Looking back at 2015....

Blue skies, tumbleweeds.....(Yahoo images)

I saw this photo and was reminded of the tumbleweed snowman that the city puts up in November for the upcoming holiday.  

I saw it while driving down I40, but it sure didn't look this big....this looks more like a tumbleweed gargantua.  Must be the angle or something...

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Well, we survived Christmas!  As this is the second year we essentially cancelled gift giving, I couldn't help but look back over the year.  In February I started a new job, and things seemed to be going so well.  We even started to discuss buying me a new car and keeping the current one for this and that.  Then in late October, Romeo gets laid off, and the same process we had at nearly the same time of year happens.  

I could get used to not exchanging gifts.  It certainly takes a lot of the pressure off!  However, I've noticed a few things (about me).

~I didn't do hardly any baking...no cookies, fudge, etc.  

~I cancelled the order of luminarias for this year.  It isn't expensive, I just didn't want to do it.  I think that I might look for some outside decor in an after Christmas sale.  Maybe.  

~I only put about half the decorations on the tree.  No one said anything, but I thought it looked a little bit pathetic, and regretted it.  *Although I must note, I never did anything about it even though the decorations were easy to pull out.  

I certainly hope that Christmas in 2016 is a little more festive than this year.  I will have to mark on my calendar a note about increasing my enthusiasm.  I gave a few gifts out, and received a few as well, but at home Romeo and I didn't do anything.  #2 son put a few gifts under the tree for us, which was a nice surprise.  Nothing expensive, just thoughtful.  And it looks like there might be a new romance going on, as he spent the evening with said girlfriend last night.  It is so good to see him going out. 

Plus, I spent more than one hour wishing that Romeo and I were more social.  He is a real homebody, and although I can appreciate the idea of hangin out at home, I sometimes wish we were going out.  I'm not sure what to do about that.  If I mentioned it, I'm sure he would encourage me to attend this party or that, but I'd rather be with him, so there you go.

Love, 365

Merry Christmas, everyone!

As the blogging slows to a crawl, I just wanted to post Christmas greetings to all of you!

I thought it was interesting that of all the images I cruised past, I didn't see one single Xmas!  Hurray!  I never like it, nor did I ever believe that it was PC, but just plain old stupid.  I suppose progress has been made.....although all the stores have Happy Holidays, but that doesn't really bother me.  

I went to our Christmas party for work on Friday, and took some photos, but was disappointed that they didn't really come out well ~ it was too dark in the room we were given.  The meal was wonderful (I was stuffed to the gills, lol), and it was fun.  Next week we only work 2 days and then we will be off for 5 blissful days.  I'm looking forward to that, and have some projects to work on.  I need to quick brine the turkey ~ Williams-Sonoma has a brine that is dry that you rub on the turkey.  I was missing the brine mix that I was used to getting from them, although I won't miss spilling it on the floor like I did a couple of years ago.  I will post my results & opinions for those of you that might want to try it.

Merry Christmas!!!

Love, 365

Who I am........

Back when I had more curl in my hair.....

And was cuter......

With no idea what the world was gonna throw my way.

My parents had some issues.  My Mom was desperate to get out of the rural Pennsylvania farm she grew up on.  My Dad was desperate to get out from under the thumb of his domineering, abusive father.  Oh, yeah, my Dad's Dad (good ol' Grandpa) was pretty awful.  I was scared of him when I was 9, when he dragged Grandma halfway around the country to see us, during which time she was on her way of dying of breast cancer, because she believed in faith healing instead of Dr's.  I was in my Grandfather's company only a few times, and even as a constantly optimistic kid that I was, I knew he was not a good guy.  He passed away a long time ago.  I hope the alligators ate him ~ he was living in Florida somewhere near the Everglades.  

My Dad never graduated from high school.  He enlisted with the Air Force, and they ended up in Bosier City Louisiana, where the base there is most likely the only thing that keeps the city going.  I've seen pictures of the base housing ~ yowza.  The house looked like a box, and probably had asbestos siding.  After my little sister was born, Dad was transferred to Okinawa Japan.  I guess the Air Force sent so many people to Okinawa that we lived off base, as there wasn't any housing available on it.  So, I played with the kids in the neighborhood, and quickly learned how to speak the language (which I promptly forgot when we came back to the states because my parents never learned more than a few words, and my sister forgot faster than I did).  We traveled and visited gardens and shrines, and it was really pretty charming to me.  I looked up some photos online, and realize that it was a very poor part of Japan for many.  Here's a few that show what I mean.

Of course, I don't remember it like this at all, and unfortunately I don't yet have the slides out of storage yet ~ my sister is supposed to get them to me soon, since she had to get the Christmas decorations out of their storage pod.  

When we moved back to the U.S., my parents purchased a new car and apparently it burned up in Colorado.  I bet my Mom totally freaked out.  Stuck in the backwoods of Colorado with two little kids and a burned out car?  Yeah.  

We did end up in San Antonio, Texas, where Dad was a drill sergeant (you have no idea how appropriate that job was), and Mom worked on base in the legal department.  I spent at least 3 days hiding out in houses that we under construction instead of going to school until a neighbor found me and ratted me out.  And so it begins...........

More later.  

Love, 365 

It's the silly season......

Mmmmm, cookies.  (Google images)

Before I write on my blog, I read all the unread posts of all the blogs I follow.  I suppose I just want to catch up with everyone else's news before I write my own, and sometimes I get ideas of what to write from them as well.  I like to start at the bottom of the list and go up.  I do this because the most prolific writer I read on a regular basis is at the top of an alphabetical list.  For those of you that have let 10 months go by without a post, I will probably take you off of my reading list just to avoid the disappointment.

This year, as Romeo is unemployed during the same time frame as I was last year, we have again cancelled Christmas.  Last year Romeo insisted I decorate anyway, which I did.  I've noticed that he isn't insisting this year.  I'm not saying anything, in hopes we can skip it.  In fact, I'm rather enjoying the freedom of not having to worry about gift buying (although I do need to buy something for the office party).  I just might have to make this a habit...although I suppose that we will continue to decorate.  Maybe.  

Me Mum is going home today.  Apparently there has been a mad rush to have a hospital bed set up and be there for the delivery of a lift chair.  My understanding is that since she was not making any progress, she might as well be at home.  The only thing I don't understand is why this decision was made near the last minute.  Perhaps because it is Friday.  I am clueless.  My sister and I had quite a talk about Mum yesterday, and it seems that we both believe that within 6 months (or less) she will probably have to go into a nursing home.  I understand that she is afraid of falling again, but I don't understand how someone would fail to put forth some effort to stay home.  I really hope I'm wrong.

I had a meeting with an adviser today at UNM, and after a discussion about a class that I really want to take, she suggested that I e-mail Prof. *** and ask if I could take one class and have it substitute for another.  Turns out there are TWO Prof. ***'s, so I had to e-mail her back and ask which one it is. Or, I might just e-mail both and ask the one it doesn't pertain to "please disregard if you are not in the anthropology department".  :-(  

Well, that's about all I have.  Nothing exciting.  Nothing earth-shattering, or otherwise interesting.  Just the usual day to day bullshit.  Yep.  It's my life:-)

Love, 365