Arizona ~ part one.
On Friday, the 13th (of all days), I bravely boarded a Southwest plane (the planes that recently had sunroofs) headed.... where else.... the Southwest. Phoenix to be precise. Phoenix... the exact city the sunroof planes were located. Yikes! But... I had to escape Ohio. I knew staying home this weekend would be a really, really.... really bad idea. So... a little over a month ago, I called my friend, Cristy and asked if I could visit.
Cristy and her hubby Aaron got married a few years back. We had known each other through a mutual friend before that but we bonded during the wedding process and beyond. God bless her! I had barely uttered the words "Can I come?" when the flight was booked and we had a plan. She wanted me to visit as much as I wanted to visit her. It felt SO good to be welcomed like that. I cannot even begin to explain it to you but I'll tell you this, I needed that more than I needed air.
After a nearly 4 hour flight, I got off the plane in sunny & warm Phoenix, Arizona. I nearly forgot to get my suitcase from baggage claim. DUH! I was preoccupied and I was excited to see Cristy. So I turned back to get my suitcase then hopped the shuttle to Enterprise to snag a rental car. It was a sweet, black Dodge Charger with a GPS so I wouldn't get lost. I texted Cristy to tell her I was here and lucky for me... she was able to get out of work early. We met for lunch at The Paradise Cafe which is similar to a Panera.
I sat there, finally beginning to relax, laughing with Cristy already when I noticed the cactus. HOLY Saguaros, Batman! That baby was HUGE!!! So I made Cristy snap a photo of me with the beast on my phone. I promptly sent that photo to Andy & the kids and now I'm sharing that little cell phone photo with you. I love that cactus. It makes me look so small. LOL!
From Paradise, it was a short drive to Cristy's house. I dropped my suitcase on the bed and dug out the old swimsuit. We hit the pool right away!!! As you do when it's hot, I left the pool to grab an icy cold beverage. As I was walking back to the pool, Cristy started wriggling and then started... um... squealing. Yeah. Squealing is a good way to describe it. She abruptly jumped up and out of the pool only to find this little guy where her bum was located only seconds before.
I fished him out with their pool filter. I felt SO brave but in truth... Aidan is probably rubbing off on me. He is always holding some critter he finds in our yard. I'm getting less squeamish the more critters he brings. But... we have a strict 'no snakes' rule. UGH.... I'm scared to death of those things.
At any rate... Back to lounging.
I probably should have faked a tan in photoshop but nope... I'm Irish and it shows. How about that sweet hat I bought to keep the sun off my face?! As we lounged.... there were more critters.
Meet Mable & Scooter , my new niece & nephew slash bunkmates. LOVE these pups! We all spent the rest of the day just chillin'. Aaron came home from work later & I made dinner for my hosts: turkey meatloaf. Good stuff. After dinner we sat by the pool, watched the sun set, planned our next day's adventures and looked at the stars.
I fell asleep at about 8:30 AZ time. So much for being a cool, partying mama!
I'll share more about my trip later. Right now, I have sooooo much to do. My father -in-law is visiting and I have 3 clients visiting today AND a wedding tonight. Gotta dash!
Have a great day!
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