Ever Have To Change Your Life?

I've started over in life several times. Really. I'm 36 years old and I've had to completely start over three times. I have literally lost EVERYTHING three times. I'm going thru that third time right now.

What prompted those huge changes? The loss of a companion, as usual. Most gals can agree with me, it's those flighty men who back out of their commitments and force us to flip our lives upside down to counter the changes.

I don't want to go into all the hurt and disappointment, and I'm not going to go on and on about how much I have been in love--only to have my heart stomped on. But I will say that I am not willing to give up on the game just because I haven't been a winner yet.

I still have my best buddy Shay, and we will move on together.

Aint Lookin For Nothin

But a good time....

Went to the Bret Michaels concert after the Republican Women's meeting in Tempe.

The Great Flood of 2010

I haven't been able to keep my appointments today because I'm walled in by running washes!!

Countdown to Brett

This weekend I have a series of meetings in Phoenix, ending on Saturday afternoon. Lucky me, I found Brett Michaels concert tickets for $18 at the State Fair.
Yes, I know, he's an 80's has been. And yes, I know, it's the State Fair.
I think it is a nice opportunity. I really am happy that the majority of the bands I loved in my youth are now very accessible, and I can spare a little time to head over and watch them.
Queensryche plays on Halloween, and I've assembled a posse of heavy metal fans to drive down to Mesa, Arizona to watch them. I think the cover charge is $10 or something. This concert is particularly exciting to me because it's the 20th anniversary of Queensryche's best CD, Operation Mindcrime. There's a full-on stage show that goes with the music, and it tells a story.

Of course, I will provide photos...

I Love Being Home

At home is exactly where I was on Saturday night, with the cat.  We stayed on the couch with the reading lamp on, and I finished off my latest book "Late, Late At Night," which is a memoir that Rick Springfield wrote.  The true stories of the rock stars are really the best.
Kitty Meow Meow spends some time in the back yard, and he goes in and out the back door as he searches for either some attention from me or a snack from his food dish.
We went to bed, after a goodnight phone call from Steve.  He went to Cottonwood for a truck show and didn't make it all the way home.  He spent his night in glamorous Seligman off the Interstate.

Around 1am, I was jolted awake by noise outside the bedroom door--the one that leads to the back porch.  Now that the weather is behaving we use the evaporative cooler so the back door is open with just the screen door shut.  Kitty Meow Meow normally will bristle up and run outside like a guard dog when something's going on out there- but this time he stayed put.  That made me nervous.
The noise out there continued, and a thought came to mind, "Maybe there's someone out there who knows I'm home alone...."  The amount of noise is convincing me that someone is trying to purposefully get my attention.

I'm normally not a paranoid person but I suppose you should know that there's been a little bit of trouble with my "Opponent," and the police warned me to keep an eye out.

With that in the back of my brain, I finally found the courage to step outside.  In the dim moonlight I see something hop up on the back wall, the one that encloses the whole yard.  The wall is over six feet tall, and I've always felt safe inside the fortress of Huff-i-tude. (like Solitude, but different)  Until last night.  I watched a very large coyote--the size of a German Shepard--hop up on the wall and walk along it with the skill of a cat. He paced back and forth, looking around in both our yard and the neighbor's.  My heart was in my throat.   Coyotes hunt together and it occurred to me that there were likely more than one in the back yard.  And I'm standing out there, in the dark, with my focus on this one that's pacing on the back wall.
I duck back in the house and grab my camera.  "Nobody will believe this!!"  I quickly snap a photo before the coyote gets spooked and jumps down into the neighbor's yard:

What a brilliant piece of evidence.

Of course I can't calm down after that, because I'm worried about Kitty Meow Meow's safety. I've learned that coyotes will stalk a home if they learn that there's a small animal living there. They'll stalk it until they get their kill.

Kitty Meow Meow, your days are numbered.

Shay's a Good Campaign Worker

Whenever I need help getting a mailing done, with all those stamps and address labels--I can count on Shay. He usually helps with very little incentive.

Whenever I need someone to pound rebar into the rock hard ground for my campaign signs--I can count on Shay.

It was still 100 degrees when we set out to put up a few signs this evening, and Shay happily put that rebar in place.  Very cool.  Of course I think he's going to charge me for his services...

Mrs. Quayle

As busy as I was in September, I forgot to share my dinner experience with Mrs. Dan Quayle. Her name is Marilyn, she is the former 2nd Lady of the White House. I named the mother quail in our neighborhood after her.

I knew very little about her when she was 2nd Lady, I only knew about her husband's flubs. But Marilyn is actually quite an accomplished lady. She's done probably more than her husband, really. She's worked around the country for many years teaching disaster preparedness, and has worked in the Phoenix area to help get women involved in politics.

She spoke at the Dodie Londen opening dinner that I attended, and I took so many photos of her I don't think I heard everything she said.

Her son, Ben Quayle, just recently won the Republican nomination for a Congressional seat. He has opponents in the General Election so he was out campaigning on this particular night. But his wife was there--she was a sweet lady.