From snow to sunny skies...nature "takes it back", ha ha

It's been a rather crazy weekend...snow and cold temperatures one day, sunny skies and temp's in the 60's the next.  One of my gardening friends who plays racquetball said her garden was unaffected by the weather, as it didn't dip below freezing at her house.  Because Albuquerque has a valley running through the middle of it, it was most likely the valley areas that experienced the coldest temp's, so I'll find out from our OM at the office who lives by the river if her garden is OK.  She likely covered the most tender plants.  I haven't planted anything yet, but plan on doing that next weekend.  Ahhh, procrastination as a plus.  Doesn't happen very often.

I only have about 8 more days of class left.  I need to finish writing an assignment due tomorrow, and so far have about half of it done.  I can tell I am ready for the semester to be over, as I kept finding things to do instead of write....I washed the sheets and made the bed, took recycling trash out to the bin, restocked the bathroom, and fiddled with the damnable "sleep iq" technology on our new bed.  Which, by the way, I finally got working.  Last weekend they replaced the unit, and I didn't get around to working on it until today...which allowed a half hour of NOT WRITING.  This week's subject is menopause, and how odd it is that we women experience a complete shut down of our reproductive system and yet still live for decades after the fact.  The only other mammals that experience the same are two species of toothed whales ~ killer whales and the long-finned pilot whale.  So, from an anthropological point of view, it's an oddity.  Funny, I consider most humans odd anyway.

So, the sun is setting on another Sunday.....and you know what that means.  Monday.  Ugh.

\

Happy Monday tomorrow........

Love, 365

#WTF, it's snowing outside.....

Saturday, April 29th, 6:30am

Woke up thinking of what we have planned for the day, looked out the window....holy cow, it's snowing.

Doesn't really change our plans (except for dog walking), but really?  Most everyone I know has planted their gardens.   I'm sure the nursery's are giving each other a high five this morning.  

This is the second latest snow here in Albuquerque.  It's 29 degrees.  A few weeks ago it was near 80. Humph.  

Of course last weekend, Romeo decided to shut down the furnace.  It's not cold in the house, but it's chillier than I wish it were.  I have the bathroom space heater going here in my office.  Drinking plenty of hot coffee.  Keep looking out the window to see if it's stopped, but instead it's snowing harder.  

What happened to spring?

Love, 365

It's been lovely......

Hot tubs at 10 Thousand Waves, Santa Fe

I was going to post some photos from FB's "Memories and Photos in New Mexico", but thought better of it.  We have some truly talented photographers out here...go here if you'd like a look.  This FB page is limited to photos of NM, so you can get an idea of how beautiful this place can be.

Having said that, we are #1 in unemployment and car theft.  So, with beauty, there is a beast.  

It has been so lovely taking a mini vacation from work.  In truth, I only took one day off, which happened to coincide with my long weekend.  Which I have every other weekend.  So, am I spoiled?  Yeah, sort of.  It's still work.  And most people in the dental field work about 4 to 4 1/2 days a week.  So, I realize most of you work 5 days a week and likely wish you had my schedule.  I wish you had it to.

I finished my quiz for class early this time....instead of waiting until late Sunday or even Monday, I took it Saturday, but as we had two chances, I retook it this morning so that I could improve my score from 70 to 100.  Worth it, I'd say.  In a few weeks we'll be offered some extra credit, which I will take advantage of....no telling how the final will go!

I have a lot to do tomorrow....my jalopy will go into the shop tomorrow for the repair from being backed into at the Trader Joes parking lot.  It will be kind of nice to drive a newer car for a few days.  I've had mine for going on 14 years.  It shows...there's some wear and tear on it.  It drives well, and doesn't quite have 80,000 miles on it yet.  I do want a new vehicle, but will wait at least another 2 years before I go there.  It's really easy to get used to no car payments.

Well, I hope all of you have a great week!

Love, 365

It's amazing the difference an extra day off makes....

Lemon herb mediterranean chicken salad

Yesterday's dinner....if you are interested, this recipe comes from a web site: Cafe Delites.  Tons of great salad recipes, and probably more.  My sister made "fiesta salad" while I was visiting, which is amazing.  I especially liked the homemade dressing, so have been keeping that on hand for other salads.  

