An Arizona Cheesehead's Thoughts

I had some time after work tonight so I went to Lane Bryant. They send out coupons periodically that Sugar Daddy thinks are a sucker offer. You get $25 off if you spend $75, $50 off on $150 and $75 off on $225. When you combine it with a good sale, you can get a lot of stuff for a good price. I ended up with a skirt and four tops for $93 (with tax). One of the tops is kinda, well, let's just say it shows a lot of chest. Not cleavage, mind you, because, while everything else on my body is big, my boobs are not. Having cleavage is just a fantasy for me. There is a lot of cleavage-less flesh exposed, however. I may have to wear it the next time I go to see the cute doctor.

One of the tasty morsels screwed up today at work, very publicly and he did it twice. He blamed it on the beers from the night before. As I was leaving today, I said to him, "So, are you all recovered and ready to start drinking again?" What I meant by that was that I was wondering if he was feeling better. When he started stumbling on his response, I realized it came across as me asking him out. Oops. I tried to dig my way out by saying, "Oh, I wasn't asking you out. I already have plans tonight." Neither parts of that statement were false, BTW. It didn't help the situation. Nor did the fact that a couple of our co-workers heard the whole thing and found it hilarious.

I think I may have milked the cruise for its last post... We raised $38,000 for Breast Cancer Research from the cruise. Parrot Heads may seem to be all about the partying, drinking and dancing but we're really about doing good and having a good time. The money was raised through a variety of ways: part of the ticket cost, silent auction, raffles, poker tourneys, toenail painting...we're nothing if not creative. But, nothing topped the LA club's efforts. Five of the guys put their mustaches on the auction block. If a total amount of donations was made, they'd all shave. As a twist, if one of the guys didn't want to shave he had to buy his way out. To make even more money, one of the guys (Scott, middle school science teacher who celebrated his 50th birthday while on the cruise) offered to shave his head for more money. They raised $800! We had a stylist on board who offered to do the shaving so we all gathered around the pool to watch. They'd bought a big pack o...

I already talked about our high drama at sea here . Here's some more about our shore excursions/explorations. I don't have any pictures from our first tour which was to the Bacardi Distillery in San Juan. We got on a boat, then a bus, then a tram to get to our final destination. Seemed unnecessarily complex to me. Our bus tour guide was freaking hilarious. He was a huge flamer and kept us cracked up the whole time. The distillery was somewhat of a bust because we didn't have enough time there (though they did give us free samples which was a bonus). They had these self-guided phones where you punch in the number by a picture or artifact then hear a story about it. Being the OCD type that I am, I wanted to listen to every single one. Unfortunately, there must have been 100 different things to look at and listen to and I barely got through 20 before I realized the rest of the tour had moved on to the next stop and I was all alone and needed to skedaddle. Kathy, Mary and me in...

Wood-Eye and me at the Salsa Challenge with our two new trophies. Steve Cantwell took this picture (along with a bunch of other awesome ones) and I just fell in love with it when I saw it. I think Wood-Eye and I look just adorable!

Got another quiz from Shannon (can you say "future blogger"?). She's going to be a Tiger in her next life and I scored as a Lion. It says for Lion: Only 18% of people will be reincarnated as a higher form of life than you. Remain honorable in this life, and you can expect to be rewarded in your next life. Hmmm, will I lose points if I say I want to score higher on the scale? Not that I know what the scale is. It could be that the highest level is tapeworm and you get to live out your days in someone's intestines. OK, that was gross. Sorry I thought it.

It's less than one month until NASCAR comes to Phoenix International Raceway for the Subway Fresh 500 and Grandpa and I are making our plans. We've already got our tickets. Our friends, Tom and Janice, are loaning us their radios so we can listen in on all of the action. Grandpa's working on getting us an RV parking spot for the weekend so we don't have to hoof it back and forth to a hotel. Another friend, Beth, is working on pit passes for us. She works for Home Depot so I promised to pretend to like Tony Stewart, at list for a little bit. We're also in negotiations on what's allowed in or on the RV. Grandpa's a Roush man all the way and he's declaring the RV a Ford only area which means no Jimmie Johnson/Chevrolet gear. That edict is pretty hypocritical if you ask me since Grandpa drives a Chevy Tahoe. I've already told him I'm bringing all of my Jimmie paraphernalia - cooler, jacket, shirts, towel, earrings, socks...the whole shebang. And, I...

Sugar Daddy and I go out to lunch every day. It's the same routine, day in and day out. We get into the car and I ask, "What do you feel like today?" and he says, "Food." Not so helpful. Then, we get to the edge of the parking lot and I say, "Right or left?" Sometimes, he'll give me an answer but most of the time I take whatever's the easiest turn. We drive for a while and at every intersection I ask, "Right, left or straight?" Eventually, I mention several different places, he rejects the majority of them and we finally come to a consensus. And, by consensus, I mean he decides. The thing is, there's a very limited list of places that we go to. And, we go to them so often and order the same things every time that they practically submit our orders for us before we even get seated. Sugar Daddy's really picky which is why our list is so small. This morning, I read an article about a new (to Phoenix) chain called Rumbi. It's ...

