Ramblings of a mentor

I have been mentoring L for over a year now, and our relationship has really hit its stride. She opens up to me, I listen. We read, we laugh, we eat. She giggles at how weird I am. The usual.

Within the last couple of months, her family (mom, sister, occasionally two other siblings, and L) has been evicted from their rental house, moved into one bedroom of grandpa's house while he is in the hospital, had their van repossessed, and now grandpa's house is in foreclosure. Mom doesn't work. They frequently eat dinner at the homeless shelter. This is breaking my heart.

Thursday we were sitting in Jason's Deli and she said "I hate adults. They screw everything up." That is when she told me about the van and grandpa's house. I always try to just listen, and not act like I have any grand life-fixing answers (because I don't). I do know her mother should be supporting those girls, but what can I say? In the past, L has always been her mother's biggest fan. Even when she was locking the girls in their bedrooms, she could do no wrong in L's eyes. This has changed. L knows her mom needs to get a job, and blames her for their current problems. She didn't put this into words other than "I hate adults" but I can read between the lines.

Next week we're going to the Tampa Zoo. I had promised her a fun trip because she worked so hard in school, regardless of what grades she received (still hasn't gotten her last report card, go figure). She is beyond excited. I am so glad she enjoys our time together, regardless of how cool she tries to play it sometimes. I am going to try and get a better photo of us together than this one from last year. She hates photos, but humors me :)

A handful of photos, and an apology for being a slacker

Whoops. I'm back! So much has happened, so let's get started.

On July 1, Bill and I flew home to Oklahoma City to see my parents. We all 4 took a road trip to Taos, New Mexico where we met up with my sisters (Caitlin, Hayley and Muriel) and company (Miguel and Samory). The house was great, within walking distance of the central plaza of Taos. We shopped, ate more than our fair share of all things chile, and prepared ourselves for the big day.

On July 4, we set out at 6:15am to the base of Wheeler Peak, the tallest peak in New Mexico (13,161 ft.) The hike was fun, beautiful, and strenuous...but 5 hrs. and 8 miles later, we made it to the top!

Bright eyed and bushy tailed at the trailhead in the morning:

Our trail

The first two miles were pretty beastly. Every once in a while it seemed our bodies would re-adjust to the altitude, and it would get easier. Then it would get harder again...etc. Muriel said "Far away mountain blue is my favorite color." Well said, Murn.

Miguel foresaw the need for sugar on the trail, and brought a gummy bear the size of a small dog. We all had a bite of it somewhere along the trail. It provided entertainment, if nothing else. With two miles left at the end, he accidentally dropped it in the dirt. Surgery was performed to remove contaminated tissue, and eating commenced. Hehe well done, Mig.

Once we got here, we had about an hour left. We kept thinking we were "there" but hit a couple of false summits. What a head game. Once we saw our REAL final destination, it was an adrenaline rush to the top. Here's mom, probably muttering "stupid false summit."

We made it!!

Stuffed our faces at the top. Might have been the best sandwich and fruit I have ever eaten.

Back on the descent, well above the tree line.

Big horned sheep! This open part of the upward climb was a BEAST. So many switch-backs up the steep slope, constantly looking upward towards the summit and the tiny hikers barely visible. Daunting, to say the least. We just kept on trucking, and talked about everything under the sun.

I didn't want to post a million photos, so there you have it. We were all tired, sweaty, hungry, and ready to get those shoes off. No major injuries (except Hayley's splinter from a sign post). We got pizza and headed straight for the house. We watched fireworks from the hot tub on our back porch, and spent the next few days doing more shopping and eating. What a relaxing vacation. The confidence of climbing that mountain has inspired me to train for a half-marathon. Bill and I started that running regimen yesterday, so I'll keep you posted.

Back in Oklahoma, Bill and I went to a baseball game with my two best hometown girlfriends Kingsley and Shelley, along with Kingsley's husband Jeff (birthday boy) and another friend. We ate Mexican food, got cupcakes, then enjoyed the nice weather.

I also took my annual photo with K and J's dog, Franklin. Silly sunburned face, but have you ever tried to wrangle a bulldog? Hehe

On our last full day back in Oklahoma, Bill and I walked around my parents 20 acres for a good part of the morning. Bill looked for birds, I took photos of my mom's astounding landscaping. Green thumb does not begin to describe.

We had lunch with Meema. She made delicious grilled salmon, asparagus pasta salad, fruit salad, bloody mary's, and sorbet. Delish. We ate in her also-impressive back yard.

After waiting to hear about the offer we put on a short sale home for over 2 months, we got word from our realtor while on vacation! Here we are a couple of weeks later, with SO many ups and downs in between, but it finally seems we are going to be closing August 7, getting an amazing deal, with a clean bill of health for the house. Cannot wait. I've already been plotting my landscape plan, but first thing's first. Let's close this deal and paint those icky pastel walls!

Meet our roomate

Yes friends, we have a new addition. Bill got an iPhone and they're new best buds, it's pretty funny. What do people (we) do when they get iPhones? Take photos of pets and nature, of course.

Remy guarding her lair (the lanai):

Vann trying to convince someone to pour him some water. Seriously, this cat will only drink cold water out of a glass. It's been like this since Bill adopted him in 2007, there is no explanation. When he hears you get out the Brita, he comes a-trotting.

