Feeling like royalty!

Living in Scottsdale, a relatively affluent area filled with BMWs, Escalades, Mercedes, Lexuses, etc., the joke remains that there are no inexpensive car washes here because there are no inexpensive cars.  (Apparently they haven't caught onto our aged Ford and Chrystler rattletraps or else we'd have been kicked out by now!) I found, however, THE place to go for a great-value wash, a mere five minutes from the condo: Danny's Family Car Wash at the Shell station.  (Not sure why it's a "family" wash--it's not like Danny is sticking rags in his kids' hands to wipe off that Arizona dust.)  While one could order up a fancy $12.99 or even $19.99 full-service handwash, vacuum, dashboard dusting, and "complimentary" air freshener--in five different scent options--Danny's also has an "express" machine-wash option for a mere $5.00.

I pull into the line of cars waiting for one of the various carwashing varieties and am approached by a worker who immediately notices my Wisconsin license plate, proudly informing me that he is originally from Lake Geneva.  As he takes my order, I see a sign that says, "Gas: $3.30 per gallon with any car wash."  ($3.30?!  In WI, I was paying at least $3.79 most of the time!)  Not only is the gas cheaper, but he even pumps it for me, in a good ol' days, small town, "Andy Griffith" kind of way.  :-)  I am then instructed to leave my car with them so they can drive it through a series of sudsy machines while I enter the cool relief of the air conditioned building to pay for the service.  After being informed of their 72-hour "raincheck" guarantee, the cashier tells me to wait about five minutes in the cushioned-seat lounge, complete with flat screen TVs and a large, colorful fish tank. 

On the other end, the car comes out and two people with rags dry off my freshly-gleaming Escape from top to bottom.  Just when I think they are finished, another person comes through and Windexes all six windows!  THEN, they drive it forward to a hanging nozzle that squirts pressurized air to blow out the dust from the window crevices.  I've never received so much attention at a "cheap" car wash before. I felt like a princess!  I left behind a tip and decided that I was pretty darn satisfied with the wash that, in the end, cost only $7.00.  (With a full tank of gas, $45.00 total for the visit...)

Random observation #5:  This is more of a lesson than an observation this time.  :-)  While the experience above was intended to be a quick wash to get rid of the dirt splatters from my Escape's cross-country journey, I had taken our Sebring convertible--which we bought two years ago and left out here--for some full-service attention when we first arrived.  Many of you may remember the giant dust storm in Phoenix this past July.  If you haven't seen its movie-like entrance, you MUST check out this brief video: Dust storm video - AMAZING!  (You'll have to press play and then wait about 10 seconds for it to buffer/load.) So, the technical name for a dust storm is a "haboob."  (Yeah, I know--make your jokes, guys!)  Haboobs only occur in Arizona and the Middle East.  That's your lesson.  Anyway, when Mom and I arrived in August, we had not yet seen its effects on our household, and I had the task of cleaning up some pretty significant baked-on dust.  I will leave you with some pics to show you what this unusually significant storm did to our car and a table on our patio.

Back of the car, pre-washed...

Clean!

The vinyl top is black under that dust, and the car is navy blue.  It literally looked brown, though, pre-wash...

Back to black... (like the Metallica song!)

Cleaning a corner of the table for comparison!

Still looking for employment...

Several people have asked about the job search.  Unfortunately, I haven't heard good news back from the places I've applied, including Sylvan Learning Center, who has enough tutors but "will keep [my] application on file."  There is another tutoring center in the area to try, and I can always attempt to drum up some business as an independent tutor for writing assistance or ACT prep.  My ultimate goal, of course, is to teach at the college level, supervise student teachers, or work in professional development programs for current teachers.  My resume is strong, I think, so I'm not sure why I'm not getting interviews.  Honestly, I didn't think finding a job would be this difficult, but perhaps I'm meant to focus my attention on my mom right now. 

