Watch out for cacti on the highway. Seriously.

I'm BAAAAACK! Did ya miss me? I know you were dying without my crazy ramblings the last few days. I got back from Arizona last night. I so didn't want to leave-it was in the mid to upper 80's all week (although it is quite nice here in the STL-upper 70's? It's that damn global warming-Al Gore said so!). My Cubbies kicked some ass, winning both games we went to. Here's the lowdown on our Thelma and Louise inspired trip (according to Erin's supervisor, anyway).

We got into Phoenix late Wednesday afternoon without incident. Unless you count the guy on the plane that kept coughing and wheezing right behind us-he sounded like he was gonna die, or the a-hole who was in line in front of us at the rental car place. He was yelling at the staff about how ridiculous it was that we had to wait in line. He was an idiot. Erin and I scored the HOTTEST rental car......wait for it..........yes, for five days, we got to drive a gold Ford Focus. It was hot. Once we got settled in at the hotel (very nice, by the way), we went in search of dinner, found this great mexican place, Macayo's, where I proceeded to nearly die by drinking a margarita. Mind you, I only drank about a third of it. I started feeling flush like I was gonna faint, I went into the bathroom and sat on the floor because I wasn't sure if I was gonna throw up or pass out. It was quite unpleasant, to say the least. After that exciting adventure, we went back to the hotel for some much needed sleep.

Thursday, we strolled around Tempe and Scotsdale. Tempe is a college town so there were lots of shops and cool places to hang out. Scotsdale is more of an older crowd (ok, downright elderly...). They had a lot of great jewelry stores and western shops that were pretty cool. I decided I wanted to become a cowgirl. That is, until I saw that the pink cowboy boots I wanted were like $300. Scratch that idea. But I DID look cute in a cowboy hat....That night, we went to this place that our friend Carrie had heard about, Greasewood Flats. It's out in the desert in the middle of nowhere. There was a rooster, that's all I'm sayin'. It's this bar that apparently caters to bikers. You sit outside on picnic tables, each table had a pit to set a fire (which we were not very good at, and the bouncer kept coming by and laughing at us...). Erin and I met some very nice bikers (what's up Jamie and Bob?). They were awesome. I had myself some Miller Lite (very popular in Arizona).

Side note: What does everyone think of this....ok, so the weekend before last I met a cute guy at Gitto's and we exchanged numbers. On Wednesday, he sent me a text message. How do we feel about this? A text instead of a call? Give me your thoughts....Erin wasn't so fond of it and says he has already lost major points....

Anyway, on Friday, we went to HoHoKam Park in Mesa to see our Cubbies. We were about 7 rows from the field and nearly fried in the sun (not to mention nearly dying from getting hit in the head by foul balls! The guy sitting like 2 people from me got a ball). The Cubbie's looked good, y'all! They played the Padres and won 10-6. My boy, Aramis Ramirez hit a homerun (LOVE him!). Alfonso Soriano didn't do a whole lot, but it's still early. Derrek Lee looked good, so did Michael Barrett (I meant their playing looked good perverts. But come to think of it, they are both kinda hot....). Friday night we had a fabulous dinner at this brewery in Tempe. I had their heifeweisen (sp?). I didn't like it, but that's ok. We also got the priviledge of listening to some local preach on the streets (we were sitting outside). He had a microphone and a speaker and basically told us all we were going to hell. He was fun.

On Saturday, we drove to Tucson (about a two hour drive) to see Erin's aunt and uncle. They have the most gorgeous house (probably worth a couple mil). It was surrounded by the mountains. It felt like we were at a resort. We tried out the pool but it was absolutely freezing, so we nixed that idea....her aunt and uncle were so nice, and later, her other aunt and her two room mates came over. They are affectionately known as The Golden Girls (three women in their 60's living together). They were a RIOT! They are how I imagine my friends and I will be when we are that age. And my can those ladies drink!!!!! Erin's uncle made sure our glasses (or bottles-I was diggin the Corona light) were never empty. We stayed the night there, got up early on Sunday morning and headed back to HoHoKam for some more Cubbie's fun!

The Cubbies played the Brew Crew on Sunday (what up Mi-li-wau-kee???). We sat in the shade this time. The boys won 6-3. Yes, all you Cards fans are gonna be SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO jealous (this is said with MUCH sarcasm), because Erin and I got to see Jason Marquis pitch live. It's true. We are so awesome. He played 4 innings. Gave up 1 run and 6 hits. They brought in Kerry Wood after that (I was SO excited to see him play!). He did ok. I don't remember his stats. I was just so excited to see them play! I got a great new Cubs hat. It's navy blue and the "c" is pink. It has a little palm tree next to it and the back says "Spring Training, Mesa, Arizona" in pink. Too cute.

Monday was our travel day. Up bright and early to the realization that there was gonna be a two hour time difference once we got back home (Arizona does not do daylight savings time). Our flights were fairly uneventful-we had a brief layover in Dallas-literally brief, we got to the gate as our next plane was boarding. On the flight to Dallas we did have our slight brush with fame (I'm saying this sarcastically as well). All you American Idol fans may remember Josh Gracin. Country singer, was in the Marines? Well....his BAND was on the plane with us. Isn't that cool? Uh.......yea. On the tram to get to our next plane, one of the guys looked at me and asked if I was a Cubs fan (I had my hat on). I thought about being a biatch and saying "no", but I didn't. This then sparked a mini-conversation about Erin and I being Cubs fans in St. Louis.

I finally got back to my apartment around 7:30. I was exhausted. I had 121 emails to sort through (it hurts to be this popular, it really does). I got a little bit of color to me now, I'm nice and relaxed but ready to get back to work. It was a much needed vacation and I was able to get some much needed sleep while I was there! The desert air is so relaxing, I love it and would move there in a heartbeat if all my family wasn't in Missouri!

Now back to life. Gotta get my taxes done this week, go back to work on Wednesday (both jobs). I have book club on Thursday. Saturday we are doing a trivia night. ALWAYS fun-what could be better than getting to prove what a smarty pants you are AND drinking at the same time? LOVE it. I'll be at the fam girls lunch on Saturday too.

As for the title of this post? Yes, while driving, we heard a traffic report on the radio warning drivers of a cactus that was in the middle of the road on I-10 (not something you hear in Missouri). I also saw a for real tumbleweed cross the highway, I did not bring it back to Mo for my mom like I promised-the speed limit in AZ is 75 mph-I was going way too fast to catch it! Maybe next year-because we WILL be back!