Month of August, 2005
Ghosts of Phoenix
Stumbled across this interesting article about the Hotel San Carlos in Phoenix which is said to be haunted. The "Ghosts of Phoenix" walking tour starts in October. This is definitely something I want to do!
Weekend
Nothing too exciting to report about this weekend. I spent a good portion of Saturday morning working on my yard. The backyard hadn't been mowed in about a month so the grass was a good 12 inches high. Mowing took awhile but finally it's all gone. Bentley for one is pleased to see it gone. Then I took to trimming some bushes in the front yard. I think the trimmer could really use a good blade sharpening. I have no idea where to go for that kind of service. Saturday afternoon I finished unpacking the bedroom and took a nice long nap. It was perfect.
Saturday evening I started unpacking the kitchen, but it's slow going. Luckily Heath called and we talked for quite awhile. I didn't get back to the unpacking until Sunday. I certainly did not get as much done as I had hoped. But I enjoyed a fantastic brunch at Richardson's with Tom. Richardson's was recommended to me by a coworker and it's exactly the type of place I love - Small, good food, beautiful atmosphere, and unique to Phoenix. I highly recommend it.
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Bentley in Bed
After I got out of bed this morning, Bentley took my spot.
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Quote of the Day
"My heart is not stirred by you."
- Troy's friend
Boxes, Boxes Everywhere
The movers delivered my things yesterday. The new house feels full to the brim. I haven't been counting but there's something like 130 boxes here. It's scary to think I'll have to go through them all! Though it's very exciting to finally be in the house which is very quickly feeling like home.
Tonight I've been focusing on the my bedroom. I figure that way I'll have at least one place to "hide" when I start feeling over-whelmed with unpacking.
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Arlington High School Reunion - Class of 1995
Last weekend was my 10 year high school reunion. I surprised even myself by enjoying it so much. I saw people that I wasn't close to in high school but we hit it off anyways. It was a great hearing where everyone is living and what they do for a living.
See the whole set of pictures.
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Quote of the Day
"You might be a red neck if you have a relative who gets their nipple bitten off by a beaver."
- J, my brother in law quoting The Blue Collar Comedey Tour movie
Saturday Night
Saturday night I went to Linda's house for dinner. She invited a few of us from work for crab cakes and margaritas. She and James, her husband, are fantastic hosts! They have an incredible house about 30 minutes out of town sitting on the most gorgeous 1 1/2 acre lot. This is the view from their back porch where we enjoyed dinner. It was a perfect night which included plenty to drink, Bentley being invited (and behaving himself), good food, hilarious conversation, and a neighbor riding up on his horse. (You'd think that's the kind of thing you'd get in Texas, but I had to come all the way to Arizona to see it.)
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Garage - Before & After
So the garage project is complete! I'm quite happy with how it turned out.
I spent Friday night cleaning the floor, which luckily wasn't too dirty. On Saturday, I etched the floor in order to help the paint stick better. Finally, early early Sunday morning, I painted and spread the paint flakes on top. I was done by 10am Sunday and I was quite pleased with myself. It was a nice little weekend project.
While I was working, a couple neighbors stopped by. They welcomed me to the neighborhood and filled me in on the previous resident. He was a welder who ran his business out of his garage. Apparently, he left the house in horrible shape. I'm lucky that the people I bought it from cleaned it up and remodeled.
Oh and my refigerator was delivered on Saturday! I'm now all ready to move in.
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Happy
Just wanted everyone to know that despite my loss of Tiger, I'm still happy. Everything here is good.
I'm going back to Dallas next week to oversee the packers and movers. Then I'll be attending my 10 year high school reunion over the weekend. THAT should be interesting. And then finally all of my things should arrive in my new house on August 24 or 25. I can hardly wait to move in!
This weekend, I'll be spending every waking hour painting the garage floor. It's the one thing I really want done before move-in. Because I know I'll never do it once I get stuff in the garage. It'll be a big job but I'm sure I'll enjoy it afterwards (especially since the washer and dryer are in the garage). A coworker was nice enough to loan me a radio so I can at least listen to something while I work. Maybe I'll take pictures so I can share my manual labor with all of you.
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I miss my baby.
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Stengths
Sparkler wrote about one of her strengths and suggested a website to test yourself on personal strengths. So I did. According to this survey, my stregths are below in order of importance.
- Appreciation of beauty and excellence
- Gratitude
- Citizenship, teamwork, and loyalty
- Curiosity and interest in the world
- Leadership
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Second time is a charm
Went back to the DMV today and got my license fixed. Now I'm legally Erica, not Erice. The weird part was the same lady who processed me yesterday made the corrections today.
