Don’t Judge a Gas Station By Its Murdery Exterior

A few times a year, I drive from Texas to Arizona, and back again. It’s a 14 hour drive total, and I generally do it in two days. Why? you ask. Great question. It’s because my parents live in Arizona, and I go to visit them. Why not fly? you ask. Also a fantastic question. It’s because I have a 14 year old lab mix who is not happy when I leave her behind with my husband. She likes him well enough… until I go away. So I make the drive with two dogs in tow. Which makes it even more fun.

 

So anyway, I was driving home from Arizona when I realized that the cup of coffee I’d had wasn’t a spectacular idea. I was in the middle of nowhere, praying for a gas station. I was listening to the audiobook of Food: A Love Story, by Jim Gaffigan. While the book is great, I was at the part where he was describing poutine. And, I don’t know… for some reason, I had to turn it off. It just added to my torture. When I saw the sign telling me that salvation was in a half mile, I almost cried.

When I got off the exit, I didn’t see the gas station at first. The road bent left, and the first thing I saw was this:

By this point, even if that had been the gas station, I probably would have gone in. It was like that.

The one I was looking for was right after it, and while it looked better than the abandoned, busted down one, it still looked a little… murdery. There were signs all over about “fresh jerky.” (This is an Arizona thing. Roadside stands are always advertising fresh jerky.) I texted my husband with my location, just in case the jerky was made from the flesh of desperate travelers.

I did my business, and then, wanting a drink, I wandered inside. I know, I know… I never learn, right? The inside had nuts and jerky on shelves along the walls, with handcrafted items in the center. It actually was quite homey. I ended up buying a wind chime (because I love wind chimes). While I was paying, the cashier offered me a sample of jerky. When I declined, she then said, “We have sugar free jerky, in case that’s your concern.” I wasn’t sure what to say to that, except to murmur, “No thanks.”

Do I look like I’m worried about the sugar content of jerky? Was she trying to get me to eat it because it actually contains a sedative, and that’s how they get a fresh supply?

I really liked the place, so the next time I’m traveling that way, I’ll probably stop in. Maybe I’m pushing my luck, but it’s hard to find really nice wind chimes.

Dear Texas… About Our Relationship…

Please come back, nice day!!
Photo credit: Doree Weller

Dear Texas,

I wanted to talk to you about our relationship.  When I agreed to leave Arizona for you, you were hot.  Not as hot as Arizona, but your other assets made me think that it would be okay.  At first, things were really good, but then you started running warm and cold.  Last Saturday, we were outside together all day, and it was beautiful.  Just a few days later though, you were so cold to me that I didn’t want to go outside.  You really made me feel like you didn’t want me around.

Meanwhile, Arizona is as predictable as ever.  Yes, I’ve continued seeing Arizona, but you have to understand, we have a history together.  Just because I visit doesn’t mean I don’t want our relationship to work.  I do, but you have to work with me here.  If I only knew what to expect, if you weren’t so moody, I’d feel better.

I mean, it’s not like you’re Pennsylvania.  That is one cold beotch right there.

I’m not saying you have to be hot all the time.  I love you even when you let yourself go a little over the winter.  The grass needs a trim and the leaves are mostly gone on the trees.  I’m okay with that; I gained a few pounds over the holidays.  Just… I’d like to know where I stand.

Is that too much to ask?

Love,

Doree

My 10 Best Posts of 2014

Well, it’s that time of year again.  The end of the year approaches, and with it, time to wrap up the old and welcome the new.  Here are my 10 favorite posts from 2014.  (Okay, if you actually count them, there are 13.  It’s my lucky number.  So sue me.)

Sedona, AZ
Photo Credit: Doree Weller

Never Enough– Why we’re all great the way we are.

Top 10 Reasons to Go Camping– I think this one is kind of self-explanatory.

10 Things I Wish I Had Known Before I Moved to Arizona– Also self-explanatory.

V is for Villains– All about what makes a villain great.

Words Matter-  Why it’s important to be mindful of what you say.

Old Things and Abandoned Places– They whisper to you… can you hear them?

I’m Having A Good Time, And Have The Pictures To Prove It!- Why taking pictures of everything we do might not be all it’s cracked up to be.

I Bet 99% Of You Won’t Repost This– My thoughts on Facebook’s version of the guilt trip/ chain letter.

10 Lessons on Friendship From Dogs– What my dogs have taught me.

Trust Issues- Many people seem to have trust issues, so how do you get past it?

