Shopping in Las Cruces, NM

The picture of failure

Las Cruces means "The Crosses" in Spanish.

I need new blue jeans really bad. My favorite pair, I wear them a lot, well the seam in the inner thigh is popping apart. Sigh. How I hate shopping for pants.

When we lived in Southern California I always wondered what Dillard's was. Now I've been in a Dillard's. It's a great store. They carry Wacoal bras. Those are the best.

This is a picture of failure for me though. I marched in, went shopping, and left with nothing. Nothing. Nada. Zip. It's very sad. I threw my pants away this morning. I'll have to make due with others that aren't my favorite until I can buy a pair I really like.

Chicken soup made with love

I made delicious homemade chicken soup tonight. It's easy peasy to make, and so good for you. Now I'm making chocolate chip cookies at our son's request. He was a big help with mixing. He's got the strongest little arms.

Church gave me a complete attitude readjustment. I went in ready to kill the world and came out all happy, happy, joy, joy. Nothing big really happened, but somehow just dragging my behind out of bed and getting myself in there pulled me all back together.

My husband is not funny lately. I told him he needs to go to humorist's school because he is so very unfunny. He said if he's not funny then why am I laughing. I can't help it that's why, but I'm not telling him he's funny or it'll encourage him. He's so puerile. I, in contrast, am far more mature.

I believe I would like to visit Europe! Also, I've been thinking I'd like to take us to Africa someday. Before we traveled much through the United States I thought, no way, Africa is too far away and you have to get shots. But now that we've been traveling for six months I think I've changed my mind. I need to decide which tribes I'd like to meet and which places are safe for visitors, with a child.

I mixed some gardenia perfume oil with my shea butter. Now it stinks. I like the gardenia fragrance in my monoi oil so much better. I threw out the gardenia perfume oil. I'll have to use up the gardenia shea butter on my feet. My feet won't care. Good thing I only made up a (relatively) small amount.

Tonight is the first night of Advent. At dinner we lit the first candle in our Advent wreath, the candle symbolizing Hope. I had our son read a couple verses from Isaiah. We sang O Come All Ye Faithful. Our usual Advent wreath is a fancy gold circular candle holder but it's in storage so today my husband took me to the store and I bought a square of styrofoam and stuck the candles in it. I was going to have our son pick some creosote to decorate the base (usually one uses evergreen) but it was SO windy today he couldn't do it. Instead, all on his own, he used green construction paper. I think this is the nicest Advent wreath we ever had. I think this is going to be the best Christmas we ever had.

Digital scrapbooking

Heaven help me. Will you look at this? It's called digital scrapbooking! Looks like it could be addictive. I never got into actual scrapbooking but this I could dig. As if I need to spend more time with photos and Photoshop.

I make calendars for family each year and found a cute scrapbooking calendar package for $6.99. Just drop in your own photos. I think I'm going to get it.

The worst

I am the worst Christian. I'm having to start over on my not saying bad words yet again today. Hellooooo. I'm starting over and over and over lately. What's the poinnnnnt. Now, two days in a row I'm starting over. And after I went for about two months with a clean mouth too. "May the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be pleasing to you." I could just stop trying and be done with it. And it's all my husband's fault. He makes me do it! Every single time it's been because of him. He says don't worry, just let a few bad words out, you're done, and go on. Yeah, and he's an ex-sailor. He says don't hold it in because I tend to hold things in then very, very slowly I have a nuclear melt down. This is my Christian support? Bah!

Going for a drive

We're going for a drive to see some petroglyphs.

We were almost going to be camp hosts at Elephant Butte Lake State Park. We like it here and if you work as a camp host you get a camping space for free with full hook-ups. If you're just a regular camper then you only have fresh water and electricity. This means that every few days one must connect up to the truck and go empty the grey water tank. It would be mighty nice to have the full hook-up deal and save money to boot. We'll see what the Lord has in store for us.

In New Mexico the post office and state parks fly their flags at half staff when a soldier dies in Iraq. They don't do that in California. I was wondering why. Maybe too many Califonians die and they'd have to put the flag down too often? I will have to find out the reason.

Fried chicken and swirly bun

I cooked fried chicken and made gravy tonight. It turned out real good. It's my husband's favorite dish that I make (and I don't make much). My aunt in Nebraska taught me how to fry.

Tonight I made my first swirly bun. I like it so well I may sleep in it. I've been trying to make one for, oh, about three days. I just couldn't seem to do it, then tonight I tried again and got it. See, you just have to keep trying.

