What Not to Wear - Christmas Edition

Let me set the stage... We were going to drive to visit my parents in Colorado today. Since I like to be comfy in the car, I put on my comfy clothes in anticipation of a long-ish car ride. This outfit included workout pants, an incredibly old grey sweatshirt that is several sizes too big and black fuzzy slippers. Well, the weather and roads were total madness today and we ended up having to postpone the drive until tomorrow. Since I didn't have any food in the house (in anticipation of being gone for a week), we headed out to our local Panda Express for dinner. Since D. was wearing Simpson's pajamas, it was determined that I was the most presentable and should go in. Now I am not overly obsessed with outward appearance, but I have NEVER worn fuzzy slippers in public. That got me to thinking about whether this is how it happens to people on TLC's "What Not to Wear." One temporary lapse of situational judgement is caught on camera and folks accross the county eye you with horror and say, "How could anyone wear that?" Essentially, I am guilty and in that moment I am probably deserving of your harsh judgement, but I promise I hardly ever dress that badly! Only around the house really... I'm hoping that anyone who sees this gets to spend a couple days in cute pajamas as Christmas is upon us and cute pajamas = Christmas (and Christ, he's a pretty important part also :). Merry Christmas!

Our Weekend

This weekend, I wrapped Christmas gifts and got most of them mailed off to their various destinations. It was a relaxed weekend for D. and I. Oddly enough, last night involved us playing "Scene It - ESPN Edition." I would rate myself above average on my knowledge of sports trivia when compared to the average woman. That said, 95% of my knowledge is centered around college basketball. Of that knowledge, 95% is centered around one team. This game is really not for women, (sorry to stereotype) since one of my first bonus cards referred to the glee I should feel at the SI Swimsuit Edition arriving in the mailbox. One of the first video questions was related to the movie Caddyshack and I felt like I had a pretty good chance. Sadly after that, the questions started relating to NFL from the '80s and I was lost. Thankfully, you get to move your gamepiece even when you get questions wrong and I actually managed to win one of three games. We moved on to Yahtzee after that, more my speed.

I did a little holiday "baking" today and finished my Christmas decorating. Here's the tree (and the dog.)Today involved some "winterizing." I work for the power company here in NM and picked up a few tips to increase the efficiency of our 30 year old home. The space heater, flannel sheets and water heater insulation seem to be staving off our need for the whole house heater for now!

That's really it for us, it was a nice weekend and I got new flannel pj pants on Friday, so I'm pretty well set for now!

Silver Lining

Yesterday our realtor called and effectively said that if she was in our situation, she would probably just pull the houses off the market and rent them since a sale is looking pretty unlikely. When your realtor, who only makes money on a sold house, tells you to give up, it's easy to be a little discouraged.

Lucky for me, I know that things are going to work out and that regardless, D. and I are in this together. On top of that, a few really great things happened:

* A local station has already started playing Christmas music all the time

* I am down ten pounds according to the Wii Fit

* Basketball season has officially started

Tonight my Tarheels beat up on Kentucky pretty well and that helps my mood. Officially their first game was Saturday against the Penn Quakers, but since that game wasn't televised and the Quakers aren't exactly "world-renown" for their recent basketball success, tonight's my kick off. The team looked really good and the buzz of college basketball really keeps me going until March/April!

Here's to a long and successful season for the Heels and maybe a little luck in the housing market!

Happy Halloween

Well, we did our Halloween celebration tonight. We will be in Ohio at this time tomorrow for a wedding and won't be celebrating October 31 in the traditional way. Tonight we carved pumpkins with our small group from church. The carvings were religiously related. Ours was meant to look like Mary and Baby Jesus. Mind you, I said "meant to look like..." I kept having to explain it to people.

In addition, we dressed our poor little puppy up in her costume tonight. She has been a cowgirl, a dinosaur, Yoda and this year a hot dog. Here's a picture for your viewing enjoyment.

Actually, she was much happier than she looks. This year there wasn't a head piece and that seemed to minimize her horror. Don't worry, we took her on a walk after the costume session.

We are headed to Columbus tomorrow for a weekend wedding. (D. is a groomsman) On Sunday, we head to East Lansing, Michigan to see how we feel about it given it's possibly our future home. It should be a good trip since D. and I will be seeing some parts of the country for the first time!

