Back to Reality....

Well, two days back from vacation and my body is tired of working already. Five days off is great, but sucks when you go back. But.... vacation was a blast! Even with the various crappy coffee throughout the lower half of Arizona. 

So I left off after the hockey game....

The next day we slept in before we decided to go get some road munchies for the hour and a half drive to Tucson. Then we had to drop Teito off at doggie day care (aka my parents house). After all that, we finally started our journey to the center of the earth... oh wait, wrong story. Hehe. Anywho, we went to 4th avenue first and found a hole in the wall bar called Plush. It's happy was 11-7 everyday! 2.50 pints?! Hell yeah!!

So after spending a few hours relaxing and just enjoying each other's company and just plain reveling in the fact that we didn't have to go back to work for 5 days, we made our way to the Hilton to check in and get ready for the best steak in the world at Pinnacle Peak Steakhouse in Trail Dust Town. And if you get a chance, you need to go and get the Cowboy or Cowgirl steak. They definitely know how to cook a steak there. They do it on an open bbq pit and you can watch them do it. You get a side of beans and a salad, and they have Root Beer on tap. It's just delicious. Plus their servers are dressed like cowboys and ours was named "Wyatt Earp."

After the dinner we made our way to the Greyhound Track to do some betting. We lost $20. But it was still fun, even though I was so tired and stuffed up and just wanted to put on warm pajamas and watch a movie.

The next day we got up and checked out of the Hilton and went to the Reid Park Zoo. It was a small zoo, but had some good animals. Giraffes, elephants, a zebra, a sad looking polar bear named Snow (it had allergies, so that's why it looked so sad) and a lot of birds. Oh, and a jaguar. It would have been a better experience but it was kid day or something. And not one of them had manners, or good parents. But that another topic for another time.

 We worked up quite an appetite after the zoo that we found a little place called Jalopys. It was a race themed burger joint and the burgers were sooooooo good! I had a Sante fe melt thing on sour dough with jalapenos and chipotle something or another. It was just damn good. So good in fact, that the Friday we got back we made delicious burgers on sour dough bread with grilled green chilis. YUM!

And then for the best find in Tucson..... Barrio Brewery Co. This place is phenomenal. This place is worth the hour and a half drive to get a growler. The first beer I had was the Mocha Java Porter. It was crisp, bold, sweet, and bitter with a smooth finish. It was what every porter should be. Then we got a sample of the Razzberry Ale. Yum! It was a sweet tart. It had a clean fruity taste at first and then it finished with a nice sourness. So the bartender (who was super cool) suggested the half and half. Charlie got the porter and Razzberry Ale together and let me tell you..... Fantastic. Who knew that a coffee porter would go so well with a sweet and sour raspberry. It was like a chocolate covered sweet tart. I had the hefe next and mmmmm. I love me some hefes. I love that banana-y, clove-y taste. Just delicious. Then we needed some food to soak up the beer and we got the beer battered fries and boneless wings. And guess what, their food is just as good as their beer. It was a great place. Great atmosphere. Great service. GREAT beer.

After that great find we went to our next hotel, which was kinda sucky, so sucky I don't even want to go into the details of it's suckyness. But, we did listen to the Coyotes game, and it was just as great as the game on Tuesday. Went to a shoot out and won. It was a great moment. Sorry to anyone in the rooms next to us because we were a little loud in our joy for the Coyotes winning. (And get your mind outta the gutter. This is a PG13 blog!)

Our last stop on a Tuscon vacation was Gate's pass. It's just a great place to look out and contemplate where you're going in life, what you want to do, and just breathe in fresh air. We walked/ hiked up the trail and he let me take as long as I wanted to take some awesome cactus photos that will be shared later.

 Then it was off to fill up the gas tank and get a road coffee that didn't completely taste like butt, and back to Teito. It was a great mini vacation. But that's not the end of it... But it is the end of this post. This rest of our vacation will be told later because I'm pretty sure I bored you to tears already.


p.s. don't you just love my phone pics! hehe.

Bad Coffee...

