Girl's Girl Guide to Camping

To camp with less strife, I created a perfect bag for all my needs. First off, I need to say that hubby says sleeping in a tent with a blow up mattress is not truly camping, but I beg to differ. I mean people call sleeping in an RV "camping" too and, technically, we're hoofing it in the woods, so there.

I will upload photos later, but my bag was a one sling Intel bag (hubbs got it at an IT convention thingy) that's a really good size. Not too large like a backpack and not too small like a purse. I took that, literally-NOT literally, mostly- every time I had to go pee or go to the bathroom.

Side note: I hate, hate, hate porta potties and since I had night terrors about them, I almost prefer to go squat in the woods or find another flushing toilet (even if it's a hike). No joke.

Things I had in my kangaroo pouch:

-Tissue roll in plastic (in case it got wet for some reason)
-Wet wipes
-Hand sanitizer
-Hand soap in a tiny Walmart shampoo container
-Glasses
-Contact case
-Contacts in contact case
-Clear Care hydrogen peroxide solution (overnight)
-Opti-Free solution (day)
-Tweezers
-Mirror (small) 
-Q-tips
-Neutrogena Facial Wipes
-Skittles
-Toothbrush mini kit (comes with toothbrush, floss, mouthwash, toothbrush cover, and toothpaste in a plastic pouch)
-Pepper spray
-Switch blade Knife (not to shank someone, but to open things...maybe. You wouldn't believe how much this came in handy)
             * I didn't have paper hand towel squares or sunscreen, but I should've totally added them

As long as I had this with me at all times, even sleeping in the tent, I was ok and didn't stress too much. I sucks to have dry lens and not have any way to clean your hands and "water" your contacts, so I didn't run into too much trouble. If it was a hassle to take, I did have another tiny shampoo bottle with hand soap and hand sanitizer in my purse. Believe me YOU WILL NEED IT!

One thing I thought was kind of odd was the fact that camper-people thought it was okay to steal someone's hand soap. It was like a free for all at some camping locations. I guess it's my fault because I placed the hand soap bottle off (way off) to the corner so when I got out of the stall I could use it, but there was always that person that was like. "Oooo, hand soap" (even if they saw me place it there).

When I went to shower, I had my shower caddy with me and a group of girls even asked if they could use my bar of soap in the caddy to wash their hands. I said, "Gross, no." Seriously, who even asks this of a stranger?

Road trip: Home

 

My 21 Year Old Son

 

 

 

Cookie's Birthday Cake

Road trip: Salt Lake City, Ut

 

East of the Temple

 

 

 

The Tabernacle

 

 

 

South Side of the Temple

 

 

 

Hubby's Awesome Parking Job (near the gate)

 

 

Road Trip: Pendelton, Or

 

Who Knew It Was in the Middle of Nowhere?

Road trip: Twin Falls, Id

 

Sunset on the River

Road Trip: Multnomah Falls

 

Meet Our New Friend, Sam

 

 

 

Creek

Road Trip: Portland Japanese Gardens

 

Waterfall

 

 

 

I Like Pictures That Have a Path

 

 

 

Bigfoot?

 

 

 

Bridge to All Your Hopes and Dreams

 

 

 

Rock Garden

Road Trip: Portlandia

 

Cathedral Park Bridge

 

 

 

Mt. Hood

 

 

 

Cathedral Park Waters

 

 

 

This is the last picture they took from their campsite....I was seriously waiting for Jason Voorhees to make an appearance.

 

 

 

Milo McIver S.P. Party ;)

 

 

 

Portland/Milo McIver Llama

 

 

 

Guess Which Tent Was Ours

Road Trip: Redwoods

 

Trail to Humongous Trees

 

 

 

Prairie Creek

 

 

 

Hwy 1 in Redwoods

 

 

 

If You Look Closely, You Can See Bigfoot*

 

 

 

Spiny Tree

 

 

 

 

Pictures Just Don't Do the Tree Sizes Justice!

 

 

 

 

*Not really a Bigfoot....or is there?

