We 💚 Boston!

June 6, 2010 ~ Rocky and I stayed overnight in Boston. Our flight to Ireland took off the evening of June 7, so we had about 24 hours to enjoy one of our favorite places.

The flight from El Paso to Boston was uneventful (the best kind) except for our hostess. She reminded me of the Wicked Witch of the West. She was busy busy busy ignoring any needs of the passengers, and glaring at those who were lucky enough to catch her eye and make her do something.....like her job. She was really quite attractive but her sour attitude took care of all that! Her partner in crime was almost as bad, especially when she was hacking and coughing all over the passengers. Now, I know that sounds kind of mean, but come on!!

When we were at cruising altitude they broke out the drink cart, and when they passed by your seat and you happened to be reading or having a conversation with someone, you were out of luck until they came by to start picking up trash. If you were brave enough to ask for something at that time, you got it, but not until the airplane was spic and span!

When she made the second trash pass, I wasn't paying attention again, and I guess she actually had to stop and wait for me. To get my attention she shook her noisy plastic bag in my face....like a scary trick-or-treater. She was UN-pleasant.

And can you believe if you want something other than a soda (in a tiny cup with ALOT of ice) you have to pay for it! I couldn't believe it! What a rip off. Witchy woman walked up and down the isles with $4 sandwiches, $3 cookies and $3.50 cheeseboards - and I use that word loosely! While I was enjoying my cheeseboard, I couldn't believe passengers would actually pay for that sort of thing!! (I know, but gimme a break.....it was a 5 hour flight!)

Unexpected Bargain!

Not far from my house is a furniture store - Charlotte's.  I've been in there before, and unless you're dressed appropriately for a gala, dripping with diamonds, and with bullet-proof Texas hair, they won't even look at you, much less wait on you.  Knowing this, I decided to take a another chance, and I bounced in there with my capris, sandals and average looking blouse.  Also my hair was typical "me hair," but it was clean, and I had it stylishly pulled back behind one ear, so my pretty earrings would show.  That's all I had going for me!  Well that, and my very attractive purse, on which I get many compliments!

Two sales ladies were sitting at a desk, chatting, and after what seemed like 20 minutes, they both turned to look at me, and then looked away!  I thought, "Again???" So just as I whirled around on my very sore heel (big mistake!) to leave the store, one of the ladies actually got up and offered to help me, and she was nice!  Stunned, I just stood there for a minute, not knowing how to respond.  I thought maybe she meant she would help me out the door. 

I was looking for a cabinet that would hold my kitchen dishes.  The catch was it had to fit in a space 36" x 27" x 8 feet.  She showed me several pieces, all of which were very classy, and none of which would work.  Just as she was going to have me look through some catalogues, she remembered this beat up, but interesting antique piece.  I fell in love with it, and the measurements were perfect!  I thought it was very expensive, for what it is, but I'm a good talker.  After a few minutes I had them almost begging me to take it off their hands, and they would even deliver it for free!  (I exaggerate a bit here).  But I got the piece, along with some pretty deep discounts.  I thought when all was said and done, it was a fair price!  

As I was leaving the store, the nice sales person mentioned that the store had a free consulting service.  I jumped all over that!  She came by yesterday, and we chose a couple of great paint colors for the kitchen, so we'll see.   You who have seen my monochromatic kitchen will understand why I took her up on this service.  I was going to ask for her help with my study, but I didn't dare let her in there.  I would have had to ask her to sign a release from liability form!

At YOUR age.....?

In 2010 I worked as an occupational nurse.  I liked the job, but things out of my controlled slowly began making the environment more and more unpleasant.  I decided to quit, and used the excuse that I was going back to school to get a Master's degree.  So....I gave my 2 weeks notice, and my last day was August 19, 2010.  Little did I know, the next class at UTEP started on August 23, 4 days later!  Poor planning!  So I scrambled, made a quick appointment talk to the Dean about why I was the best candidate for one of the few spots still available in the program.  It was one of my better moments!

I soon found out there were more than a few spots still open.....like 40 spots.  That should have been my first clue that I had made the wrong decision.  I can't even begin to explain why I say that, because the answer is so vast, complex and sad for purposes of this blog.  But I will try.

That weekend before classes started, I bought new "school clothes,"  books and pencils!  I was so excited.  Monday morning, I discovered I could go to class in my pajamas, because the entire program, with a few exceptions, was online!  How can a Nurse Practitioner program be online?  I'm still trying to figure that out, even tho I've already graduated!

One of Rocky's nephew's said "All nurse practitioners ever do is write papers," and that's why he didn't want to join up.  I was very protective of my decision at that time, and thought he was a dope, but he was right on target!  That's all we did for 18 months.  I wrote papers on apoptosis, nurse-to-nurse bullying....all kinds of things that would not help me become a better NP.  That's what happens when the professors leave us up to our own resources!  We were supposed to read each others' papers (they were posted online) and make in-depth comments.  My apoptosis paper received only one comment....."Good job!"  I guess that's all they could think to say.

Poor Rocky - he's a saint!  When he would come home from work, almost every day I would be sitting at the kitchen table crying.  He was so kind and patient....for about a month.  Then he said, "OK, here's the deal.  There's no crying in medicine!"  I was so lost and in over my head, and now I couldn't even cry!  Well, I still cried, just all alone in my bedroom or in my car!  How pathetic is that? 

I was warned about the "30 pound weight gain."  But there I was, being able to sit down all day long and just read and write.  That was a dream come true for me!! But wow! I think I sailed past 30 pounds the first month!  It's just awful!  So, that's my new challenge.

I'm pretty computer saavy, but "Blackboard," the program we used for the online program came with it's own set of challenges.  We had to "post" on time, which means you had to turn in your papers on time.  When I missed a deadline due to a program malfunction, I would have to beg my professors to open the board again and let me post because........"  Their standard answer was "No!"  That's when I went to work trying to make them see the folly of their decision.  I was always successful.