Two nights ago I finished my Mitford series books. I loved the seventh (and last) one. Now there are no more for me to read. How sad. I hated book number six though. Why in the world would the author go back and do a whole book just on the wedding. I couldn't bear it. Dull, boring. I seriously skimmed 90% of it. Book six just stinks.

Up and down, peaks and valleys

Finding my life verse was such a thrill that I was flying high. I'd wanted one for so long and finding the right one, mine, was a tall order. After I found it I floated down to earth and then crashed! Sunday I felt terrible and empty all day long. Actually, my husband went to the store which is a good distance and I started feeling bad right after he left. Plus, I read a story in an online paper about a bad crime. I wish I hadn't read it. I got a stomach ache from it which didn't help matters. I cannot read Ann Rule or any sort of horror stories or I'll wake in the night screaming. Husband says I'm too impressionable.

So all day I felt rather awful and horrible and then that night got on my computer, thinking and surfing about gifts to make for Christmas. Last summer I found a beading magazine with three new patterns for barefoot sandals and I felt rich! like I hit the jackpot. It took me 1/2 hour to find it (wonder of wonders, how can you lose something in 24 feet of space?), then I was shopping online for beads when I remembered how interested I was in making a rosary or a chaplet last year. I haven't beaded at all since we left home. I thought I would do it in winter when the weather was bad but here in New Mexico it's quite sunny. Cool, but sunny. So it all rushed back to me and I revisited some sites I liked about making a rosary and saying the rosary and I suddenly felt wonderful again. Funny how something so small can completely turn your world around.

Added olive oil to diet

I made Italian dressing last night, you know the Good Seasons brand packages and cruet you buy at the store? I used extra virgin olive oil for the oil! It tasted good. Olive oil is healthy food for your heart. Yeah, yeah, that's great, but more important, it's good for your hair.

My son saw me mixing it up and said, "Isn't that the olive oil for your hair Mamma?" I told him it was and he said, "I'm not eating that. It's for hair." Sigh. It's not like I dip my hair right in the bottle you know.

Better hair

Hair pics

In August I was unhappy with how my hair was looking and feeling (I hate this picture). I liked that it was finally feeling longer, yet it wasn't looking g-o-o-d like a girl wants look. You'd think that because hair is dead you'd be stuck, but because dead hair does respond to TLC you can improve it, thank goodness.

Last month I stopped blow-frying, cold turkey baby. Huge step. I still miss the blow-dryer but as the saying goes, the proof is in the pudding. I was using Suave shampoo and Aubrey Organics cream rinse, and in October I changed to Body Shop Honey Moisturizing Shampoo and the conditioner too. They are as Leia says, very moisturizing, moreso than any product I've used. I think this better enables me to wash once a week. I think the Suave pretty well stripped all natural oils clean. The Honey Moisturizing shampoo does make my hair squeak though, so I wonder if it also strips the oils the same way. Dunno, but it's working better for me.

I do a white vinegar rinse every week. I was suspicious that the ACV was leaving a slightly red tint on my hair and I don't need more of that so I changed to white. I've decreased the vin to water dilution (or do I say solution) too. I was using say, 40% vinegar and 60% water because I was freaking out about keeping my scalp clean and not itchy. I, ahem, may have been overdoing it. No ill effects, but less might be better. This week I did 1/4 cup vin mixed with 2 cups water. I do the vin last on my scalp, but use the conditioner last on my ends.

My hair was so luxurious after I washed it this week! Now that I've been washing once a week for a month (was doing every five days) I can wear my hair down if I want for four days after a wash, but day five and after, must wear up!

I'm pleased with how it's growing out after my September trim. I was a little bummed to have to cut three inches off, but I'm glad I did. I'm amazed by the difference in the two photos. It's like, I trimmed, I stopped using the blow-fryer, I cut down even more on washes, changed products, and Whoa! It's shinier, looks healthier and thicker, and I'm on my way to longer lengths again. Or, it's like my pony started going the wrong way but I turned him around and I'm back on track again. Yay! Or, like in roller derby, I'm on the Thunderbirds and Raquel pushed me down and kicked me and I'm up again and I'm gonna catch up with her highness and yank her arm and pull her hair and put my knee in her back till she screams. Oh dear me, how'd I get down this bunny trail? (My favorite saying from Michele!)

My life verse

A life verse is like an ongoing theme for your life. Your motto. It's a verse or a chapter from the Bible that's custom fit for you. You don't really need one but it's nice to have one if you want one. It's a satisfying process to search, reflect, contemplate and take that which is inside thy self and turn it outside thy self. Oops, I didn't mean to go King James on you!

