Thursday

Maybe next time I should take notes when I am gone - although I had intended to write my entries while still in AZ. I just never got to a wi-fi place. I was able to pick up email, sort of, from my phone. I had told most of my friends to put their name in the subject so I would know who sent them. There was one sent the day I left from home with the title of "no subject" and it got buried under a few hundred incoming emails. (I still get a lot from Molly's online support group for her Addison's disease.) It was from someone in AZ I would have liked to say hi to while I was there. I found it when I got home, and I felt bad about that.

Thursday. That was the day Late and I decided to do girlie stuff. We got up and went for a morning walk, as usual. I did my usual "hang" from the kids' monkey bars. I haven't kept that up since I got home, and I need to do it. My old house had a great tree branch for that sort of thing, but the trees here are still too small to really hold even a bird feeder yet. We had a good walk, just the two of us, and the guys went to a place for breakfast that I am not crazy about. It's up in Oro Valley on Oracle road. We seemed to spend a lot of time in that area.

Late decided we were going to join the boys at that restaurant, even though it was close to lunch time. So off we went, and of course they were just finishing. I asked DS to get up so I could sit down, but the table was such a mess from his breakfast that I wasn't really excited about it. He doesn't like to be on the inside in a booth, so I couldn't just start to sit and shove him over.

DS continued to beg to go with us for the day. I said, "But DS! We are going shopping for ladies' lingerie!" (I figured that would scare off any teenage boy.) He said that was fine with him.Obviously, he did not want to go with his dad that day and would endure any humiliation. We did not save him.

DH hadn't moved over yet for Late either, so I suggested we sit in the (clean) booth across the aisle. Right after we sat down, they left. I wanted to leave too and eat some place else, but we had already started to order. We had lunch there, and it wasn't too bad.

After eating, we took off with Late driving and me navigating. I can read maps, since I spent a few decades in a job that required me to find homes all over three or more counties in my state. That is what I did about half the time - make home calls. You would think that after a while a map wouldn't be needed, but there are always weird little streets, plus I moved offices several times and had all new field areas. Maps I am good with.

I directed us to the mall in Tucson on Broadway where we had been before. I actually could have done it without the map, which made me exceedingly proud. I can get lost in a closet. Even if I have good directions to get some place, I need directions to get home. It's that bad. I am trying very hard to improve my directional skills, but I have little hope. I memorize streets; I can't seem to see a big picture even after staring at a map. I think maybe this is something we are born with or without? Late has incredible directional skills. So did my ex. I do not.

We spent a nice few hours in the mall just walking, talking girl stuff, looking at things, having a Dairy Queen, and generally enjoying time away from the guys. No offense to men, but sometimes I just need time away from them. We had a snack, and then Late decided she wasn't feeling well.

I decided I wasn't looking forward to driving back on the freeway, so we gave her time to feel better. She has lactose intolerance, but I am not sure she had any cheese that day. She has a sensitive system, unlike my cast iron one, and I had no idea what to do for her.

She got some water, we sat for a while, we walked around a bit, we went to the ladies's room a few times. She got a pretzel and ate that. I took a phone call and made plans for the day after I got home. We walked around a bit more. Late is a woman of color, and at that time it was green.

Finally she decided I needed to drive us back. Oh, boy. Last time I did that I refused to get on I-10 and we took a long way around. I got on I-10 and drove us back. I can drive I-10 for almost 100 miles at 80-85 mph through the desert to get up to where Remo and Mombzbe are, but put me in a city freeway system I don't know, and I am not a happy camper. Driver. Whatever.

Meanwhile, the boys were having dinner and we went to join them. I am not sure why we did, since once again they were done when we got there. Late decided we would have dinner at a new brewery, and we left them. When we got in the car, I teased her about having told them where we were going, because they would show up.

We sat down, ordered a beer each, and were still browsing the menu when the boys joined us. They stayed for dinner with us and we all left at the same time.

That was our day without the guys.

What did they do between breakfast and dinner?

They went to Picacho Peak to hike. DH is an avid adventurer, and doesn't like to stop much. Heat doesn't bother him at all, maybe even less than it bothers me, but I will stop and rest and I will take along a lot of water. He doesn't. He pushes himself. (I used to, until once I unbalanced my electrolytes - that feels really nasty.) DS didn't pack his own water. The temperature was about 110 degrees there. Humid. DS may never forgive us for not taking him shopping for lingerie, but he needs dad/son time before he goes off to college. 

I was bummed that I missed Picacho Peak. Maybe next time.

That evening, DH, DS and I stood on the driveway and then took a little walk to watch for the meteor shower. It was a little early, but I saw four, which includes one I saw later on when I went out alone. With shoes on. With a flashlight. With my cell phone in my pocket. Just to go on the driveway.

It's really, really dark there at night. Really dark. Drop something, and it's gone if you don't have a flashlight. DH found that out when DS took apart their flashlight and all the pieces and the batteries flew around and hit the ground. Luckily I had mine.

Friday: Hm, what was Friday? Kitt Peak and Catalina Park.

We went up there:

See the observatory up on top of the mountain? That may be where Frankenstein used to work - the weather we had that day certainly forbode of such tales!