Back to the Daily Grind
I had a nice six-day refreshing break from my normal routine, which basically means that I was busy non-stop (I miss being busy). It started on Wednesday:
I started Wednesday morning by going to a live-in community in North Scottsdale to tour their spa. There are about 150 people already living in the community and it is still under construction to grow much larger. They have one male on-call therapist, but a lot of people are requesting a female therapist. They've had female therapists, but every one of them has flaked out by not showing up for appointments or just no longer answering their phones. My best guess as to the reasoning for this is that the spa isn't really busy enough to be someone's only job. What they're looking for now is someone who wants to work one or two days per week until further need; either Thursday, Friday, Saturday or Sunday. What I like about it is that they make the appointments worth your time pay-wise. Their 60 minute treatments run no less than $65, of which the therapist gets 50% plus a full 18% auto-gratuity. Read: $44/hr. That's basically what I was making in Iowa working for myself, BEFORE paying $500/mo in rent. AND they provide everything for you - hydrolic table, sheets, towels, towel warmer, massage-grade cream, etc. Anyway, more on this as it develops...
Then I visited my dad at his office to grab some lunch before heading to the airport to pick up Jack. Him and I got caught up a little, and vaguely touched on politics, while walking Cheyenne around the block, and then Brian got home from work and we all went to the reptile store to get roaches/crickets for the frilled lizards. Jack got to 'oo' & 'ah' over the full grown female green burm that is the store's pride and joy, and was more active than I had ever seen her. The big attraction, however, for all three of us (since Brian and I had not been there since they got it in) was a juvenile patternless green burm. Anyway, Brian went to school for two hours so Jack and I watched 'Hook' (I still say we should've watched Labyrinth =P). Then the three of us went to My Florist for a long overdue dinner (has to be my favorite restaurant, as long as the pianist is there).
Thursday is always my busiest canine massage day, thanks largely to Pete & Mac's, but also includes an appointment in Phoenix every other week. So I took Jack to Camelback Mountain (in the area) to go hiking in the morning. I remember when Brian and I went the one time I had to stop to rest about four times before making it to the top, and that was when we had been hiking Squa Peak every week. Yet this time I didn't have to stop even once, although there was a point about 3/4 of the way up when Jack told me I was turning colors from over-exertion. That was about when my quads were starting to ache, too. But the whole thing still seemed a lot easier. We followed up hiking with lunch at Duck & Decanter, where we continued our conversation that we had been having all day about Iraq and whether or not Jack should re-enlist (I still hope you don't unless you get a much better offer on the table). Fast forward past 2.5 hours of work...hell, fast forward till dinner b/c I seem unable to recall anything between work and dinner...Jack and I went to Shabu Fondue. We were going to go to the Rhythm Room afterwards, but Jack was tired. Although I reserve the right to make fun of him at all times as much as possible, I am quite understanding of the almost 12 hour time difference from Iraq and the jet lag. I made him stay awake to keep me company until Brian came home (about 15 minutes), although Brian basically crashed immediately as well =P.
I had two back-to-back appointments at Firesky starting at 3:15 pm. Before that, I read the prolouge and half of the first chapter of a book Jack's been writing, we ran errands at PetCo and Walmart, ate steak at Logan's (where Holly apparently doesn't work anymore), and went to a metaphysical store to find pentagram necklaces (which they did not have in stock). Afterwards, Brian was home and the three of us ate at Blue Nile Cafe and then went to Big Fish Pub. Brian had just recently found Blue Nile, an Ethiopian restaurant, and I had not eaten there yet. Nikki, if you ever visit AZ again, I will take you here b/c they have a huge Vegan section on their menu. It was good. It was filling. The service sucks, but I'd still go there again and again. It was not a good choice on my part, however, to go to an Ethiopian restaurant before going to a bar. Jack had been drunk once in his life up until this point. I wanted to see him drunk, so he promised me he would get drunk once during his visit. Friday was his last night there, and Big Fish had been a place I had wanted to check out for a few weeks now. It was definitely a dimly lit hole-in-the-wall joint, as most places are in Tempe, with one 7 ft pool table and a little stage/dance floor.
