It's gonna be a bright, sunshiny day

(Bing images)

(;)) It's a lovely Saturday morning, and I'm sitting here with my coffee at hand trying to plan out the day.  I need to get the tires rotated ~ start studying for the mid-term exam on 10/10 ~ do a bit of house cleaning :-( ~ go to the gym for a little workout.  Why "a little workout"?  Because I've been horribly negligent and will need to start out slow.  Bad, bad me.

Trivia: did you know Frank Lloyd Wright's son John developed Lincoln Logs?  I still love those......

I did finish my essay and turned it in on Thursday ~ my philosophy is, it's all in the professor's hands now, no sense being anxious about it.  Because I was out of town the weekend before it was due ~ and because I did ABSOLUTELY NOTHING on it while I was out of town (although I had my notebook and books with me, smh) I had to kick it every evening after work to get it done.  I missed Ladies Nite racquetball too.  Lazy, lazy me.

Although the mid-term is 11 days from today (and she's not giving us the study guide until the 5th) I figure I will start reviewing my notes.  Although she does spend about 15-20 min each class reviewing the material from the previous class, we still cover a lot of ground.  I'm still fretting over the class I missed, as I don't see many people in class taking notes I didn't feel there was anyone worth asking to give me a copy of theirs after I returned.  I suppose I take tons of notes because the simple act of writing them down helps me remember.  I've already learned that there are times that the professor mentions things during the lecture that are on exams but not in our readings.  Oh, and the older woman I mentioned I didn't see in class is back, so I guess I've just missed seeing her.  I don't know if she's taking the class or just auditing it, not that it matters.

Suppose I should get started.....hope you all have a great weekend!

Love, 365

Oh, the humidity.........

It was lovely....

I should begin with how great the wedding was....and it was!  It was a non-stop affair from the moment I stepped off the plane until I went home.  It was a short trip, from Thursday to Sunday, so there was a lot to do.  Thankfully, I only had to help with the incidentals that simply took a bit of my time and freed up #1 son to do other things.  

However, there were a few glitches.  Like Allegiant Airlines.  Really, you just can't fly to Austin from Albuquerque for less.  It was less than $150, and there's no stick you can shake at that.  SW would have been (at it's cheapest) $276.  Having said that, when we landed, I couldn't figure out where we were....other than the fact they said we were in Austin, because we weren't at the airport I was expecting.  Later I found out that the "south airport" is a new area for Allegiant.  From there you are invited to take a 25 minute shuttle ride to the main airport.  It was not a surprise that I enjoyed.  

From there I went to the rental car building.  As I'm walking up, I see that the only rental car counter with a line was Budget.  There was only one person at the counter and a line of 6 people in front of me.  That was another 45-minute wait.  All of the other rental car counters were shooting people out to their rentals in 10 minutes or less.  Made less enjoyable by the fact that I had to pee but because I was by myself, I didn't want to ask a stranger to hold my place in the line while I took care of business.  Again, not enjoyable.  

After that it was smooth sailing ~ my phone map/directions didn't take me to unknown parts of Austin as it did the last time I was there.  I had a wonderful dinner with my soon to be daughter-in-law.  I met her older (5 year old) son the next day as my son and I ran errands, had lunch, and hung out.  He's an adorable kid.  Tiny, with glasses.  Very polite and nice.  The next snag was at the reception.

My ex-husband and his wife were there (of course), and I had said the perfunctory "good to see you!" to him, but hadn't had a chance to say hello to his wife.  I asked him and he told me she was "having difficulty" due to watching my son and his bride take their first communion together, which is a sore spot for her ~ she is Catholic, and my ex converted, but because he hadn't sent me the paperwork to annul our marriage, they are unable to participate in the sacraments.  Which I have learned from my class is a very big deal to Catholics.  I asked him if he was concerned I wouldn't sign (or whatever it is I have to do) and he said no, he's just been putting it off........for 10 years.  So, I kind of had to laugh at that (not out loud of course), and was also just a bit annoyed that she would pick this particular event to become a pouty, unhappy woman.  She walked out of the reception and didn't really come back, I assume because she didn't want to put a damper on the party??  Or something.  Sheesh.

I know it sounds like I didn't have fun, but I truly enjoyed my visit.  And was super happy to come home where the humidity level is 8-15%, and 74 degrees outside.

Love, 365

Look out Texas......

I'm leaving today to go to Round Rock for son #1's wedding.  Tonight I will be meeting my soon to be daughter-in-law.  My son already told me she's "shy".  I used to be shy ~ now I can talk to anyone anywhere ~ thanks to my job which forces me to converse the social niceties every day with lots of people.  *Stephanie is a dental assistant.  I've met lots of those over the years, and not a single one is shy.  I suppose my son is prefacing our meeting in case Stephanie can't figure out what to think of, or say to, her fiance's Mother.  Hahahaha   This outta be fun.

I'm kidding!

Love, 365

I miss George......

Do you remember George?  I was scrolling through the HBO lineup of movies for something to watch and came across what was purportedly his favorite of his performances ~ "Jammin in New York".  I miss his honesty and weird wacky way of analyzing everything.  Of course, it's always fun to listen to a smart, logical, non-sensical individual bash government, golf courses, "the war" on (countries, drugs, etc).  

I miss him.  He brought something to America than we hadn't seen before but desperately needed.  Someone who could shine the light on all the bullshit.  We don't have George anymore, but his humor is unsurprisingly current.  The only thing missing is our current "leaders" in his monologue.

You can find much of George's work on youtube.  If you have a spare hour and a half, you can watch Jammin in New York at this link.  

Enjoy........Love, 365

Oh, for the love of Pete....

