Celebrate Memorial Day with Thankfulness.....

Mom and Dad ~ probably 1960?  Stationed in Okinawa back then....

My Dad and I did not have a good relationship.  Estranged for years, I did visit when *Sally called to let us girls know he was dying.  Lung cancer had metastasized to his brain.  He passed away three weeks after our visit. 

But like many of you in my generation, my Dad fought in Vietnam.  The war sparked great protests ~ memorably those protests included veterans.  In 1971, 800 vets threw their combat metals over the fence of the capitol.  The men who returned were not honored by the majority upon their return.  It was a tough time to be an American.  We saw so many great and good men die, and later we learned of the atrocities committed by our own on foreign soil.  

Even though Dad and I weren't close ~ at least after I became a teen ~ I knew some things that Mom and Sis didn't know.  He had admitted to me that he was going to be deployed to Vietnam.  And he was scared.  Oh, everyone knew in short order, but his admission to me was spontaneous and honest.  I could see the fear in his eyes.  He was gone for a bit over a year.  And like so many men who experienced it, he was a changed man.  He had secrets.  But he never revealed those to me.  And now that Mom had dementia and depression, I will not be asking her.  

Today, I wish to honor my Dad's service to our country.  May you rest in peace, Dad.  And thank you.

Love, 365

Here's why I love anthropology/archaeology.....

When remnants of yeast from beer brewing were discovered in Israel, archaeologists went above and beyond to recreate the beer they drank thousands of years ago.....

Researchers extracted yeast from pottery vessels, and sequenced the full genome of each type of yeast they found ~ tough job, huh?  The analysis revealed that the 5,000 year old yeast are similar to African strains, and our own modern beers.  They then went on to brew beer with these strains and proclaimed it of high quality and definitely drinkable.  

Why did they drink beer 5 - 10 thousand years ago?  Because the quality of water was questionable.  Brewing beer removed much of the organisms that made their water unsafe to drink ~ especially in larger communities.  Remember ~ no water treatment centers or plumbing!  

Although it does seem a bit frivolous to go through all of these steps to create an ancient drink, it does give us insights into the life ways of antiquity.   

Beer brewing and the beginnings of modern culture go hand in hand.  Here's more if you are interested....

Now that's the kind of science I'd like to participate in....

Love, 365

Game of Thrones finale.......(spoiler alert)

Arya ~ one of my favorite characters on GOT

Well, if you are a fan and watched last night, what did you think?  Romeo stated he was disappointed.  I thought it wrapped things up nicely, although there were several surprises.  After Jon's conversation with Tyrion, I knew what was coming.  Jon always does what needs to be done regardless of his feelings.  But wow!  

There were so many epic moments, and thankfully a few comedic moments ~ I'm including the dragon in the snow that surprises Jon on his way to see Daenerys.  You might not consider that funny, but I did, due to my quirky and twisted sense of humor.  

I knew that there would be no enlightening discussion with Daenerys ~ did you see her face when she encountered the Iron Throne?  That's the face of someone hungry for power.  Arya knew ~ "that's the face of a killer".  She ought to know.

At any rate, we'll probably watch the last episode again before I cancel the HBO subscription.  

And you've heard that they may go back and create a prequel series or two?  Hmmmmm.  

Other endings: I finished watching the last season/last episode of Longmire.  I had heard that there won't be a continuance of the series, and frankly it was time.  It was becoming so predictable.  But it was funny to watch the last episode of Longmire and Game of Thrones all in the same day.

What did you think of the GOT finale?  

Love, 365

Out for a stroll......

The clouds and the breeze were just enough to keep me from getting too hot. 

Apache plume..

I'm not sure what this one is.....

It's been almost a week ~ the most common question I hear is "what now?".  I think I've already pondered this and answered it.  Art, photography, glass work, gym time, more racquetball.  If I do (and it's not a certainty) decide to go on to graduate school, I'll wait a year.  Everyone thinks I'll be bored.  I'm sure there will be moments when I miss it, but thats all they will be ~ moments.  Right now it just feels like the end of the semester ~ hasn't quite sunk in yet.  