So!  I have been doing this and that ~ a bit of study, laundry, house cleaning, dog walking, racquetball (lately my game has been ON!).....it has been very nice to take a break from the usual hectic workday.    I think I've never realized how much pressure I put on myself at work, because frankly, it doesn't seem like anyone else really cares that much.  That is stopping now.  I will do what I can do, but I'm not going to take everything upon my shoulders in the future.  Wake up call.....And I am feeling much more "normal".  

Today the Sleep Number people are coming to replace the Sleep IQ thingy.  If it works well in the upcoming months, I will keep it.  If not, out it goes, and give me back my $$.  I will not keep crawling underneath the bed to reboot it.  

And now, for my parting thoughts, a little bit of fun from Peggy:

Please.

Love, 365

Unexpectedly taking a day off.....

This blooming tree outside of Target was too pretty to resist...

Mondays are always a drag, right?  I did not want to get up, get dressed and go on Monday.  I briefly contemplated calling in with the "Monday virus", but did not.  I sometimes get this urge, but 99.5% of the time I go anyway, probably like many of you.  Tuesday was the same, and I considered calling in again, with more intent.  But again, I got up and went to work.  It's not so much the workplace, it's just I have been so tired lately.  And, it was good that I did, as one of my younger co-workers said she would be late, came in for 30 minutes, then went home for the rest of the day not feeling well. 

I suppose I should back up a bit.  Last week, I was distracted and just not myself.  I had actually looked at a credit card sales slip and asked *Jenny "who's signature is that", and immediately realized that its a sales slip.  Not sure I've ever felt so ...... discombobulated.  And I had been transposing numbers so often that the OM said "maybe you shouldn't be the one to add the deposit slip today", and even though she was only half kidding, I agreed.  This week has been no better.  So, on Tuesday I put in for the day off today, Thursday.  I told her that I know it's short notice, but I feel in need of a "minute", and she approved the day off.  Thank god.  

I think it's just the accumulation of so much happening here, what with the work up to helping #2 son to move to Austin.  I guess it stressed me out more than I thought.  And I suppose I should admit that I'm not 25 anymore, even though I hate the idea that age will slow me down ~ ha ha, that's just insane, right?  Of course it will, but I'm ususally fighting the idea.  Almost as though fighting it will prevent it from happening.  Again, insane.  

However, I am off today, and as it's our long weekend, I don't have to go back to work until Tuesday. Hopefully by then I will be back to my "normal" self.  

In the meantime, it's great to be off today.....Sioux (the dog) and I will be going for a walk soon, while the air is still cool.

Love, 365

Wishing all of you well on this Easter Sunday.....

Why eggs?

Happy Easter to all of you!  

As with many Christian holidays, the tradition of eggs comes from ancient times.  Spring comes after a long cold winter, with less and less food to eat.  The birds and chickens begin to lay their eggs again, and in some cultures, decorated eggs were given to the special people in their lives in celebration of the "new life" of spring.  In Africa, the practice of decorating ostrich eggs goes back 60,000 years.  And so, as with so many other ancient heathen practises, Christianity applied the celebration to the church.  

Easter candy is my favorite.  My Mom made the two of us girls Easter baskets up until we had our own kids, then made them for her grandchildren.  We were allowed to have a few jelly beans or a chocolate egg before church, where we sat squirming around until we were, at last, back home to hunt the eggs.  There is a funny photo taken of me looking everywhere for the last egg, which was in the crook of a tree right by my head....all I had to do was look up.

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Son #2 has made it to Round Rock.  Friday night no one slept very much, as he had planned to leave at 1:30am to start the drive.  After he left, we could barely make it back to dreamland.  Saturday was spent with our phones in our hands to catch the text messages letting us know he was ok.  Much of the trip is in the proverbial "dead zone", because there's a whole lot of nothing between Albuquerque and central Texas.  The drive on I10 is undoubtedly one of the most boring.  We've done it many times, as we used to visit Romeo's Mom in El Paso when we lived in San Antonio.  Of course, the drive from Albuquerque to El Paso is almost as boring.  But, we have all sighed a breath of relief that he has made it safely.  His last text to me last night was that he could barely keep his eyes open.  I'm sure it was as boring as it was exhausting.  

