As summer comes to a close . . .

I'm sitting here having just come back from walking to get lunch and I'm pondering during my lunch break, why is it again that I live here?

Summer is not "officially" over, but it is September, time for temperatures to decline, leaves (if we had any) to change and that wonderful pre winter joy to take over the world.  Fall....ah yes....fall where have you gone?

Here in the land of the dry and dusty we don't tend to get "fall".  We get Summer for 9 months a year and "fall/winter/spring" for about 3 months.

School starts early - at least it seems early to me - in August.  For almost the first month and change my children average 3 out of 5 days where they have recess in their class rooms.  Now, I remember rainy day/snowy day schedules where we couldn't go outside because of inclement weather, but it still cracks me up, that here in the desert we don't have those type of days (well not many rainy ones and NEVER snow days) but we do have "Heat Advisory Days".  Yes my east/west coast friends, family and followers we have "Heat Advisory Days".  That means that it is so hot and oppressive here in the "Valley of the Sun" that our children MUST not go outside to play for fear of them melting to death. - an attempt at humor take it for what you will.

So, here we are in the valley of oppressive heat.  We've come to September and once again after our long hot spell (which has yet again tricked us into thinking it might be over only to have climbed right back into triple digits today) and I'm asking myself the same two questions I ask every year:

1.  when will this heat END!

2.  why do I CHOOSE to live here?

Not to worry though, because before we know it December will be upon us and I will remember why I live here as I think fondly of all my east coast family and friends shoveling snow and bundling up in many layers in order to keep out the chill. I of course will be sipping my latte outside in the sun in jeans and a tee shirt soaking up what I can of the "cold" weather.

That's all.

People and other things of that ilk...

There's this saying that from time to time rears it little head that goes something like - people come into and out of our lives for a reason or a season, enjoy them while you can, and remember them when their gone, they all serve a purpose, some blatantly others, well we just don't know why but we know there was a reason - okay so it's a paraphrase of a couple of phrases but hey it's my rambling so flow with it.


Friends will come and go, some times repeatedly. It's cliché but it's true, at least in my world and in that way I truly do feel blessed. I am so very grateful for all the people who have come into my world, are presently in my world, or just briefly passed through. I manage to learn something from each and everyone of them and without them I might have missed something great. So I thank you all here and now, cause I know I haven't always been the best "fill in the blank here" but I've treasured and continue to treasure what ever we had, did or said. Even the bad stuff, it is what makes me a better (or worse - you choose) person.

With the advent of technology it is so much easier to stay in touch with long lost friends and family, but is it - easier I mean - I have dear friends who are so far away (and right next door) who have for many years been out of my reach, mostly because of laziness on my part, but out of my reach none the less. And yet here, with the advent of such wonderful things as Email, Facebook, Twitter and the like I am able to daily see their faces and surreptitiously watch small snippets of their todays and feel if only briefly that I am apart of their lives once again.

The same goes with family. Now I don't have a very large family and for me that's good. I have a lot of difficulty working out side my immediate surroundings so a large family is just not really what I was made for, but my family - what little there is - is important to me. I may not be demonstrative in the ways that I should but that doesn't diminish their importance to me and so I like being able, once again, if only briefly, to be a part of their everyday lives as well.

So, for good or bad technology has allowed even the laziest of us to maintain some sort of "relationship" with other humans whom we may or may not have been able to keep track of without it. But is it a good thing? I mean if there's a "reason for the season" wouldn't the fates be a little perturbed that we keep a person a part of our lives through this technology long after their shelf date?

Here's my thought - I tend to go with the everything happens for a reason rule. If I'm not supposed to be in these peoples lives or they aren't supposed to be in my then my friend request will just be rejected right?

Or maybe, just maybe, by sheer dumb luck- my shelf life has been extended. Or...perhaps there's just simply more I'm supposed to learn.

That's all.

How did this Happen!!!

I am momentarily stunned. Okay, I shouldn't be stunned or surprised, but I am. I just realized my children, my babies, are going into 3rd and 5th grade....how did that happen and whyyyyyyyyyyyyyy......

As a mom who works to keep herself and her family in the life to which they are accustom I have these moments where I look around and go "Hey, what happened?"

I know, I know parents, all around the world working or not have these moments too and I'm not special in my horror that all of a sudden my babies aren't babies anymore - but heck this is my blog so indulge me.

