A letter to Joe McThiefty

To the butt head who picked up my brand new Kindle fire at Sea Tac airport,

I loathe you. Why, when you found it under the pleather airport seats, didn't you have the decency to turn it in to the lost and found?

It makes me so angry to think of you reading books and watching movies on MY electronic device. Poo on you and your greasy hair and bad skin. At least that's what I imagine a horrible person like you would look like.

And some how I know you're male. Women are too classy to steal something that doesn't belong to them.

Example: See how she's sitting all proper and pretty? Yeah, not a thief.

My editor (AKA: Me with a bun in my hair wearing a J. Crew blazer) just informed me that this is in fact an image of a thief. My bad. So, let's now pretend that the "Joe" in "Joe McThiefty" might be short for Joanna. And that she's fat, draws her eyebrows on and puts her pony tail together when her hair is still wet.

ANYWAY, back to me and my problems.

You, Joe, took something that was quite special to me. You see, the Kindle that you now own was the first thing in a long time that I bought for myself that I didn't need. (besides that bag of Mint Milanos that I scarfed down in 2 minutes flat last week) I was finally feeling comfortable enough in my finances to bring home something NEW something FANCY and something EXPENSIVE.

Now it sits in your dirty apartment among empty Dorito wrappers and cat scat. Damn you. You're probably reading Twilight...blehck!

I guess my pessimistic personality is getting the best of me. Maybe, Joe, you're a lovely airport-terminal-cleaning-lady who has been saving up for years to buy a plane ticket to escape the clutches of your abusive boyfriend "Carl" when you find my Kindle Fire and realize you can sell it for the cash. Now you're off to Florida to start a new life, right?

Or maybe you're a humanitarian who just found out that the child you were on your way to build a school for in Haiti has always dreamed of having a Kindle with a $40 leather case?

It's even possible that you have a reading disorder where you can only make out words when they are back lit by high quality LED lights. The Kindle that you found on Thursday was an answer to your prayers.

Are any of these true, Joe? Can it be possible that you had good intentions when you stole it?

Because, let me tell you, yesterday I had to go out and BUY the book that I was in the middle of when my Fire was taken from me. I laid in bed last night and TURNED PAGES! Oh, how I will always remember the simple touch that it took to go from page 92 to 93.

I can only pray that one day, you will feel sorry for what you did to me. And, although I am not a revengeful person, (Pfff!) I kind of hope someone steals your action figure collection. Or your porn. Or that some day soon Head and Shoulders goes out of business.

Ha! Then you'll be sorry.

With SO much (sarcastic) love!

Holly (once a Kindle Fire owner.)

Arizona - Monday & Tuesday

We were hoping to fly home on Monday, but after seeing how booked the flights were, we decided against it.

Instead we spent the day at Papago Park and hiked to the top of the rocks.

He's so strong!

Grandma, enjoying the view from the top.

Sam and Grandma perched at the top. It was really windy that day!

Sam and Mommy in "the hole." It was such a fun hike to the top and what a great view we had from up there.

Flights were looking pretty full again Tuesday morning. Grandma got on a morning flight but Sam and I decided to fly into Portland and then catch a shuttle plane home.

It worked out perfectly.

I couldn't have asked for a better traveler. Sam was such a trooper and was so laid back throughout all of the stressful events.

Makes me want to travel more with this kid, although I think we'll buy tickets from now on :)

Arizona - Sunday

We decided that taking a drive into the Superstition Mountains would be a good way to get out and enjoy the area.

Our first stop was into Goldfield Ghost Town.

We arrived just in time to watch a gun fight. Sam sat with Papa and held his hand. They really enjoyed spending time together.

The guns were very loud, but it was still very enjoyable. Sam enjoyed watching "the bad guys get gunned."

After the show we sat down to a bottle of good ol' fashioned sarsaparilla.

When Sam started getting grumpy, we hopped back into the car and started the trek into the mountains. He feel asleep almost immediately and that gave me the opportunity to get some shots of the amazing views.

We quite literally drove until there was no more concrete. It was pretty incredible. What a different landscape from what we are used to!

When Sam finally woke, we stopped at Canyon Lake to get our toes wet. Sam loved the water.

He also loved checking out all the cool things the desert had to offer.

I may have scared him a little too much about "not touching the cacti." By the end of the day he was too scared to even go near them. Oh well, better safe than sorry.

Sam put his glasses on like this every time. Silly kid.

After our adventure into Superstition, we stopped at an old BBQ restaurant called the Mining Camp and I will be craving it for the rest of my life. Mmmm...

Arizona - Plants

If you have never been to the desert before, here is something that you should know.

Almost everything in the desert is harmful.

The hot sun.
The lack of water.
The venomous wildlife.
Even most plants have evolved to inflict pain.