When stuff breaks.....

It startled me to find a pic of a water heater that looks just like ours....

A month or so ago, I reminded Romeo that he had talked about replacing the water heater a year ago.  I figured now that he is retired, this is a job that he would have plenty of time for.  But what I didn't count on is the fact that he never ever asks for help.  I am the designated helper, which is really no fun at all because on a big job like this, something always comes up.  It's the hose that needs replacing too, or a new piece of plywood he didn't count on replacing.  He becomes frustrated, and although he isn't directing it at me, I become the unwitting recipient.  I do my best to talk him down a bit.  Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn't.  

Romeo ~ in case you've never read between the lines here ~ is a bit of a loner.  He doesn't make friends easily.  And it would take quite a bit for him to ask for help from someone ~ other than me of course.  He will do the bulk of the work.  I will help only with a few things.  But gee, I wish he would have called a buddy to help him.  

Right before we left for our trip, Romeo finished off the microwave...

It's really tragically funny.  It had a digital timer on it, and you would spin a small dial to choose how much time to cook something.  Lately, that digital time was wonky.  You turn it a little bit and it would show 13 minutes instead of 30 seconds (or whatever time you wanted).  So we knew it was on it's way out.  I guess we have had it for 10 years or so.  Our dog really enjoys sweet potatoes.  So on a shopping trip he picked up a bag (an entire bag for Pete's sake) and proceeded to cook them a few at a time until he had cooked all of them, which he would then slice and freeze.  He had cooked nearly all of them when suddenly it decided enough was enough, and gave up.  But we didn't want to look into getting a new one until we returned.  I found the one I wanted and ordered it ~ unfortunately not available in the store (trust me, this is what I ALWAYS do) and it's not due to be delivered until Monday.  

You really don't realize how often you use something until it's broken.  Like when you get a nasty paper cut on a finger you figure you never use, until every time you do something you use the injured finger.  

My sister called me a few minutes ago and we commiserated together about our men not asking for help ~ apparently she has the same issue.  All we can do is laugh and pray.  Perhaps not in that order.

Love, 365

P.S.  Thanks to Romeo's awesome preparations, including building a simple ramp, we successfully placed the water heater on the platform!!  The part I was most worried about it over.  Whew!

A cold and windy fall........

This weekend I splurged on a two night bed and breakfast (sans breakfast, lol ~ more on that later) in Jemez Springs.  Of course I chose it because they allow dogs ~ Romeo doesn't think our dog would do well in a kennel, and maybe she wouldn't.  We'll never know... :-)  The fall colors were beautiful.

We visited the Valles Caldera National Preserve.....

It was so windy and cold we didn't stay very long.

The view outside of the cabin....so beautiful!

Battleship Rock National Park in Jemez...they have great facilities for cooking out, camping, hiking.

The cabin was just spectacular.  It had a full kitchen, nice beds, full bath and was stocked with everything!  Apparently they quit providing breakfast some time ago, but we were just fine with our own bacon and eggs.  The only thing that would have improved our experience would have been the wind.  My word, it was very windy.  Oh, and the few convenience items we forgot.  And from here on, Romeo is not allowed to pack the food.  We had not one single vegetable or piece of fruit. :-)

Have a great week, everyone!  Mine will feel short since I took today off ~ another bonus!

Love, 365

Beeing busy.......

It has been a very busy day.  I made sourdough bread this morning ~ seems like I am always tweaking the recipe, but it continues to improve.  This afternoon I made peach cobbler from some of the Palisade peaches I bought this summer.  The cobbler is a gift for our parish priest and his family.  As I'm anxiously watching it bake, I realize that nearly every time I bake something for someone (like a birthday or thank you) it's a recipe I've never made before.  Perhaps I just love skirting the edge of disaster?  Who knows.

Romeo was watching a documentary "Figure it out on the Hayduke Trail".  Toward the end, he was waxing philosophical about what this type of hike does for him and others that are so inclined...much of it has to do with a "wilderness experience".  It caught my attention (while I was doing laundry, baking, and putting other stuff away) and I thought of how few people would have an opportunity to go on such a hike.  Jobs?  I don't know if this guy was just out of college and doing this before looking for work or what.  Not something I could have ever done when I look back on my early years ~ I didn't have the money or lack of obligations to take that sort of adventure.  It is over 800 miles.  Because I wasn't giving it my full attention, I have no idea how long it took to complete.  Months, I'm sure.