I mean look, I remember the diapers, the teething, the walking, the falling, the pre K first days and all the other firsts, I was there I know they happened. But every so often there's just a moment, a brief gut wrenching heart breaking moment where you go - oh gosh, I didn't know, I want to go back, I want to put it all on hold and freeze for a bit please and thank you life - just hold on a darn minute with your rushing.

We all do the best we can with the time and resources we are given. And I'm sure I'm not the only one to stop and say "Wait, is it enough, am I doing it right?" These moments of self doubt and concern are always looming, but so glaringly noticeable only when you, let's say, pull up the school supply list in preparation for another year of school and realize that your oldest is in FIFTH GRADE and has only this year and next before he goes on to MIDDLE SCHOOL and your youngest is in THIRD GRADE and already half way to middle school. WAIT A STINKIN MINUTE!!!!! I'm not READY......

But alas, they are, and so must I. I see them every day so the changes aren't really as noticeable until things like school supply lists point out that hey, yup they are your loveable huggable cuddly children, but they are older then you think.

A mother's lament of sorts I suppose. Now off to prepare for another year of school!

That's all.

Purses and wallets and bags oh my!

Yet another addiction in my dysfunctional life....bags. Love them, hate them, covet them, want them, ugggghhhh....so materialistic, but I must, for lack of any sort of morality confess, I do love a good bag.


Okay so between this and my techno gadget piece readers must think that I am NOTHING but a materialistic horrible person and to some I may be just that. But to those who know me, they just call me dysfunctional! HA. Anyway, my caveat to this labeling thing is this, I don't currently have the where wherewithal to afford many of these coveted items, but that can't stop me from dreaming of one day opening that gorgeous shiny box from .... wait wait wait...I digress. Okay on with the blog!

What is it about "things" that causes some of us to drool so? I mean, we're constantly preached at - okay maybe it's just me but I feel I'm constantly preached at - that "things" are bad, wanting "things" is bad, having materialistic wants is bad cause stuff is just stuff and the important "things" in life are not the tangible objects/belongings that many of us cling too (yes I say many and you people know who I'm talking too.... 600,000 Iphone 4s sold within in seconds of being available for pre order, yeah you!), but the intangible that are the most important. I believe that to be true. So if my intangibles are good, why can't I indulge guilt free in the tangibles?

Here's my limited take on life, my life, as I see it. I am a lucky human. I have love, I give love, I am loved. I also dislike, am disliked and loathed. Chaos reigns my world but it's my chaos and I manage.

I have a job, which so many poor souls don't have at this moment, and I work hard to keep it. (hard is a relative term of course) I have a home, I may rent it but it's mine (for now). I don't have a driving want to own a home as most "normal" people do, but I do have a driving want for "things". Maybe one day I'll want to own a home, but then again maybe I won't, that's my choice.

So long as my family is happy, healthy and cared for why should I care what others say about by love of "things". I shouldn't and yet I do. Ah, yet one of my many endearing neuroses. I will tell you this however, I'm caring a lot less now then I used to. Life is short, time is fleeting, and being happy (of course not at the cost of others happiness if I can help it) is the goal.

People, you can't take it with you - you can leave it to your children, grandchildren, others in need, but you can't take it with you - and darn it you worked hard for it so why shouldn't you enjoy it!

Someone once told me that want and need are two different things.  That someone was an idiot.  Obviously want and need are two different things, and to every individual wants and needs are defined differently.  There really aren't many things I need, truly my "needs" are more my intangibles.  Now, wants that's another story, I have MANY wants...does that make me a bad person...to some it does and to them I say look, here's the deal - I won't throw stones at your glass house if you don't throw stones at mine. 

That's all.

Confessions of a Technology Gadget Addict

Hello - My name is Leah - and I'm a new technology gadget addict - HI LEAH - it's been five seconds since I have drooled over a new technology gadget.  I have yet again fallen off the wagon of technology soberdom (it's not a word but it works)

So what, you may ask, has dethroned me from my main stream sober day to day existence of peaceful non gadget driven (yeah right) - Ah yes that new and glorious IPhone 4g and the beautifulness they call the IPad and the new HTC HD2 (but not the Windows mobile version the long promised Google version) and the new Android Froyo (2.2 I think) that I am DESPERATELY waiting for because my poor phone (which is mind you a whole 2 months old to me and 5 months old to the market) is soooooooo lacking with it's only 1.5 Android system and and and...........

