The Adjustment.....

Organ mountains near Las Cruses by Sylvia Armijo....

Yesterday afternoon while I was relaxing after a rousing game of racquetball, I realized that I haven't been in my office but once this week.  There's a fine layer of dust on the computer.....oh, ok, and everywhere else in here.  And other than the interesting conversations in class, I don't miss college at all.  Now that my time is my own, to bake bread or clean the house and do laundry, I have rediscovered that I like that there's nothing I HAVE to do, like read 3 chapters of a book I don't enjoy.  It's only been 6 weeks since graduation and for now, I don't see myself returning for graduate school.  On the other hand, it's only been 6 weeks.  Maybe I'll change my mind.  

Not sure if I mentioned it before, but my eldest son and his wife are expecting their first child ~ a boy.  She's due the first part of August, so it won't be too long before I have a new grandson!  We were all talking about how it would be so great to have a girl this time (she has two boys from her previous marriage) but testing showed another boy.  When I asked about names a few months later, Son #1 said they were thinking about Frank, which is his Dad's name.  And although it's a perfectly good name, you don't really hear it much anymore ~ but it's a nice tribute.

A few weeks ago my co-worker mentioned that Southwest had a 72 hour sale, and I managed to get my ticket for right at $200, which is an amazing price ~ usually a round trip from Abq to San Antonio is 300-350.  I have to get up at the crack of dawn, but it'll be worth it.  Right?  Hmmmmmmm  So I am visiting for a week at the very end of August.  I'll only be visiting the new parents for a couple of days, then head on down to visit Mom and my sister.  I'm looking forward to it, but what I long for is a vacation.  And no matter how fun it is to see my new grandson and visit family, I don't consider it a vacation.  I want to go to the beach.  The dog is an issue.  Romeo won't board her, so if we do go somewhere we have to drive and take the dog.  Which means no eating out.  Or doing anything the dog can't do.  Sometimes it seems like he puts the dog ahead of my plans.  Oh, wait, he does put the dog first.  Humbling.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Love, 365

Los Poblanos in Albuquerque.......

Lo Poblanos is a lot of things: a lavender farm, an Inn, a restaurant, a venue for weddings, graduations (& etc), a farm store.  

It's a beautiful place to wander around the gardens and historic buildings.  

This is a part of the courtyard of the ranch house, which was added to over the years.  But it was a working ranch.  At one point it included 800 acres.

I love the old tractors they have here and there.....

John Gaw Meem produced many of the buildings in Los Poblanos in the "Pueblo Revival Style".  

He also designed buildings on the UNM campus.

 

 

 We went this morning for breakfast ~ I had the french toast, Romeo had the spring omelet ~ both of which were very good.  However, they need to improve their coffee.  Mine is much better at home.  Then we wandered the grounds and gardens for about an hour.  

The first thing I bought was a jar of their lavender honey, which is fabulous.  I also purchased some wax infused fabric for wrapping up my home made bread.  The sleeve I had made it too moist, so I'm excited to see how this stuff works.  I'm waiting for my sour dough starter to freshen before I make bread this afternoon.

Here's a link to the history of Los Poblanos if you want to learn more......

I'm off to finish laundry!  

Love, 365

Friday entertainment......

What a day.  After reading some of your blogs, it seems that I'm not the only one!  It started like any other normal (haha) day ~ I got up to get ready for work wishing I didn't have to go.  Once I get to work it's all good though.  All was going pretty well until the last hour.  A patient one of the Docs saw yesterday called to tell me her face was very swollen.  No, actually she said "grotesque".   Of course, we told her to come in.  And OMG, she was right.  I've never seen a case that bad.  I told my coworker I was tempted to send her to the emergency room when we were talking on the phone, and that's what the Doc recommended anyway.  She needs iv antibiotics, poor thing.  The dental assistant said she's never seen lips that swollen. ***Never let decay go untreated, friends. 

