Linda's Granny Page

Reminiscing

2007-12-30T12:10:00.000-07:00

Just taking it easy, watching a football game. Going to go in the kitchen and load the dishwasher and maybe see about cooking the turkey. Both kids are at work. Rearranged the living room, slightly. Our kitty cat is sleeping in the sun, recovering from a cold or bad allergies. He doesn't like taking his antibiotic twice a day, but then what cat does?

Twenty-eight years ago today, we were at the hospital. Our firstborn had come into this world just a few hours before by C-section. Now look at him, he is tall and thin, after being born at 7 lbs., 14 oz. He was only a week late.

We had been to the doctor and I was scheduled for a C-section on the 31st. We went to a laundromat and did all our laundry the night before. I woke up about 4:30 a.m. on the 30th, my water had broke. Went to the hospital after talking to the doctor on call. (My doctor didn't deliver either one of my kids, it was one of the other doctors that was on call.) I had just started feeling a few twinges of labor by the time they got me ready for surgery. Got to spend New Year's in the hospital. I spent five days in the hospital. They shove them out at soon as possible now.

And, of course, life has never been the same since.

Now he has a son of his own who will be 5 years old in February. My, how things have changed over the years. It's not until you start looking back sometimes, that you realize just how much things have changed. I've included a picture of hubby's side of the family at Thanksgiving.

New Year

2007-12-28T12:17:00.001-07:00

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Long Time Away!

2007-12-01T12:03:00.000-07:00

It was a long and hard summer, but it's finally over. Now fall, actually winter, is here. A lot has happened in the interim. It doesn't seem to stop, there's always something!

Right now, both hubby's sister and mother are in the hospital, so we're trying to stay in touch and up-to-date with what's going on with them. We were just there for a visit at Thanksgiving.

Planning on staying home for Christmas. Got the following in an e-mail and thought I would share. It just serves as a reminder of the true meaning of Christmas, despite all the hype and commercialization. Enjoy!

Letter from Jesus about Christmas --

Dear Children,

It has come to my attention that many of you are upset that folks are taking My name out of the season. Maybe you've forgotten that I wasn't actually born during this time of the year and that it was some of your predecessors who decided to celebrate My birthday on what was actually a time of pagan festival, although I do appreciate being remembered anytime.
How I personally feel about this celebration can probably be most easily understood by those of you who have been blessed with children of your own. I don't care what you call the day. If you want to celebrate My birth, just GET ALONG AND LOVE ONE ANOTHER.
Now, having said that let Me go on. If it bothers you that the town in which you live doesn't allow a scene depicting My birth, then just get rid of a couple of Santa's and snowmen and put in a small Nativity scene on your own front lawn. If all My followers did that there wouldn't be any need for such a scene on the town square because there would be many of them all around town.
Stop worrying about the fact that people are calling the tree a holiday tree, instead of a Christmas tree. It was I who made all trees. You can remember Me anytime you see any tree. Decorate a grape vine if you wish: I actually spoke of that once while teaching, explaining who I am in relation to you and what each of our tasks were. If you have forgotten that one, look up John 15: 1-8.
If you want to give Me a present in remembrance of My birth here is my wish list. Choose something from it:
1. Instead of writing protest letters objecting to the way My birthday is being celebrated, write letters of love and hope to soldiers away from home. They are terribly afraid and lonely this time of year. I know, they tell Me all the time.
2. Visit someone in a nursing home. You don't have to know them personally. They just need to know that someone cares about them.
3. Instead of writing the President complaining about the wording on the cards his staff sent out this year, why don't you write and tell him that you'll be praying for him and his family this year. Then follow up. It will be nice hearing from you again.
4 . Instead of giving your children a lot of gifts you can't afford and they don't need, spend time with them. Tell them the story of My birth, and why I came to live with you down here. Hold them in your arms and remind them that I love them.
5. Pick someone that has hurt you in the past and forgive him or her.
6. Did you know that someone in your town will attempt to take their own life this season because they feel so alone and hopeless? Since you don't know who that person is, try giving everyone you meet a warm smile; it could make the difference.
7. Instead of nit picking about what the retailer in your town calls the holiday, be patient with the people who work there. Give them a warm smile and a kind word. Even if they aren't allowed to wish you a "Merry Christmas" that doesn't keep you from wishing them one. Then stop shopping there on Sunday. If the store didn't make so much money on that day they'd close and let their employees spend the day at home with their families.
8. If you really want to make a difference, support a missionary--especially one who takes My love and Good News to those who have never heard My name.
9. Here's a good one. There are individuals and whole families in your town who not only will have no "Christmas" tree, but neither will they have any presents to give or receive. If you don't know them, buy some food and a few gifts and give them to the Salvation Army or some other charity which believes in Me and they will make the delivery for you.
10. Finally, if you want to make a statement about your belief in and loyalty to Me, then behave like a Christian. Don't do things in secret that you wouldn't do in My presence. Let people know by your actions that you are one of mine.
Don't forget; I am Jesus and can take care of Myself. Just love Me and do what I have told you to do. I'll take care of all the rest. Check out the list above and get to work; time is short. I'll help you, but the ball is now in your court. And do have a most blessed Christmas with all those whom you love and remember:
I LOVE YOU.

JESUS

Busy Summer

2007-07-29T15:26:00.000-06:00

What a busy summer!

Right now, our grandson is taking a nap and daughter is off visiting with her boyfriend. So the house is quiet for a little bit.

I wish I could say the house is cool, but it's getting there. The air conditioner is on the fritz. We are in the process of getting a new one. Just in time! Have two fans going in the living room and it's still hot! But we are getting a shower right now, so I opened the back and front doors and getting a breeze through the house. It's cooling things off now. If it warms back up, I'll have to go back to the bedroom where it's not as hot. We're in a monsoon cycle, but they don't want to call it that any more. I just walked outside for a minute, and it feels good! It's not raining very much, but enough to cool things off, thank goodness! The thunder is rumbling out there!

Our daughter is driving the van and was gloating that the ABS light doesn't come on for her. Well, today after she left here to go see her boyfriend, she called and said the ABS light came on. So, she's not gloating any more. And of course, whenever it comes on, the repair shop is not open, on the weekend of course!

Didn't go to church this morning. Woke up before 7 and went back to sleep for an hour. So it was too late. Our soon went over to the storage and got our other fan. Daughter, grandson and I went to Wal-Mart to get a few things. Started another list when I got home. Isn't that the way it always is? There's always something that you forget!

Slept last night with the little evaporative fan going all night. I finally took my nightshirt off because I was still hot! I will be glad to get an air conditioner installed, hopefully this week, and be able to cool this house.

Hubby's trip home was just too quick. I'm not used to having to handle so many things that he usually does. But I guess it's good experience for me.

Oh, that breeze coming through here feels good! I think I'll go sit and enjoy it! TTFN

Good Day!

2007-05-06T16:55:00.000-06:00

Whew! It's been busy the past few weeks. Our weather has been back and forth between nice and warm and cool and rainy and windy. This is supposed to move out around Wednesday. It's stormy this weekend, but it was nice enough this morning to go out and play nine holes with my new set of golf clubs. Did much better than I usually do. It makes a difference to have a good set of clubs. Got a new bag and a couple of push carts. We've had a full day and I'm tired, I'll sleep good tonight.

Last week at work, we got new furniture. I was down for a day. The other two girls were down another half a day. Slowly getting things organized. Got another busy week coming up with staff meeting and the other two will be off Friday for flex. We have a dinner on Thursday night and the office has a group going to the Isotopes games on Friday night.

Looking forward to seeing our daughter graduate, FINALLY! Hope she decides to do something after she graduates.

Ed, S and his friend are outside trying to finish up painting the outside of the house. E is now working 7 a.m.-4 p.m. this week. He'll be off Thursday and Friday and will go to the Isotopes game with us. When he goes back to his regular schedule he'll have Wednesday and Thursday off.

Watching the movie, "Click." Going to check my e-mail now and work on some plastic canvas. I'm making a folder for E to put in his truck for all the paperwork. TTFN

Easter Weekend?

2007-04-07T11:23:00.000-06:00

Here's a cute thing that P sent me a while back. There are a lot of us that can identify with it!

You couldn't tell it's Easter around here, or spring, either. Our weather has been nice the last couple of weeks. Nice and warm and sunny. We had a little bit of rain last night. This morning it is cloudy, dreary, cold, and now there are snowflakes coming down! It's not enough to do anything, it's not sticking, just cold.

P is off to his writer's workshop. Then he has his book signing this afternoon at B. Dalton's from 2-4. I'm getting my hair cut at 2, then I'll go out there. E got his truck this morning, so he loaded up the two chairs we're getting rid of to take them to his friend. He may be home later, if he doesn't have to work today. He's changing his hours to 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. But I guess that will only be temporary. He says the store is going to start closing at midnight instead of being open 24 hours, but I don't know when that will start. They are supposed to start remodeling soon, too. It's supposed to be set up like the Wal Mart by us, but they don't have as much floor space, so he doesn't know how they're going to do that.

I need to go out and cash a reimbursement check I got from work for buying office supplies. I may take the van instead of my new car if this weather keeps up.

The two dogs and two cats are in the house, for now. They wouldn't stay outside very long, anyway, with it being so cold. I guess I'll have to get my coat out again.

E is back and there is still a problem with his truck, so we're going to take it back. TTFN

Busy, busy, busy!

2007-04-05T21:10:00.000-06:00

It's been busy since my last posting, about six weeks? This used to be a relatively normal time of the year, but not any more!

Just got back last weekend from our trip to Nebraska to see Mom. It was a fruitful visit. Got to see Mom's apartment, do a few things for her. We visited the nursing home where she was just before we left to come back home. She was going to be spending the weekend there while my brother and sister-in-law were out of town. I was impressed with the nursing home, very clean, bright atmosphere, friendly people. She's made a few friends since she moved to Nebraska.

I am now the proud owner of a 2007 Mustang, my dream car. I have wanted one since they first came out with this model in 2005. Auntypesty is insisting that she drive it, but I know she just wants to race it. I just love driving it around town. And I agree with the salesperson that said most of the sales of Mustangs are to people who have had one before. It just has a beautiful look to it, doesn't it?! But it is just a thing that can be replaced.

Easter weekend is here. We're both off work tomorrow. Looking forward to a three-day weekend.

Letting Go Can Be Difficult

2007-02-23T20:20:00.000-07:00

Yes, it's been a while. A lot has happened. But as usual, when I have something to say, which isn't very often, I do blog about it. Here goes:

Yes, it's a lesson all of us have to learn at some point in our lives. But that still doesn't make it any easier.

With recent events, I have been thinking about this subject for a few weeks. And yes, I've tried to put it off as long as I could. But time is growing short. Which means it will soon be time to "face the music."

I will be signing papers at the closing of selling Mom's house, tentatively on Monday. In the last few weeks, we packed up most everything in the house for her to move to another state. Then I was left with the job of going through what was left.

It was interesting, some of the things that I found, things that had been stuck away and forgotten about. And seeing the house empty is something I had not seen before. Mom and Dad bought the house when it was built in 1947 and lived there ever since. Daddy passed away in 2003 and Mom stayed in the house, by herself.

Mom is very small, petite and a little frail. She weighs 80-85 lbs. and has been diagnosed with COPD. She has allergies all the time, has a hard time coping with the cold weather, and likes being on her own. She never worked outside the home and never learned to drive, so she has had to depend on other people for her transportation to the grocery store, church, doctor appointments, etc. Other than that, she didn't go a lot of places.

Walking through the empty house brings back a lot of memories. So it's bittersweet. I keep telling myself that if Mom can let go after 50+ years, then I can, too. When I think that someone else will be living in the house that I grew up in and have continued to visit throughout my married life, is hard to fathom.

At the same time, I hope that the new occupants will be happy in the small but roomy house that is 60 years old. It needs a little work, but is in pretty good shape for its age.

There have been a lot of good times in that house, along with some tough times, as can be expected. As I get older, I realize how things are changing. It's hard to put into words. I'm not getting any younger, but getting older, day by day. Our kids are turning into adults, ages 25 and 20. When I think that I graduated from high school 36 years ago, that makes me feel old! But they say you're only as young as you feel. Right?!

I guess each one of us comes to this realization sooner or later.

Well, I guess that's enough reminiscing for now. I wanted to get my thoughts written down so I could share them. I feel privileged, in some way, because of the longevity of living in one place--I have lived in the same town all my life; been on the same job for 25 years; I have been married to the same man for 28 years. I know that's somewhat of a rarity in this day and age. I also feel like I have missed out, not living anywhere else. I've visited places on vacation and such, but I do feel I have missed something by not living someplace other than where I was born and grew up.

The day is coming closer when Mom won't be with us anymore, but for now, we'll do what we can to help her. I'm hoping she's happy, settling into her new surroundings in a new town and a different state.

I tried to stay on the subject, but I realize I rambled a bit. That's why I wrote it out first, to get my thoughts together.

I don't know if anyone will read this outside of family, but i have said my piece.

Starting a New Year!

2007-01-03T15:28:00.000-07:00

Just a brief report on our trip to Texas. This first picture is one of the few P was able to take at the Hatshepsut exhibit we went to see in Fort Worth the day after Christmas. This was right at the entrance to the exhibit. We stood in line for about 45 minutes to get tickets. It took about that same amount of time to walk through the exhibit. There were so many people you couldn't spend a lot of time on each item. Our daughter was the one that wanted to see the exhibit, she is very interested in anything connected with Egypt. It was a very interesting exhibit and she really enjoyed it.

We enjoyed our time in Texas with hubby's family, and our daughter, of course. She was upset with her dad calling his recently published book his "baby." She thought she was his "baby." He assured her that she is still his "baby."

P's mom had been sick and was still sick while we were there. He took her to the doctor and she had bronchitis. She must have pulled a muscle in her back from all the coughing, so she was that much more uncomfortable. P's cold came back, our grandson had a runny nose and cough, our son came down with a cold, and I had a sore throat, which later, on our trip back, turned into a full-fledged cold. We spent Friday night in Lubbock. Had to take hubby to the emergency room because his returning cold went into his eyes. We stayed an extra day in Lubbock because of weather conditions between the state line and Albuquerque. On Saturday I was miserable with my cold. We stayed in bed all day, used up two boxes of kleenex and finally headed home later on Sunday morning. We did run into some closed roads, including I-40 between Santa Rosa and Clines Corners. So we found another highway back down to Vaughn and went over to Willard and up to Belen and into town in heavy fog. This first picture is of the car sitting in the driveway the next morning. Oh, by the way, we left Lubbock about 11 a.m. (Texas time) and got home at 6:30 p.m. (New Mexico time). E had to shovel one side of the driveway just to get the car up. It was a good foot deep (yes, 12 inches). It took him most of the next morning to shovel the rest of the driveway, the sidewalk up to the front door and the sidewalk out by the street. There was no mail delivery on Tuesday. The school were supposed to start back up on Wednesday, but they cancelled school. They only have four crews to clean 131 campuses, including 496 parking lots. They have cancelled school for the rest of the week. A little bit melted yesterday in the sun, but it's not getting very much above freezing. The sun is shining again today and it is melting a little bit more. But there's still plenty of snow out there. This next picture is of an icicle in the corner in front of the front door. The house two doors west of us also had very long icicles on the front of the house. This is the most snowfall in one day we have ever had. And there's supposed to be another storm in here sometime Friday. The other two pictures are other views of the front yard. There is still snow in the street, though it's mostly clear, but it's piled up on the edges.

I was supposed to go back to work on Tuesday, but I've been home for two days, lolling around in my p.j.'s. Haven't felt much like doing anything else. I felt pretty good for a while yesterday, but I think that was because of all the over-the-counter drugs in me. Today I haven't had much drugs, except for Ibuprofen for the body aches, and I'm starting to feel almost human again. Need to go to work tomorrow if I can. AFLAC representatives will be in the building. Also need to get started working on our first issue of the paper for the year.

I was starting to get cabin fever today, wanted to get out and do something. Layed here yesterday and watched all four Harry Potter movies! But if I can get a decent night's sleep tonight, I might feel up to going to work tomorrow. Hope my voice starts to come back. It's no fun not being able to talk. You don't realize how much talking you do in a normal day until you can't talk. TTFN

Winter Is Here!

2006-12-20T09:06:00.000-07:00

Well, this winter storm has shut down the town. I-25 and I-40 are more or less shut down in town and out of town to the state lines, north, west and east. We haven't had this much snow in quite a while. The forecast is for a possible 1-3" more snow this morning. This picture was taken out the front door not long before it finally stopped. E just put in some laundry, sounds like. I need to do another load or two later today or tomorrow. It's just after 9 a.m. Going to take a shower. Need to wrap some Christmas presents! TTFN

It's Almost Here!

