Today we were up to +37C again. In the morning not a single cloud in sight, but during the afternoon a few spread clouds here and there. Morning air humidity 10% but got down to 0% in the afternoon. At night we had some clouds.

I was up at I spent the morning working. Its quite nice to be able to wake up at around 4 am and when Im done its still no later than 1 pm and I can go out and enjoy the day.

While I was working Amanda watched TV (I had my back to it and headphones on) but every once in a while I got a flicker of it... One interesting fact on the news was that peanut butter chocolate milkshake has so many calories in it that you have to eat 68 (SIXTYEIGHT) strips of bacon to get the same amount of saturated fat. I mean thats sick enough, but hey.. who the h*** got the idea to make a milkshake out of peanut butter and chocolate anyways? Even I have limits.... I mean chocolate spread and peanut butter is ok on the bread but in a milkshake? Too weird !

I also spoke of my sunburn with one of my american colleagues and he told me to check out this site for Environmental working groups sunscreen tests. Thats where you can read that only 8% of the sunscreens on the american market are good enough to get recommended. Of course my favourite brand Hawaiian Tropic is recommended to stay away from due to content of oxybenzone and vitamin A.and hight content of allergycausing ingredients. So.. Ill go get a few new tanning lotions then, but of the recommended brands.

Its a fact, its too cold for me inside with aircondition on at 21C. Its far below my comfort temperature that is 27-28C However we found a solution :D Amanda sits inside, I sit outside on the veranda and then we have easy access to eachother but I dont freeze and she dont melt :D
So, until the table is moved outside I found another solution. The apartment complex here has several swimming pools and the one closest to the reception has perfectly well functioning wireless!!! YAY That rocks.
So my office for the day was under an unbrella in the shadow by the pool... oh life is enjoyable!

When the workday ended Amanda had an appointment with the physio therapist and she dropped me off the mall. I walked around and found 2 nice shirts at Lane Bryant. Not bad for a 3 hour trip to the mall. Who knew I could be so controlled ? Hehehe.

For Dinner Amanda took me to Chino Bandido. Whats special with Chino Bandido? Its a Mexican Chinese Caribbean combo restaurant. So you find caribbean and mexican food with a chineese twist. Its soooo delicious :D I had 2 different dishes in a combo.
Chile Relleno (Fresh Anaheim Chile stuffed withtwo kinds of cheese, crispy breaded exterior)
Jade Red Chricken (Lightly coated, deep fried chicken glazed with slightly spicy sweet sauce. Different and habit-forming)
My Jade Red Chicken was wrapped in Tortilla. Of course there was rice and cuban style black beans !! Yummy :D The principal of doggy bags are great ... Far too much food. The good news... Ill have for breakfast tomorrow :D

On our way home we stopped at Target for some shopping. I got a few things for my baby sister but apart from that didnt buy much.. I need to freight it over to California before Im going home so got to be careful with the amounts of purchase :D

I was soo tired when I got home though. Right off to bed :D Im not made for too little sleep, but i dont want to waste any of that beautiful daylight either :D

Today we were down to +36C. Morning air humidity 10% but got down to 0% in the afternoon. Not a cloud in sight all day.

I was up at 4:30am again and started working early so that I could be able to go out early as well. After an efficient workday where I even managed to put in 2 extra hours I went to the pharmacy to get some stuff that I needed and got lunch at the food store. Then I headed directly for the pool and stayed there reading until 6pm when the sun went hiding behind a tree and it started to cool off.
Im reading the latest House of Night novel Burned.

Amanda was so nice and made us dinner; buffalo hamburgers and risotto. Both delicious!

I was awefully tired and my tummy hurt so I went to bed before 9.

Today we were up to +37C again. Weather predictions tell us that we will only go up from here. +42C for the weekend :D Im in heaven. Air humidity 10%. At night a few scattered clouds.

Today I woke up pretty late. 5am. Latest until now during my stay.
I started working right away, but compared to the other days I was a lot more tired as I didnt sleep too well last night due to a terrible tummy pain. However as I got some breakfast the pain went away and I felt a lot better.

Amanda woke up and joined me in the living room around 10 and as soon as I finished the workday we left for her physiotherapy session. She dropped me off at the Kierland Commons shopping Centre.

It is a truly beautiful centre. Not a Mall where all stores are inside the same building, but a collection of fancy stores with a beautiful outside area with palms in front of the houses and gorgeous floral decorations. It was a bit to high-maintenance pricey for me so I didnt actually buy much but I got a few small items among a new book for my reading in the sun enjoyment, and a few tiny kitchen items (corn holders, ice cube maker and baking spatulas). However I was mostly impressed by the gorgeous outside and enjoying the sun.

On our way home we stopped at Frys and picked up dinner for tonight. It was my show today and we had gorgeous salmon, baked eggplant with jarlsberg cheese, baked sweet potatoes and tomatoes :D YUMMY.

After dinner Amanda went to CostCo while I spent some time reading by the pool. Its sooo nice to be able to sit outside in the warm weather.

