A So Cal Girl in the Desert

We wanted to make this past weekend eventfully uneventful, and we did. I've been working at the computer a lot and really needed a break.

My stepson didn't have school on Friday, so we were determined to have a leisurely fun-filled day. Before any fun could begin, Little B had to do his weekly major guinea pig cage cleaning. His dad was nice enough to help, or it may never have been finished. They scrubbed and disinfected every little thing and changed all the bedding. While all this was happening, I was in charge of babysitting Rosie Rose and Kermit, both of whom seemed to be mildly frightened of the banging and vacuuming that was going on. So I decided to shut them into our bedroom and have a little photo fun. It's really a shame that I didn't have any baby doll outfits. That would really have been something to see. This whole scenario was like a blast from my childhood. I can't tell you how many times I locked the animals in my bedroom in order to put on musical productions, play house, school (I was the teacher, of course), or play just a good old-fashioned dress-up tea party game. I could play like that for hours, and the animals never bit me. Ever. They were always tolerant, yet slightly depressed about the matter (see photo for example of this type of expression). Blouses became clown collars, skirts became nun hats, too-small shorts would have tail-holes cut, and t-shirts were worn as dresses. Oh, what fun we...er...I...had! So this cage-cleaning thing really set a nice comforting tone for the whole weekend, I think.

After the cage cleaning was done, I hopped on the Internet and Googled "family activities, Phoenix area." There's lots to chose from, but we selected a national tour production of "Little Shop of Horrors" being performed that evening at ASU's Gammage Auditorium. Then I looked up some of the restaurants on my "Sarah's Favorite Restaurants" list. My friend, Sarah, who actually used to be a client of mine, grew up in Phoenix. As my going away present, she hooked me up with a list of all her favorite places to eat, complete with editorial comments. Since there are so many great restaurants right around our house, this was actually the first time I'd consulted the list. We decided on a restaurant called Anzio Landing in Mesa. No where near the theater, but we had plenty of time to drive all over town and it sounded like so much fun, so we decided to give it a try. Sarah described it as "A quaint Italian restaurant with a WWII theme based on the historic battle called Anzio Landing...It is very affordable, but somewhat of a nice place...You can sit at a table by the window and watch the little planes come in." Sounded neat, so I made the reservations. We had some time to kill before we had to get ready, so we headed out to the pool, which was so nice and relaxing.

Our drive to Anzio Landing was a little less relaxing. Driving on the freeway we could see that we were headed straight for a dust storm (see photo). And we all know what that means. So we drove through the wind and the dust and arrived at the restaurant just in time for the downpour. Once we got inside, the restaurant was really nice, just as Sarah described. The whole back wall of the restaurant was windows overlooking the runway. It was a shame that it was so stormy because there weren't any little planes landing, but the show we got from the storm was equally spectacular. It rained off and on...sprinkles, then pouring, then sprinkles again, then we could see huge beams of sunlight breaking through the clouds. It kind of felt like we were participating in the filming of "The Ten Commandments" or something. And we could see other parts of the storm in the distance. My husband took some really nice pictures. The food at Anzio Landing was excellent. I had the Ravioli Combination, which I couldn't resist to save my life. It's "lobster ravioli topped with bell pepper cream sauce, shrimp scampi ravioli with spicy blush sauce, and asiago cheese ravioli with sundried tomato pesto sauce." Yuuuuuuuummmmmmm! It was very rich and delicious, and since I've been eating a little healthier lately it made my stomach hurt a bit, but it was well worth it. Speaking of indulgences, through an unlikely turn of events Little B ended up with three desserts. After he had decided on a virgin Piña Colada, the waiter brought him the kid's sundae that came with his meal. He was switching back and forth between the two when PLOP! A big scoop of his vanilla ice cream fell into his root beer left over from dinner. Presto! Three desserts! As you can see, he was quite happy.

The rain had let up during our meal, so the ride over to the Gammage Auditorium in Tempe was much calmer. The theater was nice, and they offered children cushions to give a little boost. We thought Little Shop of Horrors would be a great "first big theater show" for Little B. Big B and I had both participated in small youth productions of the musical many years ago, so that made it even more fun for us. Even though you're not supposed to take pictures in the theater (not even before the show!), we did. Here you can see the picture my husband took of Little B and I just before we got caught taking pictures. We had no idea when the picture was taken that that was the look he had on his face. Once I uploaded the pictures and saw this photo I couldn't stop laughing (still can't...I'm laughing my ass off right now). I asked him what he was doing. "Your evil stepmother can't be THAT bad!" He said, "No...that's when I saw the lady coming to tell us to stop taking pictures and I got scared that we'd get in big trouble." Poor guy! Not only are we taking him to a play with a giant man-eating plant, we're also forcing him to break the rules. Awesome parenting. Sometimes these things are just worth the "completely screwing you up" factor, as you get Grade A pictures like this one. This, along with the one where he's picking his nose will go in the "Show All Your Girlfriends" album. So once we got past all that, the play was great. The woman who played Audrey was phenomenal, and Little B only asked about twenty-five times during the course of the show how much bigger the plant would get. Just so you know, it was a happy ending and we all survived, none of us eaten by Audrey II. The theater has upcoming shows of "Annie," "Joseph...," "Cats," and "Wicked," so I think we'll be back to expose Little B to more theatrics. I'll be sure to bring the camera.

The rest of the weekend was pretty dull to report on, but lots of fun and very relaxing. On Saturday we hung out at home and popped over to the Chandler Fashion Center for a stroll and just hung around the house. On Sunday morning we took Kermit to the Bark Park, where he met a few buddies for some butt-sniffing and tennis ball-chasing. He had a blast, and finally drank out of the community bucket. Usually he's a total snob and will only drink the bottled water we bring for ourselves. Normally we would have no problem drinking after him, but after all that explicit butt-sniffing at the Bark Park, we usually end up having to sacrifice a bottle for his exclusive use. There was a Jack Russell named Maggie there, and I think she reminded him a little of his long-distance girlfriend, Lucy, who he had to leave back in California. Only Maggie didn't hump his head, so she may not have had the same appeal. Nevertheless, it was a doggy-dog good time for all.

The rest of the afternoon we spent flying balsa wood gliders outside our apartment and playing a competitive game of Monopoly. Day's end held a magnificent sunset. All this relaxation was just what the doctor ordered! I'm back with my nose to the grindstone today, and loving every minute.