2006-12-19T13:08:00.000-07:00

Today is my first day of vacation! I'm glad I didn't have to go to work today. It's been snowing for three or four hours and doesn't show any sign of stopping any time soon. The back yard is white. The van out in the front yard is covered with snow and the street is white, too.

Eddie has to go into work at 4 today and work until closing. I hope he doesn't have too much trouble getting home.

This storm is supposed to be out of here tomorrow sometime. But we may have another storm in here on Friday. But it's not supposed to be as big as this storm.

The babies (two dogs and two cats) are in the house. Mistress (E's cat) thinks she wants outside. She keeps going to the door, but I don't think she really wants to go out in the cold snow. Lucy and Watson (dogs) are asleep in front of the two couches.

I just took a couple of pictures out the back door. Watson got up to see what I was doing. I'll post this and then go back and post the pictures. I also took some pictures of Lucy and Watson, I don't know if they came out any good yet. TTFN

Almost Done!

2006-12-10T16:58:00.000-07:00

Wow! I'm so proud of myself! I have all my Christmas shopping done, except for one more. I usually haven't even started yet! But I was sort of forced into doing it earlier since we're going to Texas.

Excited about our trip to Texas. It will be here before we know it! Everything is coming together. Now I just hope the weather cooperates!

It started out pretty cold this morning, but it warmed up pretty nice this afternoon. Although we have some clouds moving in. It's supposed to be a little bit cooler and maybe a chance for a shower.

The Denver Broncos are losing. Cowboys plan tonight, hope they do better than the Broncos.

Got a busy week coming up. We'll do our last paper of the year at work this week. Finish it up on Monday the 18th and that's my last day at work. Our office will go to lunch that day and exchange gifts. Our staff meeting, Christmas lunch and goodie day is on Thursday. I'm going to bake some cookies and probably take some hot chocolate with some Hershey's Candy Cane Kisses.

I'm working on a plastic canvas boutique kleenex box cover, my last one. I'm going to take six of those to work. I also have six covers for steno pads. I decided to do those instead of being part of the drawing names and exchanging gifts. I had decided to do this earlier this year. The covers for the steno pads take a bit of time, so I only have six of those. It only takes about a week to do a kleenex box cover, boutique size.

Need to send an e-mail and then work on my plastic canvas. TTFN

Update

2006-12-06T11:58:00.000-07:00

Well, our weather has stayed cold. It's warming up little by little each day, but it is very cold at night. Nice and sunshiny during the day. There is a little bit of a breeze outside now.

It's lunch time, but I'm still at work, getting ready to leave. I'm taking the afternoon off and I'm going to get my hair cut and frosted.

Went Christmas shopping with my husband last night. He wanted a new blazer (jacket). His others have gotten too small (around the middle). That middle age spread is spreading! (I have put on a few pounds, too!) Found him one at Sears. Then we found what I wanted, a pair of black boots at J.C. Penney's. Those are our Christmas presents to each other.

It's a busy time of the year, lots going on, both at home and at work.

Got a letter from Mom on Monday, she sounds really good. She says her leg is healing, which is good. I haven't been noticing how cold it is there. They have been busy. She likes it there, I'm glad. She'll get to see the grandkids and great-grandkids. She might think about coming home after the first of the year, but for now, she's enjoying herself.

Clearing off my desk before I leave. TTFN

Delay Day!

2006-11-30T07:45:00.000-07:00

The schools here are on a two-hour delay because of the weather. We have a dusting of snow outside, but there's probably more snow on the east side of town, closer to the mountains. My office follows the school system, so I don't need to be at work until 10:30.

Tijeras Canyon was a mess last night, I-40 between Tramway and Highway 550 was closed for about 4 hours overnight, because of so many accidents. The mountains usually catch all our weather, but once in a while we manage to get some. This is the first time in a couple of years, at least, that the schools have even had a delay day. The kids are probably rejoicing.

Mom is probably glad she's not here, she would be struggling to stay warm. Turn that heater up! She seems to be enjoying herself in Nebraska with my brother.

It's still a little early, but I guess I'll go start to get dressed and ready. P will have to leave before me. I'm not sure when E has to go to work. He said Wal-Mart called him yesterday, about a job, I guess. He is going to call them back before he goes to work today.

Hope we have good weather for our trip to Texas! TTFN

First Cold Snap

2006-11-29T20:18:00.000-07:00

Well, we have our first winter storm. Except all the snow is on the other side of the mountains. There's been a light dusting in parts of town. But it's frigid cold. The wind this afternoon really made it feel really cold. It's supposed to be down to about 17 degrees tonight. That's really cold!

Took the afternoon off. Need to use up my vacation before the end of the year. I have all but one day scheduled between now and Dec. 22 when our break starts.

Go to the doctor next week for my post-op check. Don't expect anything out of the ordinary. She told me that my blood work showed my iron was low, again. I'm back to taking my vitamins every day.

Oh, we are finally getting a major restaurant on the west side. Just south of the credit union on Coors, they are building a Cracker Barrel. It will be nice to have a nice restaurant to go to that's not 10 miles away.

The two cats are curled up on the bed. They know the right place to go to, nice and soft and comfy. I think I will join them. TTFN

Beautiful Photos!

2006-11-26T10:53:00.000-07:00

When we went to Glorieta early this month, Pat bought a disposable camera and took some pictures while I was in meetings. These are just a few of those. It's so beautiful up there, no matter what time of year it is. We took a hike up to Lookout Point one morning. That took longer--it was farther than I thought it was--than we had time for, I got to my meeting almost 30 minutes late. The path goes up past the cell phone towers. It was quite a climb. I wish we had done that when we were younger!

Went to see Casino Royale yesterday. I wasn't quite sure what to expect, since it's a remake and a new James Bond. But it was really good. He's a different kind of James Bond, a lot rougher around the edges, no witty humor. The action was really good. Pierce Brosnan would not have been able to do some of the action scenes at his age.

Put the two cats in the garage last night and the dogs stayed outside. Got a good night's sleep without them in the house, crowding me on the bed.

Went to Sunday school this morning. We're getting ready to go over to Dion's for lunch. Then P and I are going to play nine holes of golf. E has to go to work later. He's working until closing.

We're starting to make plans for our trip to Texas for Christmas. It will be good to see everybody, including our daughter.

Well, I'll post these pictures and then change clothes before we go eat. TTFN

Time Flies!

2006-11-25T10:39:00.000-07:00

My, but time flies when you're having fun! Or not!? It's been a busy month since my last post. Been busy at work, went to Clovis for the state convention. The next weekend we went to Glorieta for our staff retreat. Been to the doctor. Had outpatient surgery last Wednesday (Nov. 22). Yesterday (Friday) was the first day I felt like doing anything. Slept off and on Wednesday after we got back home and all day Thursday. E had to go to work yesterday and P went to play golf, so I was home by myself. Started watching the Star Wars movies. We have watched three of them now, three more to watch.

We have four babies, and I mean BABIES. Two cats, one is E's, Mistress, and our cat, Pippin. Mistress went outside this morning and came back before long. After a few minutes, I discovered she had brought us a gift--a sparrow. She wasn't very happy when P took it away. I should have known there was something going on when she didn't go first thing and chomp at her food when she came in, like she always does. I was on the computer and wasn't paying attention. She went back outside later and was out for a while. She just came back in and is crunching at the bowl. Pippin is spoiled, he sleeps with me at night, right up by my shoulders and I can't move. Mistress gets at my feet, if E's door is closed. She doesn't like closed doors. She's very unhappy when he has his bedroom door closed. He will come home late at night and watch TV for a while or play games, so he closes his door so as not to keep us awake with the light from the TV.

Lucy (labrador cross) and Watson (black cocker spaniel) had a treat yesterday morning of some leftover bacon. They also got the ham bone. They've gotten into the habit of begging for treats (milk bones) every morning. Talk about spoiled! They would sleep on the bed with us, if they could. Watson's not a problem so much, he does try to sprawl out between us and he is dead weight. (So are the two cats!) Lucy was spoiled by M, and then E, sleeping on their beds.

We love them, but they can sure be a pain at times.

Getting ready to go out today and see the new James Bond movie. Going to Wienerschnitzel to get something to eat first. Better go so we can eat and get to the movie. E is off today, so he's going with us.

Will try to post some pictures later from Glorieta. TTFN

Where Does It Go?

2006-10-15T17:11:00.000-06:00

Where does the time go? Has it really been two weeks since I posted something?

It's been busy. Work, work, work. It's the busy time of the year for me. And I'm trying to get in some vacation days. I still have about 8 days of vacation to take before the end of the year. I think I'm going to take a few Tuesday afternoons and Wednesday mornings, so I take a day at a time. I can take three days before Christmas. I don't know yet when hubby is out of school. We are planning on going to Texas during the holidays.

Will be out of town to Clovis for the annual meeting next week. The following week P and I will go to Glorieta for our staff retreat. It doesn't look like there are very many spouses going. But we're excited about getting to see the changes that have been made there. We will be staying in the Hall of States, which has just reopened. It has been updated, including telephone message system, internet access, and a few other amenities.

Then I will have day surgery on the 16th of November. Will have Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday to recover, then back to work for three days. I have a feeling that will be a rough three days. Haven't really made any plans for Thanksgiving yet. My brother and his wife had said they might come out here, but they're not coming.

Hope the family in Texas is enjoying the Dixon's apples we sent them. The balloons got to fly Thursday and Friday for the special shapes, and Friday, Saturday and Sunday. We were supposed to have rain this weekend, but it held off until Saturday night. It cleared off Sunday morning, was nice, balloons went up and dotted the sky with their colors.

E was off today, so we all went out to play nine holes of golf. We don't get to do that very often, so it was a nice time together. I needed the exercise, didn't do too bad, considering I hadn't been out to play in a couple of months. Not used to that much walking, so I'm a little stiff tonight. But it was good quality time for the family. Just missing our daughter.

Hope she's doing well and enjoying school. She was excited about the quarterback of the football team giving her a compliment. She never would have had that happen back here. She's learning how different things are in a small town, compared to the big city. But I think it's a good environment for her.

Broncos and Raiders game will start in a little while. TTFN

Is it really?

2006-10-01T09:19:00.000-06:00

Is it really already Oct. 1? Wow! Where is it going? It seems to be going by so fast!

It's pretty cool in the mornings, but warming up during the day. It's that time of the year when you have to dress in layers.

Went looking for my daughter's leather jacket to send her and can't find it. But I will send her several other sweaters and jackets. She just can't get over the fact that the high school where she's going in Texas did not have a homecoming dance. They had a king and queen, had a rally and a football game, but no dance. I told her she's in a whole different mind-set over there than here in New Mexico.

Been taking it easy this weekend. I took Friday off. I just took it easy, did go out to drop off a check. Hubby came home from school early with a toothache. Was referred to another dentist way out in Rio Rancho by our regular dentist's office. They gave him some antibiotics, pain killer (vicodin) and he has to go back on Monday for a root canal. Needless to say, he has not felt very good. He feels a little better today, but he slept off and on all day yesterday.

Going to finish getting caught up on all our shows we recorded during the week before the Cowboys game starts. TTFN

First Weekend of Fall?

2006-09-24T14:48:00.000-06:00

Well, fall has officially started. It almost feels like winter, though, it's been so cool! We are supposed to have a little warmer weather this coming week, but I think our heat wave is over. We are supposed to have a wet winter, too. There has already been snow up north in northern New Mexico and southern Colorado.

Speaking of cool weather, we went up to Dixon's Apple Farms today to get apples and cider. They sold out of the champagne apples in a week. What a bummer! I'm not sure, but I don't think they had as many champagne apples this year, but they have a bumper crop of the rest of them. And they are good! Will send some to family in Texas and give some to my mother. Their prices went up, too. Last year a bag of apples went up from $8 to $10. This year they went up to $14. They were having a special on the cider, we got three gallons for $10. It's usually $5 a gallon. The gal at the checkout said they had people last weekend buying three and four wheelbarrows full. Saturday was a lot busier, she said, than Sunday. One of DJs on a local radio station said he stood in line for two hours last weekend to get apples. It has become quite a draw for people during the state fair and during the Balloon Fiesta.

While we were there, took some pictures of hubby to submit with his book for publication. I have about 40 more pages to go over and he should be able to send it back to them in the next few days.

Made is through this last week, working on two papers. The second one is not finished, but will have a little more time in which to finish it. Without the editor in the office I will be able to get some little projects done. I am "editor" while he is out of the country, but with very little authority, which is nothing new.

Will go on Tuesday for my mammogram, etc. Decided I had better get it done before I have to go out of town the end of October. Hubby will be going with me to Glorieta in early November for our staff retreat. There have been some changes made since we've been there, it's been a couple of years. So we're anxious to see how different it looks. Glorieta has a special place in our hearts, since that's where we met, at a singles retreat. I can remember being in Holcomb Auditorium and watching part of the first moon walk. They had a big screen set up. My parents and, my aunt and uncle had gone up there just for the day.

The UNM Lobos won their game last night, the Dallas Cowboys are not playing this weekend and the Denver Broncos play tonight. So we'll see how that goes tonight.

Spent yesterday catching up on all the programs we had recorded during the week with premieres. Looks like it may be another good season. The Celebrity Duets is ending this next week, I think. That has been an interesting show. Dancing With Stars is in its 3rd or 4th week. We've been enjoying that one, too.

Well, need to get busy on husband's manuscript. I think I can get it done tonight. I would like to. I don't want to have to do that this week, too. TTFN

Catch Up!

2006-09-15T20:13:00.000-06:00

Well, it's been a while! My computer has not been able to access the Internet, so I've been playing a game on the desktop. My hubby took that one back to school, so we brought my son's back out. Can't find the game that P had downloaded. Need to catch up, though.

It's been busy, both at work and at home. Slowly getting over this cold. Almost back to normal. I still get a tickle in my throat now and then. Had a headache today, don't know if it was sinus or tension, but it did finally go away after a couple of hours. Went to lunch at Sonic today and dropped off pages at the proofreader before returning to the office. Working ahead on a couple of issues because Jn will be gone the last week of this month, so we'll be doing two in one week.

Executive board meets next week. Will be meeting in the new team organization instead of the divisions. Changes are starting to happen, little by little. I'm glad it's not all at once. But then, the executive director said it would be a process over the next few years, hopefully by 2010.

Watching "Celebrity Duets" (results show). It's been an interesting show. We also have been watching "Dancing With the Stars." That's another interesting show. We don't usually like the reality shows, but these are not exactly "reality" shows. They both show, I think, how much work goes into learning to dance or sing and perform, especially for those who are not normally doing that. There's usually one or two who, obviously, don't have a chance. And they're weeded out pretty quickly.

Will be working on husband's manuscript for publication the next two weeks, so he can resubmit it.

Daughter seems excited about school and the upcoming talent show. I hope it goes well for her. She has even put on a few pounds! She thought she would never get to 100, and now she weighs 110 lbs.

Got laundry in the dryer. Have to take the Hyundai in for the 7,500-mile check-up tomorrow. P needs to take the Neon over and have the front left tire checked, it's looking a little bit low. I need to get my nails done. We need to go get groceries. So, it looks like it's going to be a busy Saturday! TTFN

Busy, Busy, Busy!

2006-08-22T20:41:00.000-06:00

Well, the last couple of weeks have been busy at work. This week is the one really busy week because we're doing the State Mission Offering edition. I will start putting it together tomorrow. We usually don't start until Thursday. Actually got my layout started today, I usually don't do that until Wednesday. Jn has been driving us all crazy with little projects, looking for information here and there. Jy has been getting together pictures for the articles, so we'll see how it goes.

Got my laptop back today. We had taken it in to Circuit City late last week. They were advertising a free check-up for any PC. Basically, either my RAM is going bad or I have a really nasty bug. (Maybe something that my virus protection didn't catch?) We've talked about looking for a new one, but we'll just keep our eyes open for a good buy. My CD-ROM doesn't work anymore, but it's been that way for some time. It works fine for what I need to do, e-mail, checkbook, etc.

Just updated the checkbook tonight. It's been a nice quiet evening, no TV. There's nothing to watch tonight anyway.

Just a bit frazzled after today. Constantly working on one thing or another. Made a stop at Circuit City to get my computer and Boston Market to pick up supper. Came home on the freeway, the traffic is heavier now that school has started. I haven't been coming home that way with the weather every night when I come home. But then tonight was later than I usually come home, too.

