Heather Chavez, Second Self Virtual Assistance (928) 412-4469

I have now officially become one of THOSE people. You know THOSE people...they're the ones that dress their animals up in crazy outfits because they think their pet is the most adorable. Behold:

It's wrong, I know. But, I couldn't help myself. She had just been to the groomer's, too. So, she even smelled cute. Let me officially say, "I'm sorry, Angel. I'll try to control myself better next time."

Heather Chavez - Second Self Virtual Assistance: When There Isn't Enough of You to Go Around!

Usually, people use New Year's Day as inspiration to start anew. Since I was fighting off a cold so that I could get into surgery on January 7th, New Year's was NOT a day of renewal for me. Recouperating from surgery can take a while. In my case, the doctor gave me 12 weeks to make sure that everything healed up nicely before I could do anything more strenuous than folding laundry. Last week, those 12 weeks were up! My son and I finally got to do what I had been promising him to do since we moved into our house last summer (and before the intense abdominal pain stopped me from doing any such foolishness): attempt to climb the hills behind us. Now, when my son was younger, we used to go on excursions around the smaller hills of our old house all the time. These hills behind our current house are actually bigger than hills, but smaller than mountains...mount-hills, if you will. And very rocky. But, I figured...I've done this before. I'm ready to tackle it again. So, I laced up my shoes, filled up a nice sized jug of water ('cuz walkin' makes ya thirsty, ya know) and my son and I headed out to tame that beast of a hill. He carried the camera. Gotta lighten the load wherever you can.

I'm NOT a complete glutton for punishment. It takes a bit of a walk through a large neighborhood behind ours to actually GET to a place where we could access the hills. So, we drove there in my car. I figured, if I was going to go ALL THE WAY UP THE HILL and ALL THE WAY BACK DOWN THE HILL, I was going to be just too plum-tuckered out to walk ALL THE WAY BACK HOME. Like I said...I'm NOT a glutton for punishment.

So, all full of vim and vigor and not really thinking clearly other than, "I've done this before...I can do it again", I headed up the trail that leads to the top of the mount-hill. We saw horses along the way. They came up to us to see what we were doing on their turf. We said, "Howdy". My back began to ache, my breath shortened considerably and my feet were saying "What the hell do you think you're doing". Yet, I doddered along, stopping whenever possible to ease the tension in my back. My son gave me lots of encouragement and tried to engage me in conversation while we were going along. I couldn't get much out, though, between my gasping for air and trying to ignore the swordfish poking its way into my side (what business does a swordfish have doing out here on the mount-hill?).

Not quite a quarter of the way up the mount-hill, my back, knees and feet finally had a "Come together, Jesus" meeting and said, "OK. That's it. You're done." Unfortunately, I had to stop. I couldn't go on. I rested for a bit and tried to go, but the pain was too much. I knew I had to turn around. I tried to do a Black Diamond run when I really should have started on the Bunny Slope. I was so disappointed. I had already been planning my big "Rocky" moment at the top of the hill all week. It wasn't happening. At least, not THIS week. Disheartened, I told my son we had to go back. "That's OK, Mom. I'm proud of you. You did really well. You said you were going to do this and you tried. That's what matters most." (Yeah, he's a great kid.)

So, next weekend, I am bound and determined to go further than where I stopped last weekend. Even if that means just a few steps more. It's still a few steps more than I did the week before. Eventually, I will have my "Rocky" moment. You can bet that I'll catch that moment on film and share it will you fine folks.

To me, Spring Fresh is a renewed sense of spirit...of pushing yourself beyond your limits and setting your goals high. Even though I didn't get to the top on my first try, I'm gonna keep trying. I'll get there one of these days by just putting one foot in front of the other. Once I reach the top of that mount-hill, I'm going on to the next one and then the next one until I have to actually go find a moun-TAIN to climb. Cue "The Eye of the Tiger". I'm ready, Mickey.

Spring is blooming in Southern California. These are the local flowers blossoming right now in our neighborhood. My son took the photos and I think he did a great job. He's becoming quite the photographer!

Heather Chavez - Second Self Virtual Assistance: When There Isn't Enough of You to Go Around!

HE DID IT! HE DID IT! HE DID IT! OK, sorry about that. I've been waiting 47 races to be able to say that. So, I got a little excited. My man, Jeff Gordon, won this week's Sprint Cup race at the Texas Motor Speedway. On his 17th attempt at a win at this track, he finally got to add a check to the win column. Now there is only one NASCAR track he has not won at in his career. But, at the rate he's going, I'm sure he'll be able to conquer that as well. I have to admit, I watched the end of the race through my fingers, since my hands were attached to my face throughout the last 30 laps or so. Jimmie Johnson was coming up fast! He just didn't seem to have enough to challenge in the end. The only other cars that seemed poised to take away this win from Jeff were Cousin Carl Edwards and Greg Biffle (until the mistakes made by their pit crews put them out of the running in the final laps). Thanks to his amazing pit crew, a fabulous car and an incredible driver, Jeff Gordon got to shoot the pistols and take home the boots. This increased his points lead overall to 162 over second place Jimmie Johnson. With only a handful of caution flags, this was still a much more exciting race for me than Bristol was. Am I just prejudiced because my driver won or was it a good race for you, too? Let me know!

Results of Sprint Cup's 2009 Texas Motor Speedway Race:

1. Jeff Gordon (#24)

2. Jimmie Johnson (#48)

3. Greg Biffle (#16)

4. Tony Stewart (#14)

5. Matt Kenseth (#17)

Remember; next week is an "off" week for NASCAR because of Easter Sunday. Join me in watching the first night race of the season on the following Saturday, April 18th, at 8pm EST on Fox in Phoenix. It'll be HOT.

Heather Chavez - Second Self Virtual Assistance: When There Isn't Enough of You to Go Around!

When I was pregnant, my husband and I rented one side of a duplex owned by my husband's Uncle Fred. Living out in an undeveloped area of Lake Elsinore, CA meant that the days were quiet, but the nights were full of life. One evening, when I was about six months pregnant, Uncle Fred came over to visit. It wasn't a very far way to travel, since he and his wife lived in the other half of the duplex. Suddenly, a small, scurrying movement caught the corner of my husband's eye. Both Uncle Fred and I, of course, turned and gasped. EEK! A mouse! And I ain't talkin' Mickey. My husband, being brought up in a hunting family (it was the best way to make sure food was on the table), grabbed his pellet rifle (a mouse doesn't require a shotgun) and "hunted down" the mouse. He cornered the little bugger behind the wood box next to our pot belly stove that served as the only source of heat in the house. He told me and his uncle to stay on the couch on the other side of the room while he attended to the task at hand. When my husband got a bead on "Mickey", a shot rang out, the mouse jumped up from behind the wood box into full view of both me and Uncle Fred and ran into the other room, where he promptly fell over and died. That little burst of adrenaline felt by the mouse was matched in intensity only by the scream emanating from Uncle Fred. This almost 50 year old, burly little former military man had jumped up on the couch and screamed like a little girl! This story is still a subject of teasing in our house almost 15 years later.

Heather Chavez - Second Self Virtual Assistance: When There Isn't Enough of You to Go Around!