Monday, May 31, 2010
It's Memorial Day
Click to enter, then click on "Essay" on the left hand side. Happy Memorial Day. Remember to remember those who sacrificed their lives.
Saturday, May 29, 2010
Work was terrible. I want to go to bed. A stupid person crossed over two lanes after I told him go straight ahead to the window. It was a car with three young guys. He plugged up the emergency lane and backed up incoming traffic for ten minutes. He had a credit card and drove over to the cash only window. Idiot. It ruined my day. We were then told not to use the emergency lane unless traffic got very, very backed up because if an emergency vehicle had come it could have ruined someone else's day too. It was going so smoothly with three lanes to use until that happened. One stupid person insists on getting in front and he ruins it for everyone entering the park now.
I had no fun.
I had no fun.
It's hoppin' here
The tourists are at Wal-Mart. My husband said there are all kinds of people there. Service was fast though so they must have prepared for it. We've got traffic control today from 1:30pm to 3:30pm. Other years we've worked traffic three or four hours at a time so two hours will be a breeze. The sun is out and shining hot though. The other down side is I have cramps and it's a bad day for cramps.
Man, there's a lotta people here. We have a good loop because we get mostly families and mellow people in this area. The partiers tend to gather on the lake. Last night was unusual in that we saw sirens three or four times before 11:00pm. I think it makes visitors aware that law enforcement present and that's a good thing. We sat outside and could hear whoops of excitement coming from the lake shore. We heard on the radio that a jet ski broadsided a boat. I hope there were no serious injuries. So many people are boating and skiing, fishing and swimming.
I've been on pins and needles thinking about the 180 songs I purchased from iTunes and never backed up. It's been preying on my mind. I heard you should back up your songs. I meant to. I intended to. Never did. I set hope against hope that when I downloaded iTunes on my new cool computer that my songs would magically appear. But they didn't. I stared, dumbfounded, at a brand new iTunes interface with three lame songs that came with this Toshiba computer while all my music, lovingly selected, collected and arranged in playlists, sits forever lost in silence and darkness on my dead hard drive.
But I thought, if Apple can move songs from my computer to my iPod, then surely there must exist a way to move the songs from my iPod to my computer. And there is. I spent three hours last night transferring them. Found free software recommended CNET to do it for me. I could have spent twenty bucks and done in all one click, but I chose the free way which only let me do ten songs at a time. I transferred 377, my 180 purchased, plus others. It is a job . . . . done.
I have an energy deficit today. My mouse hand is sore and there's a herpes blister on my lip still which upset me because earlier in the week when I worked in the front office and I had to greet everyone with a swollen lip. It's scabbed over but it still hurts. Most unfair.
I'm having second thoughts about homeschooling for high school. He's going into eighth next year. I have to think what our options are.
Man, there's a lotta people here. We have a good loop because we get mostly families and mellow people in this area. The partiers tend to gather on the lake. Last night was unusual in that we saw sirens three or four times before 11:00pm. I think it makes visitors aware that law enforcement present and that's a good thing. We sat outside and could hear whoops of excitement coming from the lake shore. We heard on the radio that a jet ski broadsided a boat. I hope there were no serious injuries. So many people are boating and skiing, fishing and swimming.
I've been on pins and needles thinking about the 180 songs I purchased from iTunes and never backed up. It's been preying on my mind. I heard you should back up your songs. I meant to. I intended to. Never did. I set hope against hope that when I downloaded iTunes on my new cool computer that my songs would magically appear. But they didn't. I stared, dumbfounded, at a brand new iTunes interface with three lame songs that came with this Toshiba computer while all my music, lovingly selected, collected and arranged in playlists, sits forever lost in silence and darkness on my dead hard drive.
But I thought, if Apple can move songs from my computer to my iPod, then surely there must exist a way to move the songs from my iPod to my computer. And there is. I spent three hours last night transferring them. Found free software recommended CNET to do it for me. I could have spent twenty bucks and done in all one click, but I chose the free way which only let me do ten songs at a time. I transferred 377, my 180 purchased, plus others. It is a job . . . . done.