Well, it's day two of our anniversary vacation. We are at the Hilton in Tucson. It's a pretty nice hotel. Bed was comfy, flat screen t.v..... but the coffee blows. Yeah, it's just one of those one cup coffee maker, but seriously, it's the Hilton! We can't upgrade and get some better coffee? We can't have a kuerig, or a mr. coffee? We can't even get more than 4 half and halfs? The coffee is just so bad, I need more than 2 half and halfs and 3 sugars, and I can't stand the fake sugar they put there. But I caved and had to but an Equal in there. The after taste it leaves in my mouth is like melted plastic from a kid's toy. But, I was thirsty and needed something for my dry, sore, scratchy thoat. (oh the joy of being sick on vacation.... It's just the sinuses but it's still miserable to sleep at night.....)  So now I want some Starbucks... but don't want to give my arm or leg for a Venti White Chocolate Mocha with a billion empty calories. But on the plus side, bad coffee brings me back to the days of high school and early adulthood living on my own and writing and whatnot. And that made me decide to write a little while Chuck takes a shower. But now my coffee is cold and tastes even worse. Ick.

On Tuesday after we got off work, we went to a Coyotes game for our actual anniversary night... and it was a greeeeaaaattt game! We were down by three in the first, and playing like shit. They just weren't meshing together. I leaned my head on Charlie's shoulder and just didn't want to watch them lose. They were on a streak and it would just be so sad that they would lose on our anniversary. But when they came out after the first intermission, they were on fire! Tippet got a fire lit under their butts and they came out to kick some ass. (Insert "Who wants to kick some ass?.... I do! I do! ala Jay and Silent Bob Status) Then after the second intermission we came back. We were down by two and seriously needed to score. Luck was on our side, well kinda. Brule got elbowed in the head by a dirty king and had to be escorted off the ice( and now he's out for a while... so sad. I liked the little guy) So that gave us a 5 minute power play, even though Yandle got 2 minutes for roughing, but we didn't let that phase us. We took advantage of that power play and scored to goals to tie it up 4-4 and go into over time. We played so hard in that five minutes we should have scored.... And the chanting.... You had to be there for this. It was invigorating. It was awe inspiring. THE WHOLE ARENA began to chant "BEAT L.A." We should have recorded the game because to hear that on t.v. would have been awesome. The whole arena vibrated with anticipation, hope, determination. It was a beautiful moment. And chuck and I were apart of it. We had to go to a shoot out. Whitney was up first...... he shoots... HE SCORES! And then time for Smitty to shine.... he blocks the kings. Next up Vrbata... He shoots... he misses..... Smitty fails to block the kings. Then come Boedker ( and I wouldn't have thought Tippet would pick Boedker to save the day...) He shoots.... He SCOOOOORRREEESSSSSS! And now it's really up to Mike Smith to finish the job..... Tension could be cut with a knife. Everyone was holding their breath. You could here a pin drop...... Jack Johnson goes in for the kill... but no such luck! Smitty blocks it and we win in a shoot out!!!!!! 5-4!!!!

I could go on about the game... but we have to go to the zoo now and Chuck's giving me the look. :Come on Leah, let's pack our stuff and go. Finnnnee.

Our Zombie Valentine's Day

I know it's not Sunday, but Chuck and I did celebrate Valentine's Day this past Sunday, and it was Zombie themed in honor of The Walking Dead. So here are some pics from our day!

 

(I was going to rearrange these... but it proved to difficult for me to WANT to do.... so... it's all out of order.....)

We had Brown Sugar and Bacon Waffles for breakfast with pink champagne! Then we exchanged cards.... and I say my card was the best, but I was holding back tears when I read his. He picked the perfect card. Then we watched The Way We Were with Robert Redford and Barbra Streisand. Such a beautiful and realistic love story, and I love that Charlie watched it for me. Then we made the pizza dough and everything that entailed. A heart shaped pizza with black olives and pepperoni (which is the pizza that made him fall in love with me... which will be another blog soon!) and then we did a goat cheese, basil, and prosciutto one which was DELICIOUS! And for dessert.. chocolate wine and a yellow cake cheesecake cake. (yeah, that's a love of cake...) Oh! I made ice cream too! I finally found a perfect recipe for vanilla ice cream which went great with the cake. And we watched The Walking Dead. A great Zombie Valentine's Day. And next up is our anniversary! Can't wait! Not only for the specialness that is our three years together, but also to have 5 days off of work!! So until then.... Hope your Valentine's Day was great!