Being a technology gadget addict is truly EXHAUSTING!!!  Every time you turn the corner, page, channel, etc., there is something new, inventive and exciting turning all us addicts in to drooly mindless zombies wandering aimlessly until we have that little piece of heaven in our hands.

Now, as a side note, I'd like to say I am still sans Iphone (any version) Ipad, HTC HD2 and Android Froyo, but of course not for my lack of trying.  All these gadgets are regretfully too contract driven (I really don't like AT&T and they don't like me, but that's a long story from a long time ago) and or way to expensive for this lady.  There is a large financial discrepency from what I have to what I'd like to have (as a grown up I will of course realize why none of these things are needed and are no longer desired cause I'm a grown up now), so until future endeavours prove fruitful, plentiful and much better paid, I, with some of my other financially strapped tecno gadget addicts will wait, not so patiently, while remaining slightly drooling zombies wandering sort of aimlessly in our affordable tecno gadget lives.  Perhaps a new electronicly flashing bib from my favorite niche stores thinkgeek.com...

That's all.....stay tuned for a rant on another additiction of mine....bags.  To have them or not to have them is NEVER the question :-)

Respect for ourselves and others.

"Men are respectable only as they respect." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

There are those in this world who treat others with such disrespect-on a regular basis- it amazes me.  Whether it is the person who serves you your coffee in the morning or the person who signs your paycheck, everyone out there deserves to be respected for who they are, what they do and simply for being. 

Human beings are amazing creatures who have time and again adapted to their surroundings striving to make a better world/life for future generations.  When we treat each other with anything less then common decency and respect we do a great disservice not only to ourselves but to the world around us.

I am not a perfect person in any sense of the word, but I do try every day to make sure that I am considerate and respectful to others.  I falter, I screw up, I blow up, but I always try.

There are so many people out there today who don't try.  Who can't see past their own nose and forget that there are others in the world who rely on them and who THEY rely on, and yet, at every turn, they disrespect those very people because they don't know any better.

And I'm sorry but the excuse that "they don't know any better" doesn't wash either.  EVERYONE knows better.  I realize that respect is not necessarily something that is inherent - and is at times "earned"- but I believe that we all have it.  That common decency and respect aren't just words just to be thrown around by some who claim to have lofty ideals, and who in practice fall so very very short.

Saying what you mean and meaning what you say are just words unless you respect others and HAVE the respect of others.  Without the respect, they are, just completely empty meaningless words.

That's all.

To PC or Mac that is the question...

There are things that one should do and things that one should not.  But I'm wondering how stringent those "things" really are?

Esoteric I know...but go with me here.  I am currently blogging from an older but very friendly Mac laptop, my PC laptop having once again apparently been rendered useless by a forced background update from Microsoft.  I shouldn't say useless - just frustratingly slow and confused.

So I have finally broken down and am cheating on my PC with - heaven forbid - a Mac.  As I use the evil infidel that is Mac I find myself sailing through my usual PC tasks - email, hotmail, blogging, electronic living, with some hinderance due to the learning curve (it has been YEARS since I've used a Mac) and finding myself pleasantly surprised.  Its efficient -so far - I haven't gotten any dreaded blue screens or error messages as of yet - and low and behold I'm not having to wait for EVER to get things loaded and moving....

I'm not sure but this could spell slight disaster for my newer but bug infused little PC laptop......

BUT can you really ever teach an old dog new tricks....

we shall see  :-) Perhaps we will be come a diverse household after all, I mean really can't we all just get along?

Vacation Part Two

Okay please disregard the previous post.  The vacation was all that was expected and more!!! 

There were some ups and downs but over all everything went very well.  A happy family makes for a happy mommy and I am a happy mommy.

I am thankful that we went, thankful that we are all back safe and sound.  Thankful that the family enjoyed themselves and relaxed a bit, that we all had time to enjoy each other away from the hustle and bustle of every day.

Simply and honestly I am just Thankful.  We are rested and ready to jump back into our normal hustle and bustle, but for a brief, shinning, spectacular seven days we were in paradise. 

These are the moments I live for and hope that my family will hold onto forever.

PS - I must add that our vacation spot re affirmed quite a lot of my lost confidence in humans as a whole.  The people, tourists included, where we went were completely and totally wonderful!  Customer service is truly about the customer, people were actually kind to each other just because, and courtesy is alive and well - there is hope for the future!!