Gathering up miscellaneous things to put in a box to send to our daughter in Texas. I hope school is going good for her. Time to wind down some more. TTFN

Starting Another Week!

2006-08-07T19:35:00.000-06:00

Here we are, starting another week. I wish I didn't have to, but we have to pay bills! I'm in that frame of mind again, I'd like to be able to quit working and stay home, but we can't afford that right now! So I guess I'll tough it out a while longer.

Here is our kitty cat, Pippin. He got brave when he was out in the back yard and climbed the tree! I caught him on his way down. He really wants to go out in the front yard, but I don't think he's safe out there. This morning, Mistress (E's kitty cat) was out front. I went out to see where she was and all of a sudden I heard two cats going after each other. Then here comes Mistress, with an orange and white tabby cat right behind her. She ran past me and I scared the orange one away. She hid under the car in the front yard, but she wouldn't come to me. She's tangled with that cat before. Pippin is too skittish. I don't think he could hold his own with another cat. I'll let him go out back. He doesn't get into the front yard like Mistress does.

We had more rain during the night last night. It's been partly cloudy all day today. It doesn't look like we're going to get any rain tonight. The northeast heights got dumped on last night, tore up one of the fairways at Tanoan Golf Club, flooded streets. Rio Rancho got hit again, too. They haven't recovered from previous rains, yet. They just keep getting rain and it makes things worse. At least we don't have to worry about that kind of thing, being up here on the mesa like we are. Mom doesn't either. They've had a few times where the street was full of water and the back porch was covered in water, but not enough to come into the house. You have to step up to go in the house, so there would have to be quite a bit of water to get in her house. The grass is growing wild, along with the weeds. The driveway is being taken over by wild grass. One of these days, the tree man is supposed to come and take her cottonwood out from the back yard. With all this rain, I guess he's behind schedule. The roofers have been really busy, too. It's nice to have a monsoon season this year, but these rainstorms are bringing too much rain at one time.

Need to go put the laundry in the dryer! TTFN

A Day Off!

2006-08-02T14:51:00.000-06:00

Have a much-needed day off. Decided not to go play golf. Been on the computer since after breakfast. Got started reading P's Human Sacrifice. Had not read but the first few pages. Now I've read all of Part 1. That's enough for today! I can see a lot of past experiences in his story. Had to laugh at some remarks, so true!

P just turned the air conditioner off. He said it was making a noise and smelling hot. So we've got the little portable one going in the living room. Maybe if E gets home early enough tonight, he can get up on the roof and take a look at it. He leaves tomorrow for Tucson.

I have been wondering what kind of trouble D is going to stir up this time.

Can't think of too much to write about at this time. My head's kind of full from reading P's story. TTFN

Another Busy Week!

2006-07-20T19:24:00.000-06:00

I love this bottom picture. Just look out the front door in this lakeside community and it's peaceful. It made for a nice, relaxing vacation setting.

This top one is of our cat, Pippin. He has found a new perch. When I got home from work tonight and we were having supper, E noticed him sitting there. I've seen him there before, too. I grabbed the camera and took several shots of him. This is the only one that turned out to be very good.

Monday was deadline day, again. Finished the paper, P came and picked me up. We went and had something to eat, window-shopped for a little while before going over to the executive board meeting. About halfway through I was presented a plaque, recognizing my 25 years with the convention. We left right after that. After we left, apparently, the Policy and Personnel Committee approved a vacation policy for convention employees that says on the 10th anniversary and every 5th year after that, the employee gets another five days of vacation. This was done in appreciation of the longevity of service of BCNM employees.

We got home about 9:30, went back to bed, watched the news, Jay Leno and went to sleep.

Tuesday, I stopped by to see Mom after work. She has a tree man coming next week to trim back the tree in the back yard drastically and treat the fungus. Came home and took it easy.

Wednesday was my birthday. Had our office celebration, then staff meeting from 9-noon, lunch and a hectic afternoon trying to catch up from being in staff meeting all morning.

Today I started putting together the paper this afternoon, got page 1, 3, 4 and 5 done. Pages 6 and 7 are partial. Jy's pages 2 and 8 are done. So, tomorrow I can finish 6 and 7 and transfer 2 and 8. Then I'll have to start typing the long list of memorials and honorariums from the children's home for next week.

Watching Star Wars: Episode III on HBO. E went out a little while ago. He didn't have to work today, but he had to go pick up his checks. He and P got some odds and ends done today.

We may have some rain again this weekend, the weatherman says. I'll believe it when I see it. TTFN

Weekend

2006-07-16T13:34:00.000-06:00

E had to go to work early this morning. He'll be home in about an hour. We got up and went to church. We both are tired today. And we didn't do too much yesterday. We all got our hair cut. P went and got a small computer desk at Wal Mart and put it together to put in the living room. We didn't stay up late or get up too early. But we sure are tired today!

Came home and fixed a big lunch. I was stuffed! It's only been about an hour to an hour and a half and I'm already thinking about snacking! How can that be?

We watched a movie last night that we bought a few weeks ago. It's called Three Wishes. Patrick Swayze is in it, and the little boy from Jurassic Park. It was really good! We're now watching an old episode of Knight Rider. It's been a lot of years since I watched that. This was an episode where the villian looked like Hasselhoff.

It's been hot and dry this week, scattered showers, but we haven't gotten anything. I think they're saying that by next weekend we'll be in that wet cycle again with afternoon thundershowers.

About three more weeks and P will have to be back at school for training before school actually starts. This may or may not be his last year teaching, depending on how things go this year.

Missing our daughter this weekend. We're getting a little taste of what it will be like when our nest is empty! With M in Texas and E off at work, it's quiet around the house. TTFN

Made It!

2006-07-14T18:19:00.000-06:00

I made it through the first week back. Still have a few things to catch up on, but they can be done when I have time. Rearranged my desktop, again. I have a little more space to work with now that I have a flat screen monitor. E came to the office and helped me move the hutch. Then I put things back on the desk quickly so I could get to work on the paper. And I think the way I have them is going to work without having to move a few things around here and there. It feels a lot more open than the other way and I don't feel like I'm hiding with my back to the door. That corner office got hot today. I had my fan blowing on me most of the day.

Next Monday is executive board and committee meetings, so it will be busy. Jn asked me to be at the meeting Monday night. He said that is when they are going to recognize me for 25 years. It will be another busy week.

Going to get my hair cut tomorrow. Need to update my computer and balance the bank statement. I'm also going to try to pack a box of stuff to send to my daughter. Brought home a computer paper box from work, so it will hold quite a bit of stuff, mostly clothes.

E is off this weekend. Might see if he can go down to Mom's and mow and water. Will find out on Monday about the guy to do Mom's yard. Since the rain we had the weeds have popped up and so has the grass.

The only project that I've gotten done since we got home that I wanted to do was to rearrange the living room. Haven't done the kitchen counters yet.

Pippin, our white cat, just walked across my lap. He has been so lovey-dovey since we got back from our trip.

It was hot today, but there are clouds coming over now. We might actually get a little shower! TTFN

Back to Work!

2006-07-11T19:30:00.000-06:00

Yesterday was first day back at work. Worked an extra hour and 15 minutes. Today I got caught up on e-mail, didn't even have a chance to look at it much yesterday except what I needed to. We got flat screen monitors while I was off. It sure doesn't take up as much space as the old one.

We didn't have any rain today, probably not any tonight, either. Mistress went outside after we had finished eating supper, and walked back in with a baby lizard in her mouth, dropped it at my feet and pawed at it a little. I finally picked it up and took it out to the front flowerbed. I don't know if it will survive or not. But it was just a baby! It was so tiny. Its tail was as long as its body.

It's quiet around the house with E at work and M in Texas. I think P enjoyed having the day to himself. E is off this weekend, so P is thinking of renting a truck to haul off the rest of the stuff in the back yard. They got the patio set put together last night. It's nice. TTFN

Back From Vacation!

2006-07-07T19:17:00.000-06:00

We got home today at about 5:00. What a trip! We had a really good time visiting with hubby's family. Thanks! Went to First Monday all three days, got a few things there, including a wooden trash bin and a denim top and crop pants. I also picked up some fireant bites. One in particular, on my right wrist, really was a bother. It itched so bad, and it's in a bad spot, right where you rest your had on the table, to work a mouse, things like that. Had some rain while we were there. Had rain at home while we were gone, so that was nice. Daughter decided to stay in Texas for the summer, at least. Going to miss her, miss her already. It was good to get home and see the animals, Pippin, Mistress, Lucy and Watson. Gave them all a hug and kiss from M. E went over to Dion's and got a salad and pizza for supper. Taking it easy now, need to rest up from the drive today. Neither one of us slept very good last night. The mattress in the cabin at the KOA in Abilene was as hard as a rock! Just couldn't get comfortable. It will be good to sleep in our own adjustable beds tonight. Watching a new episode of Monk, then I will go unpack suitcases. TTFN

Small Town Holiday!

2006-07-05T15:58:00.000-06:00

Wow! We've been so busy since we've been here in Canton. We have been having fun spending time with hubby's family. Went to a fireworks display last night. It was such a nice time in a small town. We've not had much of that. This has been a real vacation, relaxing, somewhat, and enjoyable. Even stayed an extra day. Heading home tomorrow. Picked up a lamp for my living room, a pair of khaki cargo shorts, etc. Daughter has decided to stay here, for the summer at least. It will be good to get home, though. TTFN

Fun Time!

2006-07-03T18:42:00.000-06:00

We have been busy since we got here! Been to First Monday several times, bought a wooden trash can cover for the kitchen. Creative juices have been flowing. I have lots of ideas of things to do at home, rearrange, decorate, etc. Anxious to get started on some of them. Today we went into Mesquite, shopped a little, ate a Joe's Crab Shack. They have the most wonderful coconut shrimp with a plum sauce. I ate it all! P and I went this morning and played 18 holes of golf on the course which is real close to here, within walking distance. Came home, took showers, got a sandwich before we went into Dallas. We'll probably crash tonight. Planning on going to a fireworks display in the town square tomorrow. We'll start back home on Wednesday afternoon. It's only four hours to Abilene, that's where we have a cabin reserved again. Need to check e-mail also. TTFN

Vacation Time!

2006-06-29T18:51:00.000-06:00

Our vacation is finally here! We loaded most of our stuff in the van last night and got up this morning and loaded the rest. Left town about 7 a.m. We're in Abilene tonight. I hope we don't have any severe weather. At least not like we had at home Tuesday night. It poured down rain and the lightning flashed almost constantly, lighting up the sky like a light show. Parts of town were flooded. Mom had 1 1/2 inches in her rain gauge the next morning. At least we didn't have to water her yard after that rain. But the weeds will grow like crazy. I have a contact to make when we get back with someone about doing Mom's yard on a regular basis. She has someone coming after the 1st to see about doing something with the HUGE cottonwood in her back yard. It's about 50 years old, provides lots of shade, but it's diseased, and the roots are damaging the concrete in the next door neighbor's back yard. Afraid the wind might blow a large limb on top of one of the houses and do some damage. We'll have to see what the tree man says, according to Mom.

Well, I guess I'll let P get on and check his e-mail and such. TTFN

Pleasant Day!

2006-06-26T18:17:00.000-06:00

We all got in the car and went up to Santa Fe yesterday for a little shopping at the outlet mall. Had a nice time, got a few things. I found a wallet, smaller than the one I've been using. My checkbook is now separate. Since we do so much online, we don't write a lot of checks. Came home about 1:30 so E could rest and get ready to go to work.

This morning, M and I went down to Mom's, watered the yard, put the trash out for pickup. Then we went to Coronado Mall. She had a coupon for a free round of Glow Golf. Her and E went there a couple of weeks ago when he was off. So her and I played a couple of rounds and won another coupon for a free round. We had some time out together, just the two of us. We don't get to do it very often, but she always enjoys it. We came home and P was fixing sloppy joes, but we weren't hungry because we had eaten when we got to the mall.

We're all looking forward to our trip to Texas. I think P is looking forward to seeing what the golf courses in Texas are like, if the one in Canton is any indication.

We plan on going to play golf tomorrow. P's back tightens up and he felt he needed another day of rest. We went on Saturday to Puerto del Sol. Usually we get a cart, but we just got a push cart for me. I'm not used to that much walking, but it's good exercise.

P is getting a bunch of the software and music CDs organized. He bought one of the big book-like cases that holds I don't know how many. Finding lots of surprising things!

M is back in E's room, watching a movie she bought this morning. We're watching The Phantom of the Opera. After it's over, we'll check out and see if there's anything to watch on the satellite.

Trying to do a load of laundry every day, so we've got plenty of clothes to choose from for our trip.

Oh yes, we cut and ate our canteloupe this morning. It was ripe, but still a little hard. We could have let it ripen a little more, but it was good. Just had a bowl of Raisin Brans and milk for supper. TTFN

Improvement

2006-06-24T20:24:00.000-06:00

Started vacuuming in the living room this morning and Mom called. She needed to go to the grocery store. The guy who usually takes her is out of town on vacation. She wanted to get some things to cook in the microwave. Cooking on the stove or in the oven just makes the house too hot. I also picked up a couple of things, including a cantaloupe. I will see if it's ready to be cut and eaten tonight or in the morning.

My golf game is improving. I got two, count them, not one, but two pars. And one was on the hardest hole on the course, according to my hubby. We played at Puerto del Sol, and with a guy who also lives on the West Side. We had a good time. It was hot, but we were having a good time. I had a push cart for my bag, but my legs were giving out on the last three holes (Puerto is only a 9-hole course). I have been a little stiff since we got home and took a shower. I'll probably be tired tomorrow.

E came home from work early, he wasn't feeling well. We think he may have reacted to getting sunburned yesterday when he and M went out and played 18 holes at Ladera. They both came home sunburned, even though they put sunscreen on. E's face and arms got red. M's neck is pretty red, but we put some aloe gel on it last night and she is OK.

Had M clean off our bathroom sink and counter. She got things organized. Put up a little over the faucet shelf to help. Getting little things done here and there. It's nice to be enjoying my vacation this time.

Our trip to Texas is getting closer. Getting anxious to see everybody. It's been a year since we were there. TTFN

Full Day!

2006-06-22T18:00:00.000-06:00

Took the van in to have the check engine light checked out. Went down to Mom's with E this morning and watered, front and back and flowerbeds. E put Mom's heater in the shed. E came home so he could get ready for work, so P came and got me.

Got everything the Hyundai and P and I went to play golf at Arroyo del Oso. Played the Dam Nine again. I did a little better this time than last time, but I didn't get any pars. The guy that was playing with us had a complete set of Callaways, with the bag. P says that's about $2,500 worth. When we were done, went over to the office for a little bit. Had to respond to a couple of e-mails. I'll probably go into the office again next Wednesday for a little bit, before we leave for our trip to Texas.

Came home, took a shower, went to Blockbuster and rented some movies. P and E went to pick up the van. So we're going to watch Pink Panther, the new one with Steve Martin. From the previews, it looks funny. TTFN

We Have a New House!

2006-06-21T16:50:00.000-06:00

It almost feels like we have a new house since the carpet has been installed. And now we got the new drapes put up. It really is a different look! The carpet looks really nice in the living room and down the hallway. And the drapes have pink and blue flowers on a cream-colored background. Now we can enjoy our living area.

M is back in E's room, watching "Angel" on DVD. P is on his computer, doing I don't know what. I have laundry in the dryer, and I'm getting ready to get out the card table and put together a 1,000-piece Thomas Kinkaide jigsaw puzzle. The picture is titled: "A Peaceful Time."

Oh, yes. Went down to Mom's earlier. Her neighbor called me to talk about the big cottonwood tree in the back yard. Mom is having a tree guy come out after July 1st to look at the tree and see what he suggests to do with it. It's huge, almost 50 years old. It hangs over the house and the next door neighbor's house, too. But the roots are cracking the concrete in their back yard. And they're afraid that it may eventually damage the foundation of their house, or the plumbing. Mom is afraid the tree is diseased. If it is taken out, it will be a major job because that tree is so big and old. But it's getting to where it's a safety concern. So we'll see what happens with that.

This blogging is turning out to be a learning experience for me. I feel like it's an excercise in creative writing. And I've never been very good at that. TTFN

Mission Accomplished!

