• RemoteDance

    Early Bird I’m Not

    August 18, 2009 - By 

    I am not a morning person. This does not come as a surprise to anyone who knows me, I’m sure. I just need a little “warm up” time, you know, like your car does on a cold day. I just want to idle a while, not having to say anything, do anything particularly difficult, listen to anything, or basically, have any human contact for the first twenty minutes or so after I wake up. Is that so much to ask? My husband persists (despite the fact that he knows better) on trying to talk to me when I first wake…

  • RemoteDance

    Not really the end of the world

    August 17, 2009 - By 

    Whenever I hear Chris say, “Honey, you are a very smart, intelligent woman… but every once in a while…” I know I probably should have thought through whatever I just said before I said it aloud. Like tonight. We were flipping through the television channels and came across that new Discovery show The Colony.  “What’s it about?” our roommate asked. “It’s a bunch of people who have to rebuild civilization after the end of the world and stuff.” We discuss the show for a few minutes more, while the lady onscreen spends a LOT of time making a punching bag out…

  • RemoteDance

    Kennel-Me-Not

    August 3, 2009 - By 

    Today was pick-the-dog-up-from-the-kennel day. As I walked in, two of the staffers were just about to leave for the day, and they were at the front chatting with the girl behind the desk about work stuff. All three all smiled and greeted me when I came in. I told them I was there to pick up Chloe, and one of the girls went back to get her while I paid. You can always tell when they’re walking out with your dog, because all the other dogs in the kennel start barking. So I can hear them coming … and then……

  • Fun - RemoteDance

    Camping Miracles

    July 10, 2009 - By 

    And now we have come to the finale of this Fourth of July Camping Adventure. Next to our campfire, left behind by the previous campers, was a giant log. Someone had obviously dragged it there, with the intentions of burning it, because there was a tie strap still twined around it. They had gone to a lot of trouble to get that giant log next to the campfire, but never ended up burning it. We had a theory. We figured they had been sitting around the campfire late at night (there was almost definitely alcohol involved) and two or more…

  • RemoteDance

    Best. Campsite. Ever.

    July 9, 2009 - By 

    Part 4 of this Adventure was foreshadowed early on in our trip. It began with the fact that thunderstorm activity in the region meant we had to drive, instead of fly. And was compounded when we arrived at the suspiciously unclaimed campsite and announced it to be the “best campsite ever.” And it was. Until the rain began. See that draw there? It’s basically channeling all the rainwater from higher elevations down through the Mogollon rim. What’s also important to note about this draw is that it runs directly through our campsite. You can probably see where I’m going with…

  • RemoteDance

    It’s So Easy, a Child Could Do It

    July 8, 2009 - By 

    Welcome to Part 3 of our Fourth of July Camping Adventure. One of my best friends has a fantastic recipe for Monkey Bread. She happened to mention in passing that she would like to make Monkey Bread during the camping trip, but was stuck on how to cook it without an oven. “Monkey bread?!” I said, “Monkey Bread?! I will *make* you an oven out of a cardboard box and some tinfoil if that’s what it takes to get monkey bread on this trip.” As it turns out, you actually can make an oven out of tinfoil and a cardboard box. I downloaded…

  • RemoteDance

    Because Matches Aren’t Good Enough

    July 7, 2009 - By 

    And so begins Part 2 of our Fourth of July Camping Adventure. Sometimes my husband surprises me. Like, when we’re getting ready to start the campfire and he brings out the blow torch. Yes really, the blow torch. We are so classy. Thus, please enjoy my pictorial essay on How to Light a Campfire With a Blow Torch. Somebody should post this on WikiHow so I can get my 15 minutes. (Well, maybe not, because it’s probably a bad idea for people to be running around our national forests with blow torches. Smoky the Bear would be crying himself to…

  • Fun - RemoteDance

    Camping: an Introduction to our Fourth of July Adventure

    July 6, 2009 - By 

    For the Forth of July, Chris and I planned a camping trip with four of our friends (and their 3 Chihuahuas). The average temperature in Phoenix that week was 110 degrees Fahrenheit, and Southern California was hitting the 100’s, so everyone was ready for some 75 degree weather. Due to thunderstorms clouding the skies from LA to Phoenix, we opted to drive instead of fly the plane. (Read: small aircraft and thunderstorms do not mix well). Aside from a brief moment of panic when the air conditioner cut out in the middle of the Mojave desert (it came back on)…

  • RemoteDance - Throwback

    Spring Cleaning

    June 30, 2009 - By 

    This May, Chris and I decided the house needed a major makeover. Especially since we had some potential tenants to rent our spare rooms. The list of “home makeover” items included cleaning/organizing the house (finally putting away our boxes of wedding gifts!) and landscaping the backyard. More on the backyard later. My first spring cleaning project: cleaning out unnecessary stuff from the garage. When I moved in to the house from my apartment, there was a lot of my stuff that landed in the garage, in boxes, and the boxes have been collecting dust ever since. Chris had cleaned out…

  • RemoteDance

    Don’t Skimp the Small Stuff

    June 25, 2009 - By 

    Sometimes, it’s the little things. Like getting excited that your ice cube tray actually makes ice cubes. Our teeny little RV fridge supposedly has an icemaker. I say “supposedly” because it’s never worked. We haven’t bothered to get it fixed, and in the meantime we’re using a temporary ice cube tray. Have you ever seen one of those miniature ice cube trays that come with the dorm-sized refrigerators? Each ice cube is about the size of a marble? That’s what we used the first six months (yeah, temporary). Eventually we got tired of using the entire tray ON ONE DRINK. We…