Random observation #4:  So, in some public areas where physical safety may be an issue, someone has actually removed the prickers from the cacti!  Maybe there's a job for me... 

(Whew, talk about a tedious task!)

The desert heat and the world's largest sandwich

So, yesterday, Mom was feeling well enough to venture out for some sightseeing and a bit of a food adventure. (Food adventure, you say? I’ll get to that…) We took a little trek in the convertible, heading northwest towards a conservation area we’d visited before with breathtaking views of endless cacti and desert life from the top of a mountain. Unfortunately, we got a little turned around since we were approaching the area from a different direction and ended up just taking a mini scenic drive minus the intended destination. We decided it’d be wise to try again in the Escape anyway because it’d handle better on the hilly, gravel roads we would have encountered.

Sometimes we kept the top down because, after all, it is fun to feel the wind in our hair and the sun tanning our faces and arms (yes, we know that tanning is bad for us…). After about a half hour, though, we stuck to the closed-top and air conditioning because the thermometer in the car read this:

A quick pause about the heat. I’ll be honest: I’m kinda sick of people talking about how hot it is in Arizona in the summer. When folks in Wisconsin heard I was moving, they immediately seemed to fixate on the high temperatures in the summer. To that I say, yes, it may be in the triple digits for July, August, and part of September. But I will gladly take that over it being 32 degrees or colder in November, December, January, February, March, and even sometimes April. I dislike warming up cars, scraping the ice off my windshield in the pitch black at 4:30 PM (or worse yet, at 8:00 PM after the occasional late night working at school), feeling -20 degree wind chills whipping across my face, and trudging through wet, slushy, dirty snow. It’s a personal preference, I understand—many of my friends say they enjoy winter activities and would miss the change of seasons. I can respect that. If I miss snow in the winter, though, I can drive a few hours north to Flagstaff, one of the skiing attractions in Arizona.

Also, to say Arizona has a “dry heat” is cliché but truly, 95 degrees of dry heat is far more comfortable (almost “crisp” and energizing, actually) than 80 degrees with high humidity. I make the comparison of an oven versus a sauna to help people visualize the difference. The humidity makes such a difference that a 70-degree evening in the fall in Arizona actually feels a little chilly! Like, grab-a-sweatshirt chilly. Strange, I know. Finally, a note about temperatures over 100: Honestly, I don’t feel much of a difference between 105 and 115. They’re both hot, and I just deal with it. It doesn’t stop me from going shopping, going out to check the mail, taking a dip in the pool… Frigid cold winters stop me, though. :-)

Anyway, back to the food adventure. After our little jog north, we turned around to seek out a restaurant that was featured on the Travel Channel’s Man vs. Food program last year: Los Reyes de la Torta (that’s “The Kings of the Mexican Sandwich,” for you non-Spanish speakers). This sandwich, the highlighted entrée on the show, is like nothing you’ve ever seen before. It might sound overwhelming—I mean, how many ingredients can you fit in one sandwich—but it was awesome. Check out “El Rey” or “The King”: A baguette-like bun topped with ham, melted mozzarella cheese, pork sirloin, breaded beef, hot dog, chorizo, eggs, lettuce, tomato, onions, and avocado. Now, when I saw the show, I thought, “Oh my, heart attack on a bun.” But we had to try it…and it was phenomenal. Nothing I would get more than once every six months or so, mind you—and it’s nothing that I could eat alone. Half a sandwich was enough to last me about 12 hours. But I’m glad I tried it! If you’re interested in seeing the inspiration for our visit, here is the link to the Man vs. Food clip: YouTube - Tackling "El Rey"

El Rey, nestled in the take-out container, oozing with goodness...

Hamming it up a bit as I take my first bite!

