Merry Christmas!

Cam and I are now both at Caliente Hot Springs and brought the dogs. Most of Cam's family is here and some of mine (mom & Butch). The weather has been fantastic since we arrived - which is lucky because the 6 days before that pelted down with rain (the 6 days I was at home, I might add- the rain started the day I left).

We missed morning waterball, but I went to the afternoon session. Cam did not join me but on Friday morning he went to the morning waterball with me - and VOILA - he got hooked too! Thank goodness - it locks up our retirement plan - something we agree on finally.... It was funny to watch his progression in learning the game.... It took about 20 minutes for him to go from hitting the ball too hard and politely not 'ball-hogging' but then watching it drop to the water, to progressively 'get' the game and then set the ball high for the front row to spike and himself expertly tipping the ball into the corners that no one is standing.... he grew to be cutthroat in 2 short days!!!

So Thursday was Cam's birthday, then Friday was our anniversary. We have been walking in the desert with the dogs. We picked up our friend's dog to take her with us since our 3 dogs hung out in the summer in Oroville for a weekend. So each time we'd go, my friend would provide us a steel comb and pliers to take in case of cactus. Then we went for a long hike into the desert with the dogs offleash and even climbed some hills. The dogs loved it but I think were really tired & hot. So we headed back and we were almost back to the resort when I realized my 'borrowed' dog was missing. So we all split up and were searching the desert for this dog. A couple of times before she had ranged fairly far but we could always see her & then call her back. But this time there was no sign of her. After quite awhile of searching, I could see that it was getting to be time for the sun to set and I started to panic a bit that the dog would be lost in the desert after dark, so I made the decision to run for the dog's house to get the owner to come out to the desert to help us search - so I started running all the way back thru the desert & the resort to their house and as I rounded the corner, the dog's mom shouted to me that she was home..... Talk about relief! I guess that dog just had enough walking in the desert and booked it for home...... The panic level was high for me - and the sweat was even higher..... I haven't run that much probably since high school..... and the adventure wasn't over for me because I had left 3 people searching in the desert with no plan..... so I had to run BACK to the desert to see if I could gather them & let them know - but I couldn't see them, so I ran back to our house to see if they returned home.....which they hadn't - and so by this time, I drove my car back across the resort to the gate..... and thankfully my crew were returning so all was well and I was able to start thinking about calming down. That was an exciting - if panic-filled - Christmas Eve event.

To calm down & alleviate some space issues, we opted to go into Palm Springs for Thai food for our anniversary (10 years!!!!). But we didn't dither as Cam really wanted to go swimming on Christmas Eve -cause how often can you say you did that ?!? The swimming pools are over 90 degrees here....

On Christmas morning, all 12 of us went to a community pot luck brunch. The food was fantastic - pot luck at a 55+ resort with all that cooking experience.... YUMMMM Cam and I led a guitar/singalong of a handful of Christmas carols - I was proud of Cam b/c he hadn't wanted to do it but he did it. And the folks seemed to appreciate it - even though we started out quite rough. But we got a little better - but we only had practiced these songs for 45 minutes or so the night before so what the heck. We ended with one of our faves - a non Christmas carol - it was Those Magic Changes - and so since we both know it very well, we could leave a decent impression on the crowd as we left and hopefully they don't remember the rough start.

We went back to the house and opened presents. A good time had by all. Then Cam and I took the dogs for a walk in the desert since we didn't get to first thing in the morning. We decided to try a side gate instead of the back, and we were deeply engrossed in a conversation when all of a sudden I noticed Cooper had caught site of a bird or something and was bounding around in a field of cacti. JUST as I was thinking 'that is a really bad idea', Cooper started screaming and leaping around so Cam sprinted over to him to check out his injuries and crouched down beside him to investigate. He really wanted to keep him still and calm so that the inevitable cactus issue that Cooper had wouldn't get worse. So I was staying off the edge, not wanting to lead Molly into the cactus patch. I kept asking Cam to pick up Cooper and bring him out of the cacti but he said he couldn't really do that and I should go and check it out....

So I got over there and saw that Cooper had a cactus ball about the size of a large russet potato stuck to the back of one of his front legs. The opposite side of that SAME cactus ball was jammed into Cam's forearm - locking dog and man together in a awkward, not to mention painful pose. So this walk had been impromptu and we didn't collect my friend's dog and therefore had not collected the tools either. So I was freaking out a bit about what to do because when you tug your limb (or should I say Cam's limb) from the cactus, the skin simply stretches a long long way. And did I mention that after Cooper had the cactus on his paw and before Cam could reach him, he tried to bite it off - so he had cactus spines driven into his tongue, gums and lips...OUCH.

