Of Balloons & Resubmittion Fees, wha????

Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta 2015 

We did manage to go to the balloon fiesta last Saturday!  Got up at 4am, and arrived at the park and ride around 4:45....to discover that since the last time we attended, the park and ride has become very popular!  Instead of city busses, they are now using school buses to haul us out to the balloon field.  Seriously, there were easily 400+ people out there.  

Of course, this was the first day of the fiesta, and I knew it would be crowded, and to their credit, it was well organized.  We arrived in well ahead of the mass assention at 6am.  The only negative I experienced was burning my tongue on the coffee!  

It was really fun.....and it wiped us out for the rest of the day!  I swear, we can home and napped for a couple of hours.  

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On the BYU course.....the day after I submitted my quiz, I received an e-mail letting me know that I might be able to take it again ~ for a fee.  Interesting, huh?  I suppose this is how they keep the tuition fee low for the course, by offering you opportunities to retake the quiz by paying for the privilege.  I don't know what the cost is, because I am not able to retake the above mentioned quiz.  Higher learning ~ so much of it is all about the money.  Sigh.

Love, 365

I must be a survival master.......

Just chilling........

Just finished taking my lesson 1 quiz.....made a 75.  

Considering I spent an hour reviewing the material (which was considerable) and hurriedly read an intro chapter for answers, I didn't feel too bad about it.  

The bad news: I need to take another quiz on Monday.

More bad news: I still need to work on re-writing my research paper.  And although I think of it often, I really haven't written anything new.  Oops.

I suppose it's a good thing that I see "bad news" to be defined as: Lets see if I can ace it.  Or, at least make a good show of it.  

I suppose that in many ways, I can be a risk taker.  Well, except for tight ropes, sky diving, roller blades (oh, god, I remember that phase, which was very short lived), snow boarding (which was fun until I got going too fast and nearly broke my neck), etc, etc.  

My anthropology professor is supposed to e-mail me on class dates, and I'm sort of excited about the fact that he seems to have forgotten all about me.  Tee hee.  I know it won't last, but I will wait until I hear from him.  Apparently they have company from out of town/state that are here for the balloon fiesta.

Speaking of which, I do have some awsome photos to show you, which I will do soon.  Plate rather full at the moment.

Love, 365

OMG, OMG, OMG............

I can't believe that I.......(Google images)

Crap!  

If you've ever read my blog, you might recall how excited I was to discover that I could take a class online with BYU to satisfy my history requirements.  I may not have mentioned that I would have a year to complete the class.  

Well.

I haven't been online for the class in a little over a month.  Life just happens, ya know?  I was working on my other class, and trying to handle all of the emotional ups and downs of my Mom's physical issues (it's a really long story that I don't want to go into right now).  I just so happened to check online to refresh what I need to do and discovered that there are some timelines I need to meet, and I've missed the first one.   THE FIRST ONE.  To say that I'm freaking out is a major understatement.

I truly thought that I would have a year, and I could just mosey (?) along and do the class on my own time.  I really believed that there wasn't any time frame.  

OMG.....I couldn't have been more wrong.  I had a quiz I was to complete.....ON SEPT. 9th!  OH SHIT!!!!!!!

I will do it (& the quiz that is due for the second section) this weekend.  One will be on time, one will be late.  Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit.

In this instance, assume makes an ass out of me and me.  

Love, 365

UUUUMMMMM.....

(Google images.....of course)

Love, 365

Mismash.....

Radwanska played brilliant tennis....(ESPN photo)

Well, yesterday evening I watched Radwanska win over Cibulkova, which she did rather easily....but it was her game that was amazing.  I was a little dismayed that I now know that she won the Championship over Bencic ~ I still haven't watched the game!  So, I will watch already knowing that she will win.  It's just a little bit of a letdown.

On Thursday I attended a lecture at UNM.  It is the first one I've gone to, mostly because the idea of going and sitting for a couple of hours isn't thrilling after spending too much time sitting at work.  I arrived a bit early and was sitting in my vehicle when a car entered the space next to me.  I look over at an elderly gentleman was opening his door, slowly pushing it until "thunk" it hits mine.  Really?  I roll my window down "Excuse me, but you just hit my car with your door" ~ "I did?  Oh."  Steely gaze (from me).  "Sorry"  After he and his wife exit their car and begin to walk to the building, I open my door and say "See?  I'm being very careful so that I don't damage your beautiful car....all I ask is that you afford me the same courtesy next time".  And, of course, we all ramble down to the same lecture, because many of these things attract the grey haired crowd.  And the lecture hall was big enough that I didn't have to sit anywhere near them.  Sheesh.

At work, we have a new front desk person who started a few weeks ago.  She was previously the office manger at another office (as was I but I didn't list "office manager" on my resume, as I was concerned that it would knock me out of the running).  Our OM asked her about it, as the pay and duties were not going to be the same, and she said she was relieved (or happy?) not to take on that role.  But it's kinda funny because she really gets going sometimes on how we need to do this and that.  She's really familiar with the software we use, so I've found myself asking her questions on how to do certain things.  Which my other co-workers seem to sometimes have problems figuring out.  Over the last 3 weeks she seems to have settled in well.  But I miss Pat* whom I had so much in common with ~ love of tennis, dogs, etc.  But because I only worked with her for 7 months, I don't know if she would be interested in getting together.  Guess I'll have to call and ask, eh?