Ok, I’m off to make a smoothie and counteract whatever crazy calories I took in last night…

Random Observation #3: While you might not think about it, Wisconsin has tons of culverts, drainage grates, ditches, and other "water control" features in the streets.  Arizona has few to none because it doesn't rain often--and when it does, it's typically a quick 10-minute downpour and then done.  If there is more rain, though, flash flooding is a huge problem.  Mom and I laugh because we'll sometimes drive through the most barren, dusty, waterless areas and see signs about flood warnings.  Yesterday, we drove over a "dam," marked with a giant sign and everything.  That dam that wasn't holding back...well, a damn thing!  (Hee, hee...sorry, I had to.)

An inspiration for change

I don’t know what it is about Arizona, but I’ve always been inspired to be a healthier, better person here. And it naturally seems to happen, even without much effort on my part. For example, my skin is more clear and even-toned here, even after a few days; I’ll go out with minimal makeup, just because I don’t feel like I need it…not true in Wisconsin. My hair—which, by the way, I was able to dry in about ten minutes by taking a ride in the convertible—has more volume and holds its curl better, likely because of the lack of humidity that usually weighs down my massive amounts of hair. I’ve also started healthier habits, working out in the gym 3-4 times per week, drinking more water, and eating more salads and veggie-heavy stir fry meals. Again, I’m not sure why, exactly, I feel so inspired to change my life habits here. Maybe it’s the fact that the sun is out 95% of the time, which makes me feel more energized. Maybe it’s because there is a healthier vibe in general in Arizona, especially among the people I meet. Maybe it’s purely the idea of being in a new place and having a fresh start to “do things right this time.” Last summer (2010), I was in the best shape of my life after spending six weeks here. My goal is to return to that level of fitness.

Despite starting some great life habits, yesterday was the first day that I started to feel really lonely for my friends back home. There is a lot of change going on there too: Friends are moving, starting school again, dealing with various challenging life circumstances…it’s tough for me not to be close to them during these times. I am going to have to learn how to be a good friend, a quality support, from afar.

I’ll end this entry with a photo of my car, which I affectionately titled, “You’ve come a long way, baby!” It arrived at nearly 1:00 AM (yes, you read that right) on Thursday morning, and it felt kinda seedy doing the exchange of the vehicle and cashier’s check in the Safeway parking lot in the middle of the night…but my Escape and all the contents inside came through without an issue. You know, beyond having the times of pick-up and delivery changed five times. :-)

                                     
Random Observation #2: (I’ll make this one about driving, since I just talked about my car.) In Wisconsin, the green arrow for the left-turn lane typically lights up first, before the traffic is signaled to go straight. In Arizona, the traffic goes straight for a minute or so, stops, and then the green arrow lights up to end the cycle.

Settling in...

So, I'm feeling a little nostalgic today, thinking about my friends back home, especially when I see Facebook status updates about how they're spending their Saturday...at Farmers' Markets, cruisin' around on boats, listening to concerts at the lakefront, bonding over the amazing Brewers' win, etc.  But I'm doing okay.  Many of my friends have been awesome since I left, checking in via text messages and Facebook.  I've really felt the love from folks back home, and it helps a lot!

Mom is having a rough day today, so I spent the first half of the day trying to figure out how to make her more comfortable.  While she took a nap, I played around with a furniture rearrangement in our condo...we'll see if we decide to keep it that way.  I also hooked up my Nintendo Wii, with hopes that we can try some active games and get moving a little more when she's feeling a bit better.  :-)

In other news, my car was supposed to arrive today, but the company keeps having excuses as to why they are running behind (it's been three days of changed schedules for pick-up and drop-off).  Despite the originally-promised delivery of yesterday and then a revised delivery of today between 9:00 AM - 11:00 AM, the driver is now predicting a drop-off around 9:30 PM.  When he asked how late he could deliver, I said that I'd rather have it late tonight than wait until tomorrow.  When I suggested 11:00 PM as the latest time, he said, "I SHOULD be able to get it to you by 11:00...but I'll call you later to confirm." After about five phone calls back and forth with the car carrier company this week, I'm not holding my breath.  It'll be exciting to eventually have my car here, though; I'll like the familiarity of my good ol' Escape.

