" in Arizona or not, so we'll shed a little light 0n what's been going on over the past 48 (or so) hours:

One night last week when Joe wasn't scheduled on dialysis, we both took Lucy to the park after it started to cool off a bit (by cool off, I mean it got down to about 100). So we went to the park and on the way, it started to sprinkle a bit. We didn't think it was a big deal. So we got to the park and noticed that almost everyone was taking their dogs and leaving. Since the rains in Phoenix usually last about 10 minutes and then stop, we thought we'd wait it out. But oh no.....this is NOT the case during Monsoon Season because about 10 minutes later we saw the heaviest rain I have ever seen since then. Heavier rain even than I ever saw while living in Boston! Lucy was having a grand time running around like crazy in the rain with her mouth open while Joe and I and a few other dog owners took refuge under a tree. The tree didn't really shelter much since the rain was coming in all directions, though. All was good and Lucy was having a blast...until we started to see lightning and decided to get the heck out of there. When we got home, plastered all over the news were bits about "Monsoon 2008". Those of you from other parts of the country might chuckle at the attention they give to rain here. Yes, it does happen very seldom...but when it pours, there's just no hiding from it...especially since the drainage in the Phoenix area is terrible.

Flash forward to this past weekend. We had a little family reunion of sorts on Saturday. My aunt Sharon was visiting from Georgia, my aunt Diane was visiting from San Diego and my Uncle Harry and his family (who live in North Phoenix) were visiting as well. It was the first time in about 7 years that we were all together. So we decided to get together again on Sunday. Joe was out picking up Princess Lucy from the groomer when everyone came over. Then the rain started to pour. First the backyard was a huge puddle. Then all of the planters filled up with water. Then one yard was overflowing to the next, the planters started overflowing into the pool and the flooding began. It was pouring for a good hour to an hour and a half. It definitely blew the night at the dog park out of the water (no pun intended) and became the craziest rain storm I've ever seen. After about 1.5 hours, the pool was full and, with that, it was full of dirt, leaves, etc. from all the planters and from the yard. Meanwhile, Alanna came home from work and told the crazy story of her trying to navigate home and she said how our whole neighborhood was flooded. So we decided to take a walk. I brought my camera and this is what we saw:

The streets and the sidewalks are not even distinguishable.
Even parts of people's yards were under water!

Mom at the end of the street.

Neese, Kaci and Mom wishing that we had some canoes!

Our cul-de-sac was a lake! You can't even see the sidewalks!

And our poor pool filled with mud, leaves and YUCK!
[this was after they started pumping the water OUT of the pool]

And, finally, comes the story of Joe and Lucy...who were stuck on the highway for about 2 hours. Joe was bringing Lucy back to the house so that they could enjoy the rest of the afternoon with the family, but got caught in this:


Apparently, one of the underpasses on the highway (about 7 or so miles from the house) was completely submerged and no one could get through. This is where they were stuck for 2 hours. Joe said that all the cars were stopped and could not get anywhere. He said that people on the far right eventually started to flip u-turns and travel the wrong way down the highway, but Joe was stuck on the far left...kinda hard to turn from where he was. There was one point, I guess, when some people even started to play football while stuck on the highway! Eventually, he said, that police men came, telling people to just turn around and drive the wrong way down the highway to the nearest exit. So finally, cars started leaving and eventually Joe was able to turn around. But yeah...poor guy. He and Lucy were definitely glad to finally get out of the car.

So for those who are nonbelievers....SEE....it DOES rain in Arizona!!

man....it's SMOKIN!

Not sure if all of you are aware that there is a fairly large fire taking place in the SouthWest valley or not. If you live here, though, it would be pretty hard to miss.

Joe and I went to the dog park on Thursday night and were pleasantly surprised by the mix of clouds, the smell of rain, and the sudden drop of 10 degrees...making the experience at the dog park more bearable. There were a few storms going on locally (not in Phoenix, but South of Phoenix and East of Phoenix), so we thought that we might get some rain. However...upon closer look, we discovered that the huge dark clouds blanketing the sky above were smoke clouds. Not rain clouds.

Hmph.

No rain that day.

Yesterday, I spent most of the day in Tempe. Before I headed back to the apartment, I took Lucy to a different dog park to get some energy out. This dog park was in Tempe and it appeared that there were snowflakes falling. Or...should i say "ashflakes". It was weird. I kept seeing these white things falling. It looked like snow, but that would be an impossibility considering it was 110 degrees outside. Nope...not snow. It was ash.

There is an article about the Ethan Fire here, if you're interested.

Also, these are a few pictures I snapped while at the dog park. It looks like a nice big rain cloud, doesn't it? Yeah...it's actually just a huge plume of smoke.

[Please excuse the picture quality. These were taken with my cell phone.]

green is the new black

After moving back to Arizona and having possibly the worst allergies of my entire life, I have really tried to take the whole "going green" movement to heart. I mean...it's really bad here. I think back in the 80's Arizona was the place to move to because it was GOOD for people with allergies, good for breathing, etc. Now it's the exact opposite, in my opinion. The population has probably more than doubled since then, people are buying bigger cars (that can't even fit into parking spots without hitting something), homes are being built further and further away thus depleting the natural environment, and pollution and allergies are just awful.

There's a sort of "hill" I drive over on the way to work every morning and every morning it's the same view: beautiful Phoenix skyline and vast expanse of the Valley of the Sun blanketed under a brown cloud. It just makes me sick thinking about what is going into our lungs. I'm on allergy meds now, for the first time in my life, so I sneeze and itch less...but I'm still breathing in that crud every day just like everyone else.

It's sad that in order to fully "go green" it is necessary to spend oodles of money. In order to live a "green" life, you'd have to buy everything organic, drive significantly less (which is near impossible in this day and age), buy an eco-friendly car or convert yours for a painfully high price, recycle everything that you can and only buy recycled products, et cetera, et cetera.

I'll tell you what, though...

If I won the lottery tomorrow, I'd recycle my Honda and get one of these cool buys:


the Koenigsegg CCXR which is second most powerful production car in the world and runs on ethanol.

OR, I would indulge in this cute little creation designed in America, manufactured in India and currently being sold in the UK:


Is it called Greeny (also called the G-Wiz...why didn't I think of that?) and is ENTIRELY emissions free. How cool is that?

That's all I got for now.