I don't often do this but I actually tried on three different shirts today before I settled on one to wear. It's official: I hate my clothes. Not all of them, though. Just the ones that are currently weather appropriate. See, it's cool in the morning and hot in the afternoon so sleeveless summer wear and long sleeve shirts and sweaters are out. That leaves a very small selection in my wardrobe and I've been feeling like I'm wearing the same four or five tops and pants over and over again. I know, a lot of guys might be saying: hey, that's what I do every week of the year so what's the big deal? The big deal is I need some variety, dang it! I know that it's going to be consistently warm soon so I can fully embrace the summer wear...but, being immediate-gratification girl, I sense a shopping trip after work tonight.

Shannon sent this to me. It gives you info on your birthday (I so did not need to know my date of conception though, ick) and tells you whom you're compatible with. Funny, Steven and I fall under the 'least compatible' category. It's good to know that the equivalent of my age to dog years puts me in the "Still Chasing Cats" category.

One of the many cool things about our cruise was that we got to bring our own entertainment. We had some great performers on board. I've seen John Frinzi and Jim Morris and the Big Bamboo Band several times but I hadn't seen Jim Asbell or KD Moore. I got to say, they were all awesome. And, they're all stage whores. (I got that phrase from Jerry Gontag.) They were all over the place playing and singing whenever someone gave them the slightest opening. Jim Asbell was the "new" guy. He's out of Atlanta and really, really funny. Of all of the guys, he was the quickest with a joke and appeared to be having a ball. He ended up sitting in on almost every gig and dug every minute of it. I didn't catch KD Moore until late in the week. He's got a laid back style with some really clever lyrics. He also tells some good stories and appeared to be having a blast. Jim Morris and the Big Bamboo Band were the big act. They've gotten bunches of CDs out, play all o...

The Arizona Parrot Head Club took home the Best in Show award from the Southwest Salsa Challenge...again! They might have to rename it the Parrot Head award since we own it year after year. We also took a Second place in the Mild Salsa Category and our Margarita Mix-Off team led by Craig netted a $650 auction price with their entry. The front of our booth. We had lots and lots of inflatables, our sound system playing Buffett tunes and Crime Dog on the microphone. The comment was made that he's trying for a carnie position. Seems a likely scenario to me. The perfect Parrot Head cooler: one batch of salsa and bunches and bunches of Coronas. The beer concession people are probably still talking about us. Rick Dudley came through on our last minute request to create a display for our trophies. Our two new trophies are going to look great up there with the other 9 from prior years'. Wood-Eye's been heading up this event for the past few years and he's got exactly the right ...

I'm trying to put together our plan for tomorrow's spring training game. It starts at 1 at Scottsdale Stadium which is pretty close to our office but has some parking issues so I think we need to get there somewhat early. In prior years, we've left the office at 11 and hit a nearby Applebee's for a beer and some munchies before going to the game. I envisioned doing the same this year but they're conspiring against me. Three of the guys are carpooling in from Awhatukee. Sounds like a good idea...except that the driver has to get a crown put on at 10:30. And, his dentist is back in Awhatukee so there's no way he's getting back here until 11:30 or 12. Another guy is a game time decision since he's on a big project and may have to work. Not sure how he's getting home at that point. So, three of the guys may be late if the dentist appointment runs long. Another might not go at all. And, the dentist appt/driver guy thinks it's hilarious that I'm tr...

No time to post but nothing interesting to talk about anyway. It's all work, work, work and then some more work. Fortunately, there's going to be a reprieve since the boys and I are leaving work early on Friday for a spring training game. I hope they leave me in good enough shape to make it through the Salsa Challenge on Saturday. That would not be a fun day to spend with a hangover.

There's something indescribable about seeing over 400 people in togas gathered in one place. That's how many we had lined up on stage and in the front rows of the showroom on the ship for our group photo. Being Parrot Heads, there were few plain white togas. Most of them were wildly patterned and colored and everyone looked awesome! After the photo shoot, we marched through the ship and made a dramatic entrance into the dining room. Man, the looks we got! That night, we were the dining room entertainment with a group performance of Fins . Julie and Rick in their Dead Head togas. Debbie and Terry rented their togas. It was definitely easier than making them. John and Donna had their togas custom made. From the fashion house of O'Malley. Me (gawd, I need to lose weight!), Roger, Kathy, Todd and Mary.

