"Bees, Ants, and Scorpions... Oh My"

Hello to all. Abby and I are back at work after a nice few days off. We work tonight (Sunday), Monday night, Wednesday night and Thursday night. Wednesday is an overtime shift, so hopefully we will have a nice easy week as picking up just 1 extra shift is hard work. Tonight has started off on the slow side. No complaints here, although come 3 or 4 in the morning we are going to be looking for stuff to keep us awake. Neither Abby nor I slept well today. I think we were up around 11:30 with no afternoon nap. Abby tried to sleep, but she couldn't. I was wide awake, so I played in the pool and watched golf. Congrats Kenny Perry! We went for a quick run before work. I think the high was 105 today, so our run was short and sweet. We are both really trying to get back in shape. I was hit with a harsh realization a few days ago! I was looking into going to the grand canyon and riding the donkeys. Well, let's just say I exceed the weight limit! So no go on the donkey exertion. I also have been looking to use up Abby's Gift certificate for skydiving in the near future. The weight limit for that is 240! Not quite there, but was heading that way fast... Just want to report that I'm down from 238 to 230 and feeling good. I have a goal of 220 by the Jone's Beach trip in August. Trying to cut down the LB's but also cut down on the fat kid jokes by the "slim" Andy "Bear" Jones! Wish me luck!

Abby and I had a great few days off. We went to our first Arizona Diamondbacks baseball game. We witnessed Randy Johnson tie Roger Clemens for second all-time on the strike out list. Abby ate a hot dog, I ate 2. We shared peanuts and a couple cold beverages. Chase field is beautiful. They have a retractable roof which was open during this game. Absolutely beautiful night to watch a baseball game. We hope to frequent that park and catch many games during the next couple of months. Downtown Phoenix is really nice. We hear from the locals that it is a nice place to go for dinner, but after dark you want to get out. Supposedly they are revamping downtown. The stadium, which is in downtown, is only about 15 minutes from us. A really easy and quick drive. We took a few pictures and will get those up as soon as we get our Internet working. Hopefully soon.

We both climbed Squaw Peak a couple of times. John "the owner of the house" keeps asking us if we have climbed it in under 40 minutes. Supposedly it is really hard to make it in under 40 minutes. The first time I went by myself I made it in 44 minutes (pre camelback and hiking shoes). I am happy to report that Abby and I made it in 36 minutes (post camelback and hiking shoes). Not bad not bad! "I wanna be like Mike!" We hope to continue clocking ourselves as it's another way to push our limits. We were hoping to climb this other mountain, (camelback) but were unable to get there. We hear that mountain is a lot harder of a climb. We are up for the challenge!

Last night we got all dressed up and went out for a nice dinner. We ate at this restaurant called Phoenix City Grille. I ate the most amazing Mahi Mahi. Abby ate Salmon. Delicious! At night we watch movies. Since we are on the night shift schedule we find ourselves staying up till 3 or 4 in the morning. Movies are a good way to pass the time. Recommendations from the Hinchy's. Charlie Wilsons War, Ironman, Lions for Lambs and National Treasure 2. My friends tell me that my taste in movies is pretty weak, but I would have to admit that even though these movies are no "Drumline," they still are a joy to watch!

Okay Okay Okay, now to the good part of this update. As you were probably wondering, the title of this post is a nice little homage to the wildlife surrounding us daily. Near the pool we have lots of pretty flowers which lots of bees like to frequent. We have a stream of ants that travel back and forth along the pool edge, and most importantly, we had our first scorpion sighting! Wow, was it ever a sighting! We were leaving late one night to head to blockbuster. The way it works is, we are able to park in the garage but it is a tight fit. I usually drop Abby off right before I pull in the garage and I usually back out of the garage then Abby gets in. The reason for this is because there is really only room to get out of the car when I pull all the way to one side (no fat kid jokes). So, now to the good stuff. We were getting ready to leave to head to blockbuster, I pull out of the garage and here comes Abby walking up to the car. Just past the garage door she SCREAMS SCREAMS SCREAMS, JUMPS IN THE CAR, SLAMS THE DOOR, SCREAMS SCREAMS SCREAMS, her legs moving up and down a mile a minute, then she begins to Cry. All along she is yelling "SCORPION, I ALMOST STEP ON IT. KILL IT MIKE, KILL IT." At first I couldn't see what she was talking about, but after careful surveying of the ground I see it. It was a little guy, but that's the bad news. It was a Arizona Bark Scorpion. Please read attached website. http://ag.arizona.edu/pubs/insects/az1223/ I ran over it with the car and that was the end of that scorpion. It truly scared the mess out of Abby. Needless to say, she was messed up for the rest of the night. Hopefully she will not see another one! Those jokers are pretty scary looking! Please little scorpion, leave us alone! The next day Abby was just fine. It unnerved her a bit, but after a good night sleep she was better in the morning. Hang in there Abby, the "desert environment" has "got nothing but love for ya baby." Hopefully that will be our last scorpion encounter while we are here. Wish us luck with those little ugly jokers!

Well that just about wraps up our last few days. The pool is getting warmer by the day (easy to do when it is constantly in the 100's), the sun gets hotter by the minute, and we miss our friends and family more and more by the second. Thanks for keeping up with us through here and the phone calls and emails. Keep it up people! We love you all and we hope to hear from you soon. Till then....
Signing off for now...
In His peace,
Michael and Abby