Shameless Product Plugs

I have found a few items recently that are “changing my life” in small, but noticeable ways and felt the need to share these items (both large and small) with you: Furry Slippers - $5.99 per pair – Fall and winter weather is upon us in New Mexico and I realized that my flip flops just wouldn’t cut it for around the house use any longer. I found these cheap, comfortable and cute (leopard print) slippers in the Target shoe department this past week and already love them. My greatest fear is that I will “accidentally” arrive at work with the slippers on one day, since at this point they are just an extension of my body. Little Boomey Wine - $3.97 per bottle – Cost Plus / World Market sends me weekly updates and I found out they are having a big red wine sale this month. So far, I have tried the Little Boomey Shiraz/Cab blend and it’s really good. Despite an 18-month membership to a ridiculously expensive wine club, I wouldn’t say I am a wine connoisseur. That said, I normally try to stay in the “tasty, yet $8-11 priced wine category.” (Alright, I admit to a “Two Buck Chuck” phase, but that’s long behind me now.) This wine meets the “tasty” requirement and I can get two or three bottles for my normal price of one! That’s a fantastic buy, if you ask me! Stikk.com – “free” – Oprah Magazine recommended this gem of a website to me and while I am still a visitor, not a member, it’s a really cool idea. Essentially it’s a place where you can track your success in specific personal goals. You enter the goal, set up a team of supporters that will email you when you have down days and have a referee track and vouch for your success. You can “put your money where your mouth is” and if you don’t succeed, you money can go to a charity. They also provide the option to have your money donated to an “anti-charity,” which I find really interesting and a great potential motivator. After all, I could certainly give $25 to a charity I loved if I missed a goal, but it would really burn to give $25 to an organization I hated because I couldn’t stick to something. I am always looking for great motivators and think I will be signing up soon to track my progress on this site. Check it out when you have some spare time! So there are a few things that have made my world a better place in the last week in addition to a great visit from my mom and a few days off work!

Out of the Groove

Somehow my illness a couple weeks ago robbed me of my blogging super power. It used to be I would go about my day and think of about ten things I could write about. Now, I am out of the groove and arrive at blogger.com with little on my mind... While mental clarity is nice, it makes for crappy blogging, part of a fun blog comes from a slightly neurotic mind.

D. is out of town for the week. The house is way too quiet when he's gone and I miss him quite a bit. I am really lucky that my mom is only a four-hour car ride away. She came down yesterday and will spend a few nights here while we shop, watch girl movies and the like. When I consider the move to Michigan, the fact that my mom can't be there in four hours is certainly a point in Albuquerque's favor. She mentioned a trip to the nearby outlet malls and my ears perked up... The last time I went there I did some significant damage to the credit card balances, but who doesn't need a new pair of fall shoes? Or perhaps a new Coach purse?

Speaking of Albuquerque, this week marks the annual Balloon Fiesta. It causes slight madness in the area as our population swells and restaurants get packed. That said, it's fun to look out your window each morning and see countless hot air balloons sailing past. I think my mom and I may head to the "Glowdeo" one night this week when they light up tons of balloons at the same time and illuminate the night sky. It's pretty spectacular. Here's some pictures of the fun from past years:

AWOL Blogger

It's been a few weeks since my last blog. Somehow, in the madness of it all, I couldn't bring myself to blog. That said, I am back... Since last time, I: - Went to Phoenix to say goodbye to my nephew. He's gone for two years on a church mission. - Went to Telluride for Blues & Brews Festival. Saw Etta James, laid in the sun and spent time with my close friend Melissa. (Miss you already, Mel!) - Spent my first weekend at home in over a month. - Bought a Wii Fit and Dance, Dance Revolution. (This has sucked up a fair amount of time...) - Got a cold that laid me up for a full week straight. I mentioned to Daniel last night that it was SO cool to breathe through my nose. That's something I used to take for granted, not now! - Lost all my files on my cute little USB Flash Drive. That's five years of work, life, financials, etc. (Word to the wise, back up people!) So, it's been an eventful few weeks and I am happy to be back in sane, healthy life for a little while.

The Best of Alaska

Most Amazing Concept: Alaska is huge and even seeing it doesn’t get that point across. We stood on a glacier and looked at a mountain that we thought was about 100 yards away. Someone explained to us that it was actually about a mile away. It’s impossible to have an accurate perspective when there is so much undeveloped land. Best Meal: I had a Salmon BLT one evening that was perfection. I can’t speak highly enough of the halibut and salmon we had in Alaska. The stuff we buy at the grocery store will never compare. Also, the amber ale from Alaska Brewing was surprisingly tasty and we had several of those on the trip. Best View: The ride from Godwin Glacier back to Seward was amazing. I was speechless from the views of mountains, water and glaciers. Favorite Refrain: We were instructed that if we came upon a bear during our travels we should just speak to it calmly and say, “Hey, Bear.” We repeated this phrase constantly when turning blind corners, hiking or really anytime. Coolest Sound: Aialik Glacier calving directly into the ocean while we watched. Everyone on the boat was dead silent as we heard the thunder and cracking that precedes a small amount of the glacier breaking off. Most Alaskan Moment: Hiking in Denali National Park and feeling complete solitude. Also realizing that it wouldn’t be uncommon to walk around a corner and find a moose or bear, because after all we were in their home, not the other way around. Overall an A+ experience, we’ll be back someday!