When we were planning our shore excursions the idea of going to Jost Van Dyke on the day we hit Tortola was already being explored by some of our group. The word was that the ferry that ran between the two was on island time and not a reliable way to get back to the ship if you had a deadline. We had a short period of time on land and the ship does not wait for anyone so that concerned us a bit. So, the O'Malleys tracked down a charter boat and booked it for the entire day so we could leave Jost when we needed to. As with all good plans, there were a few bumps along the way. Bump number 1 was connecting with our boat. The arrangement was to meet on the pier. We were dutifully waiting at the end of the pier where our ship was docked but didn't see anyone holding up a sign that said "O'Malley" or even anyone who looked like they were looking for us. Kathy ran back to the ship to get the phone number and called the charter company. They said the crew woman was there ...

Shorty had a colonoscopy yesterday and got an "all clear". No sign of any polyps or nasty cancer. Whew .

I gotta tell you, it was frickin' freezing here over the weekend. At least, it was to me. Saturday night, Norene and I headed over to the house concert. They moved it to the garage instead of the patio because the wind was whipping so much. Thank goodness. It got down to 55, but oh, that wind chill! It felt like 40. Norene and I were both frozen and I cranked up the thermostat to 72 when we got home just to take the chill off. Yesterday morning, we had to move the club's storage unit stuff to a new location. I drove over to Shorty's to borrow his truck and it poured buckets of rain the whole time. Fortunately, it cleared up while we loaded up but it didn't hold off long enough. It started raining again while Julie and I were trying to count tee-shirts (we inventoried all of our stuff since we were moving it all) and we got plenty wet. I had on my Jimmie Johnson windbreaker which is lightly lined and waterproof and was wearing gloves but I got chilled through and through...

Let's be careful out there. St. Paddy's day is a bad night to be out and about. All those twice-a-year drinkers (New Year's Eve being the other night) are over-indulging then jumping in their cars. Being the professional that I am, I'm home taking it easy. Gotta catch up on TV from last week and do some cleaning since Norene is coming up tomorrow.

If you're a cruiser, you know about the tradition of your room steward creating different things out of towels for you each night. They're usually animals and a lot of people keep them all until the end of the cruise to enjoy. Carol took it one step further (clearly, she's much more creative than I) and made a towel man for her steward. They had a couple days fun adding and changing him between the two of them. Here's our first little doggie. When I tried to move him off of my bed, his head broke off and rolled on to the floor. It so startled me that I screamed like a little girl. I'm sure this was supposed to look like a Mommy and Baby Seal in a loving embrace but it just looks like they're humping to me. The elephant looked good. By this point, I was making Mary move them so they wouldn't fall apart. Swan or bird of some sort. Mary had to put the eyes on him to make him look better. We decided this was a cross between a playboy bunny and the devil....

Brent, our Cruise Planner, had sent out a message asking if people were interested in doing a poker tourney while we were on board. I signed up and so did Rick Dudley. The list of players came out and I was one spot ahead of Rick. I told him, “That’s the only time I’m going to be ahead of you in anything related to poker”. See, Rick is The Poker Guy. He has a custom table, chairs, big set of chips, runs a weekly home game and our club tournament. I just play in my little girlie games so I’m no competition for him. They were having two, half hour No Limit Texas Hold ’Em Tournaments on Sunday night. I told Rick he should play in the first one while I watched then I would play in the second. I so did not want to go up against him. When I got to the card room, there was still a spot open in his tourney so he told me, “Pull up a chair, kiddo, you’re in.” Yikes. Not only was Rick playing but so were Brent and Brent Sr. (who owns the travel agency that sets up the cruise). I figured ...

The cute doctor so needs me. Well, maybe not me necessarily but someone who can actually schedule for him. The first time we visited it was a last minute appointment so I wasn’t completely surprised to wait a couple of hours to get in. The second time, the doc was in surgery and showed up 45 minutes after his appointments started. A riot almost ensued. This time, Steven’s appointment was for 2. I decided to bring my laptop in so I could be somewhat productive (hey, writing up blog entries is productive!) while we waited. And waiting, we are. As I type this, it’s 2:50 and we may be the next ones in. At least the doc was actually in the office when we got here this time. Much later…. We got in around 3 and the doc apologized for running behind because he had been stuck in surgery. It’s now a familiar tale. Steven and I chided him a bit about it, too. Gently, of course. While he was writing some stuff up he asked, “How’s it going with your Jimmy Buffett group?” I told him a little ...

Several of us had a direct flight to Ft Lauderdale on Friday morning. I'd arranged for Steven to drive me to the airport. I told him I'd be at my parents around 7:30ish and wanted to leave right away. I got there at 7:40 and he was still in bed. Apparently, since I didn't call him to wake him up, that was my fault. He stumbled out of bed and we headed off in my Mom's van to the airport. Between him being sleepy and driving with his left foot since his right was encased in a boot, I felt lucky to make it to the airport in one piece. Hooked up with Moose and Carol and Roger and Todd and got on the plane only to sit on the tarmac for 45 minutes or so. I had my mini and was reading a book so it took me a long time to realize we weren't going anywhere. Apparently, there was a maintenance issue. I unplugged long enough to hear the flight attendant say: "The mechanics think they have the problem fixed so we're going to try to start the number 2 engine." Think...

