Update

Well Dennis has been pretty busy with work and school this week. Next week he switches clinics but will still be doing his family medicine rotation. I am excited that I have an interview at the VA next month. Since I completed the long application process out there I can now get back to my class. Mostly though I have been torturing Dennis with my chick flicks lately. I love Juno! Today I rented 27 Dresses and will soon add it to my collection. I was quite disappointed since I thought P.S. I Love You (a must see) came out today but turns out I have to wait until next week:) Now if I could just find a girlfriend to go see Made of Honor with me I would be set!

We are excited that Dennis' parents will arrive in LA on Thursday. Dennis is planning to spend the weekend there as well. Our nephew Luke will be two on Saturday so it should be a great reunion. As for me I will be you guessed it working...We also had the chance to chat briefly with Dennis' sister in England who sounded well and his sister Martha back in Kenya. We missed the boys as it was a school night and they had already gone to bed. We are especially keeping them in our thoughts and prayers now. The Njeru's should make it to Vegas sometime in the coming weeks for a stay with us which we are looking forward too. They may not beat the heat as they had hoped. It has been in the 90s for over a week now and it's only uphill from here.



Here's some old pics of of everyone!




Dennis with Ian & Greg




Kim & Luke

Save Lake Mead, Save the Earth, Save Money!!!

"As long as the earth exists, planting and harvesting, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never stop." Genesis 8:22

Well tomorrow is Earth Day and while we are by no means a bunch of vegan tree hugging commi libs we do try to do our part to help the environment especially living in southern Nevada. There is more than a 50% chance that the once grand Lake Mead fueled by the mighty Colorado River and contained by the immense Hoover damn will be dry by the year 2021. You might say that these are doom and gloom predictions made by the afore mentioned people but as her neighbor I can see that it is possible. You still may not be that concerned after all you live a long way from Las Vegas. Yet Lake Mead and it's subsidiaries supply water to 7 metro areas and maybe more importantly to vast farming areas in California, Arizona, and Mexico. Anyway my point is there are some simple things you can do that save money and save the environment.

1. Conserve H2O: By placing a 1 liter bottle in your toilet filled with sand or rocks you displace enough water to save gallons per day.

2. Paper or Plastic-NEITHER Use cloth grocery bags when you go to the grocery store. We started doing this-admittedly I was a little opposed at first but it has paid off. At some stores you get money back for bringing them and at others you are entered in a drawing for free groceries. At places like Wal-mart you get nothing but peace of mind. One plastic sack takes 20-1000yrs to decompose.

3. Fluorescence-By now everyone has heard about swapping your light bulbs. We did this back in our poor college student days in Stilly and we still are using the same bulbs. Of course we've had to add a few but the originals are still in use. In addition to a long life they will save you money on your electric bill! You say they are expensive...they are getting cheaper and with the money you save, the extended life, and environmental impact there is no comparison. Besides the filaments will be obsolete very soon:)

4. Smart Strip- Want to save even more money...invest in a smart strip. About $30 you plug your electronics/appliances into it so they are really off when they are "off". It's amazing how much electricity is consumed when we aren't even using our gadgets.

5.Recycle, Recycle, Recycle

"Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play and pray in, where Nature may heal and cheer and give strength to body and soul alike."
John Muir- Father of the National Parks Service

This Earth Day do something for Mother Earth!

Windy Saturday

Well after a failed attempt at a round of golf due to gusty winds we headed to downtown Henderson. We spent the afternoon wondering the Water District and the International Food Festival that was taking place today. We enjoyed the sights, sounds, smells, and of course tastes of many different countries. We watched a Venezuelan dance routine, ate some delicious Japanese and Navajo food, and purchased a loaf of Irish Soda bread that reminded us of "loads" of fun times in Belfast. The wind was a little scary though tossing the tents about. Afterwards we dashed off to Saturday mass and then to the new Town Square District for a movie. I could get used to Saturdays off:) On a sad note today we learned that Amanda Jane passed who was the furry companion of our mentors and friends the Trotter's. I cared for AJ in their home back in Oklahoma for many years. She will be missed.