It’s A Loud World– My thoughts after getting my first set of hearing aids.

Wait.  Why Am I Supposed to Care About That Again?– My thoughts on what really matters in life and friendships.

Master Yoda, Is the Dark Side Stronger?– Bullying, Star Wars, and the secret weapon of the light side.

Thanks for stopping by.  Here’s to an excellent 2015!

Rain, Guy Fawkes, and Me

Cedar Park, Texas
Photo Credit: Doree Weller

I think that when you’re from an area that gets regular rain, you tend to take it for granted.

I get up in Pennsylvania, and we got rainstorms and thunderstorms, especially in the summer.  We had times when it would rain for a week straight.  It rained the day my sister in law got married in 2004, and the next day, the place where she got married experienced a 100 year flood, and was literally underwater.

When we moved to Arizona, I was excited by the idea of living where it doesn’t rain.  People leave things outside and leave their car windows down because… it really doesn’t rain.

At first, not having to use my wipers was a cool novelty, and I liked that pretty much every day was sunny.  I liked the long days and the baking heat.

Eventually, I started to miss the rain.  One of my favorite quotes is from V for Vendetta (appropriate for the 5th of November… Happy Guy Fawkes day, incidentally).  “God is in the rain.”

I’m not sure why I like that quote, other than that I’ve always felt a spiritual connection with the rain.  I love the sound and the smell.  I love the way it makes colors brighter.  I love how it washes everything clean.  I don’t even mind getting rained on.  (I do not love how I have to wipe dirty dog paws after they’ve been outside, but everything has a price.)

Texas had been in a drought, but we’ve gotten a lot of rain since I’ve been here, and for that, I’m very grateful.    Rain makes me want to sit in my house with a cup of coffee, and just write with no other sounds than the music of nature.  I have a window open just enough so I can hear, and I’m facing my big windows, which let me see outside.

What are your thoughts on rain?

I’m Tired of Sweating

It was cool in there, but like 98% humidity. I was soaked!
Innerspace, Texas
Photo Credit: Doree Weller

I don’t like to sweat, unless I’m dressed properly.  In yoga pants or bike shorts and a T-shirt, I’m okay with it.  I do whatever I’m supposed to be doing, then I shower and change back to normal clothes.  In Arizona, you don’t sweat all that much.  What they say about it being a dry heat is true.  However, you get filthy from all the dust in the air, so even if you only sweat a little, you still need a shower.

Out here in Texas, you sweat, even if you don’t feel hot.  You sweat in your house.  You sweat walking to your car.  You sweat in your car.  You seriously sweat every-freaking-where.  I’m tired of sweating.  I know it’s my body’s cooling mechanism, and blah-blah-blah, but I still hate it.  But it’s funny… in Arizona, you have to drink gallons of water to stay hydrated.  You con’t feel like you’re sweating, but you are, and if you don’t drink excessive water, you get headaches and fatigued and stuff.  In Arizona, I would hike 7 miles, drink 128 ounces of water, and still not have to use the bathroom.  Here, if you drink 24 ounces of water, sweat 37 ounces, and then have to run for the bathroom.  How does that work?!  Seriously!

I know that it doesn’t sound awesome when you say that it’s 120 degrees “but it’s a dry heat.”  It doesn’t feel great either, when the sun is seriously burning your skin, and you feel like a vampire (only not the wussy-sparkling kind, the kind of vampire that gets worse than a sunburn), sticking to the shadows.  That’s how Arizona feels.  And if you do sweat, there’s so little moisture in the air, that it dries in a few minutes and you quickly forget about it.  In Texas, it’s definitely cooler overall, and I’m comfortable enough with the sun that I can eat garlic without fear again.

But seriously… enough with the sweating… okay?

Operation Noah’s Ark Complete

My new yard!  Very green…

Sorry for the lack of updates for almost a week.  As some of you know, I completed my move from Arizona to Texas this weekend.  My stuff moved out and into my new house two weeks ago (I’ve been camping in my living room) and this weekend, we moved the last of the things and the animals out.

We have six cats and two dogs, so the only logical and practical way to transport them is by vehicle.  So, we rented a minivan and I drove my Golf, and we took two days to drive  1,008 miles.  I had the two dogs and one cat, and the husband had the other 5 cats plus my plants.  Driving is not my favorite thing, as I consider it to be boring, so there were times on the very loooooooooong drive that I thought I wasn’t going to make it.  I thought I would just pull over to the side of the road and refuse to go any further.