After 3 semesters, we all started our clinical rotations.  We had to find our own preceptors!  My first rotation was pediatrics, and my preceptor was unpleasant and intolerant.  I guess she expected more from me since I was old enough to be her grandmother.  Heck, I was old enough to be the physicians' grandmother!  After 70 hours of pediatrics, I moved on to 70 hours of Women's Health, where my preceptor was a dream.  Her office partner, who was also wonderful and taught me so much, turned to me one day and asked "What were you thinking?" Another reference to my age!  By this time I was thinking the exact same thing!  What WAS I thinking?

Christmas vacation couldn't come fast enough, but to my dismay, we had to sign up for a crash course in complementary and alternative medicine.  It was 8 hours a day for 14 days, in an actual classroom, with an actual class leader.  Interesting experience......that's all I'm sayin'!

The next year we had to sign up for another class during Christmas vacation.  It was a full-term course, and we were required to do it in 2 weeks.  What a nightmare!  We worked at least 12 hours a day, and had to work in groups.  My group members lived in San Antonio, Ft. Worth and Dallas.  Group work is so  hard at best, but under those conditions, it's almost impossible. We had a major paper due every day.  I started crying again, even in front of Rocky.

Mini-Boot Camp

Where I work, we've started a fitness program for the associates who are interested. So far, we have over 270 participants! To kick the whole thing off, a local trainer volunteered to set up her "Survival of the Fittest" boot camp at work. Up until the day of the boot camp, my stomach would start churning every time I thought about it. I couldn't connect the dots between "Boot Camp" . . . and . . . "Me!" I'm 60 years old, and 55 of those years have been spent sitting on the couch or laying in bed! You can understand my angst!

While driving to my death, I did an awful lot of praying. Seriously. Praying I wouldn't make a fool of myself in front of my co-workers. Praying the ambulance wouldn't have to be called. Praying I'd be able to walk upright when it was all over. Praying I'd have the nerve to stop praying and actually get out of the car!


Approximately 60-65 associates showed up. We were given a colored star to hang around our neck. This was to identify our team members. I was given a yellow star and in my fragile frame of mind, it reminded me of the yellow identifying stars the Jews had to wear just prior to the Holocaust. I started praying again. All I wanted to do was go home!

During the next two hours we jumped, skipped, hopped, crawled under ropes, ran thru tires (just like the football players!), did traveling push-ups, (push-ups on the move), dribbled basketballs thru cones, ran with 8 pound water jugs in each hand, pushed a wheelbarrow loaded with bags of cement around the parking lot, threw medicine balls in the air while doing squats, did bunny hops (that's where you jump over traffic cones, then reach down and touch the ground (and stand back up again!) about a billion times. We also boxed which I really enjoyed because I got to hit something. I heard our trainer tell another trainer (the one wearing the fatigues from head to toe) "Wow! She really packs a punch!

We also did triceps exercises that actually blow your triceps out the back of your arms, along with thrust jump outs, mountain climbers, floor jumping jacks (I thought this one would be like laying down making snow angels), more mountain climbers, ladder drills, abdominal elbow and knee rocks, and lots more. I can't tell you what these exercises are now, but I'm proud to say I did about 95% of them! I stopped when I temporarily lost my vision!

It wasn't fun, and it was unbelievably difficult, and now I have a much larger special place in my heart for our soldiers. Imagine doing that all day for 8 weeks.

I was home by 11am and was TOTALLY exhausted. I spent most of the day in my favorite spot.....the couch, watching the basketball tournament. Sometimes I slept. I took two hot jacuzzi's and got in the spa outside during the rest of the day. It felt so good, and I had the ridiculous notion I wouldn't be all that sore the next day.

Early Sunday morning I hopped out of bed and as soon as my feet hit the floor I started screaming like a little girl! Kendall Brown Jessup, said something a long time ago about how she loves "second day soreness." What is wrong with her?? My entire body felt as if it had come in contact with several steamrollers. Every time I took a step I either screamed or grunted. I'm sure Rocky got really tired of hearing all that!

I stumbled into church walking like Frankenstein. If I happened to drop something, I had to just stand there, looking at it longingly, and wait until someone wolunteered to pick it up for me. I tried to tell my Sunday School class about my boot camp experience, but all they wanted to talk about was the dance they attended the night before. I didn't understand, because my story was WAY better.

By Monday I could take a deep breath without screaming, and Tuesday a bit more of the soreness was just a horrible, distant memory. An interest survey was sent around the office to offer the boot camp two more times in the next twelve weeks for a small fee. You can't imagine how many people actually signed up! I'm holding out for the time being. The Director of Human Resources told me, as the occupational nurse, I should sign up and set the example. My lower lip started quivering!

Tomorrow I start workouts with Boot Camp Woman. Can you believe I'm actually going to pay good money to be treated like that?? What is wrong with me?! So wish me luck on my journey! That's what they call it .... a journey. Positive people!! To me it was like a journey to H E double toothpicks. Had I blogged this last week, I'm sure I would have left out the double toothpicks part!

Patti's Affinity for Taxis

Well....it's been a while, huh? Blog-worthy events rarely happen to us, as you already know if you're one of our 3 faithful followers. I heard on the news tonight about a woman and her blog a1bout how difficult it is to be a military wife and not having your husband around for such long periods of time. She has over 19,000 followers! Can you believe that? Maybe we should visit her blog and then blog about that!

So Patti and I were in church a couple of weeks ago and started sharing childhood stories and teenage memories. She mentioned when she was in pre-Primary, she won the Best Dressed Cowgirl! Yee Hah! Somehow Daddy was supposed to take her to the rodeo with the tickets she won, and Patti remembered Daddy getting real mad about having to do that!  Daddy was easily annoyed!