But anyway.....what I wanted to suggest is that we don't need to take months to hike over 800 miles to achieve the same wilderness experience.  I'm lucky that it's basically in my back yard.  All I have to do is walk out the door and go right and I'm hiking the foothills of the Sandia Mountains.  I bet most of you could do the same.  I think all of us benefit from getting out there...to the open spaces and wilderness that is right outside our door, or at the very least an hour or less drive.  And this is a great time of year to go do it.

Love, 365

Taking Friday off.....

You've got to see the photos I stole off of Facebook this week...

Amazing stuff from talented people here in New Mexico!

Bisti/De-Na-Zin Wilderness  

 

Drat, I forget where this one was taken.  Outside of Las Cruces maybe?

Yes, it's the International Balloon Fiesta.....this was taken in Corrales.

Believe me, the Rio Grande looks much more "grand" from the air than it does on the banks, haha.

On Tuesday morning as I was getting ready for work, I thought about taking Friday off.  I was happy to discover that my boss decided on Monday to take Friday off too ~ he has family coming in for the Balloon Fiesta.  So I was able to take it off too.  But I'm not interested in getting up at 3:30 am to be at the park by 4:30.  I have plenty of photos ~ most not as great as the two you see here, but I have many.  I will play racquetball tomorrow and then do laundry and whatever else strikes my fancy.  

The cold I caught on the plane is gone ~ or is it?  I think it has, but my allergies have kicked up, so it's a bit hard to tell.  Flu season has started here too, had a patient who cancelled today because she said she has had the flu for three days.  So, why not call at least two days ago (or even yesterday??) to let us know instead of telling me when I called at 5 minutes after she was due?  People make me crazy.

In about 10 days Romeo and I ~ and the dog of course ~ will be spending a couple of nights in the Jemez mountains.  Hopefully I will get some great photos!  I would have preferred to have taken the digital camera class before this trip, but the lady who teaches the class had surgery and is just now back to teaching.  The nice thing about digital is you can play around and just delete if it doesn't look how you hoped.  But I do want to learn how to take long exposure night photos ~ something I never quite got the hang of back in my film days.

One of my best friends is a flake.  I love her anyway, and I've written about her before ~ the constant canceller (I should nickname her CC for short, haha).  We had a get together scheduled for 2 weeks ago, rescheduled for today, and now rescheduled for next week.  It's OK though.  She's so guilty now there's no way she'll cancel next week........or will she?  Lol.  She has a lot on her plate, so I understand.  It's taken me 15 years to get used to "letting it go" when she cancels.  She really is a lovely person, just flaky.  When we do schedule something I usually put together a plan B just in case.  

I hope you enjoy the photos and your weekend!

Love, 365

Family time....

Being with this little guy was the best part of the trip!

I spent the first few days meeting, holding, and gushing over this little cutie.  He is just as "easy" as my son said.  He really only fusses when he's wet or hungry.  Truly a joy!  My daughter in law offered me to stay with them, but originally my sister was coming with me and so I had booked a motel.  Which was rather a shady place.  Motel 6 in Santa Fe is a hell of a lot different from one in Round Rock, Texas.  I don't mind the plain decor, the scratchy sheets as long as it's clean (which it was with the exception of the huge roach in the bathroom).  There were a few interesting characters in the parking lot.  So I thought about flushing the $$ I spent to stay with family....except that there are so many people living in that house that I didn't see room for one more.  Maybe next time I will do it though.  

After a few days with them I reluctantly said my goodbyes and drove to my Mom's in San Antonio.  On the way I stopped at the outlet mall, but I didn't stay long and didn't buy much.  At one store I asked if that was the price and she stated they give a whopping (ok, she didn't say whopping, haha) 10% discount over regular retail stores.  I think the day of outlet malls is over.  The only place I enjoyed was the Williams-Sonoma/Pottery Barn outlet.  But as I was looking around, they really don't mark down much in there.  And it was HOT.  Too hot to walk around for more than an hour.  So I continued on...

 Mom's vinca's...

My Mom is doing about the same.  Very little mobility.  Suffering from the effects of Parkinson's.  These include depression, loss of sense of smell (which has been true for her for years), dementia, and now a new swallowing problem.  She doesn't have the tremors one usually expects to see, but there's plenty of other symptoms.  But as I said, she's hanging in there.  Her day basically revolves around her tv shows.  Some of which I really dislike, like Dr Phil.  What a charlatan.  But we did some re-decorating and threw out a few things.  It felt good to contribute to her care even if for a few hours.  

