Oh the places you'll go

Wow have I slacked off. Ahem.
I'm writing this on the second leg of a flight out to Las Vegas. My dad has cancer. Stage 4. I am now in this weird place of child/adult trying to puzzle out what to do, how to push, etc.
We've known for a bit, but this is the first I'll see him since the diagnosis and treatment.

I am afraid to get off the plane. That will make it all real.

Seriously, people, any mojo you can send to help me keep it together with some kind of grace for all of us will be deeply appreciated.

My half brother and his wife have been trying to help out, but my parents are weird and insular and stubborn. I'm sure those of you who know me will find that shocking. My brother and sister in law are wonderful, though and I'm so glad they live in Vegas close to our parents.

Tom will be joining us this weekend. Oreo and Bunny will stay with his parents. I'll be very glad to see him. Hauling the doggies out with us was just...no. O,o I think Dad would like Bunny. She's quiet and very snuggly. Then again he says she has a stripper name.

On a lighter note, I have (assuming I pass training) a job as an online adjunct. Trying to keep names out of it for a variety if reasons. But training has been great, the school is very supportive and friendly. Also, as it's online, it's a very portable job. And will possibly be less strain on me than in person courses, especially those I have to develop entirely on my own. I'm still planning on teaching in person, but it seems like the online gig will be more regular.
Part of training involves doing a live chat with PowerPoint. The title of this post comes from the title of a slide showing a squat toilet.

My Official Response Is As Follows: "Daaaaaaaaaaaamn"

Image via WikipediaUnreported Heritage News: Ancient Egyptians made the arduous trek to Chad ne...: "View From Egypt to Chad in a larger map The Bodele Depression. New research suggests that the Egyptians travelled to this area. Today it..."

Go read the article and look at the pictures.

I wonder what this will do to the ongoing debate over which ancient Egyptian place-names apply to what areas in greater Nubia and Africa

Also: ZOMG A country in Africa had contact with other parts of Africa!

Nevada Trip - Down South

When we got back to Las Vegas we decided to visit Red Rock Canyon.  It has lots of hiking trails of varying difficulty.  It also has an amazing interactive visitor's center that covers the canyon, desert climate, the microclimates in various parts of the park and is generally amazing.

I'd really like to go back and camp and do a few more of the trails. 

Prickly Pear

One of those sort of microclimates along a gully

Sad ickle pinyon pine

Yep, I look like a dork, what of it.  Worse, most of what I'm wearing is slightly too-small dig clothes

I feel like this most of the time

Pictograph

Behold my magical glowing shoes

Deciding how to make my ascent

Another more forest-y microclimate

Nevada Trip - Up North

Logan Shoals view of Lake Tahoe

It's been a hectic few weeks for us, so I didn't get these posted as soon as I had hoped.

Super Tom looks down upon us mere mortals

I think I need to grab a few from Tom too that he took with his iPhone.
So, we mostly went up to Reno to visit with my Nana who has esophageal cancer.
She is doing very well, considering.
We also took a day to drive up to Lake Tahoe where we got married at Logan Shoals Vista Point.
It was a beautiful fall day.
The Vista Point has had some improvements since we were there 7 years ago.
It also, however, sees the occasional crack-pipe.  To be fair, the crack smoker had hidden in in the crack (heh) between some rocks and I knocked it out with my cane because I wanted to see what it was.
I love Lake Tahoe.  If we could live there it would be awesome.  The air smelled wonderful.  It was quiet.  Ahhhh.
Reno is still very nice too, I think. 
To mark the occasion, I bought my very first fancy-pants yarn from a yarn store.  Some Noro in colors that sort of reminded me of the lake and surroundings.  I have vague plans of a shawl for me.

We also went to one of the streams and caught salmon spawning season, which neither of us had ever seen.  It was pretty amazing.  And I spent entirely too much time trying and failing to get photos of feathery duck booties when they dived for food.

So beautiful.

Look boys and girls, a crack pipe!

This is a weasel, not a ferret or even an otter but I took a photo anyway.

Ducks!  And dying salmon.

Salmon dying after spawning.  I thought of Chip, who by now had probably forgotten that highlight of his campus tour

More ducks!

The stream the salmon were swimming up.

We went and had a picnic on the beach and we took a photo of that random tug-boat on wheels thingie.

Pinchy on the Road

My friend Scott apparently got to see Machu Picchu recently and took these freakin' awesome, nay, downright bitchin' photos of Pinchy the scorpion visiting one of the world's great archaeological sites.

Pinchy is becoming quite the traveller. I'm hoping he at least defends Scott's luggage from intrusion in exchange for transport.

Safely Arrived

Yesterday was a long day, but the trip went smoothly, so that was awesome.  The American Airlines people were very nice - the staff in Dallas even  changed our seats for us to give me more legroom and less distance to walk.  And got me a wheelchair for the jetway because it was a really long-ass jet-way.
Oreo was a good boy, as usual.