Friday's Musings

I have a lot of things to do today, and I just don't want to. I have to go to the post office to mail Jeannie her desert dirt. I have to go back to Hobby Lobby for a bead crimping tool and some red beads. I have to make Chuck's Valentine's Day card... clean the bedroom(or at least organize the messiness of my clothes)... finish grocery shopping... Make a base for ice cream... go to Lowes....get double sided tape for work and a cleaning brush thing...fix the washing machine that has mysteriously stopped working.. make dinner...make some jewelry......etc, etc. And yet I've only done a few things on my list because I slept in later than I wanted to, and being in pajamas drinking coffee and watching Glee sounded a lot better than getting dressed and driving places.

Sometimes I think procrastination will get the best of me. But at least I got dressed. Baby steps today. Although, it could just be that I want Charlie to be home so we can do it all together. He keeps a tight leash on me when people start to irritate me. Or maybe I just like his company. Who knows.

On that note.... Sunday is our day to celebrate Valentine's Day.... zombie style, in honor of the walking dead. I got big dessert plans. And breakfast plans, and dinner plans for that day.... Can't wait to share. But for now, I guess I should get back to my long to do list.

New Digs-- Hopefully Some New Inspiration

    I've been wanting to get a laptop for awhile now because I hate being hidden the the computer room like a troll under the bridge. And I took the leap and got one yesterday. So far, I'm liking it. Now I can watch move with I browse Pinterest. Ha. Actually, I'm hoping that I'll be able to spark my writing pilot light back on, and finish what I've been writing for 6 years. But first, I have to get a external hard drive so I don't lose my life's work again by some crazy computer malfunction. (still waiting on the results as to whether I will get my stuff saved. I'm not the only one who procrastinates in this house.) Also having to get my photo editing programs on here and microsoft word or something similar. But all in due time I guess.

   I have other fun things to show you though. Chuck and I have started to do some decorating in the house. Let me tell you though, I'm not a huge decorator because, well, it's expensive. Why would I want to pay 20 dollars for some picture to hang, when it does nothing. So, if I decorate, I want a lot of it to be DIY. If I could successfully make my own furniture, I would. But I guess redoing furniture is just as fun. Anyway.... We are decorating the master bedroom and bathroom in an old school nautical theme. It all started with Chuck's obsession with collecting rocks and shells. And then almost three years go by and we really don't do much else with that idea. Until, I got in a crocheting kick and wanting to make a blanket for our bed. We picked some colors and I started the blanket... and then I wanted paint to match. And then we got paint, and well..... here are some of the things that I've been doing. Sorry about the unedited pictures.... Hopefully soon that will change.....

 Got this frame at goodwill for I think 3.99....and a sample of paint at Lowe's for less than 3 dollars...

 and I got my antique glaze....

 We've had this sitting in the garage forever.... decided to spruce it up....

 and here's after the blue paint dried and antique glazed stuff put on.

 we found another frame a goodwill a few days later

 Those are just wood blocks from hobby lobby. We're going to glue shells and hang them as a sort of border in the bathroom.

 White frame all done!

Well..... there's some DIY things I've got going on right now. We'll see what else the week brings me.

Sunday, Zombie Sunday--- Round up of Top ten Zombie Movies!

It's Super Bowl Sunday... I have cold beer and a crock pot full of chili cooking. Yes, I am a female. But, ask me if I care to watch the game....My answer would be "ehh." Ever since they decided they wanted more money and all the drama, I decided not to support them this year. They would not get my money or t.v. ratings from me this year because they didn't deserve it. They throw a ball around and get millions of dollars. What about the people cleaning up their shit for a living? They should be the millionaires. Just saying. but don't get me wrong, I do love to watch sports(well, mostly hockey...) I just don't think they should get paid so much money. (and neither should actors....) But I'm off subject here. This Sunday is about zombies, as with next Sunday which is the Mid Season Premiere of The Walking Dead! And Chuck and I's Valentine's Celebration... But that will be a whole other segment. So without further ado.....    

5. Dawn of the Dead (Remake, 2004, Directed by Zack Snyder)
     "Hell is overflowing. And Satan is sending his dead to us. Why? Because you have sex out of wedlock. You kill unborn children. You have man-on-man relations. Same-sex marriage. How do you think your god will judge you? Well, friends, now we know. When there is no more room in hell, the dead will walk the earth."  I saw this movie at the drive-in. Yeah, a drive-in! Back in Indiana there was one right on the way to Plymouth. I had a lot of childhood memories there. It was good times. This movie I put at 5 because it really paid homage to the original Dawn of the Dead by Romero. It had cameos from the actors in the original, and used certain lines (example... the quote from above) from the series. It showed the the isolation of a zombie apocalypse. I especially like the scene right before the black out when they are all sitting down and having dinner and talking about what the used to do, what they were good at, what they were bad at. It was brought into perspective that there was life before zombies and you never really realize that.