It was wonderful having my youngest son here, and my sister is taking her last art class today.  Romeo and I are driving up to Santa Fe for dinner this afternoon.  I don't know why she wants to eat in Santa Fe!  Food is food, right?  She returns home tomorrow morning, and I'm sure she'll be glad to get there.  There comes a point where you just want to go home again, no matter how great the vacation!  It's been great to have her come though.  It had been a long time. 

Enjoy your weekend!

Love, 365

The finale......

Graduated magna cum laude in Anthropology....

What a great day Saturday was!  My sister and youngest son flew in from Texas.  My son flew back this morning, but my sister is here all week taking an art class in Santa Fe.

We tried to take a selfie, but neither of us is adept at those, so you take what you can get when someone else takes the photo...   :-)
Now, what to do?  Well, I've already checked for a final grade ~ yes, they let you graduate before the final grades are in.  We all assume we will pass when we walk across the stage, haha.  I know I will pass, but you know.....I just want to know how I did on the final.  The student I have been didn't go away in two days, lol.

One thing I've done is start using my insta-pot more.  On Sunday I made barbacoa tacos.  They were really incredible.  Today I've got chicken tortilla soup going.  There is a bit of prep work involved.  But once the prep is done the cook time is super short.   The barbacoa was 30 minutes of cooking.  The soup is 20 minutes.  It's not quite as convenient as the slow cooker (dumping it in and letting it simmer all day), but so much more versatile.  So, probably more of a weekend deal than a weeknight deal.  Unless you're retired.

So, GOT ~ have you been watching?  I watched yesterdays episode today.  Wow.  Romeo thought last night was the last episode, and considering all that happened, I understand.  I explained that there are 3 more.  Wonder what will happen?  I can't wait!!

Have a great week!
Love, 365

It is done.......

I am finished!  I completed my final paper yesterday and submitted it.  It didn't take very long, as I already knew what I was going to write (a miracle in itself).  All that is left to do is the graduation tomorrow.  

There were times when I thought this day would never come.  That the list of classes I needed would never end, they would change the requirements, or some other calamity would stall my plans.  Most of the time I simply focused on that assignment, or that exam without looking forward (much).  

 

Most of all I want to put here this:

 

 For Romeo, my hero.....

Without Romeo's help, this wouldn't have been possible.....for all the dinners he cooked, laundry, house cleaning, dog walking, and just plain supportive......I would not have been able to finish.  Maybe I would have quit, or perhaps never have started at all.  Thank you, babe.

Love, 365

Neighbors........

Where I wish I lived.....

Not my neighborhood, but my reality......

As I was procrastinating writing my final paper for class, I generally read posts from blogs I follow.  This accomplishes two things: it gives me insight into how people write which helps me in my own writing, and gives me ideas for my own posts.  Recently Rick  (link to his blog) was writing about his new neighbors, speculating on what type of neighbor they might be.  I didn't want to write a whole post on his blog about my own experiences, so tada!  Here we go.....

~When we moved into our house, the kind elderly couple who lived across the street gave us the scoop on the neighbor we have on our left.  "Evelyn" is a very nice lady.  Her son however, is another story altogether.  He is a "retired" mechanic who apparently decided at some point in his mid 30s that he didn't want to work anymore.  For all I know he is perpetrating the "disability" pension.  At one point a few people in the neighborhood called the city and complained that he was running a business out of the house ~ fixing people's cars.  That was ancient history when we moved in, but we cast a wary eye on "Earl".  One day when we came home from the gym there were cops all over, and apparently Evelyn decided to evict her son, who wasn't in the mood to take care of himself.  He did leave for about 3 years, but he came back, much to our dismay. Since then he does.....nothing.  Except make a nuisance of himself.  His most recent antic is putting a "security" camera in the back yard which Romeo recently noticed is sometimes (not always) pointing at our backyard.  So, Romeo goes out with his laser pointer when he notices it's pointed here...you know, just to drive him crazy.  Apparently it's not illegal.  Sadly.