Road Trip: San Francisco

 

Beautiful Old Barn

 

 

 

Golden Gate Bridge

 

 

 

Complete Golden Gate Bridge

 

 

 

I could swim from Alcatraz ;)

Road Trip: Santa Cruz

 

Approaching Storm

 

 

 

Poor Murdered Seal Pup with a Bite Taken Out of it

 

 

 

By the Pier

Road Trip: Highway 1

 

Before Santa Cruz

 

 

Pigeon Point (I Think)

 

Lighthouse Point

 

 

 

San Luis Obispo

Road Trip: Malibu

 

Malibu Shore

 

 

 

Stunning Waves

Road Trip: Lake Havasu

 

On the North Shore

 

Road trip: Wheatfields, Az

 

Our fishing rods

 

 

 

Beautiful Wheatfields Lake

Travelers (Not Gypsy)

With the glorious, albeit too short, summer ending soon, I need to upload pictures of our road trip to Oregon. It was rough trip and camping was a very unexpected treat. I do have a girls girl guide of essentials to camping I want to post.

Stay tuned...

Turtle Shaming

"This is why we're living in this world," the register lady says to me, while giving me the stink eye. I went to SAS to get cloth and ribbons for cat clothes and when I approached the register I knew I was going to get asked what I was making.

Background- when you run into an elder native, especially a Sanii (grandmother), you bet you'll get asked questions. To others it may seem odd, but as a Dine woman, I know better.

When I picked out the cloth for a summer project, I wasn't thinking of the foolishness of it all, let alone running into a Sanii in Tempe. I really did want to make summer dresses for Fuzz. I went to check out and then she asked me the question, "So what are you making?" My little brain couldn't come up with a little lie fast enough, so I blurted, "Cat clothes." She literally stopped what she was doing and lowered her eyes and sternly said, "What?"

Sheepishly I said, "I'm making a dress for my...cat." Wise one then says, "First it's talking animals on t.v., then it's clothes for animals......this is why we're living in this world." (She was referring to the Fourth World, or the Glittering World)

I wasn't even about to say I had reptiles (a huge no no for Dine). I kept my mouth shut because I didn't want to be turtle shamed for Chomper and Ren.

*Funny story, my mom let it slip to my grandmother that I had turtles and she said in Navajo, "Can I have their shells when they get bigger?"

:(

Facehuggers

When we first decided to purchase a house, I didn't know what I was getting myself into. Little did I know that we were moving into scorpion central. When we first viewed the house, sure there were a few carcasses, but I didn't think it was going to be a huge deal as the house, we were told, was sitting for over a year empty.

Approximately one two months after we moved in, I saw it. Hubs was on the floor with our baby, Piddles. Then he spots a lil smug facehugger trying to exit on his merry way-right from underneath him. I was freaked! This changed me forever. Not to sound dramatic, but they are lil terrorists trying to take over your home and will use force if necessary.  

Ever since, I had this awesome company called Bulwark (not a plug, just stating the facts) come out and spray. I was very paranoid the first year and had them come 1-2 times a month.

I've never been stung, but I hear stories about how it is very painful and how your injection site is numb... FOREVER! (just kidding, for several weeks). Someone even mentioned that it was way worse than a bee sting. IDK, but I'm not taking my chances.

So that was what, three years ago? This week we hear Queen Useless meowing at the wall. Then hear a strange guttural noise coming from the Fuzz (Q.U.). hubs calls me to come over and there on the wall is a gargantuan monster. It was, honestly, the largest scorp I had ever seen...just chillin... on my wall. I'm surprised he didn't ask for a snack or drink. 

Now I'm petrified to walk without my shoes and constantly scan the floors. It's almost not even worth it to be downstairs. Fuzzy was okay, she was just trying to play with it. I call her Queen Useless because she literally sleeps all day and stays up all hours of the night chasing NOTHING up and down the stairs while howling like a wolf.

Fuzzy Rant

I've had Fuzzy-Gideon (Q.U.) ever since she was a baby. I remember she was the biggest of her litter, but she was always sleeping alone in odd places, while the others snuggled together for warmth. When I picked her up she had really bad kitty breath and was sassy. I knew she was the one.

