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!

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

the cove

Last night, I made the mistake of watching "The Cove", the 2009 Oscar winning documentary. I take that back, though. I definitely wouldn't call it a "mistake" that I watched this because, while hard to process at times, it actually told a story with a rather important message, a message about taking a stand for the preservation of the beauty and sanctity of life.

Synopsis (taken from The Cove website):
"Academy Award® Winner for Best Documentary of 2009, THE COVE follows an elite team of activists, filmmakers and freedivers as they embark on a covert mission to penetrate a remote and hidden cove in Taiji, Japan, shining a light on a dark and deadly secret. Utilizing state-of-the-art techniques, including hidden microphones and cameras in fake rocks, the team uncovers how this small seaside village serves as a horrifying microcosm of massive ecological crimes happening worldwide. The result is a provocative mix of investigative journalism, eco-adventure and arresting imagery, adding up to an unforgettable story that has inspired audiences worldwide to action. THE COVE is directed by Louie Psihoyos and produced by Paula DuPré Pesmen and Fisher Stevens. The film is written by Mark Monroe. The executive producer is Jim Clark and the co-producer is Olivia Ahnemann."

Dolphins and porpoises, though? Yeah...I honestly never even thought of them much before. But watching this, and seeing footage and reading about the slaughter of these animals, my stomach turns just thinking about it. But look how far away from Japan I am! What can I do? Donate? Protest? Spread the word? Sign the petition? And...does it really matter?

I really think it does.

"We need another and a wiser and perhaps a more mystical concept of animals. In a world older and more complete than ours they move finished and complete, gifted with extensions of the senses we have lost or never attained, living by voices we shall never hear. They are not brethren, they are not underlings; they are other nations, caught with ourselves in the net of life and time, fellow prisoners of the splendour and travail of the earth." — Henry Beston

do you know what that sound is, highness?....

...those are the shrieking eels!

This post, actually, has nothing to do with the Princess Bride (which is where that quote comes from, for those of us who are uncultured), but it just popped into my head for some reason.

Anyway...

HI EVERYONE!!! I know it's seemed like a bojillion years since we last blogged, so I thought I'd drop you all a line. It really hasn't been a bojillion years, but tons of things have definitely been going on, so we've been a little preoccupied:

SEPTEMBER

• LUCY - We are not millionaires because Lucy did not win the cutest dog competition. :o( For those of you who actually did vote and continue to show your endless support of our gorgeous beagle dog, THANK YOU! Maybe we'll have better luck next year. Or maybe we'll start a dog talent competition, or something. Lucy's pretty amazing at sitting, laying down, rolling over, speaking, and playing hide and seek! Anyway, to see information on the winner of the competition, click here.

OCTOBER

• SWINE - I'm pretty sure I had the swine flu in October. Joe and Alanna and I had planned a camping trip for the first weekend of October and, even though I started feeling like death with a fever of 103, NOTHING was going to get in the way of camping. I had a fever for a couple days and we were scheduled to go on a Friday night and I really didn't want to pull the plug on the trip. So we headed out of Phoenix and during the ride I think something pretty crazy happened because I don't remember much from that night. My fever seemed to skyrocket and I was freezing and burning up all at the same time. I'm pretty sure I was delirious (Joe and Alanna can probably give more details) and it seriously felt like I was actually dead. Not fun. We stayed one night and packed up first thing in the morning. :o( Sad!! It probably wasn't really the swine flu (I tend to exaggerate), but it was pretty brutal. On the positive side, I've hit my sick quotient for the year, so hopefully I won't be sick again for a long time.
• LUCY - Lucy turned TWO!! YAHOOOO!!!! Okay, so maybe this is only exciting to us.
• KIDNEY - Joe celebrated his first anniversary with his new kidney on October 7th!! It's definitely been a roller coaster as far as that goes - being more apt to get diseases and virus due to the suppressed immune system. They are constantly meeting with him, always doing new lab work, adjusting medications due to differences in blood levels and new viruses that pop up, keeping him healthy, etc. The Mayo Clinic and all of Joe's doctors in this city are really top notch. And so is Jen for being the awesome donor!! :o)
  

