In just a couple of hours I’ll catch the shuttle from Tucson back to Phoenix. To kill some time I’m in yet another coffee shop getting my daily dose of caffeine and Internet.

Tucson, for those who’ve never had the pleasure, is in the high desert. It’s hot, but not blistering hot like Phoenix, and it’s a bit more scenic I think. My dad grew up in Tucson, and I still have some family here, so I’ve been making visits to Tucson all my life. This trip was not about family however. Well, it was, but not about blood family. This time I came to Tucson to spend some time with my dear friend Jennifer, AKA “Jeffers,” who is as much a part of my family as anyone, and who I’m much closer to than the people who happen to appear on my pedigree chart.

The weekend was like this: On Friday I spent the day with Jennifer at the school where she is a teacher. (Out of respect for her privacy I won’t say exactly where.) Besides her class, I got to observe a couple of others, including the school’s two ESL teachers. That was a great experience. It gave me a lot of ideas about things I could be doing with my kids, but also reminded me that there is a certain amount of bullshit that goes along with any teaching job at any school anywhere in the world. It just helps me to “keep it real” in other words.

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On Friday night The Loft, Tucson’s local art house cinema, was having a midnight screening of Eddie Murphy Raw. I had never seen it, since when it came out in the 1980’s, I hadn't yet. I was still a “good Mormon boy” and “R” rated movies were out of the question. Of course seeing it now, nearly *gasp!* 20 years later, it doesn’t seem like such a big deal.

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On Saturday we, drove around, did some shopping, and I bought a shit-ton of Cliff bars. They are for me to take back to Korea for snacks. See, my doctor says I’m supposed to eat a snack every afternoon, but the problem is I usually don’t go directly home from work, and the only halfway healthy thing I can get from convenience stores in Korea is kimbap. I like kimbap, but don’t want it everyday. The Cliff bars are meant to remedy that, although I suppose it won’t be long before I’m just as tired of Cliff Bars as I was of kimbap, but one problem at a time, right?

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Sunday we had a surprise birthday party for Colleen, a friend of Jennifers. Colleen is my friend too, but Jennifer knows her much better, obviously, since they live in the same town. Colleen, AKA “Coco,” Jeffers, and I all knew each other at NAU.

I’ve never done the surprise party thing before, and for a while it looked like I still wouldn’t get to. Can I confess something to you? It’s just you and me right? Honestly, the whole idea seemed a little hokey. A surprise party? Does anyone actually do that? People who aren’t on television I mean? But whatever, I’m along for the ride so here we go…

We got to the house, and found out we were locked out, which was awesome in a way, but also kind of upsetting (it was about 100 degress outside), so we hung out in the back yard blew up balloons, and watched Coco’s partner’s family fight about where to place the four pizzas they’d ordered so they could best swealter. (Hold the salmonella, please!)

Once the guest of honor came home and we got inside the house, then it became an actual party, and was pretty fun after that. And the surprise thing went over pretty well. I was just glad to get that part out of the way first. But I guess it has to happen that way be definition.

Before, after, and in the middle of all of these things, Jeffers and I did a lot of talking. It’s like she and I have been having one long conversation for more than ten years now. When we see each other or talk on the phone, we pick up right were we left off and just keep going. It’s one of the many things I treasure about our friendship.

Here are a couple of pictures from Tucson...