Alaska - Part Two

On Friday, we headed down to Seward via train. The train ride between Anchorage and Seward is quite beautiful, especially when the weather is clear. During the train ride alone, we saw humpback whales and sheep. As soon as we arrived, we were whisked away to our helicopter ride to Godwin Glacier. I was terrified a few years back when we took a helicopter to Catalina, so I didn’t know quite what to expect. I was pleasantly surprised, there was so much to see that I completely forgot my fears. There is a dog sled team that spends their summers on this glacier and we got a chance to talk with them, meet the dogs and ride on a dog sled. One of the guys up there will be running his third Iditarod next March and it was really neat to hear about all that goes into planning for that event. I had such a neat time riding on the sled that when D. fell off, I didn’t notice. Sorry honey, at least we were close to the main camp! Here are a couple pics from that experience:

On Saturday, we took a day-long Fjords cruise. The cruise was enjoyable and we again saw humpback whales (closer than I would have liked) and amazing glaciers. The scenery was great. They urge you to take seasickness medicine for the cruise and ironically, the medicine made me sick for the first part of the day. Other than that, we had perfect weather and smooth sailing. We cruised up to Aialik Glacier and got to hear the glacier calving. It’s almost complete silence and then you hear the cracking and thunder as small parts of the glacier break off into the water. All around the glacier, you have “ice water” since large chunks remain in the very cold water. Here’s a picture of Aialik: We spent our evenings in Seward at a place called Ray’s Waterfront. It’s ridiculously expensive, but we ate at the bar and felt like a part of the family by our third visit. The whole town of Seward seemed very “Mystic Pizza”-esque to me and I really like the idea of a teeny fishing village until our last day when the weather was ugly and I realized that there’s nothing fun to do in a small fishing village if it’s raining. We sat under a tree and played Yahtzee until the rain finally drove us inside our favorite spot, Ray’s. (I guess that’s what you do in a fishing village when it’s pouring, have a beer.) Meals including Salmon or Halibut Count: 8 Total Meals: 12

Alaska - Part One

Well, we’re back from our trip to the vastness that is Alaska. It was a great trip and Mother Nature was surprisingly cooperative. On Monday, we flew into Anchorage and checked into a very small, but cute room at a bed and breakfast on a lake. That evening, we took a walking tour of downtown Anchorage with me serving as a tour guide (with help from Frommer’s). I can only say that as I consider what I should be when I grow up, tour guide isn’t in the cards. Even D. lovingly pointed out that I was a horrible ambassador to downtown Anchorage. I would walk up to a building and say, “Well, this is the old courthouse. I don’t really know anything about it.” That was if I could find the place. We ended the tour at a bar called “Darwin’s Theory” where the locals seemed QUITE skeptical of us despite our best efforts to look like locals. We then took in a movie that I wouldn’t recommend to anyone that doesn’t like really inappropriate and overly graphic movies. In my defense, it was the only movie showing at a movie house/restaurant/pub that had great reviews. Here’s us beside some (???) building on our walking tour that had totem poles…

On Tuesday, we took the 4.5-hour scenic drive up to Denali National Park. Fall has arrived in Alaska and the colors were quite beautiful. Since we forgot binoculars, we stopped at a Wal-Mart in the town of Wasilla (don’t judge, I didn’t know a Target was one mile down the road). For those of you interested, Wasilla is the town where John McCain’s shocker of a running mate was a city council member & mayor before becoming governor of Alaska. To gauge size, I would guess the town has about three stoplights. We spent our two nights in the Denali area at a neat inn on a lake. The views were fantastic the whole time although Mount McKinley didn’t come out to play due to overcast skies. Regardless, we saw moose, grizzly bears, black bears, caribou, dall sheep and a variety of birds. They call moose, bears, caribou and dall sheep the “Big Four” to view in Denali, so I guess we were lucky. We took two intense, but gorgeous hikes (I swear we gained at least 1700 feet in elevation, so they were quite steep) and really enjoyed the quiet. I would say Denali is probably the most “natural” national park since they have taken great strides to keep development out. On our last morning in Denali, we went rafting in glacial run-off. They say that means the water was on a glacier within 24 hours of our raft trip. (AKA extremely cold water.) Shortly after, we headed back to Anchorage for a short stop-over before the next leg of our trip. Here’s a picture of us in the park… They tell me that Mount McKinley is somewhere behind the clouds. I will believe it when I see it!

# of Meals in Alaska that included salmon or halibut so far: 4 # of Total Meals in Alaska so far: 7

Alaska or Bust!

We leave first thing tomorrow morning for a week in Alaska. This trip will be our first true “vacation” since our honeymoon exactly one year ago. Neither one of us has been to the 49th state before and we really just came up with this idea a few weeks ago. Here’s our itinerary to give you a flavor: Monday – Fly to Anchorage & check out the sights there Tuesday – Drive to Denali National Park and spend the evening at a Salmon Bake Wednesday – Take the nine-hour shuttle bus into Denali and hopefully see all kinds of wildlife and maybe a glimpse of McKinley Thursday – Raft on the Nenana River in the morning and head back to Anchorage for the night Friday – Ride the early morning train to Seward (supposedly incredibly scenic) and upon arrival, take a helicopter ride to a glacier where we will drive (mush?) a team of sled dogs Saturday – Take a boat tour of the Kenai Fjords for animal and glacier viewing Sunday – Hike back to the Harding Ice Fields Monday – Head back to ABQ (and toast our anniversary with a glass of champagne) Have a great week, I know we will!