~We've had a few neighbors on our right.  One was a drunken fool with a mail order bride (obviously Russian) who sometimes would lock him out when he would party too long.  He once rang our doorbell at 3am asking to use our phone.  We did not let him in. He died and his widow moved away. Now we have a totally sweet lady who is very sick.  I cannot recall what her medical situation is, other than she is very fragile.  And lonely.  I used to go over to visit now and again, but she would talk for HOURS.  Then I would go with a built in excuse as to why I couldn't stay (dinner is in the oven, so I can only stay for 30 minutes, etc).  But then she started adopting all of these dogs.  Dogs she can't handle.  They ripped up her furniture and soiled her rug.  The house smells horrible.  I just can't go over to her house anymore. 

We do have lovely neighbors, like Emma who lives across from us.  And a number of other folks, who wave and say hi, and sometimes chat in the street.  But I spend all day talking.  I don't want to spend all evening talking.  I guess my work as a receptionist just uses up most of my social skills, so that by the time I get home, I just want to be with Romeo and the dog and just veg. 

Love, 365

Let's have a little more fun, shall we?

No, I didn't get a new puppy...

UNM's mascot ~ Lobos (mexican grey wolf)..

But one patient actually asked :-)

Yeah, the paw print is one of UNM's logos.  Cherry red and silver are the school colors.  Plus, it was an excuse to get my nails done, which I rarely do.  The last time was Christmas of 2017.

And, in celebration of finals week, I have picked a selection of memes for ya..........

Yep...blogging counts, right?

There are definitely people in my class that are following these instructions.....

This one really cracked me up...

I filled out the online eval, and then she gave us another one on Thursday!

WTF?

As ya'll know, this is me.....

Of course I don't have 4 or 5 classes to deal with, but if I did, I'm sure this is how I would feel.

Or blogging......

I just had to.......it's just so silly

I don't have a final exam, but a final paper.  Yesterday my goal was to write 2 pages, and I managed one.  I'm hoping to write two more today.  It's due on Thursday, and I started it 3 days ago.  :-)

I really trying to care......

Love, 365

Time to lighten up a little.....

Not sure I would have gone with the Ninja Turtles though.........

This is so me, hahaha

This one is appropriate after watching the last Jurassic Park movie.....

**Update on the suv ~ I have decided to just be hot this summer, and if all goes well otherwise, I will stick with my original plan to drive it until Oct/Nov.  Will it be fun? No.  Yesterday I was talking to a friend who works in a department store who has the same issue with her vehicle, and asked me if I did any sewing.  She thought I should make a slipcover on the seat with slots for frozen blue ice bags.  I'm seriously thinking about it.  Sheesh.

I attended the ring ceremony at UNM on Wednesday to pick up my class ring.  Part of the program is to dip your hand into a bowl of red dye before you pick up your ring.  That stuff was thick, gelatinous and cold ~ it was like putting your hand in a bowl of clotted blood ~ gross.  There are businesses that give you a 20-25% discount on stuff (mostly food) if you go in with a red hand.  It's one of those silly school traditions that keeps going despite itself. 

I also drove to UNM yesterday to pick up tickets for folks who will attend graduation ~ family, friends, etc.  Only to discover that the person handling that won't be back in the office until next Tuesday.  Someone else in the office covered it for me though, so at least I won't have to drive there again.  Typical.  On Friday the campus is usually pretty quiet. But on Thursday my class mates were complaining that they had trouble finding parking spots ~ next week is finals week so everyone came for the review.  Also typical.

Love, 365

The ups and downs of life......

Sad news at the office this week.  A 17 year old patient hung himself a bit over a week ago.  The family is devastated.  They had no idea their child was in trouble.  Three of our staff went to the funeral on Wednesday.  There are no words.......just sadness and tears.

********************************************************************************