Woke up this morning

If you have naturally curly hair then NEVER go to bed with your hair wet or you will end up with this:

I didn't touch this at all.  This is what God gave me today.

Yup, and it's even better from the back.

Happy Thursday y'all.

Big Explosion sound

While Ricky was pumping gas into our car outside in the pouring rain last night I pulled out my phone and began to dial Jenaper's phone number.  What better time than a solitary 10 minutes in the car to reconnect with my own hermana while Ricky washed the entire car with the free window washer.  Yes, the ENTIRE car.  Silly, I know.  But three numbers into the dial I hurriedly aborted the phone call and stuffed my phone back into my bag so I didn't blow up. 

 Is anyone else afraid of blowing up at the gas station?  I'm afraid the slightest spark or wrong cough or even worse cell phone waves, could ignite my car, myself and the whole station.  There is no coming back from that.  A number of years back I remember hearing on the news that phones were dangerous to use at the gas pump and some girl in South Jordan or somewhere fake like that was using her phone and the car caught fire and blew up.  Somehow she survived but it really freaked me out.  And then my BF Mo told me the same thing shortly thereafter and her dad a real life firefighter told her the same thing.  It's a wonder we are all still using cell phones after knowing they are giving us brain cancer and could cause spontaneous combustion (must like pistachios when packed too tightly can catch fire).  Freaky.  And with friday the 13th coming up it's all just a little too eery.  I know that I have somewhat irrational fears sometimes but this is rational, I'm sure of it.  Is anyone else scared of blowing up at the gas station?  It's like one minute your drinking orange mocha frappuccinos and having a gas fight and the next you are a pile of hot carbon ashes.  

And if I find out you are talking to me on the phone while at the gas station I WILL hang up on you - but it's for your own good.

The science of sleep

I woke up this morning to a little MBC or maximum bed comfort.  You know those few and far between moments that all the elements, sub atomic particles and neurons have combined in such a way that your sheets feel extra soft, your pillow is perfectly positioned beneath your head and the temperature inside your bed is not too hot and not too cold; it's perfect.  It is so much harder to get up on those days because you know that as soon as you leave the bed the anatomy of the set-up will change immediately and never go back.  Combine a little MBC with a great dream and voila!  You have the perfect morning, unless you have to get up.  I was dreaming of purses last night.  That's right, I dream of them.  I had gotten my first Gucci bag which was the perfect buttery leather light beige, almost bone color.  Gorgeous.  And then of course there had to be a plot twist and I lost it.  I was running around everywhere begging businesses to check for my lost Gucci bag.  I pleaded with Georgio and Stefan to check their back closets and sure enough it was finally restored.  Phew.  Then I woke up and had to face the real task at hand for today which is  Thank You notes.  

Ugh.  I've been doing them for the last couple of days and while things could be worse, I prefer not to wear out my tiny bird-like wrists.  I've got a nice system going.  I pull up our lovely netflicks page on my computer and watch instantly all my favorite BBC shows while I scribble away.  So far I've gone through a lot of Coupling and Hotel Babylon.  

And while I'm thanking a lot of people I'd like to give a public shout-out to one of the couples we dined with last saturday night.  We somehow got on the subject of downtown Mesa and so naturally I began to gush that so far it was one of my favorite places in Arizona on account of all the taco stands and Mexican stores.  "In fact" I began, "Ricky and I went there today and went to the Mexican supermarket.  You know, the Rancho Grande supermarket?".  "You went there?" gasped wifey.  "Did you feel.....safe?" she genuinely asked.  I was a little taken aback.  " Sure, of course we felt safe.  It was great!  We got some awesome groceries there!!" I told them.  She immediately notified her husband where we had gone.  "You went there?  Did you feel Ok there?  My dad went in there one time and everyone just looked at him like, why are you here?".  "No, it was great.  Really." I continued.  " We got great stuff and got fresh fruit drinks at a stand in the store and some great fresh tortillas for really cheap.  We loved it, I could go all the time".   They just couldn't believe we had ventured into unchartered foreign territory.  And then wifey mentioned that she went and got mexican popsicles all the time downtown.  So I mentioned that the popsicle store was literally across the street from the grocery store.  They are in the same place.  Is one side of the street more safe?  Whatever, it made me laugh.  I guess next time a Mexican person goes to Scottsdale to go shopping I should ask them if they felt.....safe.  You know, with all those white people there and all.  

