Hola BigS, glad to hear your niece is going to be okay,
The camping trip - sometimes a rainy camping trip is alright - assuming you have enough dried wood covered up. And I also noticed that my people drink a lot less when I am with them. I think they make up for it when I leave, but it is definitely noticeable.
My butterfly bush is starting to get more customers - we don't get monarchs here. I noticed this cool looking moth with a white band on the underside of its wings.
Mesa, I remember visiting my pal in Phoenix, and of course the 1000 dollar saguaro in the middle of the stones was a necessity fer sure.
So speaking of awesomeness - see Stella's thread starting with TED. I like #982 myself. But I will add my own 'thing' to the list if it isn't already there. You know what's awesome? Trimming and thinning flowers and pulling weeds among the flowers and vegetables all the time surrounded by a hundred bees doing their job of gathering nectar. And they couldn't care less about me. They get out of the way and move if I brush against them. Not once have I been stung by a bee while working in my garden. I spend a lot of time working right next to the bees. It's kind of a co-op I suppose. Now THAT is awesome!
Off to the bank to pay my tax bill. It's more than a month's take home pay for me - and this is just half of it. OOPS!