29

Today is my 29th birthday. I am not going out.

Most of my birthday experiences have been unremarkable. (Don't worry, I'm not feeling sorry for myself or asking for pity.) Some of them have been downright pathetic. So this year I am spending the evening at my apartment. I made a beautiful dinner with colorful veggies and stuffed chicken breast. It was very yummy and I get to eat the leftovers tomorrow. This plan almost certainly guarantees that I will not be arrested or killed by a drunk driver, so over all I am content.

I hope all of you out there are safe and well this New Year's Eve.

Please indulge me as I play the glad game again for my b-day:
I am glad that . . .
I have a job that is beginning to become a career
I have reconnected with old friends this year
My parents told me I could do whatever I wanted and I believed them
The sun came out today
I am not ashamed to have a good cry

Something to think about

Wheresoever you go, go with all your heart -- Confucius

I like this. I'm going to work on it.

Life and Death on the Reservation

The last two days have been the most bizzare of my life.

Let me start at the beginning: Tuesday morning at 3am I was awakened by my cell phone alarm. I hit the snooze til 3:30 and then decided I needed to get up and pack for work or I would have to work on the drill site naked. I packed my things and loaded the truck. After stopping at the office for some equipment, I drove 2 hours South to the Reservation where my company is drilling water wells. The work day began normal enough. Reaming out the hole that had been sitting for 4 days. No biggie. The only incident of the morning was noticing two illegals walking on the dirt road past the sight. I say incident, but that isn't very unusual for this area. Hordes of illegals pass through this particular region every year. We noticed them and I watched them for a while to make sure they were moving on. Again, no biggie.

In the afternoon, we were constructing the well. We had just finished adding several sacks of Colorado Silica Sand and were about to tag the depth when the driller pointed toward the road. I looked up in time to see the water truck from our other site go by in a cloud of dust. The driller's flew to action. The three of them jumped into their truck and raced off after the culprit. I was left standing there with an overflowing pump that was turning my site into a mud pit. I made some calls and finally decided to call the Border Patrol. Then my supervisor told me to go look for the drillers. I ended up back at the site after receiving a call from the driller. The ultimate result: The illegal ditched the truck in the desert and ran. My drill crew gave chase on foot. (what were they thinking) He got away. The Border Patrol didn't even try to find him.

In case that isn't enough excitement for you, I have a story that totally trumps that one.

Today (Wednesday): We finished up at the site in the story above and moved to the next site. As the crew was setting up to drill the surface casing I decided to walk around. I walked over to the cemetary that is adjacent to the site. I find cemetaries interesting and wanted to check it out. I walked around the cemetary and wandered back to the site. On the South side of the site, there is a berm and then a wash with trees in it. I realized that I could see what was around us more easliy from on top of the berm. I began walking along the berm, just checking it out. I was scanning the desert for anything interesting when I looked out in front of me about 30feet. I saw something strange. It was legs. One was out straight and the other bent and sticking up. My first thought was that some one was lying there and I should run because what if this person is dangerous and trys to grab me. Then as I moved forward another step I saw the head. Skull is a better description. I won't go into too much detail but it was obviously not a living persons head. My next thought was that this could not possibly be real. It had to be a halloween decoration . . . right? It was like in the movies where the camera zooms in frame by frame with Psycho music in the background. In the next split second I realized that what I was seeing was a real dead body. OMG!!!! My heart stopped for what felt like an eternity. I was intensly scared. I turned away and made a beeline back to the rig. While I walked my brain tried to convince me that I could not have seen a body. I was wrong somehow. I approached the rig and said, "Guys? I think I just found a body." They did not really believe me. I didn't believe me. I took them over to see for themselves. As we got closer, they could see something. Bobby asked me, "Do you mean that pile of garbage? Its just trash, Patrice." I told them just to go look a little closer. Then the two guys had the same moment of realization that I had. After the initial shock, Bobby turned to me and said, "You need to get on the phone!"

What followed was a little exhilarating and a little frustrating. I called my supervisor and told him that I had found a body and was going to call the police. He suggested driving to the villiage and getting the police and escorting them to the site. That sounded great to me. I took off. There were no officers in the villiage when I arrived there. One showed up, but when I tried to flag him down, he saw me waving and trying to catch him, but turned on his lights and DROVE AWAY. I was infuriated. Standing in the middle of the villiage with my mouth hanging open. UGH!! I wanted to scream, "THERE'S A BODY ON MY DRILL SITE!!!"

