Month of November, 2006

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving holiday was wonderful. I spent it in Texas with Chris and his family. I felt relaxed...really, really relaxed.

Every year the Lucci's share things they are thankful for during the Thanksgiving meal. It's time I share what I'm thankful for...

• My Family - I'm so thankful that I have strong relationships with my entire family. We love and respect each other. We want to spend time together because we truly enjoy each other's company. I know that it isn't this easy for all families so I'm really thankful for mine.

• Chris - My relationship with Chris keeps growing and getting better all the time. I'm so thankful that he's in my life.
• My Job - Work is work and more often that not it's hard. But I'm thankful that I have work. I'm thankful that it challenges me. I'm thankful for all the wonderful people I get to work with.
• Planes - These days I fly a lot. I'm so thankful that air travel exists to get me closer to the people I care about. (OK, this one is a little silly, but I really am thankful! Can you imagine if I had to drive all over the country every time I wanted to see my close friends?!)

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World Hunger

With Thanksgiving around the corner, here's a powerful thing to think about. It puts the world in perspective.

If 20 people sit down at your table, representing the world's population:
3 would be served a gourmet, multi-course meal, while sitting at decorated table and a cushioned chair.
5 would eat rice and beans with a fork and sit on a simple cushion
12 would wait in line to receive a small portion of rice that they would eat with their hands while sitting on the floor.

- From The ONE Campaign

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Expensive

Found this link about the most expensive house in California from DigitalCatharsis. I thought it was fantastic, so I sent it to Chris. Here's what he said...

"What an amazing amount of wasted energy. Cool, but useless in the real world. Sometimes I think Cali should break off and fall into the ocean. Would the people in Arizona, Nevada, and Oregon start acting like that if all the sudden they were the west coast?"

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Chris's Visit to Phoenix

Chris visited Phoenix this past weekend. It was really nice having him here. Friday afternoon we rode around the neighborhood on our bikes, went grocery shopping, and cooked a fantastic dinner. We had planned on going out Friday night but ended up going to bed early instead. The mix of a martini and a good meal is a pretty good sleeping pill for me.

On Saturday we went to Fountain Hills, a little town to the east of Scottsdale, for an art festival. We walked around the festival and ate festival food. Yum, caramel apples! Then we rode our bikes around town. It's in the foothills so a lot of up and downs. Chris teased me about picking every single up-hill street I could find.

Saturday night we had a Mexican dinner with Erica and Garret, my neighbors. Erica and Garrett are about the same age as Chris and I. They're one of the first couples I really got to know around here and really enjoy them. Erica and I have been getting together (as much as possible) to watch Lost on Wednesday nights. I've missed the past few weeks and was more than a little sad to hear it's on hiatus. What the heck is that about?

After dinner, Chris and I went to see a roller derby match. When I first moved here, I learned that Arizona had a roller derby league and have wanted to go to a bout ever since. Chris and I really enjoyed our first roller derby bout. In fact, I was even on my feet cheering for the girls by the end of the game. Once we figured out how the game was played (thanks to internet access on my blackberry), we enjoyed watching the women skate. During breaks, a local band played and people just generally hung out. The crowd was extremely eclectic and a big on the punk rock side. I definitely enjoyed watching the crowd. After the match, I got in a picture with the winning team and some fans. Go Brawlarinas!

Later in the evening, we met Jennifer and a friend of hers at Chez Nous in downtown. Chez Nous is this insanely dark, old cocktail lounge. While the neighborhood is a little sketchy, the crowd inside was very cool. Everyone was polite and just out to have a good time. The Motown-Philly, Soul and Funk cover band had everyone up dancing at one point or another.

On Sunday, Chris let me sleep in while he made breakfast and even ran to the store for a newspaper. We spent the better part of the morning lounging around the house. In the afternoon, we went out for corndogs (what a weird thing to crave, huh?) and then on to the opening of the new wing of the Phoenix Art Museum. The museum is completely huge now and the new wing is gorgeous. We enjoyed both the art and the architecture a lot. Sunday night we ate wings before heading home to watch a movie. The movie ended up being Crumb, a documentary about R Crumb, the comic book writer/illustrator. I was amused that Chris fell asleep during the middle of it. Now I understand why documentaries aren't his thing.