I'd been reading my Bible as Kara suggested. Immersed myself in the Word but I was coming up with zip. But I'd also been reading the Mitford Series. They're "wholesome" books with a Christian theme and the author, Jan Karon, has much knowledge of the bible which she deftly weaves throughout the stories. Since reading her books my conversations have been peppered with colorful phrases like "I'll be et for a tater" and "Boy howdy" and "Yer gonna make my glass eye cry." Fun! And I did not overlook the fact that the character Olivia has her own life verse and she mentions it and leans on it often.

In the fifth book of the series on page 194 in the chapter entitled Worms to Butterflies, the erstwhile secretary tells Father Timothy that she'll do a deep web search for him and says "I'll get right on it." And she adds "And I'll pray. Sometimes I pray while I surf."

And it hit me! I pray a lot. Each morning when I wake I ask the Lord how he'll use me today. I pray when I do dishes. I pray each day, every night. I even took a test at my last church and I scored so high on intercessory prayer that the assistant pastor said, "I really shouldn't do this yet, but would you pray for me and be on my prayer team? I said I'd pray on it and let him know. Not really! That was a fake-a-rooney! I told him yes immediately. I was happy to do so. To this day I still pray for him.

Then the synapses started really firin' in my brain. The first verse I ever memorized was 1Thessalonians 5:17. Bam! I smiled to myself. I knew I was onto something, but I didn't want to get too overly excited immediately in case I might be wrong. So I just lie in bed smiling in the dark like an idiot because I couldn't help myself.

The question was, how do I know for certain if it's the right one? I mean, the Bible is a pretty big collection of books. Sixty-six of 'em you know. It's not like God's going to do the pop-in and say, "Yes Liliana, you chose correctly. You are done." And, truth be told, I had actually been hoping for something a leetle more esoteric. Something the average Joe wouldn't understand. (Yes I am full of myself.) So I cogitated some more and then it dawned on me that the numerals 5 and 17 were of great significance in my life.

Our eldest son is 27. He went to a religious private school for three years in elementary and I dutifully went to church with him once a year for the Christmas show. Thought I was a good mom. We moved and from sixth grade through high school I encouraged him to join the youth group and he did, every year. Through all those years, I remember attending church with him one time. The church was within easy walking distance. I drove by it but I never saw it. (Which really in itself depicts my spiritual self at the time. I was very busy.) But I thought I was a good mom. I made my kid be in the church youth group. Check off the box, cross it off the list, I'm done.

Nineteen years later, along comes surprise vasectomy baby and it occurred to me I ought to visit God's house and give Him an official thank you for a healthy baby and a good life. Boy howdy, it was not easy. To this day I run from hugs and cringe at handshakes. But I was compelled. The spirit of the Lord was whispering in my ear. And on the day I was there they played a video on a humongous screen that felt like it filled the whole church. The topic was how parents are responsible for nurturing and fostering the spiritual growth of their own offspring. It was about how we shouldn't just drop off our kids in Sunday School or youth group and leave their spiritual growth up to someone else. I got all tight and choked up, trying to keep my composure while I held in hot tears that stung my eyes. I could see the truth in it. I knew that video was for me. I finally realized that my husband and I who conferred life upon this new, little person were responsible for ensuring that he knows Jesus, that he develops a personal relationship with Him, and ultimately that he knows he's part of the Great Commission. I was transformed that day. Hey, this stuff is not for the faint of heart!

Our second baby's birth date is 5/17. So here's my verse.

1 Thessalonians chapter 5, verse 17.

Look it up!

Never say seagull

Ring-billed Gull 

At the 13th annual Kachemak Bay Shorebird Festival (in Homer, Alaska) last year I came away learning one thing. Don't ever call a gull a seagull. It just isn't done, if you call yourself any kind of birder that is. I'm not really a birder but I try to fake like I'm one.

If you have your crayons out, there's a Ring-billed Gull coloring page at Enchanted Learning.

This gull liked to pose. I talked to him softly and he listened and listened, seemingly intently. I told him how purty he was, and what a fine beak he had, and I complimented him on his fine yellow legs. Well it was all an attempt to get closer but, drats, he flew off. The sunset shone lovely on the water though.