No matter, just more queso fresco and fresh aguas for me!

Yada, yada, yada

Well I guess I'll just tell you my new year/school year resolutions for 2009 since I'M so bored Taradise.  In fact, I sent her a text hours and hours ago telling her how I was going to pass out from all the boredness I was having.  Anyways.  So starting a number of years ago I decided to make New Years resolutions that I could actually keep.  The first one from "the new deal" as I like to call it was returning my shopping carts to their respective pens no matter what.  And 4 years later I'm still doing it.  I'm like a postal worker, I deliver in any weather.  And it felt so good that I decided that one resolution a year just wasn't enough.  So then I started the school years resolutions which encompass a semesters worth of time.  So basically 4 resolutions a year and then my "themes" (another time for those - or not, who are we kidding?).  

So drum-roll please..... My new years resolution is to enjoy all the different kinds of lettuce out there.  So far I've moved from Iceberg to hearts of Romaine and now field greens.  But why stop there?  I'm going to take another look at the produce department and break into Radicchio, endive, arugula, boston lettuce...I could go on. 

 And even though Fennel is not technically a lettuce, I'm MOST excited for that one.  So if anyone could help me out and share a delicious recipe for anything other than my current lettuce's then please do because then you will have the satisfaction of knowing you helped me accomplish  one of my goals and you can also feel better than me for once because you already eat other lettuce.   

And now my school years resolution for the next couple months is to find things to love about Arizona because I don't love it yet.  So far I am appreciating the winter warmth and all the pharmacies on every street corner.  It is very comforting to know that no matter where I am if I suddenly need anti-fungal cream or the Plan B pill (it's just a fancy name for the morning after pill so people don't feel as slutty) it is never more than 1/4 of a mile away.  It is a work in progress to say the least.  OH!  How could I forget?  Mexico is only 3 hours away!!!!!  I LOVE that.  Guess where I'm gonna be May 5.  

Smell you later

I've always been a firm believer in pheromones.  Especially when trying to figure why some girls always had boys after them even though they weren't that cute.  What else could it be but pheromones?  It was like whenever I was out with my friend Stasy and we would see a boy she liked and he was with a girl.  That girl obviously had to be his sister.  

It just makes sense.  

I never had the "magical" pheromone that some girls had, maybe because I AM just that cute to begin with *cough*.  Until now.  But I could have used it during Laquina: the college years.  Especially early on.  It took me a while to jump on the bronzer band wagon.  And then another year or so to realize that not all makeup needs to contain glitter.  We've all been on that train - scented body glitter gel anyone?  Yeah.  

But I've definitely hit the pheromone jack pot as of late.  I feel like I need to knock on wood right now so I don't jinx this.  It started right about the time I moved down here to Arizona.  I was walking into Home Depot (it's amazing how many sentences start with this now....) a while back and this man pushing a cart past me in the parking lot says "hi there young philly" or something equally silly.  "Uh..." I muttered as I half smiled and kept walking.  A couple nights ago I was at my corner pharmacy getting a redbox movie and I look out the corner of my eye and there is this man standing right next to me out of nowhere.  And when I mean right next to me I mean it.  For comparisons sake you could have slid a small text book in between us.  And that was before he leaned in to watch me scroll through the screens.  He was asking me all sorts of questions about the process and then he commented on my selection, "blood and guts, huh?" he said as I nodded yes in reply.  Finally after not talking to him for a bit he sauntered off.  Weird.  And even this temple worker leaned into Rich and said "I guess I don't have to tell you about your wife's big brown eyes".  Thanks, thanks and thanks again men of Arizona.  You have made me feel uber-welcome through your stares and comments.  And in response may I say that I don't even care that all of you have been 65 or over because it still makes my self-confidence sore.  

Just like a rose by any other name would smell as sweet, so is getting hit on by any age.