All in all a lovely weekend with Chris. I'm looking forward to seeing a lot more of him in the next week since I'll be in Texas for Thanksgiving.

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Legal

It's good that I enjoy legal documents and the like since I'm spending so much time with my nose in them today. (At work...thank goodness I don't have anything in my personal life that requires legal documents.) Sometimes I think about going back to school to be a lawyer but then I remember I'm still paying for my MBA. One thing at a time, right?

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Summer and Me!

Summer posted the few pictures she took while visiting. I love this one! Don't we look too cute?

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October continued

Fourth Weekend in October - Visit to Dallas to see the boyfriend and attend Kristen's baby shower
View the set of pictures.

After two weeks of traveling, it was really good to see Chris.

Saturday morning we had breakfast at my parents' house along with the Grants (visiting from Houston), Ky, Autumn, and Deuce. We hung around until almost noon. Lots of playing with Deuce and catching up. Ky showed us a ton of photos of him bouldering. The adults were amazed that people do that. Deuce fell and hurt himself. He bled for the first time. Autumn was amazingly calm. I don't think I would have been so calm. Luckily, it wasn't anything serious and all was OK.

Saturday afternoon Nicki and Shelby hosted a baby shower for Kristen. It was a lovely little party. Kristen got a ton of wonderful gifts. I really enjoyed seeing friends of Kristen's that I haven't seen in at least a year.

After the shower, I was pretty wiped out so I took a little nap. Before I knew it, Chris and I were on our way to dinner with both sets of parents. Yep, big news, our parents met for the very first time. Everyone got along extremely well and we all had an incredible 3 1/2 course dinner at Lonesome Dove in Fort Worth. (3 1/2 because Chris and I shared a salad.)

My dinner consisted of the following:
• Boursin Stuffed Kangaroo Carpaccio Nachos with Avocado Relish and Spicy, Sweet Habanero Sauce
• Organic Butter Lettuce with Chile Buttermilk, Texas Goat Cheese, Spiced Pepitas and Candied Jalapenos
• Roasted Garlic Stuffed Beef Tenderloin (9 oz.) with Red Chile Marinated Jumbo Gulf Shrimp, Chipotle Mashed Potatoes, Grilled Asparagus and Syrah Demi-Glace
• Habanero infused Chocolate Cake

On Sunday, Chris and I met David and Arianne at the track. This is a picture of Arianne racing in her Mini (passing a Porsche). It was a gorgeous day and very, very fun to hang out. David just got a garage at the track so we even had a lovely, out of the way place to sit and talk. We stopped for dinner on the way back to Arlington and very shortly afterwards crashed in bed.

Monday morning I was surprised by a phone call from my mother. She and my father spent most of the night in the hospital because Dad's nose wouldn't stop bleeding. About two weeks prior, Dad had surgery on his septum to correct some damage and hopefully alleviate his headaches. He seemed to be healing fine until he woke up Sunday night and realized his nose was bleeding. Because it was bleeding "like a running faucet" and he couldn't get it to stop, they went to the emergency room. The staff there spent hours trying to make it stop. Dad just bled and bled. The hospital staff tried everything. Finally they called in the specialist. Even he failed at his first attempt to stop the bleeding. He said he's never had a patient who wouldn't stop bleeding. Hearing them describe it was surreal. Luckily, the second attempt by the specialist did stop the bleeding. My poor father must have gone through some serious pain. They did what would normally be done after surgery when you're asleep without putting him out. He was bleeding so much they were worried he would drown in the blood if they put him out. They did give him some serious pain meds but it wasn't enough soon enough. Luckily, he made it through and around 10am Monday they sent him home. He's been doing fine ever since and we just hope his nose continues to heal properly.

