Lend me an ear?

Week two of school complete. I got As on two tests already and this week, in restorative arts lab, we practiced making ears! It was pretty fun. Mine ended up almost looking like ears. I have fun classes.

First week of school!

This week was really fun. School started on Tuesday so to maximize my winter break Rob and I squeezed in one more day of skiing in Utah at Park City Resort on Monday. It was a weird mix of slushy and icy, warm and cold, depending on what part of the mountain you were on. It was still fun to be out in the snow. Getting back to Phoenix was nerve racking as we got the last seats on the plane at the very last minute. Whew, made it home and to class the next morning.

Eight hours after I got home from Utah I was sitting in my first day of class.  It was fun to get back and see all of my little embalmer friends again. We got our lab supplies for Restorative Arts; lab coats, makeup kits and mortuary wax. With our lab coats we look all the more sinister as mortuary science students. We do have a lot of fun.

Sipapu, New Mexico

It was a beautiful week in northern New Mexico for skiing. Here are Rob and I at the top of the lift. There wasn't a lot of new snow so some runs were thin and we were a bit limited but we got in two days of great skiing (Rob) and boarding (me) and three relaxing vacation nights. There was no cell service, internet service or even phones in the rooms so we had to forget the world and have fun (this is when it was announced that I would become a Piedmont employee and didn't know it).

That worked out fine until the second night when we took the 20 minute drive to Taos to have a nice dinner. While driving through town the rental car started acting weird. We didn't feel comfortable driving into the isolated mountains with that car so we had to wait 5 hours for the rental agency to tow a replacement car from Albuquerque and retrieve the broken one. I was hoping to get to bed by 8 or 9 but I guess midnight was ok. We just stayed in the last night and ate at the lodge.

New Job!

As is typical for me, I left for New Mexico a Mesa Airlines employee and, while I was off the grid, became a Piedmont employee. How fun for me! I don't think it really means much as far as a major life change but in April my badges and checks will say Piedmont. They are only taking over ground operations for Mesa. The rest will remain. I'll post some ski pics when I get home from work today.That's the most important thing.

Happy Monday!

I finished another grueling work weekend and am just being lazy today. Wednesday, Rob and I are leaving for Albuquerque to drive up to Sipapu Ski resort for a couple nights to try some New Mexico skiing. I went to a ski show in Phoenix (yeah, skiing and Phoenix don't really go together. Brings to mind a saying about a snowball and it's shot at survival in a certain place...) and got two hotel nights and two days skiing free for two people just to get people to try it out. Sounded like an adventure. If only Telluride would give away that kind of deal.

School starts Tuesday the 18th. To make as much of my winter break as possible I agreed to take some work friends to SLC on Monday the 17th for a day of skiing in Park City. Yep, pushing it right up to the end. Hopefully I'll make my flight and the first day of class.

Wish me luck and I let you all know how it goes.

Another resolution to forget

Hey everybody! So I was realizing that this is going to be one of those years that, like, everything changes and a lot will happen so I'll try to keep up with stuff here. I've been pretty boring the last 2 years so we haven't missed much. This week I got my new IDs and cards as the Ms Jaime Parker so that is a good start.

Things I am looking forward to this year are finishing my mortuary science degree in May, taking and passing the national board exam, getting my embalmer apprenticeship license and job in whatever town has work and possibly getting out of the hood in Tempe and into a real home. Whew.

More immediately, I planted some seeds in my amazing little urban garden today. I put in lettuce, spinach and zucchini in the space left from the cucumber and butternut squash vines freezing and dying. I have a million cherry tomatoes and early girls just getting ready to ripen, as you can see. We managed to cover and save the tomatoes, herbs, lettuce, peppers, radishes, carrots and peas. I know, I'm not used to gardening in January, yet, either.

School starts on Tuesday, January 18. Hopefully I'll do some fun stuff before then.

Cheers!