Month of May, 2006
Backyard Before & After
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Bentley & the Dog Door
I'm working from home today because my backyard is being re-landscaped. I am covering up the grass with rock because I live in the desert and keeping grass is stupid here. Let me list the reasons having grass in Phoenix is stupid. 1. You have to re-plant it once a year - regular grass dies in the winter so you have to plant winter grass. 2. Water. In the desert. There's never enough so why waste it on grass? 3. Mowing. Rocks don't need to be mowed. Plus, I'm allergic to grass so it's not like I ever laid down in it. Neither did Bentley. He doesn't seem to be particular about where he uses the bathroom either so goodbye grass!
Speaking of Bentley, as I'm sitting at my desk working, Bentley has fallen asleep in my lap. He's snoring ever so slightly. It might be the cutest thing ever. Except that he's making my lap really, really hot. Anyhow, I wanted to tell the world that Bentley is finally using his dog door!! Only now, a month and a half after installing it, has he finally gotten the hang of it. I was telling people that I had the stupidest dog in the world, because after three and four weeks he still hadn't figured it out. No matter how much pushing him in and out, he was still quite timid to use it or waited for me to encourage/push him through it. I was frustrated but decided to continue being consistent with my behavior. Afterall, encouraging him through the dog door is easier than opening the people door for him every time.
Eventually, my consistency paid off. Bentley was still waiting for me to get him out of the house, but he was coming back in on his own. It probably helped that he often received a treat once he made it back in on his own. Last week I finally got the hint that maybe he was going outside on his own too; though I hadn't seen him do it. I came home from work one evening and he wasn't anxious to go outside like he normally would be. I thought maybe he had let himself out during the day, but couldn't confirm it. It wasn't until this weekend that I confirmed Bentley is using the door on his own. It was Saturday morning and I wanted to sleep in. Bentley on the other hand, wanted me to let him out to use the bathroom at the ridiculous hour of 8am. I told him to let himself out and simply rolled over falling back asleep. A short while later, in a half-awake state, I heard the dog door click as he was coming back inside. I almost hopped out of bed and did a happy dance! It was so exciting that he's finally doing it on his own. Now I can stop worrying about working late or leaving him alone for too long. Thank goodness I decided to be patient. It just shows that given enough time, an old dog can learn new tricks.
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Little Reunions
Tonight was a night of reunions. I decided to get on the phone and call some friends that I haven't talked to in a long time. So I talked with Sergio, Amy, and Cameron. It was so good. I feel grounded and alive and happy with my place in the world when I spend quality time with my friends. It made me realize that I need to spend more time on the phone. Without a doubt, I need to make time to talk with my friends all across the country...and world (Mia, I'm thinking about you!).
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Sisters - Christmas 1990
This is the third installment of embarassing photos from childhood. We're all dressed up for the Christmas Eve service at church. It was tradition to pose for pictures in front of the Christmas tree before going to church. I always loved the Christmas Eve service because we got to light candles at the end of it. There's nothing quite like having an auditorium full of people with only candles for light. It was beautiful and always touching. After church we would come home, change clothes, and eat a nice dinner. In the past few years that dinner has become homemade pasta, but I don't think it's always been like that. (...at least according to my memory.) After dinner, Mom and Dad would let us open one Christmas present. The rest of the presents had to wait until Christmas morning. The most memorable present I opened on Christmas Eve was underwear. Yep, my parents decided I needed underwear and that I should get it for Christmas. It was one of the only presents that I was surprised about. And what a surprise it was! It was a little disappointing at the time, but absolutely hilarious now.
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Morocco
And in the non-embarassing category...
A beautiful picture of Karen and her husband in Morocco.
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Fishermen
The second installment of embarassing pictures of me as a kid. This is my younger sister, Kristen, and I at a childrens museum in Maine. I don't remember dressing up like fishermen, but I do remember getting to stick my hands in an acquarium and touch some cool sea cucmbers. It was during a summer vacation when the whole family loaded up into the suburban and drove across the country. (Texas to Maine means a LOT of time in the car!)
It's kinda funny that Kristen and I are the same size in this picture considering she's 3.5 years younger than me.
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Erica 1990
My mom is cleaning out the house and ordering her life. In the process, she has found a lot of old pictures. She and my father think it's funny to torture us by scanning them and emailing to us. These are the first of a series of embarrassing pictures of me and my sisters. i figured it wold be best to embarrass myself before dragging my sisters into it.
World, this is what I looked like in junior high. Thank goodness for growing up gracefully.
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Chris's Visit
Chris came to visit this weekend. He came in Friday morning and hung out while I worked. What patience he has! What I thought was going to be a half day of working quickly turned into a full day. Friday night we went to a sunset tour of Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin West. It was a fantastic tour and Joel, our tour guide, was outstanding. I had been to Taliesin West years ago when I was in college. I had forgotten much of the tour and enjoyed all the inforamtion. Especially about how the buildings were constructed from scrap/found material for very little money. For Frank Llyod Wright it was all about design regardless of material. Taliesin is a fantastic place and even more magical at night. Pictures are here.
On Saturday we did a little shopping and goofing around town. Saturday night we went to a gallery opening in Scottsdale that a work associate of Chris' invited us to. It was a small gallery and the paintings were nice, but the hightlight of the time was the conversation. Later we met up with Jennifer and John for drinks at a couple bars in Tempe.