I had to get the police phone number from the Border Patrol station. The rest is a blur of phone calls. Everyone was very concerned about my mental and emotional state. To tell the truth I barely had time to think about it. I was fairly calm. I think it was because I had to solve this problem. I had to alert the authorities and make sure they found the site and I had to keep my bosses updated. I think I talked to everyone I know today and alot of people I didn't know until today. I teared up once while I was waiting for the police, but then the phone calls started again. I'm sure I will have an emotional moment. Right now I just can't believe this happened. I can't believe it. Just can't.

Hopefully tomorrow will be uneventful.

Wyle E.

This little guy visited our rig every night to eat bugs and hope we would feed him.

Rocks In My Head

I like rocks.
Rocks like me.

I should just stick to rocks. I hurt a coworkers feelings. I kinda freaked out on him because I didn't know how to do the work I was expected to do on the night shift. It is really hard to be tolerant and to understand what people are telling you when you show up on site at 10pm. Sleeping during the day is against nature and the brain does not respond well. I'm making excuses. Maybe I'm just mean. Maybe, lol.

???

Well, I haven't written in a while. I have felt completely unmotivated. I'm sitting in a hotel room in Casa Grande, AZ dreading the time I have to leave for work.

This particular job has been very stressful and I have 4 more shifts left before I go home. After it is over, I will be much more confident, but for now everything feels unknown. I don't handle "unknown" very well. At the slightest hint of stress, I go to sleep and hope things will be better when I wake up. (by the way, that never works) Speaking of sleep, I am not getting enough. Working nights sucks. The only upside I can see right now is that it isn't hot. It was kind of cold last night.

Other stuff . . . I don't know. I hike when I'm in town. I try not to spend too much money. I need to go to the dentist and the eye doctor. This is probably the most uninteresting blog ever. Eh.

Oopsie!

I am finishing up week one of an Atkins diet redo. Once upon a time I lost 80 lbs on Atkins. I have put on some weight since moving to AZ and would like to undo that damage and more. The hardest part of Atkins for me is giving up bread. I love it. I love bread sooooo much. Today I was searching low carb stuff online and ran across a recipe for a bread substitute. It is called an oopsie. It is awesome! I can have a sandwich!! Woohoo!! With a little cinnamon and Splenda, it tastes like french toast.

Work is picking up and I will be super busy into the New Year. I have however requested vaca days Oct. 25-28. So Marcy and Bobbie I hope y'all can pull it off too. If no one else can go I may be forced to camp by myself.

Ok, I need to pack. I'm leaving town tomorrow morning early. Ugh.

Hail Storm, Happy Hour, and . . .

Last night The Valley of the Sun was darkened by a crazy big storm. It woke me up at 11pm when hail started coming in horizontally and hitting my bedroom window. There was a huge crack of thunder that almost made me cry out. This morning there were power outages and trees down in the central Phoenix area. It reminded me of home. I have remarked before that I missed the big thunder storms of springtime in TX. Sorry Phoenix, in the future I'll be more careful of what I put out into the universe.

I have been incredibly active this week. I have worked out every morning and been hiking every evening except last night. I had to bond with coworkers over happy hour.

I have a good weekend planned. I am going camping tonight. I will be going to Flagstaff to hike with my hiking group Sat. and some of us are camping at the trailhead the night before. It is supposed to be 50 something degrees at night!! I haven't felt that in a whiiiiile.

Y'all have a great Labor Day Weekend! Smooches!

The Glad Game

I am glad that:

I don't have cankles
I can walk up the North Mountain trail without stopping
I like veggies
I have good friends who care about me
I have a home to call my own
It is raining
I started knitting again
I have a job
I can lose my self in a book
I have three rock hammers (all for different purposes)
I have a big light up turkey

:)

Per Bobbie's request, here is photographic proof of the turkey.
(for scale that is a key chain flip flop)

Fantastic People I Love!

I hope you enjoy this journey through my past. Don't be scared by the hair and puff painted shirts.

Lovely ladies: Valerie, Bonnie, and Patrice.

Aren't we gorgeous! I loved that hair clip mum, and I'm not sure but it looks like my hair could be crimped. Ah, the carefree days of youth.

My Granny (left) is fabulous. Nuff said. The other lady is her little sister, Mary. This was taken on a trip to FL, where they grew up and Mary still lives.