Next weekend we'll be attending the first day of Balloon Fiesta!  So I'm hoping I'll have lots of cool photos for ya.  

Have a great week....Love, 365

Quickly, quickly......

Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta ~ Oct 3 through Oct 11 

The Balloon Fiesta is coming soon!  We already bought tickets through the park and ride, so on opening day we will be there (no doubt with thousands of others!).  Set your alarm clocks for 4am, folks, to be on the field by 6am.  Of course, there are evening events, but they don't include an assencion....meaning the balloons will fly.....they tether and light up, which looks pretty cool.  I guess I will have to go to one of those sometime.

Still looking for a dog to adopt.....am a little frustrated right now because I'd sent an e-mail to Desert Paws (a dog rescue, adoption organization) regarding a 3 year old corgi....they said they didn't think it would be a good match due to temperament (Sioux is "alpha" and she said corgi's are assertive).  We didn't even get a chance to introduce them to each other to see if it would work.  I think I will take the bookmark off my list.  I've had corgi's  before, and didn't find them to be aggressive.   Because I'm stupid, I mentioned that in the past we were interested in a dog that was being fostered, but the foster family never got back to me and I didn't want to go through that again, and it seems I put her on the defensive....so there's not much point in contacting them again, don't you think?

Well, I need to get going!  Hence the quickly, quickly.

Love, 365

Dog days.....

(Google images)

Exactly.  Right now, Romeo and I are "dog grandparents".  We have really enjoyed having #2 son live with us, along with his dog, Sioux.  

This is not to say she isn't quite the clown.....she sleeps/naps like this often.  

I think I'm ready to get another dog, but this time I want to adopt a shelter dog.  So, I keep tabs on the shelter weekly.  What we need is:

~a young dog, but not a puppy.  It would be nice to skip the teething/agressive chewing phase.

~a male.  This was recommended to me by a patient in our office who has lots of experience adopting from shelters, based on the alpha personality of Sioux.

~a smaller size than Sioux, because she becomes a bit aggresive if the dog is close to her size. 

Which makes the search a little complicated.  But not impossible.  Luckily, one of my co-workers daughter facilitates adoptions from "high kill" shelters, and she now has a list of what we are looking for.

There was an adoption event that unfortunately occured at the same time as my Aztec, NM trip.  But there are sure to be more.

Well, wish us luck....I'm sure the four legged friend/family member we are looking for is out there!

Love, 365

It's a dog's life.......

Corgi puppy, google images

There is nothing cuter than a corgi puppy.....nothing.  I would love to have another corgi, but they are too expensive, and don't fit into my austerity plan for retirement...ha ha ha.

This semester I signed up for 3 classes ~ pilates, individual studies (a continuing class on my Chaco studies), and an archaeology class.
~I dropped the archaeology class because of the comments of my individual studies professor.  He did not recommend that I take the honors class because the Prof. is overshadowed by his wife's accomplishments & bitter about it......and the reviews on ratemyprofessor.com.  One student actually stated "obviously mentally ill", and another said he took an interesting subject and made is incredibly boring.  Not to mention that his lectures ramble, and rarely follow the reading material, which is what you're actually tested on.
~I dropped the pilates class last week because I developed a severe migrane about 3/4 of the way through the class.  I had to have Romeo come and get me, and one of the gym employees called an ambulance ~ they checked me out, said I was OK (as far as my heart and blood pressure) and then gave me a gurney ride to the car because I said I didn't know how I was going to walk all that way, because if I stand up, I was going to vomit.  It was embarrassing.
**So now I only have the individual studies and the history class I'm taking at BYU.  I looked for another phys ed class, but I couldn't find one that was on the weekend or evening.  Sound familiar?  My ongoing issue.  If you're tired of hearing about it, truthfully, I'm tired of bitching about it.
**I was basically accepted into the honors program, but the MANDATORY class is on Tuesday from 1pm to 2:50pm.  Again, I can't take it.  Once I recall my current anthropology professor asked me if I would be able to quit work soon........yeah, right.

Why do I continue, you ask?  Well, I'm a senior now.  I'm getting close to the goal.  Quit now?  No.  I'm a stubborn bitch, you see.

Enjoy your weekend...spend time with your family.  Be thankful for your blessings.
Love, 365

Gettin' around to it.....

I forgot to show the before and after photos of the stair remodel.  I don't really have a before photo, because Romeo had removed all of the carpeting on his first day of vacation, and didn't think about it.  I would have mentioned it, but I was out of the loop for his plans.....I simply came home and the carpeting was gone and he was pulling tack strips, nails and staples out.

Our stairs, sans carpeting, because some people are impatient and impulsive.

Here is a little bit of the carpeting that used to be on the stairs.  Here, I took the photo while looking down at the stairs from the second story.  

Going up, anyone?  I think the risers look lighter than the wall on the left because the sunlight is more direct....but they are painted the same color as the wall on the right.

