Tomorrow I go back to work after a nice week and a half off. I didn't get anything truly productive done, and I am not ashamed. I spent time with my kids, read several books, slept in and cooked and baked for family and friends. I am a little disappointed my vacation is over. I don't think I am ready to get back to work. I'm not dreading it completely—I enjoy where I work and have great co-workers, but the kids still have the rest of the week off before going back to school, and I will miss having all day with them.

It does not quite feel like a new year to me yet. My husband has been gone the past five days, and this is the first new year in a very long time we have not spent together. I will feel better when he gets home tomorrow. So, I think I will start my new year tomorrow instead of today.

I am making a list (surprise, surprise) of all the things it would be nice to accomplish this year. I am not calling it a resolution—I hate that word—but a Things to Do list:

Things to Do (in continual revision and not to be confused with a resolution)

Okay, so I haven't started the list yet, but I will. Maybe the first thing on it should be:

Stop procrastinating!

I know, astonishing right? Who would have thought they would have prostitutes in a Mexican resort town. Okay, so I am misconstruing a bit. The prostitutes, 19 of them, along with some peacocks, plasma TVs, fighting cocks and marijuana (big surprise there), were confiscated from a Mexican prison in Acapulco. The authorities are not saying how they got there, but they did make sure to add a disclaimer that the peacocks were pets. It was almost as if they were making sure no one thought the peacocks had anything to do with what the prostitutes were doing there, if you catch my drift. Makes you wonder what their excuse was for the roosters and the marijuana.

My life is not nearly as exciting, or as richly furnished, as a Mexican prison. I wouldn't say I am wholly disappointed, but who doesn't want a peacock? It makes me think back to a trip we took with my parents to Peterson Rock Garden in Oregon. There were peacocks roaming the grounds, pretty colorful ones and a few white ones. They were kind of scary though- they looked like they were ready to charge at the drop of a hat or a running child, as it were.

That memory makes me think of my parents, which makes me think of my mom and her blog, which makes me think of my dad who was featured in her blog, which makes me wonder how he still has all his limbs, which makes me think about what I would do if I lost my arms, which makes me think about how I don't do anything that might remove my arms from my body, which then reminds me of what a boring life I lead.

This is a Kardashian, not a prostitute, but it's what I imagine glamorous prostitutes look like (kind of like Pretty Woman).

You can read the whole story (the one about the prison, not the one about my boring life- that one is right here in this blog) here:

Peacocks, prostitutes found in Mexico prison

I uploaded photos from my camera this weekend and found all our pictures from Christmas and basically the last four months or so. I don't know how I have neglected it this long, but I thought I would share some snow photos.

Keep in mind, snow is not a thing of the past here in North Idaho. This last week, just when we though spring had finally started to bring us rain and some sun, it snowed on Friday. I'm crossing my fingers right now that it doesn't happen again until next winter. (It's kind of hard to type with your fingers crossed. They are beginning to cramp, so maybe I should just knock on wood.)

Jon got a little crazy with our snow blower this year and took all the snow in the backyard and blew it into a pile so the kids could sled. Later on, he actually made a maze with the additional snow so you had to weave around our yard to get out the back gate.

Kyle was buried alive at one point:

And of course, you can't go anywhere in the cold without your winter-weather wear. Moira can tell you that:

I know you're thinking she must be cold in shorts, but alas, she has her socks to keep her warm:

I may be paparazzi. While on a recent trip to the Wildlife Safari in Winston, Oregon, I spied this guy.

I swear he is someone famous. A TV or movie actor. Maybe he has been in some commercials — whatever. The point is, I may or may not have seen someone famous in the smallest podunk town in Oregon. Winston has a road called Turkey Crick (not Creek) and a place called Coon's Hollow. How much more podunk does it get? If that isn't enough for you, they also have a bar called F&N Lucky. Great, right?

So, we also saw some cool animals at the safari. We have been before, but it was more fun this year, on account of the famous person and all.

Here are some of my photos. (Not all of them are of animals butts.)

Buffalo

Bear

Camel

Baby zebra

Native squirrel

Jon and I were able to spend a few days in Vegas last week and we had a blast. Our friends Tony and Bryce joined us and I must admit I was a little leery about doing Vegas with the three stooges. I had a great time. I learned a bit about playing craps, got tons of free drinks, ate at an all-you-can-eat buffet and saw sharks.

Where else but Vegas can you see a swimming pool with a clear water slide through a shark tank (Golden Nugget), touch a horseshoe crab and a ray (Mandalay Bay) and play sexy blackjack (The Gold Spike)?

