Red Rock Canyon- Rescues, Lizards and Desert Sheep, Oh My

While I am not necessarily a nature enthusiast, I do love to hike when I am in Vegas.  However, I was not prepared for the excellent adventure that I was to experience yesterday while hiking for 4 hours in the desert sun of Red Rock canyon. 


First of all, it was a gorgeous day, it was a sunny 80 degrees with high winds - just the right temperature to get a good work out with minimal sweat - ha!  right!  I was a sweaty mess within the first 30 minutes but then again - I was there to get a good work out, right?  

THE RESCUE: My friend K and I decided to take a easy to moderate hike through the Pike Canyon trail and then our adventure began. We were following the trail into the meat of the canyon when we heard a helicopter fly over head.  As the helicopter slowed at a high peak, we thought, "They must be taking pictures of something there, maybe a herd of desert sheep."  But it wasn't that,  it was a rescue operation of people stranded on the top of one of the canyon peak.

Then they circled again, not once, not twice but three times to pick up more people.  We couldn't believe what we were seeing but so glad that they were safe and couldn't believe it happened during the first hour of our hike.


FREAK OUT:  I watch a lot of Investigative Discovery Channel, ID on the weekends.  I probably shouldn't watch those stories of murders in the wilderness, canyons, forests, etc. But I do because I have a morbid sense of curiousity.  As the Pike Canyon trail was peetering out, we came across an opening where three men came out of nowhere from a different trail.  We said hello and they went on their merry way.  My friend K got a weird vibe and after they passed, she asked me to stop so she could climb up on a boulder to make sure they went on their merry way.  My spidey sense was not up but I trusted her judgement and then realized, holy shit, we are in the middle of nowhere, on a meandering unmarked trail with no cell service.   But we were lucky and the men we saw, well, they did go on their merry way and so did we - we definitely turned around to go back to a better marked trail after seeing a beautiful waterfall in the desert! 

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC, PART 1 - MATING LIZARDS:  After K and I decided to back track and try a better marked trail, we found the Knoll Trail that began with a steep incline and then a level path.  My knees were holding out pretty well and I was so glad to be on a better trail.  Plus it was such a beautiful day.  

As we headed up, K went, "Oh my god - Look!"  And there were two salmanders mating.  I turned my head because afterall, do you want to be watched during your private moments?  I wanted to give them privacy.  Not my friend K, she was fascinated, and kept saying, look how heavy he is breathing and the female was just laying there.  I felt bad for the female, she was stuck in an embrace in the bright sunshine of the trail.  After a bit, they kept on going and so did we.  As I stepped by them, the female salmander broke from the embrace and scooted into the brush.  K and I both thought the same thing, "your fate is sealed lady, you are off to motherhood :)"


NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC, PART II - DESERT SHEEP:  The Knoll Trail was absolutely gorgeous and plush with vegetation.  I couldn't believe how green it was.  We were in hour 3 of our hike and neither of us were tired - instead K and I were enjoying catching up and dishing about our respective lives.  We stopped for a moment to get water, I was facing the trail and K was facing me, and then in a distance I saw them and said, "Oh my god, K - LOOK!" 

There were 8 desert sheep running straight towards the mountains one after the other.  Desert sheep with horns like rams.  She turned and it was if we were frozen in time.  We couldn't believe our luck and then we didn't know what to do as the 
sheep stopped, lined up and turned to face us.  I said, "Don't move."  

What does K do?  She moves to get her camera.  Then we saw more sheep who were behind us in a distance also not knowing what to do, they were looking at us and wondering what we would do next.  

K got her camera out and was able to snap some shots of this miraculous event.  Nothing happened to us except the wonderful feeling of experiencing something one never gets to see except if you are watching Discovery or National Geographic on TV.


As we headed back on the trail towards the car, we both couldn't believe all we had experienced on our 4 hour hike and will never forget this experience for as long as we live!

Ready for New Beginnings....

This week I had a facebook status that read "It's about that time...."  What time is it?  A time for new beginnings.  When 2010 opened, I made pact to myself to achieve the goals I set out for myself back in 2008.  That's right - 2008.  

MONEY: Financially, I am almost there to the great words of "debt-free" - woot woot.  A big thank you to the jars!!!!

WEIGHT: Well, let's just say I have plateaued since March as more and more work piled on as well as more travel.  This past week I started a low carb, high fiber diet.  Let's just say that may have not been the best decision with the stress-level that increased with each passing day - so much stress that my own body was reacting in ways that I didn't recognize.  But happily, things are back to normal today and I am back on track.

TRIATHLON TRAINING:  I started out strong a month ago only to lose focus these past 2 weeks.  This weekend I am back on it just in time to enter another busy season of travel and work.  I better get on it because when my travel is over in mid June, I will be a month out from the race.  Whew!  I am already tired just thinking about it.

