Weight Watching

Annie and I were at Wal-mart last night.

I called her right after I got off my long shift--10 hours, and I asked what she for breakfast and that I would pick her up if she met me in town. She had her mom drive her on her way to work. I picked her up at her favorite book store.

As we entered Wal-mart, my senses were blasted with images of mass consumerism. I haven't been in a Wal-mart store in about a year and I'd forgotten how much I hated being in one. Most of the time, I go shopping at the local grocery store or if I need ammo, I'll go down to this gunsmith friend of my father's and he'll have fresh reloads ready whenever I come down to Phoenix to pick them up.

I headed straight for the produce section and picked out a bag of Russet potatoes, grapefruit and then to the bread section. I also bought two pounds of pork steak which I'm going to marinade and put on the grill later tonight. I'm off today from both jobs and I'm still ahead on my school work! Amazing, isn't it? :)

I bought some other things including spices, coffee and filled our shopping cart with four cases of bottled water. I probably won't go through them in a month, but I've been stocking up on water. I saw on a CNN documentary...or was it a History Channel show that water in the world is drying up. Dad even asked if I was prepared for winter and that's one of the first things he went on about, "Get some water!" OK Dad.

As we were leaving the store, I was making a mental image of how almost everything people eat nowadays is either made of sugar or salt. I'm a naturalist so I prefer all the food I consume to be in a non-sugary, non-preservative laden state. I almost became sickened as I was checking our groceries out, and along the way out, there were even more products like gum and soda to bombard me with impulse buying.

Since Annie has been staying with me, she reminds me of the things we should eat and drags me out of bed every morning to run. Its not even a marathon, but I make it out to be one, running from the mailbox and back up the gravel road. I love Annie but running isn't my thing. I mean, I COULD stand to lose a couple of pounds, but not THAT much. I tell her, "I'm building up my fat storage for winter." :)

Biosphere

Annie and I went shopping at the mall yesterday and it felt great to be inside a semi-cool environment as our sunburned skin welcomed it. I got a slight burn around my face. We decided not to go to the Salt River; too crowded with people, so instead we drove a little ways out of Tucson to visit the Biosphere, a man-made biological experiment out in the desert.

Alain said he and Angela had a good time visiting it almost five years ago...but that was five years ago. When it was hustling and bustling in its hey day, the Biosphere had a small workers' compound beyond its borders, all of which are abandoned now. Well not quite, but there are a few people that stayed on to run the place.

The place reminded me of the old seventies movie with Bruce Dern, "Silent Running".

A Lazy Saturday

I've noticed that certain phrases or words are underlined in my blog posts and when I hover over them, it leads to another site. WTF? I should check the Blogger settings.

In other news, I have all weekend off!! WOO HOO!!

Mindy, Chelle, and Annie are over and we're thinking of going down to the Salt River for sun, fun and a soak in the water. I haven't been out with a group of people in a long time.

Currently listening to Katy Perry. This tune makes me smile! Annie and I blossomed this past week and I feel like in total bliss with her. I don't know if its love but I can't stop thinking about her when she's not with me. I'm not entirely into girls, but for now, it seems I so head over heels for Annie. Maybe the novelty of this new romance will wear off in a few months, I give it that but for right now, I'm totally enjoying Annie's company.

Chelle and Mindy, they're straight and when I told them I was with Annie, they're cool with it. I didn't get any weird looks from them and they asked if I've turned to the lesbian side. I said I haven't, but Annie is my girlfriend at the moment and that's whom I'm with. Chelle and Mindy aren't looking for anyone, not yet maybe. They both just broke up with their boyfriends recently and we all decided to make it an all-girls weekend!

Dreams

Most of the time, I don't remember my dreams except the one last night or rather, early morning.

I was riding on Speckle, one of the two Arabian horses back home, but in my dream, I was riding naked. At first I felt embarrassed but when the wind touched my body, it felt great! Anyway, we came to this canyon in around midday and the sun seemed to retreat behind these clouds. I heard my name being whispered and I couldn't tell at first because the sound was bouncing off the canyon's borders.

Speckle stopped at this little grassy patch next to a stream. There were still clouds in the sky, but the atmosphere grew ominously dark. There was this little girl talking and laughing to herself. By this time, I had forgotten I was naked but the little girl didn't seem to mind. She started talking to me about the clouds. I looked up for a minute and back to her face.

The little girl's eyes were red, dark red and she said, "Forget about the girl".

Then Annie woke me up with a call from Christina, who was moving to Prescott. Annie asked who was Christina. I told her she's sort of a drama queen and I don't talk much to her. I took my cellphone from Annie and Chris wanted me to help her move because she had a new job that paid more than waitressing at Buffalo Wild Wings. And something else about sick family.

I was hoping I'd get to spend my day off in bed. Sleeping. But nooo.Chris said she'd pay me $50 in gas and treat me for dinner. She also said she'll tell me more about her job. Sure. I'll be off for her place in an hour. I'll have to take Annie back to her Dad's because I can't just leave her here.

Or maybe she can come and help me move Chris' things.

Options. I have lots of them today.

How Can We Touch

This song by Patty Smyth, "Hands Tied"....I love this song! I don't remember if I've posted it or not, but I can listen to this song on Repeat at least 15 times a day before I get tired of it. I was driving in the Jeep earlier today, just down to the mailbox which is maybe a quarter mile down the gravel driveway, and I picked the song up on the radio. It came in staticky at first, but towards the middle of the chorus, the song was very clear.

I sometimes think of songs I like as omens like when I'm having a bad day and say for example, Lindsay Buckingham's "I Think I'm in Trouble" comes on the radio. Next thing I know, my tire goes flat. In the middle of nowhere US 89. Fortunately, I have a bunch of tools and random camping gear stowed in this 35 gallon Rubbermaid tote for just such emergencies.

I can't really trust random strangers because I start to think to myself what people would see me as: "Oh look, what a lovely young buxom blonde girl, stuck in the middle of nowhere. I think we'll have some fun with her."

NOT!!!

Before I moved out to college, Dad had all us kids run the ranch, including working on all the machinery and if it ever got to the part where we didn't know what we were doing, he called the tractor mechanics out and have them tell us what to do or what it was we did wrong. I remember when I was 20 and Mom told me to bring food to my Dad and brothers up on the north pasture. I used the 4-wheeler to get there but on the way back on the rocky road, I hit a huge rock and flipped the ATV on its side.

Dad and Jack eventually came down to where I was and helped me. The ATV wouldn't start and I was cursing at it. Dad went on home. Jack laughed and said, "OK dummy, what's wrong now?" "Shut up, douche" I said. "I think...wait, yeah". The spark plug coil was loose and wasn't connecting. I jump started on it again and after a few more tries, the engine bleated back to life. "Race you back home!" Jack was on foot! He was hoping to drive my ATV with me on the rack which is a bad place to be because its not padded.

Dad told us not to depend on others, "just do it yourselves, but always be prepared for anything". Annie said yesterday, "Why do you have so much crap in the back of your Jeep?" I'll tell her stories of when I was growing up on the ranch some other time. But for now, I'm just going to give her a big hug and lots of kisses when I see her tonight! :)