Superlatives

Neglect. This blog has suffered from severe neglect. But then again, things have been a little loony. (and that's an understatement). I've composed many a blog post in my head at the 12:45am feeding, and yet have not the time to sit and write it... unless of course, I wanted to keep staying up at 12:45am, which is not the case.

So if there are still readers - I'm sorry. I do enjoy the writing of the blog and keeping some record of our adventures and foibles, so I hope to get back on track. There have been many stories and things to write about in the last two months, but today, here is what is on my mind.

Las Vegas is the -est of all the places we have lived for many reasons.
- hottest. Pardon my language, but god damn it's freaking hot here. Dry heat my ass. 110 is 110. and it's freaking hot. Right now it's 106 in the sun on my patio. It was 123 earlier. Now the thermometer was in the sun, but seriously folks, it's just hot. Stella's preschool director said she doesn't guarantee better weather until Halloween. If that's the case, I'm definitely going to be a witch. (or I will leading up to Halloween, if you know what I mean).

- driest. This is the driest place we have ever lived on Earth. It feels like Death Valley. That 106 I mentioned? Yes, and it's 2% humidity. TWO PERCENT. I have never felt that in my life. Nor have our eyes, our noses... Someone in the elevator at work said on Thursday, man, it's humid today, and I started laughing. Humid? You mean like maybe it's up to like 20%? Yes, she said seriously, it's really humid -can't you feel it? No, I said. I grew up on the East Coast. All i got was a curt "oh."

- ugliest. yes, Ugliest. Las Vegas isn't pretty folks. It has wide wide streets, surrounded by concrete walls, each of the stucco look-alike-ticky-tacky houses have concrete fences, and where it is not developed, it's a big dry dirt pile. The skyline is the weirdest thing ever. A black pyramid. A gold tower. A fake Chrysler building. It's just odd, ya'll.

- highest. We're at 2100 feet, and for all of us, that's the highest altitude we've ever lived. Besides the fact that it's so dry (see above) we also need to consume more water for altitude. I know that seems silly, especially for people that have lived in Denver (hi Mom!), but after living at sea level all our lives, this is also a change.

- farthest. This actually doesn't apply to Steve (but I guess from the last 15 years, it does). This is the farthest that I have (and the dog and the girls) have ever lived from an ocean. Even Richmond and Williamstown were only 2 hours. We are now 3 1/2. This is slightly disconcerting.

- dumbest. I guess this one isn't that fair, but in a way, it's true. In the Vegas metro area, only 12% of the population has a college degree or higher. 12%. But then again, I guess they aren't *that* dumb, because I found out from someone at work the other day that one of his students left school because she made $82K as a cocktail waitress at one of the casinos the year before she went back to school... and when she realized that she wasn't going to make with whatever her degree was in, she said whatever to that degree. Maybe I should wise up and become a cocktail waitress.

- biggest. This is the biggest house we have ever lived in together. We have 3 bedrooms, and yet the third bedroom has hardly anything in it - just some boxes, a few things in the closet. We don't really know what to do with the space. It's also the newest house we have ever lived in, and as much as it looks "nice" in that it's "newer" we don't think it's us. It's not our style. Out of the blue in the car ride home from a pool yesterday, Stella said to me, "Mommy? I like our old house in Santa Barbara better." I asked her what she meant? "I just liked it. I miss it." I should have been positive. I should have said something to deflect, but all I could say was, "Me too Stella. Me too." and then I couldn't talk because I had a lump in my throat.

- most diverse. I'm trying to be positive here. Not since New York City have we lived/worked in such a diverse area. UNLV is an incredibly diverse campus and in the evenings at the park two blocks from our house, I have heard Russian, Spanish, Hindi, and a few other languages I couldn't pick out. To me, and for the girls, that's pretty great.

That's my list so far that warrants description. Tackiest also comes to mind, but that's a given. Let's just say our transition in this move was the hardest move Steve and I have ever had to make in our lives. Clearly, we're not over it yet. Coming from one of the most beautiful places in America to one of the ugliest (in my opinion) has been tough. As I've mentioned on the blog before, it's not that we were so tied to the people in Santa Barbara, but our house and our environs really affected our daily lives so intrinsically. We are getting better, but we have not a clue what to do with a dog and young children when you can't go outside during the day. I guess if we had moved somewhere that has a real winter, I would be writing about this in November. What do you do to keep everyone occupied and getting energy out? Coloring, baking (which unfortunately heats up the house), playing with dolls/toys/make believe only last so long. Stella and Steve desperately miss their time every afternoon on our old tree swing,  Scupper misses smelling the horses on our 2+ mile walks (we can only assume), and I miss being able to turn Stella out into the yard whenever being the house gets too stuffy. Steve hasn't ridden a bike in 6 weeks and he's going crazy.

I can only hope that BEFORE Halloween, the weather will turn, we'll start to settle in a bit more, and we will embrace the desert.

Or not.