Okay, I didn't play sexy blackjack. To be honest, there was nothing sexy about this casino, even after the remodel. The dealers are dressed in black pants or skirts with wife beater tank tops and cheap heels- but maybe that is sexy to the drunk at the table and the man at the registration desk who appeared to be 120 years old.

Tony made me laugh so much I had a headache. He also made me snort in public several times and I try to never snort in public. I have photographic evidence that Tony loves German Chocolate cake. I was waiting for him to spew chocolate cake and coconut at me from across the table, but fortunately it didn't happen.

We even managed to find time to take a picture in front of the Vegas sign.

And we survived Bryce's driving and his constant antagonizing of pedestrians. (Although they really should learn to stop crossing the street when the little red hand comes up.)

All in all it was a great trip. Thanks Jon, Tony and Bryce.

***First I want to point out- the camera adds 40 pounds and Mom- I am sorry, but in the other picture you looked as though you were going to murder someone.  


It was so nice to visit my grandparents in Enid.  I also got to see my Aunt Kathy and Uncle Carlos who live in Olathe, Kansas.  We spent time visiting, relaxing and reading and going through old pictures.  It was really a nice time.  

I must admit I was very excited at the prospect of visiting their tornado shelter in the garage.  Luckily it was not tornado season quite yet while we were there, but regardless, I made my mom and aunt do a reenactment of what it may look like if a storm hit.

  

We also got a chance to visit the local grocery store, which is my mother's favorite thing to do.  The store, Jumbos, offered many exciting things- some of which included a 6lb. container of Peter Pan peanut butter (Jon's favorite) and Frog Leg Fridays.

     

My aunt and uncle:

  

And finally, my grandparents.   Pictures of them now and when they were younger.

 

  

Okay, so our return trip was not nearly as exciting as the trip there- we were tired, and some of us were bossy- but we still saw a few interesting sights.

Before we even left Oklahoma we spied this sign on the side of a restaurant:

I was under the impression they were fond of frog legs, but whatever, chicken works too.

At our first gas stop they had one of those hand grip games, like at the carnivals, and I thought I would give it a go.  (Side note- a personal joke in my family revolves around me being called burly at one time)  Here is the result of my hand grip test.  I got a 98- which according to the chart said I was Burly.  

    

My mom tried it too and with a little help she got over 100!!!!

We only traveled through the panhandle of Texas, not much to see unless you count the largest cross in the Western Hemisphere, but they do have a really nice rest stop- well their only rest stop it seemed.  We were pleased to know the bathrooms doubled as tornado shelters.

   

Day One

First Strange Encounter:

Stopped in Yucca, Arizona at the Dinesphere. Weird! The sphere, surrounded by mini alien ships, is actually a house with four stories. There is a small store on-site that advertises the best beef jerky, but there was no beef jerky to be found. We did find Spam by the slice in foil packets though. I guess that is close enough to jerky. The gentleman running the store was also the owner of the sphere. When I left to go take pictures my mom made the mistake of asking the man if he had any children. The ensuing conversation made the trip to the Dinesphere one to beat.

He explained to my mother that he had no children, didn’t want any, but his wife had three. One was a lawyer in California, one a disabled vet and she also had a daughter, Anna, but she was a retard. My mom was unclear if he was using the word retard as an expression, or if she was truly inflicted with a disability. He also explained to my mom how he used to have a German Sheppard, but he died chasing coyotes. Now he had an orangutan as a pet that lived on the fourth floor of the sphere. Makes you wonder if it’s actually his wife.

Background on the Dinesphere (from a postcard purchased at the store):

In 1972, the Dinesphere, a 40-foot diameter geodesic dome located along Interstate 40 in Yucca, Arizona, was built as a restaurant-nightclub for a real estate development called Lake Havasu Estates. Although Lake Havasu is located 40 miles south of Yucca, out-of-state buyers were tricked into believing that the development offered lakeside recreational activities and sold plots for approximately $3,000 each. When the scheme was discovered, the developers absconded with the money leaving the buyers with a title to nothing more than dirt and sagebrush. The Dinesphere sat abandoned until Hank and Ardell Schimmel bought it in 1981 with hopes of turning it into an RV park. The present owner (*notice they don’t offer names) bought it in 2005, made considerable renovations, and named it “Area 66” because of its futuristic attributes and proximity to Route 66. Although the Dinesphere itself is not open to the public, a small store exists on the site that specializes in beef jerky with a taste that is out of this world. (*or just non-existent).

Second Strange Encounter:

Stopped in Holbrook, Arizona off I-40 at Stewart’s Petrified Wood. We wouldn’t normally have stopped there but for the enormous cartoony replicas of dinosaurs eating mannequins. At Stewart’s you can buy meteorites, petrified wood, arrowheads and the like. You can also feed the ostriches. I am still a little unsure of why they have ostriches.