Vacation

You plan a vacation.  You obsess over the plans.  You count the months, weeks, days, hours and finally the minutes.  And then ....woo hoo!  It's here, the waiting is over the time has arrived you are on your vacation!

The destination is just what you wanted and you're there at the end point of all that planning.

So, why am I so exhausted and totally at a loss over the vacation - I mean I'm here I should be thrilled.......so ..... more thoughts after a good night sleep perhaps that's all I need.  The destination is perfect, the company is excellent and in the immortal words of Scarlett O'Hara tomorrow is another day!

A dying breed...perhaps dying isn't the right word . .

Dead, extinct, perished, or departed, perhaps those might be better words for a world of humans that have no plain common decency. 

Here's the scene:

A gorgeous, sunny, Phoenix day.  The sun is shining, the birds are chirping, the temperature is perfect...I mean PERFECT, truly for those who live here year round this is why we live here year round.

Ok, moving on, so I being - the fool that I am - trundle out to enjoy a bit of the beautiful day and to grab a bite to eat for lunch.  I made the very unwise decision to drive out to a little place that is very popular and serves good fresh Chinese for lunch.  Now - I know it's busy so I place a to go order an hour ahead of when I'm going to go pick up my meal, knowing full well it's going to be BUSY.

Now, I get to said restaurant.  The parking here is never good, it's a small cramped lot and for the popularity of the food establishment and the coffee bar next too it - there is just not enough parking even on a slow day.  Any how, the good people who thought up this little slice of a parking lot had some relatively good forethought and put in about six 10min only parking spots.  On a busy day when people are looking to park and eat, I know those six spots can be terribly frustrating and tempting, but I being who I am always avoid parking there IF I'm eating in.  Today, I am not eating in, I am picking up so I am over joyed that I know perhaps I will be able to get in and get out when I pull in through the use of these handy 10 min pick up spots.

I pull in the lot, OH the joy, there is one 10 min spot left, as I head toward it I notice that there is another car that was in the lot before me turning toward the same spot - I LET HIM PULL IN to the 10 min spot, because to me courtesy would dictate that he's been waiting already so its only right that he get it.  HOWEVER when he pulls in I notice that he and a passenger get out.  Today, of all days for some STUPID reason, I feel the need to clarify things - so here's the dialog:

Me: rolls down window of car - "Hi, are you guys picking up?"

Guy: "No"

Me: smiling in an unseething kind of way cause I already know where this is going but can't just let it go - "Oh, well, hmm, isn't that a 10 min pick up spot"

Guy: "Yup"

Me: "oh, well....okay"

And so guy and passenger walk in to go have lunch, taking up the valuable pick up spot and leave me circling for another spot to open....AS I CIRCLE......I notice that NONE of the 10 min spots open up.  Luckily someone comes out from the TAKE OUT with their TAKE OUT and drives out of a regular spot that I promptly pull into.   I go in, get my food and find myself wondering WHAT THE H E double hockey sticks!!!!!  None of the "10 min" spots have changed over since I got there circled and got my food which took a good 25 mins.  So I think to myself why have the spots if you aren't going to enforce them?  And then I think, but really, how are they going to enforce them I mean honestly lets be realistic here, it's all about doing the right thing but..........

Here's the problem people - common decency is DEAD!  And I'm and IDIOT for still living by "the rules." 

I don't park in handicapped spaces because I don't have a tag or a license plate because thankfully I don't need one and it would be wrong. 

I don't park in loading/unloading zones because IT WOULD BE WRONG.

I hold the door open for people if I'm going in or coming out because to not hold it WOULD BE WRONG.

If my children are crying or screaming in a restaurant I remove them to the outside because IT WOULD BE WRONG to make others suffer their tantrum.   

I give the right of way when I should to pedestrians and traffic because IT WOULD BE WRONG not too and could cause an accident in the process.

When I knock on a closed door, I wait for the person inside to say come in or go away, I don't knock and just throw open the door because.....come on say it with me people IT WOULD BE WRONG!!!!!!

Why, oh why, are the common decent things that we should do for ourselves and others just faded memories of a world where it wasn't just all about me, all the time, where we didn't necessarily care for others but we did the DECENT things anyway as a show of simple respect to the world and those around us. 

I have now let my lunch go cold, as I needed to spew forth this rant before I could swallow a morsel of what should have been a delicious lunch on a gorgeous day and is now a cold reminder that the world is just not as decent a place as it could, should or would have been.