I have an energy deficit today. My mouse hand is sore and there's a herpes blister on my lip still which upset me because earlier in the week when I worked in the front office and I had to greet everyone with a swollen lip. It's scabbed over but it still hurts. Most unfair.
I'm having second thoughts about homeschooling for high school. He's going into eighth next year. I have to think what our options are.
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Thursday
It's not too busy yet, but it's picking up. I volunteered in the office for four hours yesterday morning. Came home and took a three hour nap. I was whipped! Today I do 3 1/2 hours in the office in the afternoon. I like being in the office and I like the ladies there.
My arm is sore because I asked Mona for something to do in between phone calls. She gave me 40 bank cash holder bags and told me to find the Clorox wipes and wipe them clean. Some of them were pretty gross and I had to use elbow grease. I'm averse to elbow grease. I'd rather answer phones, but I faked it pretty good. Oh I'm so tough as nails. My husband called me wimpy just now. Sadly, it's true. I'm all girly-fied.
My arm is sore because I asked Mona for something to do in between phone calls. She gave me 40 bank cash holder bags and told me to find the Clorox wipes and wipe them clean. Some of them were pretty gross and I had to use elbow grease. I'm averse to elbow grease. I'd rather answer phones, but I faked it pretty good. Oh I'm so tough as nails. My husband called me wimpy just now. Sadly, it's true. I'm all girly-fied.
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Quit Facebook Day
Our son told me that yesterday Leo Laporte said Facebook is evil. I can't believe it! He's the tech guy on the radio we like to listen to. But the thing is, it's so me that he said it's evil! I asked our son, did he use that very word? Evil? Because when I think something is evil I say it's evil. Freaks people out though. Yes, he did say it, said my boy.
Only a couple weeks ago our son opted to close down his Facebook page and quit Facebooking altogether. He's ahead of the curve I think. I made him use a fake name which some of our friends made fun about. And I now see, I'm not the only one who felt this way. I'm not alone!
I asked him, "Why did you quit?" and he said every time he turned on his computer he went to Facebook first. He said he thought it was a waste of his time and he didn't want to do it anymore.
When he wanted to try Facebooking I didn't say no because that would only make it more enticing. So he started up a page and got a few friends. But I told him straight up from the git-go. I said if you wanna see Grama, don't you dare go look at her Facebook page and stare at the computer screen, post a sentence or two and tell her to look at your pictures. My arms were all flailing about and I said, "You pick up the phone and you call your Grama. You can talk about what you've done lately and ask her how she is. It will make her happy and she'll tell everyone you called her, and you will feel good that you did it."
I'm so proud of him and his decision-making. I never once encouraged him to close it down, but he did hear me yammering about deactivating mine and it must have made him think. He's been calling and texting his ex-Facebookers and I find it's much more personal than Facebook. The calls have had a positive effect on the relationships - which is important because he's 13 and he's developing his character. I like that.
Facebook draws in high click rates because once a visitor logs in they go to more and more pages to see pictures of . . . . other people. It's like monkeys in a mirror. See me, me, me, see you, you, you, ooooh ooooh, eeee eeee, ah ah ah. I know I can say that because I was doing it too for awhile.
But the real reason why I dislike Facebook is because the material I post; my photos, my wrrrds, instantly belong to Facebook. I do not like that. Moreover, Facebook blatantly uses its Facebookers. They've even given out to the advertiser the names or info of Facebookers who clicked on the advertisement. One must be vigilant to the extreme to constantly ensure you block what you don't want to see, and opt out of this, that, and the other. But your personal data belongs to them. It's agreed to it in the Terms of Service.
It's an addictive time waster. And those 1000 Friends are not friends.
I've heard there's a way to actually delete my Facebook page instead of just deactivate it. That too, I found curious. Any place else, I hit delete and I'm deleted. I can go through channels to get the data back possibly, but generally delete means it's gone. At Facebook, delete means deactivate. Everything is still there.
I have a friend who could care less if Facebook is profiting off of him. I say then go out and buy some shoes and hats and shirts and pants with brand names stamped on them so you can be a walking advertisement 24/7.
I'm not saying it's all debris. Some of it could be blessing. Let's say 5%. It ain't much.
I have a plain picture of my hair from this morning. I figure one is due because my current pic is six months old.