Romeo went to the gym, but I opted to walk on my treadmill and watch an episode of Outlander that I knew was going to be a tough one, and ended up crying my eyes out.  Sheesh. 

After dinner Romeo said he wanted to watch "Chernobyl", since it's our last day of the HBO subscription.  I couldn't stay.  It really freaked me out.  Those poor people. 

:)  :)  :)  :)
On a happier note, I received my long awaited diploma in the mail yesterday and put it in the frame I purchased today.  It looks great!  Romeo will put it up for me tomorrow, I still need a bit of reflection to decide where I want it. 

I hope all of you have a wonderful weekend!

Love, 365

Father's Day....

Happy Father's Day to my own.  He passed away from brain cancer, metastasized from lung cancer 12 years ago.  We didn't have a very close (or good) relationship, but I wish we could have just one more conversation.

 Romeo, Dad extraordinaire, my hero and my love.  

I purchased him this mug for Father's Day:

Although the "drink" in question is coffee, this fits him to a tee.  

This is one of the reasons watching TV with him can (not always) be annoying, especially if we're watching the news or a poorly done documentary.  

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

On the sourdough front, Romeo and I collaborated on the "extra tangy" recipe, which was a bust.  For one thing I put the wrong measurement for the flour he was to add while I was at church, and although he put about the right amount in anyway, I think the dough was over worked.  Still edible and a wonderful crunch on the crust despite our mistakes.  Most importantly, not worth the time, that recipe takes two days, as it rises overnight in the fridge.  Then another 5 hours.  Then make into loaves and another 2 to 3 hours. The rising time is just out of control.

Thankfully I have a haircut today, it has been driving me crazy enough that I am thinking it either needs to be a little longer or I need to cut it off and go back to short hair.  Sometimes I think all this bother is just a bit too much, and I should just wear a wig.  :-0

Well, I better get the sheets on the bed and get going....have a lovely week!

Love, 365

Things are heating up.......

We have had an unusually cool spring.  We had a couple of days in the 70s this week, but this weekend it will be in the high 80s to the low 90s.  I've been using my scarf (see below) for cooling while in my car....

It's a bit like this one, less than $8 on Amazon....

As I've said before, if Romeo knew my a/c was out, he would insist we go right out and purchase a new vehicle for me.  I'm just not ready yet.  So, I've been using the scarf to reduce the discomfort of being in a moving oven (it's a dark green vehicle, so it gets pretty hot in there).  The scarf works well, but on Wednesday I noticed that the scarf also wet my shirt.  Of course.  I envisioned Romeo asking me "why is your shirt wet?" but I headed upstairs to change for the gym and he didn't notice.  Of course, eventually he will notice.  When that happens, I'll deal with it then.  I just don't want to argue about it....and I still want a month or so to put aside a bit more $$ for a down payment, especially now that we don't have a mortgage payment!  And although I know I should start test driving, I'm not ready yet for that.  It's silly, but once I sit in that new (to me, I'm still planning on buying a used one) I will not want to get out of it.  :-)

I have started baking with sourdough again....last week I made two loaves and I am ready to make more today.  Although delicious, it didn't quite have the tang that it will later on...it takes time to develop the flavor of the starter.  I have plans to give away some of the bread ~ a loaf to the patient who brought me 2 epi pens after hearing about Romeo's bee sting issue ~ and a loaf to my hairdresser who's birthday is coming up and I'm seeing her on Monday.  I love sourdough, but unless you're into it, it's a bit of trouble.  If I didn't have the time I wouldn't bother ~ yay for graduating and opening up my world beyond the books and papers!  Oh, and one of my friends sent me a few photos of graduation day that I didn't have......I love this one, with my friend expressing the emotions of the day......

Look closely behind us...love this one!

Have a great weekend!

Love, 365

The Light and the Dark.......