(P.S. We decided somewhere during the packing process that it would be really COOL if we were able to take eight days worth of Alaska stuff in carry-ons instead of checking any luggage. We managed the feat and will be heading to Alaska (land of the 50 degree highs) for eight days with two little rolling suitcases. This should be interesting...)

Baseball Games with the Elderly

This past week, D. and I went to the Albuquerque Isotopes game. Sitting directly behind us were a few folks from a local rest home and their “handlers” (for lack of a better term). This made the baseball game, which was really quite boring, a ton more interesting.

First, we watched a very old man shuffle at a molasses pace towards the restroom. Important thing to note is that he left in the first inning. He didn’t return…ever. This left me VERY concerned and I suggested several times that D. go check the bathroom since the rest home employees didn’t seem to notice.

Second, the gentleman that sat directly behind us sounded quite similar to Donald Duck when he talked. (I assume from MANY years of smoking.) What made that enjoyable was that he screamed at the team the whole game. My personal favorites were when he yelled that his mother could play baseball better than the Isotopes. Mind you, this man was probably 80+, so I don’t need to do that math on his mother’s age for you. Another favorite was, “I paid good money for this game and now I am getting agitated. You don’t want to see what I can do when I get agitated!” I assume that would probably involve beating someone down with his cane.

Third, the woman behind us was quite sweet and played with the small children in our row. That was until she convinced the rest home employees that beer wasn’t prohibited from her diet. She had four beers over the course of the last hour of the game. I am sure I don’t need to explain to you what happens when someone who doesn’t really drink has four beers in an hour. The walk to the rest home van was probably interesting.

All that said, I think everyone got what they wanted out of the game. As I watched “Donald Duck” leave, he twirled his cane and did a little dance step. The boozy lady giggled like a schoolgirl once beer three was done. D. got to do the chicken dance and I got to see the mascot Orbit. We all got to watch the Isotopes come back from a big deficit to win the game. The only one I am not sure about is the guy who never came back from the bathroom…

Thanks, Honey!

My sweet husband sent me flowers at work this week. On Tuesday, I got flowers for my birthday in a really beautiful monochromatic pink combination. On Wednesday, I got flowers for our impending first anniversary. This bunch was in a fun purple combination.

D. and I are really different people, but have enough common threads to make it work. We are a great balance to each other and I have no doubt that God placed D. in my life because he was my best shot for experiencing long-term, unconditional love. He has been fantastic to me over the last year and I know that despite only knowing him for three years total, my life would never be the same without his love, support and ability to make me laugh. D. thanks for helping me keep things in perspective and for your loyalty! I love you.

Birthday Recap

The start of my 29th year went really well this weekend. We headed up to Denver on Saturday with tons of rain and had a nice dinner at the Cheesecake Factory (we don't have that in ABQ). D. was a little distraught that the Broncos and Cowboys (his team) were playing an exhibition game in Denver that night. That would have been a pretty convenient way to see them, but we've been focused on other things and didn't think to check that. Sorry, honey!

On the birthday, I woke up and got to have breakfast in the room with Mimosas. I opened gifts from family/friends/D. and counted the change my dad gives me every year. I don't know how long he has been giving me the change that he collects each year, but it is something I look forward to all year just because of the tradition! D. got me some great rain/weather gear for our upcoming trip to Alaska. I also got to have Chipotle for lunch (another non-ABQ establishment), so that was fantastic.

The forecast called for rain on Sunday, but it turned out to be a nice day for the Jack Johnson concert and that's how we closed out the day. It was a very "community event." We talked to all sorts of people in the hours before the concert and it was a fun way to spend an afternoon. It was an AMAZING place to see a concert and Jack was really great. He did a pretty much acoustic encore that was just top notch, I am so glad we went. After the concert, since the lines to leave the park were insane, we played Uno for an hour with neighboring cars. They had beer, we had cards and snacks and everyone was happy!

Here are a couple photos of the concert and Red Rocks:

Here we are before the concert began.

A view of the stage and all the people before the show.

This is honestly what the red rocks that surround the park (and make for great acoustics) look like at night. It was beautiful.

Wii are injured, but happy!