I remember when Mother bought Patti and I matching dresses for "Go Western Day." Mine was turquoise and Patti's was bright pink. They both had tons of tacky, silver ric-rac all over them and the blouse was sort of a peasant style, with a scoop neck and lots of elastic! They had huge full skirts requiring blow-up hoop skirt petticoats to make them look especially bouncy and lovely (and ridiculous)!!. To top it off, we had white cowgirl hats, white boots and silver concho belts. Belts have never been a good look for me! We must have looked like the biggest losers, and we never won any prizes. No one even spoke to us, and it even might be the reason I got beat up once at school! It seemed those dresses lasted for YEARS, and they kind of did, because when we grew out of them, Pattis' was looming in the closet for me!

Back to the story as it relates to the title of this post!  Another memory from Patti was in pre-school when she was on the merry-go-round and got sick (like she always did whenever she moved. See one our older posts, "The Bear That Went to Cloudcroft!") She had to go home, and instead of coming to get her, Mother sent a taxi to bring her home.....which reminded her of the time when she attended Austin High School and she didn't have a ride home after the football game, so she called Mother who sent another taxi! "Why couldn't she just pick me up herself?" Patti whiiiiined!


In Mother's defense, she worked the night shift for over 25 years in Labor and Delivery at Southwestern General Hospital, and she slept during the day when we were at school. There were lots of other issues we won't get into now, but I guess it was just easier for her to send a taxi rather than getting up and dressed to run all over town after Patti!

I think the same thing happened when Patti graduated from high school. Our brother had joined the Marines so he wasn't available to attend. I couldn't go unless Mother went, because I was too young to drive. So no one saw Patti graduate. After it was all over, she must have called Mother again to pick her up, and soon after, roaring down the street, came another taxi!! I asked her if she had to climb into the taxi with her cap and gown on, in front of her friends!! Imagine! Poor Patti.

But to Mother's defense, Rocky reminded me of another taxi incident. We went to the Miner football game one Saturday night when the games were actually worth the price of the tickets. It was really crowded all around us, and suddenly Robyn got sick and started throwing up in the stands. Well, that cleared everyone out immediately, and suddenly we had great seats!! But back to the story. Robyn continued to feel pretty bad, and Patti, apparently hardened by her own sad taxi experiences, and following family tradition, called a cab to take Robyn home! Patti had more important things to do....like watch the football game! On the ride home, Robyn threw up again in the cab which really displeased the cab driver!!

I guess now I should say "Poor Robyn!"

Sweet Baby James Taylor

Now, isn't he just a dream come true??

On September 10, 2009 Rocky, Patti and I got to see James Taylor at the Plaza Theater. He was so good. You could just sit back and close your eyes and be transformed. But of course, we didn't do that. We couldn't take our eyes off the stage. (I can't really speak for Rocky when I get all dreamy like this!)

Right before the show started, they played that annoying "ring tone" audio and told everyone to turn off their cell phones, not just put them on silent, because the light comes on when you get a call, and, well.....you know. I thought Patti was going to have to be tranquilized. She has a special relationship with her phone and they go everywhere together.

Robyn had suggested that Patti hold up her phone during the concert so she could hear James from Santa Cruz! Even Patti didn't think that was a good idea, but Robyn said "Everyone will be doing it, waving their phones, standing up and singing." I guess she didn't understand this crowd was much like those who attended the Queen concert - except WAY more sophisticated and better dressed!! Once we were installed in our chairs, there was no getting up!

But at one point, I felt something pushing against my lower leg and when I looked down, it was Patti, almost standing on her head, trying to get her phone set up so Robyn could listen. But after a good long while, she finally gave that up and settled back in her seat so everyone around her could enjoy the concert!

James sang so many of our favorites and I guess we'd still be there if he had sung them all. The harmony of his group sends the goose bumps all over my body. So beautiful. His band is just great. Each member is a fabulous musician in their own right.

He has the cutest, most innocent sense of humor. I had never seen that side of him before, but it was delightful.

They returned to the stage for an encore, at first with the entire band, and ending with just the vocalists. He definitely saved the best for last. It was so awesome! This is my third time to see James Taylor, but hopefully there will be plenty more opportunities, because he's worth every penny!

As soon as I got home, I went to iTunes and started downloading all my favorite James Taylor tunes. I tend to do that after concerts. You should see my Queen collection!!

Strange........but true!

When Patti and I go out shopping together, we take pictures of things we think are funny. This all started at Hobby Lobby, but Target also has some interesting photo ops. You'll be surprised and probably a little sad when you see what Patti did there! I could call that one "Sad.....but true!" The other interesting place for "strange......but true" photos is my house!

At Target, we walked thru the garden department and were naturally disturbed by the garden gnomes, but the bird bath attached to the garden gnome is what caught our eye.......or maybe it was the unusually large birds right next to the tiny bird bath. Patti tried to re-enact a possible scenario of a bird heading toward the bird bath, and the problem this particular bird might encounter.
















Here is a strange way to carry your car keys.















Here is Patti. This is the "Sad.....but True" part. I couldn't get the right amount of light exposure, and Patti was perfectly willing to move about the store with that stupid sparkly, plastic crown on her head and the still-wrapped scepter over her shoulder! I was able to snap three different pictures!! Bless her heart! Isn't she adorable?

Here's Patti again. She found some brand new nail polish (that didn't belong to her!) at the jewelry counter and decided to stop and do her nails.


At Hobby Lobby we found some Frisket Remover. We have no idea what this is, but good news! If you ever need your frisket removed, there's a kit especially for that! We didn't spend any time trying to find out what a frisket is; we just thought it was hysterically funny.


Mirror image? Nah, it's just Jennifer's twins, Hyrum and Joseph, at the deck gate. Aren't they the cutest little guys?


Here's Troy and the big doggies on the trampoline. They jump up there when he's jumping, and in the morning, they get up on the trampoline alone and wrestle with each other. It's very entertaining!