In preparation for our Steele Reunion Hike in Taos on July 4th, we wanted to test out our legs (and new shoes), so we mapped out 8 miles (half of our Wheeler Peak hike in Taos). We left on Saturday just before sunrise, because let's face it, after sunrise comes The Death Heat. 100 degrees, 100% humidity. South Florida has its perks, but The Death Heat does not make the list.

We included the only hills in a 50 mile radius (the bridges over the Peace River) in our route, and kept ourselves in scenic downtown, along the river. We had a great time, and legs and shoes and attitudes did great. We saw 22 bird species along the way.

Leaving from the dog park:

Hark! A rare boulder field, leading to the bridge over Peaceful Waters:

Sunrise is better than sunset, in my humble opinion. Luckily both are pretty spectacular where we live:

On the other side:

So what do normal, sane people do after walking 8 miles? Eat, of course, especially if you're us and we'd eat without the 8 miles. But you knew that. We went to this diner we'd been wanting to try. I had eggs over easy, dry rye toast, grits, and tomato slices. Bill had scrambled eggs and buckwheat pancakes. No photos of breakfast, what the heck were we thinking? My favorite part of this photo is the writing-on-wall/super-loud-girl-in-camo combination. Charming.

We're doing the hike again this Saturday, and will be showered and fed just in time for our greatest (and tallest) friend Manan to arrive! He's coming over for a 2 day stay. It seems like we are sparing him by hiking prior to his arrival, but really I'm sparing myself. I come up to Manan's belt, approximately. I'd have to sprint those 8 miles to keep up with him.

Back in action

We've been slacking on the food photos, so today you'll get your fill. Haha I just love puns.

Anyway...

Today's dinner started this afternoon, when I prepared the slaw. Mom, Dad, Bill and I ate our weight in this slaw while on vacation on Little Gasparilla Island back in March. I mean what else did we have to do, with our busy schedule of fishing, looking for shells, walking the beach, taking pictures of our feet and birds, and drinking delicious beers? Plus I just love cabbage. You can do 100 things to it, and I always feel somewhat healthier after eating it. I just love things that do that.

This time I decided to use red cabbage instead of green:

I was quite delighted when the cleaning water ran this indigo blue color:

Other ingredients in the slaw are cilantro, jalapeno, mini tomatoes, peanuts, lime juice, salt, and a little oil. Just trust me. The stuff will make you slap yo' daddy it's so good.

After an afternoon of science vocabulary and math flashcards with Lexi, I lightly blackened some fish, which Bill so thoughtfully caught in this candid shot:

I tried to recover my honor by turning and smiling, but ended up looking like I just woke up from only sleeping 2 hours due to heartburn. Oh wait, that was Friday...

Ooh, yummy marinated deliciousness:

Fish, slaw, scallion, dollop of yogurt and a dash of hot sauce:

When did I get those crow's feet? Rude.

Bill's masterpiece

I had to stand on my tip toes to take this photo. Goofball:

Hope everyone had a glorious weekend, and remember folks: Do not lay down immediately after eating spicy food. This has been a public service announcement.

Recovered

Thursday night I had the most insane case of stomach pain, which resulted in me going to CVS in my pj's at nearly 2am. I was trying, quite unsuccessfully, not to disturb Bill who had to get up early for work. The only other customers at CVS were a young couple and their 3-ish year old son in his Spiderman pj's. I may have been doubled over and hobbling, but I still noticed that they were shopping for toys and scented lotion. Um, quite odd, considering the hour.

Long story short my near brush with stomach explosion is all better, thanks to Bill's back rub that finally put me to sleep, and a day of doing nothing but reading and eating some stale Saltines. Today I was back in action, but was missing the couch, my book and the stale crackers while at Walmart this afternoon.

In other news, we have a joyously delicious lineup planned for this week:

-Homemade veggie burgers w/ jalapeno-cilantro potatoes

-Fish tacos with the best slaw (cabbage, lime, peanuts and then some)

-Veg chili over baked sweet potatoes, w/ roasted broccoli

-Peanuty vegetable soup

-Tilapia picatta w/ garlic swiss chard spaghetti

-Lemon herb buckwheat salad w/ tofu

We got word that the bank (that has to approve the sale of the house we put an offer on) ordered an appraisal. We are trying not to get our hopes up, but this at least means that they have seen our offer (inevitably on some stack of short-sale offers on some CEO's desk), and are moving on it. Yay!

Sorry, no photos today. The only ones I've taken recently are of my wedding dress beading, which I sent to the girl making me a necklace and a pair of earrings out of some of the crystals.

It's A Wonderful Life, Turner edition

I love thinking back to a year ago at this time, we had just recently done this:

Then one year ago today, we left in the ol' Camry for our 2 week East Coast expedition. Our first stop was Charleston, SC where we went to the Audubon Swamp and Magnolia Plantation just outside town, enjoyed some gorgeous weather, saw tons of birds, hiked through old slave cemeteries, and ate gazpacho before making our way into the city. I made gazpacho last night for dinner, without even realizing the irony until we sat down to eat and I remembered the last time we had it. Awesome.

It's a wonderful life.

Flowers!

Bill sent me the most beautiful flowers at the office today, a little early anniversary (Memorial Day) treat! He even took a photo of our actual wedding flowers to the florist, and I'd say they got pretty darn close. Good day.

In their natural habitat (my office):