Bing images

This semester has been an eye-opener for me......I've never had a class this early (9:30am), so my first trip to class surprised me with the sheer numbers of students rushing to class.  I had to find a new place to park as all my usual haunts were full and discover a new route to UNM due to construction.  

The class I'm taking "History of American Catholicism" sounded interesting.  I would have preferred "History of Religion", but this was the time frame my coworkers agreed upon for me to be gone from work as the least disruptive.  Although I was initially skeptical about the class, it is slowly becoming more interesting since the prof. is approaching the subject from a historical point of view.  We have our first essay due in a couple of weeks, but it should be fairly easy.  I'll probably have to pull the words out kicking and screaming, but I don't anticipate any other problems.

I must say though, that I feel more cognizant of my age.  Most of the students I encounter this time of day are quite young.  There was a student in the first two classes that was older than I am, but she has apparently dropped the class.  This is the time when classes typically thin out, with students figuring out they've overscheduled, or the class wasn't what they hoped.

One of our co-workers quit as her partner had an opportunity present itself in California.  We are hoping that a new dental assistant is found soon, although since the Dr they will be working with is going to be out for a week with their new baby.  So, although there will be tons of rescheduling, at least we'll have a little more time to look.

It's been a loooooong week.  I'm glad for the weekend, and some time to get things done before I leave on Thursday for son #1's wedding.  And what a knock-up that's turned out to be.  I did end up renting a car, which cost twice as much as I thought, and as my son isn't going to be out of town, he offered to get me a hotel, which I gratefully accepted.  Truthfully I would have felt a little weird sleeping in his bed, haha.

Hope all of you have a wonderful weekend.....
Love, 365

Two weeks from today......

Los Poblanos, Albuquerque

My oldest son is getting married again a week from today....I puchased my ticket on Allegiant which flies from Abq to Austin on Thursdays and Sundays, so I fly in on Thursday.  I hadn't planned on renting a car since I'll only be there for 3 days.  

My son said that *Suzanne would pick me up from the airport (his fiancee) which would give us an opportunity to meet each other.  Ok, so I thought, that will work.  Awkward, but willing to go with the flow.  This last Wednesday, he called to let me know that she can't come and pick me up because she'll have to be picking up the kids at school. 

Him: Michael will come and pick you up.

Me: Who is that?

Him: He's a friend who owes me money.

Ok, so unless you didn't pick up on that, he's sending someone I don't know, because everyone else is busy, and ~ oh yeah ~ he owes my son a favor/money.  

Excuse me if I'm not thrilled with this idea. My sister thinks I should tell him that I'm uncomfortable with this arrangement.  I want to tell him "what am I, a UPS package?".  My sis isn't thrilled with this idea.  I'm still thinking about it.  I know son #2 can't do it, he's a new employee at his workplace.  I'm looking into a car rental.  Or a cab.  Romeo won't even let me consider Uber.  =sigh=

Love, 365

Nooooooo.........

And so one dragon rises from the dead.....(bing images)

Here we were, happily planting ourselves in front of the TV on Sunday night to watch Game Of Thrones....for 7 blissful weeks.  Even though the words "season finale" were on the last episode, I didn't notice or think that meant we would be forced to wait until 2018 to see the rest of the final season.  Stupidly I thought that the entire last season would be played out.  I guess I'll cancel my subscription to HBO until next year.  

Wow, it was a great beginning of the end though, wasn't it?  Especially gratifying was Little Finger's demise.  Terrifying though to see the white walker dragon make its debut.  Not surprising to see Jaime finally realize that Cersei is a pathological killer who knows almost no bounds.  Surprising that Tyrian left that meeting with his life.  

Oh, well.  Now I'll have to wait at least six months to watch the final ~ final ~ season.

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Sunday didn't go its usual way all day.....I left for racquetball at the usual time, but no one else showed up.  One had tweaked her back, the other complained about her shoulder.  I think that in the future, I will not plan on playing the Sunday after a major tournament.  I suppose everyone was tired and sore.  I just wish they had let me know!  I practiced for awhile, then did a workout, which left me tired and exhausted.  I really need to work on improving my fitness.  I've been a slacker.

I did manage to do some touch-up painting that has been waiting in the wings for months and months.  I only managed half of it though, because I discovered I don't have a nice touch-up brush or painters tape.  I made do with a disposable brush and a damp microfiber towel.  It looks good though.  Now I'm ready for the larger job with the lighter paint color. Today I touched up the darker color, and all of this is on our stairwell which we upgraded to wood early last year.  It was a long project, and really the treads need touch-up already.  We should have sprung for the oak, the pine is too soft.  

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No matter how disappointing Sunday was ~ well, only partially disappointing anyway ~ I am glad to be off tomorrow.  It'll give me a chance to catch up on class reading and do some other chores.  

Happy Labor Day!

Love, 365

Reminiscing....

I copied these from FB....cute little chippies

Ahhhh, it's Friday afternoon and I have 3 days off thanks to Labor Day.  I sincerely hope all of you have a paid day off as well.

I had a nice massage, and then came home and watched tennis and caught up on reading everyone's blog.  Well, not everyone ~ just the ones I follow that I haven't read in a few days.  And I ran across this post from "The Chubby Chatterbox" which brought back this memory:

I was probably 6 years old and found a box that was sitting near the trash which I grabbed and took to my room.  I probably spent a couple of hours fashioning it into a book back that I could carry my books to school in.  I put on a handle and used tape to make a larger opening so my books would fit.  After I was done, I proudly showed my creation to my Mom.  Who looked at me with absolute horror, and exclaimed: You can't take that to school!!  I didn't really understand then, and watched sadly as she threw out my hard work....which I had made from an empty Kotex box.

Love, 365