Rewind two weeks, and then we can begin

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Ok, two weeks ago, I was offered a job. :) A second job. A well-paying job. For it, I'll be doing a part of the intake interview at the local Juvenile Detention Center, and follow-up as appropriate. We are making the assumption here that I've a way to get to the JDC (ie. that I have a car).

So, we go to AZ. Pictures in the "continue reading." We went to the Grand Canyon with Momma. We had the best food at El Tovar. Mendon reports that Tovars are packs of moose and that an El Tovar is only one of the mooses from the pack. Oh, and supposedly, the pack can only be an El Tovar if they travel a certain distance per day. Sound like bull to you, too? With Momma and Mark, we also played pickle ball, which is supposed to be a sport for retired people, but I like it quite a bit. It's like really lazy tennis influenced by table tennis. Great great great.

In the pictures, I included a floozy from the Red Garter Bed and Bakery. She cracks me up. :)

Dad and Jerry have a wheezy cat. With short front legs. That are bowed. Its name is Lily and it was fun to toss her around for a week, trying to see who could give her more attention. Mendon's allergic to her. Most unfortunate. I started getting red bumps right around this time. We think they're from Mom and Mark's hot tub. They're OK now, but they were quite painful at first because they didn't chose the best of locations to develop. We went to the Phoenix Museum of Art (which was stupidly cold), and to Sedona with Dad and Jerry (who could only make it to the museum). The Phoenix Museum of Art was stupidly cold. I know I wrote it before, but it was just ridiculous.

Mostly, we didn't do much of anything for a week, and it was wonderful. My parents took such good care of Mendon and me. Fed us, drove us around for good hiking and sightseeing and general entertainment and fun. Geez, my mom paid for us to go out there for a week. It has been important for me.

Change of pace: I started knitting a scarf. Actually, before I could knit the scarf, I had to interpret the pattern without a list of abbreviations. Then, I had to make up stitches to go with the interpretations for the abbreviations. The fact that this doesn't fall apart is ... proof of God's love for knitters? Hrrm......
Yeah Clapotis!
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Then we flew home. You didn't guess that this was chronological, eh? And I took my knitting needles on the plane AGAIn with me. I love this.

The Rav-4 pick-up thing didn't go quite as well as hoped. The car is extremely un-registered and there's no title currently, and there's no registering with no title. There's no driving with no registering. And, here's the recap: there's no job with no car. No amazing resume booster job with no car. No invaluable work experience with no car.

Here's the beautiful news: Everyone that has heard a word of this has been loving and wonderful and amazing. Katie has offered her car for a few weeks until this is resolved. Harvey, my violin teacher, has offered me a car to use. In general. I can't wrap my head around that generosity. Harvey isn't exactly rolling in the dough (see: underpaid artist), and that makes this a bit of a risk and sacrifice for him. It makes it very compassionate and loving. Can I point out again that he only has to be my violin teacher? I will really, really miss him when I graduate.

I started class. Botany = hiking and pressing flowers. :) That's it.

Also, tomorrow starts the planning meetings for the honors class for which I'm a teaching assistant = Good (free) food. Good good good.

Anyways, reader, I need to go to bed. I'm sleep deprived because my botany class starts at 7:30 A ! M ! I do not function well on this schedule, but, I'm trying. I'm working on a few more... no, a few less 5-year-old posts. Working on a thought or two.. here and there.. when I'm not being sucked into the mud at 8 am.

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8 Comments

Dear Kristen, we are trying to work on the title/registration thing. So sorry. We're in the middle of a nasty health-impairing kerfuffle ourselves at the moment, so that is sort of hindering our focusing on anything other than just minimal functioning at the moment. However, as we are now settled into another flat now we will try to get a bit further with it all today. Love to you two.

Yay! We are registered!

And Mara, there's no need to be sorry. It caused some stress for a while, but communication between all parties has been so challenging that I'm not about to point fingers. We've a form for you two in the mail about the car. Take care and feel better.

Wait - what's registered? I'm confused! The car is now?

Yes, the car now has an up to date registration. It will expire in October of this year. We hope that you'll either be around in September or that there's a U.S. notary attorney in Haifa:)

I am glad you have the car now. I am also exhausted by my own involvement in work related issues that I won't divulge on international webwaves. Of course- the 26 mile bike trip in the Shenendoah valley with my breaks rubbing on the tires at least 1/2 the trip doesn't help! I still love my new bike. It was simply an unfortunate way to work out the kinks:)

so...did anyone else notice that the floozy is a mannequin?

Yes, the mannequin - there has to be a story behind that - she has such a distant stare and funny jpg name.

The Shenandoah Valley ride must have been great - Virginia is a most beautiful state.

Hope all has settled ! I'm on the road for the next few weeks- it will reach 109 degrees tomorrow :) No need to hatha the yoga now ~

Much love !

We just got back from our weeklong visit to the Grand Canyon ourselves. There is an amazing array of desert foliage and hot dry weather in Arizona. I don't think I'd readily get used to 102 degrees by 10 a.m. each day. I hear there is also a monsoon season in July. This must be a real interesting place to live in with extremes in the seasons. We had very nice weather on the rims. South rim was a bit cooler than usual with a cool bwindy day our second day there. At the same time across the gorge it was snowing. We went there the next day and it was a beautiful like 85 degrees with few but big fluffy clouds which tracked the floor and walls of the gorge as they floated by. We saw wild turkeys, javelina, Mule deer, whitetail deer, Condors, turkey vultures, ravens and crows. There wer lizards(small) and squirrels and interesting new types of chipmonks. The day we arrived in Phoenix, it was blistering hot even if dry. The hotel had a mist sprayer overhead by the poolside so people don't just shrivel up I suppose. We were too tired to swim but the mist looked inviting. We had a very nice time visiting Arizona and the associated tour through Falgstaff, Sedona, Oak Creek, and the ensuing Canyon sites from South Rim Village and closeby points of interest toDesert Watch tower and the little Colorado gorge to Lees Ferry and on to the North Rim.

What was the mannequin thing about? Just that it is kind of out there.....?
I also was impressed with the size of the Navajo Reservation.