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I am supposed to be studying (as always) and need to get back to it.  I will have another late night tonight....I need to decide if I want to stay up until midnight to register for summer classes, or go to bed at the usual time and get up for it.  I'm a little worried that if I go to bed I won't get up in time.  I guess I'll figure it out this evening.  There is one class that I really want that is likely to be very popular.  I learned the hard way that popular classes fill up quickly.  

Enjoy!

Love, 365

Why it's such a drag to read scientific papers. And the universe.....

Gee, thanks Google search...

I recently saw a post on FB that poses the question of why scientific papers are so blasted hard to read.  Since I happen to be reading one, and felt the need to take a break, I thought I would add my 2 cents....while complaining about it.

~using words like "ecological radiations", frugivory, folivory (which the computer keeps attempting to correct to flavory, ha ha), epiphenomenal, etc.

~using graphs that require 30 minutes (sometimes) of review before you finally get the gist of what the information is attempting to convey.

Truthfully, I spend so much time looking up words so that I can understand the content that it takes twice as long to read and absorb.  It's really too bad I didn't use one of my small notebooks solely to words I had to look up.  I would likely have filled up an 80 page notebook by this time.  I probably didn't do this because I would have to do it with the words as I come upon them, because doing it alphabetically would be logistically difficult.  How much space for words that start with A, or W??

I get that they feel they have to create a paper with so many complicated words so that they won't be laughed at.  I have come across papers that are soooo full of them that the content is over shadowed by all of the obscure words they use.  Perhaps there is some sort of unacknowledged contest we don't know about.  For me, I would appreciate a paper that is written in such a way that anyone could pick it up, read it, and then be able to inteliigently discuss it.  Ugh.

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Son #2 leaves for Round Rock, Texas tomorrow morning ~ probably 2am, as he wants to get to his destination before the sun goes down.  The u haul is packed, and his truck is on the trailer.  Smart enough to wait until just before he leaves to put his guns inside, lol.  

I know we aren't the only parents of adult children who have come back home and stayed for economic (and other) reasons.  Most of the time it seems that those parents are pitied by friends.  But I've loved it.  He's a great kid.  I'm really going to miss him, although I think he's anxious to move on (which is how it should be).  I wouldn't take back the past few years for hitting the lottery....we have all grown close, and have been able to learn a lot more about each other as adults.  So, we are becoming empty nesters again, and the second time around doesn't make the loss feel any less.  =sigh=

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If you've read any of my recent posts, you know we purchased a new sleep number bed not long ago. I had a devil of a time getting the "sleep iq" going again after an app update.  It happened again mid week, so I went through the process again (which is really irritating), and now, it's offline again.  I'm thinking I will pull out the processor and take it back for a refund.  It's certainly not worth it to have to constantly reboot the damn thing.  I'd rather have the $$ than the aggravation.  I don't know if it's because our internet has been off and on lately, or if it's the processor.  No matter, it's still pissing me off.  

And, on that cheery note, I guess I better get back to reading!

Love, 365

Spring pushed back winter again.....

The wysteria is coming along....

Just hang in with me while I enjoy a bit of blather.....

A few weeks ago we had temp's near 80, then last week we had snow (in the mountains, not much here in town) and windy, cold conditions again.  Spring is pretty flaky.  You turn off the heater, then kick yourself for having done that.  We didn't do that, but one of the patient's at the office was complaining about it, only to mention all she has to do it switch the thermostat back to heat.  So, why was she complaining?????  Not that complaining about the weather is a rare topic - it seems to be universal.  And safe.

Has anyone else had trouble with blogger?  Yesterday I couldn't get on at all.  And I had better things to say yesterday than today.  :-)

I was hoping for a grade on my mid-term, but it's only been 5 days.  And there are a lot of students in the class, so probably won't hear anything until Tues/Wed.  I do hate waiting.