As always, thanks for reading - see, it's the right thing to do so I do it-not because I have too, but because honestly people, so little means so much sometimes.

Thanks :-)

Thank heaven for children - especially the ones that are not mine

Now, that's not really as bad as it sounds, I promise just bear with me.

When I had children, I knew, at the moment I saw their little faces scowling up at me in horror from the trauma they had just been subjected to that I was a parent and as a parent I was in charge of protecting them and preparing them for the world at large.

As a parent I find that it is my job to ensure that, when in public places or just being in public- in general- I am constantly vigilant in reminding them to be polite in obvious ways i.e., pleases and thank yous, excuse me, keep your mouth closed when you chew, pay attention to those around you-

And the not so obvious, we do not run in public unless appropriate, we will not throw a temper tantrum in the store over anything, we will not scream or cry uncontrollably in public and we will act as appropriately to the situation as we can and if we can't then we will leave.

I know, that as they grow these lessons (and the millions of others my poor children have thrust upon them daily) will follow them.

Okay, okay I'm getting to the point of my title.

Just when I feel like I MUST be failing my children - at a moment of high stress over their behavior or sour attitude, where I'm sure I'm turning gray completely on the spot and pulling my hair out all at once - I am almost always confronted with the inevitable presence of ......SOMEONE ELSE'S CHILDREN!

Its at these moments of being subjected to someone else's children who are wreaking their havoc on the world via various outlets, IE - behaving DEPLORABLY or expressing their little individual personalities that make a diva look gracious and calm- it is at these precise moments that I look up to the heavens and say a small prayer of thanks for my questionably well behaved devils, because at those moments I have just been reminded that it could be worse.

My children are mine.  The good, the bad and the ugly, I love them whole heartedly no matter what - not because it's my job, not because I'm supposed to, not because I have to, I just do.  Regardless of their foibles, they are children still (for as long as I can keep them that way!) and they will continue to grow, cause trouble, and constantly evolve, but then that's the adventure and no matter the grays, no matter the hair loss - the trip is more than worth it.  I suppose its part of my job to just try to contain the collateral damage to the general public until they learn to contain it themselves and to help them persevere. 

As always thanks for reading!

Here we go with the fat people again . . .

Okay - I know I'm a bit sensitive when it comes to the fattys, being one myself and all, so I try to be objective when I look at these types of attacks on the "large and in charge" portion of our society, but come on folks REALLY????

Let me start by saying right here and right now - I know how I got here - I know what my size is - and I KNOW that there are things I can do to adjust the issue.

I could pander to the masses and say - but I have a thyroid issue, but I have immune system issues, but I come from large stock, but I'm big boned, but but but but....well that's all well and good for some, but being who I am I don't tend to excuse myself with an ailment or issue- okay I don't ALWAYS try to excuse myself - in fact most of the time I berate myself for being this size and not doing enough to fix it to a societal accepted norm.

As I get older I try to come to grips with who I am and evaluate where I'm at. Am I happy - YES - as happy as your average bear, there's always issues but overall I'm happy.

Am I healthy - According to my doctors - YES - I'm a big girl, they would of course like to see me lose weight (as would I, cause let's be honest I'm a big girl but I'm not stupid), I exercise with my treadmill (sometimes more faithfully then others but I do it and I don't use it to hang clothes on - not EVER) I watch my intake - again sometimes it's worse than others but I don't gorge out on fast food every day...heck not even every week... I don't drink soda (most of the time) I don't snack in between meals, unless it's fruit or veggies, but I'm not perfect and I know that - goodness knows I KNOW THAT.

I am what I am, you can like it, love it or leave it. It's totally up to you. I don't force my bigness on others and I don't expect everyone to say hey you're not fat you're just pleasantly plump (as a matter of fact please DON'T ever say that to me, for your own safety) but I also don't expect to get called out on a plane by some snooty stewardess or pilot and be told "hey you paid a fortune for your seat fatty but you ain't flyin' unless you buy TWO seats so get off the plane."

I don't care who you are, fat, thin, short, tall, white, black, disabled physically, disabled mentally, parent, grandparent, old, young or in between. I have to say here and now - to me only, of course, because I would NEVER try to express the views of anyone other than myself- that the above "deplaning" is discrimination pure and simple.

Over the last few days, few thousand tweets, and few dozen media outlets I have heard more and more people speaking out against the fattys and that my dear reader, is the why of this rant- you poor, poor unsuspecting reader you!

