Month of September, 2005

Passwords

So it's that time again for me to change my password on all the work systems. You know, it's policy to change passwords every 90 days. It's a good idea and definitely the right policy to put into place. But I just hate doing it. I mean, I have to come up with something that I don't mind typing at least 20 times a day. AND something I can remember...though that doesn't seem to be much of a problem once I've actually picked something.

About a year ago, I had to tell my password to one of our IT people. At the time, it was "the77killers" - you know, a good password has letters AND numbers. He took a long pause after I told him. Then it occurred to me that I had better explain that The Killers are a band least he think I had a violent streak.

My worst password nightmare occurred about a year ago. I got to the ATM machine and I simply couldn't remember my PIN. It was the same PIN that I had used for over five years. FIVE YEARS! Suddenly it was just completely gone from my brain. Completely gone. To this day, I still don't have any idea what it was.

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Funny Sign

My allergies are killing me today. How is it I move to the desert and develop allergies?!

Anyhow, we drove by this sign on the way back from camping. It really, really cracks me up. Who advertises naked women with a cow?

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KB

Autumn sent a couple more pictures of KB. He's so tiny! But I suppose he's only 5 days old so it's to be expected. Autumn said he was 6 pounds (and some random ounces which I can't remember) at birth. He is also apparently mild mannered at this point. She said he wimpers more than cries, which is certainly a blessing for the parents!

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Living

Today I feel like I officially live in the west. I had my first In-N-Out burger.

I haven't been writing much about what I'm up to day by day because I don't find it particularly interesting. But at the same time, I feel like I need to keep track of it a little bit since the blog is a historic document for me. It's my history. I use it to look back on my life and reflect.

Lately I spend the day at work struggling with my new position. Everything is new. The company and people aren't new but my daily tasks are new. Most days I don't feel like I'm very good at the new stuff. Last week I felt so miserable I was kicking myself for attempting something new. Luckily, things have been a lot better this week. It's like anything else, it takes time. Adjusting to a new job isn't something you can do overnight. So for now I'll live with the roller coaster ups and downs. In another year or two when the job is easy as pie, I'll look back and laugh at how hard I was on myself.

I've been spending my nights doing a range of things. Some nights I'll go to dinner with people. Other nights I'll do some shopping. Lately I've spent a good amount of time in furniture stores looking for the right pieces to finish out the house. Mostly, I'm stuck in my hunt for the perfect rug. You see, my downstairs is tile, so it really, really needs a rug in the living room. However, my couches are grey and there are very few rugs with a) any grey in them b) the right color grey. Sigh. Normally in this kind of dilemma I would turn to the Internet for help, but I just can't shell out $500+ for a rug that might not look right once it's in the house. So I keep going to rug stores here, borrow their rugs, take them home to confirm that they don't look right, and take them back to the rug store. I need an interior designer. I've also been doing some minor jobs around the house. Most recently I have taken down some old towel bars and am putting up newer ones. I've hung pictures. I'm organizing my stuff. You know, the usual, post-move stuff. A couple nights ago, I even spoiled myself by coming home from work and simply watching a movie!

All in all, my life isn't overly exciting but it's perfect for me. I'm so happy living in Phoenix. It feels free. It feels like home. I feel like a very, very lucky person.

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Kasabian, Jet, Oasis

When I moved to Phoenix, I made the promise to myself that I would get out and see more live music. So Sunday, September 18, I saw Kasabian, Jet, and Oasis at the Dodge Theater.

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Quote of the Day

"Gosh, I can't believe I'm discussing makeup. I'm becoming such a fru-fru girl."

- Kristen, when talking about appropriate makeup for her wedding

Camping Trip

This weekend I took my first camping trip in Arizona. My friend, J, and I went to Woods Canyon Lake. (J wishes to remain anonymous so you won't see pictures either.) We drove about 2 1/2 hours northeast of Phoenix. Surprisingly, you get out of the desert and into the mountains pretty quickly. The lake is on the Mogollon Rim, which is at approximately 7,500 feet. With all the pine trees, I kept thinking I was in Colorado, not Arizona! I can tell there's a lot I need to learn about this state.

I took Bentley camping even though I had no idea how he would do. Turns out he didn't do too badly. He liked being able to explore the campground as I gave him a long rope. He got plenty dirty, but it was cute. As J said, Bentley was our entertainment. The best part was he slept through the night...I was really worried that every little bump and rustle would keep him (and us) up.

The weekend was a completely relaxing one. I had a rough week at work and it took some time to get my mind off of those things. Luckily, being outside and having nothing to do really helps. (J even cooked all the meals - I simply did dishes.) By Saturday, all stress was gone and I just relaxed all weekend.

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More pictures of Ky

Isn't he so cute?! I love this child and I haven't even met him yet! I can't get over how much hair he has. And his eyes are definitely his father's.

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World, Meet Ky

Autumn and Ky had their baby on Saturday, September 17th. His name is Ky after his father. Both mom and baby are happy and healthy.

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Zac's McDonalds lunch box

Stuff

It was 74 degrees on the way to work this morning. It felt perfect.
My watch stopped working last night.
Bentley and I are going camping this weekend at Woods Canyon Lake.
There's something homely and cute about men who bring lunch boxes to work.