Sometimes when we visit Mom, she lets us do ridiculous things to her.


Here's Mom doing her "jazz hands" routine.


So that's our "Strange......but True" issue. While there is absolutely no point to this post, I know you're all probably saying to yourselves "How old ARE you two anyway??"

Maybe we'll go out trolling again for more pictures. I'm a little nervous to go back to Target. I'm sure there is plenty of security tape footage with Patti and I slinking around the store, taking pictures!

But there's always Walmart.....imagine what we could find THERE!!

On Turning 60!

Last Friday, July 10, I turned 60. It wasn't a big deal. Honestly, age is not an issue with me and never really has been. But what I'm slowing beginning to realize is that I'm no longer bullet-proof, and my days probably really are numbered on this earth. Other than that, I'm OK with it.

The pitfalls of getting older:

Last week I was shopping at Albertson's. When I reached the check out, my 12 year old cashier asked if I was over 55. I said "Yes, why?" At this point, her voice suddenly reached a 108 decible fever pitch, and she screamed "BECAUSE EVERY WEDNESDAY IS SENIOR CITIZENS DAY AT ALBERTSON'S! IT'S POSTED ALL OVER THE STORE!" She was SO excited and proud. I looked around the store and down the street to see how many other people might have heard. I graciously thanked her, refused help from the carry-out guy and headed out the door, head hanging, to the car. It was a little embarrassing. But when I got home I looked at my receipt and saw I saved $7.25!" Not bad.

The next day I received a letter from GECU with a lovely and personal greeting of "Dear Valued Customer." It went on to talk about milestones in our lives and I'm thinking, "Ok, here it comes." So now I get free checks (but not the cute ones with the ladybugs on them!) more interest on my savings account, and 15 more points on my jumbo CD (whatever that means) and they had already made the changes before they sent the letter! Yeah!

So I guess getting older has it's advantages. I'm just not as excited as everyone else seems to be when they discover they have a live one! I still don't qualify for the senior citizen discount at the movies tho. Now THAT will make me truly happy!

My Paperless Life........NOT!

I decided that 2009 was my year to go paperless. I have so much paperwork to do all the time, and I get so tired of having to touch so many pieces of paper everyday. Besides, I want my non-existent grandchildren to be able to climb a tree one day! So I bought a document scanner and set up some folders to scan bills, statements, receipts, contracts, etc. Well, I'm finding it's not that easy to go paperless!

It never dawned on me I would need cooperation from everyone who thinks I need their paper in addition to the paper I already have! When I ask them to email it to me, I'm met with dead silence on the other end of the line. That's when I realize they think I'm from Pluto. So after the awkward pause, I ask if they have a scanner. The responses run the gamut from a very proud "Yes!", "No," or "I don't know." How can you not know if you have a scanner??? The few who know they have a scanner are asked to scan the document to email and send it to me that way. Now I'm back on Pluto.....all alone. The usual response is "Well, can I just fax it to you?" "No.....that would involve more paper." (I'm being as nice as I possibly can, and that's not easy!)


When I email a document to them, they are SO IMPRESSED! But you'd be surprised how many people can't open the document because they don't know about "double click the attachment!" Seriously! How long have we had computers, email and attachments?

So back to my immediate problem. I set up all my folders and they're ready to be filled. Well....honestly, it's just so much easier and faster to file, by hand, each and every piece of paper. (The time I spend running back and forth to the bedroom to grab bandaids for all the paper cuts, is in addition to actual filing time.) Scanning everything takes a good amount of time and dicipline, and that's not my strength! So at this point, I have papers from January 1, 2009, neatly stacked, but in no particular order, ready to go!!

I guess I shouldn't make fun of those who are still looking for their scanner. I have TWO, and still have a boatload of paper to get rid of. I'll do it tho, because the best part of this plan is shredding!! I have a deep, emotional connection to my shredder!

Queen!

Last night Rocky and I decided we'd go see Queen. You know.....the rock band? I like most of their music but had NO idea what to expect from the live show. This picture shows how I sort of remember them from the 70's?


The show was held at the Pan American Center in Las Cruces, New Mexico, and anyone who's ever driven there from El Paso dreads the l-o-n-g line that can start on the freeway, sometimes 2 miles before you ever get to the University exit. It's so dangerous and it takes forever to finally get off the freeway and into the parking lot. So we left a little early, and when we got to the off ramp, there were only 2 cars in front of us and they weren't going to the Pan American Center! In seconds we were in our parking space, along with the other 10 cars in the lot. Seriously!

When we got to our seats, I think there may have been about 100 people at the most there. They slowly hobbled in until there were maybe 2000 total, in an arena that seats around 15,000! It was SAD! Most of the people were either our age or older and real out of shape. And there we were....front and center! Best seats in the house!

I've never seen Queen, didn't know their lead singer was Freddy Mercury, didn't know he was gay, and had only recently found out he was dead! But they have an equally talented (and gay) replacement for Freddy! He could sing and he did, while he skipped all around the stage, kicking himself in his own rear-end, and all while wearing a bright yellow marching band costume! Rocky said the real show was on my face! I had no idea what to expect. I turned to him and said "Maybe that's why they call it Queen?!" I'm sure Rocky was thinking, "Ya think??"

"Freddy #2" kept trying to get us all up on our feet and clapping our hands overhead, etc., but most of us were die hards! It wasn't gonna happen. Besides, I can hardly lift my left arm over my head anyway! A German family sat next to me and when "Freddy #2" said to grab the hair of the person next to you, slap them in the face and make them stand up, Mr. German man looked at me and I just said "No!" It was hard to tell if he was disappointed or not.

The music was really pretty good, but Flaming Freddie was so distracting! At one point he came out with an American flag drapped around his sweaty body. That was a little disturbing. Then at the end of the show he carried out a red velvet crown and cape. Wow. I guess he didn't see the need to model it for such a small crowd.