Don't look at the white legs.
Analysis: I'm letting the ends go without taking off a couple inches so I can make more progress. The ends are not that bad. They're so-so/okay. That's my new skirt from Target in San Diego. My new favorite skirt. Meh. What can I add about the hair. It's hair.
I have to work in the front office Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Memorial Day week-end is coming up, one of the busiest times in the park. AAAAUUUUGGGHHHH! I don't know if I will be any good in the front office. I'm really worried I can't answer all the questions. AAAUUUUGGGHHH!
Only a couple weeks ago our son opted to close down his Facebook page and quit Facebooking altogether. He's ahead of the curve I think. I made him use a fake name which some of our friends made fun about. And I now see, I'm not the only one who felt this way. I'm not alone!
I asked him, "Why did you quit?" and he said every time he turned on his computer he went to Facebook first. He said he thought it was a waste of his time and he didn't want to do it anymore.
When he wanted to try Facebooking I didn't say no because that would only make it more enticing. So he started up a page and got a few friends. But I told him straight up from the git-go. I said if you wanna see Grama, don't you dare go look at her Facebook page and stare at the computer screen, post a sentence or two and tell her to look at your pictures. My arms were all flailing about and I said, "You pick up the phone and you call your Grama. You can talk about what you've done lately and ask her how she is. It will make her happy and she'll tell everyone you called her, and you will feel good that you did it."
I'm so proud of him and his decision-making. I never once encouraged him to close it down, but he did hear me yammering about deactivating mine and it must have made him think. He's been calling and texting his ex-Facebookers and I find it's much more personal than Facebook. The calls have had a positive effect on the relationships - which is important because he's 13 and he's developing his character. I like that.
Facebook draws in high click rates because once a visitor logs in they go to more and more pages to see pictures of . . . . other people. It's like monkeys in a mirror. See me, me, me, see you, you, you, ooooh ooooh, eeee eeee, ah ah ah. I know I can say that because I was doing it too for awhile.
But the real reason why I dislike Facebook is because the material I post; my photos, my wrrrds, instantly belong to Facebook. I do not like that. Moreover, Facebook blatantly uses its Facebookers. They've even given out to the advertiser the names or info of Facebookers who clicked on the advertisement. One must be vigilant to the extreme to constantly ensure you block what you don't want to see, and opt out of this, that, and the other. But your personal data belongs to them. It's agreed to it in the Terms of Service.
It's an addictive time waster. And those 1000 Friends are not friends.
I've heard there's a way to actually delete my Facebook page instead of just deactivate it. That too, I found curious. Any place else, I hit delete and I'm deleted. I can go through channels to get the data back possibly, but generally delete means it's gone. At Facebook, delete means deactivate. Everything is still there.
I have a friend who could care less if Facebook is profiting off of him. I say then go out and buy some shoes and hats and shirts and pants with brand names stamped on them so you can be a walking advertisement 24/7.
I'm not saying it's all debris. Some of it could be blessing. Let's say 5%. It ain't much.
I have a plain picture of my hair from this morning. I figure one is due because my current pic is six months old.
Don't look at the white legs.
Analysis: I'm letting the ends go without taking off a couple inches so I can make more progress. The ends are not that bad. They're so-so/okay. That's my new skirt from Target in San Diego. My new favorite skirt. Meh. What can I add about the hair. It's hair.
I have to work in the front office Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Memorial Day week-end is coming up, one of the busiest times in the park. AAAAUUUUGGGHHHH! I don't know if I will be any good in the front office. I'm really worried I can't answer all the questions. AAAUUUUGGGHHH!
Saturday, May 22, 2010
Fresh day
My computer died. I'm on my new cool Toshiba laptop Satellite A505-S6033. Oh my goodness. It has a 500 gb hard drive and the Intel i7 quad-core processor - the fastest available. I'm happy to the extreme. Usually we buy the second from the best because the best will be second best in six months anyways, but this time I got the number one processor. It's sweet and worth every cent. I've been on a desktop for the past couple years and am blown away that everything I had with the desktop, and more, is in this laptop. My screen is smaller and I'll miss the big one when I'm processing pics and doing more than one thing at a time, but I'll get used to it. I'm a multitasker. It's on my résumé from 15 years ago. We always laugh about it because I'm so not a multitasker. Instead, I'm utterly consumed by one thing at a time at the expense of all other things.
