Burro Creek

I told myself I'd go to the gym this morning, but who wants to go through that torture after being lazy for 6 weeks? Alas, here I sit...blogging.

This past weekend we went with Jared's den on a weekend campout to Burro Creek. It was actually quite a beautiful drive out there. And, oh how wonderful it was to be able to fit EVERYTHING in one vehicle! We did all the regular camp stuff, roasting hot dogs, s'mores, foil dinners, campfire songs. Everyone had a great time. Saturday we woke up, and Marcus, the den leader, decided we needed to go on a hike. So we literally hiked 2 miles on a dry creek bed FULL of river rocks. Jared collected quartz after quartz (which I ended up carrying back of course). Doug found a really cool HUGE Apache tear, otherwise known as obsidian. After the hike, Marcus decided it was time to swim, or rather, wade - in a very questionable pool of water. It was large enough, but it was pretty algae-ridden, and it was sort of stagnant. Against my better judgement and caving under pressure, I let them play in the filth. Hey, I wasn't the only parent! I was a little worried last night when Jade had some pretty intense stomach cramps. I found myself Googling Giardia and other parasitic lifeforms found in standing water, and of course all that reading scared the crud out of me. But this morning, all seems to be well. She bounced out of bed, happy as ever. So, hopefully the crisis is averted.

Today's Lesson

Be mindful of the underware you choose to put on when you're going to the dermatologist. They just might want to to a full body check, especially if you have family history of melanoma. They'll likely ask you to wear one of those gowns that opens in the back, after you take off everything but your under garments. They might even find a suspicious mole ON your back they want to biopsy - which means they'll have you lie on your stomach to do the biopsy. The dermatologist might even bring in a young student doctor who's eyes have yet to see the horrors all doctors live to see, like buttcracks. So for today's lesson... don't wear see-thru underware to the dermatologist. Don't ask me how I know this.

My new ride

Our little Saturn Vue was such a cute, good little car. Unfortunately, we just outgrew it. Where we live now offers so much more outdoor activity than where we were in CA. We camp, we hike, we take long trips, and there is even the possibility of a boat in our future (yikes!). So, we decided it was time for an upgrade. And boy did we get one.

I love, love, love our new Tahoe. It's awesome. Seriously awesome. My favorite thing about it is the remote start. That means when it's 115 degrees outside and I'm in the checkout line at Walmart, I can start my car and let the air run for 10 minutes so I don't climb into a furnace. It has an anti-theft device, so even though the engine is running, no one can put it in gear or take off with it without the key. Fuel wise it's not too bad either. It's got the flex fuel feature, which allows it to operate on the cylinders needed. So, even though it's a V8, around town it'll drop to 4 or 6 cylinders.

Plus it has a backup camera so I won't hit any kids while backing out of Jade's school. That's a MAJOR plus!!

The kids love it, I love it, Doug loves it. Yay!!! He doesn't love the way I park it in the garage though. I keep telling him to do the tennis ball hanging thing, but for some reason he thinks yelling at me will work better.

I love the desert.

There's been a lot going on around here.

First, I broke my tail bone 4 weeks ago, and that's completely thrown me off my work-out regimen. No more cycle class, no crunches, no squats, lunges, nothing. I can't tell you how bummed I was about that. I've been sitting on a blow up donut for the past 4 weeks, and I'm embarrassed to say that poor thing never stood a chance. The power of my bottom did the poor inflatable butt pad in. Sadly, it now deflates within minutes of inflating it, despite Doug's efforts (twice) to seal it with crazy glue. Luckily, since it's been 4 weeks, I'm so much better and can handle sitting in my computer chair unaided. Good thing, because I really didn't want to spend another 14 bucks on a piece of plastic my butt will destroy anyway. Doug never ceases to be amazed by the power of my booty.

So, I'm very slowly getting into the swing of things, workout wise. I went to the gym 3 days ago and did some work on the elliptical. That was really hard for me because I absolutely DETEST machines. I'd much rather get my butt kicked in a class where everyone else is dying too. I seem to push myself harder when there's pressure. I just end up getting so bored when I rely on myself. There's only so much wall space you can look at on an elliptical, know what I mean? So, it shouldn't surprise you that I only lasted about 15 minutes.

This morning I decided I needed to really get my butt in gear, and if I couldn't cycle, I'd walk. It's such a beautiful time to live here, and the desert is blooming such beautiful flowers. I saw bunnies, lizards, quail, and a ton of other birds. I had no idea our lake also stocked turtles. So cute to see them sunbathe in the morning! You'd all see them too, if my camera didn't crap out. I brought it along this morning to take pictures of my lovely walk - I really wanted to capture our cactus flowers, and for some reason it simply will NOT take pictures. So I decided to cheat, and because I care about all of you, I stole these pictures off the internet.