So as you can imagine, we had absolutely NO problems getting out of the parking lot, and we were back on the freeway, headed home in about 2 minutes!

God save the Queen!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Hope everyone had a great Valentine's Day! Our day started out with Jennifer's "vegan" whole wheat pancakes for breakfast. Vegan except for the egg. Eggs seems to be optional for alot of vegans! Yikes! Don't tell Jennifer I said that. But the pancakes were yummy!

I thought I had bought a card for Rocky, but if I did, I couldn't find it anywhere. I have a problem with cards. I always stop at the card section of just about every store and pick up several random cards, then proceed to never take them out of the bag and can't ever find them when I need them. When I do find them, years later, I always wonder "Hmmm .... I wonder who I bought that for?!?" I have a cute box for filing cards - actually I have two cute boxes for filing cards, but they're empty at the moment, except for a couple of sympathy cards filed under "Congratulations!"

Anyway, thank goodness I had watched the Today Show because Martha Stewart was on and she made the cutest Valentine cards, and they looked SO easy. I didn't really pay attention to the first part of the segment, which I have to say now, must have been the most important part, because when I went to Hobby Lobby to buy the stuff, which, by the way cost WAY more than going to Target and buying several cards, I couldn't find what I thought she must have used, so I thought, "Not a problem. I'll just improvise!"

I gathered all the materials together, and there were plenty! Then I cut out the hearts using a little heart-shaped box for the pattern. Here's where I actually DID pay attention to the demonstration on Today. Well it all looked SO easy, but noooooooo! In addition to what I had already purchased, I had to use super glue and then Elmer's glue when the super glue failed, and florist wire. Martha didn't use any glue at all! Or wire! The whole ordeal didn't go so well, but here's the final product.


While Rocky made rounds, I scurried around the kitchen making Valentine cookies and candy and was exhausted by the time he got home. And the kitchen was a horrible mess. I made some chocolate peanut candy and poured it into heart-shaped cookie cutters thinking, "Oh, isn't that cute!" But when the candy hardened, I couldn't get it out of the cookie cutters, so Troy and I came up with the bright idea of letting them soak for a few seconds in hot water. That worked well until we forgot what we were doing and hot water poured over the candy and made an awful mess. But it worked......sorta!

Troy and I decorated the cookies and as you can see, we are not in the bakery business, but it's the thought, right??? They all got eaten anyway, and we had a good time.

After all that WORK, Rocky and Troy and I went for a romantic Valentine's dinner at Peppe's in Canutillo. It's not a particularly nice place, but it has great Mexican food. After dinner I took a nap!

Hope your day was as nice as ours.

Seven Ways to De-Stress.......with a twist!

In my "25 Random Things About Me" post, I referred to something I heard on the Today Show earlier this year - a list of 7 ways to de-stress. The list was just different enough from most of the other ideas we hear about so often, and I thought you'd like to see it.

1. Exercise to decrease stress hormones.

2. Do some deep breathing.

3. Stay away from caffeine and alcohol.

4. Keep a Joy Journal. Write down things that make you happy instead of dwelling on your adversities. Keep the "daily grind" in another journal.

5. Schedule your "fret" time. ("I'll think about that later.")

6. Wean yourself off "triggers" such as checking the stock market every hour during the day, or weighing yourself every day. Check the stock market only once during the day, and jump on the scale once a week.

7. Take charge and take action of the things you can change. Let go of everything else.

There now! Don't you feel better already?

My "Almost" Top Ten Beauty Secrets!

Now there's an oxymoron, using my name and beauty secrets in the same sentence, but I've been tagged by Jennifer, and I must obey!

My beauty routine doesn't amount to much. At almost 60 years of age, they say less is more and they mean it. And it's so much cheaper!

Beauty Tip Number One: I HAVE to bathe or shower every day or I can't stand myself, and neither can anyone else. I use Twisted Peppermint body soap and foot scrub from Bath and Body Works. It smells soooo good! I used to use the Twisted Peppermint body spray until a little girl at church said "Mama, she smells just like cotton candy!" I thought I smelled all fresh and minty, but instead I smelled as if I'd just come from the circus. Poor Rocky used it once and the girls at the office said he smelled like bubble gum!


The Peppermint body wash makes a great bubble bath, but I have to be careful because if I turn on the jacuzzi, the bubbles multiply exponentially and envelope me! It's kind of scary because there's not alot of oxygen in those bubbles! The first picture is of a nice, normal bubble bath, the 2nd is only a few seconds after the jets have been turned on, and the third is my view of the bubbles while I'm in the tub!




Beauty Tip Number Two: After I dry off, I rub lotion all over my arms, legs and feet - Peppermint, of course! I have to wait a bit after I put it on my feet because when I try to walk on the wood floors, it's hard to remain upright.

Beauty Tip Number Three: Now comes the trickiest part. Makeup. I've never really been shown how to apply makeup, so I've been on my own all these years. So any thoughts you may have about what might have gone wrong on any particular occasion, now you know why.

One day when I was getting my hair done, a lovely lady asked me if I wanted to try a new type of make up "so pure you can sleep in it!" I didn't see anything different about that because I've always slept in my makeup, but I said "Sure!" like a dope, not realizing it was going to cost me more than I'm willing to say in print. For some reason, I thought it was all going to be free!!

She showed me all these different powders and "told" me how to apply them, but really didn't let me see what she was doing. Then all of a sudden she whirled the chair around and voila! There in the mirror was a CLOWN!!

On my own, I've slowly learned how to use this makeup and I really do recommend "Bare Essentuals." Yes, that's spelled correctly. It's reasonably priced, lasts forever and they have hundreds of colors!! I use only one or two colors myself, because I'm not very adventurous when it comes to makeup. The only problem with this makeup is, if a tear happens to roll down your cheek, you can see the track mark! Below are pictures of my makeup drawer and brushes. Nice, huh?