I talked today with a lady from Santa Fe. She looked very Santa Feish with long grey, braided tresses, small build, simply dressed, very connected to the earth, a conservationist. She rented out her house and is traveling in a really cute trailer. It was from her that I got the idea to talk to the gull. I'm not much of a talker and I don't usually talk to birds. But she talked to a roadrunner today and the roadrunner approached her, then turned and ran inside her trailer! My son told me about it and we rode our bikes up, me with camera in hand. But she had picked him up and taken him out of her trailer already. He was climbing up her screens and of course she couldn't let him do that. She came from Germany about 30 years ago and said there's no camping in Germany like ours in the U.S.A. She said if you do camp in Germany you are packed in rows like sardines. That's no good, is it.

My new kitchen faucet

Sexy faucet 

I have a wonderful husband who went out at night time and bought me a new, awesome, kitchen faucet. Our old one sprung a leak! Luckily it wasn't while I was using it so I didn't get blamed. It has a circle near the base that is red for hot and blue for cold so you'll never forget and accidentally go the wrong way. It's not plastic so it doesn't SQUEAK like my old one. I can take the head off and make a spray to wash the pans. The old one had a scratch on it so good riddance to that. (I didn't put it there, but I won't say who did or that I know what day it got there.) It's very shiny and very sparkly. I added three sparklies with Photoshop so if you can find find them you win the door prize. They're small and subtle, but they're in your mind now. It's the best thing in my whole trailer and my husband put it in just for me. He hurt his back and his finger and bumped his head when he was installing it. Plus he got a headache. It's Delta you know, with a lifetime warranty, and it's washerless. What more could a woman ask for? I do not know! I love my husband.

I found my life verse tonight

I found it. I'm just going to let it simmer in my mind a bit, enjoy the fact that I found it, then I'll write about it later.

I feel really good. It's good to have a blog!

My blog is one year old today!

A blog party! One year ago today... 

I started a blog, November 11, 2004. Look how far I've come. Look how much I've done. This has got to be worth...something. Our little boy made me a hat to celebrate. The beads glued on say "I love Mamma."

These Ding Dongs are killing me

I can't stop eating the Ding Dongs. Help, help!!!

Oliver Lee Memorial State Park

Ocotillo at sunset

This is our last night here. Boo hoo. Tomorrow morning we leave. The good news is we're staying in New Mexico. The weather was in the 80s today. Absolutely splendid.

I used fill flash. I couldn't see in my little LCD that it turned out so well. I feel I cut the bottom off a little though. I should have stepped back a couple more steps. I had to lay all the way down on the concrete to capture the sky behind. Nobody saw me. Good thing.

Southern California, yesterday's election

Why did Californians vote for Arnold?

Why even put Arnold in office? He's making an honest attempt to make things better and first thing this morning what do I hear? Voters have rejected his initiatives, every one of them. They could have kept Grey Davis in office if they don't want to endorse anything Arnold has. They could have kept Grey and let it be business as usual. Arnold has the best interest of California at heart.

And don't start me on illegal immigration. The sheer number of illegals will destroy us. We can't afford to support the numbers of illegals enrolling their kids in public schools, birthing babies in the hospitals, being sent to prison. The costs are crushing us. Outrageous. We can't possibly now, afford to deport them. The numbers are too huge! We can't afford to not to deport them either. And there's the rub. Eat that with your Wheaties this morning. This is one thing Bush has dropped the ball on. He's a Texan. He knows the issues surrounding this problem as well as any Californian, yet he does nothing. I'm not against immigration. I'm against illegal immigration.

You're going to continue to see migration out of California. Last year 100,000 more people left Califonia than came. People like us are leaving - retirees, and young families as well. The people who remain will be the illegals and those who voted against the initiatives. Liberals are ruining my state. And let's not talk about the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco. Nutcakes trying to make laws, the latest being there is no fundamental right of parents to be the exclusive provider of information regarding sexual matters to their children, either independent of their right to direct the upbringing and education of their children or encompassed by it. Judges are supposed to be decision-makers not activists.

We're going someplace better with fewer illegals, lower taxes, cleaner air, less crowding, lower home prices. And I won't miss the loud talking people with boom boxes in their trunks, pants hanging below their butts, a constant chip on their shoulder cause they havent' been treated well enough by the world.

'Twas my home all my life. But California isn't California any more. Even the sand at my beloved Pacific Beach is full of cigarette butts and on all four sides of me, foreign speaking sun bathers wear long pants and hats. I can't live here.

