This body was made for a resort

Disclaimer:  Please bare with me.

I haven't had a creative mind as of late, 

but I'm pushing myself to get back in the blogging saddle.

The wording in this post is a bit lame,

 but just read past my dumb words and enjoy the fab pics!!!!

xoxo

oh, one more thing....blogger is being an ass.  

I think it gave me some kind of STD.  

Weird highlights in this post just popped up on it's own and is not my doing.

Hopefully with a little antibiotics and time we will be clean again :)

It had been a year since my albino skin had felt the Arizona heat.

Within that year, two baby girls have been born, two tween girls have grown into their teeth and two lovely ladies have awaited my visit for one hell of a good time!!!!!

I arrived at the Phoenix International airport at 8:30 pm.

[the flight was a bitch to my arm.....

altitude, compression, and crying kids made it throb like an African drum]

As I stood at the top of the escalator  awaiting my decent to the baggage carousel, I see a peek of big brown eyes and a welcoming smile that brought me to tears!!!

It was an older, taller, more mature version of  the memory I had from a year ago of  Lexy Merloe.

 

This little girl is something else!!!

Talk about a reincarnation of Chelise!!!!

She blew me away with her compassion, giving heart, and humorous wits.

The rest of the adult evening consisted of Bud Light, wine, girl talk and never wanting to go to sleep for fear that we might not have sucked enough breath out of each other from snorting laughter!

"JUST ONE MORE!!!!"

is our coined phase which means 'just one more' Bud Light before bed [we all know that when I say one I mean four], or wanting to extend 'just one more' day together.

We started the next morning with breakfast and the mimosa trio at Mimi's.

What a buzz treat!!!!  

Somehow when fresh squeezed juice is involved, it seems very justified to combine it with a splash of champagne!

I convince myself that it's NOT a drinking problem at 9 am if it looks that beautifully sophisticated!

HELLO!!!!

Anyone agree?

Yes Paula, Lisa, Lynsie, Chelise and Elise......

I see your hands raised!  

You all were a given.

Next on the agenda:  Rock N Roll to fill the soul!

The three of us were so excited to see this movie together.

[FYI:  it's a musical....it's cheesy...it's raunchy....it's dry humored...it's not for everyone....Julianne Hough was horrible]

We LOVED it!!!!!

Ahhhhh....so many songs brought me back to moments in my teens, that to this very day, I can feel throughout my body.

Chelise and Elise kept saying that I looked like Malin Akerman's character 

[remember the wand hair curler that made the 80's call me?], 

which I took as a HUGE compliment.  

But even more important was that I knew that this character was living my tween dream!!!

Not a dream of being with Tom Cruise 

[yuck! he's a  crazy mofo! 

although he was really good in the movie, 

but hallelujah that Katie Holmes came out of her coma and is now in hiding underground from the Scientology mafia.  There's only so much couch jumping and Tom's nose that one girl can take!]

but the dream of being with a band,

 traveling and enjoying all the perks of being a low life, 

living the high life!

ok....so I didn't dream of having a white picket fence with a husband and 2.5 children when I was a tween girl.....

but I'm not the only one that yearned to tour on a rock band bus and live by the 

Sex, Drugs, and Rock n Roll persona.

Right? 

What?  You didn't want that?

Oh come on!!!

Really?

Shit.....I'm starting to realize that I'm totally NOT normal!

Let me tell you another thing that is NOT normal!!!

Being in AZ at 115 degrees with a black sweaty cast!

Lex was kind enough to let me use her little bunny neck pillow to prop my arm up.  

Tangerine bunny just so happened to color coordinate with my outfit!

by chance????

I THINK NOT!!!

Fashion has it's own energy and it knows when to hop a damn bunny boppy under an armpit!

Agenda #2 for the day:

Grease at the Arizona Broadway Theatre

We had about an hour to spare from one show to the other.

Perfect timing to do a drive by to pick up Lex and still be to the theater in to have a blended 'Pink Lady' cup o' yum!

The price of admission included a lovely dinner.......

But did NOT include a cookie with an adult meal.

As you can see here, a 33 year old grown woman is fighting and trying to steal this defenseless little 8 year old girl's chocolate chip delight!

Cookies are serious around these parts!

Share.... or be gone with your head!

Lexy's highlight was to meet a particular cast member,

 who is also a morning news celebrity.

She patiently sat through 4 hours [dinner and play] just to have the chance to meet Cory :)

~~~~~~

This brings us to the events of the next day.

We made calls, sending out verbal invites of a BBQ, Sunday funday birthday celebration for Parker.

Well......lookie at what these lovelies come packin in!

Yeah!  That's right!

"Party Rockers in the house tonight!!!!

Everybody's gonna have a good time!

Everyday I'm shufflin'!!!!

Randy's mom Carol and aunt Eloise showed up ready to stock our cooler!

I couldn't be more proud!

Even now....

oh dear,  I must pause.....

give me a moment please.

I'm ok....I'm ok.

It's just that I'm in such awe of these ladies and their life experiences of being wild child's themselves.  

And of course for their generosity in sharing damn good ale!

left:  Shylo [Parker and Samantha's baby girl almost 4 months old]

right:  Scarlett [Katie and Kenneth's baby girl almost 7 months old]

And then we have the babes!!!

The beautiful babes that were so sweet, lovable, and happy.

Yes, I will admit that a piece of me died not being able to hold these babes in my arms.  Luckily for me, the days of being a gymnast [35 years ago] , helped me to flex and bend to access their necks and bellies to munch on!

The 'City girl/Country girl' performance.

Cash, Lexy and Shelby

four words:  time is the enemy

One year of me being away, and these kids are growing up in extreme portions.

I have to look at the positive....

you have more appreciation for what is in front of you now,

 if it has been withheld from you in the past.

Not seeing these kiddos for so long, made me look at them as glorious, beautiful, angelic beings who could do nothing wrong.

So maybe time really isn't the enemy, 

but more of a guide to acknowledge that we don't have the control and must appreciate the beauty in growth.

Parker....the lil toe headed cutie pie that I remember running around with his woobie blanket, making everyone laugh with his impersonations and purposely  terrorizing Katie for pure fun, 

has turned 30.

The big 3-0!

I'm proud of this man.....my brother.

He has made the choice to be the best he can be, even with some major obstacles along the way.

With a beautiful wife, two gorgeous children, an HVAC degree and a drug free life, I have no doubt that this amazing cousin of mine has many years of love and success ahead.

I love ya Park.

My cup overflows with happiness for you.

You can do anything!!!

Hard times come our way....it's how we deal with the hurdle that defines us.

Sometimes the hurdle is keeping your birthday ice cream away from crack.

This is how we show love toward one another.

'Happy birthday brother!!! Here, kiss my ass!"

Awe :)  just makes me warm and fuzzy inside.

A couple days later, I was back on a plane to SLC feeling twisted with emotion.

I was missing my hubs and boys, yet ached leaving my AZ fam just as much.

Leaving before you stink is the best way to go about it.

I left with sweetness still in the air.

Thank god!  Because I'm coming back real soon!  

Ya hear???

I will close this post with the goal that I warm you with the sunshine of a child's heart.

This is a surprise gift I found  in a little zipper as I unpacked my luggage.

It's my Arizona treasure chest that holds all of my special Lexy memories.

What can I say?

Lex, you are my golden gem :)

Quote of the week by Chelise:

This body is tired of workin!!!

This body was MADE for a resort!!!!!