So, it turns out that that annoying rash was actually an allergic reaction to an antibiotic... Did you know that you can take half a package of Benadryl in 24 hours?  I didn't know it before but I sure do now.  I attempted to get up off the couch and stop dozing and watching TV and I ended up woozy in the grocery store wondering if it was safe to drive home.  Luckily I made it.  Back to more television.

Bad Decision No. 1

I moved to the desert.

I thought that the sunshine would make up for all of the negatives that come with living in the desert.  I was wrong.  I've known for a long time that I am allergic to the desert.  I thought that I was having a heart attack the first time I experienced allergies when I was a freshman at BYU.

Bad Decision No. 2

I got a flu shot.

In a desperate attempt to combat my allergies I headed into the student health clinic on Tuesday.  I had been sleeping for 9 hours a night and generally feeling horrible which is always a sure sign that I am getting sick.  I got a cold from my allergies last year that was literally the worst cold of my life.  Since I so rarely make it to the health center I decided to get a flu shot while I was there.

Bad Decision No. 3

I got out of bed yesterday morning.

I was so sick yesterday that my makeup looked like strange brown blotches on my face.  The combined effect of the allergies and the flu shot nearly did me in.  The only things that made yesterday worth it was the delicious gyro I ate at lunch made by the Armenians across the street from UNLV and this small bag of cookies that I found in my purse.



Bad Decision No. 4

I showed up for class this morning.

Class was cancelled, but in my general state of misery I had forgotten.  To add insult to my sick allergy ridden body, I woke up this morning to my face covered in a rash from the new acne medicine that the doctor gave me.  I'm sure it had more to do with my dry, sensitive skin than anything else, but waking up to a red blotchy face always improves your day...

Here's to only two more days left in the week and then a weekend of laying in my bed until I recover from my own bad decisions.

I have had a hard time coming to terms with the start of the school year tomorrow.  This morning when I eventually rolled out of bed I realized that I was finally ready for school to start again.  Tomorrow I don't have any classes but I start my externship (working for credit) with the UNLV General Counsel's Office.  I don't have any of my homework done for Tuesday but I'm sure I'll figure it out tomorrow.  Here's to the massive storm that we had tonight and the last day of summer!

I was walking out to my garage one morning last week and this is what the woods behind our condo looked like.  It was so serene and beautiful I had to take a picture. 

Today, it's raining.  It's been raining all week and they said that we have a new storm blowing in today.  Hopefully it will blow by quickly and we will be back to sunshine.

This is my beloved thermos.  My parents got it for me as a gift.  It holds three cups of warm steamy liquid that I can sip on as I freeze at work.  If you are in the market for a thermos, Stanley is the only brand to buy and they have it at Target!

 This is a 180 degree turn from the last picture.  It looks like I was going backwards when I came off the road and then finished turning.  I stopped against a barbed wire fence.

I've been driving by this El Camino every day this week.  Every time I see an El Camino I think of my friend Sara S.  I don't know why but she is obsessed with them.  She pointed out every single one that we saw in Hawai'i and for some reason Hawai'i has a disproportionate number of El Camino's.  Sara calls them Cachucks because they are cars and trucks.

Last night there was an El Camino in my dream.  I'm pretty sure that it was this one.  I don't know what that means.  Is it significant if you dream about an El Camino?

We had some problems again today.  The water unexpectedly rose and flooded our prep area.  The flooding made it more difficult for me to get from my truck to the barge.  The situation was exacerbated because I had so many layers of clothing on that I was almost wider than I am tall.

Oh wait, we are working the weekend.

This is how my week has gone.

Monday-5 feet of drilling in 10 hours of work.  For reference I expect that we should get around 50 feet done in a good day.

Tuesday- 5 feet in 10 hours again

Wednesday-
 This happened.  That rod on the right used to look like the one on the left, but the bit sheared off during drilling and wore the threads off of the rod.  We couldn't retrieve the bit and we can't drill through the bit, so that meant that we had to scratch that location and move 5 feet away and start over.

