"I'm never hungry after I eat"

It's funny how the brain works, or forgets to work, when fatugue sets in. Makes you feel like a pumpkin with no brains. This blog is titled with my favorite quote of the week I heard after a conversation with my esposa while walking home one dark, late night. But, she has a husband who can make anyone's brain self-destruct. Take Friday. Anna's first official day back at school to attend orientation for her the Nursing Degree. After a sweet morning, the afternoon quickly lost it's momentum when I arrived an hour late to pick her up. Following that, we drove to a place where she could complete her drug test. It was a hot, hot day and Anna was already dehydrated and suffering from the onset of a cold. But, I parked in the wrong parking lot and had to move. Only, the car wouldn't start. Dead battery. So we agreed to rendevouz after her drug test as soon as I could arrange to get a jump. Luckily I did, but she was still in line for her drug test. So I drove to Autozone to pick up a battery. After 15 minutes of awesome customer service, I finally was ready to roll. But then I remembered I gave the credit card to Anna so she could pay for the test. And the supervisor on shift at Autozone wouldn't let me leave collateral if I could leave with the battery. But 10 seconds before I knew this, my last words to Anna before her phone died while she called me from the drug test site were: "I'll come pick you up." So, Anna began the long trek home, and so did I, two miles behind her. I jogged a bit and we met at our doorstep where we collapsed on our bed. This story doesn't read as well as it played out, but it was a fun afternoon! Then we took off to the Hall's home in Mesa to spend the night in prep for Anna's first half-marathon!! It was in Phoenix, on another hot, hot day, and she did awesome!!!!!!! Battling a cold, a nasty race course, and the hot sun, she stormed through Phoenix like a bat out of our last blog. And this was the first time she has ever run longer than 10 miles. Plus she has a crazy job as a patient tech that leaves her with less than half a week to train. What a champ!!!

Tucson Fall

Fall is my favorite season. Everything about it is so comfortable and cozy. Not to mention fall food is my favorite. I was a little nervous about fall this year, seeing as Tucson doesn't exactly have seasons. HOwever, it's turned out to be one of my favorite falls yet as we've discovered "fall stuff" in Tucson. For example, the bats. There's a bridge by our apartment that for some reason becomes the home of hundreds of thousands of bats in the fall. If you go to the bridge at sunset, they all swarm out at once and fly away. It was so creepy and halloween-ish!


Fall in Tucson has also come to mean

*we can bear to have the oven on and cook again. We've made some really good things, if I may say, but my favorite were our donuts...mmmhmmm.

*windy days

*camping trips (as Spence talked about in the last post)

*General Conference!!! it's not particular to Tucson, but it means so much to have that connection to the church when I sometimes feel so displaced from it down here. Wasn't it awesome?!

*canooing in Thatcher (well, and being in Thatcher period!)

*cheap apples, and thus apple pie, apple cake, caramel apples, apple-cheese sandwiches, applesauce, apple crisp, apple cider, lunch apples, marshmallow-chocolate-apples, etc etc etc.

*high school football games....not as super seniors as you may think, but as Spencer's brother, Jake's fan club. And it wasn't just any high school football game. It was the homecoming in Thatcher, where all the families in the city gather for the big game. The stands were filled with little 7 year olds whose hair was died Thatcher High green, coaches I mean dads, and 30-40 year alums. I love football games. And I love Thatcher.

*orchard picking, which I'd never done before. If things don't work out for nursing school, I will definitely grow my own orchard and cook pies all day, just like Annie, this lady whose orchard we visited.


Anyway...it's been a really fun fall, even without red leaves or chilly nights. Even in Tucson, it's still my favorite season!
And please let us know any fun fall traditions you have that could be done in a warm desert--we'd love to try more!