Goodbye 2011

Wow, what a year!

My favorite aunt died in April & my best friend left the Grand Canyon Park in June, then my mom dies unexpectedly on December 7th.

I did get to enjoy a smooth River trip in July and I took a greyhound bus to Missouri in August, to watch my son graduate from basic training.

I interviewed for a job in human resources in August but I didn't get the job...just as well because now I have 85 days left of work here before I move on to Anchorage,AK.

Halloween 2011

This was taken at the local school's Halloween Carnival.
My co-worker (the sailor) is a senior at the school. She moved here last Summer to live with her grandmother (the pirate). In this picture of them, they are trying to decide which cake they want because the sailor won a cake during the cake-walk.




I had thrown out my old costume a couple months ago when I noticed that it was ruined. I didn't want to buy a new costume just to wear for 1 night as I have no plans of carrying a costume to Alaska with me when I move in March.

I think pirate costumes were the "in" thing this year, as quite a few kids had some kind of pirate costume.

Yesterday in Tusayan

There is a new Live bird-show down at the IMAX theater in Tusayan. I finally went to check it out. Glad I get in free. No video cameras are allowed in the show but I was allowed to bring my digital camera in...I have more pictures on facebook.
One of the show's highlights is a raven that will come get dollar bills out of your hand and then put it into a fundraiser box.

The Pizza Hut area is also going through some recent changes, and they are hoping to make a buffet area in the future. I ate the orange chicken rice-bowl. There wasn't much going on in the art show area down near McDonald's. Hopefully there will be more tables out later in the Summer.

New Look

I cut & colored my hair this week. Everyone at work asked who cut it and was surprised when I said I did it myself. Just wrap scotch tape around your head/neck and then use the tape as the cutting line.

Old habits die hard...boredom & frustration & being down in the dumps===me attacking my hair

Never-ending Winter

My son is here

Unfortunately my computer doesn’t seem to recognize my camera at the moment, so I can’t download pictures of my son.

ok, we were able to hop on the 1pm shuttle from Flagstaff coming up to the canyon…only because his Greyhound bus was 25 minutes early. Otherwise we would of had to wait for the 3:45 shuttle. Luckily Tess was driving the shuttle too because she gave Phil the local discount for the ride.

After dropping his 1 and only backpack off in my room, we went to eat at Yavapai. He got the chicken Parmesan…which wasn’t to bad he said. I got the Chicken Pot Pie…which had to much pepper in it.

When we woke up on Monday morning (yesterday) it was snowing outside..and damn cold. We went to Bright Angel Restaurant for lunch. Surprised that it was so busy there. We went out to the rim to get a few pictures of the canyon with snow. But neither one of us can download them at this moment.

Later at about 9:30 or 10pm, we decided to walk over to the men’s dorm to raid the candy machine. Been here 4 years and that was the first time I ever walked over there at night. Philip got soda & 2 Twix candybars. and he finished the soda right when we got back to my dorm building. I got M&M’s, 3 musketeers, and some cinnamon roll pastry thing.

Today I need to take him into the housing office so he can get his visitor’s pass. Maybe they will even let him sign-in for his own room and let him start orientation on Thursday. They might just figure seeing as he is already here that they might as well. Which will be good before he goes totally stir-crazy from boredom.

Later I should show him where the rec center is and get him a month’s pass for the gym. That will cost $10 per month or $60 for the whole year. At least with the month’s pass…he can start running on the treadmills until it warms up outside, and it will give him something to do if he still has to wait for April 4th to sign in for his own housing & job. Besides I have to go back to work early Thursday morning and he will need something to do then if he can’t get into the next orientation group…or he will really go stir-crazy & die of boredom.

more Pics from Monument Valley

watching a couple tumbleweeds rolling around. I would of loved to get a pic of the Asian guy clearing tumble weeds out of the road...using an ice scraper. That cracked me up.

See even John Wayne liked Monument Valley.

If I ever go back here..I will take 1 of their guided jeep tours around. And hopefully not on a cold windy day.

Monument Valley~Picture Day

This is Brenda trying to get pics...course she was in my way when I tried to get pics. Carrie from the General Store took the next 2 pictures of me, while we were at the visitor's center.

This was a view from the visitor center.

Now as soon as my camera & computer will cooperate with each other, I will download more pictures. Because even though it was a very windy day, I took about 159 pictures and only have

16 on my computer so far.

GCSR Bucket List

ok, someone else here just made their bucket list today with things that she wants to do at the Grand Canyon before she leaves the park in July....so I figured "hey that's a good idea--seeing as there are things I still have not done."

Abyss mule ride

Helicopter ride

Jeep tour

Smooth River Raft Trip

Hike Hermits trail (at least part of it)

Hike South Kaibab trail

Camp at Phantom Ranch

Hike to Plateau Point to watch the sunset & sunrise from there

Walk the entire rim trail (Kaibab Trailhead to Hermits Rest) at least 1 way

Take suttle to North rim & camp a weekend there.

