I finally got that pony I've always wanted!

What's up party people? I'M BACK! Did ya miss me? Did you sit by your computer crying as each day passed and there was no new blog post from me? Did you? Did you? No? Well, that's ok...

So, Phoenix was, in a word, wonderful. Beautiful blue skies, temps in the upper 70's, palm trees and cacti everywhere you turned. It couldn't have been more peaceful. Oh yea, and we got to see the Cubbies while we were there!!!! Seeing as that was the whole purpose of our trip, I guess I should mention that...

Brief synopsis (HA-like I know how to be brief.....keep reading!!!!) of the trip:

We got into Phoenix mid-day on Sunday. We quickly learned that it was the same time that it was on the west coast, so we quickly oriented ourselves. Our first big adventure was at the rental car place. We signed up for an economy car like we always do (we're all about low price and good gas mileage). Our salesman was like "ladies, what are you doing? You can't drive that". Well, being the cute and charming girls that we are, we began telling our sob story of being poor social workers and how we'd love to have a fancier car, but the Ford Focus would be fine.....yada, yada, yada. Well, he draws up our paperwork and shows us that we have paid for an economy car, however (he then points lower on the page), this is what we will be driving.....a Mustang. Erin was like "and you're not charging us for this?". He says "no, you girls need the pony". Looking back, this could have been construed as a dirty old man flirty with us.....so we go out to the rental car garage, go to M10 to get our Mustang (we are very excited at this point) and see that it is not a Mustang parked in M10, but this big giant boat-like Cadillac....uh, no. I realize the pictures will make this story much funnier (and yes I did take a pic of the giant Caddie), they will be coming soon. With the help of the nice Hertz lady, we realized our dude wrote down the wrong number, found our shiny black Mustang and headed out on the open road. I drove first, since I am our highway driver and Erin is our city driver. We were heading out to Tucson, about a two hour drive from Phoenix. Here's what we quickly learned about our Mustang-it's loud, it's big and it is a GAS GUZZLER. By the end of our trip, we hated it and were longing for our fuel efficient Ford Focus (especially with gas prices in Arizona topping out at #3.21 a gallon!). I'm sure we looked cool in the Mustang, though.

So, we spent Sunday and Monday at Erin's aunt and uncle's house in Tuscon. Located in Pima Canyon, their house has gorgeous mountains as their backyard. This place was more like a resort. Erin's uncle took us to Sabino Canyon and we got to go on the guided tour up the mountain (run by the US Forest Service-who my daddy used to work for pre-retirement). Pictures coming-this place was beautiful. We were gonna go see the Diamondbacks play on Monday but decided to instead chill. Erin's aunt Barb took us to lunch (and bought us milkshakes-yay!), we then returned to the house, layed outside by the pool, reading, napping, just totally relaxing. Around 4pm, Erin's uncle Dan came by to take our drink orders. It truly was like being at a resort and being waited on-loved it! We had a yummy home cooked meal that night and then sat and watched Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Erin and I laughed the entire time...her uncle assurred us that in the 1950's, Pod People were scary business!!!! :)

Tuesday, we headed back up to the Phoenix metro area-it was Cubbie day! Thanks to some confusion about the start time of the game (damn Daylight Savings Time!), we headed straight to HoHoKam Park in Mesa. I think Erin and I have decided that lawn seats are the way to go. They're inexpensive ($6) and not full of old people (sorry, but Spring Training brings out the "snowbirds"-that's what the locals call them). Erin and I sat on a big beach towel and took in the sun....and the Cubs. Carlos Zambrano pitched on Tuesday (they were playing the A's), although we missed most of his performance as we got there a bit late......the Cubbies lost, by the way, 4-6. Tuesday night we met Erin's cousins for dinner. Her cousin's 4 year old, Emily, took a liking to me (probably because I played hide and seek with her....or because we're about the same height, not sure which).

Wednesday we decided to go see the Cubs on the road. "The road" was just a bit northwest of Phoenix in Suprise, Az. They were playing the Texas Rangers that day (Red and Jon's new home team...holla!!!!). Their stadium (Surprise Stadium-creative, huh?) was really nice and the Cubs again lost (I don't remember the score). We were a bit dejected after loss #2 but were hopeful that the boys would win for us the next day....our last game while in Arizona. Wednesday night, we decided we would actually go out. We got dressed up (or as dressed up as Erin and I get-mostly consisted of fixing our hair and putting on some makeup) and went out to dinner at this place we really liked last year-Gordon Biersch Brewery (hey Red-it's a chain and they're getting one in Dallas-you guys should go!). After dinner we went in search of finding a bar to go to...you'd think in Tempe, a college town, there would be lots of bars on the main drag-you'd think wrong. We managed to find one, had a couple of drinks, hung out (totally got carded, that was awesome) and had some fun!

Thursday we went out one last time to see our Cubbies. And now let me tell you our 2008 prediction. Last year while at Spring Training, Erin and I were sure that this kid, Ryan Theriot would be the new starting short stop for the Cubs. As it turns out, he was, and he was pretty awesome. This year our money is on Sam Fuld, #27. He WILL be the starting center fielder...he was pretty awesome and Erin and I are thinking of starting the Sam Fuld fan club....any joiners? Anyway, this game was great...they were playing the Padres and guess who was pitching against them? The legend himself, Greg Maddux. I was beyond excited to see him pitch, even if it was against the Cubs. I was not so much excited to see who was pitching for the Cubs. Ick-Jason Marquis. He managed to do alright, the score was tied 2-2 in the bottom of the 9th, bases full of Cubs, Alex Cintron at the plate. He gets a base hit, Cubs win, life is good! :) We kept it pretty low key Thursday night as we had to be up at 5am yesterday to catch our flight.

So, it's good to be back home. The weather is ok here (I think it was 62 yesterday), but nothing like Arizona. We'll be back though! So glad I got to see my Cubbies, even more glad that I get to email DT again! ;) I need to get back into my routine (including working out). I am very much looking forward to next weekend-my parents and siblings will be here, my out of town cousins will be here. It'll be fine family fun-I love it when we are all together. I also want to note that our family friend Mitch had brain surgery on Monday at DePaul. He is doing great and is getting to come home today! YAY! I'm hopeful we'll get to see him and his wife Bonny next weekend if he's up to having visitors (nothing like having the Davidson clan come a' knockin' at your door!).