PERSONAL LIFE:  I have to say that it is in times of stress that I feel the most fortunate to have the friends that I have surrounding me with love and support.  Not to mention, my friends have been completely understanding with the past several weeks of no-communication due to exhaustion.  Without them and my family, I couldn't have gotten over the disappointment of Friday when I found out some not so great news.   I got an expiration notice, also on Friday, for the events and adventures singles group.  Yes, I have been a member for a year.  I went to a couple of activities but couldn't relate to a group of divorcees that were in their 40s and 50s looking for friendships and potential life partners.  Plus it was expensive.  Yes, I am still a member of the online dating fun that I have been ignoring for the past several weeks after a couple of dates.  And besides all of this, I have been invited to two destination weddings and a baby shower before the end of the year.  I am happy for them, to be sure.  It's just getting a little harder to get through them is all with each passing year.  I mean, really, will I be 40 doing the same thing in a couple of years?  You never know. 

Right now, I am just trying to get through the next 3-4 weeks and then I can regroup, rejuvenate, and regain my life back to a point where I can refocus on the things that are really important - with work, not being one of them.  Where is my sugardaddy anyway?  Maybe I will find him in Portugal - ha!

Celebrating All The Women Who Raised Me

Each year when Mother's Day comes around, I remember all the women who had a hand in raising me and making me the woman I am today.  

My mom  - I do and will always love my mom - the superwoman who raised me while getting not one but two master's degrees, who always understands it when I lock my keys in the car with the car running not once but twice in a 24 hour period (yes that really happened! - don't ask), who soothed me when my heart was broken in high school and later on and who implicitly understands my dry and yet sarcastic sense of humor. We look alike, walk alike and talk so much alike that our own relatives couldn't tell us apart over the phone.  She gets me like no one else, she is more than just a mom, she is a true friend.

My other mom - we have all read those fairy tales of evil stepmother.  Lies, I tell you!  The first time I heard my dad was remarrying, I was 10 years old and I wasn't happy.  Afterall, I already had a mom who was this woman who my dad loved and why wasn't he getting back with my mom.  The day I was to meet her, I left her a note instead that said, "Kathy, sorry I can't be there when you arrive.  Have a day!"  Yeah, I wasn't rolling out the red carpet by any stretch of the imagination.  But after some time, I realized how lucky I was to have a woman in my life who treated me and loved me like her very own daughter. Who accepted everything about me, all my quirks and still loved me.  Who always made me feel included and made me feel special even when extended family members didn't.  She and my father are my rock and provide me with support and a real model of a crazy and loving family who I hope to have one day.

My Tia....my disciplinarian.  When I first went to live with my dad, before he remarried, we lived in a two bedroom apartment.  I shared a room with my Tia who had recently arrived from Cali, Colombia.  I was definitely behind schedule at my age according to her - I couldn't cook, I couldn't iron, and I couldn't wash clothes - and I needed to GET ON IT!  And I did, afterall Tia wasn't having it.  Both her and my dad trained me on the proper ironing techniques of a man's shirt, the proper cooking of black beans and pandebonos, and the ways of getting out any stain imaginable.  Then there were the dance lessons - merengue and salsa but then there was SOOOOUUUULLLL TRAIN!  I so looked forward to SOUL TRAIN every weekend.  My Tia loved Don Cornelius and we would do our own type of conga line around the house.  Those first two years were not easy by any stretch of the imagination. But I do owe my Tia a lot for everything she taught me, her wonderful stories of Colombia while in the kitchen and I wouldn't be dancing salsa today if it wasn't for her.

My grandma...sharing her love for family history and lipstick.  The 1970s was a big transition time for the woman's movement and my mom was determined to raise me as an unmaterialistic woman who would become a professional part of society - not just a housewife.  My grandmother came from an era where housewife duties were revered and your job going to college was to get your M.R.S. degree.  Therefore the chances of my mom letting my grandmother babysit for me were slim to none.  But it did happen and boy did we have fun.  She would tell me the stories of when she met my grandfather (at her then boyfriend's birthday party), she would do my nails, roll up my hair and impress on me the importance of putting lipstick on before leaving the house.  In addition, she had a scavenger hunt every time I visited to find more and more old family pictures in the attic - my great grandparents wedding picture, my grandfather's scrap book filled with theater and football pics, and her childhood photos.  Each picture told a story that I carry with me in my heart to this day.

I loved and continue to love these women who made me who I am today.  Happy Happy Mother's Day!

Live The Life You Love

I saw this bumper sticker a week ago that said, "Live The Life You Love" and it has stayed with me, almost haunting me with each passing day.   I have definitely realized that I have spent the bulk of the past 20 years living for work instead of working to live.  I do have a bad taste in my mouth because of it and had an epiphany this weekend - why not just stop and make a beter decision.

So that is what I have done.  I have started making decisions for a bunch of lifetime changes that will ultimately lead me to live the life that I love.   And hopefully these changes will make me happier and allow me to get away from all the negativity and move towards a more positive surrounding.