Our Wii arrived in the mail on Wednesday. I started with the boxing before D. got home from work and could only hack it about five minutes. It’s really quite exhausting. When D. got home, we played all the sports games: tennis, baseball, bowling, golf and of course, boxing. I did really well at bowling and boxing, although D. is starting to catch up to my skill-level. On tennis, baseball and golf, it’s really no contest – he kills me to a level that makes is sort of pointless to even try. Since I don’t give up that easily, I plan to start practicing when he works late. Our first night, while trying to compete at one of my “less-skilled” games, I hit Daniel with the remote. It was quite a hard hit and came from my belief that if you just move the remote really fast, in erratic movements, you will score well. He was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. I woke up this morning with a sore right bicep (my dominant hand for the Wii). That must mean it’s akin to exercising, so I have given myself permission to “play on.” Happy gaming!

Christmas in August

My husband has been quite a good gift giver through the years. This past Christmas, he gave me a “Stress Management” Spa Day at a local ABQ spa. In the grand irony of life, I have had way too much going on during 2008 to take advantage of any “Stress Management.”

Since I am currently a lady of leisure (break from school and a few days off work), I went to the spa today to have my stress managed. I was there from nine this morning until four this afternoon. That’s seven full hours of stress reduction. I do feel quite relaxed now and slathered in more creams than I knew existed.

First, I started with a poppy seed scrub, followed by a shower that had spouts from every imaginable angle – like a warm rain shower. That led to a soak in the world’s coolest bathtub filled with essential minerals and trace elements (or something like that). This was followed by a ninety-minute stone massage, a yummy lunch, a “Fountain of Youth” facial and a lavender aromatherapy pedicure.

My Personal Highlights: *The tub was amazing with high jets, low jets, a waterfall and enough room for about six of me. If I had a tub like that in my house, I would NEVER leave it, I honestly thought about whether I could work from that tub on a laptop. *I am pretty sure I received five foot massages today. *The stone massage was completely different from any massage I’ve received and I don’t really know how to feel now that my “chakras are balanced,” but it was amazing and I was SO relaxed at the end of that ninety minutes. I can honestly say nothing entered my mind during the massage and I haven’t experienced “stillness” like that in years. *I was treated like a pseudo-celebrity as I was escorted from place to place, brought ice water on a regular schedule and had my delivered lunch set up and ready for me when I finished my massage.

Since I really like to stretch my birthday out as much as possible, I am considering today the official kick-off of the festivities. We head to Denver on Saturday for Jack Johnson at Red Rocks and I know that this will be a wonderful start the final year of my twenties. (Gulp, “Fountain of Youth” treatments may become the norm.)

Adios Calculus 1, Hello Work!

My calculus final was Wednesday and I found out my grade today, so I am officially done with probably the most difficult class I have taken to date. There were at least three times when I seriously considered dropping the class. In the end, I am glad I didn’t. That said, it just means I “get” to start Calculus 2 on September 2.

I will miss my Calc 1 class for a few reasons: a) There was a guy in the class with some severe vision problems, he was a real trooper since he had to sit in the front row with his very thick glasses and still had to use binoculars to see that board. I really admire his desire to learn since that’s above and beyond what most lazy students would do. One thing to realize is that he also had a sleep disorder and so once or twice per class, he would fall asleep and snore and/or drop his binoculars. It kept the rest of us awake. b) There was a girl I sat by in class who had hair that was longer than the super short-shorts she wore. She liked to rock an antique Star Trek shirt and I sometimes wondered what her life must be like outside of class. c) My teacher, although not 100% on the English language, was “the nicest, most passionate about the subject, most concerned about the students” professor I’ve had. I know I wouldn’t have passed with out his help!

With the grand success of finishing class yesterday, I celebrated by working 13 hours today. My part-time, 20 hours a week schedule, has been about 40 hours a week since the start of July. I think things will let up sometime next week. At least I will have a couple weeks to truly relax before it all begins again.

I did have a nice celebration with D. and my mom last night post-final. We had beers and appetizers and then saw movies. D. saw Dark Night since he wouldn’t subject himself to Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants with the girls. There was one gentleman in the movie and his eyes seemed to roll back in his head sometime around the previews. Anyways, I loved it!

Breaking News...Cheesus

I am throwing one other thought out there today. I think this story is important, so I am sharing it. A woman found a cheeto that resembles Jesus recently. They like to call it "Cheesus." Stories like this really make me smile. I don't pay enough attention to what I eat, so I have probably missed several important resemblances in my food.

Beware the “Reply All” Button

I haven’t ever been a victim of a “reply all malfunction.” That said, I know several people who have been and I would bet you do too. Today I got an email from an academic advisor. It went to an email list of at least 500 people. The advisor mentioned that she was canceling her normal advising hours to go to a conference. Shortly after getting that email, I received an email from someone who had “replied all” to the initial message. It said something like, “Hey Mary, you’ll want comfy shoes for that conference…and a large bottle of vodka.” I can only picture the face of the poor “reply all-er” when she realized her email had gone out to at least 500 budding MBAs. I have seen reply-alls that were annoying, embarrassing and mean. I have seen graphic personal details unintentionally revealed to mothers and grandmothers. I only hope that my enjoyment of today’s reply all incident and the subsequent blogging doesn’t karmicly destine me for my own incident… Then there was the time a girl who worked for me a few years back sent an email to the entire company, executives included, that said, “I have quite a few excess paper clips at my desk, let me know if you would like any.” I got a call from an executive shortly after the email. He requested I educate my employee on when it’s appropriate to email 500 people in 15 different states. The message would have fallen on deaf (more like clueless) ears, so I didn’t bother. Perhaps that is why my current employer restricts emails to the entire company unless “Corporate Communications” has reviewed them… P.S. If you search “Reply all stories,” you can read of other fun incidents!