Peeking out of the carrier

Tasty fried chicken from the comfort of my wheelchair

Doing some crochet waiting for our connection in Dallas.

If you look closely you can see both the silver in my hair AND the stupid cystic pimples on my jawline.

Our flightpath into Vegas brought us right over Hoover Dam, which was beautiful light up in the dark.  I could just make out the silhouette of the new bridge against the lights shining up the face of the damn.

We slept in as best we could today, though Mom and Dad's younger schnauzer, Lily, is a punk and keeps starting stuff with Oreo.  And Oreo gives it right back.  Meanwhile, the older schnauzer (who is actually the same age as Oreo) Oliver just sort of patiently watches them be stupid and is a model sweetheart. 

We got to see my brother and his wife and my nephew today for dinner.  I'm tired and feeling a bit stiff and my joints are aching, but hopefully that will ease up soon.

It's overcast and smells of rain outside tonight - beautiful.  I miss the desert.

View from the backyard

Blog-cation

Image by Getty Images via @daylifeTom and Oreo and I are heading out to visit my family in Nevada.  Wooo!  I love air travel so much (/sarcasm)!
Anyway, I'm not sure what or when or if I'll blog while I'm actually gone, but hopefully I will have hilarity and photos to share when we get back home if not before.  At the moment, I've got my bed covered in clothes I am likely to pack, along with 2 books and at some point I plan to gather up some crochet hooks and yarn and some patterns to take to keep me occupied.
I'd rather not push my luck at security with pointed sticks, especially since we'll be having enough fun with Oreo (who has to be taken out of his carrier and have his harness taken off so he doesn't set of the metal detector), me with my CPAP, and me in and out of a wheelchair to get through security.
(The Double-Stuff Oreo mascot showed up via Zemanta as a possible image to include and it was too horrifying not to share.)

Road Trip!

Last week we headed down to Mississippi for the first time in about 2 years so we could visit Tom's family and so he could defend his thesis and get his MA in Applied Anthropology and I could go visit some old professors of ours at Mississippi State.  I wasn't sure how well I would handle an extended car ride (it's roughly 10 hours) but I managed reasonably well, especially since my neurologist prescribed some low dose clonazapam for me to try out for when my back is being particularly stupid.  Pretty much the only bad part was discovering that I get a migraine when I'm in our car for more than about an hour even if I'm not driving.  Not sure if it's our car or something else, but that's rampant speculation for another time.  Taking something doesn't seem to do much for prevention either, it just keeps it from getting totally unbearable.

I just realized it looks like Tom has his eyes closed.  That might explain a few things.

The position of the price tag on this bag of Chex mix suggests the ultimate results of consumption.

Oreo's head got in the way when my hand jerked, so here's the blurry photo of his head.

The giant cross of aluminum siding outside Effingham.  Because nothing says devout like building a huge aluminum cross in the middle of Illinois that will startle road-dazed drivers.

I pretty much forgot about the camera for most of the rest of the trip.  Tom did get some excellent photos of a few projects I finished though, so I'll post those in the next few days.

Tom successfully defended.  Yay!  He just has to do some final edits and formatting and that good stuff.  So, now we're even on the graduate degree front. 

Oreo is still recovering from the trip - I think he was terrified we were going to leave him with my in-laws because that's where he stayed the last time we were in Sudan for 2 months.  He was definitely freaking out when we starting packing up to come home all the way up the point we actually put him in the car.  Poor little dude.  He's an excellent little traveler, though.  And I like having a warm snuggly on my lap for the trip, at least until he squirms too much and steps on my internal organs. 

Oh, and Tom briefly transformed into a douchebag while we were in Mississippi. 

All he needs is a flask of Maker's Mark, business cards for his lawyer/politician/lobbyist/upper management dad, and a Confederate flag and he'd be all ready for Pledge Week at Ole Miss.
I deeply and sincerely hope to never, ever again see my husband with

1. A popped collar
2. Any item of Ole Miss memorabilia
3. This facial expression 

Beyond Your Borders – Experiencing the World | The Art of Manliness

Beyond Your Borders – Experiencing the World | The Art of Manliness

My husband shared this excellent article from The Art of Manliness with me.  Traveling and really make personal connections with people, as opposed to doing the sterile, perfectly planned, rather isolated typical tour package can be daunting on a number of levels - financial, health, time, personal comfort, language barriers - but it is certainly worth it if you can at all manage it.  You will learn to appreciate your fellow humans immensely and, hopefully, be a wonderful unofficial representative of your own country.

Starting small is always possible - try Bed and Breakfasts, camping, or backpacking in your own country or one that shares your native language first and build your way up.