Because we’re brilliant and organized, we didn’t leave until 5p.m. on Sunday.  We got to our hotel around 2 a.m.  Of course, because we got in late, we didn’t leave until late on Monday (noon), and got to our new home around 2 a.m. again!  Needless to say, between sleep deprivation, time changes, and a very long drive, I’m still tired and adjusting.  It’s going to take lots of coffee and naps before I’m back to normal (please note that I’m referring to my “normal,” not “normal normal”).

Last time we moved, the cats seemed traumatized, hiding and acting weird for weeks.  This time around, everyone is exploring, jumping on boxes, and generally having a great time.  Attitude makes a difference, even in cats!  We bought the dogs a tennis ball launcher yesterday, so they, of course, are perfectly fine.

Wish me luck unpacking!

Letting Go

Mystery Castle, Phoenix AZ
Photo Credit: RJS Photos

I’m not very good at letting go when I don’t have to.  I’m good with action, and if I’m forced into a situation, I can get through it.  But if I don’t have to, it’s hard, and I don’t like it.

My husband got an awesome new job, which means in the next month and a half, I’m moving from Phoenix, Arizona, to Austin, Texas.  I’ve been to Austin exactly once now, in a whirlwind house hunting trip that mostly left me with the impression of a lot of green.  Before that, I’d never actually been to Austin, but people keep telling me it’s a great place to live.  I love the fact that the city slogan is “Keep Austin Weird!”  I’m not excited about the humidity.

The move is going to be good for both of us.  I’m a firm believer in the idea that life is a series of adventures, and this is a pretty cool one.  I have a lot of loss ahead of me.  I have to leave my awesomely cool backyard, my friends (though I’ll keep in touch with them), my job, restaurants I eat in and grocery stores I shop in.

When we moved here 7 years ago, we moved fast, and we brought with us a lot of things that we haven’t used since then.  I’m ashamed to admit that I haven’t even finished unpacking everything.  So, in an effort to be more efficient this time around, I’ve been trying to get rid of a few things.  Like the Gamecube I haven’t touched in all that time, or the PS2 that’s been gathering dust.  I sold them on eBay, and as I’m packing them up, I’m sad to see them go.

I’m not sure why those things cause me to feel the tug of nostalgia.  I obviously didn’t think about them for long periods of time, but somehow they feel more important than they are. A lot of things in life are like that.  We have no use for them and don’t want them until we try to let them go.  Then suddenly, they become bigger than they are, and we feel as if we want and need them.

I feel better when I let go of the clutter in my life, when I rid myself of things I don’t need anymore.  I’m trying to make an effort to do more of it.

What clutter is holding you back in your life?

It Could Have Been Worse

Look! Green stuff!

Sorry for not posting anything this week… it was kind of a hectic week.  Here’s a story for you though.

I always consider things like Friday the 13^th and full moons to be lucky for me, so when I decided to travel on Thursday the 12^th, I really didn’t think anything of it. As many of you know, I’m in the process of moving to Austin… well, I needed to go on a house hunting trip.

I decided to work on Thursday and fly out after work so that I’d be in Austin bright and early on Friday. From the moment Thursday rolled around, one thing after another went wrong. I couldn’t find my keys, and racing around the house to find them got the dogs excited. I put the dogs in the backyard, eventually found the keys, and decided to load up the car. The dogs jumped at the gate and barked at me from the backyard like they were going to try to jump through.

Finally, car loaded, dogs loaded, and I dropped them off at my parents’ house. Then on to work. I won’t say how late I was to start, but I only got in 10 minutes late. The way our schedules are set up, we have no time between appointments, which is usually okay because at least one person no shows or cancels. EVERY. PERSON. ON. MY. SCHEDULE. SHOWED. UP. I can’t tell you the last time that happened. Amazingly, I managed to leave on time, and then I got lost going to park my car. Yes, I know. I always park my car in the same lot, and for whatever reason, my maps program directed me to the wrong place, and because I am who I am, I thought, “I’ve never gone this way before. Maybe the map is rerouting me around traffic.” Yeah, go ahead and laugh.