The rest of the weekend, we shopped, hung out, cooked, enjoyed the weather, went hiking, went to a neighborhood cookout, and saw the Da Vinci Code. It was a fantastic weekend and certainly didn't last long enough.
Voicemail
There's nothing like getting voicemail from a friend you haven't talked to in a long time. Last night that voicemail said, "Hi Erica. I'm driving home with my girlfriend, Leah. Not the Leia or Leah you already know, but another one. Don't know if we can chat tonight but we'll talk soon." You know it's been too long since you've talked when he's found yet another woman named Leah/Leia and says she's his girlfriend.
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Visiting Kristen and Chris
This weekend I went to Maryland to visit Kristen and Chris. Mom and Dad decided to go too. It was nice having everyone together and the only thing that would have made it better would if Karen and Jason could have been there too.
It was a very relaxing weekend, which was just what I needed. We ate and ate and ate. Kristen and Chris are good cooks! My favorite items that they cooked were pancakes, steaks, and lasagna. We did a little sightseeing. They don't live far from Gettysburg so we spend an afternoon there. Mostly we just hung out together talking and watching TV. I watched my first Nascar race!
A very special part of the trip was meeting the newest member of the family, Stewie. Kristen and Chris adopted this boxer and lab mix puppy. He's so friendly and loving. I expected a very difficult little puppy but was pleased when he was well-behaved and sweet. It's partially his personality and partially because Kristen and Chris are good trainers! Isn't he the cutest?! Or maybe I'm just playing the part of the partial aunt.
See the whole set of pictures.
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Moving On
I finally decided to accept the fact that I live in Phoenix. Because I live in Phoenix, I no longer need a Dallas phone number. So after almost a whole year of living here, I've finally cancelled the Dallas number. I guess you just have to know when it's time to move one.
If you need my Phoenix number, send me an email. erica at ericalucci [period] com
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Rain in the Desert
It rained in Phoenix yesterday. It was such a pleasant surprise. Lots of big rain drops for a good 45 minutes. I love the way it smells here when it rains. It's probably one of the most beautiful things in the world to me. I wish I could capture it for everyone else to experience.
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Caesars Palace - Las Vegas
I spent most of this week in Las Vegas where I was working a conference. It was a very busy but productive week. I'm not a big fan of Vegas, but it sure is a nice place to work for a few days. I talked with a lot of fantastic customers, learned a few things about the business, and ate a lot of very good meals.
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Saying things that aren't easy
This article, "What I wish I had known about marriage," by Kristin Armstrong (Lance Armstrong's former wife) is completely moving. She writes about what she feels she did wrong in her marriage. She wrote it to give advice to other women. It's good advice, most certainly. Basically, she reminds women not to give everything up for their husband. But the thing that got me in the gut is that she has the courage to point out her mistakes in public. It must have been hard knowing that her former husband would read it. I'm very impressed with her selflessness. She opened up and shared her thoughts and feelings so that other women won't repeat the same mistakes. It's a good article, go read it.
Link via Patina.
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Productivity
Things have been moving at light speed recently. At work, we're preparing for a big conference. There's plenty of work so I stayed in the office pretty late last night. By the time I got home, I wasn't good for much even though I have plenty of things that need to be done. So this morning when I woke up at 5:30am (who wakes up at 5:30 without an alarm waking them?!) I got up and got busy. I managed to get my bathroom cleaned before work. Now that's productive! Today at lunch I did some reading for work (legal contracts, bleh). It isn't my favorite way to spend lunch, but certainly makes me feel good about getting stuff done. I'm so productive today, I might just take the evening off!
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Empty House
Autumn, Ky, and baby Ky left on Tuesday. They spent the past three weeks with me in Phoenix while Ky worked in the area. It was so fantastic having them around. Autumn is one of my best friends and I wish we lived closer. It was awesome having the baby around and get to really spend time with him. He's so happy and healthy and just a pleasure to be with. My house feels empty without everyone around though I'm sure I'll adjust.
Here are the pictures from their visit.
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Closure
I suppose closure is one of those things that you have to do, but it's not easy. The way I imagine it is getting a cut that hurts really bad. Your first instinct is to just leave it alone, but you know you have to wash it so you don't get an infection. The washing part hurts and you wish you didn't have to do it. The whole time you're washing you're forcing yourself not to pull away. You know it's the right thing to do so you suffer through it. In the end, washing out the cut is the best thing you can do for yourself so you heal properly.
I suppose closure is just like that. It hurts while you're doing it. You go through all the happy times, all the sad times. You talk about what you didn't do right. You talk about the things you wish you could go back and change. You listen and gain new understanding of the other person's perspective. You say all the things you never said before. You talk about how the interaction is going to work in the future. It all hurts, but it's the only thing that will allow you to heal properly.
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Photo by Lisa Whiteman
Go to lisawhiteman.com to see her set of photos from the "US Without Immigrants" protest in Union Square.
This photo totally moves me. I love the sign "What American is not an immigrant?" True, true, true. I think about my relatives and how they immigrated from Italy. This country is great because there are so many people from so many different backgrounds. We shouldn't forget that.