I made a considerable error in judgment when all I did was copy my photos. I'm whining about it now, to no avail. Spent an hour reinstalling Photoshop. Had to phone Panasonic about a Windows 7 patch to make their camera software work properly. Stupidly deleted the email from Canon six months ago that linked me to patches to make their software work. Put my daily devotional CD in storage now I have to find it. Ah well, the bitter comes with the sweet. The reason my desktop quit, we think, is because it needed to be vacuumed out. I burned out the processor says my husband.
Jules, I wrote you, but it got bounced back to me undeliverable. Would you drop me a line please? And if anyone who emailed with me will please drop me a line so I can rebuild my address book the easy way I'd sure appreciate it. You don't have to write a giant email. Just say hi to me so I can do it the easy way and automatically save you to my address book.
I slept outside last night. It was gorgeous. If the wind isn't too bad we're giving Bella her first bath today!
I made a considerable error in judgment when all I did was copy my photos. I'm whining about it now, to no avail. Spent an hour reinstalling Photoshop. Had to phone Panasonic about a Windows 7 patch to make their camera software work properly. Stupidly deleted the email from Canon six months ago that linked me to patches to make their software work. Put my daily devotional CD in storage now I have to find it. Ah well, the bitter comes with the sweet. The reason my desktop quit, we think, is because it needed to be vacuumed out. I burned out the processor says my husband.
Jules, I wrote you, but it got bounced back to me undeliverable. Would you drop me a line please? And if anyone who emailed with me will please drop me a line so I can rebuild my address book the easy way I'd sure appreciate it. You don't have to write a giant email. Just say hi to me so I can do it the easy way and automatically save you to my address book.
I slept outside last night. It was gorgeous. If the wind isn't too bad we're giving Bella her first bath today!
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Crashed
My computer crashed yesterday. Horrifying. Son turned on the radio controller for his boat and my machine didn't like it. I was practicing a Zumba choreography, one I had downloaded from YouTube, and suddenly it froze. I froze too. And then my screen got sparklies all over it like a watercolor painting and began to make a beep beep sound that wouldn't stop. I couldn't log off or turn off my computer. I unplugged it.
I waited till my husband got home and we could only turn on the computer in safe mode. Can't do much in safe mode. To make a long boring story of frustration short, we finally got Windows 7 to reinstall late last night and it seems to be working well today. I hope it really is fixed. It acted like it was fixed once and went back to crashing.
First thing I did last night was copy all my photos and vids, 77 gb, onto our external drive. As long as those are saved I can suffer through the loss anything else.
We're gonna buy hay today.
I'm in a little bit of a bad mood because my child is not cooperating like I want him to.
I waited till my husband got home and we could only turn on the computer in safe mode. Can't do much in safe mode. To make a long boring story of frustration short, we finally got Windows 7 to reinstall late last night and it seems to be working well today. I hope it really is fixed. It acted like it was fixed once and went back to crashing.
First thing I did last night was copy all my photos and vids, 77 gb, onto our external drive. As long as those are saved I can suffer through the loss anything else.
We're gonna buy hay today.
I'm in a little bit of a bad mood because my child is not cooperating like I want him to.
Thursday, May 13, 2010
It's a sad day
It's a sad day when you're following yourself. I'm on my own sidebar under Followers. I tried to sign up for Leia's page and I don't know what happened. I followed the instructions, filled in the form, and bam, finish, I look and see I've signed up to follow myself. Now that is just sad! I must have gone in a little circle the wrong way - as per my usual.
Hopefully nobody comes by before I can get back to fix it. We have to home-school right now and then the Avon lady is coming by after 3:00pm.
While I was wondering what I did wrong I realized I can also change the title "Followers" to something of my own choosing. I shall change it. It's gotta go. I don't like that label. There are no sheeple here. Only independent thinkers. The esoteric few.
Hopefully nobody comes by before I can get back to fix it. We have to home-school right now and then the Avon lady is coming by after 3:00pm.
