Long Time Gone: Arizona Days

Traveling. I love it. Even all by myself. But there are strong ties that call me back and as this latest trip winds down and I wait in the airport in San Jose, California, I have much upon which to reflect before I head happily home.

I left on a Friday and made it easily to a place that feels as much like home as a place where I don't actually live can: Phoenix, AZ. I got my snazzy rental Camry, synced up my phone to the bluetooth (love that-must look into upgrading my car stereo) and drove off to my big brother's house on the other side of the Valley of the Sun. I made it in time for a dip in the hottub and some nice catching up with my sister-in-law, my niece and her friend. Lovely, mild temperatures and the desert landscape I love so well made it seem like an instant vacation.

I slept well. I'm blessed that way. I seem to be able to sleep anywhere, and I'm glad because the next day was a big deal! I got up on the early side (for a vacation), drove 50 miles or so and was able to participate in a joyful family occasion: the baptism of my nephew. He's a smart, fun, observant, and sensitive boy who delights me with his personality. In our faith, baptism takes place at the age of 8 and above rather than in infancy, so an individual can choose for themselves whether to commit to the requirements of following the Savior in the full and life-filling way that we believe in. If you'd like to know more about our practices, you can read here. It is always a happy thing to see a child make this choice and continue in the path that his or her parents feel is the best road to happiness. We all want that for our kids, whatever our beliefs, so we all rejoiced with this darling boy.  Pretty much everyone at the service was family, and we gathered at my younger brother's home for a party later. It was emotional for me to see gathered in one place some 20 or 25 people to whom I'm related by blood.

There was much of eating wonderful food and talking and catching up and of playing Just Dance 4. Yes, I got up off the couch and joined the little ones and the other sisters for a bit of crazy dancing. Fun times! I did not take many photos because I think my family is pretty tired of the constant clicking of my camera, but there are a few visual evidences of the fun we had:

A cute collection of small and medium boy nephews.
I also have large boy nephews, but they weren't here. 

Just Dancin' with my peeps. 

My bro with his boys 

The birthday people

A blurry, drooly photo of my youngest nephew. He still steals
the show. 

Cousins checking out the gifts

A. makes a little noise. 

On Sunday, I went to church in a building next to the new Gilbert, AZ temple. It's going to be really beautiful. The worship service was great, and it set the tone for a peaceful day. I toured my brother's recently completed, incredible, professional grade garage; sat in the sun to knit; visited with my sister-in-law; and generally moved at a slow pace. Later in the day, my niece and I headed toward Tucson for her official graduation photos to mark the occasion of her finishing at NAU. Here is a peek. Is not she GORGEOUS??

It was such a joy to spend that golden hour with her, trying to capture who she is at this moment. I hope she can see in the photos just what a good and light-infused person she is.

That night, I spent the night at my mom and dad's cute new home in the hills of Marana, AZ. I have two new sisters, and I have been hearing about them but FINALLY got to meet them! Here they are, with the catchy monikers of Phineas and Ferb. I can't tell them apart yet, but I'm sure as we get to know each other, I'll see their unique qualities and have no trouble. My parents are quite proud of these two, so I thought it important that I give them a proper welcome to the family.

In case you're wondering, they are
Sonoran Desert Tortoises and will someday be
about the size of half a football helmet or so. 

Monday was a wonderfully local day in Tucson. We went to the Rodeo and also to a fab Mexican restaurant called El Guero Canelo. I loved the Rodeo. We were only there for preliminary rounds called Slack Days, but it was fascinating to see the skill involved in calf roping. It was also fun to soak up the atmosphere, complete with cute cowboys in wrangler jeans and hats, lots of beautiful animals, and a general sense of Cowboy Pride. El Guero Canelo was a walk-up place with a covered pavilion for sitting down. I got the authentic Sonoran Hot Dog and was glad I did. I also got a delicious agua fresca called something that I can't remember, but it was yummy and fruity. There was a gentleman serenading us with guitar and singing, the sun was shining, the peppers were spicy, and it made me feel very laid back indeed. I have often said that if I'm ever lucky enough to live in Arizona, Tucson would be the place for me. Much lower-key than the Phx area, and quite colorful, artistic and multi-cultural.

Well, I still have 2 more days in Arizona to write about, but it's time to pack up and get on that plane to ride the jet stream back to MD. I will finish up my chronicle of this trip very soon.

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A Surprising Ride to Productivity

As you know, I've been trying to lose weight since before the dawn of time. Lately, my husband has adapted his working life to include a standing desk. He no longer sits at all during the workday, thereby keeping his heart working just a little harder and bearing weight on his muscles and bones. The thought is that while it's certainly not a cardio workout, it is healthier than sitting all day and can help in the battle against the dreaded sedentary life so prevalent in America right now.

