All Points Bulletin

Well folks, it's time for another lengthy update from an otherwise sporadic blogger these days.

MARCH
As you all know, March was the month of sports for us. I can't tell you the joy I feel drinking beer and eating peanuts, whilst wearing a sundress and sandals in the outfield at a spring training game. For us, March is the calm before the storm, which in our case, is 100+ degree weather (although, right now, it's an 88 degree Sunday in June, and the city of Phoenix is collectively holding its breath).

March was also garden planting month. With the help of a master gardener from work, Matt and I planted our very first garden. We spent a day of manual labor helping a friend, in exchange for her expertise. As a result, we totally overhauled our soil and planted everything from cacti to succulents to flowering bushes, and even a small vegetable garden. In the time between then and now, we've had three multi-day violent wind storms, two torrential downpours with frigid temps, and a variety of other a-typical, inclement weather. Hence, we lost our entire herb garden, our strawberries, and some of the transplants and/or new plants. We'll have to breath more new life into the soil this fall, but we're happy with the results so far. Our tomatoes, zucchinis, squash, and red bell peppers are almost ready to produce--the soil may not have been healthy enough for such a bold effort this season--though we may only see flowers instead of veggies. This fall, we plan on planting a few more moderate-low-no water desert plants, mainly cacti, and some more veggies, which will probably be broccoli and cauliflower.

APRIL
April took me to Denver for one of the conferences that work sponsors. I arrived in 30 degree, blowing snow, freeze your snot weather, and did not much more than hide in my room and help to run the show. I did get the chance to hang out with Joe and Cindy Hughes for dinner and a few drinks, so Denver wasn't a total bust. I also travelled to Pittsburgh for Easter weekend. My mom hosted an open house (let's call it a mini-belated Groundhog's Party), so I could see lots of people at once, and our traditional Bunny Brunch, where my favorite people came, ate and conquered the mimosa.

In April, we got to see The Boss...that's right...Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. Bruce has been on my bucket list of shows for a very long time. It was absolutely amazing to see him and the original E Street guys. We also had incredible floor tickets. I did wear earplugs for the first time in my slightly adult life.

We also hosted an NFL draft party that brought together fans of the Steelers, Browns, Bears, Cowboys, Packers, and Vikings, for a friendly BBQ and six hours of anticipation laced waiting. You know it was a good night when the food is gone, nothing is broken, and you somehow manage to avoid a headache in the morning. Golden.

We ended the month with the 3rd annual Cubs @ Diamondbacks outing, where the Cubs lost, but Matt and I both won grand slams during 'Pass the Cup' for a grand total of $50.

MAY
May was a smattering of travel, houseguests and chaos at work. I'm going to politely ignore work in this blog. Suffice to say, it was long hours, intense projects, and stressful vibes. I did celebrate my one-year anniversary with Nlets, so that was an eye-opener (if you read my pre-Nlets blogs, I did a pretty good job of predicting how life would be). All I know, is that I get paid to write for a living. Everything else is just white noise.

Early May, I was off to Bowling Green to watch Chris B. graduate with his MFA in Poetry. I sort of felt like the proud Mom. It was weird to be in BG this time around. I ate fire steak at Mr. Spot's and grilled chicken salad with breadsticks from Polleye's, but it just wasn't the same. Bars are closed, campus is different and 'For Sale' signs are popping up everywhere. The heartwarming houses and gardens and slowness of town still hangs in the air, but I've definitely lost whatever connection I had to that place. I did not, however, lose the connection between my wallet and Finders!

Matt and I went to see Nine Inch Nails and Jane's Addiction, and, with age, comes exquisite seats. We sat in the fourth row, and revelled in Trent's sweaty, rage-filled, beefy, bad-ass, "yes, the guy still has it" rock-ing-ness. Perry Farrell brought the house down as well, accompanied by Dave Navarro and his pierced nipple, single again, eyeliner wearing, metrosexuality. The NIN/JA tour is somewhat a product of Perry wanting to celebrate the 20th (?) anniversary of Lillapalooza, which toured 1st in Phoenix. The show rocked through and through. I have some incredible photos, but my Mac is in the shop right now, so you'll have to check my Flickr account later.

May also included a Memorial Day weekend camping trip to Woods Canyon Lake, Raven's Loop, Spot #10--yes, the infamous Spot #10. Matt and I spent a week preparing: making piles of sports gear (I bought my first baseball mitt), boardgames, all of our gear, clothes, etc. We even went out and bought a few more essential pieces of camping gear to add to our collection. That Friday, we packed up and headed northeast, despite an almost 100% guarantee of crappy weather. By the time we were east of Payson, the temperature had dropped 20 degrees and the fog was so bad, I was afraid we'd miss our turn. It was pouring when we got there, but we managed to pitch a dry tent and have a few drinks inside of it before passing out. The next day, we woke up realizing we forgot our (1) water, (2) chairs and (3) other assorted personal goods, like toothbrushes and cameras.

It rained ALL day, but we managed to brew coffee in the morning; I got slaughtered in six games of Yahtzee; we consumed a 1/2 bottle of Jack Daniel's; and, our tent set-up did not leak. The weather broke just long enough for 3 hours of making homemade chili, starting a fire and somehow shattering the remaining 1/2 bottle of Jack. Just after we cleaned up and got the fire raging, it began to hail. Yes, hail. We retreated to the tent yet again, and, I'll admit, even my adament positive thinking wasn't working anymore. The rain did stop, and we enjoyed another 1.5 days of sunshine, yummy camping meals, fishing, iPod, bonfire, and non-soaking wet stuck in the tent glory. We have two more camping trips planned for the summer--one in June and one in July.

After returning from camping, we had one day to get our gear clean and put away, and then had an incredibly short visit with Sarah Pinkelman. She was in town for a conference while we were camping, so we only had one night of pizza and red wine to catch up. Too short, but I'll take it. One day of toilet cleaning and laundry later, Matt's sister Teresa showed up for a long weekend. I made myself scarce when possible, and the Cooper siblings spent most of the weekend talking and catching up. It felt great to do nothing but drink, cook and chill by the pool.

JUNE
June has been, and will be, somewhat of a quiet month compared to our usual escapades. I'm off to Arlington, VA for the National Institute of Justice Conference next weekend. My parents are going to drive down for dinner/breakfast one of the nights, which will be wonderful as it is so close to Father's Day and my dad's birthday. We've got another weekend of camping--hopefully, this time without hail and with water and chairs.

The rest of the summer will be filled with more camping; a quick trip to San Diego for a wedding; possibly some Phoenix Mercury games (our women's basketball team); and, a few concerts--Tool and Bob Dylan/Willie Nelson/John Mellencamp. Our main summer vacation to San Francisco is shaping up. Looks like we'll spend the first few days with Brian, the next few solo, two days camping at Big Sur, and one uber-fast night in Los Angeles. August will end with Matt's birthday and the 10-year anniversary of us meeting during the first week of our freshman year at BGSU. Wow...time flies!


That's enough for now. I've had too much coffee; I'm craving pancakes; and, it's almost pool-o'clock. Much love to everyone. I hope this blog finds you all happy, healthy and loving life!

XOXO