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Mistakes

Today has been one of those days. I feel like I'm screwing everything up. I'm not, but it feels like that. I'm so bad at accepting when I make mistakes. Everyone makes mistakes! I'm just poor at accepting it when I do.

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Bentley Got a Haircut

Doesn't he look cute?!

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Vanish

Vanishing Point: How to disappear in America without a trace - Very strange article, but entertaining to read. It makes me think of Kevin because this seems to be stuff he would know. And some things we would probably joke about from time to time. It also makes me think of Ky because once he told me he only used cash so he couldn't be electronically followed. (Not that he was hiding from anyone, just a weird comment one day.)

- link via Kottke

Post Secret

Post Secret - People send their secrets creatively written on a postcard. Frank posts them. It's a fantastic community art project. I'm going to start working on my secret tonight.

- link via MightyGirl

Weather

Weather is such an important part of the environment we live in. Since I've moved to Phoenix, I've spent an amazing amount of time thinking about weather and temperature. I suspect that probably won't change for me until I've lived here another couple of years. When you move to a new place you tend to take closer notice of things. Once you've been there awhile, you get comfortable and stop noticing. That's how I was with the weather in Dallas. I just didn't notice unless it was really extreme.

Since I moved to Phoenix in July, it's been nothing but hot. I've tried to down play it. I've tried to ignore it. I've tried telling myself that it wasn't that hot. I've spent a lot of time in the swimming pool. I've parked my car in the shade. And you know what, it all worked. I lived through the hottest months of the summer in the high desert by telling myself that it wasn't that bad. But you know what else? It was still freaking hot.

But the weather suddenly turned beautiful here. On Sunday when I arrived back in Phoenix after driving from El Paso, I expected to get slapped in the face with a hot blast from what feels like the world's biggest hairdryer. (It's felt like that for weeks whenever you go outside.) I was more than pleasantly surprised to find that the wind was cool. It was still warm outside, but there was a cool breeze. I swear the moment for me was like the sky opening up and angels started singing. I was in heaven!

The best part is it's been like this since Sunday. The mornings are really cool and refreshing. The afternoons are warm but there's a cool breeze. I won't bog you down with specific temperatures (besides, you could just look it up), but trust me, it's lovely. I was just telling Bentley last night that weather like this is exactly the reason we moved to the desert.

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Stories for Charity

Mihow is collecting stories about the Gulf Coast. If you tell her a story, she'll give a dollar to Red Cross for it. So go tell stories!

El Paso for the Weekend

I was in El Paso this weekend to see Autumn and attend her baby shower. It was a long drive, but luckily I had Cheyenne, Autumn's sister, for company. We left really late on Friday because I got caught at work. We arrived in El Paso at 2:30am!

Saturday we had a nice big breakfast together and did a little shopping. Then we went to Kyia's house for the shower. It was a small group of Autumn's closest friends, who are all lovely. The best part of the shower was decorating onesies for the baby. So fun! Saturday night we just hung out at Autumn's place and looked through all the baby clothes. Autumn is due in just a couple weeks and I can't wait to see the baby in all these clothes. Shoot, I just can't wait to see the baby!

Sunday morning we had a nice breakfast and went out for coffee. The weather in El Paso was absolutely perfect - sunny with a cool breeze. Then I headed back to Phoenix which took about six hours but only one tank of gas! (I love my Civic.) I was pleasantly surprised to arrive in Phoenix and find the temperature below 100 degrees. It was downright gorgeous. Fall is almost here!

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Photo Log of Hurricane Katrina

Alvaro survived staying in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina. He put together this amazing photo log of his experience.

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Kristen & Chris' Engagement Announcement

Kristen's engagement announcement will be in the paper on Sunday. Here's the web version.

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Satellite Imagery Pre and Post Hurricane Katrina

New Orleans

Biloxi

Imagery by DigitalGlobe - www.digitalglobe.com

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Labor Day Weekend

Mom, Dad, Kristen, and Chris came to Phoenix for Labor Day weekend. It was so much fun having everyone stay in my new house! We worked incredibly hard unpacking and getting the house in order, but it was such a big help! You should see the house now - it looks fantastic.

Besides unpacking and working on the house (things like hanging shelves and arranging furniture), we managed to find time for some fun activies. We went swimming in my neighborhood pool, which is very nice. We watched the Notre Dame football game at a sports bar since Chris is a big football fan and I didn't have a TV hooked up yet. We did some shopping and I bought some new furniture. Mom cooked and cooked and we ate and ate. The whole weekend was really, really nice. I'm so thankful for my family and that they can come visit.

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Gulf Coast After Hurricane Katrina

The whole nation is shocked and saddened by the disaster caused by Hurricane Katrina. If you can, please give so that people can be helped through this crisis. I was very pleased to learn my company, our founder, and our associates have donated over $30K already. I know it's only a drop in the bucket, but we're helping.

At times like this, many people write better than I can. Read what others have written:
Hashai.com - in Monroe, Louisana
The Interdictor - in downtown New Orleans working for Intercosmos Media Group., the operators of directNIC.com
Crabwalk.com - Louisiana native in Dallas, Texas

Facts

Today is Grandma Lucci's 94th birthday.
Today is Kristen's two year anniversary of quitting smoking.
Today gas costs $2.99 a gallon.

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