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Resident of Arizona
As of today, I'm officially a resident of Arizona. But I'll always be a Texan at heart.
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After
Thursday night and all day Friday were unbearably sad. I didn't know I had it in me to cry that much. I loved Tiger more than I ever thought I could. He was such a gift. Four and a half years simply wasn't long enough.
My coworkers, who are quickly becoming what I consider friends, really showed their support for me on Friday. My boss called to check in on me. His wife, who I've hung out with a couple times, took me out for coffee to help me get my mind off of it. My coworker and friend, Doug, offered to go to the vet with me. Other coworkers emailed and one even brought me a sympathy card today. I consider myself very lucky to have these people in my life.
My family was very supportive and at the same time in grief with me. Tiger was a part of the family. Everyone loved him like I did. Everyone will miss him like I do. No one wanted me to be alone with my grief, so my mother flew out to Phoenix for the weekend. It was so perfect having her here with me. We cried and told happy stories and looked at pictures of Tiger together. We kept our minds off of it by swimming, shopping, eating, and getting my house ready for move in. And we cried some more. there's nothing quite like having someone who understands when you're grieving. I needed someone who knew Tiger like I knew him and loved him like I did. It was good for me to have Mom here.
Thank you all for the lovely comments and email. I appreciate it so much. Nothing makes this loss easy, but everyday is hurts a little less. I accept that the pain will never quite go away because I will never stop loving Tiger.
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RIP Tiger
Tiger is gone.
Thursday night he was overcome with pain and his nub swelled up with blood. It was exactly the same as what happened to his lower leg only a month ago before it was removed. When he had the surgery, I knew that it was only a matter of time before the cancer spread. I just hoped it would be more time rather than less. Whatever time we get with ones we love is never enough.
Friday afternoon, I put Tiger to sleep. I am overcome with sadness. He was such a special part of the family. He taught me about unconditional love. I won't be the same without him. We had a good 4 1/2 years together...an impossibly wonderful 4 1/2 years. I love him more than I ever thought was possible. I miss him just as much.
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Adjusting
So I've been quiet lately. I suppose it's mostly because I don't have much to say here. I'm adjusting to a new place. I'm adjusting to new friends. I'm spending a lot of time by myself. I'm in limbo.
I'm adjusting to a new place.
It's only been two and a half weeks, but I feel so at home here. By here, I mean, Arizona. It's such a beautiful place. I really should take more pictures. It's just that I'm always looking at the landscape as I drive by. I need to walk more. It's âmonsoonâ season in Arizona. While it's a funny name that really doesn't fit for the desert, everyone uses it, even the weather people on TV. Monsoon simply means that it rains most evenings. We've had some beautiful storms with great lightening shows. Usually the rain is light and I've enjoying being out in it. Last night it was a literal downpour. People at work today speculated that we may have received a high percentage of our annual rainfall last night. (Annual rainfall is only 6 inches!)
I'm adjusting to new friends.
I'm spending most of my free time by myself, but when I do hang out with people it's my coworkers. After all, they're the only people I know here. The nice part is I have really great people to work with and I'm comfortable with being friends outside of work. For example, I already have two coworkers who have offered to look after my dogs when I go out of town. This weekend, I'm taking Tiger and Bentley over to meet one and to bathe Tiger in her backyard. The other coworker and I have agreed to trade responsibilities. This weekend I'll stay at her house to take care of her dog and in the future, she'll take care of mine. It's so nice to have people helping me already!
I'm spending a lot of time by myself.
I've been thinking a lot lately about making friends outside of work. I need to get into some activities where I'll meet people with similar interests. But since I'm in limbo, I'm not anxious to sign up for anything. Recently I've thought a little bit about Internet dating so maybe I'll do that again.
I'm in limbo.
So I bought the house, but I'm still living in the temporary apartment. Most of my stuff is still in Texas and it won't arrive in Arizona for another 3 weeks. I feel like I'm in the middle of two worlds. I'm anxious to get into my permanent place and settled. Though there are plenty of things I need to do (and keep procrastinating on) like buy a refrigerator and put down paper in the kitchen cabinets. It probably wouldn't hurt for me to think a bit about where all the furniture is going to go either. I'm not exactly 100% prepared and I know it will be here before I can blink. Honestly, I can't wait. It's going to be so good to move in!
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Quote of the Day
"I love it when high people become their own laugh tracks."
- mihow
Don't Know
What better image than a man who looks clueless for the part of the website you go to in order to get your password sent to you. I don't know why, but it really got me. He just looks SO clueless.
Dude, it's only a password!
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Quote of the Day
"This isn't Star Trek, the software won't do that."
- overheard at work