Monday evening just before I left to head back to Phoenix, Chris and I met David at UTA so we could see the work he had done in The University Club. It was absolutely gorgeous.

Check out all the pictures from the weekend.

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Catching Up

Wow, another weekend is practically upon me and I haven't even written about last weekend. I was here in Phoenix all by myself for the first time in awhile. It was good to catch up and relax and be by myself.

Friday night I needed a break. It had been a very busy week at work and I simply wanted to think about something else. When I first got home from work, I watched a couple movies. Just relaxed in bed and didn't think about reality at all. I watched Metropolis, a 1927 silent film, and American Splendor, a film about a comic book writer. When it got late enough, I went dancing at Homme. It was exactly what I needed. Just me and the music and a spot on the dance floor. I can't believe it's been so long since I danced on a consistent basis. I kinda feel like part of me was missing and now I found it again. Homme is the perfect place for me to dance - GREAT music, not too big, not a meat market, and not expensive. I love it.

Saturday morning I got my hair done (finally) and ran errands. When I got home, I meant to clean the house but surprised myself with a two hour nap on the couch. Saturday night I went to the state fair and saw Steve Miller Band with Christy. It was a fun show...nothing spectacular but enjoyable.

Sunday I cleaned house and relaxed. Rode my bike for a little while and enjoyed the weather. It's gorgeous here this time of year. Sunday night I was craving wings so I headed to Hooters. (We can blame Chris for turning me on to Hooters.) Dinner wasn't as enjoyable as I had hoped because this creepy/crazy guy talked to me the entire time. I think he was somehow hoping I was the woman for him. Quite obviously, I'm not. When I got home, I completed my "man evening" by watching Black Hawk Down.

This coming weekend, Chris is visiting me here in Phoenix!

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Election Results

I'm pretty pleased with the Arizona election results.

• Democrat Janet Napolitano was re-elected for governor,

• Democrat Harry Mitchell was elected for the US House District 5. I heard Mitchell speak at a house party a number of months ago and was struck by his sincerity and humility. This man is truly a servant of the people. I trust that he will serve Arizona well.
• Arizona raised the minimum wage to $6.75 in January and will be adjusted for cost of living every year.
• Arizona voters did not ban same-sex marriage.
• Arizona will not provide a lottery for voters. A silly way to get people to the polls, in my opinion.
• Smoking is banned in most public places, including bars, in Arizona.

Luckily, I'm only displeased with a couple outcomes.

• Replican Jon Kyl will represent Arizona in the Senate.

• Arizona's official state language is English.

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Did you vote?

I woke up early for some strange reason and made it to the polls before they opened. As I was standing in line trying not to freeze (it was 58 degrees here, people!) I had the pleasure of listening to my fellow citizens. One woman was talking supporting Bush in the last election because he son is in the military. My first thought was "Why?! He's the one that chose to go to war!" Naturally, I kept my mouth shut since I don't think arguing politics with strangers is a good idea. I just went in and voted.

Later as I was pondering the situation, it struck me that it is quite amazing that people can have such different perspectives. She sees Bush as someone to support and I see Bush as someone to blame. And there's a good chance that nothing is going to change either of our minds'. But the thing I did realize is that I don't spend enough time thinking about what another person's perspective might be.

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October in Review

October was a very busy month for me. I've been doing a very poor job of keeping up with the events. When I don't write about things immediately, I find I forget the details. (Like the name of a bar or what I ate for dinner.) Here's a summary of what I can remember.

1st Weekend in October - Chris came to Phoenix.
Thursday I picked him up after work. On the way home, we went to BJ's for dinner. Friday morning Chris made me breakfast then I went to work. Chris was nice enough to go grocery shopping. When Chris picked me up, he was able to come tour the office. It's nice that he now knows where I spend an awful lot of my time. Friday night we went to dinner with Christy and Matt, my neighbors. We ate at their favorite restaurant, The Greek Patio. The food was every bit as good as they said it was. After dinner we went downtown to look at art. It was First Friday, Phoenix's art gallery walk. We saw some great art at one gallery and a lot of mediocre art elsewhere. But it was a lovely night to be outside and fun to hang out with Christy & Matt.