Navajo Taco



Pad Thai




Venezuelan Dancers


Festival Booths













Amanda Jane

Paris

After a taxing hike we went home, got cleaned up, and headed for the strip. We had worked up an appetite so we decided to head to our favorite strip buffet Le Village in the Paris hotel. The food was marvelous. We walked around enjoying the evening as though we were actually in the city of lights.







City Overlook

Red Rock Canyon

Well our crazy week culminated in another Saturday out at Red Rock hiking the trails. This week we chose Turtlehead Peak which chose to be quite a hike. We learned when the sign says difficult they mean it! The peak was some 6500 feet plus we made it to about 5000 feet. We decided we weren't near experienced enough to make the summit. The sheer drops and red scorpions began to weigh on me as well. We turned back just at the right time since the descent proved to be as challenging if not more so than the ascent. I did bite it once but luckily this was not documented in pics-lol.



Picturesque Trailhead

Dennis at trailhead-2.1 miles DIFFICULT...



The Ascent

Near the top

Working for the Weekend

Well it's only Tuesday,no wait Wednesday and it has already been a hectic week. I am working a crazy MWF schedule this week which is trying when you work nights but I have another Saturday off so I won't complain (too much:) Wow two Saturdays in a row I think that is the grand total of Saturdays off for the last six months! I'm just a little excited. So as you know I have been busily working on this statistics class for grad school which is going well so far. Then today the lady from the VA called and my file is just about ready for manager review so now I have to take a med test. Suddenly I am in the midst of a math jungle...so much for taking some time off. Anyway it's not too big of a deal but they ask you to recall conversions of measurements that I'm pretty sure aren't in use anymore like drams and minims. So it takes a little bit of time to bring it to the forefront again.

Dennis is enjoying his rotation thus far and usually comes home exhausted from a long day. Today we took our routine evening walk and headed back for dinner. There was a storm brewing but it very rarely rains here. We get what they call "dry thunderstorms" looks like it's going to rain, smells like rain, there's even lightning but nothing...

Henderson 911

Well when we returned home from hiking we found that the Henderson Police along with the bomb squad, S.W.A.T., fire department, and local media had taken over our Condominiums. Apparently someone was loose with a gun inside. No one could enter or leave. It was quite an unusual site for Henderson but just another day in Vegas. We took a couple pics for proof. Little Bit and Nairobi were safe inside:)


S.W.A.T. officer gearing up




Some of the Cop Cars and Yellow Tape Blocking the Entrances

Weekend Fun

Well Dennis and I found some much needed time to hang out this weekend. So we decided to head out to Red Rock Canyon just outside of Las Vegas for some hiking. This just might be the only place in the area that the strip is not visible from--EUREKA! Here's some pics of our weekend adventure...




Hiking a crevice

Dennis Found a Cave-it's a long way down!



Beautiful Desert Foliage



Trying not to fall

The Elderly

Good morning. I was woken up this morning by a phone call from my brother exclaiming "wake up don't you know it's 9am"! Isn't he sweet. No really though it was good to chat with him this a.m. He was on location somewhere in Texas. I also spent a good portion of this morning searching for Little Bit. I couldn't find her anywhere which is unusual. She is usually sleeping in one of two corners. Nearly panicked I finally found her behind the television in our living room. Her senior years are at times quite comical. For those of you who don't know she will be 17 this year. Nairobi and I are relaxing today enjoying the sunshine while I work on my second assignment for my class. Hope everyone has a terrific day.

Happy April Fool's

Well Dennis is off to his family medicine rotation for three months. This is his longest rotation and when it's over at the end of June he'll only have four months left. I am taking a graduate class online through the University of Texas that starts today but I am procrastinating:)