Early morning flight...see ya AZ!

Our flight is at 9:10am, so we had to get up about 4:30am.  Luckily, I caught this amazing sunrise over the mountains.

We had a great trip - although I've decided that the "I'll work from wherever a day or two so I don't burn as much PTO" idea is bullshit.  I spend two+ days working, then another two days trying not to think about work.

Next time I have this idea, someone please punch me.

Thanks to Mom and Dave for a wonderful trip - they are great hosts and it was great just to hang out.  Love you!  

Now I'm pre-beering for the super amazing and nauseating Michelob Golden Draft Light I'm going to get in first class.  Thanks again Sun Country for being assholes.

Last day adventures...

Our last day (Saturday) was a lazy one.  Got up, went for a walk, and then we went for another short hike into the Tonto National Forest.  There is a herd of wild horses there, and we went to go see them.  We did this last year...and again, just saw great big piles of poop - no horses.    But the view was spectacular, if not hotter than hell.

We then really just relaxed, did laundry, I finished my book club book (which I can't comment on until book club on Thursday), and really not much else!   

We were going to try and go to the putting green, but did I mention it was hotter than hell yesterday?  No bueno.  So we stayed in...had ribs...and cocktails...hung out by the fire for a while...and went to bed early.

See?  Told you it would be boring...

Another Coyote!

This time, it was just hanging in the road, scavenging something...

Friday...420...

No weed, just errands, and booze.

Headed to Scottsdale to True Food Kitchen in Scottsdale Quarter for lunch - delicious!!  They also had a little macaron shop, so I picked up a dozen of those beauties below.  The woman who waited on me was French.  It showed...these were very French macaron! 

Then went to Bed, Bath and Beyond where the greeter was so aggressively sweet and forward that she made me uncomfortable and I ran away into housewares.

Back home...hung out, started cocktail hour early with whiskey sours, then headed to the club for dinner.  That was delicious too!  Scallops and polenta?   YUM.

Night Blooming Cereus

So this cactus generally blooms once a year.  We caught it!

It was just closed buds until yesterday when we came home from dinner.   Gorgeous.

Remember the Stroopwaffel?

So last year when we were here, we bought this liqueur that was supposed to taste like Stroopwaffel cookies.   Kind of caramelly...kind of nutty...really sweet. 

It was gross.  Way too sweet and cloying.

When we got to the liquor store last Friday, low and behold, there were many more flavors!   I bought two tiny bottles of the lemon cheesecake.   We paired it with lemon Oreo thins.

I can't even describe how disgusting it was.  It smelled like barf, and tasted worse.  I spit it out in the sink and had to rinse my mouth out. 

Next year we'll have to try tiramisu.  I can't imagine what that will be like.

Desert Botanical Gardens - We Made It!

So we decided wind be damned, and went to the Desert Botanical Gardens anyway.  It was hazy and quite breezy, but frankly a lovely evening.  We just walked around on the trails for about an hour, then headed out.  I'm glad we went.

Strike 2

Windy and overcast and dusty.  I guess the Desert Botanical Gardens can wait until tomorrow.

Thursday...Desert Botanical Gardens

I've officially unplugged from work.  I used to be so much better at that, and now I pretty much suck at it.  But today starts the "no more work" until Monday.

The plan for the day is to hit the Desert Botanical Gardens, and then go to Grimaldi's Pizza for dinner.  I've been instructed by one of the execs at work to go to Grimaldi's.  It had better be good.

More later from the gardens - I need to go look at something beautiful and stop thinking about work.

COYOTE!!!

He ran across the road, and Chris said, "coyote!!" and then he slammed on the breaks and I looked directly into the sun and went blind and still was able to capture this cool pic.

Am I 15??

Somehow, I have a GIGANTIC zit on my chin.  I haven't had one of these in many years.

Some of you remember the Christmas Card Scandal of 1995 where I had a zit the size of a Lima bean in exactly the same place.

Look for it in future posts.  It's hard to miss.

Sorry, we've been busy...I'm back

So I've been remiss on posting to the blog.  Here is what has happened since Saturday:

Sunday

• Went for a walk in the beautiful warm weather
• Went to Arizona Wilderness for beers and a burger - see below
• Came home and passed out at 9:00 pm

Monday

• Patty worked all day - gross
• Chris golfed with Dave
• Went to happy hour with a co-worker that lives in Phoenix (SO FUN) and had dinner at Craft 64, wolfing down a pizza and caprese salad and beer in 30 minutes.  YES!

Tuesday

• Patty worked a 12 hour, frantic, stressful, "I'm sure someone has a voodoo doll of me at work" kind of day - super gross
• Chris went for a walk and talked to my mom all day
• Dinner at Barrio Queen - tasty - and tried to take selfies on the patio with super harsh lighting

Wednesday

• Got up, went for a walk
• Packed up for our overnight in Page (4.5 hours north on the Utah border) and our visit to Horseshoe Bend and Antelope Canyon
• Mom informs us at 11:45 am - hey, there are dust storm and high wind advisories for Page, and fire danger...I hope it doesn't get cancelled
• Chris and I then go into a "what the fuck?  I'm not driving 4.5 hours if this thing is going to be cancelled, and if there are 35 mile and hour sustained winds in a slot canyon full of sand that is not very agreeable."
• Overnight trip cancelled - after 10 minutes of crabbiness, we were over it
• Then spent 4. hours working on our Portland winery day with 6-8 other people, scheduling the whole day, booking 4 winery appointments, booking the car service, and emailing everyone for confirmation
• Therefore, I deserve this gimlet:

We are now going out for a sandwich.  And another gimlet.

I mean honestly, WTF?

So we arrived in Arizona last night - terrible turbulent flight, terrible beer on Sun Country (Michelob Golden Draft Lite???), but frankly, who would care because it doesn't look like this, which is what it looks like at home:

After the obligatory stop at the liquor store after arriving, we grabbed a bite and headed home, unpacked, and went promptly to bed. 

Woke up this morning and was relaxing and reading Facebook and I heard mooing!!  These ladies and gents forage around in the desert.  There were little calves frolicking about and playing.  OMG so cute, I couldn't stand it.

Today's agenda:  grocery store, and maybe a drink.  OK, who am I kidding.  We'll definitely drink.