While I was wondering what I did wrong I realized I can also change the title "Followers" to something of my own choosing. I shall change it. It's gotta go. I don't like that label. There are no sheeple here. Only independent thinkers. The esoteric few.
Sunday, May 09, 2010
My favorite days
I'm an auntie. Dancer gave birth to a beautiful foal on April 16th.
"The hand that rocks the cradle, rules the world." William Ross Wallace 1819-1881
Mother's Day and my birthday are my two favorite days. My husband cooks anything I want for dinner and everyone has to be nice to me all day. Everyone has to agree with me. No one can remind me of things left undone or on my to-do list or what I said I'd do and haven't done. Tonight we're having jambalaya. Mmmmm.
Last week I groomed Dancer and even completely brushed out her tail that almost touches the ground. I've been afraid of her. She bit the owner's daughter once so I've always been uneasy around her. But I delivered her grain to her everyday for a month. I worked up the nerve to walk into her stall and put it right in front of her then I left. She got used to me. When we came back from California I think she remembered me because she was calm when I approached and didn't mind me being near her baby. The baby's real jumpy. Jumpier than the other foals I've met at Cecilio's. He's warming up though. He's curious and sweet.
Last night I dreamt I cut my hair. Myself. It was bleached a horrible straw colored blond. I put it in two low pony tails and cut each, chop, chop, to mid-back length, but oddly, as dreams are often odd, the mid-back-cut was just past my ears. I swished it around in disbelief. I had a few bald patches on my head. Walked around and no one noticed my hair was gone. Awful dream.
Now to make Mother's Day calls!
Friday, May 07, 2010
Lovely day
Firstly, it was a beautiful day today. It's good to be alive.
Since we returned to New Mexico I made a promise to myself to eat my breakfast outside in the sunshine every morning instead of in front of my computer screen. It's the new Liliana! I've followed through for a whole week. My favorite part of the day is morning with coffee and toast. Each morning it goes by so fast though.
Son and daughter-in-law are at the hospital. She has preeclampsia (high blood pressure during pregnancy) and so they're inducing. Baby Andres will be born tonight. He's three weeks early. He's all formed, but will be just a little small. By the last month the baby is completely built but grows in length, size, and weight. Our son is beside himself with excitement and anticipation. He loves having babies. I noticed tonight he gets very annoyed when I accidentally call him by our younger son's name. They're both insulted when I call one by the others name. Give me a break. Cut me some slack. They haven't grown up together and we never visit, so they both think they're the only son.
Something I find rankling. Suicide ignored. Someone dies of a heart attack, old age, stroke, cancer, murder, people say so. Die of suicide - it's like an elephant is in the room.
My hair is 47" now. Tonight my husband said it's beautiful. He's so kind to me. A little fussy tonight, but he's had a long day.
Since we returned to New Mexico I made a promise to myself to eat my breakfast outside in the sunshine every morning instead of in front of my computer screen. It's the new Liliana! I've followed through for a whole week. My favorite part of the day is morning with coffee and toast. Each morning it goes by so fast though.
Son and daughter-in-law are at the hospital. She has preeclampsia (high blood pressure during pregnancy) and so they're inducing. Baby Andres will be born tonight. He's three weeks early. He's all formed, but will be just a little small. By the last month the baby is completely built but grows in length, size, and weight. Our son is beside himself with excitement and anticipation. He loves having babies. I noticed tonight he gets very annoyed when I accidentally call him by our younger son's name. They're both insulted when I call one by the others name. Give me a break. Cut me some slack. They haven't grown up together and we never visit, so they both think they're the only son.
Something I find rankling. Suicide ignored. Someone dies of a heart attack, old age, stroke, cancer, murder, people say so. Die of suicide - it's like an elephant is in the room.
My hair is 47" now. Tonight my husband said it's beautiful. He's so kind to me. A little fussy tonight, but he's had a long day.
Wednesday, May 05, 2010
Two
Yesterday two persons in one day hurt my feelings. The humans do annoy me. And now Helen has asked me to volunteer for a job. She says before I refuse to please pray about it. She knows I don't like being asked.
It's a hot one today. Got my hair in a great bun. Even used hair spray.