So Cam just kept pulling his arm and I watched in horror and fascination as his skin stretched further and further until finally the cactus ball broke a little and Cooper and Cam were separated. But Cam still had the cactus spines in his arm. and of course, so did Cooper. So we decided the best plan was for me to go and get help - to Skip's for his tools and expertise. So once again, I was running across the resort in a sweaty panic - but this time, I dropped Molly off on the way at home and picked up the car as my poor heart wasn't going to take any more of this running. So I drove over (remember, it's Christmas day) - and I can hear a commotion on their back porch - so I run down the side of the house and see that they have a houseful of company - but I explain what happened and Skip grabbed his Leatherman and I explained in more detail as we were heading to the car.

So off we went to find Cooper and Cam in the desert - then Skip performed the unpleasant task of grasping the cactus & ripping it out of Cooper's leg. That came off fairly easily actually - and then he plucked each spine out of Cam's arm, and then between the two of us, we both plucked out the numerous spines from Cooper's mouth. He was such a good boy, none of us could believe how calm and relenting he was. He flinched only twice when I pulled out the two that were in his gums. Ugh - I can't even imagine. Cam can though, and he said the spines are like needles only worse since needles are SMOOTH and these spines are barbed down the entire shaft.... Cam's arm was bleeding in a bunch of little dots.

So once the cactus spines were removed from Cooper, it was like nothing ever happened for him - back at home, he was ready to play some more. But we needed a break from the adventure so we went swimming.

Then we all assembled for a fantastic Christmas dinner and then went for a short walk - IN the complex on leashes - (the dogs, not the people) to avoid anything exciting or painful.....

Now, to throw back a bit in the story.... remember me running to Skip's backyard to collect him? Well, I also collected a fire ant sting. In my panic mode, I didn't pay much attention - but simply brushed the sucker off my foot. However, once the excitement died down, I remembered the ant and I now have 3 fire ant pustules on my foot - one right between two toes, and one at the end beside the nail and the other one is on the next toe. Unfortunately, I am no stranger to fire ant stings - in 2008 in Phoenix, both my feet were swarmed with fire ants and it is NO JOKE - fire ant stings are probably the worst thing ever as far as biting bugs that don't actually kill you go. The worst part about it is that the sting pain lasts for WEEKS. So in case you're wondering why I'm blogging at such and early hour, it is because my foot was driving me CRAZY and I couldn't stop scratching it - and the more you scratch it the worse it becomes. It is awful. And I keep wishing that I could have been the one with the cactus and someone else could have the damned fire ant sting..... As painful as Cam's problem looked, once the spines were out, his pain was over and he has no lasting aftereffects. I will be stuck with these painful & itchy stings for a long time to come........ I hate fire ants.

BUT, I'm still happy to be here. Yesterday, the waterball crew gathered an 'impromptu' (planned in secret) game of advanced waterball. Normally there is no waterball on Sunday allowed at the park but I think they figured that all the brass was at home for the holiday so we could get away with it. About a half hour into the game, one of the low-level brass wandered over on his day off to tell us he had had complaints. And the complaints were due to noise b/c 2 people wanted a noisefree Sunday to enjoy. So he said we could keep playing if we could be quiet. So imagine 20 people in the pool playing a fast-paced game of waterball - but very little sound. We were whispering 'Service' - and some people mimed that the ball would be served - whenever there was a good play, we jumped up and down and splashed but no one said anything. It was bizarre and funny and stupid all at the same time. Of course there were a lot of 'SSSSSHHHHHHHHHH' if someone got a little too excited. And the ref kept saying 'No LAUGHING' (tongue in cheek, of course). But we got to play for 2 hours so we were willing to put up with the 'no sound waterball'. I'm sure it was a strange specatator sport......

So, my icecube is now fully melted that I put on my foot to try to quell the fire - not sure if it was the icecube or the distraction of typing this blog that has allowed me to stop scratching the bites, but I'm about to try Orajel on them - it has anaesthetic in it so I'm hoping that will help. The Hydrocortisone cream I tried didn't really stop the itching - maybe Benzocaine with do the trick!

Anyway, despite the seeming pitfalls, those were just short blips in an otherwise perfect holiday and we are enjoying ourselves immensely. And yesterday, we popped into town and I dropped Cam and the dogs off at a dog park (no cactus) and then went to Walmart to buy our own desert supplies - pliers and a comb - so we can head back to the desert....

Hope you all are having a wonderful Christmas time and that your upcoming New Year will be prosperous and most of all -HEALTHY.