Satan’s Minions (or My Pet Squirrels)

I mentioned a couple weeks ago that I was charged by a squirrel in my back yard. One afternoon’s terror has now turned into an all-out war. One squirrel has now turned into two squirrels. Apparently, the little guy called his squirrel friends and said, “There are some low-lying, relatively healthy plants over here. Let’s party!” As such, a squirrel festival has been going on in my back yard for two weeks. They have eaten all my potted flowers and generally made me afraid to go in my back yard. Today I noticed them eating the plastic cover on our outdoor fireplace. It’s really pleasant in ABQ at night right now and if it weren’t for a) my fear of getting bitten which would inevitably result in a lifetime of rabies and b) my fear of the minions somehow sneaking through the opened back door into the house, we would be outside enjoying the end of summer. When I water “the stubs formerly known as flowers” the minions have left behind, I usually ask my husband for “cover,” since I am convinced they are waiting to attack. Besides that, I avoid the back yard at all costs and wait for them to discover the still semi-healthy plants in the front yard. Through some online research, I have learned that the pest control experts say home remedies don’t work (surprise, surprise – how else do they make money) and that as soon as the little buggers get into your house, you are toast. There is a guy called the “Skunk Whisperer” that serves the ABQ area and I can just picture us chasing around squirrels together in my home. The image may be mildly amusing for those that don’t have to participate, but for me it’s a reason to always make sure the backdoor is secure. For all those reasons, I have decided to give my backyard over to the squirrels... temporarily. With any luck, our dog, Riley, will be coming home from summer camp soon and I have a feeling “Squirrel Festival 2008” might feel a little crowded once my perpetually hungry mutt arrives.

Tag, you're it.

While not familiar with the concept of “tagging,” my friend Jackie “tagged me” and as such, here’s a little of my perspective: A. Attached or Single? Attached (literally right now since my husband is taking up most of the space on the couch)

B. Best Friend? Several for different purposes: Mom, unconditional love with a healthy dose of advice; my sister Tina, someone I aspire to be just like; Emily, a friend I don’t talk to often enough, but someone who really knows my heart; Jackie, my best friend on a day-to-day basis, has been with me through both the big and little stuff over the years

C. Cake or pie? Yellow cake w/ chocolate frosting (only occasionally as I prefer processed sugars and chemicals – like red vines)

D. Day of choice? Friday or Sunday – a toss up

E. Essential item? Sadly, my Blackberry

F. Favorite color? Carolina Blue

G. Gummy bears or worms? Worms, all the way, better if they are sour.

H. Home town? Tempe, AZ

I. Favorite indulgence? Champagne

J. January or July? January for sure… New year, new possibilities and Phoenix made me hate July forever

K. Kids? None yet. I really like my nieces and nephews. I remain neutral on most other kids…

L. Life isn’t complete without? An occasional bath and those moments when I am reminded how lucky I am.

M. Marriage date? September 1, 2007

N. Number of brothers and sisters? 1 brother and 2 sisters

O. Oranges or Apples? While I love oranges, I hate pulp - so apples (fuji)

P. Phobias? Spiders, bridges, failure. Also heights, but I overcome.

Q. Quotes? “I’m gonna come at you like a spider monkey.” -Talladega Nights

R. Reasons to smile? Talladega Nights, my husband, my dog, my family, One Tree Hill.

S. Season of choice? Spring, I think. Summer is good also, the days are really long.

T. Tag 5 people: I don’t know anyone else who blogs… It’s like playing tag by yourself. Sad.

U. Unknown fact about me? I spent at least three hours on the American Gladiators message boards within the last six months. I signed a petition and contributed money to bring the WB show Everwood back.

V. Vegetable? Zucchini and/or asparagus

W. Worst habit? Excessive use of ellipses and dashes when I am confused about comma use.

X. X-ray or Ultrasound? Depends on whether I have a broken bone or a growing baby…

Y. Your favorite food? My husband says I should put chicken fingers. I say Chipotle.

Z. Zodiac sign? Leo and it makes sense.

A Perfect Day

We headed up to Pagosa Springs for the weekend to “dog-sit” for my parents while they headed to South Bend for my Dad’s 50th high school reunion. (A pretty impressive event, if you ask me.) Saturday was an amazingly therapeutic day, one of my best in a while. I woke up Saturday morning, had my coffee, made some biscuits and read a book I am really enjoying on my parent’s deck (which has a 180 degree view of the mountain peaks.) Mid-day D. and I set off for a five mile hike. The sun and fresh air seemed to cleanse me a lot more than a detox diet or day at the spa. To give you an idea, this is a picture I snapped during the hike.