Beauty Tip Number Four: Applying the makeup, which is not the same as describing the makeup. Two totally different processes. First I start with a cheap moisturizer, like Oil of Olay or Ponds. Those pricey brands don't work. I've used them all, and look at me. If anyone disagrees, please let me know of a brand that really does what it promises!

Since I'm a middle-aged+ woman, I have several age spots....you know those brown spots we get on our hands and face. I was a sun worshipper in my youth and they're not kiddin' when they say "You'll be sorry one of these days!" My time has come. So I start dabbing on powdered concealer, and having alot of Irish ancestors, I sometimes get mixed up and spend alot of my 5 minute beauty routine dabbing at freckles!!

Beauty Tip Number Five: Makeup experts say to apply blush to the "apples" of your cheeks. My entire face is an apple, so it's hard to decide just exactly where to put that stuff! But if I mess it up, I just apply a mineral veil. That stuff is great because it blends all the awkardly applied colors to where they look.......not so bad!

Beauty Tip Number Six: The eyes. Now this part is serious because I happen to believe that my only redeeming quality is my eyes. Patti once did me a huge favor by having me color-typed. Everyone should do that because it really helps when choosing the colors you wear. Brown is best for blue eyes, so I try to stay in that color palate. Blending one color on my lids and another on my brows is way too hard. And the trickiest part of all is eyeliner! But the one thing I absolutely hate to do, but it makes the biggest difference, is apply mascara! UGH! After that task, I have to use several Q-tips to clean up the excess! I look like a little girl playing "grow up" with my Mom's makeup!

Beauty Tip Number Seven: Lips. You're supposed to wear a lip liner that's the color of your lips. So for me that's a liver color (hard to find)! Then I apply lipstick and that's about it. It's like coloring - it's important to stay within the lines! Occasionally I apply some lip gloss, but be VERY CAREFUL here! Let me tell you why. I have a wrinkle (or two or more) that go up from my lips to either side of my nose. Stop laughing -it'll happen to you too! One hot day I was at a quincienera flitting around, talking to friends, introducing myself to strangers and while they were all pleasant enough, they all looked at me kind of funny. I didn't notice anything until I got in the car and looked in the rear-view mirror. My dark pink lip gloss had melted and traveled up those wrinkles! Those people must have thought I had blood poisoning!! How totally embarrassing! I have recreated to the best of my ability, the incident for you here! (Oh, and forget the gloss debacle, look what a HUGE difference a little lipstick makes!! I think it's important to have lipstick in your food storage.)



Patti had a similar experience with bronzer. She put it on all over her face, and by the time she got to wherever she was going, it had collected in the wrinkles around her eyes, making her look like a tiger!

Beauty Tip Number Eight: My hair. I've had my hair long, very short, colored, highlighted, lowlighted, permed, and just about everything else one can do to their hair. It's pretty straight for the most part, but as I get older I have these weird "waves" which make it very hard to style. So I put a little product in, blow it dry with a huge brush, flat iron parts of it, then put a curling iron to other parts. Doesn't make much sense, huh? It usually turns out OK, but never great!

Beauty Tip Number Nine: Hmmmmmm.....I think that's it.

Twenty Five Random Things About Me.

I've been tagged three times now to do this and I guess I just need to get it over with. So here goes....

1. I don't like beets, eggplant, turnips or mangos.......at all.

2. I'm not a great housekeeper. My house is almost always clean, but it gets pretty messy. That's why I'd much rather you call before you come over!

3. I enjoy doing laundry and folding it, but putting it away is almost more than I can handle. Strange, huh? And I don't iron, because I don't know how, unless it's a pillowcase or a handkerchief - and who irons pillowcases and handkerchiefs anymore?! Actually I know a few people who still do that and I just don't get it.

4. I don't appear in public in a swimsuit. That's way too scary and disappointing.

5. I like to do daring things, like learning to fly. I'd LOVE to skydive, but I don't think my knees could handle the landing!

6. I would love to go to the mountains for 3 months, shave my head and see what it looks like when it grows back. I'm curious to know just how much gray or white hair I really have. I bet it's at least 60%!

7. One of my favorite kinds of music is Big Band. I got that from Daddy.

8. I love to drive around with my top down....convertible top, that is! The wind in my hair feels so good, unless my hair is whipping around in my eyes! That stings.

9. Other than my family, I have three really great friends who I treasure. Two live here in El Paso, and one just sent me a card - just because. The other lives in Dallas. She and I have been BFF's for 41 years. It's a nice, comfortable and fun relationship, and there's nothing I can't tell her.

10. I love technology and how it makes our lives so much more interesting and easy! I even love the way it smells when it's new!!

11. I love to play Guitar Hero, especially with Patti and Troy. We have so much fun!

12. One of my New Year's resolution is to be more positive, and it's really worked. There's only one subject that will immediately drag me to the dark side, so we won't talk about it!

13. I've heard that challenging your brain can help prevent Alzheimer's Disease. That may or may not be true, but since I don't like doing crossword puzzles, I like to play Brain Age and Big Brain Academy. My boys gave me Brain Age II for Christmas, so I guess they're worried about me too!

14. Earlier in the month, there was a segment on the Today Show on how to reduce stress. Most of them were the usual: exercise, take time for yourself, no alcohol or caffeine, etc., but the one that got my attention was to keep a Joy Journal. It's different from an everyday journal where you have good and bad days and talk about all the highs and lows of your day. In a Joy Journal you write only good things, like things you're thankful for. One day as I was driving across town, I was thankful for my car because it's so cute, and I don't owe any money on it, and I LOVE driving it. Another day I was thankful for the unconditional love I get from my doggies. Simple, silly things like that. Try it, whether you write it down or not, but it makes a huge difference in your thinking!

15. I'm nervous about the economy. We've lost so much money from our pension plan this past year, so now I'm just socking away as much as I can every month in a low-yield savings account. At least I know it'll be there when I need it!

