What We Learned During MindyMania 2012

This week I've been discussing the weekend I spent with my critique partner, Mindy McGinnis. I've covered the wildlife and the writing, so today I'll just sum up a few things we learned.

Thing We Learned #1: Mindy and I really are twins separated at birth.

(And Mom was in labor for about three weeks.) We already suspected. Our birthdays are very close, down to the year. Our opinions and tastes are often the same. We complete each other's sentences. And now we know that we use the same shampoo.

Thing We Learned #2: Fast food employees can take the "twins" idea too far.

To the girl at Wendy's who thought Mindy was me after I'd already ordered—really? Okay, we were both wearing glasses and both tend toward the chalk-white end of "pale." But there's a seven- or eight-inch difference in height. My hair is mega-short; hers is long. Beyond that, the differences are what make things interesting. Mindy was ready and raring to go for the school presentations. I was freaking out about having to introduce her each time for about thirty seconds.

Thing We Learned #3: Handprint petroglyphs are the best.

I mentioned earlier in the week that we visited Petroglyph National Monument. It was very cool hiking around one of the canyons, and right on the edge of the city. All the petroglyphs were fascinating, and we had a lot of fun wondering about the meanings of different symbols, but I particularly liked this set we saw right at the end of the canyon. Strange thing, too—a few hikers had been ahead of us, and the hike is an out-and-back, not really a loop, but we never saw them coming back. Maybe the hands were warning us ... ?

"Turn back! Alien abductions beyond this point!"

Thing We Learned #4: Going out of your way can really pay off.

I don't know if any of you watch the series Breaking Bad. I don't, but Mindy does. There's a particular restaurant that figures prominently in one season, apparently, and we went to check out the actual restaurant that provided the front for the show. Bonus: The lot next door is where we saw the emu I posted about Monday. Double Bonus: The food was awesome.

If not for the glare, you might see the ostrich out the window.

We learned several other things, but I'll save those for another time. :)