2006-06-20T20:20:00.000-06:00

Well, it took all day, but we finally found some lined drapes to cover the sliding glass door. We looked at Linens and Things, Target, Lowe's, JC Penney, Sears (did I forget anyone?). Oh, yes, I forgot American Furniture. They don't carry drapes. They only do custom designs). There are very few and not in the best selection of colors. We finally found some at the JC Penney Home Store. We went back to Sears to get a traverse rod. Picked up a few other odds and ends on our trek. I got a genuine leather purse at the House of Handbags, next to Mervyn's at Coronado. P got a pair of shorts at Sears. We bought some incidentals at Victoria's Secret, and of course, some nourishment while we were at the mall. Oh yes, we found some of the Cherry Cordial Hershey Kisses at Sam's Club, where P got his prescriptions from the dentist filled.

Need to go into the office in the next day or two, just to respond to e-mails. I don't have what I need at home.

Tomorrow, we'll tackle putting up the new traverse rod and hanging the drapes. Watching the movie, "Shrek." TTFN

Happy Father's Day!

2006-06-19T20:32:00.000-06:00

We didn't do much of anything special for Father's Day. Talked M into going out to play golf. Went to Ladera and played the Executive course. We had a good time. Came home and started moving stuff out of the living room. P and E moved the couches and chairs out on the patio this morning. The new light blue carpet makes a difference in the living room, and down the hall, too. It really brightens up the living room, which is so dark, with the rock around the fireplace and the dark wood of the bookcases on either side. We're going to have to go buy a new traverse rod and drapes for the sliding glass door.

I finished up the paper today and now I'm free! I go back to work July 10th! P has a dentist appointment tomorrow, but we'll move some more stuff back in the living room and get it put back together.

Planning on playing some golf. M has a coupon for a free game of Glow Golf. She wants me to go with her, may do that. Trying to find time to work on some plastic canvas, too. Maybe read some. I plan on enjoying my vacation.

Looking forward to our trip to Texas, just not the heat and humidity. TTFN

Busy Week!

2006-06-17T20:55:00.000-06:00

Well! I never got a chance to blog this week, been busy. Then Thursday night, we went to the Isotopes game. P gets a little impatient with other people, but M and I had fun. We left after the seventh-inning stretch. It was about 9:30, so we came home. I had to go to work the next day. And it was a busy day, at that. Putting together the SBC issue. It went pretty smoothly. Finish it up on Monday, start a three-week vacation on Tuesday.

Went in and worked about an hour and a half this morning to do some things before my vacation. It was either today or stay late on Monday. P took me, sat and read a book while I got things done. Then we left, went and had a light lunch before we played golf. We were going to do 18 holes at Arroyo del Oso, but the 18-hole course was closed until 1 p.m. for a tournament. So we played the Dam 9. We were paired with a couple of guys a little bit younger. They graduated from Del Norte High School in 1978. They have been friends since grade school. It was a nice, enjoyable time, just hitting the ball, getting some exercise, watching all the squirrels, jack rabbits and even a roadrunner! P and I are planning on going out tomorrow to play again. At Arroyo, we picked up a new golf bag for me that's light and has a stand and a backpack carrying strap. And it's PINK!

After we got home, we went over to Walgreens to get some milk and a few other things. Brought that home, got M and went to Applebee's for supper. Just sitting here now, blogging and listening to Elvis on Sirius on the satellite. Unless we can't move in the morning, we'll probably get up and go to church. Then we'll play golf, but it has to be after noon on P's P.M. Pass (he gets to play for $5). I don’t know where we’ll go, one of the four municipal golf courses. I did get sunburned on one leg today. Put sunscreen on before we started, but just my right leg is the only place I’m sunburned. Put some aloe gel on it after my shower. I will wear some khaki pants tomorrow.

Have to start moving things out of the living room. Home Depot is going to install carpet in the living room and down the hall on Monday. E should be able to help P move the big stuff (couches, chairs, etc.) out on the patio.

Looking forward to vacation in Texas, including First Monday and visiting Joe's Crab Shack, if possible. And maybe some more golf! I enjoy getting outdoors and getting some exercise. Even if it is hot.

Blogger is not cooperating, I keep losing the connection, twice now. P just lost his connection, so I’m finishing this in Word.

Got laundry in the dryer. Trying to get caught up with it again. There are some things I want to get washed for our trip. Every time I turn around I’m washing my shorts. I have been wearing them more than the last couple of years. It usually has to be HOT for me to wear shorts. But it has been HOT, and I wear them golfing too. I come home and change out of my hot work clothes to get comfortable.

It’s getting late, almost 9 p.m., need to get some other things done. TTFN

Nice Weekend

2006-06-11T13:14:00.000-06:00

Went to Ladera yesterday instead of Puerto del Sol. Had a good time, played with another guy, called "Digger." He moved here from California. He used to drill wells until they put a moratorium on drilling. So he moved out here. I think he still does some of that, but now it's for water.

Came home and relaxed, it was hot, no wind or clouds to cool things down. P and I went out this morning and hit a bucket of balls, went to WalMart for a couple of things, put gas in the car and got it washed. Came home, having lunch, watching an old movie on the satellite.

Changed golf bags so I don't have such a hard time carrying it. Mine doesn't have a stand and our bag carts are not usable. Planning on playing a bit of golf this summer. It's good exercise and I can take out my frustrations on the golf ball.

Need to go put some laundry in the washer. TTFN

Date Night!

2006-06-10T11:45:00.000-06:00

Well, hubby and I had a date last night, went out for dinner and a movie. We went to Asado Brazilian Grill for supper. They have a salad bar, with vegetables, salad makings, etc., and they bring 15 different kinds of meats around to your table and choose what kind you want. It was a good meal, I stuffed myself. Then we walked over to the movie theater and ended up seeing "The Breakup" with Jennifer Aniston and Vince Vaughn. It was really good. We had seen Vince Vaughn on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno and he talked about it and showed a clip. The best part was at the beginning when they were showing pictures of the two of them together, one picture was of the two of them in cow suits! I just started laughing! I'm sure the other people in the theater around us were wondering what was so funny. They just weren't in on the inside joke! But it was a good story, really enjoyed it.

Went down to Mom's this morning with M and watered the front and back yards. She had watered the flower beds yesterday because Bob had planted some flower seeds, so she wanted to keep them moist so the flowers will come up. The back yard is not bad, it's in the shade a lot, with that huge cottonwood in the back yard. The front yard gets most of the sun, and it's pretty brown, with green around the edges. Bob soaked it pretty good while he was here. So we're going to try to keep it watered. She can't do it enough to keep it looking good. If she waters it, it grows, then it needs to be cut, so she doesn't want to water it. Oh, well!

P and I are going out to golf again this afternoon. I think this time we're going out by the airport to Puerto del Sol. I always enjoy getting out and getting some exercise.

This next week is the SBC annual meeting, so Jn is gone. I'll be working on some projects to get caught up when I'm not downloading pictures or something for our SBC edition. Then I start vacation on the 20th for three weeks!

Going to play golf! More later! TTFN

Slow Down!

2006-06-09T09:40:00.000-06:00

OK, here we go! This is about one of my pet peeves.

Since school is out, traffic is lighter, and since the Coors & I-40 interchange is done, and since they are working on the Fourth St. and Montano intersection, I've started going to work on the freeway. It only takes me 25-30 minutes, where on Montano, it would take me 40-45 minutes.

What is it that most people don't understand about a speed LIMIT? Emphasis on LIMIT. That doesn't mean you have to go at least that, there is a minimum, I think, of 40 or 45 MPH. The posted speed LIMIT is 65 MPH. I generally drive 5 MPH over the speed LIMIT, but most people drive 10 or 15 MPH OVER the speed LIMIT. And that's not just on the freeway, it's also on city streets!

I was in the fast lane this morning, trying to get around the slowdown that always occurs from cars wanting to take the northbound or southbound I-25. This guy comes up behind me (and I'm doing 70 MPH) and waves at me, thinking, I guess, that I'm going to move out of his way. Well, the way I look at it, I'm in the fast lane, OK, going 70 MPH in a 65 MPH zone. I'm going fast, right?! Why does he think he has to go even faster?! What don't these people understand about the meaning of the word LIMIT!? So, he changes lanes, can't get past me right away, because there is other traffic in that lane. I'm not past the Big-I yet. But, finally, he manages to get past me and speeds on by, at least 75 or 80. Does it not register that 75 or 80 is OVER the LIMIT?! I realize that most people do this, but there is no need to go that fast. SLOW DOWN! My husband tells me that you should go fast enough to keep up with the flow of traffic, the speed they're going. But the police are trying to crack down on speeders, so I also try to do my part.

This is one of the reasons I don't like to drive on the freeway, but it's the best route, especially right now. But the speedsters is one reason I don't like to drive it unless I have to. You that know me know I don't get on my soapbox much, but this is another one of those things that will get me going. And don't call me an old fogie! I'm not that old yet.

Now that I've got that off my chest, I need to get some work done before the boss comes in and finds me blogging. Wouldn't that be a disaster, considering where I work! TTFN

A Day Off!

2006-06-06T19:01:00.000-06:00

Took a day of vacation, only the second one this year. I'm going to be off for three weeks starting the 20th.

* The guy from Home Depot came by to measure for our new carpet. Supposed to hear back with 48 hours about the installation.

* Went to vote. Melissa went into the office to talk to one of the secretaries while we were there. She tried to talk M into coming back and finishing. I hope she got through to her.

* Came home and had some lunch, KFC chicken, potato salad, broccoli slaw salad. It's been a while since we had some slaw salad. And M likes it too; so does E.

* P and I went to play nine holes at Ladera. I got a par on hole 16. That's good for me, I don't get a par very often. Some clouds came over and cooled things off, shading the sun and stirring up a little wind.

* Came home, took a shower and went down to Mom's for some cake and ice cream she had gotten for her birthday. Bob went home this afternoon.

* Now we're relaxing, watching the latest Herbie movie. Have to go back to work tomorrow. Jn leaves for the SBC on Saturday. Next week will be a catch-up week.

* Getting some laundry done. Got the car washed and filled with gas. Now to finish the rest of the week! TTFN

Busy Weekend!

2006-06-04T12:48:00.000-06:00

I'm sorry the link didn't work. I don't know why. The only way I know is to e-mail it to you, P. I was going to put it on my blog, but I think there are copyright restrictions.

P, M and I loaded about half of what was left of the shed in a U-Haul truck. It wasn't easy, that stuff was heavy! We got the truck unloaded, after going to three different dump sites, came home, cleaned out the truck, filled it up with gas and took it back.

We were going to go stay at a motel and get in the hot tub and swimming pool. They either didn't have adjoining rooms or the rates were too high. So we just came home, took showers and relaxed the rest of the day. We're all feeling some sore muscles today.

Went to WalMart this morning, got a few things; paid a couple of bills online; searched for the story I wanted to post, gave up.

Getting ready to go down to Mom's and take her and Bob out to lunch for Mom's birthday today.

Oh, yeah! The I-40 and Coors interchange is finally done (except for some landscaping) and open. It's really nice and it's easier to get to WalMart now. They have started working on the intersection of Fourth and Montano, so now I'm going to work this summer on the freeway. It only takes me 30 minutes!

Gotta go! TTFN

Storytime!

2006-05-30T21:20:00.000-06:00

We were busy over the weekend, doing things around the house. Replaced one of the folding doors on the laundry room. P noticed today that the other door looks like it will need to be replaced before long. The shed in the back yard is in a pile. It will be nice to get all that out of the back yard and have the space. We're going to have new carpet put in the living room and hallway. Put up a new mailbox. Let's see, what else did we do? That's enough, I think.

P and I went to see "The Da Vinci Code" Friday night. That was interesting, after all the hype before it ever came out. I thought Tom Hanks was great.

It was a little hard to go back to work after a long weekend. Those three-day weekends don't come around very often. This is a short week, being only four days, but we're on a regular schedule, going to press on Monday. Friday is flex day for the other two.

Once we get our special SBC edition done, vacation will start the 20th and I'll go back on the 5th of July. We don't have any plans yet, but we've talked about going to Texas.

My brother is coming in on Saturday about noon to spend a few days with Mom, do some work around her house and yard. He'll go home on Tuesday evening. He makes a couple of trips a year, just to check on her. He calls pretty regularly, if they're not visiting one of their kids and grandkids on the weekend.

It's been a quiet night, catching up with e-mail and such. Didn't even turn the TV on. Recorded Meet the Fockers on the DVR. We rented it a while back, but I wanted to see it again. M watched it the other day when we were catching up on stuff we had taped off.

It will be time for the 10 o'clock news in a little bit. Guess I'll get ready for bed. TTFN

Time to Relax!

2006-05-24T20:42:00.000-06:00

Well, the commissioning service is over with. Now it's just finish this paper tomorrow, send it to the printer on Friday and have a long weekend. Then we'll be on a regular schedule, somewhat, for two or three weeks. We'll do our SBC issue and then be off for a couple of weeks.

E is going to apply for a job in construction with the company S works for. He seems to be planning to stay here, at least for a while. They are going to close the Wendy's in Coronado for remodeling the end of June, so he's taking this opportunity to change jobs. He said they are going to transfer everybody to other stores, though.

M fixed chicken alfredo for supper last night. Pat seemed to enjoy it. I ate at Burger King before I went over to Hoffmantown for the commissioning service. I got there after it started, so I missed the processional, and the Singing Churchmen, I guess. But I left before it was over, so I missed the recessional. It was a nice service, though, what I was there for.

Pat wanted to go see "The Da Vinci Code" when I got home today, but I didn't feel like doing that tonight and having to go to work tomorrow, maybe this weekend. TTFN

Nice Weekend!

2006-05-21T20:22:00.000-06:00

After another busy week (one of the girls on vacation, doing 12 pages of the paper and other assorted tasks from Jn) we had a nice weekend. The convention bought a group of tickets for the Isotopes game for Friday night. We went and had a good time. Took M with us, bought another ticket when we got there. If I had said something sooner, the convention would have bought her ticket. But I didn't know that! But we had fun anyway. E was off this weekend, he and S were going to tear down and haul away the shed in the back yard, but because graduations were this week, he couldn't get a truck. So I think they're going to do it next weekend. We went yesterday and got tickets again for the Isotopes game for today, S went with us. He said he was glad to get to go with us. We had a good time, except for the fact we were sitting behind the visiting team's dugout, with the sun on us (it was an afternoon game). The temperature on the scoreboard got up to 93. We managed to not get too hot and still had a good time.

P's last day is Tuesday, last day of finals tomorrow and grades go in in Tuesday. There is supposed to be a golf tournament for the staff on Tuesday afternoon. P is looking forward to that. Tuesday will be my long day. I'll have to work all day and then be at Hoffmantown for the commissioning service that night.

M has enjoyed getting to spend a little more time with me. We enjoy doing things together. She is a little more appreciate of me these days, having to do things around the house (that is, when we can get her to do them!).

Taking it easy this evening, after the game this afternoon. A busy week coming up for both P and I.

Guess that's enough for now. TTFN

Busy, Busy!

2006-05-07T09:05:00.000-06:00

Who isn't busy these days? And it seems like it's getting busier and busier, never a dull moment. But I'd rather be busy than bored.

Went out to breakfast with E, he doesn't go into work until 4 this afternoon. Decided to take it easy today. P was gone all day yesterday to a teacher's union convention. We had talked about going out and playing nine holes of golf, but I think he's too tired. I didn't really feel like it this morning, either. Still doing laundry, always doing laundry (well, not always)! The dryer is running, will wash another load or two. It takes so long to dry a load of cotton, espcially on the No Heat setting.

P just came in from watering in the back yard. I'm blogging and P is going to continue reading to me from a book I found out in the garage. It's the first in a series of four, I think. We got caught up on all our recorded TV programs last night. So now it's time to start another week. We'll tape one or two here and there, and be able to watch one or two one night or maybe two nights, and then get caught up on Saturday again, since there's nothing on Saturdays.

Will be glad to close on our refinance on Tuesday, hopefully. They would probably be able to do it on Monday, but I need to be at work on Monday, to get the paper to the printer. Yes, unfortunately, I feel like I need to be there to do that. It used to be I felt like they could handle it, but now that things have changed, I feel like if it's going to be done right, I need to be the one to do it. But Tuesdays and Wednesdays are the easiest days to take off. Thursday is paper layout day. And every other Friday is flex day (the other two are off), so I feel like I need to be there. Unless something comes up, which has happened before. Then John just closes the office. There's not very many people in the building on Fridays, anyway. So it ends up being a quiet day when I can get some things done.

Well, P sat down to check his e-mail and blog, I guess. So I'm going to check on the laundry and then work on plastic canvas. TTFN

Work, Work, Work!