16. I'm thinking about taking a nursing job at the jail!! I like the edgy jobs.

17. I seem to collect socks. Yesterday I cleaned out my dresser drawers and donated at least 50 pairs of socks to Goodwill. Don't worry tho, I still have at least that many left. Do you think I have a problem??

18. I wish more than anything that I had grandkids, but I don't. Maybe someday.

19. I'm really bad about starting projects and never finishing them. So when that actually happens, it's a BIG DEAL around here.

20. I wish I was thinner. I did Weight Watchers a few years ago and that worked well. Lately I have NO willpower. None at all. It's sad.

21. The older I get, the more I miss the people who have passed on before me, especially my brother Rico, and my cousin, Lurlene. I wish I could tell them one more time, face-to-face, how much I love them.

22. I graduated from high school in Mexico.

23. Troy gave Rocky and I a night in a castle for our Christmas present in 2000 in Germany. It was really a neat thing. We ended up in Paris for Christmas Day where we visited Notre Dame Cathedral during High Mass on Christmas morning. I don't have the words to describe that experience. It was so spiritual.

24. I love to travel, but I love coming back home a whole lot more!

25. I don't like writing things about myself that no one really cares about!!

So now I've fulfilled my obligation to Jennifer, CJ and Lisa.

Happy New Year!

We hope everyone has a happy and healthy 2009! 2008 was a little traumatic for our family and several others we know, so it's got to be better, no? New resolution.....Think Positively! That's not MY resolution necessarily, it's a good one!

We set a record!!

Yesterday, I whiiiined about wanting to go to the Sun Bowl game, but NO ONE, not even my ever dependable sister would go. Actually the whining didn't start yesterday. It started sometime last week. But funny thing! All of a sudden 4 free tickets fell into our laps and then everyone wanted to go! I had already called Patti before the ticket bonanza, and she insisted she was still NOT interested. Then about 30 minutes later the guilt set in, just like I knew it would!! (It's all part of the plan!) She said she'd go with me. You should have heard the tone in her voice. It was like I had asked her to hike Mt. Kilimanjaro! But I had to tell her we had no more tickets!! I think I heard her sigh of relief.

Anyway, as much as I love football, the ONLY reason I wanted to go was to see the half-time show. Get ready for this......The Village People!! I always thought they were so unique, in alot of ways! ;)


Aren't they just the cutest?!?!

They only sang 3 songs, "Macho Man," "YMCA," and "In the Navy." I think that's the only songs they ever sang! AND.....in the process of enjoying the concert, we set a Guiness Book of World Records by the most people doing the YMCA dance at the same time in the same place! Over 45,000 people participated. The last record set was in 2001 in Utah, but with only 13,000 people. There was even a Guiness Book Record Certifier there! They're real serious about ridiculous things like this. I haven't heard the results, but I'm pretty sure we set the record.

So they showed us "how" to do the YMCA dance, and after all these years, we've been doing it wrong! You probably have too, if you've ever stooped to that sort of thing! But we had SO MUCH FUN! Even Troy and Ben had fun. It was one of the better half-time shows I've seen. WAY better than Michael Jackson.....Patti!

The game was between Pittsburgh and the Oregon Beavers. The Beavers scored a field goal in the first quarter to make the score 3-0, and the final score was 3-0!! Apparently it was the lowest scoring bowl game for the past 75 or so years. Pretty sad. We left after half-time tho, because as I said earlier, it was all about The Village People for me!

Memory Lane Mondays ~ "Please leave!"

Quite a few years ago, the husband of my mom's best friend Leola, passed away. Patti and I went to the funeral at the Douglas Street Chapel, and it was packed. We found a seat in front of our Aunt Ernestine, who we LOVE, and listen intently to the talks. Well....as intently as Patti and I are capable. We really tried this time out of respect to the deceased. One of the speakers had been our Bishop when we were kids and he was an "interesting fellow."

About 30 minutes into the funeral, the former Bishop got up to speak on "The Big Picture." He talked and talked and talked and talked and talked. We started glancing at each other, which was a HUGE mistake. He continued to talk, on and on. We were getting fidgety and bored and just wanted to go home! As you can imagine we started whispering to each other, and that started the uncontrollable laughing. Aunt Ernie was poking us in the back saying things like "You girls never change!"

After what seemed like an eternity, and I'm NOT kidding, our former Bishop pronounced, "And that brings us to "The Big Picture!!" What was he SAYING all that time?? What was the Big Picture?? So with that statement we looked at each other quizzically, and started laughing so hard we were gasping, choking, tears running down our cheeks, shoulders shaking, and we could NOT STOP!

Aunt Ernie leaned forward and asked us to please leave the funeral until we could compose ourselves! How embarrassing is THAT?? Have YOU ever been asked to leave a funeral for bad behavior, or for any reason? Oh, and we're adults, or at least we looked like adults!

Memory Lane Mondays ~ Silly things my Mom says!

While on a trip to Mazatlan some years back, Troy and Grandma were leaning over the edge of the tourist cruise boat (and I use that term loosely) peering into the water. Troy was about 10 or 11 years old and was saying things like "Look how blue the water is!" and "I wonder how cold it is?" and "I wonder how deep it is!" Mother, with her brow intently furrowed, replied "What I want to know is, what is a participle!"

A few little things I remember about growing up....