At the end of the hike, we had a celebratory cold beer and I truly felt like I had just put in an honest day’s work. That evening, we had dinner at a place that deserves pretty much perfect marks, called the Alley House. We sat on their deck in the perfect early Colorado evening sipping a lovely bottle of wine while enjoying spicy Chipotle Edamame, perfect Ahi Tuna and very fresh asparagus & mushroom stuffed trout (that last one is D.’s, anyone how knows me knows that I don’t eat fungus.) As a final treat, we had Sambuca and Crème Brulee. It was one of those meals that makes you want to memorialize every bite. As if that wasn’t good enough, my parents had called ahead and treated us to the meal as an early anniversary gift! To cap off the day, we headed to the natural hot springs in Pagosa. They have over a dozen different pools ranging from the river to 114 degrees. In a moment of pure insanity, we took a dip in the 55 degree river, which was quite cold at 10pm. Although sticking around the Southwest for another year wasn’t in my plans, I am already seeing how much I have to gain from this year. On the trip home, we started a list of all the places in the Southwest we would like to see together in the next year. We already have about ten weekend trips on the list that are within driving distance. When I think about places I have lived, I feel like I never took full advantage of all they had to offer. This “bonus year” in New Mexico lets me be close to family for a while longer and allows me to do all that stuff we haven’t focused on in the madness of wedding planning/house buying/house renovating/working 60+ hours/school applying/etc. I feel like I am finally spending some time in the present instead of just applying all my efforts to planning the future.

Randomness In Perfect Order

I would like to blog about three totally unrelated things today, but in an effort to keep my blog entries cohesive, I plan to build some rickety bridges in between my thoughts: Random Thing #1 – Happy Birthday! To: Me, From: Me (A month early!) My tickets for the sold out Jack Johnson show at Red Rocks in Colorado arrived this weekend. I really love Jack’s music, he seems to speak to a pace of life I wish I had and I have yet to see a concert of his. I have also always wanted to attend a concert at Red Rocks and it turns out he’s playing there on my birthday. They call that “kismet.” Sadly, I connected all these facts long after the tickets went on sale and after they had started trading at quite a premium on the net. Nonetheless, it was worth every dime and I can’t wait to see one of my favorite musicians at such a beautiful place.

For those that don’t know, Red Rocks is a beautiful natural geological formation in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. The 300-foot red rocks that surround the amphitheater make for amazing scenery and supposedly perfect acoustics. I am looking forward to everything about the show except the inevitable bugs. It never ceases to amaze me how frightened I am of things that are less than a tenth of my size, case in point… Random Thing #2 – Attack of the Killer Squirrels I was standing in my backyard this afternoon when I heard the pitter-patter of footsteps in our side yard. Always a skittish one (especially when it comes to unexpected footsteps), I quickly turned my head to see a squirrel climbing a tree in our backyard. I realize this is a normal thing for most of the U.S., but I live in fenced-off, heavily trafficked Albuquerque and haven’t seen squirrel since my wilderness hikes of yore. (An interesting and unintentional link to Random Thing #3.) The squirrel and I made eye contact and then the squirrel did a peculiar thing, it charged me. I stood and stared for a second and then quickly realized that the distance between us was shrinking and momentum was on the squirrel’s side. I ran for the indoors just praying the squirrel wouldn’t beat me into the house. We once had a hummingbird in the house for about three hours, it was hell. Thankfully, I was able to beat it inside and now I will probably not enter the yard again for a few days. I know the squirrel could have out run me since I run a little slower these days with a few extra “first-year of marriage” pounds. (No, it’s not a baby!) It appears I am not the only one in the country with this issue… Random Thing #3 – It’s a Slightly Larger World After All I heard a news story today that actually came out several months back. Apparently, Disneyland had to take the ride, “It’s a Small World” down for a ten-month rehab in January. The primary reason being that the boats for the ride, originally constructed in the 1960s, were getting consistently stuck. It has been suggested that the boats might not be the problem, we are. I guess we are all a little heavier, on average, than the folks back in the ‘60s and the original ride can’t handle the increased weight. That was a disturbing factoid to me and I can’t wait to see what our increasing waist lines do next. When’s the last time they increased the standard size of doorways? I type this all while snacking on a beer (non-light) and white corn tortilla chips. After all, it would be a shame if they rehabbed the ride for nothing!

Peter Piper Party

For some reason, I have been in a slight funk this week. I have learned that the quickest way to kick a funk (at least for me) is to pack the kids up in the car and head to Peter Piper Pizza. Now mind you, I don't have any kids, but that doesn't stop D. and I from going. I guess it's always been a favorite of mine, I actually went there for either my 19th or 20th birthday several years back, by choice. Since we moved to Albuquerque, we have spent occasional "date nights" there when we both needed a little stress relief. As an aside, most Peter Piper Pizza's serve beer. That said, if you plan on going I would advise strongly against Fridays and Saturdays, unless you like being accosted by screaming kids that aren't your own.