Bonnie and Mom look so much alike.

My sisters and my cutie pie niece, Lilly. I am the one reflected in the window taking the pic :)

My Dad is the greatest. Skiing is one of the things we all like to do as a family. I call him The Bullet. Yay Dad!!

Mi Familia ~1990

This is one of my favorite pics because it has all of us with Daddy Paul and Grandmother. They look so small in this picture but that is not how I remember them. An aside: I am now in possession of the nativity set in the foreground. Check out the mustache on my dad.

zzzzzz

I have had a bad attitude toward life lately. I'm sure you've noticed. I felt so much better today. I wondered why. My circumstances have not changed, and, as far as I know, the Earth is still rotating in the same direction (let me know if superman shows up). The only thing that I can think of is that I finally got a good nights sleep. I went to sleep around nine thirty (yes I'm old) and when my alarm sounded I was actually awake. I didn't feel the need to hit the snooze. It was awesome.

The drillers always tell me that sleep is overrated or that I can sleep when I'm dead. I disagree.

Here's to you, Sleep! May we have a long and satisfying relationship in the bedroom.

Olympics, Cosmo Radio, and Confessions of a Former Friend

There are a few things going on with me so if you lack courage, go no further!

The Olympics. How wonderful! I'm lovin' it. However, I don't remember the games being broadcast so late at night. They go on 'til midnight!! At least! I get up really early in the morning and the Olympic Games have totally thrown off my sleeping schedule. It is fortunate that they only last two weeks. I wouldn't be able to go any longer on almost no sleep. On a positive note, I have been inspired to workout. And this is kind of random. Michael Phelps is pretty awesome, but I think it is kind of sad too. Everyone else can only hope for silver. I just want to say, "Let the other kids have a turn."

My friend from work, Lauren, told me about a satellite radio show that she likes to listen to in the mornings called Cosmo Radio. Yes, Cosmo as in Cosmopolitan Magazine. It is so funny. They are pretty silly and they talk about shopping and Sex in the City, but I love it. If I had money I would subscribe to Serius just for that channel. Serius 111. I get to listen to it this week because the rent truck I'm driving has satellite radio. Whoohoo! No really, I love it.

Ok y'all, I don't really know what the point of this section of today's blog it but I feel like I should set some things straight. Even if the message only spirals around in the universe, at least I put it out there. I'll begin with a confession. I have two former friends who I parted with badly. I sometimes (more often than is healthy) google their names. Shut up, you know you do it too. This has mostly to do with the first former friend. I won't name names because this person has a reputation to protect. I have found her blog and I read it periodically. There were a lot of things leading up to the demise of our friendship, so lets just say we are both to blame. This could get complicated. People who have known me almost my entire life believe that I am a horribly mean person because of her. This is part of the reason I harbor such a strong dislike. I took all the blame for the break up of our friendship. She is perfect by the way. Too perfect. I would like everyone, the sun, the moon, and the stars to know that her life is perfect. Far more perfect than mine. I didn't ruin her life. I didn't ruin her life. I don't think either of us is better for having known each other. I want to let it go. Therefore, I will work on letting those bad feelings go out of my life.

Sorry, I think all this is coming out because my 10 year high school reunion is this year.

Merry Aquifimas!

This is what happens when strange people get bored.

Let’s celebrate Aquifimas. On Aquifimas Eve we could gather round our respective local water wells and sing the water songs of old while sharing soggy joy with our neighbors. The adults will chit-chat around cauldrons of glorious boiling water, sipping on watertinis, while the children pummel each other with that age old favorite, water balloons, as they dart in and out between oscillating sprinkler heads. Aquifimas morning we will rise with palpable anticipation. Gifts of flambouyantly decorated jugs and bottles are exchanged and everyone enjoys a breakfast of crisp clean water and sponge cake. Then everyone gathers about the TV to watch their favorite synchronized swimming team compete for the title of world champions. Afterward, everyone can go for a swim, get really hungry (why does that always happen when you swim), go out for burgers and wish it wasn’t a whole year before Aquifimas comes around again.

FOR THE LOVE OF . . . money?

I hope it shows that I don't love money. I'm not greedy. I just want enough to pay all the bills, take an occasional vaca, and have some saved up for those pesky medical things that sometimes crop up. I think anything beyond that should be lavished on others.