Since Brian was with us, I decided I could give Jack the honor of seeing me drunk as well. Jack started off with three guinness' and an irish car bomb, supplemented later with random shots (I don't know how many) of bourbon and whiskey to include Jack Daniels, Southern Comfort, and Makers Mark (?). According to Brian, I drank Jack under the table. I started with a buttery nipple shot, sex on the beach drink, long island iced tea drink, and a jagerbomber (which tasted really weird...I threw it up immediately). This is where I lose track of the order in which I drank things...3 shots of bourbon/whiskey (for Jack, totally not my kind of alcohol), a second long island iced tea, a blow job shot (taken the way it's supposed to be taken, which seems to be a huge crowd pleaser), a red headed slut, and 1/4 of a Blue Hawaiian drink (as Jack downed the other 3/4 of it in order to get me to drink the last shot of bourbon). If I would've exchanged the bourbon/whiskey shots for drinks I normally drink, I wouldn't have gotten sick. Brian even thinks that if I just hadn't pushed it with the very last shot of bourbon that I wouldn't have gotten sick. I was still nowhere as sick as Jack was.
We got home and Jack threw up. Then I got him to the futon and went into the bathroom and threw up myself. Jack barreled in again as I was finishing and I got out of the way just in time as he threw up again. Then he passed out so I couldn't get him back to the futon again. I went to bed and heard him awhile later wake up, throw up, flush the toilet and go to the futon. I got up around 9 am, hung over. I got Jack up, he threw up some more until he started dry heaving. And although he still felt like death, he was much better by the time I got him to the airport around 12:15 pm. Brian got to take a half day off of work and was home by 1:30 pm. We went to Duck & Decanter for lunch, b/c it was the only place I could think of that had soup. That was all I needed to feel 100% again, which was good b/c it meant I got to enjoy dinner with Brian and his dad for his dad's birthday. All you can eat sushi at Ninja! With Godiva chocolates for dessert, since his dad wasn't an only child like us and actually shares.
Okay, the last two days of my six-day break will have to wait. B/c this post is getting long and taking up too much time!!
I started Wednesday morning by going to a live-in community in North Scottsdale to tour their spa. There are about 150 people already living in the community and it is still under construction to grow much larger. They have one male on-call therapist, but a lot of people are requesting a female therapist. They've had female therapists, but every one of them has flaked out by not showing up for appointments or just no longer answering their phones. My best guess as to the reasoning for this is that the spa isn't really busy enough to be someone's only job. What they're looking for now is someone who wants to work one or two days per week until further need; either Thursday, Friday, Saturday or Sunday. What I like about it is that they make the appointments worth your time pay-wise. Their 60 minute treatments run no less than $65, of which the therapist gets 50% plus a full 18% auto-gratuity. Read: $44/hr. That's basically what I was making in Iowa working for myself, BEFORE paying $500/mo in rent. AND they provide everything for you - hydrolic table, sheets, towels, towel warmer, massage-grade cream, etc. Anyway, more on this as it develops...
Then I visited my dad at his office to grab some lunch before heading to the airport to pick up Jack. Him and I got caught up a little, and vaguely touched on politics, while walking Cheyenne around the block, and then Brian got home from work and we all went to the reptile store to get roaches/crickets for the frilled lizards. Jack got to 'oo' & 'ah' over the full grown female green burm that is the store's pride and joy, and was more active than I had ever seen her. The big attraction, however, for all three of us (since Brian and I had not been there since they got it in) was a juvenile patternless green burm. Anyway, Brian went to school for two hours so Jack and I watched 'Hook' (I still say we should've watched Labyrinth =P). Then the three of us went to My Florist for a long overdue dinner (has to be my favorite restaurant, as long as the pianist is there).
