Desert Sweat

Yesterday, on his day off we had a lot of running to do. The temperature rising morning was started out at the dental office where we had a consultation with my new dentist. Everything was put out on the table of my current dental condition/health and we did some mental strategizing and dreaming. I suppose I shouldn't have taken the Italian risk of assuming that the consultation would only really take 30 minutes. It took nearly an hour. It was becoming overwhelming by the quarter hour to get all the options out on the table with the varying price tags. My eyes were starting to cross. Oh, MY goodness! [tee hee hee :-) ]

We then trotsied over to the new Super Buffet in Prescott. [Mind you, every building on the agenda to walk in for the day was an incredible break from the heat due to the lack of A/C in our van]. The array of food was visually impressive because of the variety in comparison to the other two China Buffets in our tri-city area. But even more impressive the delightful difference in "fresh" texture and flavor of both the hot and cold food items. I have quickly developed a taste for pickled ginger slices with my California rolls. None of the meats were over cooked. Nice hot chicken with cold crispy lettuces and cucumbers were a welcome feast for the taste buds.

The next meeting was with our Vice President 30 minutes down the asphalt. We were surrounded by nearly over stimulating noise of the ball pits, slides, climbing tubes, vending machines...etc. of this kid magnet of a money sucking "place" next to the theatre. But because she was bringing her boys and their friends to hang out for a while, this was the chosen place for a "meeting" with her. We were once again [as always] remotivated for upcoming events of the month to which we will be bringing along licensed team members and guests. We re-strategized and tweaked a few methods that needed improvement [doesn't every business] to keep the game [of the competitive part of the business] on. It was good.

The day before was the open house for Tori and Sierra's new school. Lots of people traffic in the offices and through the class rooms as we got ourselves acquainted with new teachers and administration. So, yesterday we made a trip over there to pay for their uniforms [green shirts]. By the end of that errand, it was very clear that Tori [who'd been along for the day's errands] and I were getting incredibly tired and in dire need of a break from the relentless bright Arizona desert heat. So, we ran home to drop her off and I got a five minute break with a refreshing glass of cold filtered water. Then we were out the door again.

We had purchased two new cell phones and a family plan [two days prior]. Only, yesterday we found out the phone designated for my use to conduct business on wasn't compatible for my business needs. The corporate store is in PV and so we made our next stop there first. After waiting about 30 minutes to get help in this high trafficking location it was made known to us that we'd have to return my phone to the mall location where it was originally purchased. Couldn't just trade it in for the other one [and only one] capable of taking on signatures...etc. Because the day was in the high 90's and we had already spent a substantial amount of time in the heat magnet of our vehicle I pleaded to be allowed to stay in the A/C refreshing Prescott Valley store location, while the "night in shining armor" made the 20 minute drive up the road to the mall and make the return. While waiting, we txt the progress of the return and anything else I found to entertain myself with [which wasn't exactly a whole lot] as I meandered through the store and mind boggling phone choices. It'd been eons since the last experience of simply people watching. The high [peopel] traffic was just incredible. According to one of the associates, what I was witnessing was a "downtime". Strange. Made me think of all that hubbub as...welp, Christmas in....August....and whatever month it so happens you are in that high trafficking store.

I made a splurging request for something chocolatey...and COLD....and what I got after an hour of waiting was a nice refreshing chocolate shake. I suppose it wasn't ultimately as refreshing as what my over heated body needed because the lips, tongue and throat were still thirsty. After another 45 minutes....A las! The right business compatible phone was in hand. Kmart was the last stop to purchase some school required cacky pants to go with the girl's uniform shirts. We were home after 8pm and my energy losing body was snowballing down the hill. Yet, the only thing that kept me up for the next two hours was that insanely high tech touch phone. The eyes, fingers and mind just couldn't get over the newness and WOW factor.

After a short night of relaxing slumber, the alarm started going off at 5am this morning. Here we go. My life just started to get complicated. None of the kids are going to a school offering bus transportation. So, by choice [for their "social safety"] we would now be spending extra gas dollars to be their transportation this year. I hadn't taken the time the night before to pack up lunches and find the birth certificates [a pet pieve (sp?) of mine with schools-submitting birth certificats-only because I'm smart enough to know that it's used for government tracking more than it is just for school record keeping purposes] that had yet to be submitted to the administrative staff. My mind was racing through everything that needed to happen amongst showers and beautifying my face for the day. The stress level was jacked up as it became clear the girls still didn't have all their school supplies and that Tori didn't have one shoe in possession that fit. The temptation to thrust half the blame on the other bank account "manager" for my self induced stress...welp, that won. I was impressed with his gracious gentle response to my humanity. With my untimed frantic speed it was assuring to have ended with 30 minutes to spare before the hot asphalt and school doors called me out of my comfortable A/C cooled house. There was enough time to do some " chill-ackin' "....or so the new teen-invented saying goes.

We took the boys to their middle school after getting the girls "established" in their classroom for the morning with their limited supplies [for which I felt seriously ashamed]. I was grateful the boys don't start until next week. I could somewhat breathe today. We spent about an hour there touring the Parkview Middle school facility. The boys appeared to find the place above satisfactory. So did we, the proud parents of two handsome young...ins. Fortunately, tomorrow night there will be a school BBQ where I know the boys are looking forward to hooking up with friends and meeting new ones.

Walmart was the last early morning stop where we packed the school supply isle with other parents. It was nice, for a change, to be able to direct the boys in this and that direction for this and that school item to throw in the cart. Yet, that only took away 2/3 of my morning anxiety. I was looking foward to some relaxing hours at home before picking up the girls from their first day of school. Every part of me wanted to express my disappointment in Walmart's ever shrinking shoe supply with vulgarity. What were these people thinking??? Who's going to shop for shoes in a store that barely carrys any, anymore? ...and what they do carry is far below [in worth] the astronomical prices they demand....how pathetic. Just one [of a gazillion] price to pay for the Obama approved [and continuously stimulated] decline of our national economy.

The day is not over....and so obviously, neither is the week. My life has gotten more complicated. [did I already say that? :-) ] The largest ingredient for that is our choice to grow a business to keep us above future economic decline. But as success follows, the many [but small] sacrifices this family is having to make temporarily will be worth near future rewards.

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Caption: Antelope Canyon

Page, Arizona