From Red-Eye To Puppy Love - Part Deux

All I have to say about red-eye flights is that - well, they definitely suck in general and they suck the life right of you.  This is especially true when upon arrival to Logan airport, I was still facing an hour-plus commute to NH and yet another dogsitting adventure.  Ok, have I piled enough on - absolutely.  This being a yes-woman can be exhausting to say the least.  My only saving grace.....they have a doggy door and they sleep when they are not outside frolicking about. 

Ah, sleep, that was the one thing I did very well this past weekend.  Upon arrival on Saturday in Amherst, I settled on the not-so comfy sofa sectional in the basement and fell asleep for not 2 not 3 not 4 but 5 hours.  Waking up in a daze, I checked on the puppies and left them food and fell asleep again for another 8 hours.  I don't know if I was even able to register what timezone I was in.  I gave up until Sunday morning when I stretched and felt like a woman reborn. 

Now it is Sunday evening and I am finishing up the Sunday of laundry and cleaning the kitchen, watching Brothers & Sisters when I should be in bed.  Yeah, right.  Since when have I been able to go to bed at a reasonable hour on a Sunday - ah, never! 

Onto yet another glorious work week - can't hardly wait!

Adventure in LA - Hello & Good-bye

Greetings from LA! 

Wish I was here for pleasure but I have gotten some pleasure in hanging out with great colleagues, shooting the sh*t and having sprinkles cupcakes.  Yes, I am all about food.and of course patron silver - my bestest friend ever.  And I successfully avoided the seagulls that were abundant at this event.

We are having an event at the Hyatt Century Plaza and star sightings have been had - unfortunately not by me but at least we can say that the following stars have been scene:

Now that we are on the final day of the event, I am so unbelievable happy and ready to go home and crawl into bed and sleep all weekend long.  And this time, I will be snuggling with new pups in NH for the week.  And they have a doggie door so no walking or scooping up poop.  YEAH!    So hello and good-bye LA and hopefully next time there will be more star sightings in person and will be for pleasure and not work

Adventures in Dog/Housesitting - Part II (Child versus Adult-Proof)

When the words "child-proof" comes to mind, I used to just think about medicine bottles and the need to lift weights to open them. Flashforward to this past week and I realized that child-proof in 2010 has taken a whole new meaning.

No, I do not have kids yet but I am housesitting/dogsitting for a family of almost 2 year old twins.  And let me just tell you, their house is like a fortress when it comes to childproofing - especially when it comes to the kitchen - cabinets and all.   Here's the running list:

• Wednesday - Elisa fights child-proof cabinets and the dishwasher and.....WINS! After a wonderful home-cooked meal, I cleaned the counters and opened the dishwasher to find it full with ready to be cleaned dishes.  Oh well, I thought, might as well wash them, right?  Ok, two problems - 
1. The dishwashing liquid is locked up in the cabinet - you guessed it child-proof locks that require a two phased approach to get them open.  So when the family called to check-in on the pups, I asked - what's the magic "open sesame" password to get it open.  Got it open - YEAH!!!
2. This excitement was short-lived when I realized that the dishwasher also had a child-proof lock on it.  You guessed it, I pressed every button imaginable to start and it wouldn't start.  I was like, "Really, people"  am I being punked already in a home, where are those cameras anyway???  I walked away, watched a show and then with a clearer mind, I went back to face the dishwasher.  It was like "Kitchen High Noon."  Except, I won.  I found the unlock button and voila the dishwashing began and I went to bed feeling very accomplished.

• Saturday - Elisa enters the battle of the child-proof stove and......LOSES but only half way.  So after a day of beauty, I come back to Melrose ready to cook dinner for a couple of friends who live in the area.  On the menu was Caribbean Chicken with Rice Pilaf and salad.  They were bringing the drinks and dessert.  I had decided to make home-made pita chips - a mixture of regular, garlic and asiago cheese chips.  I got them all ready on the cookie sheets and was on my way to heat up the oven when.....you guessed it,  it had a lock.  The lights kept flashing at me every time I tried to heat it up - "Stove Loc On" It might as well as said, "Ha ha ha Elisa, you are F*CKED!"  I called my friends but they were out.  I even tried to look up the code on the internet.  To no avail.  So, due to the time, I looked around and then the hallelujah chorus started as the sun (ok, it was raining so I imagined it the sun) lit up the toaster oven.  YEAH!!!!!  Pita chips were had by all and thank god the rest of the menu only needed stove top cooking :)   My friends did try to rescue me but it was after the pita chips were done and I was walking the dogs.   Hey, at least they tried right?

So, what has this all taught me?  Well, the good news is that these child-proof codes and cabinet locks are in existence.  Imagine our parents when we as babies would get into things - I shiver at the thought.  The not so good news is that now as I an single adult woman, can't figure these damn things out and has to send frequent S.O.S. messages to get the job done.  I wonder what it will be like when I do have kids - I am thinking remote clicker locks :)