New Mexico International Space Museum

A museum display

Through the glass. A description of the first explosion of an atomic bomb in New Mexico. The missile range is nearby. Sometimes White Sands National Monument is closed till 10:00am if the planes are flying overhead. They're not regular jets either - look like B2 bomber types in the triangular shape. One morning we thought there was an earthquake (we're from California). We were sure it was. But no, it was something they were doing on the missile range in the early morning.

Sundown in New Mexico

Unretouched sunset 

No words. Love the sunsets.

Purple prickly pear

Purple prickly pear munched 

I've looked and looked every evening and every day for wildlife. This is what I found today. I have no idea how the critters can eat this cacti. It's not uncommon to find edges munched like this one. At Brantley Lake State Park my husband found pieces of prickly pear like this one in the middle of the road two mornings in a row.

Today I saw one lizard, one cottontail, two cowboy New Mexican men (very friendly), and some birdies. Am still looking to sight a gray fox. Tomorrow I'll look some more.

Mamma look over there

It looks like one of our presidents

See pic below...

It's no Mount Rushmore

A face in the rock 

Yipes. I told him, nah, it's just the rocks looking like a face. He thought it look like one of the presidents at Mount Rushmore. The Apaches used to use the canyon. I'll check at the visitor's center to find out.

Conviction, men, Black Beauty, hipsters

I was walking through the creosote looking for arrowheads and gray foxes and thinking of a radio show I listened to today. Faithfulness, faithfulness, faithfulness, was all I could remember. I knew the next word I was looking for started with a C but I couldn't find it in my head. Then, after a prickly pear poked me I found it. Conviction. Faithfulness without conviction. Is reading juicy online gossip practicing faithfulness without conviction. I think we can safely say, or collectively yell, YES. Does reading gossip glorify God, does commenting on gossip glorify God, does willfully mingling with gossipers glorify God? Not bloody likely. Today I stopped reading the gossip site I found a few weeks ago. What a waste of my time. It's not easy you know, just stopping. With a click I can be there and who would know. (Tick, tock, tick, tock...Who with a capital letter, that's Who.)

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There are a lot of manly men in New Mexico. Lots of big mustaches. My husband said it's because there are lots of cowboys here. I never really thought of New Mexico as being cowboy country, but I guess it is. There was a great deal of ranching in the area a hundred years ago. After the Civil War southern families who lost everything came to New Mexico for a new start. They don't sell alcohol in restaurants on Sundays here. (My husband tried to order a margarita tonight.)

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In Wal-Mart I waited in the truck while my husband went inside. I was so sad to see a big, strong, strapping young man carrying his baby in a big, plastic baby carrier, the kind that straps into a car. He lugged that baby through the parking lot as if he were too tired to be carrying his own child. Big, strong, young man like that should have been ashamed of himself. The baby's head was being bopped around like a sack of potatoes. His wife walked beside him. Wordlessly, they climbed into their truck and drove off. Girls should be careful who they dilly dally with. Marry a man like that and your life will be hard and sad. I'll bet her heart cries, but she daren't cry on the outside. A hard life allows no room for tears.

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We're reading Black Beauty for bedtime. It's the only book Anna Sewell ever wrote and she wrote it because horses were often badly abused and she wanted to change the world, the way people treated horses. Anna was a Quaker, and broke both ankles in a fall when she was fourteen and was crippled (or she may have had a degenerative bone disease, we don't know). She never knew how hugely popular her book would become. She died a mere five months after its publication.

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We went to church this morning and our son thoroughly enjoyed the Sunday School. My husband popped in during the service to be sure he was fine and he and all the other kids were sitting quietly and the speaker had their rapt attention. The pastor and his wife were very good. This town is small and the congregation small. The singing and the music were excellent. They sang all songs I didn't know which was unusual. Usually I know at least one! Being from southern California I'm used to seeing hipsters in church - you know, tons of make-up, hair just so, tight clothes, tummies showing, even miniskirts. But here, none of that at all. It was a rough crowd I would say, but the worship was soooo good. I felt the singers were singing strictly for the Lord, not as a show. At home, the singers felt a bit like a performance.

Received our mail today

Mamma, I like this, and this, and this 

Our mail forwarding service usually throws away all third class mail, but they forgot to this time. We were getting ready to toss all the junk catalogs when our son said, "Oh no, I'll read them." And read them he did. He sat for half an hour and thumbed through every single catalog. Dollar signs in his eyes! Each one finished he tossed onto the front lawn like a drunken sailor.

(He picked 'em all up and put them in the dumpster later. Of course!)