I got to the airport one hour before scheduled take off. I figured, “Security at Sky Harbor never takes more than 10 minutes. I can get something to eat, and it’ll be fine.” Except that Sky Harbor did take more than 10 minutes. It was about a half hour, not excessive, but here we are at boarding time. I figured, “No big deal. It’s a two and a half hour flight. I’m hungry, but I’ll snack and eat something on the other end.” (Are you seeing a pattern?)  So I zipped in to one of those places that sells magazines and bought Combos and dried apples. Best decision ever.

We boarded late and got into the air late (if I had known that, I could have gotten real food!). We were about a half hour from Austin when the captain announced that there were bad storms in Austin, so we’d have to circle for a half hour. A half hour later, he announced we were told to circle for 50 minutes, and he didn’t have the fuel, so we’d land in San Antonio.

At this point, all I wanted was to get up and stretch. When we landed in San Antonio though, we had to sit in the plane on the runway for an hour because of the lightning; no ground crews could come out in that. So, then we got to go inside the terminal. The wonderful terminal. The magical terminal. Where I got to walk around and stretch. (Still no food open though.  It was way too late at that point.)

Then we were informed that the crew was at their maximum work hours for the day, so we’d have to wait for a crew to get in from Phoenix (yes, the very place I’d just left.) They got there after weeks… months… years… (it seemed). We were barely in the air before it was time to land (the flight time is 22 minutes).

So… my original arrival time in Austin was about 11 p.m. Actual arrival time was 3:30 a.m. When I got to Austin, it didn’t surprise me even a little bit when I realized that the rental car agency didn’t open until 6. At that point, I just laughed. And laughed. I waited by the baggage carousel, fully expecting my luggage to be gone. Lo and behold, it was there! Honestly, I’d rather wait two and a half hours for Hertz to open than to buy a new swimsuit.

It’s a comedy of errors, and a few times through the night, I found myself annoyed, but I have to keep in mind that I’d much rather have this story to tell than telling a story about a plane crash due to bad weather.

So yeah, it definitely could have been worse.   🙂

Don’t Know What You’ve Got ‘Til It’s Gone

Desert Botanical Gardens; Phoenix AZ
Photo Credit: Doree Weller

I never realized how true that was until I moved to Arizona.  At first, I loved the baking heat (dry heat is really different), the comforting stretches of brown, and the sameness of everything.  The last few years I lived in Pennsylvania were chaotic, and the fact that everything was different than I was used to but looked so uniform comforted me.  We lived in Arizona for 7 years, and it was a really good 7 years.  I got my Master’s Degree, met my best friend, my partner, and found a kindred spirit.  Finding three friends who are “keepers” is always a beautiful thing.

Texas looks a lot like Pennsylvania (at least the part we’ll be living in).  It’s got rolling hills, lots of green, and frequent summer thunderstorms.  My arthritis doesn’t bother me so much here in Arizona, but I didn’t really know how much my heart yearned for green until I learned that I’ll soon be living in it again.

When I left PA seven years ago, I couldn’t wait to get away.  I didn’t look back and wasn’t sad to leave it behind.  The timing was right, and I obviously had something to learn.  It’s going to be with great sadness that I leave Arizona, as it’s been very good to me.  I’m taking away far more than I could have anticipated, and I’ll always be connected to this place.

I’m glad I moved to Arizona and had time to appreciate what I left behind.  Now, I’m heading to the next adventure!

-Hunter S Thompson

Spring?

Desert Botanical Gardens, Phoenix AZ
Photo credit: Doree Weller

While the rest of the world welcomes spring (and in parts of the US, they still have some snow), here in Arizona, we’re already baking.  Temperatures have hit 100 and the flowers are already dying.  Spring, if you can call it that, happens so fast here that I barely have time to notice it.

In Pennsylvania, we had a spring whose length of time varied.  Sometimes it lasted a long time, and the crocuses were often up by Easter.  Sometimes the spring was shorter, but always there.  I never realized how much I’d miss having 4 distinct seasons until I moved somewhere that didn’t have them.  That’s the way of it, though.  When you’re living through something, it’s easy to take for granted, because it’s always been that way.

When I first moved here, the brown seemed soothing, and the sameness seemed clean and relaxing.  It still seems that way, but I miss the quirky personality of the jumble created by all the differences back East.  Some houses are new, some are old, but they don’t match one another.  There are greens and browns and purples and blues and reds.  It’s like an abstract painting rather than a landscape sometimes.

I throw open my windows and enjoy the fleeting spring for as long as I can out here.  For in the rest of the world, it may still be spring, but in Arizona, we’ve moved on to summer.