I got to my place around 10 PM on Sunday night. Managed to do one load of laundry but otherwise just threw my crap on the bedroom floor. My house was already a mess since things were so hectic before I left that I really needed to do some cleanup. Only got 5 hours of sleep Sunday night then it was a very long day at work on Monday. I planned on going to the store (no Diet Pepsi in the house is a very bad thing), doing more laundry and cleaning up on Monday night with an early bedtime, too. I was really, really looking forward to that last part. There was only one man who could get me to deviate from that plan and wouldn't you know, he asked me out? My buddy Gary from Utah was in town for one night so I met him for drinks and dinner right after work. Gary's been on a road trip to visit every Margaritaville. He's been to all three in Jamaica, Cancun, NOLA, Orlando, Key West, Myrtle Beach, Charlotte (there's one there, right?)...his last stop is Vegas and then he's he...

Crime Dog already posted about losing Mom O'Malley but I wanted to add to it. I've had the great pleasure of knowing the O'Malley family since I was a High School Freshman. (No, we won't go into how long ago that was.) Mom was one of the "cool" Moms. She was in her prime partying days back then and used to go out with her friends then come home to us kids who were partying ourselves and make us all breakfast. She cruised with us, she went to club stuff with us, she helped us make Parrot Head hats, shirts and sunglasses, she played Bingo, Blackjack and Poker (I took her for several bucks last time we played) whenever she got the chance and she was funny as hell. The past few years had been very challenging for Mom and those who loved her. She toughed it out as long as she could, I think mostly because she didn't want to leave the party. The O'Malley Babes did something I think Mom would be very happy for. She passed away on Thursday which was the nigh...

Made it home safe and sound from the cruise. Details and pics to come soon but I need to go through over 500 personal emails...haven't even looked at the work account yet.

Suitcase is probably over 40 pounds now. This is the first time I've had to open the expansion zipper before I left. That's due to Julie dumping a bunch of t-shirts on me for the on board exchange with the other clubs. I'm sure I'll have lots of stories and pictures when I get back. Later. PS No cat outside my door this morning...maybe it went home.

One of my club buddys came over tonight to drop over a check for Buffett tickets (yep, at the very last minute, sigh). He told me, "Your cat was trying to get in." Sure enough, the cat who's trying to move in was back. He/she was hanging out on the sidewalk outside my front door. As I was standing outside, talking to my bud, it actually tried to go around me and get inside the house. Quite boldly, too. It's like it thinks it lives here.

I do the same thing for every trip...wait until the last minute, pack in 15 minutes then stress about what I may have forgotten. I used to drive Sugar Daddy crazy when I lived with him because I would fret for hours for no reason. It's not like I forget anything critical. I might leave out my bedside alarm clock or a piece of jewelry but that's the worst I've ever done. I pack lightly, too. I called the Dudleys tonight and Rick said their bags were still under 50 pounds which is an improvement for them. Last cruise, they had to pay for over-limit weight baggage which kicks in at 50 pounds. I told Rick my bag was at 35 pounds so I feel compelled to put more stuff in it. I probably won't though. It's not like I need another t-shirt and I have enough underwear that I won't need to do laundry so I think I'm good. Doesn't mean I'm going to stop worrying about it, though.

This is a bummer in so many ways. The O'Malley Babes are not going with me tomorrow on our cruise. Mom O'Malley is quite ill. She's in a hospice facility at the moment and it's not looking good. But, she's been known to bounce back so, who knows? It's just so very tough. Everyone's stressed out, which is to be expected, and the frustration is that there's just nothing anyone can do but make sure she's getting good care and hope for the best. I can't do anything so I'll just ask everyone to send their best thoughts, prayers and wishes to our friends.

The Big Kahuna, Mr. Jimmy Buffett, is coming to Phoenix on April 18th. One of the perks of being in an official Parrot Head Club is that tickets get set aside for our use (we do pay for them, though). It's nice to not have to scramble for tickets to a show that sells out in less than an hour and we usually all get to sit together. We usually don't have a lot of time to turn in our request count. The club has to send a check for the total amount so we want everyone's money in hand so we aren't left with tickets to get rid of. They can only be used by members of a club so it's not like we can put them on EBay or anything. Anywhoo, I've sent out several emails, pretty much all with the same info. 1. Email me if you want tickets, how many and who's using them. 2. It's members only, so send in an application and dues if you're planning on taking a non-member. 3. Send a check to our PO Box that must be received by March 1. Sounds simple, right? Apparently...