I am currently listening to a CD that my dear friend Stephanie put together for me before I left.  The first half has songs that remind us of each other and fun times we've had together (dancing at Whiskey Bar, going to the Train concert at State Fair last year, watching a favorite local musician of mine perform, etc.).  The second half includes songs that she finds inspiring or good "pick-me-ups."  Very thoughtful!

So, I thought I might end my blog posts with something I'll call "Random Observations About Arizona," just to clue you in to things I've learned along the way.

Random Observation #1: In Arizona, 1% milk has a blue label and cap, whereas it's yellow in Wisconsin.  So, in Arizona, 2% milk has a yellow label and cap, and it's blue in Wisconsin.  It may seem like a trivial fun fact to share, but I learned this color switch the hard way when I got home and realized I bought the wrong type of milk.  I'm silly, I know...
 
Enjoy the rest of the weekend!

New beginnings

So, I'm here.  After months of preparation, weeks of mixed excitement and anxiety, and days of heartfelt goodbyes with amazing friends and family, my mom and I boarded the first flight out to Sky Harbor Airport in Phoenix on Wednesday, August 17th, ready to begin a new life with a fresh start.  With the whirlwind of emotion surrounding the idea of leaving behind my "home," I had been nervous about the actual day of departure, especially the thought of separating our little tight-knit family with some indefinite stretch of time before seeing Dad again. 

When the morning finally arrived, I had a most-unexpected reaction to leaving: I felt numb.  Like God had applied some emotional anesthesia to my mind, I was unable to fathom the grandiose life change for which I had been planning since April.  In a way, I needed that anesthesia.  As an extremely emotional and sentimental person, it was better to not "feel" very much that morning.  Crunched in the backseat, wedged between four large boxes, two suitcases, two laptops, and sections of my mom's mobility scooter, I dazed out the window as my dad began the drive to the airport.  Perhaps the 30 sleepless hours I had just spent packing my most important items and cleaning my condo for selling affected my outlook...but it didn't feel real.  In some ways, it barely feels real now.  More on that later...

Long story short, I had anticipated much anxiety throughout the travel process--managing all the boxes, saying goodbye to Dad, maneuvering my mom's and my two rolled carry-on luggages and two large and heavy laptops through security, helping her board the plane, retrieving the checked baggage, loading the shuttle back to the condo, etc.  It felt overwhelming, as even smaller trips through airports had posed challenges in the past.  But my wonderful friends' prayers must have paid off because I felt God's support through the process. Whether it was passing all the boxes through the 50-lb. weight limit test (one of mine came through at 49.8 lbs.), or providing the free rolling luggage cart off to the side, just at the moment when I thought my arms might fall off from lugging everything, or sending the kind gentleman to help snag those four nearly 50-pounders off the moving luggage carrousel for us, my anxieties melted and our needs were met.  It was probably one of the smoothest travel experiences my mom and I had ever had together, especially considering the unique circumstances.

Anyway, I have been in Arizona for exactly 24 hours now, and like I said, it still doesn't feel quite real that I'm here permanently yet.  Perhaps it's because my condo in New Berlin still houses all my furniture and most of my personal effects until it sells.  Perhaps it's because I've stayed in this Scottsdale condo on and off for over three years now, and while many visits have been extended stays, I knew I'd be flying back to Milwaukee no more than four or five weeks later.  I think I will feel temporary until something more major happens, like I begin a job here or move into a new place.  Regardless, I can tell already from the look on my mom's face, her appreciative hugs, her laughs, and overall more relaxed demeanor (even a mere five hours after we landed), that moving here was the right choice.  God led me here for a reason, and although there are still a lot of unanswered questions about my future job, real estate situation, and finances, I know that He'll take care of us throughout the process.  New beginnings.  :-)