I downloaded a really cute Zumba choreo that I'm learning. There is one person for sure and maybe three here who are interested in doing Zumba with me. My daughter-in-law checked the lyrics for me and says they're mostly gibberish and there's no profanity whatsoever, so that's good!
It's a hot one today. Got my hair in a great bun. Even used hair spray.
I downloaded a really cute Zumba choreo that I'm learning. There is one person for sure and maybe three here who are interested in doing Zumba with me. My daughter-in-law checked the lyrics for me and says they're mostly gibberish and there's no profanity whatsoever, so that's good!
Saturday, May 01, 2010
Leaving CA
Tomorrow morning is it. It'll be about a seven hour driving day not counting stops.
My poor husband, he wanted to go home the first week. He misses the horse. How do you like that? A while back we heard that she was pacing. The people she's with will take excellent care of her I know for sure, but the pacing is because she's alone. Horses are supposed to be with other horses or at least a goat or a friendly kitty. When my husband heard she was pacing back and forth a lot he asked a friend to move her. I said, "What! You're having her moved immediately and you don't even mention it to me?" And he roared, "Well, we can't have a sad horse." Well, true enough. We can't have a sad Bella.
He let's us stay a whole month so I can see family and I had a nice time and possibly the best time ever with my sister. She and I exchanged a couple gifts tonight before she left. I gave her a pocket color wheel. I didn't have paper or a bow so I gave it to her plain. I did think to scribble out the price with a black marker. She liked it a whole bunch. She overlooks my shortcomings and inadequacies such as when I hand her a thing and say, "I got this for you!" Then she went to her car and came back with what? A gift bag all prettified with a bow and pretty print tissue paper inside. There were three things inside; two Avon things and one set of purple Skull Candy ear buds. Purple! Sigh. We must be sisters. Sort of opposites, but sisters nonetheless.
Her husband got her a load of seed beads for Christmas and wow, she split them with me. For free! I have a load of seed beads in my cubby now and I decided to make a simple seed bead bracelet out of Stretch Magic elastic. I made one that's three and a half feet long and I wrapped it around my wrist about nine times. I love that it doesn't move around on my wrist. I like bangles but have never been able to wear them because I find them too annoying on my arms. Plus I have small wrists so everything is too big for me. It took me about two and a half hours to make it.
Then today, shazzam, I bought a seed bead spinner gadget and it's fantastic. It really works. I can bead an inch of seed beads in a few seconds. Instead of picking every single bead up one at a time, centrifugal force pushes them onto a j-hook. I made another yard and a half long bracelet. And then I made a six foot long necklace. I ended up putting them all on my wrist. I think it looks delicious. I want to make another six foot long one for a matching necklace. I've always liked the look of being drenched in tiny beads, but I kind of thought Stretch Magic was too babyish. It's so easy and requires no skill, but there ya go. Efficient. Wearable. Simple pleasures for simple minds.
When we go home I hope to see Ivan soon because I really need a trim. And I can't wait to wear my cowgirl jacket somewhere. It was too warm to wear it today. I better wear it a lot or my husband is going to kill me.
Our eldest son has a highly stressful week coming up. It's the last week of academy. There's a shooting test and if you don't pass it, you lose your job. I'm confident he'll pass it, but it's still nerve wracking to be sure. And there's going to be a lot of marching one of those days - marching that will be watched by some mucky muck high up people. Our son will be the one shouting cadence. Cadence is when they holler "Left, left, left right left," and that sort of thing. He's done it before, but next week he's doing it for four miles. He's only done it for one mile at a time when he was in the Marines. He said he's going to have to think of enough things to say for four long miles of marching and running, keep the men energized and powered up the whole way, and of course look good doing it. There will be questions when all 31 of them are in a line-up and it will not be a time to choke. He said if anyone chokes they won't lose their job, but it will affect their placement if they show they don't handle stress well. I'm so proud of him. I can hardly believe he's my own baby. How can he do all this? And when he begins work he'll work 12 hour days; three days on, four days off, then four days on and three days off. He will get eight of those hours as overtime. Sweet.
