Festivus

If you're not a Seinfeld fan, you're not familiar with the fake holiday known as Festivus. It was the creation of one of the surly Seinfeld characters who refused to go along with the commercialized over-hyped Christmas traditions of expensive gifts and maxed out credit cards. "Festivus for the rest of us!" he'd proclaim. Instead of a Christmas tree, he would erect a Festivus pole in the house. The family activities included a show of "feats of strength" where they'd kind of beat up on each other.
But Festivus dinner was the best because the saying of Grace was replaced with the "Airing of Grievances." The best.

So, Gary's used to having expensive holidays, Christmas in particular. He's used to big extravagant presents. He was worried about this year, with his surgery in September we haven't been able to sock away money to buy very much for presents.
He was kinda speechless when I explained that I'm more of a Festivus kind of person. I don't like Christmas gifts, and I get no pleasure from spending a lot of money on things that I know will end up in the garbage. I prefer to have one thoughtful gift that will always be remembered. Think about it; what did you get for Christmas last year? Can't remember?
I got one present, a Kindle, and it was soooo appreciated. I spent a lot of money buying up E books on Amazon and my reading kept me pre-occupied. I've always loved to read but last year at this time I was quite miserable and lonely. The Kindle was with me everywhere.
Gary kept bugging me, "What do you want for Christmas?" And I kept giving the same answer, "I'm really not a gift person. I don't want THINGS."
I felt bad for him, because I wasn't trying to be evasive or difficult. I just didn't want him spending a lot of money on stuff.
On Christmas morning, I got this:

A new fancy Kindle. Good call, Gary.

And since Gary wants a hundred things for Christmas, I gave him this:

There's enough cash there for something really nice. I shopped around for some things that I knew he'd like, but it was all things that a person wouldn't be able to return if it wasn't just right. He's been into the gold mining lately and with that hobby comes requirements for different equipment and gadgets. There's quite a large group of people in this area who are into the mining as well, and they periodically sell off their used equipment. I considered buying up some used mining equipment, but figured a gift of cash would be safer.
He promptly spent it at Sam's Club.

Mental note: don't give Gary cash. He'll use it on a year's supply of paper towels and protein bars.

I Know

Can't say I've been that busy, just pre-occupied. But that's no excuse!

Since August I've been doing quite a lot and I'll have to get to typing in order to catch up.

Mexico, Kansas City, Vegas, Off Road Races, World Finals, it just keeps going.

I'll start right now.

In August I began tackling a very detailed and complicated "To Do" list. With five bedrooms in this house and only two of them inhabitable, I decided to start cleaning.

The master bedroom got a little touch up, but the real difference was with the other master suite. It was stuffed with spare furniture to the point that if someone stayed in there they couldn't walk. They couldn't really get to the bathroom. And I couldn't clean.
So it was cramped, dusty, and the furniture was everywhere.

I cleaned it up in about twelve hours with Shay's help. Didn't get a "before" picture, but here's an after:

Yes, that's a full-size Monitor Lizard on the bed. Something that Gary had hidden under a pile of stuff in one of the other bedrooms.

The next project was the Gun Room, which had a pile of stuff so big you couldn't open the door. Shay and I tackled that one, pulling out a massive pile of cardboard boxes that turned out to be empty. Every single one. I picked up the gun cases and accessories and put those in the closet. After the large objects were moved I found a wallet. Yep, someone's wallet that went missing during a big weekend two years ago. Gary called him and let him know it was finally found.
The cardboard went out to the trash and the carpet in the room got cleaned up. That enabled me to move Gary's stuff for work in there-- a bunch of spare ATM parts that he keeps here.

The next room was the bunk bed room. It's right next to the front door and most people that walk in don't even know it's there. There was a great bunk bed that had been slept on once or twice by Gary's sons, and it needed to find a new home.

After much campaigning, I managed to get it a new place to live. Now we can move the furniture that is in the trailer out back into the bunk bed room. Eventually it will be another guest bedroom, but right now it will be storage while we gather items for the big garage sale later this month.

And, oh, what a garage sale it will be....

Big Kid

Shay is 13 years old, but he's nearly 8 inches taller than me. And he hates being 13 years old.

Once in a while, the real Shay will emerge. It's not easy to get him to come out and play, but I keep trying.

Polite

You know that song, "No more Mr. Niceguy," I'm sure you've probably heard it hundreds of times.  I think it's Alice Cooper.
For the past several months I've taken on that attitude.  I'm certainly polite 95% of the time, but there are people in my life right now who are finding out how many cuss words I know.   People who have been not so nice to me.  People who have taken advantage of me, or perhaps have tried kicking me when I was down.....  They're also finding out how much and how long I've kept things bottled up.  I'm not unleashing tons of anger on every single person who's done me wrong--it's not like that.  I'm giving the "What-for" to those who have been sort of picking on me for quite some time and they have continued to do so once I pointed it out to them.  I know, I'm portraying myself as a hysterical woman, but it's not that extreme.  I'm just not holding my tongue anymore.