4. Planet Terror (2007, Directed by Robert Rodriguez)
      "Give him the gun. Give him all the guns." I was super excited to see this. It came out around my birthday. Besdies it being apart of a double feature Grindehouse (Even though I really did not care for Tarentino's movie... Boring!),I really also wanted to see it because I love the director. His work on Sin City was beautiful, and to see this was even better. (And along came Machete.... Brilliant!) I do have a few gripes about this movie though.... They aren't totally zombies. It's just a plague. And you can kill them besides shooting them in the head, and they talk. And, why doesn't she ever have to reload her leg? But, what brings it back to the top of this list is the cinematography, the gore, and the special effects work by the gore master Greg Nicotero (my second hero).  And who doesn't love a hot, badass chick?

3. Zombieland (2009, Directed by Ruben Fleischer)
    "Oh, America. I wish I could tell you that this was still America, but I've come to realize that you can't have a country without people. And there are no people here. No, my friends. This is now the United States of Zombieland."  Words cannot describe my love of this movie. Literally. I'm sitting here trying to think of something to say, but I can't. The actors were brilliants. Special effects perfect. All the rules, Awesome. Although, I do want a list of ALL the rules. Aren't you a little curious? I just love this movie. And Bill, Fucking, Murray! Cherry on the sundae.  "My mama always told me someday I'd be good at something. Who'd a guessed that something'd be zombie-killing?" (That'll be me someday...."

 2. Day of the Dead (1985, Directed by the King)
    "You want to put some kind of explanation on all this? Here's one as good as any other. We're bein' punished by the Creator. He visited a curse on us. Maybe He didn't want to see us blow ourselves up, put a big hole in the sky. Maybe He just wanted to show us He's still the Boss Man. Maybe He figure, we gettin' too big for our britches, tryin' to figure His shit out."   As I'm coming to the last of the list, reasons why these movies are great are eluding me. This was a underrated movie by Romero, But I think it's up there with his top work. The use of racism, and egotism, desperation, isolation are what bring this movie together, as with all of his movies. He wants you to feel the human aspect of zombies. What makes a zombie a zombie? Are we better than zombies? Do we really want to save mankind if they are no better than zombies?  When the zombie apocalypse does happen, that should be the first question you ask yourself.



Drumroll please..............


1. Resident Evil (2002, Directed by Paul W.S. Anderson)

    "You're all going to die down here."  I will refer you to my first Zombie blog. This was the first zombie movie I saw in theater, and created the zombie obsessed person I am today. And I include all the movies in this series in the number one spot. they evolve and grow. And the best part about this movie... the end scene. Alice leaves the hospital. the streets are empty except for destruction and death. The emotions on her face. Loss. Anger. Vengeance. Determination. She finds a shotgun in an abandoned police car. the ominous music in the background. And she cocks the shotgun. The wonderful, beautiful, music to my ears sound. And then the camera pans up and out slowly, revealing a city of ruin. Blood stained windows on high rises. Fires in the distant, and Alice just standing there ready to kick some zombie ass.

World Domination.... or lack of....

My plan of world domination was a bust. Oh wait... what am I talk about you ask? Oh.... that's right, I have been PROCRASTINATING once again and haven't really wrote anything. So, of course you didn't know about my plan. Oh well, water under the bridge. And sorry about this past Sunday. NHL Allstars game was one, so like the hockey players, I took a break. But don't worry, this Sunday... even though it's the Super Bowl...(not that I care about football anymore... greedy people... but that's a whole other story.), I will finish up the top five zombie movies.... Just in time for you to go out and rent them or buy them or whatever to watch with your lover on Valentine's Day. Oh, horror movies not your thing on Valentine's Day? Then you are definitely barking up the wrong blog.
   Anywho... just got done digging up dirt for my best friend to mail to her across the country, and while we where at this nature park, I happened to notice a photo contest... So... to enter or not enter? With my procrastination issues, will I do it? It only costs three bucks to enter, I will have to print them to 5x7 and mount them on this foam core stuff.... Ugh, just thinking about it makes me cringe... But why not? I love photography. And then it got me thinking, I really need to look for more local photo contests.

But for now... Teito needs a bath, because as he just informed me.... "It's pretty bad when you can smell your own paws."
      Words to live by.