She has selective hearing and for some reason, avoids me at all costs. When I pet her she tries to run away and has been caught sitting on the upper stair ledge "hunting" me. When my brothers come to visit, they call her name once and boy does she come running and turns into a snuggle monster. I tried this, but she ignores me like, "That's not my name. Stop."

I've been trying to hand feed her and get her to be a lap cat, but Fuzzy does what she wants to. Hubs claims she imprinted on my brothers...I just say she's a Fuzz.

Rez 101

I decided to make the least comprehensive list of complaints from my vacation on the rez.

#1) There is dust and dirt literally everywhere
No, I'm not using "literally" as a Kardashian interpretation, but in the actual literal sense. Since I am blind as a bat, I was quite surprised my lens lasted as long as they did. By the end of the day, I had to rinse the dirt from my mouth and wipe the accumulating dust from my glasses.

#2) You need a sturdy vehicle
Sure I have a cute lil Focus, but on rez terrain, not so cute. I've always wondered why a diesel truck was necessary and use to question my dad constantly, but no more. There were many times I was glad to be in an all terrain vehicle as I knew if I had my car, it would've gotten: stuck, sunk, scratched, flipped/damaged by overly affectionate horses, etc.

*Side note: Since the nearest store is about twelve miles away, you better make sure the gas comparable to the destination (trust me on this, not fun to wait for someone to get gas because you forgot to fill the tank, in 92 degree weather).

#3) The animals
Not that animals are bad or anything -some do know how to use the crosswalk. But, there are animals right and left, leaving one driving at night with a sense of uneasiness. There have been far too many "close calls" for me at night, so I just don't drive at night anymore.

I've been promoted to what my family affectionately calls an "elker". As an elker you have one, and only one duty, to watch for any animal on the roads day or night. (This moniker came about when driving through Payson and the enormous amounts of elk in the roads, so really it should be changed to "cower" for the rez)  The drive between where I live and my parents is about 6 hours, so it's quite a bit of driving we do. (My mom kept falling asleep, so she was demoted from being an elker, so be sure to choose your elker wisely).

#4) Water
Most of us do not think of water as a luxury and how accessible it is for (most of) us. The animals at the ranch need water, and a lot of it. If the windmill is broken, or not functioning correctly, where do we get water? (Hint: see side note for #2) Yes, you have to haul water.

Water (for human consumption) is not set up at the ranch, so if I stay there, guess where the water comes from? Yes, we have to haul it from my parents' other home. It doesn't sound like much, but trust me, it is. Think about how much water you use and waste daily. I learned really quick to take the elusive 7 minute shower (What? I'm not magic, that's the fastest I can take a shower). When I returned to my home in Gilbert, I had a new sense of awareness. When I look at our pool, I think about all the water wasted by evaporation and how many cows and horses could've benefitted from the water I wasted. Then I remember when I was almost chased by an angry cow (tagged #23 with evil beady eyes) for feeding the horses watermelons.

Note to self: Cows get jealous.

Crazy in Heat

So I wake up to my hubs yelling something about the cat this morning. I haven't been a great parent and haven't taken to her get spayed, yet. Anyway, she's been howling like a damn Banshee all night and running up and down the stairs chasing nothing. I yelled at hubs that I'm still sleeping and to knock it off. He hits me with a doozy. Apparently, Fuzzy-Gideon (evil she-cat), has taken to pissing on top of the washer. Who does that? Stupid cat.

We're not Martha Steward, so of course we have clothing up there....all pissed on. I thought it was bad enough that she would sneak into the dryer and pee, but this is ridiculous.

I think she's trying to send us a message...kinda like when thugs leave horse heads in beds
0_o

Advice for Teachers

I had a student teacher ask me, "What is the best and worst advice you've received starting out?" (from teachers/mentors) 

I had to think about this for two seconds:

The best piece of advice ever given to me was by my wonderful mentor. She said, "Once you argue back with a student, you've already lost the argument." So true. When excuses are made, I remind them to take responsibility and NO EXCUSES!

The worst piece of advice was given to me by a not so great teacher (read sit-behind-a-desk-all-day  "teacher"). She said, "You need to find your voice. If you don't, the students are going to walk all over you." (I'm not loud by any means and I don't like to even raise my voice). I can honestly say I have never yelled in my classroom. I think it's a behavior management issue when you have to yell over your students.