And today I let the attitude slip a little on a stranger.

This morning a guy honked his horn at me in an empty parking lot because I suppose he felt he had the right of way.  He didn't.  We both approached a turn at the same time from two different directions.   I didn't stop and let him by, so he honked.  Normally I'd just ignore and keep going.  Today I put the car in park, shut it off, and opened my car door.  Empty parking lot, with just the two of us there, and I fully intended on walking over and kicking a dent in the door of his little Jeep Cherokee.  Instead I asked if there was a problem.  He declined to answer.  He just gestured at me like I was holding up traffic. All the backed up traffic in the empty parking lot of a closed grocery store.
People who honk for no apparent reason (as if they're a good samaritan preventing a traffic accident) are really a pet peeve.  There was actually a study released last year--printed in the AAA magazine I believe--that said there is rarely if ever an accident avoided by someone honking their car horn.  Horns are generally used to piss off other people driving.
If an accident is truly being avoided, it's because the driver used defensive techniques like braking and steering.  No time to honk in those situations.

So, this gentleman wasn't skillfully avoiding a collision, he just wanted to be an ass.
And I called his bluff. 
I didn't scream and yell, stomp around, pull a gun or anything---I just didn't ignore it and shrug it off like I normally do.

Let that be a warning to ya!!!

Yeah, right.

Cat Scratch Fever

I can't believe I didn't know that Ted Nugent plays a concert in Laughlin, Nevada every July. I had no idea! Found out by accident, really, and we excitedly drove the 90 minutes up to Laughlin to enjoy the show.
What a great show--if you're Republican! Ted has a way with words, in between his songs--and his political views are more than just a little to the right. It's funny how easily he will say something insulting about the French people, right on stage in front of an audience of thousands. And he mentioned several times that we need to get the idiots out of the White House in 2012.

We met some of Gary's friends for the concert, and fortunately I brought enough pairs of ear plugs to share with everyone. It was loud, loud, loud. We were in the 12th or 13th row, quite close to the stage and the enormous speakers.

When "Uncle Ted" came out for a couple of encore songs, the security guards loosened up and let people walk up to take photos at the stage.

Great show. Lots of entertainment!

Meeting With The Boss Lady

This gave me a laugh. Gary and his boss on the bow of the boat, as we're floating down river at sunset. Obviously talking shop....

Eventually I had to interrupt.

Once In A While

I get a pretty good panoramic photo:

Too Hot

Can't windex the car windows during the day, because it's so hot the windex dries immediately. And burns a nice smear into the window...
Can't pull the vehicles into the garage to do this, because, well....

So the car windows get spruced up after dark:

They certainly looked good last night:

But we'll see what the daylight reveals!!

Beh Behs!!!

We were entertained by a mama duck and her babies up on the river Monday. Turns out, they really really like potato chips.

Tuesday Afternoon

Off work: 5pm.

Arrive at home: 5:10pm.

Boat loaded, hooked up to truck: 5:25pm.

Swim Suit grabbed, House locked up: 5:30pm.

Launching at nearby launch ramp: 5:40pm.

And that's Tuesday afternoon in Lake Havasu.

Not Ready

It happens every year. We know it. We know it well. We just don't accept it too readily.

Baja 500, The BEST Ever.

I finally found a partner in crime who loves the off road races as much as I do.
Gary was recruited to help with the timing of the race at the Start/Finish line with me, and it was cute to see his excitement build as he realized he would be a full fledged SCORE official at the historic Baja 500 race.
We get down to Ensenada, Mexico a day or two early when there is a race so we can have some time to explore, eat, shop, or whatever. Then we have a day where we're kind of wandering around while the racers get checked in. We get the paperwork at the end of the day and we put them in our computer for the next day's race.
As I walked around with Gary, showing him my favorite spots in Ensenada, I kept expecting him to say, "Well, okay, I'm bored let's find something better to do." But that never happened. In fact, he said a couple of times, "This is so fun! I'm so glad I got to come with you!" I certainly agreed!

I really liked that he appreciated the view that I so appreciate every time I'm there:

I celebrated when it was obvious he had the same love for churros as I did....but together we discovered Churros Rellenos....which is stuffed churros. Stuffed with chocolate. MMMMMM....