Helicopter ride to Havasu Falls & camp-out for weekend there

Wow, that's alot of stuff that I still ain't done. Guess I ain't really done to much in the 4 yrs I have been here. I need to pick a few things to do this year.... to add some exciting adventure to my 'free time'.
I mean, why is it that the international kids that work here for 3-4 months do & see more then I have????

My morning

Well as usual I am up early. Real early seeing as I was only in bed for about 3-4 hours.
But I started doing my laundry at 3am today and made coffee. Wierd thing is...I only work 11am-3pm today.

Some co-workers laugh & shake their head at my wierd sleep schedule. But I like it and I figure 'if it ain't broken, then don't fix it'. I hate the "rushed" feeling of waking up at the last minute and running around like a chicken with its head cut off and worrying about the possibility of missing the bus & being late for work.

By getting up early, I have plenty of time to do laundry, check emails & facebook, do some yoga, eat & shower, and take out the trash on my way to the bus stop. That is all before I usually leave at 6am. Seeing as I have a short day today, I will probably bring my camera into work...which means I will probably do another blog later today with pictures from work.

Guess I'm done rambling for now...today is Wed, which means its time to watch the latest episode of "Biggest Loser" on hulu.

--I have also had plenty of time today to read blogs from others (yes I read lots of them)--
http://balanceinme.com/
http://jedc4xer.blogspot.com/ someone who spends alot of time IN the canyon
http://turquoisedeathspider.blogspot.com/ Someone who must be living here at GC
http://kyree90.wordpress.com/ she's an editor for a Flagstaff newspaper. This is her adventure of losing weight
http://iamthenewme.com/ a UTAH runner trying to lose weight
http://nomadbaby.com/ a mom living in RV & taking pics of their travels around the country
http://christinekane.com/blog/ fabulous-motivating & inspirational!!

Picture Day

This is part of the new section of the rim trail, that now starts at the Kaibab trailhead. Not much snow around the park but pretty sure this trail will get covered tomorrow.

The 2 people standing on the rock at Mather Point are from Southern Alaska, which really made me laugh when the guy started acting like he was cold when the wind blew today.

First time I have seen this new ampitheater near Mather Point.

I took just over 100 pictures today and would have stayed outside longer if the wind was not so cold. But overall if was nice to be out wandering around enjoying the view, the raven who must of been waiting to grab my apple, and watching people get surprised when they asked where I was from and I told them that I live here.

Breakfast @ Bright Angel Restaurant

I dont go over to BA often for breakfast but today I was craving a "Garden Skillet". I mean where else am I going to get yummy portabello mushrooms & broccoli with 3 eggs made to order. It's my favorite breakfast there...or at least from the ones I have tried. If it didn't cost so much more then E-Cafe, I would eat at BA more often.

Now I just got to figure out the point s value for this meal before I go to my Weight Watchers meeting later this evening.

Right at this moment it's 44 degrees outside and according to weatherbug it should get up to the low 50's today. With the sun shining outside, it feels like a Spring day. At least here anyways...my family back East have been getting snow and below 0 temps.

I'm Staying

Couple months ago I started applying to a bunch of different jobs in Alaska. Recently I wrote my brother and told him that I would be staying here @ GCSR.

Oh every now & then I will still daydream about Alaska but if I want to see it bad enough I will just have to save money and use my 2 weeks of vacation time to go up there for a visit.

At least by just visiting, I won't have to get rid of lots of stuff in order to pack and move. And after a visit I would still be able to come home to GCSR to my own "single-status" room.
Moving to Alaska or anywhere else would mean I get stuck with a roommate.

And yes, GCSR still feels like home.
Oh & by the way, the picture in this blog was taken at the award banquet this month. I went with a neighbor as her guest. My neighbor has been working here for 25 years. My 5th-yr anniversary will be up in March 2012 but my own awards banquet will be in 2 years. Wonder what little speech they will say about me then.

Just scored a 2-night camping trip

Every year we get a day off with pay for our birthday, and we got 30 days to use it. Well my birthday isn't until March 16th and I was thinking I would try and see if there was an open spot at the campground at Indian Gardens around the first week of April.

Today after work, I went to the backcountry office to check out available dates and was told that space was available for the 13th & 14th of April....so I took both nights. Yee-Haw, I can hardly wait.

Now whenever I hike that far...my knees are just starting to kill me, and it seems like forever to get back up out of the canyon afterwards (but so worth it). Anyways, this time I am really going to try to prepare for this hike.
For anyone who has never done this hike...it's only 4.6 miles of a winding steep trail. The longest 4.6 miles that I have ever hiked back up.

Anyways in other news...had a short day at work. 1 fun thing about working in a cafeteria is that it gets interesting to watch what different people order for lunch.

It's 1-1-11

Took the pic this afternoon...I'm looking towards the El Tovar hotel

Well looks like we survived another year... and my New Year Resolution seems pretty simple
"Get High on Life...enjoy SOMETHING every single day"
I'm not saying that every 24 hrs of every day in this year will be great, but there is usually a little something that can make me laugh or just feel good. I am tired of listening to drama from co-workers & family members. I would rather look for positive things in life.

It is 25 degrees below 0 right now @ 2am. Finally up to 23 degrees above 0 @5pm