Thought I'd share the joys of growing and learning. :)



Part II

A teacher once told me, "Don't use sarcasm with kids. They just don't get it."
Worst piece of advice ever!
Sarcasm is awesome and sometimes... it's all we have, just kidding. But, no, I think in certain situations, it's totally warranted. o_0

YOLO, just YOLO

Spring Break is awesome, I think we need more time off to refresh and reset. I went to visit my parents in the beautiful area of Canyon de Chelly (canyon d-shay). As we were fishing, I pondered the term YOLO. I wondered (aloud) if Dine had a similar term. I asked my mother how to say YOLO in Navajo. Apparently it's 'Tah tlah hadi jih nae'. Too long of an acronym. I think I should make up my own term..

Email Irks

#1. If you have a signature, STOP writing your name at the end of your email. Redundancy kills.

#2. If someone asks for help, via mass email, DON'T email your life story as to why you can't help. Seriously, just don't reply. Save time.

#3. DON'T write something vague in the subject line, then post a link to a cat video in your email. Knock it off.

Deep Thoughts with Dawn Handey

I try to keep an open mind about the world. With that being said, I heard there were people that seriously -legit- think vampires are real. Like drinking blood and sleeping in coffins real? Yes.

I thought long and hard about this to try and make it plausible, but came up with two things: more questions and  headache.

#1: If vampires need blood for sustenance, then where does it go? We eat to live and left overs are pooped out. Sure. But if a vampire only drinks blood ala Twilight, then where does the useless blood go? Do they constantly poop blood to keep pristine bowels?

#2: I was watching Twilight (the last one) and found they (vampires) don't sleep or get physically tired. So, this brings another question. If they regenerate that quickly, then they must not feel pain. Stay with  me. But, in the movie, the Denali chica says, "Ow?" to a barely born Bella when she grabs her wrist. What's up with that? I know it's a movie, yada, yada, but think about it.

Adnouns?

I had a student ask why, if adverbs described verbs, why adjectives weren't called adnouns. Hmmm...

You Know You're Stuck in the 80s

I went to the local state book fair recently and I must say this... OMG! I'm not sure why I hadn't heard of this before, but hubs told me and I just had to see what treasures awaited me. Sure we waited in the sun for an hour, but it was a small price to pay for awesome crap!

I spent most of my time in the children's aisle looking for interesting reads for my students. Boy did I find tons! Not just your garden variety crap either. Hubs found a book he had many many moons ago- think early 80s- that has supposedly out of print. For only a dollar, I thought, "Sure, why not?" Then a dollar became two, then 30, then 80, then...

Long story short, I have a collection of odds and ends. Standing in the children's aisle waiting for a peek was awesome, yet boring at the same time. Yes, there was that many people. Hubs was bored then promptly ditched me and went to the cooking area while I stayed and battled on through the obnoxiously large strollers and helicopter moms telling Aiden, "Tell the lady you need to look at books there." (i.e. move, make room for Aiden)

After hubs returned, he gave me a book labeled Ghost Hunters. I thought I wouldn't be into it, but I couldn't put it down all weekend. Seriously, if you have the means, go get it.

I also found this disturbing book on how to embalm and taxidermy. Of course I had to buy it.

My one true treasure was a stack of 80s to early 90s cds. no one wanted, or wanted to be seen with. Can you believe I actually found the Batman soundtrack? Not that one, the Prince one. Yes. I've been listening to this c.d. on and off. My hubby says if I start wearing my hair in a side ponytail he'll have to call an intervention.

Embarrassing note-I remember in grade school, when I was wee cheerleader, and obsessed with press on nails, we had a routine to the Batman song.

Memories....like the corner of my mind.....

Ok, ok

I'm okay, I swear. I was just perusing the internets and stumbled across these lovely gems:

Signs You Know You're a Teacher

Serious Martha Stewardish Stuff Going On Here

This is Some MacGyver S***

I ate one too many pommies (pomegranates) at the desktop, so the keys are sticking. Grr. Off to grading this lovely Sunday afternoon. :)