And like I do, Gary will take the time to check out a cool new race truck:

And laugh about the little things in Mexico that you just wouldn't see in the U.S.:

That's an upside-down seven for the Lobby button...

But then when it came time to score the race, he was more than willing to be there in the middle of the night, waiting for finishers.
We had music playing on his I Phone, we laughed at the spectacle around us, and we were overjoyed when someone finished the grueling race...

I've never had so much fun at a race.

I'm On A Boat

Gary and I have been getting to know each other, and one of the things I found out about him is his love for the lake and going out on his boat.
Since I've worked in the boating industry around here (mostly part time) for several years, I'm surprised I didn't know him before. Or see his boat....

Oh. My.

What a beautiful ride. We managed to take the boat out in May for the first time, and we spent the entire day in a cove by ourselves. He snorkled, I relaxed.

Well, I played with my camera, too.

We managed to get out again with a couple of friends, but it was more like a rescue mission. They'd gotten several miles downriver in their boat and it quit on them. So we dragged out Gary's Laveycraft and pulled their day out of the dumps...

They were good passengers. I was the stewardess. I served Fritos and Doritos. At one point we were on the beach near the London Bridge, enjoying shade and laughing at the parade of boats going by. I remarked that there are probably only a handful of people in the world who could say they sat on a boat under the London Bridge that day. And we'd be included in that handful.

And how many people can say they were parked next to this BAZILLION DOLLAR boat that da? Probably not many.

One side of the boat says Lick. The other side says This.

How many people can take a serious photo like this? Not many, I'm sure.

Uncommonly Cold!

We camped a few weekends ago with some of Gary's friends from California, and after a couple of weeks of 80 degree weather it suddenly turned chilly.
Really. Chilly.

The rain rolled in with wind, the campsite became a refuge, and we huddled inside the enclosed trailer with the awning outside shielding the BBQ from the rain.

Of course we were able to stay entertained.

Around 10pm the rain quit and we were able to have a campfire outside.
See the blue? It is from an additive that Lynn put in there. It burned blue, orange, and green.

The next morning was cold, but not so cold that we weren't going to get out and enjoy the desert. We bundled up and hopped in the Rhinos for a ride.

The evening included some night excursions into some abandoned mines (yes, they do say you're not supposed to do that...) and some socializing around the colorful campfire once again. But before all that, we got out the weaponry.

Yeah, I hit some targets....

Early Sunday morning we were up before everyone else, probably because we went to bed at a reasonable time and we were anxious to get out and enjoy the nice weather.
Gary got impatient, he decided to be the wake-up call:

Don't worry, they did similar things to us as we struggled to get to sleep the night before!

While the boys cooked a big breakfast on the grill I took some blossom photos:

Then we hit the trails once more. We were determined to find some new unfamiliar places, and we certainly succeeded there. We took Grey Eagle Mine Road and found ourselves poking around in lots of old mine claims and long forgotten trails. Very cool!
The photo ops were cool, too:

By the time we loaded up the toys and started heading home, it was nearly 80 degrees again. The cold stuff was a nice departure, but we live in the desert for a reason; we like the heat!

A Metaphor

I remember the chilly day that Tracy and I rode our three-wheelers up into the mountains to explore some new trails, and we discovered a 30-foot tall saguaro cactus. It was so fortunate that I'd already developed a habit of carrying a camera with me ALWAYS....

You'll have to click on the photo to see me. I'm standing at the base of this giant.

I think it was 1996, or maybe even 1995. We had our little house on Daytona Avenue and we didn't have our son Shay yet.

Fast forward to 2011. Gary and I went up into the mountains one day, and I insisted on climbing up to see the huge saguaro. What I found was a pile of sticks, down in the bottom of the canyon. My huge cactus had fallen and dried up into nothing.
I later dug up all the photos like the one above, so I could show Gary what the big deal was. The pictures were a shock, I didn't know that I looked like such a baby face back then! I was a child! And here I was, next to this healthy, vibrant cactus reaching for the sky.
Now here we are in 2011. Not a baby face anymore. And my giant cactus friend is a memory. Ah, a metaphor.

Been Busy

New job has been keeping me preoccupied, the new guy is a welcome distraction, and as usual this time of year has all kinds of events and activities that I try to keep up with.
This week the Desert Storm boating event is here in Havasu, and it is an interesting collection of high dollar boats and so much money it makes you want to throw up a little....

Gary took the day off so he could hang out with me. He just didn't realize that all the hanging out would be on Main Street during the boat show. ALL DAY!!!

Boss Tony did some interviews.

We had the boats on Main St from noon till 9:30 pm, must have talked to hundreds of people. Also got to catch up with a lot of old friends, which was very nice.

By quitting time, we were DONE!