We got back last night after another ten or so hours on the road, passing through prickly desert and dust storms, past a vast and horrifyingly odorous feed lot, and rolling country hills, and finally to our sweet sweet city with its smoking ban and rainfall and people of color. Ahh.

Walked into the apartment and the cats stood there on the living room rug, either trying to remember who we were, or silently cursing us for being gone an entire six days. After about five minutes of quiet and stares, old Simon finally looks at me and starts miawing and purring and carrying on, and continues for the rest of the night with more clinginess than usual.

We were in Arizona and Nevada for the holiday, visiting my dad and his wife, seeing the spectacle of the Grand Canyon at sunset, spending one night in a haunted former bordello in the middle of nowhere, winning money in a smoke-infested casino, petting wild baby burros on their nosies, and seeing broken little hovels of trailer parks sitting right in the middle of incredibly majestic sprawling desert valleys.

I saw very many trains, ate too much bad food, went into a K-Mart and was unimpressed, and listened to hours of satellite radio. Air America is a godsend. We watched football on tv and wandered around in the 70 degree weather without coats. Saw in the casino over and over again what happens to people who don’t bother with taking care of their bodies. We only won money because we quit while ahead.

There was a lake and a dock outside of Laughlin NV where you can hand-feed pieces of bread to giant fat carp fish. They share the spot with ducks, who walk on top of the roiling splashing slippery fish dogpile to get at the crusts.

It’s still raining here in SF, but I don’t mind. I love living in a city. Though the only thing that tempts me toward country life is the idea of having horses, an unrealized lifelong dream.

Lunch today is salad and chicken breast and brown rice. Trying to get the taste of road food and diner food out. I came up with this plan to eat super healthy and lower calories etc etc once the holidays ended. To get back to five workouts at the gym each week. Then Brian tells me that the YMCA is closed until the sixth of January. Great. I guess those guys forgot about how forty percent of their new members try to join up on New Year’s Day. Well, maybe it will be less crowded for me when they finally re-open.

Husband got me diamond earrings to match my wedding band. He is really somethin special. We also ended up getting eachother bathrobes. Dorks.