2006-04-24T19:39:00.000-06:00

What's that saying? A woman's work is never done. Work all week and come home and work. Did some house cleaning on Saturday, needed to be done. Melissa helped me in the bedroom. E worked out in the yard and got the air conditioner hooked up and running.

Just finished watching Seventh Heaven. Just put a load of laundry in the washer during a commercial. Now I need to go rinse out some pantyhose and hang up clothes I pulled out of the dryer this morning.

Need to work on plastic canvas. I'd like to get these finished by the end of July, but I don't think that's possible. I have two folders finished already and I'm working on a third. I'm not sure how many I'm going to make, I think it's 11.

Better get busy, I have an hour before another program comes on! TTFN

Update

2006-04-16T11:06:00.000-06:00

Well, it's been a while! But when P's mom said I had lots of things to write about, she was right. I just didn't know it at the time.

I meant to do this after we got the pictures back, but I haven't been blogging, so I'm just getting around to it. P already posted the pictures from his reunion at Wayland, and Grandma and Grandpa's old house with the tree in front. P took this picture of our car when we stopped to take pictures of the house and tree. You can't tell, but there are probably pawprints all over it. Well, maybe not, it did rain in Plainview when we were there.

P says I had an epiphany this morning, I call it a revelation. We taped off the new Ten Commandments last weekend and watched it yesterday evening. Then we watched the last couple of hours of the old Ten Commandments movie (with Charleton Heston). This morning we were discussing it.

Backflash: JE at work mentioned how her husband, while they were watching the Ten Commandments, would tear it apart, saying, "That's not in the Bible!" or something like that. Pat does that all the time, he analyzes a movie. And it bugs me. I tell him, "Just enjoy it!" I had told him I wasn't sure I wanted to watch it with him, because he would do the same thing. So, when we watched it, he was quiet, didn't say anything.

So, when we were discussing it this morning, we were talking about the plagues and miracles. I said that if it was explainable, it wasn't a miracle. If it is unexplainable, it's a miracle. He was talking about the feeding of the 5,000; it can be explained that when the disciples started to distribute the loaves and fishes, that everyone else brought out their meals and shared. That's why there was so much left over. I had never thought of it that way! It was always a miracle, that once they started distributing the food, it just kept multiplying. There were several other things like that, that are explainable. Then we started going through the plagues. There are explanations for almost all of them.

Unfortunately, most preachers don't preach to our intelligence. I finally get it! I told P it puts a whole new perspective on things. I love it when we have such intelligent conversations. Now I really would like to find a church with a pastor who preaches to intelligence instead of lazily preaching what most people want to hear.

Another sore subject is FBC. I heard recently from JH that the new pastor went to HBH (he had said he would not support the church in their move to the West Side) and got on his good side. He put a stop to the church moving into a movie theater for services. I don't believe the building is sold yet, it will probably take a while. But that land should be fairly valuable, considering the downtown revitalization the mayor is pushing. The old AHS complex is really nice. I saw some pictures of the inside on the news a while back. There are parts of the old buildings they kept and restored. The outside is pretty much the same, it was just gutted and redone inside. They preserved the gymn floor and some other things. There are some other new buildings in the area. The old Baptist Building has really been spiffed up and has a boutique, offices, etc., in it.

Before I sat down to blog, I ironed some clothes for work, a couple of denim skirts, a denim jumper and an eyelet top to go over my Easter dress that P got for me at Macy's in Coronado. It wasn't easy to find a dress. Most of the clothes in the store are casual, a few pant suits. They may not have been fully stocked, though. They are moving this week into where Foley's was, just to the east.

We're watching the Phantom of the Opera, E was cleaning his room, now he's cleaning out the van. And what about gas prices!? P doesn't drive the Neon too much, usually, he generally fills up about every week and a half to two weeks (if he doesn't do much driving at all). My Hyundai usually has to be filled up every week. We've been filling it up at half a tank. I drive 30 miles a day to and from work, so I use about half a tank a week. Poor E has to pay about $40 to fill up the van about once a week. He drives about as far as I do across town. (He went and spent some time with S Friday night and part of Saturday.

After E got home from work today, we went out for a nice lunch at Olive Garden. We don't get many opportunities to all go out together, so when they do come around, we try to do something, even if it's just hamburgers.

I guess that's enough for now. I guess I've had a nice long weekend to unwind. I needed it. P wants me to start taking a few Tuesdays off to go play golf with him. I don't play when it's cold, so it's been a few months since the last time. I didn't do too bad when I went with him Friday. It was enjoyable, just hitting the ball and getting some exercise. I need more of that! OK, that's enought! TTFN

Not Much New - What Else?

2006-03-12T17:27:00.000-07:00

Here's some more picture of our babies! First is Pippen, he weighs about 25 lbs. And Here's Lucy, a Labrador cross. We also have a black Cocker Spaniel, Watson, and E's cat, Mistress.

Well, it's been almost a couple of weeks since I got my hair permed, it really needs to be trimmed now. It looks a little wild.

We just can't figure out what to do with M. She won't really give us a good reason for not wanting to finish school. But we've told her she's not going to sit around and watch TV and play games on the computer. I took her over to the parking lot of a church that's being built over on Glenrio to get used to the car and start getting comfortable. She's going to have to get her driver's license so she can get to work, wherever she gets a job. She has found, though, that most jobs, even fast food, want somebody dependable, which she's not right now. Not with her attitude. She is doing some more stuff around the house, she's been doing her own laundry, so that's a little less for me to worry about. I don't think she's really facing reality yet, but she will pretty soon.

E is working today. He's off from Wendy's tomorrow. He went over to S's last night after he got home from work.

It's windy again today. We had a dusting of snow this morning when we got up. It's supposed to start warming up a little bit each day this week, I think. The wind sure has the hayfever stirred up, my head has felt pretty stuffy.

Worked on taxes yesterday, it's a yearly dredge. We're going to have to make some changes, I think (achoo!). Had a fire going in the fireplace yesterday afternoon and evening. It felt good with that cold wind outside. It's March, what else do you expect? TTFN

Reunion Weekend

2006-02-26T16:47:00.000-07:00

Just got back from hubby's 30th college reunion. Had a good time. There was a small group from '75 & '76, but had a good time. Joe P, the alumni guy, announced his semi-retirement. He will go to half time in July. He's the one that has an amazing memory, he remembers almost every student. We woke up to rain Saturday morning, so it was nice. After it stopped raining about mid-morning, the wind started blowing and it was cold. But it was nice and clear and sunshiny this morning when we headed back home. It was nice to get away for a few days, but I was glad to get back home today. Tired! And we have to go to work tomorrow, normal schedule, or as normal as can be! We'll have some pictures to post as soon as we get the film developed. Have to watch the finale of Dancing With the Stars tonight. Otherwise, going to take it easy. E is working, I guess. He was on call at Wendy's but didn't come home after he got off from McDonald's, so I guess he had to go work. He'll be off from both tomorrow. Maybe M can get some applications in tomorrow. TTFN

No Title

2006-02-09T19:03:00.000-07:00

Another week is almost done. Dancing With the Stars just started, so I may get a little distracted while doing this.

OK, back to the blog, commercial.

Met P and M at Coronado last night, picked out frames and ordered new glasses. It will take about a week to get them, I think. P took me over to Macy's to pick out a Valentine gift. I found a medium-sized cross necklace that is two-toned, gold and silver. I'll probably wear it for a few days, at least, before I take it off.

I'm back again.

I was working away this afternoon and didn't realize it was time to quit until it was 4:50. I should have left 20 minutes ago! I hate to end a day that way! Have to get home on Thursday night to watch Dancing With the Stars!

Tomorrow will be another busy day, even though the other two will be off. Jn will be in and we'll finish this paper and start on the next. He will be out of the country all next week, so it will slow down a little. At least I'll be able to open the blind tomorrow and be able to see outside a little bit. It turned cloudy today, I think it may be cloudy tomorrow, too.

Back to Dancing With the Stars! TTFN

Another Week Done

2006-02-05T11:15:00.000-07:00

Well, this was a long and tiring week. My week doesn't end until Monday, though, and starts again on Tuesday. Doing another color issue, so it takes a little longer to print. I'll be glad to get this one done.

I don't often get on my soap box, but there's something I've been meaning to talk about.

Our state legislature is in a 30-day session right now, which ends in mid-February. It's supposed to be a financial session. Last week some time, it was reported that there had already been 676 bills introduced.

Well, no wonder nothing ever gets done. There are several (maybe more!) "stupid" bills, that, I feel, have no place in our state legislature. There are too many important things that need to be taken care of, rather than stupid things like this. The governor is being ambitious, trying to spend all this money that has come from oil royalties. At least he's smart enough to allocate some of it to fast-track schools in Albuquerque. There are plans for two high schools on the West Side. And we have a bond election on Tuesday for APS and TVI. I think it should be another interesting election, to see how many are actually against this.

Another thing the governor is trying to push, that I'm not sure I agree with is the bullet train between Los Lunas and Santa Fe. Of course, it's going to be done in stages. But the first stage is between Los Lunas and Bernalillo. The most logical would be between Albuquerque and Santa Fe, but when did government ever do anything that made sense?

Then there's the Spaceport. It's to be built down by Truth or Consequences. But wouldn't it make more sense (here we go again) to build it down by Alamogordo and the White Sands Missle Range?

There's some more stupid things that are going on in the city, too, but I have to say I support Mayor Chavez in a lot of the things he's trying to do.

I'm not as into this government thing like my husband is, but he has always made sure that we all vote and exercise our civic right and duty.

We;re watching TVLand this morning, they're running The A-Team. It's been a while since we've seen any of these. It's fun to watch some of these old shows now and then. Just passing the time until game time.

Unfortunately, E has to be at work at 4 p.m., but I think they will have access to a TV and keep an eye on the game. At least P and I are pulling for the Seahawks, I'm not sure about E and M.

Hope everybody enjoys the game, regardless of who wins. Oh, and what about that halftime show? The Rolling Stones? TTFN

Another Week!

2006-01-28T10:07:00.000-07:00

Whew! This week is over, finally. I was in the office by myself on Friday. The Legislative Breakfast was in Santa Fe on Friday morning, so Jn, Jo and Ch were all there. I got lots of things done. On Monday evening, the Evangelism Conference starts, so we'll be busy through the Senior Adult banquet Wednesday at noon. The special session to vote on our new executive director is Tuesday night. Pat will be taping off things for me on Monday and Tuesday nights, so I can catch up later.

We've started watching "Dancing With the Stars." We also like "Skating With Celebrities." Dancing is really good, we've been enjoying it. We missed the first couple of weeks, but it has really been interesting (and entertaining) to watch. Skating doesn't have the call-in to vote for your favorite like Dancing does, but skating is a lot different than dancing.

Have just over 200 miles on the car now. I'm going to have to get the digital camera and take a picture of it and post it. We got it with a full tank of gas, need to fill it up after driving it to work and back all week. I should get a reimbursement check on Monday. I'll fill up with gas after work before I go over to Hoffmantown.

We're doing a Lord of the Rings marathon today, watching Fellowship of the Ring (extended version) now. The three of them will take us a good part of the day. It may get windy later today. We'll probably build a fire in the fireplace, if it's OK to burn. With the wind, there shouldn't be any restrictions.

E was hired at McDonald's at Menaul and San Pedro, so he can go from there to Wendy's. He'll be training next Monday through Thursday and then start work on the next Monday. He'll be able to save up a little faster now.

Doing some laundry today. Need to get some clothes ready for work and school next week. May try to do some ironing, too.

We had some snow on Wednesday morning, but, of course, it was too warm for it to stick. That's the first moisture we've had in quite a while. We could sure use some more! TTFN

More Pictures!

2006-01-22T18:26:00.000-07:00

OK, the filing cabinet is now where my desk used to be. I got tired of being behind that wall, I felt like I was hiding. Jn said he didn't mind it, though. This is the only arrangement that would work to get everything in. I had no say about moving into the corner office, either, it was Jn's decision. He said everybody would naturally go to my office to see him. I think he just wanted the view. Even looking out the office door, I can't see much, but it's better than just looking at the wall.

Well, I hope this works out with the vehicles. We now have a Hyundai Elantra, color is teal (green). Why is it we have ended up with so many green vehicles since we live on Mint Pl.? That's another story. They took E's truck on trade-in for $500. I was surprised, but they said they would take it, even though it's not running. It's seven years old, but the van should be a good vehicle for E and his growing family. At least he is going to stay here until mid-June and save up some money to build a nest egg. So P will be driving the Neon. He'll be glad to have something to drive, instead of being without transportation for the last seven months.

M and I will have our eyes checked tomorrow for new glasses. She wants to get contact lenses, but P says she's going to have to pay for them herself when she gets a job. I think I'm going to go back to regular bifocals instead of the progressive lenses. Maybe that will work better looking at the computer all day.

P wanted to get out and play some golf this weekend, but it didn't work out. We were at the car dealer half of the day, and the football games were this afternoon. But now that he has a vehicle, he can go after school. Golf team practice starts sometime next month, so it's nice that P will have transportation.

E went out with S yesterday, came down to the car dealer when we needed him to, then they went back to the flea market for a little while. E had to go to work last night. He's working tonight, too. He's been working a few more hours, but not enough. He's been putting in applications at a few places around, but nothing yet. TTFN

New Look!

2006-01-18T18:56:00.000-07:00

Here's a look at my new office. The bottom picture is of my office door (of course, it used to be Jn's office). The wall on the left, just inside the door, is what I was hiding behind. About 8 inches of the wall is going to be taken out to make the entry a little wider. The second picture is looking in from the doorway. I think it looks a little "homey." The top picture is looking into the rounded corner from the doorway. I tried (on a scale drawing) several different arrangements in order to fit everything in, but the only other way put my back to the door, so that wouldn't work. More to come.

There are a lot of things to come at work: Evangelism Conference, special-called session to vote on a new executive director, editors' and executive directors' meeting (they'll be gone a whole week) in February, and Ministry Leadership Conference (a combination of two or three different meetings in one) in March.

Still having cold weather, in the 40s this week. Today was a little warmer, but there is another front coming through, but no moisture in sight.

There was a construction worker killed in an accident on the Coors-I-40 interchange project. I don't know if that is going to slow down the work for any reason. They had reported on TV that the project was a month ahead of schedule.

Taping off the new program on FOX tonight, Skating With Celebrities. I told Pat I'd like to see it. We never really watch Dancing With the Stars until last week, watched just part of it, but it was interesting, to say the least.

Mom's doing pretty good. When she went to the doctor last week, she had gained a few pounds, so that was good news. It's just been too cold for her to do much but stay inside.
TTFN

All Done

2006-01-14T08:30:00.000-07:00

The moving is over. Got everything moved and put back in place. Had to reorganize a few things because of space constraints. My workspace is now on the narrow part of the desk and my hutch is on the wider part. Had to take some files and put them back in my drawer, otherwise everything else is pretty much in the same place on my desk. There is a window from my office out to the other office which looks out the east windows. That is, if C would open the blinds, but she doesn't want to open them, simply because it would give me some outside light. I do have the high spectrum lights in my office, which really helps. Of course, yesterday, being there by myself, I had the blinds open. She came in during lunch time for something and closed the blinds. When E and I got back from lunch I opened them again and left them open when I left. She will just have to close them when she comes in Monday morning. But I love my new arrangement. I am no longer behind the wall and feel like I'm hiding. Monday is committee meetings, new board member orientation and board meeting in the evening.

Some of the wall will have to be taken out so that entry into my office isn't so narrow. But I think this arrangement will work just fine.

It sure is quiet around this house without R, but from what I can get out of E, R is doing pretty good. E is planning on being here for about another 4 1/2 months, it sounds like. I still wish it would be longer.

Just going to take it easy today. Football is on later today. Need to put in some laundry, maybe iron something for work next week. E and M went back to her room to play cards. P and I are watching Inside the Actor's Studio. He is interviewing Michael J. Fox. It just started, but it looks like it will be interesting.

We may not go to Sunday school tomorrow, it is Sancity of Human Life Sunday. But the lesson looks like it is about caring for the elderly, so it might not be too bad, but I'm sure the discussion will turn to the other subjects.

We have a cold front moving in this weekend, so it's going to cool off. They say we might even have a chance of some precipitation. We need some terribly bad, it is so dry! I know we live in a desert area, but we still need a certain amount of moisture.

We're settling into a routine, like I'm sure many people are. There are always things that come up. I'll be at the Evangelism Conference the end of the month. There is a special called session of the convention to vote on the next executive director. So I'll probably be at all the sessions. Then we'll have a time of transition when he starts on the job.