Toast of love

21 years of burnt toast 

This is the toast my husband served me this morning. I said, "This toast is too dark! I don't like my toast like this!"

He said, "I thought you like it like that?"

"Nooo. I don't like it like that. Whattya think? I like burnt toast? Who likes burnt toast? I don't like burnt toast." And here comes the coup de grace...

"But that's how you always give me my toast."

AAAUGH! Maybe once, okay? Maybe twice by accident. But not always. I deny, I deny!

Find the Constellations

Kids' book about the sky 

I learn best from books written for kids! Found this great book by the author of the Curious George series at the White Sands National Monument bookstore. It's meant to be used at about 40° latitude, so if you're too far south it's a no go, but it's useful if you're in the middle to northern U.S. Check it out at Amazon. I think it's a good find!

My rainbow sherbet hair

I am Mrs. Rubberarms 

Looks like rainbow sherbet ice cream. My son asked who took the pic, I said I took it myself. What talent. The plaque in front of me has a list of all the animals you can see. I didn't see a single creature and I was watching.

I heard Michelle Malkin on the radio tonight. I listen to KFI streaming radio on the 'puter. She's got a new book out. I like her very much. I'd go to hear her speak if I ever got the chance. I used to like Ann Coulter, but she's way off anymore and I can't stand her inane grin. I dislike women who smile constantly.

My husband has a sore throat tonight.

Today we did a lesson about the four principle parts of a verb. Had to do the lesson twice (it was actually yesterday's lesson) because he didn't get it the first time. I was also mispronouncing participle which my husband brought to my attention. How embarrassing. I habitually destroy the English language.

There's a Wallace and Gromit movie out and I'm wanting to hear what parents think of it. I do like Wallace and Gromit! Wonderful characters. But we rarely go to the movies. The content is rarely what we consider appropriate for kids even when rated PG and we don't want our son immersed in the mainstream garbage that the industry calls entertainment. I think that watching what everyone else watches advances groupthink mentality and that's not what we want to nurture. We went to see Polar Express one year though. That was good. We already had the book and it's such a good book. My husband cried at the theater! If Wallace and Gromit gets good reviews maybe we'll go.

We didn't do anything for Halloween. Last year our son dressed as a shepherd, David. Year before, he was a cockatiel. My husband and I were laughing last night because the radio was talking about how much money some people spend on costuming. When I made the cockatiel outfit (I sew his costumes because he hates Spiderman and anything else the stores sell) I assured my husband we'd save a lot of money. He was pretty clear when he told me not to spend much. Well, that costume, feather boa and feet and stockings and beak and foundation, came to about $150.00 when all was said and done. I am so bad with money and costumes! We laugh about it now but at the time I was in big trouble! Everyone raved about the costume though. It turned out pretty cute and our son was thrilled with it. That's the big payoff right there, eh. You can't buy the glow on your child's face when he's wearing an original costume and he gets to be exactly what he wanted to be. This year our son said since I can't sew, he didn't want to do anything. I told him we'd go buy him some candy on sale and he was real happy with that. Pretty easy year. Usually I fear to hear what he wants to be because he just expects that Mamma will make him whatever he desires! When he was a tot I made he a Zorro outfit. I was so bummed because he wouldn't wear it! I didn't know then that you can't get a three year old to keep the mask on. What's a Zorro without a mask! Oh, and I didn't realize that felt would make him itchy and sneezy. Live and learn, live and learn. Poor 'lil guy.

My hair is nice and shiny today. Go figure. This is the second day in a row my husband said I looked pretty first thing in the morning. I just roll my eyes at him. He asked me if I'm going to write in my blog that he said my hair is pretty. He cracks me up. I love him so.

Dog Canyon

There is no wildlife here 

I sat for the longest time at dusk hoping some creature would come by for a drink. A bobcat, a mule deer, a ringtail cat, a mouse? Nothing. Even the birds didn't come near me. The gnats did though. Buzzed around my head the whole time. The wildlife probably saw me waving my arms around the whole time. No wonder. (Photo below shows where I was sitting.) Today my husband was hiking off trail and saw a gray fox, pretty close too. Said I could have gotten a good picture. Ah, the torture. That was probably my chance right there. Passed me by.

Riparian zone

The woods you'd think 

This is a riparian zone in New Mexico, part of the Chihuahuan desert. All around is dry desert (is that opposed to wet desert?). It sort of reminds me of Robert Frost's Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening, only there's no snow here. Well, maybe it reminds me of Thomas Kincade, the painter with paintings at the mall. Ah well. It reminds me of something.