Thursday is always my busiest canine massage day, thanks largely to Pete & Mac's, but also includes an appointment in Phoenix every other week. So I took Jack to Camelback Mountain (in the area) to go hiking in the morning. I remember when Brian and I went the one time I had to stop to rest about four times before making it to the top, and that was when we had been hiking Squa Peak every week. Yet this time I didn't have to stop even once, although there was a point about 3/4 of the way up when Jack told me I was turning colors from over-exertion. That was about when my quads were starting to ache, too. But the whole thing still seemed a lot easier. We followed up hiking with lunch at Duck & Decanter, where we continued our conversation that we had been having all day about Iraq and whether or not Jack should re-enlist (I still hope you don't unless you get a much better offer on the table). Fast forward past 2.5 hours of work...hell, fast forward till dinner b/c I seem unable to recall anything between work and dinner...Jack and I went to Shabu Fondue. We were going to go to the Rhythm Room afterwards, but Jack was tired. Although I reserve the right to make fun of him at all times as much as possible, I am quite understanding of the almost 12 hour time difference from Iraq and the jet lag. I made him stay awake to keep me company until Brian came home (about 15 minutes), although Brian basically crashed immediately as well =P.
I had two back-to-back appointments at Firesky starting at 3:15 pm. Before that, I read the prolouge and half of the first chapter of a book Jack's been writing, we ran errands at PetCo and Walmart, ate steak at Logan's (where Holly apparently doesn't work anymore), and went to a metaphysical store to find pentagram necklaces (which they did not have in stock). Afterwards, Brian was home and the three of us ate at Blue Nile Cafe and then went to Big Fish Pub. Brian had just recently found Blue Nile, an Ethiopian restaurant, and I had not eaten there yet. Nikki, if you ever visit AZ again, I will take you here b/c they have a huge Vegan section on their menu. It was good. It was filling. The service sucks, but I'd still go there again and again. It was not a good choice on my part, however, to go to an Ethiopian restaurant before going to a bar. Jack had been drunk once in his life up until this point. I wanted to see him drunk, so he promised me he would get drunk once during his visit. Friday was his last night there, and Big Fish had been a place I had wanted to check out for a few weeks now. It was definitely a dimly lit hole-in-the-wall joint, as most places are in Tempe, with one 7 ft pool table and a little stage/dance floor.
Since Brian was with us, I decided I could give Jack the honor of seeing me drunk as well. Jack started off with three guinness' and an irish car bomb, supplemented later with random shots (I don't know how many) of bourbon and whiskey to include Jack Daniels, Southern Comfort, and Makers Mark (?). According to Brian, I drank Jack under the table. I started with a buttery nipple shot, sex on the beach drink, long island iced tea drink, and a jagerbomber (which tasted really weird...I threw it up immediately). This is where I lose track of the order in which I drank things...3 shots of bourbon/whiskey (for Jack, totally not my kind of alcohol), a second long island iced tea, a blow job shot (taken the way it's supposed to be taken, which seems to be a huge crowd pleaser), a red headed slut, and 1/4 of a Blue Hawaiian drink (as Jack downed the other 3/4 of it in order to get me to drink the last shot of bourbon). If I would've exchanged the bourbon/whiskey shots for drinks I normally drink, I wouldn't have gotten sick. Brian even thinks that if I just hadn't pushed it with the very last shot of bourbon that I wouldn't have gotten sick. I was still nowhere as sick as Jack was.
We got home and Jack threw up. Then I got him to the futon and went into the bathroom and threw up myself. Jack barreled in again as I was finishing and I got out of the way just in time as he threw up again. Then he passed out so I couldn't get him back to the futon again. I went to bed and heard him awhile later wake up, throw up, flush the toilet and go to the futon. I got up around 9 am, hung over. I got Jack up, he threw up some more until he started dry heaving. And although he still felt like death, he was much better by the time I got him to the airport around 12:15 pm. Brian got to take a half day off of work and was home by 1:30 pm. We went to Duck & Decanter for lunch, b/c it was the only place I could think of that had soup. That was all I needed to feel 100% again, which was good b/c it meant I got to enjoy dinner with Brian and his dad for his dad's birthday. All you can eat sushi at Ninja! With Godiva chocolates for dessert, since his dad wasn't an only child like us and actually shares.
Okay, the last two days of my six-day break will have to wait. B/c this post is getting long and taking up too much time!!