Live from Phoenix...

...it's hot desert sun!

Hmmmmm.

I have cankles. That's where retain so much water that your feet swell into your calves and your ankles dissapear!

It's quite an attractive look actually.

Last night after the sessions were over, I decided to pamper myself with a massage at the spa they have here. It wasn't the best I've ever had, but any massage is good in my book!

Bye-bye cankles though!

This conference does give you plenty of opportunities to socialize and network - last night however, I was feeling a bit anti-social so I ordered me up some room service and took it out on my little balcony to watch the sunset over the mountains.

I gotta tell ya - it was very pretty. I attempted to take some pictures with my cell phone, but they didn't come out too well.



So, I sat out...drank some chamomile tea and listened to the quiet.

It's very quiet out here. I think the mountains absorb a lot of the noise because there is a highway just down the hill and I can see the cars moving...but I can't hear them really. It's just a low whispering whoosh.

Occasionally the quiet is broken by people walking in and out of their rooms, but it's really amazing how quiet it is.

Did I mention that it's quiet here?

I went to bed early (8:30) cause that's the kind of party girl I am and unfortunately had another not-so good night sleep. I slept well from 9:00 to about 3:30 AM but gave up the fight at 5:30 and decided to have breakfast with the group which starts at 6:30.

Breakfast was - well...not so good. The huevos rancheros were cold, so were the sausages and the cream I added to my coffee curdled. I chowed down on some fruit that was very good and a killer carrot/raisin/brain type muffin and lots of water.

That's one thing about AZ I have noticed...I am thirsty all of the time. The conference that I am at has free water bottles where ever you go so I always have about 2 of them on me at all time. I have this freaky fear that I'm going to be stranded in the desert with no water. Never mind the fact that I'm in a resort...a fear is a fear!

So...what do I do after breakfast?

I face my fear dead on and go for a little hike in the desert!

Slathered in SPF 50, my hiking shoes, two water bottles on me and I was off on my sweaty way!

Any hiking you do out here has to be done by 10:00 AM. After that...you will suffer and die a miserable death. The sun will suck the life force out of you, your body will be vulture food and your bones will be scattered among the cacti.

My hike lasted about 40 minutes.

20 minutes up the hill....20 minutes down the hill.

In New Jersey - we don't have hills...well..the very north west part of NJ has the Skylands which are part of some mountain chain so there are hills/little mountains up there, but were I am from...it's FLAT!

So...I'm huffing and puffing up this hill thinking I am doing pretty good, it's kind of steep - when this "gentleman" who was a tad bit older than I am ran past me. RAN!!!

HE WAS RUNNING!

UP THE HILL!

IN THE DESERT!

sheesh - talk about someone stealing your thunder.

Hmmmph.

It was still a nice little hike. Lots of rocks...and cacti...and some more rocks...and cacti.

I came back down and near my room there is an area that is supposed to be an herb garden. I was kind of curious about it, so off I went to investigate. The only herbs I saw was a hedge of rosemary which smelled absolutely amazing and a bit of thyme.

No parsley...no sage...sorry. That was a bit disappointing, but I found a little table and chairs and decided to sit myself down...drink my water and just listen...to the quiet.

I was quickly rewarded with a sparing pair of ruby throated humming birds duking it out for their territory. Fast little buggers! They were fun to watch. One of them came within a foot of me sipping some very pretty little yellow flowers at the tree I was sitting under. He stopped for a bit...hovered over my head...just as curious about me as I was him I suppose and then zoomed off to his next cluster of blossoms.

Re-hydrated and rested....I climbed the last set of stairs going to the set of hotel rooms that I am staying in.

Air conditioning never felt better than when I opened that door and plopped on my bed.

Ahhhhhhhhh!

I'm going to venture out again tomorrow...it's my last day here and would like to enjoy a bit more of the scenery while I'm here.

Hope you are all having a nice weekend - where ever you are!