This time was especially "rad" since my good friend Emily gave me a gift card to Peter Piper when I got married last year and so this trip was going to be "on her." If you are a Peter Piper Executive, stop reading here. For some reason, the folks at our local Peter Piper could figure out how to use the gift card and just comped our whole meal, tokens included. That means Emily really provided several visits "on her." I told D. that when you get something you shouldn't get free for free, you'll have to overpay for something else to keep the universe in equilibrium. He seems unconvinced.

Here's D. loving his Galaga. Watching him play really gives me a window into his life before me. He's quite good, but oddly passionate about the game.

There's me on the Dance Dance Revolution machine. There will usually be a couple junior high kids playing and we have to stare them down until they get scared or run out of tokens. We played three rounds, I only won one... D. is a dancin' machine.

Here's to a stress free weekend!!

A Family Fourth

The fourth of July has always held special meaning for my family. Besides its traditional meaning here in the USA, it was my grandmother’s birthday and my parents were married on July 4, 1963. Those of you that are quick at math will note that my parents celebrated their 45th anniversary this past weekend. I am constantly amazed at the level of commitment they have maintained through the years. Happy Anniversary to you, Mom and Dad! You have consistently reinvented your relationship and I think that is part of the secret to your success.

To celebrate, my “immediate family” descended upon Pagosa Springs, Colorado for the weekend. Since we are absurdly close and want to be together every waking (and non-waking) moment, we packed my parents’ house with 21 people. I am pretty sure that increased the population of the small town by about 10%, someone probably had to repaint the sign at the town’s entrance.

The festivities included a parade downtown, fireworks at the high school and a baseball game in the field on my parents’ land. My dad has created a baseball field complete with correct measurements, perfect mowing, bases, a backstop and team benches. We just need to work on adding lights for night time games. It was a great weekend and getting everyone together is no small feat. We had four generations together for the weekend: my parents, their kids, the grandkids and the lone great grandkid.

I must say that a highlight for me was the new board game we played, Quelf. It’s quite ridiculous and random. The game is not for the intelligent, but rather for those willing to embarrass themselves. For instance, my nephew Josh got a card that required him to say, “Here me, for I have spoken” at the end of each sentence he uttered during the hour-long game. My nephew-in-law, Matt, had to make a snorkel out of a plastic water bottle and wear it for the whole game. By the way, he also had to ask his foot permission to talk. These are a few glimpses of what makes the game so fantastic. It’s a “roll on the ground laughing” type of game and I highly recommend it for anyone that likes to look foolish or could use a good dose of foolishness. Since I fit the latter category, I can’t wait to go out and buy it. Some photo highlights:

My great nephew (I feel old), my niece, myself and my sister! (Note the matching shirts, a requirement! A gang of 21 people in matching shirts…scary!)

The group that mauled each other during a heated game of spoons: my niece-in-law, my nephew, my nephew, my nephew-in-law, another nephew and D. (Note the haircuts on the left, the Mohawk and the “Cul-de-sac” were big hits over the weekend.)

The Land of Entrapment

When I first moved to New Mexico two years ago, I was told that the “Land of Enchantment” (our state’s nickname) would be more appropriately named the “Land of Entrapment.” It appears I should have listened.

Last week, my husband, D., and I decided to postpone our impending move to Lansing, Michigan for one year. It appears that New Mexico has wrapped its claws around us and we will spend the next year attempting to get free, talon by talon. Sell one of our houses, the grip loosens. Sell our second house and the state known for its aliens (from both outer space and Mexico) is hanging on by a thread. Find my husband a replacement job in Michigan and we’re floating free.

It all began while I was living in Colorado and on my first or second date with the man who is now my husband. I mentioned that I would NEVER live in New Mexico and that I considered it the armpit of the country. Within two months of that proclamation, he received a job promotion offer…in Albuquerque. A word to the wise, never say you will NEVER do something, it virtually predestines you.

Oddly enough, I now feel that the negative connotation of the “Land of Entrapment” isn’t quite fair to a state that I have grown to like, if not love. New Mexico is like the girl who gets 7.5s out of tens in all categories (looks, personality, etc). New Mexico isn’t a stunner in any one area, but rather a solid contender for good weather, decent economy, travel options, things to do, natural beauty, etc.

During my time in New Mexico, I bought my first home, got married at a beautiful church outside of Albuquerque, worked hard, learned a ton, (poorly) played the totally foreign sport of soccer for two seasons, met some really great people and had some really good times. It has probably been the most accomplished years of my life and so being entrapped here for another year seems like it can only bring more goodness to my life. To Michigan I say, “Can you hold my spot in the line?” To you I say, “Welcome to a new blog from a girl in the city with all the Qs.”