1.  Sitting on the curb on a rainy day with our feet in the rushing water and trying to make little dirt dams
2.  Dipping my raw carrots in ketchup
3.  Mary the rabbit, Chocolate the dog, and Cheema the cat....and Cheema #2, the next cat!
4.  The smell of Carmen's tacos
5.  Playing baseball, and hide and seek in our backyard
6.  The smell of the little cedar boxes we always bought in Ruidoso
7.  Running away to Roy English's house, and Mom saying "OK!"
8.  Sargent, who had the most beautiful lawn on the block
9.  Our babysitter who always threatened to call the cops on us, and whose dad just              happened to be the Chief of Police!
10. The smell of mothballs at Grandma's house....mmmmmmm
11. Having to listen to Daddy read instruction manuals for each and every new appliance we ever bought! I NEVER read instruction manuals now.
12. Climbing the China Berry tree and crossing the patio roof to get to our tree house
13. Jumping on the Jenkins' trampoline and drinking their milk out of their side-by-side, restaurant-style milk machine. It was always so yummy and cold!
14. Using TV trays to slide down the hill when it snowed
15. Watching "The Mummy" with Patti and Rico and being scared to death - every time!
16. Flying kites in the park across the street
17. Rico throwing Patti's "Flower Drum Song" record like a frisbee over the fence of the reservoir because she played it so many times. He had warned her.....
18. Our dog Mutts, running around the yard with Daddy's freshly grilled (or should I say freshly charred!) chicken or steaks
19. Our flocked Christmas trees
20. How Mother made each and every Christmas magical

Survival of the Dumbest!

Saturday Patti, Mom and I took a day trip to Colonia Juarez to see Jennifer, Sasi and Jeneanne, and let Mom visit with her sister, Aunt Nellie. It's only a 3 hour drive, and very do-able in one day....assuming all goes as planned.

Our drive down was uneventful, which is great with the conditions in Mexico like they are. We got thru all the checkpoints without any problems. The only stop we made was in Casas Grandes to get Mother's hair cut and styled. Patti and I had been extremely negligent in getting that done earlier and poor Mom looked like a homeless woman, as you can see in the picture below! Her hair was down to her shoulders, combed to the side and just awful. We ended up at a beauty school and didn't know what to expect at first, especially when they showed us this picture of a funky haircut all spiked up! We agreed to it anyway, and you can see Mom wasn't all that thrilled with what was happening to her! But during the styling process, they used a curling iron and she look really cute - not funky at all! Aunt Nellie always looks so prim and proper, we just couldn't take Mother to see her looking like she did.


Our visit was great fun. Mother is 95 and Aunt Nellie is 92 and at first they didn't even recognize each other! We had to introduce them. They are so funny together. Their conversations are nothing but nonsense! But they have alot of fun together, and that's so nice to see.


Jennifer and John fixed us a delicious lunch. After we had eaten, Aunt Nellie took all the extra brownies off the plate, wrapped them in a napkin and a baggie and took them home. That was a little odd!



I called Rocky to let him know we'd be on the road by 4:30. We planned to spend the last hour at Aunt Nellie's home with Jen and Sas, but I always forget to include the time it takes to get Mother out of the car and into the house, and the reverse when we have to leave. It's a significant! By the time we were actually in the car and ready to go, it was 5:30! When we were finally on our way, but still in Aunt Nellie's driveway, Mother asked "Where are we going?" When I said we were on our way back to El Paso, she said "I hope I can go to the bathroom before we leave."

Grrrrrrrr. Patti, being "patient and kind," asked her if she could wait 3 more hours!! "Well, I'll TRY!" was Mom's response! So we looked at each other, sighed, and backed up and started the process of getting mom out of the car, into the house, to the bathroom (that's another story altogether!), back to the car, into the car and finally we were off.....2 hours late! After stopping for tortas where the store was closed, gas and queso Menonita, it delayed us just enough that when we got to the Santa Teresa bridge it had closed, exactly 3 minutes before we got there. We couldn't believe it!

I have to interject a story here. There's a military checkpoint half way between where we bought the cheese and the border. The soldiers there check mostly for weapons, but probably look for drugs too. Patti and I both speak fairly good Spanish, and between the two of us, we're awesome! Patti was driving so she was in charge of fielding all the questions. I guess the soldier couldn't see into the back seat where mother was sitting, because he asked if we had any "pasajeros" (passengers). So Patti reaches for the handle to pop the trunk at the exact same time I told the soldier "Yes, our mother is with us," while I point with my thumb toward the back seat. So up pops the trunk, and the soldier looks at Patti, then at the trunk, then at me and back at the trunk. He very slowly walked toward the trunk fully expecting to see our mother back there. I asked Patti "WHAT ARE YOU DOING????" She said "I got confused!" I don't know how she could have thought pasajeros meant cajuela (trunk)!! Finally we all got on the same page and he let us go. That was a close one! Those guys don't have anything close to a sense of humor!

So now it's 10:03 p.m. Being a little closer to the border, I finally had a phone signal and was able to let Rocky know we were so close, yet so far! Because the bridge was closed, we had to drive 10 miles back to the road that takes you to Juarez, which is supposed to go directly to the Santa Fe bridge. Well, that didn't happen. (On a side note, the highway we were on now, took us right through the Home Depot parking lot in Juarez! Isn't that strange??) We spent two more hours of meandering around unfamiliar parts of one of the most dangerous city in the world! Patti, who has this uncanny sense of direction had completely shut down, and I had no clue where we were, except when we hit the red-light district. That was VERY interesting!! All we knew is where we were, not where we were in relation to the bridge! So we asked a taxi driver if he could tell us how to get there, and he said he'd lead us there in his car.....for $5! He got us there in about 3 minutes and I was so grateful, I paid him $10.

It's now past midnight and there's a hold up in the line to cross the border. We waited at least 30-45 minutes before we could finally pass. When we got to the US side of the border, Mother pipes up and says within earshot of the immigration officer, "Is this the place where you told me to say I'm an American?" Another uncomfortable moment, but I don't think he heard what she said, thank goodness, because all we had to prove her citizenship was a Mexican passport! Those guys don't have a sense of humor either. We got home at 1 a.m. and were exhausted! A three hour drive took us eight hours!

We had LOTS of laughs on the trip, because Patti and I think everything is funny, but we were so, so happy to be home.