I've heard there have been high winds while we've been gone from New Mexico. Part of the Interstate 10 from Las Cruces to Demming was closed down because of 65mph winds! That's a lot of wind.
I've been listening to a group called Los Lonely Boys. They're a small band that plays what's called Texican music which mixes Spanish and English. I like one called "Heaven." It reminds me of Manny. Sheesh. I miss our ranger and I'm sure he doesn't even know I think of him.
My poor husband, he wanted to go home the first week. He misses the horse. How do you like that? A while back we heard that she was pacing. The people she's with will take excellent care of her I know for sure, but the pacing is because she's alone. Horses are supposed to be with other horses or at least a goat or a friendly kitty. When my husband heard she was pacing back and forth a lot he asked a friend to move her. I said, "What! You're having her moved immediately and you don't even mention it to me?" And he roared, "Well, we can't have a sad horse." Well, true enough. We can't have a sad Bella.
He let's us stay a whole month so I can see family and I had a nice time and possibly the best time ever with my sister. She and I exchanged a couple gifts tonight before she left. I gave her a pocket color wheel. I didn't have paper or a bow so I gave it to her plain. I did think to scribble out the price with a black marker. She liked it a whole bunch. She overlooks my shortcomings and inadequacies such as when I hand her a thing and say, "I got this for you!" Then she went to her car and came back with what? A gift bag all prettified with a bow and pretty print tissue paper inside. There were three things inside; two Avon things and one set of purple Skull Candy ear buds. Purple! Sigh. We must be sisters. Sort of opposites, but sisters nonetheless.
Her husband got her a load of seed beads for Christmas and wow, she split them with me. For free! I have a load of seed beads in my cubby now and I decided to make a simple seed bead bracelet out of Stretch Magic elastic. I made one that's three and a half feet long and I wrapped it around my wrist about nine times. I love that it doesn't move around on my wrist. I like bangles but have never been able to wear them because I find them too annoying on my arms. Plus I have small wrists so everything is too big for me. It took me about two and a half hours to make it.
Then today, shazzam, I bought a seed bead spinner gadget and it's fantastic. It really works. I can bead an inch of seed beads in a few seconds. Instead of picking every single bead up one at a time, centrifugal force pushes them onto a j-hook. I made another yard and a half long bracelet. And then I made a six foot long necklace. I ended up putting them all on my wrist. I think it looks delicious. I want to make another six foot long one for a matching necklace. I've always liked the look of being drenched in tiny beads, but I kind of thought Stretch Magic was too babyish. It's so easy and requires no skill, but there ya go. Efficient. Wearable. Simple pleasures for simple minds.
When we go home I hope to see Ivan soon because I really need a trim. And I can't wait to wear my cowgirl jacket somewhere. It was too warm to wear it today. I better wear it a lot or my husband is going to kill me.
Our eldest son has a highly stressful week coming up. It's the last week of academy. There's a shooting test and if you don't pass it, you lose your job. I'm confident he'll pass it, but it's still nerve wracking to be sure. And there's going to be a lot of marching one of those days - marching that will be watched by some mucky muck high up people. Our son will be the one shouting cadence. Cadence is when they holler "Left, left, left right left," and that sort of thing. He's done it before, but next week he's doing it for four miles. He's only done it for one mile at a time when he was in the Marines. He said he's going to have to think of enough things to say for four long miles of marching and running, keep the men energized and powered up the whole way, and of course look good doing it. There will be questions when all 31 of them are in a line-up and it will not be a time to choke. He said if anyone chokes they won't lose their job, but it will affect their placement if they show they don't handle stress well. I'm so proud of him. I can hardly believe he's my own baby. How can he do all this? And when he begins work he'll work 12 hour days; three days on, four days off, then four days on and three days off. He will get eight of those hours as overtime. Sweet.
I've heard there have been high winds while we've been gone from New Mexico. Part of the Interstate 10 from Las Cruces to Demming was closed down because of 65mph winds! That's a lot of wind.
I've been listening to a group called Los Lonely Boys. They're a small band that plays what's called Texican music which mixes Spanish and English. I like one called "Heaven." It reminds me of Manny. Sheesh. I miss our ranger and I'm sure he doesn't even know I think of him.
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