We have had our new bed for two weeks now, and I had added the Sleep IQ technology.  It worked great for one week.  Then they had an app update and it wouldn't work anymore.  I did all the app suggestions to get it back online with no luck, so I started a "chat" to figure out what the problem was.  The rep said I needed to uplug and replug the processor, which is in the pump housing.  Do you know where that is?  Yep.  Right in the upper third of the bed length (underneath of course) and in the middle of a king size bed.  I had to move it away from the wall, do all the previously mentioned shit while contorted into a pretzel shape, then restart it.  Does this sound familiar?  Same thing with the internet, or the computer.  It wouldn't be so bad except for the pump location.  They need a redesign.  Seriously, why couldn't the pump be in a more accessible location?  Ugh.  If I were handicapped or older, I'd never get to that stupid thing.  I hope this doesn't happen often.

Youngest son is moving back to Austin next week...in fact he will be on the road by this time next Saturday.  We were worried about Sioux (his dog), because he will be in an apartment, but he decided to leave her with us until he moves into a house with a yard.  My "office" is filling up with boxes and stuff.  It will be a bittersweet moment ~ although we've been through this before.  It has been nice having him here.  Romeo and I will be the only family living in New Mexico.  It looks like we'll have to travel more often.  Driving is a drag because it's a 10 hour affair.  Luckily, Allegiant Air is not as expensive as Southwest or any other airlines.   Still, I hate flying, but that 10 hour drive is a killer.

Well, guess I better get busy with my list of stuff I need to do.  We'll see how much of it I get done.

Love, 365

The life of Riley

I think Riley is on the right.....

I was thinking about this phrase, and wondered where it came from.  Apparently Irving Brecher wrote a radio script with Groucho Marx in mind, and named it thus.  Some give credit to a poet named James Whitcome Riley, for a poem about the comforts of prosperity.  Another ponders if it refers to the O'Reilly's in Ireland who printed their own coins which were accepted in England as well. O'Reilly is the most common name in County Cavan in Ireland, where in the 11th century, an O'Reilly was the king (see below from Wiki):

In medieval times, the area of Cavan was part of the petty kingdom of East Bréifne or Brefney O'Reilly after its ruling Gaelic family. This in turn was a division of the 11th century Kingdom of Bréifne. For this reason the county is colloquially known as the Breffni County.^[9] 

No one really knows where the phrase originates, although it didn't become popular until the early 1900's.  So, there is somewhat of a mystery that surrounds The Life of Riley (apparently the last name was shortened at some point in time)....all I know is that the dictionary refers to it as "an easy life", which could mean few money worries, or just few worries, period.  

Well!  Now that I've got that off my mind....ha ha.  Son #2 is moving to back to Austin in a couple of weeks.  He is taking the old sofa ~ which has been in our bedroom (which is fairly large, although I should explain the only furniture we have is the bed and two night stands - we don't own a dresser), and has become the repository for clean sheets and towels that need to be put away, or clothes that need ironing.  I don't know what I will replace it with, but I did run into a consignment shop I didn't know about last week.  I will have to go have a look at what they have.  

I found the consignment shop when I took a pair of shoes to be repaired.  The insole was in bad shape, so I finally tore it out and bought insoles at Walgreens, but I hated them.  For one thing they were silicon, so my feet were literally swimming (I have very sweaty feet), and they weren't quite long enough.  I had spent a lot of money on those shoes, and they were still in great shape.  For $25 bucks, they will redo the insole, put on a new heel, and clean them up a bit.  If they look good, I have another pair that I love that are starting to look a bit shabby, and see what they can do with them.  Truthfully, I think the days of shoe repair are numbered.  They posted signs that required payment up front (probably because people took too long to come in and pick up and pay), and signs proclaiming they have had to increase their prices.  Do you have shoe/boot repair businesses where you live?  

Well, this has been a nice break from studying for an exam I'm taking online today.  It's looking like a beautiful day out there....a nice change from the cloudy rainy day we had yesterday.  

Love, 365