Today- I woke up to several inches of snow on the ground.  The drive into work was harrowing over the pass, but the brutal part was the wind.  The drillers spent 5 hours getting the rig up and running.

Luckily my waitress didn't sit me at this table for dinner tonight.

My mother studied health sciences in college and she is paranoid when it comes to germs in public places.  She indoctrinated me well at a young age.  To this day I am still terrified of public bathrooms.

The State of Washington Public Health has an ad campaign right now that is to promote basic health practices.  It is a song called Washyourhandsington.  Every time I hear it on the radio I giggle.  So I thought that I would share it with you.  The link is below.  Enjoy and don't forget to wash your hands.

Washyourhandsington

This is Laura and I.  The best part of Coke World is the tasting room where you can try Coke products that they sell all over the world.  Including the disgusting tasting Beverly.  Laura says that it tastes like B.O. and I have to agree.  They also had a flavor that I loved drinking in Romania, Fructe de Padure.

The parade was really late in starting and it was cold and rainy.  Finally we gave up and went to a little market and had a piece of sweet potato cheesecake pie.


Bill Clinton said that this was the best piece of sweet potato cheesecake pie.  It was the best one I had ever had as well.  Although, I'm not really sure where you would ever find a piece of sweet potato cheesecake pie other than here.


After our pie we found a spot underneath an overpass where we could watch the parade.  We shared some turkey drumsticks for lunch.  I wish that I had a picture of the parade.  Different sororities and fraternities marched in the parade and each had their own stomp group.  I loved watching them perform.  It was probably one of my favorite parts of my trip to Atlanta.

Last of all we walked down to the house that MLK grew up in.


Here's our whole group in front of the house.  Nearby was also a National Monument dedicated to MLK Jr.  It was a really good exhibit.  We saw the video on the contributions of children in the civil rights movement.  It was fascinating.  They had some really ingenious ideas, for example they had the children march so that if/when they got arrested the parents could still continue to work and keep their jobs.
Thanks Laura for a great trip!

I'm watching the Grammy's tonight.  I watch it for two reasons.  First and foremost so that I can see Lady Gaga in all of her strangeness.  Watching her is like rubbernecking on the freeway.  You know that something terrible has just happened and you can't look away.

I also like to see if the singers really can sing or if they have been working with Timbaland.

On a different note.  I pass this on the way to my hotel.


If you can't read the side it says Trans-Zilla.

69.25

For my day off I did whatever I wanted.  I was up early.  I started the day off with some waffles.  Every time I say waffles I think of the donkey on Shrek.


Then I went swimming.  I love the slate tiles on the walls.


A drive down the Yakima River Canyon was one of the days highlights.  These rocks had bright green lichen on them which was exciting to see in the all brown landscape.


I also spent some quality time laying around in my room.  I love this hotel.


It was a good day.

This is La Plaza.  The home of the best mexican food that you will ever eat.  I have tried almost everything on their menu including the seafood coctail and there hasn't been a single thing that I haven't loved. 

My youngest brother Greg was introduced to La Plaza by his best friend's family.  Then Greg introduced La Plaza to us.  It is the place that we never miss when we go home to visit.

When I returned from my mission I had a few months where I lived at home while I was looking for a job.  I spent a majority of my time looking for jobs and making food for my little brother.

Every day after Greg would get home from school he would come find me in the house and the exchange would go like this.

Hey Kenz
Hey Greg
Are you hungry?
I haven't had lunch yet.  (I would wait to have lunch because I knew that this was coming.)
Want to go to La Plaza?
Sure.

Then Greg would drive us in the Buick over to La Plaza.

We would order food and Greg would turn to me and ask me if I had any money. 

We went almost every day.  He asked me for money, every time.

If you've ever wondered what it is like to have a little brother, that is it in a nutshell.

We started at 7 this morning.  I love the morning.  The earlier I get up the better the day goes.  It was sunny and still on the river today.  I smiled all day.