Another photo of the lower set of stairs.  

No, it's not done yet.  We still need to patch and paint the nail holes on the risers, and caulk the small spaces between the wall and the stairs (& paint that too).  We haven't yet started the flooring for the landing either, but the plan it to finish it before cold weather, because we will need to polyeurethane it after installation, which smells awful.  Romeo thinks we can stain it before fitting it in, although I wonder if that is doable.

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When I turned on the computer this morning, I discovered my wireless mouse would not connect.  I've had this issue a few times before....

      I spent 45 minutes restarting, turning the blue tooth off and on, replacing batteries in the mouse......over and over with no results, until finally it connected.  I find this so frustrating and irritating.  Why does this always seem to happen when I am trying to get things done in a limited time frame?  ARGH!  Get me a hammer, I'll fix it good!!!

Love, 365

Stuff that bugs......

Silverfish ~ Google images

Stuff that bugs me.....

Mean people.  You know, the ones that cut in front of you, give you a dirty look (who knows why???), are nasty to their kids in front of you (which makes you wonder what they do when no one is watching).  There's a huge list here, but you get the idea.

Daddy long legs spider

People that wear the most hideous outfits in public.  Have you ever seen the photo extravaganza from Walmart shoppers?  Yeah, like that.  Too tight, too skimpy, too dirty, too much cleavage.....again the list goes on and on.  It makes you want to run the other way screaming "my eyes!  my eyes!".

Cat flea

Public phone conversations.  Really people, if you want to have a fight with your mother-in-law, please keep it to yourself.  If I can hear it, I feel like I'm included.  And I don't want to be.......

Red flour beetle

Rudeness....in general.  Please treat your fellow humans in the manner in which you wish to be treated.  This means you don't cut in line, you don't make huffing noises when the person in front of you is taking a little longer than you wanted, when traffic is down to one lane you don't speed all the way down to the merge and force your way in.  Didn't your Mom teach you anything?  Did you ever listen?  Pretend she is watching everything you do, and act accordingly.

Bed bug

Facebook posts that show a photo of some pitiful thing, then declare that if you don't repost, you're an asshole.  Or someting incredibly religious with the same repost idea....which doesn't seem very Christian.  Or whatever.

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Classes start on Monday.  I guess I'm ready......there is one class I'm not sure I'm going to commit to, because my current anthropology professor thinks he is not a great instructor (because the wife is much more accomplished and he's not enjoying being second fiddle, apparently).  His "rate my professor" ratings aren't that good either.  I figure I'm going to one class, and then decide.  Although Romeo thinks I should just drop it now.  He's probably right, but please don't tell him that.

Enjoy your weekend!

Love, 365

I blame Pintrest........

*Google images

Well, today is the day!  About six weeks ago, Romeo was talking about some of the things he planned to do over his 2 week vacation...and one was about shampooing the carpet on the stairs.  I just happened to be on pintrest (I only recently found that it's not just manicure designs and make up tips) and viewed a before and after of a couple that removed their carpeting and replaced it with wood.  They did theirs in a weekend ~ well, that's what they said anyway ~ so we talked about it, and decided to go for it.  We talked about how easy it will be to clean them, and how noisy they might be too.  But in the end, we decided to do it.  

That was on the Sunday before his vacation started.

On Monday when I arrived home after work, he had removed all of the carpeting and was prying the staples and strips.  I was a little surprised, because I thought we were going to plan it more in advance.  

The following weekend we took a trip to Lowes and Home Depot for stair treads and that sort of thing.  We found them, and chose the pine treads (to keep the cost down) and discussed what to do with the raisers (which we decided to paint the same color as the walls), and finally found a stain that matches our laminate flooring.  

2 weeks ago: measure, cut and try in each an every stair step, because all are slightly different.  There are 14.  Stack in the house, clean garage, and collapse in the living room for some boob tube time.  Fall asleep.

1 weeks ago: Haul the treads out to the garage, belt sand, find sand, stain, and put on 3 coats of polyurethane ~ although that 3rd one was the next day.  Unfortunately, the stain was not water based as we assumed, and by the time I was done wiping the excess stain off, I was feeling pretty sick.  So I took a nap while Romeo did the coats of polyurethane, because he thought I would get sick from the smell of that too, which I didn't disagree with.  Repeat the collapse/boob tube/fall asleep scenario from the week before.

Today: Yesterday we cut, primed and painted the raisers (I'm not sure I'm spelling that right).  Again, we tried in each one, because again, all slightly different.  It was not as tedious because the wood is thin and flexible, so it was easier to "make it fit"....with enough force behind it that is.  

Romeo thought out loud that we could probably get it installed and finished yesterday, but I suggested we shower and have dinner, to start the installation today...hopefully with enthusiasm and patience.  Something Romeo lacks when finishing up a project, lol.

I will post photos (mayber later today).  Unfortunately I don't have the before photos, because of said carpet removal on his first day of vacation. 

Hopefully I won't bang my toe again, which really did revert to it's normal color/appearance within 3 days.

Hope you have a great week!

Love, 365