E is looking to work more hours at Wendy's or find a second job. He seems to be settling down into a definite plan, and preparing for possibilities. I hope things work out for him and D. If not, then I hope they'll both grow from this experience and do what's best for R and the baby.

TTFN

Moving Day!

2006-01-13T10:45:00.000-07:00

Yea! Moving Day is finally here. I'm rearranging my office this afternoon. I'm in the office all by myself today, so it's a good day to move. There are only two or three of us in the building! When MM comes in at lunch time, he will come and help move things. E is coming in at 11:30 and we'll go over to Burger King and have lunch and he'll help move.

It's so quiet, being the only one here. It's nice, I can actually get some things done! I am the only one of the support staff that is not on the flex schedule. But when it was first started, we talked about it in our office and agreed that it might not work with our work load. I don't plan on going on the flex schedule. The other two felt left out because on Fridays it's so dead. Of course, there are two different schedules, so every Friday there's a group of them off. JL went to Nashville today, otherwise he would probably be here.

The news last night said that Montaño has been approved for four lanes all the way from Coors to 4th St. They just have to wait for the Army Corps of Engineers (feds, because federal money was used to build the bridge) to approve the bridge being four lanes. The mayor says the barrels making it two lanes will come down by Feb. 2. Hooray!

Going to start unloading things to move this afternoon. I'll be so glad to get out from behind the wall! TTFN

Normal Monday

2006-01-09T19:09:00.000-07:00

Monday's almost over, thank goodness! Came home on Montano tonight. They had orange barrels up between 4th St. and Rio Grande to make it two lanes again. The mayor did it to cooperate with the government and everybody that's complaining he jumped the gun. This is so stupid! Most people, I think, are in favor of making it four lanes, so what's the big deal? If the feds would go ahead and approve restriping the bridge for four lanes, that's all that's needed. What was restriped wasn't even part of the bridge, so what the crap are they complaining about?! There's always somebody that has to complain about something, and you can't please everybody all the time.

OK, I'll get off my soapbox. TTFN

Back in the Routine

2006-01-08T19:46:00.000-07:00

Well, the first week back at work and school is over, even though it didn't start until Tuesday. Doing some reorganizing, making new files, looking forward to rearranging my office this week. The guys downstairs have my cable, so I can move whenever they bring it up. I'm tired of hiding behind the wall. Got my supplies I needed, so I'll get reimbursed for them Monday or Tuesday. The other two girls in the office started on the flex schedule, so they come in early and work late and will be off every other Friday. Fridays are kind of quiet anyway, because so many of the others are off on flex. Oh well!

Went to church this morning. When we were walking out, P said he wanted to go get R. It sure has been quiet around here without him. When I asked E how R was doing, he said that D told him that he has picked up another couple of words, "eat" and "bowl." I think the older he gets, the more he'll pick up.

I wish E would stay here and start some classes at TVI, but at least he'll be here a little longer to save up some money to buy another vehicle. Maybe time will be a good thing and something will develop to have him stay here.

Have a fire in the fireplace. It's still gets pretty cool at night, but warms up fairly nice during the day. I think that is why Mom is having a hard time. She doesn't do well in the cold.

Balanced the bank statement today and found a duplicate entry. That gave us a little more than $100 extra. Usually it's the other way around, I find something that I didn't record. It's nice to find an error in my favor for once.

Got the sensor replaced in the van this weekend. I hope our car repair bills are over for a while. It's been pretty expensive lately! Pat found the paperwork where we put a new battery in a couple of years ago. I thought it still had the original battery in it. It's good to know that won't be a problem. And gas prices are going back up!

E just came home a little bit ago. He is going to start working some more hours at Wendy's starting Wednesday. He said he will be opening that morning. I'm glad he's staying a while longer, I just wish it would be more permanent. Oh well, we can only hope for the best.

Desperate Housewives is on, just finished watching West Wing. Need to fold some towels I washed and stop spending so much time on this computer. TTFN

Begin Again!

2006-01-03T21:03:00.000-07:00

Whew! Glad that first day back at work is over. Just trying to catch up on all the e-mail and get started working copy for the next paper. Will need to go buy some office supplies this weekend, things that Nancy doesn't get for our supply room.

E dropped off Mom's prescriptions this afternoon and then Suzanne picked it up later. She'll get started on her steroids tomorrow. I hope she can get a good night's sleep tonight. She was really tired today. After the wind settles down, maybe E can go down and rake leaves again. The last bag of leaves from last time is in the dumper for next Monday's trash pick-up.

E is going to have to scrap his truck, work a little longer and save up money to buy himself another vehicle. I think he misses R, but he enjoys having a little freedom and not being tied down with him. He will either see if he can work more hours at Wendy's or see if he can get a second job at Wal Mart.

The fires in Texas and Oklahoma look bad. Now we have fires in New Mexico. They said it moved pretty fast, but only about a dozen homes were burned. The wind comes up in the afternoon and stirs up the fires again.

Played Skipbo with P and M tonight, watching the Orange Bowl. I rinsed out some hose and got my pj's on. P and I both are tired tonight. We'll probaby go back in a little while and watch the news, a little bit of Jay Leno and go to sleep. E might be home about that time.

I guess(?) he'll start calling around tomorrow and see what he can get for his truck. He keeps busy around the house, doing his laundry, watching a little TV, doing dishes, etc. Once in a while P has a little job for him to do. We'll miss him when he's not here anymore. It sure has been quiet without R, but I'm glad we didn't have him underfoot with everything else that was going on lately.

Time to relax a little. TTFN

Good News!

2006-01-02T21:58:00.000-07:00

Well, Mom was released from the hospital today and went home. They checked for diabetes, and did all kinds of tests. They say she has COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease). Sent her home with steroids (I think) and Advair. P can probably tell you all about it. She ate good while she was in the hospital and got a good night's sleep.

Cooked our other turkey this morning and had some tonight after we got Mom home. It was good, especially still warm. Guess we'll eat on that this week. Going back to work and school tomorrow. Get used to writing 2006!

E got called in to work tonight, he should be home anytime. He was supposed to work until 8, but he may have gone to see S. He called for E while we were bringing Mom home.

Back to the old routine tomorrow. Have to get up early and get ready to go to work and school. Ironed a denim skirt today, guess I'll wear that tomorrow. This will be a short week for me, so it will be busy, trying to catch up from being off for two weeks

Hope everyone's doing fine! TTFN

Eventful

2005-12-31T19:25:00.000-07:00

Well, I didn't expect to, but I spent all day at the hospital with Mom. She was really having trouble breathing this morning. Got her to the hospital and they got her on oxygen, started taking blood and x-rays, tests, etc. They gave her some steroids, breathing treatment(s), kept her on oxygen. She was breathing normally by the time I left her in her room at 5 p.m. eating supper. They didn't have the results of the CAT scan yet, but everyone at the hospital today was really nice and sweet. I'll go by the house in the morning and get a few things to take to Mom and see if the doctor has said anything.

Mom told me once today that when she was younger, she thought about becoming a nurse. I never knew that! I don't think I could do that kind of work, especially not since I'm older. It makes you appreciate the younger ones that can do it and choose it for a career.

There is still renovation going on at the hospital, so it was a little cramped trying to get into the ER. They will be renovating and expanding it eventually. It really needs it. By the end of the day today, they were full. They had gurneys in the hallway when I went around to catch the elevator and go up to Mom's room from the ER.

Hope E doesn't work too late tonight. I told him yesterday to be careful driving home from work this weekend, especially late at night. There are so many drunks out and the police will have checkpoints around town. E was supposed to get off at 6, but it's already 7:30 and he's not home yet. We might play a game or something when he gets home (I just heard the garage door, so I guess he's home.) until the new year gets here.

Not much more to say. TTFN

Things Go Wrong!

2005-12-28T08:12:00.000-07:00

Well, the picture I wanted to put in wouldn't work, so I guess I'll forget it. It was a funny that brings a smile to my face whenever I see it. After a day like yesterday, I could use that.

Discovered a leak under the kitchen sink, so we had to call a plumber. P moved the TV, DVD and DVR and then the DVR wouldn't work. He finally had to reprogram it, it took a couple of hours. M and I went down to Mom's, so we weren't here to hear him rant and rave. It was working by the time we got home. Going to take the van in and see if we can get the taillight fixed today while we're at home. And now I'm getting a sinus headache again. Need to go take all my vitamins, etc., and something for my head.

Got a load of laundry done yesterday. E had put a load of his stuff in when M and I got home, so I put it in the dryer after he went to work. Need to do some more today. I think E loaded the dishwasher. It needs to be run. Couldn't do that yesterday while the plumber was here because he had the water turned off to the whole house.

Going to get my hair cut today. I'd like to get my nails done, too. But I don't know if I will. I need to take Mom shopping on Friday. She wants to go to Sears and get some flannel pajamas and a jacket. She is going to a meeting at church this afternoon. And she'll go for the CARE meeting on Thursday morning.

E is going to make a trip to the dump in his truck today. He'll go down to Mom's and get her sacks of leaves, too.

P is up and wants to take the van over to the repair shop, so I guess I'll go get dressed. TTFN

Day Trip

2005-12-23T10:31:00.000-07:00

Here's a picture of R in his car seat in the van when we got to Amarillo yesterday. He has on a new outfit that E bought him with Christmas money, gift cards, or whatever. That was a long drive to go over and come back, but I'm glad M and I went. We got back about 7:30 last night, haven't heard from E. He's supposed to be back on Sunday. It will sure be quite around, here, especially with both E and R gone. It will be strange when E comes back and R doesn't. I think it will be hard on E, I think that may be the only reason he is not coming back until Sunday. He'll have the time to maybe get another job or work more hours. He wanted to become a manager there at Wendy's. We're just taking it easy after that long drive yesterday. We talked about going to see the Narnia Chronicles, but we decided to take it easy instead. We might go after Christmas. Now M says she wants to go. Still have a little bit of shopping to do, I still need to get my hair cut and wrap a few presents. Still trying to figure out everything on this new digital camera, but it takes pretty good pictures, but I crop them down. Well, I guess we're going to the movie. TTFN

More Pictures!

2005-12-21T08:55:00.000-07:00

Here's a couple more pictures, one of Mistress, E's cat, and here's E, after we got up this morning. E finished watching Batman Begins, which we rented the other day. We also rented Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Bewitched on Monday night, they have to be back tonight.

I'm free now for two weeks! Don't go back to work until Jan. 3. We have a nominee for a new executive director that will be voted on at the Evangelism Conference Jan. 31. He's a pastor from Bloomfield. He and his wife are a really sweet couple. The state convention in October was at his church. Our pastor was one of the three they were interviewing, along with the pastor of Sandia. If he's approved, he'll start on Feb. 13, flying to the executive directors' meeting in Canada.

E is driving to Amarillo tomorrow to meet D and let R spend a couple of hours with him, since we can't go for Christmas.

Pat went out this morning to play golf, the first time he's been out in a while. I'm going to get my hair cut later this morning. It's driving me nuts, because it's getting too long, falling down in my eyes. And I can't stand to have hair in my face.

That broccoli slaw salad I made for goody day was pretty good. Pat finished off what I didn't take to work. I'll have to make some more.

Need to wrap some Christmas presents and put them under the tree. So far, all of the presents are for R.

Guess it's time to go get dressed and get some things done. TTFN

Pictures

2005-12-18T15:00:00.000-07:00

Here's a couple of pictures taken with our new digital camera. If you can see some of the presents under the tree, they are all for R from his other grandmother. I have some presents I need to wrap and put under the tree. I only have another day and a half to work, then I'm off until Jan. 3. Going to cook our other turkey later this week. Going to watch the Cowboys and Redskins later today. Just starting to think about lunch. Next time I'll have to post pictures of the two cats. Pippen is still so much of a kitten, he can be very playful at times. The two of them chase each other and tussle. Sometimes they'll play with the dogs, swatting at their tails. P and M are off for two weeks now, so it's time to start playing games, maybe doing some puzzles (not so easy with a little one around, though). Got my fuzzy slippers on my feet 'cause they're cold and a jogging suit. Once I get cold, it's hard to get warm. A fire might help, but if we do build a fire, it will be later, when it's getting dark. We started to watch Cleopatra last night, but found the Denver-Buffalo game, so we watched that. I made a new salad from a recipe that Pat brought home from school. It's made with ramen noodles, broccoli slaw, cashews, sunflower seeds, and the dressing uses the flavor packets from the noodles, oil, sugar and vinegar. It's not something I would ordinarily try, but we had it at a gathering and I liked it, so Pat got the recipe. I made it and took it to work for our goody day. I may make some more to go with our turkey later this week.

P.S. More Pictures!

Here’s a picture of Pippen. M took him in with her to take a shower. He just sat there while I flashed the camera at him! I will have to try to get pictures of Mistress sometime. She’s sleeping on the back of the couch right now. R is also asleep on the couch. E is getting ready for work, M is still in the shower. More to come!

Miscellaneous

2005-11-06T14:41:00.000-07:00

Got the state convention edition done. Then had a short week because of staff retreat to do the edition with pre-convention meetings coverage. But there won't be too much to do tomorrow to get it finished. This gets into the really busy time of the year because of the holidays. It makes for short weeks and we have less time to work on an issue. Considering rearranging my office, but I won't have time until after the first of the year. If it will work the way I'm thinking of arranging it, they will need to do some wiring, probably. I finally got caught up Friday from being gone to convention and putting together the convention edition. Some things had to wait, so I finally got all those little things caught up.

Re: Rebate

Call the N.M. Taxation and Revenue Department at 1-888-683-4636. They're starting to mail those checks out, some people already have theirs. We're hoping to get ours this week. Pat wants to spend next weekend at a motel, just to have a getaway. It might be nice to get out of the house and have a night away from R once in a while.

Got some laundry in the dryer, I put it in as soon as we got home from church, lunch and a stop at Wal Mart for a few things. Had to get a new collar for the cat. His other one broke, I think he gained too much weight and it was too tight. So we got a bigger one this time.

P, M and I went and played nine holes of golf yesterday. Did pretty lousy, but the point was exercise. We did do that. E had gone down to my mom's, took R with him, to disconnect mom's air conditioner and close the window.

Montano has been restriped for two lanes each way, but just from east of Rio Grande to 4th Street. Wow! It really makes a difference in the traffic flow. I'm going to work that way again. Still waiting on the Army Corps of Engineers to approve restriping the bridge. When that finally goes through, it will make traffic flow even easier. There is still the bottleneck right off of Coors to go across the bridge, but it's not as bad as it used to be. Going my other route, I kept running into road construction somewhere along the line. Mayor Chavez is getting things done that have been put off, mostly because the money for them had been diverted to other projects by the former mayor.

It's a lazy Sunday afternoon. Denver and Dallas are both off this week, so we're watching NASCAR instead. I feel like taking a nap. R is in his bed for a nap, maybe I need to iron some clothes, instead. Think I'll go get a snack and something to drink. TTFN

P.S.: T, send me an e-mail, I've got several things to e-mail you. Hopefully, we'll have some pictures before long and I can e-mail those to you.

I Survived!

2005-10-27T19:55:00.000-06:00

Well, this week is almost over. State convention is over and I'm back home. It's good to be back home. Tomorrow will be very busy. I will put the entire paper together, that is the plan, anyway. It is so beautiful up around Bloomfield, Farmington and that whole area. The colors are still changing (it's late this year), and the rock formations and mountains are pretty, too. They're a lot different than the Sandias, but it is beautiful up there. I have been to Farmington before, but not Bloomfield. Had a good time, Carolyn and I spent the afternoon on Wednesday driving around Farmington, Aztec, Kirtland. We had a nice time visiting with each other. We don't get to do that much in the office.

Richie was glad to see me when Pat, Melissa and Richie came to pick me up at work. Eddie said he didn't seem to miss me, but he was glad to see me. It's good to be home. I'll be glad to sleep in my own bed tonight. I had a nice comfortable bed at the Best Western in Bloomfield. It's a very new place, so it was nice. They had high-speed wireless Internet access, so I was able to keep in touch. I did get a call through to home on my cell phone Wednesday before we went to supper.

Had a lot to do this afternoon when we got back to the office. I just finished writing my story on the men's meeting. Jn will take it, along with Jy's story on the women's meeting and write one big story on all three meetings. He was at the Pastors' Conference. I had started it last night after we got back to the motel, while I was watching the end of the World Series.