We really only ended it 4 months early.  And there are reasons ~ like I need a new vehicle.  I figured it would be much easier to manage the payments once I paid the mortgage.  Let's just say the process did not go simply.  First I requested the payoff amount.  When I received the email notice that it was ready, I went online......and couldn't find it.  I had to call and ask where it was, because you would think it would be under "documents".  On Tuesday last week I called the bank and gave them the information the mortgage company provided, like they want it certified and sent over night.  The rep then tells me they can't over night it.  I should have pressed her on why (if I lost my credit card, they would overnight that), but I didn't.  I told her that as long as it gets there by the 5th of June, I didn't care.

Cut to Tuesday of this week ~ I called the mortgage company to check and make sure they received the check.  Nope.  Omg.  I freaked out.  Called the bank.  Only to find out that the twit who produced the check simply put a stamp on an envelope and mailed it.  No way to track it.  Seriously?  Doesn't it make sense to certify it or something so that it could be tracked?  This caused me all kinds of stress.  I mentioned to the person at the bank on Tuesday why she would think that was an acceptable way to send a final mortgage payment.

Ok, there was a lot more that I said.  When I get stressed, I tend to badger them until they admit they goofed.  Or that someone goofed.  Nope.  She wasn't having any of that.  She asked me how I requested they send it, and I replied that what I know about the banking business is probably the same as what she knows about dentistry.  I count on them to advise ME.  She finally admitted that the person I spoke to should have given me the different mailing options available.

Trying to cut this story short, I called three days in a row, becoming more and more frantic.  Discovered that if the check is lost or fraudulently cashed it would take 90 days for a refund.  The mortgage rep told me on Tuesday that she would make sure that our automatic payment would be suspended to give the check a little more time to arrive.  On Wednesday, another rep told me it was still scheduled.  Bottom line is that the check was finally received and the final payment was posted on Wed. afternoon.

I guess this whole experience spells out to me that you can't count on anyone.  I do feel a little bad that I was so rude to the bank people.  I probably wouldn't if the check hadn't arrived yet though.  It has been quite the week.

I hope your week has been better!  Enjoy the weekend, lovelies.
Love, 365

Summer time summer time, summ summ summertime.....

There are two types of people ~ summer people, and everyone else.  I have always loved summer ~
*the days are so much longer :-)
*the only time I need a sweater is at work, where they keep the a/c on "hang meat"
*my favorite shoes ~ no matter what the time of year ~ are more appropriate in the summer.  Namely flip flops and sandals. 
*best of all, it's watermelon season!!!

Sweet and juicy, plus the built in fun of seed spitting.  Most people buy seedless watermelon, but I prefer the regular seeded kind of melon, which I believe taste better.  The only problem with "regular" watermelons is that they are much bigger.  Romeo likes it, but I am the one who has to eat the majority of it, which is just fine with me.  Have you ever grilled it?  Yummy. 

Watermelon is the only food I purposely salt.  Preferably with smoked salt.  Hey, don't knock it if you've never tried it. 

Welcome summer! 

Love, 365

Rotation.........

Discount Tire has stepped it up ~ they send you notices by email to remind you it's time to come in for a tire rotation, which I received 2 weeks ago......."Yeah, yeah, I'll get to it" I thought to myself.  Until Thursday, when I heard the dreaded clickety click while driving to work.  A quick inspection showed a huge bolt or screw in the tire.  DT fixed the tire ~ I was so glad it could be repaired.  I sure didn't want to buy a new tire when I'm planning on selling it soon......

This has been a month of finals ~
*Graduation
*Game of Thrones
*Big Bang Theory
*Longmire (I started watching the series a few months ago & watched the last one in May)
*Sent off the final payment on our mortgage.

Oh, yeah that last one has me pretty excited.  In a few months (or maybe sooner???) I will be looking for my new SUV.  Guess I ought to start taking some test drives......

I've been focused on a Rav 4, and I've never driven one!  The Mini Cooper is another vehicle I've always admired, although my son the mechanic disapproves.  Not sure I will be happy in a shorter vehicle so probably won't test drive one of those.

Well, I best get to my chores!  I hope all of you have a great weekend.....
Love, 365