Saturday morning Chris made me breakfast. (He spoils me.) The weather was gorgeous so we spent a lot of time on the porch. It was the perfect morning to just hang out. I desperately wanted to go for a bike ride but Chris didn't have a bike. We tossed around the idea of getting him one and decided to just go look. Well, after a couple hours, looking turned into a purchase. We got home and immediately went for a ride. It turns out there's a lovely paved path near my house that runs next to a wash and has a lot of desert plant life. We cooked dinner together, drank wine (that I think neither of us cared for), and watched a movie (though I can't remember which movie).

Sunday it was my turn to cook breakfast. Then we loaded up the bikes and drove to Scottsdale. We stopped at the bike shop to get a new inner tube since Chris already had a flat tire from less than an hour of riding! Man, the desert is tough on stuff. We spent the better part of the day riding the greenbelt in Scottsdale. We even stopped and ate the lunch I packed. The weather was gorgeous and Chris is a lovely riding partner.

Sunday night we played poker with Jennifer and John. Chris and John play a LOT more poker than Jennifer and I yet we ended up in first and second place. I think the boys let us win. They knew we wouldn't ever play again if they clobbered us the first time. Jennifer cooked fantastic jalapeno and cream cheese snacks. I remember it was raining that night because my car window wouldn't roll up, which only happens when it rains. When we got home, Chris and I immediately went to work fixing the window. (It falls out of the track so we simply have to take the door apart and put the window back in the track. Pain in the butt, but I've been doing it ever since I got the car. Probably at least once a year.) Having Chris' help, a job which is normally pure torture for me, went really really fast. He is so wonderful.

A memorable moment from the weekend was having Chris find (and pluck) a grey hair on my head. I'm far too young to be grey.

2nd Weekend in October - Summer visited Phoenix

View the set.

Summer made her first trip out to Phoenix to visit. It was so wonderful to have a girls weekend and just hang out.

• Thursday night - sushi at Ra and dessert at Zinc Bistro

• Friday - shopping and sightseeing
  Had lunch at Pink Taco in Scottsdale. Fun place but the food isn't exciting.

• Friday night - gourmet pizza with a bottle of wine (pink) and reminiscing about college days
  Decided we should have gotten in more trouble when we were younger. Oh well, too late now. Listening to Dee Lite made us want to dance. The Internet helped us find Homme, which was FABULOUS. We danced until 2am when the lights came on. I hadn't felt that good or that kind of groove in years. I need more dancing in my life.

• Saturday - lazy morning and a little shopping before meeting Summer's uncle for afternoon drinks
  Afternoon turned into evening because we were having such a good time. Eventually we went to e4, a club in Scottsdale. It's overrated, if you ask me. Too many people so the dance floors were packed. The music just wasn't doing it for us.

• Sunday - up early to get Summer to the airport

Third Weekend in October - Maryland visiting Kristen

View the set.

I had some work in the DC area two weeks in a row so I stayed the weekend in order to visit Kristen. Unfortunately, Chris, her husband, had to work all weekend so I only saw him briefly. Though, it was kinda nice to get Kristen all to myself...just like old times. We spent a day sightseeing around DC. The highlight for me was seeing the new Air Force Memorial. Even though we got lost and drove around for ages trying to find it. Just hanging out with Kristen was a treat. I miss having her around all the time like I used to in Arlington.

Kristen is 6 months pregnant and doing well. She jokes about being huge but she's carrying another person around! I think she looks beautiful and can't wait until she becomes a mom!

More to come about the last weekend in October...

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Schmap

I have a photo included in the Schmap guide for Phoenix! This is the photo from Taliesen West.

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Candy

You know it's in the days after Halloween when your boyfriend emails, "These pixie sticks are great!"

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Overheard

"I've never been to rehab!"

- Overheard a man saying this in a restaurant last night

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Happy Birthday, Kristen!!