Back to the normal routine! TTFN

Weekend

2005-10-16T00:42:00.000-06:00

Well, another weekend is here. We all got up Saturday morning and went to play nine holes of golf. R was kind of fussy through it all, but he wasn't too much of a pest. M and I ended up with the same score. We don't usually do that! It was cloudy and cool. Started raining after we left the golf course and rained all afternoon. I love rainy days!

Been in kind of a rut lately. Come home, get something to eat, sit down and start watching all of our programs. (We have to tape off several during the week and catch up on them when we have a little time.) Play games on the computer while we're watching TV and then go to bed, get up in the morning and start all over.

Work has been busy. This coming week is a short week because we go to press on Friday, leave for Bloomfield on Monday (the 24th). Will be back on Thursday, it ends Wednesday night. Don't expect any big controversies, there usually aren't. The committee hasn't found anybody yet, they are looking through resumes again.

It's after midnight, guess I should go to bed and get some sleep. We had just turned the lights out and E came home. He packed up some stuff and took R to spend the night at S's. He said S wanted to go to the flea market. He doesn't have to work tomorrow.

Will try to get some laundry done tomorrow, maybe some ironing. Went to Dion's after golf this morning, then out to Sam's Club and got a few things. Gas there is about 20 cents cheaper than close to home. It cost almost $50 to fill up the van the other day at $2.69 a gallon. It's ridiculous! I hope it doesn't go up too much higher. We plan on using the fireplace and more throws this winter and not turn the heater up as high.

Well, I've rambled on enough, better go get some sleep. TTFN

Change Is Comin'!

2005-10-02T20:15:00.000-06:00

Well, I haven't posted in a while. I have been busy, but I got tired of all the negativity and complaining. I also decided not to check my work e-mail on the weekend. I can take care of that when I get there on Monday.

Lately, I have discovered the importance of laughter. It is important to have some humor in life, instead of being so serious and critical all the time. (Sometimes it takes me a while to realize the obvious and take action.)

Got a box of Dixon's apples mailed off to P's family, sent them to P & D's (had their address).

Watching West Wing, have R corraled in the hallway so he won't pester us, he is tired and fighting going to sleep, I think, but he is wound up and ornery. This was supposed to be E's day off, but he got called this afternoon to go in and work until closing. The up side is he gets more hours, more money. He worked after hours one night last week tearing down the carousel in front of Penny's. He go $50 for that. Every little bit helps. I think E is in favor of raising the minimum wage. It's a bill similar to the one they passed in Santa Fe, which seems to be working fine.

An article in today's paper shows a poll that says Chavez has 42.6 percent of the vote. Election is Tuesday, it will be interesting to see how the results come out. I thought Griego would have more than 18.8 percent, Winter has the same amount. P and I agree that Chavez's ex-wife held him back. Now he is free to do the job that is needed. Unfortunately, being mayor of a town this size is a 24/7 job, she didn't like that. He has been a very visible mayor, especially after having a couple that didn't want to be in the public eye. And I think he has been even more visible since his divorce. As one of his commercials says, "After being elected mayor, he became mayor.

One of his accomplishments is Tingley Beach. It was set for a dedication when we had those two hard rainstorms, it was pushed back a week. Just one of his projects he has seen through. I think that is one of the main things that will get him re-elected. He gets things done.

R is being awfully quiet. He's not fussing, but I will bring him in the living room with us. I think he has settled down and won't be as ornery.

I'm going to try to be more positive.

Results!

2005-09-22T20:27:00.000-06:00

Well, after getting my mailout in the mail last week, I have already received two cards back with news briefs on them. I think Jn was pleased to hear that. Was busy all day, catching up from being off yesterday and getting things ready for the next issue. Busy time of the year coming up, state convention, Thanksgiving, Christmas, a lot going on. I still have a few days vacation to take here and there before the end of the year. Stopped by to see Mom after work. The weather is making her feel bad. She got pictures of her new great-granddaughter, Ashley, in Ohio. Another one is due in December.

E is working every day this week, except Sunday. He seems to be settling into a routine. I think he is adjusting well to being back home and getting on with his life. It's not going to be easy, but he seems to be handling it well. He doesn't talk much about his plans.

Trying to blog and watch the premiere of CSI, not getting much done on the blog. Don't have too much to say right now. I'm not one to spout off about things, unless it's something I feel very strongly about. Need to go put the laundry in the dryer. TTFN.

Mission Accomplished!

2005-09-15T21:26:00.000-06:00

Praise the Lord! I got them all stuffed, labeled, sealed and postage on them today. It will be taken to the post office tomorrow morning. I hope they don't find any problems with the bulk mailing. That's the first one I've ever done, but C helped me with it, so hopefully it's alright. I'm sooooo glad that's done. Now I may start getting some of those cards back, or e-mails. Just generating more work!

Had to get the paper all put together today, Jn won't be in the office tomorrow. Still have a couple of things to finish, but at least that will give me time to get caught up on other little things.

After I got home, P and R and I went to pick up M at the golf course and we went out to eat and picked up a few things at the dollar store.

E should be home in a little bit, he was only working 'til 9. They close at 9, but he said he didn't have to stay for closing. He's supposed to be off tomorrow, but since two people just quit, he may work a little more.

M and I are going to the golf clinic this Saturday. Cdy said she would be there. It will be good to see her again. P said she was at the IC meeting at school the other day and asked about R.

P just put R to bed. Checked his diaper, wasn't wet, so he should be good until morning. M is trying to write a research paper.

TGTF! TTFN

A New Week

2005-09-12T19:18:00.000-06:00

Well, this week has started out a little more like normal, at least. E is working until closing tonight, so he'll be home late. He usually gives several rides home. R is being a pest, as always. M is back in her room, on the computer. Have a few things to do in the morning, then I can print some more cards for my mailout. I plan on working on it as much as I can and hopefully, I will get it done this week. Our next issue, the last one in September, will be a color issue.

I've been able to avoid the traffic mess at Coors and I-40. They are closing either Coors or the freeway at night, working on one of the fly-overs. Every time I go through there, which isn't very often lately, I can really see progress. There's still an awful lot to be done, though. They have about another year or more to work on it.

Need to get Watson clipped this weekend, he looks like our "Ragg Mopp." He acts like a different dog after he's clipped. He'll priss and prance around.

Need to go put some laundry in. It's impossible to keep up with now, with five of us in the house! TTFN

Saturday Afternoon!

2005-09-10T19:32:00.000-06:00

Well, it's Saturday afternoon. I've actually got a little bit of time here at home by myself (except for two dogs and two cats). That's a rarity! E is at work and P, M and R went over to Family Dollar to find R some toys to play with outside.

I went in to work for three hours this morning, caught up on a few things, and worked a little on my mailout. Being the only one in the office last week didn't give me any time to do anything else but work on the paper. I got another 1,000 cards printed this morning and started stuffing some more envelopes until it was time to leave.

I had to go to Mom's, she was having a free hearing test. She ordered two new hearing aids. I knew it was expensive, but that's ridiculous! She'll have them in three to four weeks. Her old ones were analog. These new ones are digital, and he said they are much better.

P, M and R just came home. I need to get the laundry in the dryer, oops, it's not done yet. They got R a cute little pair of shoes, maybe he won't be able to kick them off the way he kicks off his tennis shoes we bought him. He can't do that with his clodhoppers. P is feeding him some tapioca pudding right now.

It's clouding up again, we had a nice hard rain last night. But they say it's going to be dry again for the next week. But it's been in the 80s, so it hasn't been too bad.

Watching the UNM Lobos game. They were supposed to have tennis on, but they will have it on a tape delay at 10:35 tonight. If we can stay awake, we may watch it.

M didn't want me to go to work this morning, but she's just been back in her room watching TV and listening to music.

I got the book I ordered on CDs in the mail today. It's a Danielle Steel novel called "Miracle." I may try to listen to it when I'm going to work and back. That might be about the only time I have to listen to it, unless P wants to listen to it, too.

Getting hungry, so I guess I'll go get something to eat. TTFN

Another Week Coming to an End

2005-09-08T21:47:00.000-06:00

From the inactivity on the blogs, I guess everybody is busy. It's the same here, too.

P says teachers are getting more crap from the administration, what else is new? E went to golf practice with M yesterday and today. They didn't get home until about 7 tonight. When I got home, P, R and I went to Staples so I could buy some card stock for my project. Haven't yet received what was ordered, so I went and bought some. I may try to go in Saturday morning for a little while if I don't get to work on it tomorrow. I don't expect I will tomorrow. I've been the only one in the office this week, except the partial days that John comes in. Jy is on vacation and C has been working with the disaster relief team at the Convention Center, cooking and serving meals to the evacuees from New Orleans. I expect they'll still be down there tomorrow, too. Jn is still writing stories on the disaster relief, so it's been slow coming together. I had to send out a bunch of e-mails and faxes this morning with a press release about the disaster relief. We have a feeding unit in Magee, Miss., and a group of chaplains in Louisiana, I think. With several in the building out for that, the building has been kind of quiet, but busy. I have gotten a lot done, just not what I need to get done, namely that mailout.

R was being a pest again, so he is in his room with the gate in front of the door. It's quiet back there now, so he may be asleep. It's 10 o'clock and time for the news.

I need to e-mail my brother and sister-in-law, I may try to do it tomorrow morning before I get cracking on the paper. TTFN

Working Weekend

2005-09-04T15:40:00.000-06:00

Yesterday's picture of kitties aren't even ours. It's just a picture that P gave me.

The first of the golf clinics was this morning, but M didn't feel like going. We had planned on going, but she didn't want to, so instead, we rearranged the living room. It's a lot more cozy now, but there is still room in the middle for R to play with his toys. Still have a few things to put away and get rid of. Decided we're going to be using the fireplace quite a bit this winter, so we had to move the couch out from in front of it. It was easier with all of us in here helping. R went back to his room and played so he wasn't underfoot. He went to sleep about the time we were finishing. He's awake now, and E is getting ready to go to work.

E just left for work. He works tomorrow, too. But he said they will probably close early.

E found the software for our new printer the other day. We had searched this house from one end to the other and couldn't find it. He found it in the one place we hadn't looked.

We may cook some hamburgers tomorrow, probably won't do much of anything. Not much money left after paying bills, so we'll be homebodys for a while. We've come up with some money-saving ideas for the high gas prices and heating this winter.

We'll have to work out things for the week I'm gone to convention. I may not drive, I may ride with Carolyn in a convention car, but nothing's definite yet.

Watching Venus and Serena Williams play in the U.S. Open. We've enjoyed watching the U.S. Open so far.

I told P that I'm getting tired of seeing all the news about the Katrina aftermath. But the news media has to stay on a story forever! And others they drop right away. Sometimes it doesn't make sense.

R wants more to drink, so I guess I'll fill up his cup and see if his diaper needs changing. TTFN

Yeah! A Long Weekend!

2005-09-03T17:30:00.000-06:00

This is what I feel like doing today, just curl up and cuddle.

Today has been a lazy day. I do have some laundry in the dryer. Payed some bills online and wrote a couple checks. Need to go get a few groceries in the morning, maybe before Melissa and I go to the golf clinic. The next one is in two weeks. And here it is, already 5 p.m.! R has been a little fussy today, but E took him out for a walk this morning, and he took him with him when he went to Wal Mart. It is nice to have a long weekend. We probably won't do much of anything, maybe a dollar movie. E has to work on Monday. Need the weekend to recharge batteries for next week. J will be on vacation, so it may be a tough week.

It's kind of cloudy today, we have a chance for showers, but we probably won't get anything. The showers are pretty scattered. But it has cooled off a little bit.

R is running up and down the hall. He wants to play with the dogs. He likes to go back and pester M. I think she enjoys it, though. She seems pretty focused on school so far. It's a good thing, she needs to pass all her classes and get her credits to graduate.

Had to have some comfort food. P sent E out earlier for some chocolate cake and Diet Coke with lime. That was good chocolate cake. I'm thinking about another piece now. TTFN

I was getting spammed, so I had to block anonymous comments, Sorry! TTFN

Thoughts and Prayers

2005-09-02T21:30:00.000-06:00

Whew! A lot has happened since my last posting. At times, the news is overwhelming. It's hard to keep watching over and over the pictures of devastation from Louisiana, Mississippi and the whole area. I just can't imagine the hurt and helplessness that people must be feeling. It will most likely take many months, if not years, to recover and get back to some kind of normalcy.

It turned out to be a hectic week at work, trying to get the latest information before going to press. Getting into the busy time of year, so it's going to be difficult to take the rest of my vacation, but I will try to squeeze in a day here or there. I have to, sometimes, just to keep my sanity.

E is working tonight, he works again on Sunday and Monday. He said they may be closing early on Monday, so maybe he'll be home earlier.

Watching Becker and getting a laugh. It was really funny last night, too. TTFN

Weekend, Yeah!

2005-08-27T10:37:00.000-06:00

The weekend is finally here! I look forward to them more than I used to. I dread going back to work, I didn't used to do that. I told P this morning that having this project is going to bug me until I get it done. I don't see that I'm going to have a lot of time to spend working on it, because next week is a short week. We go to press on Friday because of the Monday holiday. And then Jy is on vacation after the holiday. I've got to get N to order the card stock and envelopes for me, so I can get more cards printed. I'll be glad to get it done.

Just relaxing this weekend. Just got Dish installed, so I guess we'll see if there's anything to watch. Got laundry in the dryer. E will do laundry, so that helps. He tries to keep up with his and R's. M is starting to help a little more. She cleaned out the cat box last night without being told.

M is back in her room listening to the Elvis Hour, came out to get something to drink. R is being fussy. He won't go play with his toys, he wants to be the center of attention, especially when we're all here.

It's breezy outside, still have a chance for scattered showers, but we haven't been getting any in Albuq., the southeastern part of the state, I think, has been getting most of it. We could sure use some, it's so dry. TTFN

Friday's Comin'!

2005-08-25T20:20:00.000-06:00

Here it is again! Tomorrow's Friday, thank God! Today was pretty busy, putting together the State Mission Offering edition. Finished up today, except for one spot to fill. Usually, I don't finish until Friday sometime. That will give me time to work on the project that was dumped on me yesterday. I have to do a bulk mailing to all our churches in the state with a letter and cards for news briefs. I had already started printing cards, I've printed about 650 cards so far, need 5,000+. And the letter is dated, so I'm trying to get them out before the date gets too old. John dumped the letters and address labels on me yesterday and told me to work on it when I have time. Ha! I got the job because no one else would do it. I need to get more card stock and find some envelopes to mail them in. Then I have to do all the paperwork for the post office when I get it ready to mail it. I plan on working on it most of the day on Tuesday after we get this paper out. Next week is a short week because of the holiday the following Monday, so it will be another full week.

Went out for dinner tonight at Zio's for P's birthday, which is tomorrow. E has to work tomorrow, so we decided it would be easier to go out tonight. It's much too busy on Friday night, anyway.

Sitting here blogging, watching preseason football, dryer running. Looking forward to getting Dish on Saturday. We'll have HBO, Encore and another premium channel free for three months. P likes HBO, but I don't.

E keeps busy around the house, getting things done. He doesn't feel like sitting and watching TV all day until he has to go to work, so it's nice to have him around to get a few things done. He's been a big help. He has also been a motivation, to me, at least, to get some things done. After a day like today, though, I don't feel like doing too much. All that concentration is tiring! Decided I had to catch up on the blogs, so here I am!

Complaints?

2005-08-19T18:42:00.000-06:00

You know, I complain a lot about my job, but I still enjoy the work somewhat. It's just the atmosphere in the office that makes things so bad. And now my boss is adding to it, I always felt he was on my side. But I don't feel that way anymore. In fact, I feel like I'm being forced to get out. I have less than one year to put in my 25 years, but that doesn't mean I can retire, it's still at age 65, mandatory at age 70.

It's really sad to say these things about my job, but I can't imagine what P is feeling. I would probably be depressed and frustrated. But she seem to put up a positive front. I guess that's probably for her own sanity. There are amazing advances in medicine these days. I guess there's always hope that the cancer can be eradicated. A positive attitude can be healing though, it has been said. And, on the other hand, a negative attitude can just make things worse. Family is important, though, and we will do whatever we can.

E called last night after he got to Tucson. Said he had some rain around Hatch, but none after he got into Arizona. He said it took about an hour for R to warm up to D, but once he did, he was making up for the time he'd been away from her. They should be home Saturday, E has to work on Sunday. I hope that D can see that R is doing fine with E. E says she has said she can hear a difference in his babbling, he's making more intelligible sounds. We try to get him to make more sounds. He likes to say, "Oh, yeah!"