I've wanted to claim some of the benefits of this method, even while working at home, but upon experimenting with possible solutions, discovered that I really didn't like knitting while standing, even if I had something in front of me, like a desk or lectern. Sitting and knitting is easier, I suppose because of the back support. Since about half of the work I do while sitting is knitting, I needed another solution.  One day, I got the notion that a small exercise bike might do the trick because on a search for standing desk options, I saw a photo of a woman in professional dress, peddling while she read through pages in her hands.

Bingo! I found a similar-looking cycle on Amazon for about 140 dollars and not only does it work, it works brilliantly. After a fruitless search for the perfect little desk-ish thing to go over the bike to hold my computer, phone, bottle of water, knitting or whatever, my clever hubby built a perfect desk. It has the added bonus of being a good height to use as a standing desk for the times when I'm not knitting and just using my computer or talking on the phone.

I can put the resistance to low, get peddling and happily work like this for about 2 hours at a time before I need a stretch and change of venue. I can comfortably knit, sew, and do anything on my computer, including photo processing.

I'm so pleased with this set-up and have noticed an unexpected benefit. I often struggle with focused work and usually move from task to task throughout the day to keep from getting bored. This works pretty well up to a point, but while I'm peddling, I'm anchored to where I am, I'm dispersing kinetic energy, and there is a meditative rhythm going through my whole body, so I find that I can dive deeply into whatever activity I'm doing and be very productive for a long time. Time passes without me noticing! Not only that, I look forward to time on the cycle and look for activities I can adapt to doing while peddling. Because the resistance is low, it doesn't cause me to work up a heavy sweat, so I can wear my regular working clothes.

In the two weeks or so I've been doing this, I have lost more weight, which is great, but really, that has slipped somewhat to the back of my mind. It really does feel better to move more throughout the day! It's good for body, mind and soul! I hope I can use this set up for a long time.

Yes, this post was written on my cycle!

 Cross-posted to The Same Stitch. 

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Sunday

It was a good day to have Linda's Chicken Corn Soup for dinner. With homemade biscuits and a salad made with nothing but baby greens, apples and some delicious, nutty-tasting mystery cheese I got from Wegman's but forgot to write the name of on the storage container; it was all so wintry and satisfying. Evan ate 4 biscuits, a leaf each of lettuce and spinach, and about a half cup of soup and we called it good. We were all there together. And that matters.

Now it's a good evening to have some Aztec Spice Sipping Chocolate from Dove. My beautiful mug from the thrift store (one man's trash really is another woman's treasure, because I adore this mug) feels warm in my hand and the cinnamon and hot pepper warm my whole insides in the pleasantest way while I try to think of what I want to write.

All my people here (all two of them-ha!) are asleep so they can wake up at 2 am for a wild Mormon Superbowl Party. No, really, they are, and yes, people are coming over. With food. See, we keep the Sabbath in a reverent and conservative way, so we don't watch sports or regular programming on Sundays. It's our day of rest from all things ordinary, and even the Superbowl falls into that category, at least until the Lord's day is done, Ravens or no Ravens. We give Him one out of seven and it's really lovely to have a day of peace and renewal. If you're really curious about my beliefs about the Sabbath, you can watch this or listen to this.

In the end, it's fun to have these early Monday football parties, I guess because we're all odd together. I'm proud of my kids for that tradition of thinking for themselves. They all go into a sort of cone of silence just before the game starts so no news from FB or texts from friends will ruin it, and in just a few hours, they'll experience it with all the fun and freshness of everyone else.

So, in this quiet house I await our weekly visit from the missionaries who serve in our congregation. Both of these fine young men have been out on their missions about the same amount of time as our Sam, and I cannot even describe the joy I feel in their association. It is a gift to be able to get a real-time view into what Sam's life is like right now and feel in person of the same kind of goodness and enthusiasm for just serving and trying to help people that Sam expresses in his letters. Our local missionaries come to use our computer and compile their statistics and reports from other missionaries for the week. It's lovely to see two very young men take on real leadership and responsibility.

Also in this quiet house, I am making my plan for the week, which includes the addition of three of my favorite humans on the planet, Sheely, Xavier and Preston. I get to be a mommy/auntie/grandma substitute while their actual parents are out of town. I'm SO excited! I can't wait for all the crazy times-the getting up and getting to school times, the homework and trampoline times, the cozy reading of story times, some video game times, etc..

I love them so dearly and like I've said about 600 times before, I feel like if I can do this, it satisfies my hope that all my family so far away will also have friends nearby who will love their kids like I would.

Earlier in the week I got to hang out with their tiny baby brothers and that was a happy day. I was able to feed, change and lull to sleep two 4-month olds. I was pretty dang proud of myself and I thought I couldn't admire their mother more, but I was wrong. She's a star of the highest magnitude.

And so to bed after a lovely, quiet day. Tomorrow will start with a longish run with a friend, then I'll get rooms ready for kids, do some knitting, do some photo work, and then welcome the young guests home after school.

And here we get to the meat of why taking Sunday off from real life is a good idea. I actually feel ready for Monday, with a very full week ahead of me. I feel like I can face it with some grace and patience, and that's a good feeling.

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