I also found out today that an old school friend of mine, Gerd Corrigan, lives in Tempe, Arizona and thats really close to Phoenix so I wrote to her and let her know Im in Phoenix and we organized to meet for lunch tomorrow ! That will be great!

Up to 38 today. 10% but got down to 0% in the afternoon. We had a few light nice clouds scattered here and there.

Who would have known how incredibly small the world is ? Here I go to Arizona in US to visit a friend I have met through Couchsurfing and I find through Facebook an old schoolfriend, well she is not old seeing she is my age, that I only remember lives in USA but have no idea where in the US that she lives just 30 minutes from where I am visiting my friend.

Im so amazed. I met Gerd (that I shared 9 years in school with) for a late lunch today and it was so nice. We have probably not met since 1992 and suddenly we are stationed only 30 minutes away. She came to pick me up at the apartment complex where Amanda lives Crestone at Shadow Mountain

We went down to the Paradise Valley Mall area and found a nice Pizzeria there. It has been over 15 years since last I met Gerd and we had a lot of catching up to do. Gerd and I spent 9 years in school together and I always remembered here as a nice girl, but we lost contact due to different paths in life and I am very happy to be able to meet her again now.
After lunch, Gerd took me to the Sports Authority store and I got myself a pair of Nike shoes :D YAY. SO much cheaper than at home :D
Thank you Gerd for picking me up and taking me home and for the enjoyable company :D

When I got home, Amanda was feeling really sick so she wanted to sleep. I went to the swimming pool to read and enjoy the daylight. It was soo good to stay out with these wonderful temperatures and enough light to read. I love reading ! I love loosing myself in a fantasy world :D

When it was time to go home, Amanda was not there. I figured she either had got to the store to pick up some stuff or she had gotten sicker. Unfortunately she was really sick and had had to go to the doctors. Amanda - Get well!!!

Today we were down to +42C. Morning air humidity 10% but got down to 0% in the afternoon. Not a cloud in sight all day.

I woke up this morning and the blues was all gone... Nah. I really didnt feel blue but I was just reminded about this old song "All the blues are written for you" by Celine Dion when I started writing and got into it. Why should i be blue, I mean its hot, sunny and beautiful outside and it was Zoo day today. Amanda still felt quite sick (although thankfully she got better during the day) so I decided I had to make it to the Zoo even if I would have to go alone.
Amanda searched up the bus schedules for me and shipped me off to the Paradise Valley Mall where I could take the bus.

Today was a first for a few thigns. Taking the buses in Phoenix. Admitting that it may have been a bit hot during the day, EVEN for me.Sweet potato fries instead of regular fries.. Great. Cool. i love trying new things.

As for the bus system as long as Amanda left me at the bus station there was great communication to the zoo, but i would have not wanted to walk there. Its a looong walk.

I took the 44 bus (44th to University) up to the 44th street and Van Buren intersection where I changed to bus 3 the let me off outside the Phoenix Zoo entrance.

However today were issued excessive heat warnings with temperatures over +42C. However considering how low the air humidity is (0%) after midday... it doesnt feel warmer than +39C. No matter how hot it feels, I have not often been in temperatures like this but I like. However my masacra didnt like.It was so hot that on my way to the zoo my make-up (mascara) started melting. I had to take it off! Which was rather easy. It peeled off like nothing.

I dont know how I can love such a heat so much, when its clearly even making even dead things suffer... yikes !

As for my trip to the Zoo I loved it. I generally love spending time in different Zoos and if there is a good big Zoo I try to go there (Until now I have been to London Zoo, Houston Zoo, San Diego Wild animal park (that is far better than any Zoo), Norway Zoo and several others + Wildlife refugee parks, National parks and other huge parks with nature and animals :D = countless).

I spent 4 hours walking around. For breakfast I had water, for lunch I had water and fried sweet potatoes / fried chicken, for middle meal I had water and ice cream... i know sounds like a sweet life but its difficult to feel hunger when your body is so busy keeping the system cool. Im really happy I brought my tanning lotion cause else I would have gotten a sunburn, however I absolutely positively think Im safe now moving over from SPF50 to SPF30. Ill move over to 15 soon enough and then.... THEN... yeah.. I am getting a tan :D

Pictures from the Zoo:

When I left the Zoo in bus 3 from the Zoo to the 44th / Van Buren Intersection, I had miscalculated the time and I had to wait for almost 1 hour for the next bus to take me from 44th to Paradise Valley Mall . I listened to good music and arrived in good time. I spent 30 minutes shopping 1 shorts, 2 shirts and 1 bikini before Amanda picked me up at 5pm.

When I got home Amanda wanted to relax some more and I went to the swimming pool. WOW it felt good to wash off all the dust and sand after todays walks in the Zoo with sandals only. Desert sand is nice to walk on no matter how hot it is (if you have shoes on - if not you burn).
I also spent some time reading and swimming more and reading more before I went home and Amanda and I watched TV before bedtime.

Its still amazingly hot so aircondition runs constantly. Even now at 11:30pm its +34C outside. The lowest temps we have been predicted are on +28C between 4 and 6AM. YAY :D