Called Mom this morning on the way to work, she said she was feeling better than last night, but she didn't sound very strong. I talked to her later in the morning, and she had called the doctor's office and has an appointment for next Tuesday. I told her I would take her to urgent care if she didn't feel any better. But she sounded better when I talked to her, and she said she was feeling better. Thought she would do alright through the weekend. She hasn't really felt good all summer, but the heat always makes her feel bad. And when it rains, the humidity makes her feel bad, so it's been kind of rough. She says she's lost a little weight, so she knows, I think, that something needs to be done so she can feel better. She went to church on Thursday, but she says she's not going on Sunday, she probably won't feel like it, anyway.

We're switching over to Dish the end of this month. P never really did like DirecTV. I thought it was OK, but then I hardly ever get the remote. I know, it's a man thing! I guess that will be his birthday present!?

Well, I guess I've rambled on enough for now. I'm thirsty, so I'll go find something to drink. Watching pre-season football. P and I are scheduled to play golf again at UNM South tomorrow afternoon. Hope the weather cooperates!

Yeah! Friday!

2005-08-18T20:37:00.000-06:00

Thank good tomorrow is Friday! It can't come soon enough for me. Worked until 5 and got home just before 6.

E and R left this morning to go to Tucson. It sure is going to be quiet around here for a few days. They'll be back on Saturday, E has to go to work Sunday.

M said I should find a job I really like, but she doesn't realize that it's not that easy for someone my age to find a job. I still enjoy the work somewhat, it's the co-workers and circumstances that make it so bad.

Dish TV is advertising a special offer we're thinking about taking them up on. We've been thinking about changing, mostly to save a little each month. P is not real happy with DirecTV.

Mom called and said she has not been feeling good, she wants me to call her in the morning and check on her. She said she is going to call and make a doctor's appointment tomorrow. But I think I might take the afternoon off and maybe take her to urgent care if she's not feeling any better. She may not be able to get in to see her doctor for another week. She can't wait that long, she said she is losing weight, no appetite, allergies, upset stomach. She's been feeling bad for a week or so, but she seems to be getting worse. At least she's willing to go see the doctor. I think she is more willing, now that she is on Presbyterian instead of Lovelace.

Need to do some other things on the Internet, so I will sign off. TTFN

Another Monday!

2005-08-16T09:23:00.000-06:00

Tried to post last night and it didn't save, so I gave up and went to bed.

Have to print some cards at work today, so I've got a couple of things I need to get done before I do that. At least it will be a pleasant day, no C here today. She had to take her baby to college at NMSU. I think classes start next Monday.

E will be going to Tucson later this week. He works on Wednesday and then not until Sunday. He was going to call D and work out the details today. Which means we'll only have one vehicle for a few days, but then we've gotten by before. It's just so inconvenient.

I am going to make a Thank You card for Candy and invite her to come golf with P and I sometime. She is looking forward to the next UNM golf clinic, which is some time in October. We should get a newsletter before then letting us know, since we're on the mailing list.

We're supposed to have a few days of dry weather and maybe some more showers this weekend. It looks like we may start cooling off a little bit. At least it has not been as hot lately.

Someone is in my office, have to go to work!

Wishes!

2005-08-10T21:20:00.000-06:00

I wish I was as close to retirement as P is. I'm so ready to not go to work anymore. My heart just isn't in it anymore. But I'm trying to "do my part." I guess it's come to this because I've started thinking about how nice it would be to stay home. If I do take a day or two off, it's hard to go back. I used to enjoy going back to work, but I would much rather not have to go back and be able to stay home.

Enough of that. We've been watching Becker on the satellite. Reggie takes him to an acupuncturist for his chronic back pain. We always get a big laugh out of him.

P wants me to check out his blog. He says he changed the "Moo"carena pictures. Ugh!

Whew!

2005-08-08T21:41:00.000-06:00

Whew! The retreat was over Saturday morning. It was a working retreat, but we had Friday afternoon free, went and played golf with P at UNM South. Got the van serviced, the Neon is in the shop now, and the van needs something else done to it. When it rains, it pours!

Got some laundry done Saturday and Sunday, more tonight when I got home. E washed a load that is in the dryer now. At least he helps out. M said she was going to do a load, but she was home with R today while E was at work and then P and E took the Neon to get it fixed.

M set up her own blog tonight. I think she is Aunty Pesty. I haven't checked it out yet, but she put a comment on my blog. Her first day of classes is Thursday.

Today is Monday, so it was deadline day for the paper at work. Mondays are always busy. And our e-mail was not working today, so that just added to trying to get caught up after being off for a day and a half and the weekend.

Just talked to Candy P., she is going to keep R on Thursday and Friday while E is working, P and M are at school and I'm working. She was telling me about a Stampin' Camp she went to this past weekend. It sounds like it was very well organized. Maybe I can get back into that some time after things settle down (if they ever do!).

It's shaping up to be another busy week! Got some ironing done before I sat down to do this. E loaded up the dishwasher this morning and ran it. E will do things that need to be done without being told to do them. He's used to having to do them, especially with a 2-year-old around!

Have the pre-season football game on between Chicago and Miami. Haven't really been watching it, but we watched Monk at 8 and back to the football game. It's Monday night, so we'll stay up and watch Jay Leno and his dialogue, and headlines, if he has that tonight.

Search Is Over!

2005-08-03T13:59:00.000-06:00

Just a quick note before I have to start putting the paper together. E was hired today by Wendy's at Coronado Shopping Center (it's in the food court where Burger King used to be). He starts tomorrow at 10 a.m. I don't have any details yet, hours, days, etc., but at least he has a job. P had to take the van in this morning to see what is going on with the transmission, hope it's fixed today or by tomorrow morning! And doesn't cost an arm and a leg! Tomorrow afternoon starts our Minister & Family Retreat. It's going to be a working retreat, so our free time Friday afternoon may not be free for me. P had scheduled a tee time at UNM South for us, but I told him that if I couldn't go, he may call E to go with him. I don't know yet what E's hours are going to be.

Just wanted to share the good news!

The Weekend Is Here!

2005-07-30T18:08:00.000-06:00

We got the computer back on Friday,got it set up and E is using it. I decided to stay with my old one, but I lost a few documents in transferring them to the other one. I should have copied them, instead of moving them, when I put them on the CD to put on the new computer. Then I erased the CD. Oh, well! I'll know next time. Ha!

P, E and I went golfing this morning. It was nice to get out and get some exercise. I wasn't trying to clobber the ball so hard, and was doing better at hitting it. At least I didn't lose a ball. It wasn't until we got home that I really felt tired.

R is taking a nap, so it's quiet. We are watching the Harry Potter movies, just finishing up the second one.

Found a new game online, Chuzzle. It's a little different than Bejeweled 2.

We're supposed to have a chance of rain this next week. But we probably won't get any again, like last time. It's getting a little late in the season for monsoon, but the weatherman keeps trying to say this might be it.

Need to make a trip to Wal Mart for some new slippers, a few groceries, too. Probably do that tomorrow morning. Another weekend will be be over before you know it!

Keeping Busy

2005-07-23T19:58:00.000-06:00

Another busy week at work. My monitor went out, so I'm using a loaner until my boss decides what to do. We went to Santa Fe this morning, did a little shopping. Stopped at the Ford dealer on the way back and looked into trading our Windstar on a Freestar, but it wouldn't work right now. Have to get the Neon paid off, another year and a half. We'd like to refinance the house. We're just about at the point where we could do it. P is looking at one more year of teaching and then retiring. Hope E gets the job at Wal Mart, it would be nice. There's some rumble going on outside, but I don't think we're going to get any rain. We have a better chance starting tomorrow, and even better Monday and Tuesday. This may kick off our monsoon season, hopefully. We rented some movies last night, watching the Aviator now. Leonardo Di Caprio does a pretty good job as Howard Hughes, I think. Time to stay at home and tighten the belt! Need to go get a few groceries tomorrow morning.

Catch up!

2005-07-18T12:47:00.000-06:00

Well, I just didn't feel like posting anything last week. It was my first week back at work after a two-week vacation, and it was busy, of course. We're going through the process of sending our paper electronically. But we'll also be taking a hard copy until we get all the bugs worked out and it's no longer necessary. E still hasn't heard anything from Walgreens. I think he was going to put in some more applications today. He was called by a Mexican restaurant that's going in where the Gin Mill was, behind the Twister's, for a job as a waiter. He may look into that. I don't think he has applied at Wal Mart yet, but he was talking about doing that. That would be another good place for him to work. He spent some time with S last night, took R with him. He had a ball playing with a 5-year-old girl and a 6-year-old boy, running around with them, trying to keep up. There was also a 4- to 5-month old. E brought R home last night and he went right to bed and went to sleep, I think he must have been tired. We had a real nice shower last night, a bit of wind, too. The weather caused a few problems around town, with traffic and such, but it was nice to get some rain, we sure needed it! B and G (brother and sister-in-law) were here this past weekend for his 40th class reunion. We got to visit with them a little bit Saturday before they went to some activity. They left Sunday to go home. She said they stopped in Colorado and saw family there, too. We have committee meetings going on at work, today, and board meeting is tonight, so lunch was brought in. We'll probably have enough leftovers for a couple of days, we usually do. I'm not sure what we're doing for my birthday tomorrow. I think P may take me out to dinner after work, he was talking about making some homemade ice cream tonight.

Recovery

2005-07-10T15:23:00.000-06:00

Trying to recover today from a migraine last night. Took half the day to start feeling human again. Made another trip to Wal Mart this morning, forgot calcium pills, got some new bathroom rugs, R needed diapers. R is taking a nap right now, could be up at any time, enjoying the quiet while we can, watching a NASCAR race. Need to go make sure I've got something to wear to work tomorrow, something comfortable, and no pantyhose! Played Tripoley and Whatzit! today. It's a lot more fun with four than just three. It's back to the routine tomorrow for all of us.

Can't Sleep

2005-07-08T07:59:00.000-06:00

Had a hard time getting to sleep last night, bites were really touchy and could't lay under the covers without the itching. P found some Campho Phenique and put on them and gave me some Tylenol PM. Finally got to sleep and woke up when he and E left to go golf. R woke up right after they left, so I had to get up. After M gets up, I will go take a shower and put some more Campho on the bites. Need to get some milk today, all out. Today is my last day of vacation. I'll have to go to work on Monday, back to the routine!

Working While Relaxing

2005-07-06T09:36:00.000-06:00

Just trying to set up the new computer we got in Garland. Putting all my favorite sites on so I can go to them quickly.

Got up this morning with mosquito bites all over my legs, one on my elbow! I guess they ate me up when we were out doing fireworks and P and D's Monday night. I guess I'll be putting something on them all day long. In fact, I just found another one! I've got a dozen bites, or 13.

These computers we got didn't have much of any software on them, but they have a lot of memory and such. I couldn't believe they were selling for such a low price! Going to transfer all my documents, music and things to this new one

First Monday

2005-07-03T21:00:00.000-06:00

Had an OK flight to Dallas, it was cloudy and rainy when we got here. Took the long way back to Terrell, missed a turn. B and K got here and we all got together and had a good visit. P was tired but wouldn't stop. She got a good night's rest and on Sunday we went to First Monday, it's a giant flea market-type sale they have one weekend a month. Picked up a couple of things for R and M, still have to get something for E. B and K left this afternoon, had to pick up Cathy and get back to Okla., K has to work. P, D and M may come to Terrell tomorrow to go swim and then we'll go to Canton for the rest of the day. We'll fly back to Albuquerque Tuesday morning. Hope the kids are doing OK. It's been a nice trip so far, I'll have a few days at home before I go back to work next Monday.

I Got a Par!

2005-06-29T14:40:00.000-06:00

P, M and I went out and played nine holes of golf this morning, left E and R at home. P said he would take E out with him on Friday. I hadn't played in about six months or more, but I didn't do too bad. I ended up getting par on the last hole, par 4. That's doing really good for me. I don't hardly get par even when I'm playing on a somewhat regular basis, so I was really excited. Stopped at Sonic on the way home and got some burgers and took them home for all of us. Sat down and ate and then took a shower. By the time we finished, about 11 a.m., it was starting to get hot. That air conditioner in the van felt good!

Will start packing for our trip tomorrow, so we can be all ready to go Friday night. Then we can just get up Saturday morning and go to the airport, since we have to be there about 5:40 in the morning! B and K are going to be there, too, so it will be a nice time. Planning on doing some swimming while we're there.

Still trying to get laundry done. Eddie washed a load while we were gone, it's in the dryer now. I have another load ready to wash.

Had some thunderstorms blow through yesterday afternoon. The weatherman reported gusts up to about 50 mph, but I think we had winds about 60 mph. It's getting breezy out there again, we may have some more scattered showers, but we didn't get much of anything yesterday, a few drops. We could sure use a good rain, it's so dry.

Watching some movies we picked up at Wal Mart the other day,checking e-mail and blogging. I guess I'll play a few games now.

Relax!

2005-06-26T12:21:00.000-06:00

Well, we're just taking it easy today. Made another $40 at our yard sale, total about $100, but we still have a lot of junk left. The kids just came in from hitting a tennis ball back and forth. We're watching Wimbledon on TV, R is asleep on the floor. We had a storm blow by late yesterday, but we didn't get any rain. You could sure smell it in the air, though. It's a little breezy outside today, with some scattered clouds. I go to work tomorrow and then I'm off for two weeks. E went to see Steven last night, sounds like he had a good visit. Got some laundry in the dryer, I'll try to get another load or two done today. Try to get some more done so we have plenty of clothes for our trip. I'm a little nervous about flying, and about the airport security, since I haven't flown in many years. I did get a few tips from Judy at work, though. Been playing games online. Played Scene It! with Melissa last night while E was gone, then put R to bed and we went to bed. Didn't hear E when he came in. Well, I'm going to go put another load in the washer so it will be ready when the dryer is done.

Another week!

2005-06-24T23:35:00.000-06:00

Whew! Another week is over. Putting the paper together today was surprisingly easy. Everything seemed to fit together almost perfectly, didn't have to do a lot of squeezing to get things to fit. I'm just glad John didn't decide to do 12 pages! We usually have two issues to get all the SBC news into, but this is our last issue before our two-week shutdown. So all the news had to fit in one issue. We'll finish it up on Monday, take it to the printer and then I'm on vacation for two weeks. Somewhat looking forward to our trip to Texas. Just a little apprehensive about airport security, I haven't flown anywhere since the '80s. But it will definitely be an experience. It will be nice to get away for a few days.

Pat made about $20 from one lady at the garage sale this afternoon, and that was it. We'll try again tomorrow, maybe Sunday, depending on how good we do on Saturday. Pulled out a few more things that might bring some more money. Saturday's usually the best day for garage sales.

It sure has been hot here, may get a shower this weekend. We could sure use it, it's dry again. There haven't been too many fires across the state yet, so maybe it won't be too bad this year.

We'll watch a little of Jay Leno and go to sleep, get up in the morning and get everything put out for the garage sale.

Progress Report

2005-06-19T15:50:00.000-06:00

Well, we closed up the yard sale a little early today, not many lookers, probably because it's Father's Day. We made about $60 total. But we didn't have any really large or expensive items. We may try again next weekend, when we don't have a special day. I was thinking about asking some of those at work that travel about tips for packing for the airline security. I've heard some of them talking about packing everything in plastic bags. I haven't flown anywhere in a long, long time, like 1983 or '84. It will definitely be a different experience than back then. P chipped one of his front teeth today, so he's going to have to go to the dentist. He knew that tooth would break off sooner or later, it's been cracked, I think, for some time. E has been looking online for a job, and has gone to Manpower temp service. Sometimes those temporary jobs can turn into a permanent job.

Back to the Routine

2005-06-18T15:49:00.000-06:00

Whew! First week back at work is over! It took two full days to get all my paperwork caught up. Then it's time to start the next week's paper. Got it pretty much finished before my boss left town for the annual meeting. It will be like a hurricane next Thursday afternoon and Friday to get the next one done with coverage of the annual meeting. Then we'll have our two-week shutdown and vacation time again. We're (my husband and I) are planning on flying out to Dallas for a short visit. Then I'll go back to work on the 11th.

We're having a garage sale today and tomorrow. The first thing we sold was an old computer with Windows 98 on it and a few other things. We've made a little bit of money, so far, about $30. It's always nice to get rid of some the junk that's taking up space. We had a lull, so I decided to update things.

Getting adjusted to having E and R as part of the household. The routine has changed a bit. M has had to start doing more. She does help with Richie, changing diapers, getting him a drink, etc. She's been going out with E, trying to find a job.