NOVEMBER

• MOVING - We moved into a new place!! Moving is always super stressful (especially when you realize about 1/3 of the stuff you own could probably just be thrown away), so we are glad to have that over and done with. And, as of yesterday, we have now been in the new place about a month and are pretty much all unpacked and settled in. It's a nice place, too. It's just about 3 miles away from our previous place, so it's in the same general area, but it's about $200 cheaper per month, so we're REALLY excited about saving some extra money. Which is something that isn't easy to do this day and age.
• WILDLIFE - We take Lucy for nightly walks around the new neighborhood and have had the opportunity of seeing and hearing different wildlife such as rabbits, owls, coyotes and even javelinas!! HOW COOL IS THAT??
• WORK - The coming of this month signaled my first anniversary at my current job. It's really crazy how time flies when you're having....fun? Yeah. Amazing. There are DEFINITELY days when things drag and situations get stressful at work (poor Joe never seems to hear the end of it, either) but, for the most part, I have actually grown to really enjoy my new position. This month has been really stressful at work because it's the end of my first year, so I had to work some overtime and work as hard as possible to make sure that I ended it with a bang (want to get some good points on my review!!). It's hard to do with unexpected issues that come up, fires that need to be put out, lives to save, etc. But on the other hand, there is a lot of teamwork involved, so there is a lot of time to continually improve upon communicating effectively with each other. There are great benefits and a lot of opportunity for growth. There are people who really make each day worthwhile. And among all the good and the bad (which you seem to find no matter WHERE you work), it's really been a pretty good experience so far.
• NEW MOON - I have nothing to say about it that won't make you all roll your eyes. So will spare you my thoughts.
  
• THANKSGIVING - It's scary how quickly Thanksgiving has come and gone, you know? My family traveled on a tour of Ireland for the holiday last week (the price was right) but Joe and decided to save our bucks (will visit Ireland someday...) and stuck around Phoenix. We had an awesome dinner celebration at my aunt and uncle's house and hung out and played games afterwards. We went camping amongst coyotes for a few days at Apache Lake, where we went last Thanksgiving. And had a really nice, stress-free weekend. I love Thanksgiving. And I am still so very thankful for everything listed here...and more!!
  

DECEMBER

Dude. Back off. It JUST STARTED!!! he he.

Really, though. December. Ahhh.

• Weather changes (finally).
  
• Holiday decorations.
  
• The season of giving.
• Making new year resolutions.
  
• Spending time with family.
• Enjoying life.
  

Hmmmm. I utterly love this time of year. :o)

Ciao for now!

4th of July Camping Trip

We had quite an interesting weekend ! Here's a quick(?) recap.

Early Friday morning we left PHX and headed up to the Sierra Ancha Mountains. Our ride was uneventful as far as I can remember. Theresa drove first, then we switched just after Punkin Center, AZ. We got to FR487, off AZ288 around noon. Heading up towards the campground we wanted to stay at Workman Creek Falls. The first interesting thing we saw was a deer in the road (then another on the side of the road). Continuing up we saw an interesting sign warning us of abandoned uranium mines in the area. Finally we reached the campground, and although it wasn't full, people had parked on a few of the remaining flat spots we would have camped on. Since there were no spots left because of the people parking on empty spots, we decided to try to go further up the road towards Aztec Peak. This is where Theresa's panic attack started ! Apparently looking over the side of a significant drop off on her side of the road, the road going from bad to worse, plus my driving near the edge of the road worried her. We made it to Workman Creek falls 1 mile up the road and then almost got stuck trying to cross an old wooden bridge. Theresa got out and directed me so I wouldn't accidentally drive her car off a cliff, and I made a 20 point turn. We headed back down to AZ288 and found one open spot at the Rose Creek Campground. This was actually a blessing, because it was a much more private, quiet campground.