Okay, so one of the "comments" I heard was that obese (cause we wouldn't want to offend and call them fattys - oh wait I already did that so oh well) Fattys don't move fast enough if there's a crash or crisis....hmmmm I say to myself, we don't move fast enough. That's one of the excuses as to why fat people should have two seats...really? What about the elderly who can't get out of their own way and get to get on the plane EARLY because they can't move fast enough? Sorry grandma, but OFF THE PLANE

But, lets move on, another comment - "I wouldn't want to be stuck next to an obese person on a plane that expands over into my seat and I shouldn't be subjected to that- I paid money for my seat and I should get my seat." A valid point! I say - okay so that being said - I also want my seat! Without being forced to sit with a screaming baby as a lap child with its mother next to me who didn't have to buy a seat because the child was under age. I'm sorry mom and baby but OFF THE PLANE!

I want to be able to enjoy my seat so all the tall people who take up the extra leg room behind my seat and bang into my back the whole flight - Sorry too tall Jones OFF THE PLANE!!

Also, with those same tall people, the ones who sit next to me but their legs are again to long for the little space they get and their knees in and have to spread out to fit - Sorry - OFF THE PLANE!

People who snore, people who read with the light on while I try to sleep, people who leave the window shades open, people who don't shower and smell really bad, people who drink too much, people with poor taste in music, people with diseases that are contagious - I want them all identified and OFF THE PLANE!

Now mind you I know this is ridiculous and even as I write it I smirk to myself and say - in some instances - it's not the same thing, but really removing someone and publicly humiliating them AND charging them for two seats so that you don't get complaints from the people who sit around them, that's just as ridiculous.

Indeed something must be done, larger seats, adjustments in seating arrangements so that larger people could be near empty seats (I know an empty seat on a plane is just TOO much of a financial loss for these multimillion dollar transportation companies) something else can and should be done.

One group of people - and excuse the pun - a LARGE group of people should not be excluded from air travel if they have the money for a seat. They may not have the money to extravagantly spend on two seats or even a larger first class seat, but they shouldn't be penalized for that, there should be something more that the airlines can do, because let me tell you with the US's 31% or 59 million obese people staging a "no fly" policy there would definitely be and impact to the country as a whole.

I mean, look, if I have to pay for two seats on my budget I would never travel. If I never travel that's lost revenue for some resort/hotel/destination, never mind what a fatty like myself would spend on food for and during said vacation! (come on that was a joke it's okay you can laugh)

Now consider this - what if it's not just me, but lets say a few million of the 59million decided to not fly because of this discrimination, how long do you think the travel industry would be able to take the hit.

Food for thought. - pun intended :-) I crack myself up!

As always thanks for reading, my rants are mine and mine alone but feel free to criticize or comment :-)

a LONG pause....

Happy Valentine's Day! Almost.....

The holiday season has once again come and gone. Revelers are done reveling, partyers are done partying, and people are beginning to shake off the doldrums of the happy holiday season. Or are they?

I suppose on a personal note this is the climbing out of the funk time. I love the holidays, don't get me wrong, but Valentine's day signals for me the beginning of an awakening of sorts. I suppose it comes from my rooted east coast up bringing.

The holidays bring joy and happiness back there but they also bring snow, sleet, hail and hibernation. So while we celebrate we also bury and wait. Valentines was always a point for me where it was time to move out of that hibernation and on to bigger and better things. Granted, it was a bit early back east to be that optimistic in February, but spring it was a comin' at this point - so I shook off the hibernation and moved forward with hopes high and optimism for the coming spring/summer season (which - where I am from - was always a beautiful time).

Now, I still have this awakening-ish feeling at this time of year but shouldn't it be a bit different living in a "resort" type area now. Here, the "hibernation" time of year is the summer - no one comes to the desert in the summer and with good reason - 120 degrees does not make for a fun time - that being said I find myself pondering - my "awakening" here should really be the holiday period. From September through about May it is GLORIOUS here. There is a chill around the holidays but I'm using the term very loosely compared to where I come from. So I wonder why, after 12 years, I still find myself "hibernating" during the holiday season and renewing right around February 14th. Could it be true that we are what we are - no matter where you go, no matter what you do, the area you "came from" is the area you are always a part of, emotionally, psychologically, physically and all those other allys?

I will continue to ponder . . .