My Mom's caregiver is not doing so well.  He has prostrate cancer that invaded his colon.  He had treatment for that, but now he has cancer in his lymph nodes, so he's having more treatments.  Sort of like a genetic form of chemo.  My sister and I discussed what to do when he passes.  Which is basically placing Mom in a nursing home, cleaning out and selling the house.  That will be a really sad day for all of us.  I wondered if we should find a facility nearer my sister, but that would put her too far away from all the doctors she sees.  But it's in the back of my mind all the time.

I spent two days with Mom, driving back to Comfort in the evening ~ which is it's own adventure.  I10 has been under construction since before I moved, over 20 years ago.  Between 5 and 6:30, it's crazy now that so many people who work in SA live outside of it's boundaries.  My sister used to do the hour drive there and back every day until she gave that up to work from home. 

My time on the ranch ~ my brother-in-law's place ~ is normally so peaceful.  Now that he is recuperating from breaking his tibia and fibula (the surgeon said he very nearly lost his leg due to the damage to those bones) my sister has become the sole care giver, keeper of the cattle, donkeys, goat and chickens that they have.  Romeo voiced the thought that living in the country, far from other family members has it's downside.  The accident happened Aug 17th, and she's been doing all of this since then, and he won't be able to put pressure on that leg until December.  I wish I could have stayed longer to help everyone out.  And shamefully, I was grateful to get back to my normal life.

So it was a bittersweet trip.  Fun at times, tragic at times.  

I didn't mention that Southwest gave me a voucher for the price of my trip, so I will be using that to return next year.  But I'm not going in Aug/Sept again, I will try for March or April.  By that time my brother in law will be getting around on his own, and we may know more of the future of my Mother's caregiver.  And I'll get to see that lovely little boy again!  

Love, 365

I'm baaaaaack...........

At my sister & brother-in-law's ranch.....

It was so hot and humid.

93-96 everyday, while back in NM, the high was in the 70s.

This was supposed to be a vacation, but I think I mentioned before that visiting family is not necessarily relaxing, or sometimes not even fun.  I haven't flown on Southwest for quite awhile, I've been traveling through Allegiant which flies directly to Austin.  I picked SW because Allegiant didn't have any open flights when I looked, which I thought was weird, but SW had a sale, so I was able to purchase tickets for the same price as I would on Allegiant, so happy day, right?  Not so much.  

It all started when I boarded the plane that - of course - flies to Dallas first.  The standing joke in Texas is that you can't even die without having to go through Dallas/Ft Worth or Houston before you go to heaven or hell, haha.  Everyone had been seated when we received the news that our flight, which was supposed to leave at 11:50 am,  is delayed an hour.  Which actually turned out to be 75 minutes.  As we landed in Dallas I realized that I would probably miss ~ and did miss ~ my connecting flight to San Antonio, which left without me at 4:25.  We landed at 4:15.  So, they re-booked me on a flight that was slated to leave at 8:30.  You do the math....it was a long lay-over.  I ate dinner.  I walked around.  I read my book, and generally tried to keep calm.  But you guessed it, the flight that was supposed to leave at 8:30 was delayed until after 10 pm, getting me into SA at just before midnight.  I hurriedly grabbed my luggage and the rental car and arrived in Comfort at 1 am.   

These delays were apparently caused by Houston's airport shutting down due to rain & flooding, so everything was re-routed through Dallas.  

These are the stories we hear all the time from fellow travelers, and seems to be the norm these days.  I wish that we had train travel available.  I wouldn't even care that it takes longer.  It would be more scenic, and maybe more relaxing.

If only that were the end of my story.  The return trip was much the same.  My departing flight was originally scheduled to leave at 12:40 was delayed and they re-booked me ~ without even asking me ~ to a flight that leaves at 3:40.  So, hang out, walk around, drink some coffee, read my book.....ad nauseam.  Same ol, same ol.  Not only that, but now I have to go to Las Vegas instead of Phoenix, and spend another couple of hours waiting for the next flight.  And I didn't get home until 10 pm.    

The cherry on all of this was the cold I caught on the first flight, which didn't rear it's ugly head until Wednesday.  Sore throat, coughing, sneezing, mucous.  Oh, goody.  I'm almost over it now.  I take some meds at bedtime which holds everything off until about 5 am, when the coughing wakes me up and it's nearly impossible to get back to sleep.  

More about my family visit next time!  At least that part had some sunshine.....

Love, 365