Saturday morning we got up early and decided to drive to Young, AZ before going hiking. There's not much to say about Young, The population was 561 at the 2000 census, there are two restaurants, one gas station, one convenience store, one church (Mormon), an auto parts store, a motel, a small medical center, a thrift shop, a library, and a refuse service. Young also has A resident deputy (one!) and a volunteer fire department. We got ice and water and got the hell out of there quickly. Heading back to Workman Creek campground, we parked there and attempted to hike to the summit. 3 miles. What we didn't think about was the fact we started our hike at 5200 feet elevation (roughly a mile high), and we heading to the top which is 7748 ft (roughly a mile and a half). Starting our hike we realized quickly how difficult it is to breathe when you aren't used to the elevation. Even Lucy was struggling. Even though it was close to 90 degrees, we made it about halfway, seeing some cool stuff (I got close enough to pet a horny toad, and did!), the 200ft drop of the "falls" (not really a lot of water in the summer, best to go in early spring or after monsoon storms) then had to turn around because we knew that we were not gonna make it back if we kept going to the top. I was pretty upset about not making it, there's a fire tower at the top the Edward Abbey (my new favorite author) worked at for 2 years, writing some of his books there and, supposedly, a stone living room I really wanted to find. Back at camp we were to tired to do anything except read. The skies started to darken, and we could hear thunder far off, but didn't think much of it (the same thing happened the day before and we never got the storm). The winds picked up, then it started to rain a little, followed by marble sized HAIL, and torrential downpours. We tried to wait out he storm under our EZ UP, but the combination of wind and rain were soaking everything. After a filming a video of the hail we dashed to the car and waited out the storm. Roughly half an hour later it wound down enough that we ventured out to the picnic table and dried off the seats. After a quick game of UNO (I destroyed Theresa) we made tacos and went to bed early.

Sunday morning we were packed up and out of there by 7:30 to head back and dry our stuff out. All in all it was a wonderful weekend. Here's some pics, enjoy !

happy june!

Yes...it's true. We were not able to go camping last weekend because it was WAY TOO COLD. But...we DID stay busy and ended up having fun nonetheless (..........right, Joe?). Plus, the Phoenix climate is definitely making up for last weekend because it's been in the low 100's and is forecast to be 103/104 pretty much ALL week this coming week.

As for Memorial Day weekend, however, it was sad not being able to go camping, but we had lots of fun Phoenix-style. We hung out with the family a lot, spent a lot of time with Lucy, went to the Wildlife World Zoo, had a nice time at my parent's neighbor's house, etc. etc. etc. And this weekend has been nice, too. Since Joe's birthday was on Thursday, we decided to have a nice birthday celebration for him yesterday.

About the zoo. Cleanliness-wise, the Wildlife World Zoo (WAY OUT near Luke Air Force Base) was definitely not as clean as the Phoenix Zoo. However...you could get a lot more close to the animals at this zoo...which was really neat. We even got to feed a giraffe! Do you KNOW how exciting this is? Giraffes have long been my favorite animal and, while plopping food on a giraffe's abnormally long tongue is kind of gross, it was still so neat to see this animal up close. And there were other neat animals, too. The capuchin monkeys were adorable. The African wild dogs were neat! There were cute meercats and porcupines. Lots of deer and antelope. The white tigers and tiger babies were awesome. And the petting zoo was pretty cool, too [even if we were the oldest people in there]! Here are some pictures:




As for everything else going on...

• Joe should [hopefully] be getting his catheter taken out soon (once they keep proving that his fistula keeps working as it should.
• On a bad note...I have been laid off from my job. It comes at a rather inopportune time; but, really...is getting laid off ever at an opportune time? It's a bummer and I have my work cut out for me in finding a new job, but perhaps it's a blessing in disguise. Sometimes it seems like setbacks keep happening for us lately...so maybe this will help me find something that will the start of something really good.
  
• On a GOOD note...we had a nice birthday celebration for Joe on Saturday: Went swimming in my parent's newly redone pool (we even got Lucy to get in and swam around a little!). Had a delicious birthday meal complete with steak, potatoes, pasta salad, cucumber salad, corn on the cob, strawberry shortcake and....watermelon. Yep. We all weigh about 400 pound each now. We played Balderdash. All in all, it was a really fun day! So all of you in New Hampshire can rest assured that we treated Joe nice and good on his birthday!
• On another good note...Lucy is adorable. Definitely a pain and DEFINITELY in need of more obedience training...but adorable nonetheless. We took her to this "famous" dog park out in Gilbert earlier today to check it out. Apparently, they have this lake there where dogs can jump in and swim and chase after balls and all that good stuff. And in another section of the park there are a few little obstacle things for dogs to play on. It was actually pretty neat...until Lucy figured out how to swim around to the outside of the fenced in area (meaning we had to climb around the fence and chase her down to get her back in the dog park area. Yep. Definitely in need of more obedience training. But all in all, we love her so much. Which is why we picked the BEST picture of her for our blog header! he he he he

We hope you all are well!