I am struggling right now and I blame the education system. JK. It is completely my fault. I wanted college. Worse I wanted to be an opera singer and went to a private school for a long time. Eventually I gave up on that. I transferred to a state school, but still took out large loans to pay for it. Then after I graduated, I didn't find a job. So, I went back to school and ended up dropping out after 2 1/2 years. I can't say it was wasted time. Who knows where I would be if I hadn't taken that path. I'm happy in this life that I have right now. The only thing bringing me down in a significant way is the money. Student loans aren't free money. I knew that I would be paying them off someday. I just wasn't being realistic. I was young and invincible. Nothing could touch me. It isn't like that now. Those bills come due.

It is kind of fun going to grocery store and only buying things that are a dollar or less. It isn't really as easy as it sounds. Food prices in AZ are pretty high. I was spoiled living in TX. You never know what you will go home with. It isn't fun knowing that I have to get the cheap stuff.

So, tell your friends, family, strangers, etc. . . beware the student loan.

A History of Angry Letters Part 1

This is a funny letter I wrote to the Pine Log (school paper) when I was at SFA. Enjoy.


On the afternoon of November 16, 2006, I drove to school for my class that begins at 4:30pm. As I turned off Raguet toward the commuter lot, I noticed a sign that said, "PARKING LOT RESERVED." Undeterred, I pulled forward to the UPD representative posted to keep students out of their assigned parking lot. He informed me that I would need to park across campus because the commuter lot was reserved, not for commuters, but for the football game. I would like to take a moment now to confess to you that I gave him some attitude. You're right, he didn't personally deserve it, and to that person I sincerely apologize.
I drove away and with each passing moment became more and more infuriated. Why was I so angry? Well, I'll tell you. I have paid good money for the right to park in that parking lot. Every year I lay my bank account on the alter of higher education as a sacrifice hoping that the SFA gods will bestow a degree upon me. Other benefits that I expect in return for my burnt offering are a clean and safe learning environment and parking in the Raguet commuter lot. at this point you may be thinking, "Patrice, there are other parking lots that are available to you," and you are correct. However, I present to you the following facts that justify my reaction. I am a young woman, yes feminists of the world be damned, I am going to play the helpless female card. I have a class from 4:30pm to 9:15pm in the forestry building (when it is dark outside!). Our campus is not well lit or well patrolled by law enforcement (which I'm sure is not the fault of our fine UPD).
The great institution of Stephen F. Austin State University has elevated a football game above my safety! Prospective students beware, football games take precedence over the safety of those seeking knowledge. I shudder to think what might befall a female student forced to walk alone across our poorly lit campus in the dark of night. Shouldn't the school protect its bread and butter?
No, I was not murdered, raped, or beaten on the night of November 16, 2006. In a noble act of civil disobedience, I parked in faculty parking on the other side of the forestry building. My noble act was thwarted by SFA when I was told tickets would not be given out because of the football game. Congratulations SFA, you have defeated me.
I will conclude my rant with this: Rise up, ye students of SFA! Rise up and take back your rights. You should never be turned away from a parking lot when you have purchased the right to park there. This school takes much from us. Take it back!

Hmmmmm . . .

What to write about . . . Often I use blogging on myspace to express concern or outrage at whatever is going on in the world. I'm not outraged at the moment so I'll tell you about my week so far.

I work out-of-town sometimes in the booming metropolis of Safford, Arizona. When I arrived this time, there was nothing for me to do for two days. It sounds pretty great, especially because I get paid whether I do any actual work or not, but it is pretty boring. Well, given too much free time and I will find a way to get into T*R*O*U*B*L*E. Firstly, I got my truck stuck . . . twice . . . in two days. I had to be rescued by the drillers, who now think I'm stupid. Well, they probably already thought that, but leave it to me to confirm my own incompetence. The first time I got stuck in the mud. My only question is WHO PUT MUD IN THE DESERT?!?! The second time I wasn't paying attention while driving and ran my truck up on the rock berm on the side of the "road". While trying to remove the rocks that prevented further movement, I smashed the middle finger on my right hand so hard that the finger nail cut into the tip of my finger. It is pretty nasty y'all. A big chunk of skin is slowly dying and falling off. Oh, I'm sorry, are you sensitive? Anyway I gave up the struggle and walked down to the drill rig and got help. Arg.

Other than those tid bits, I'm just looking at rocks and trying to keep out of the mud and off the side of the road. At this point I'm just biding my time 'til I get to go back to Phoenix.