Until next time...

XOXO

still alive

I know it's been a couple weeks since our last blog. Life definitely runs away with you sometimes. But I just wanted to say, "We're still here. We're still alive!"

Here's some good news: Joe went to the surgery center on Monday and the doc said that he has "a beautiful fistula". So.....he started to use his fistula this week at dialysis! Apparently, however, the technicians at the dialysis center don't know how to find the veins yet...so he's actually using BOTH the fistula and the catheter. Basically, this means that they will use a needle in the fistula to remove the blood and then will filter the blood back in through the catheter. They will do this until they can start using the fistula for both removing and replacing his blood. Not sure if I explained that correctly or not. Long story short...it will still be a little while until they take his catheter out and he's able to swim.

As for me: I've had another nasty bout of feeling yucky: sinus/asthma/allergies/coughing/tired/achy/etc. No fever this time...but I had a mild asthma attack yesterday. I can't remember the last time I had one!

To catch you up...ever since we moved to Arizona, I've been using up an inhaler a month (which is bascially BAD in terms of asthma). So they put me on a steroid inhaler a few months back and that eliminated my needing to use my "rescue" inhaler every day. The rescue inhaler is to be used for immediate relief...the steriod inhaler is used to prevent the need for the rescue inhaler. Anyway, it seemed to work okay. But now that they are getting rid of the way inhalers were previously made (to reduce the CFCs released into the atmosphere), for some reason they switched me to Asmanex (the commercials you see on TV). It doesn't work at all. I used it every day as directed. And I STILL needed to use the rescue inhaler pretty much every day. The main rule regarding rescue inhalers is that if you're needing to use it daily, then your asthma is not under control.

Anyway, because of my sinus issues, my asthma has flared up over the past couple days and I ended up going to the doctor yesterday. He is having me start an oral steroid to reduce the inflammation in my lungs/bronchioles. It's only a 5 day treatment and I'm meeting with him again next week to follow up on it. I hope it works because he said that if it doesn't work, my breathing problems may not necessarily be asthma. So all in all, I'm hoping it works!

On a side note, I try to walk Lucy for 2 miles a day. I've slacked a little this week because of my breathing and sinus stuff. But anyway, on our walks we usually see something new every time. So....I wanted to share with everyone the wildlife that lives within a square mile of where we live:

There are so many jackrabbits around. I love them! I usually see at least 2 each day. They usually hide under short shrubs and, if they see Lucy coming, they generally run away in a flash.

This is a shovel-nosed snake. I was walking with Lucy one night. We were on the sidewalk and all of a sudden I heard a rustling next to us. It was a cream colored snake, no longer than a foot (or so I remember), and it fled away in a creepy s-shaped slither. After that walk, I searched online for snakes native to Arizona and this was it. Fit the description to a "t". Creepy, huh? But no worries...it's saliva is only MILDLY toxic.

On the same night as the snake spotting, I saw an owl perched towards the top of a really tall tree. I actually stopped Lucy because I wanted to make sure I wasn't seeing things. But it was definitely an owl. I waited long enough to see its head move...so I know it wasn't one of those fake ones. Plus...I always look up in that same tree and I haven't seen it since.

Finally...

Who knew there were bats in Arizona? I know that may sound like a dumb question...but I seriously never thought I'd see a bat in the middle of urban Phoenix. Several times (and it's equally as cool each time I see it), I've noticed bats flying around near the tree tops. Palm trees mostly...which is even weirder. Dusk is the time I have mostly seen these guys. It's so weird because, at first, I thought that there were some sick birds flying with broken wings because they kept flying in a weird, spastic pattern. But alas...they were bats.

Also.......and only if you're REALLY lucky......you might even spot a BEAGLE!

Until next time,
XOXO