Phone calls were received...as were presents of the Coach and Webkinz variety...;-D

I played all day; didn't get dressed until after noon sometime, which is why we may end up with weird food for dinner. I didn't go out to get any and we all know how difficult it is to call in for food.

As far as Home is concerned:

Roomba#1 is sick - he doesn't seem to want to hold a charge so he just comes out to vacuum then dies. Hrumph. Roomba #2 does well as long as we go over and start him up. I really got used to having the carpet relatively cat hair free.

Oh yeah, we got home from New Mexico just fine...no red-eyes but it still takes days to recover from all that frivolity. The Temptations put on a great show - well that is until they announced they were going to take us way back in time to 1968 - ahem...I was a freshman in College for Pete's sake! A growed- up even!

The grass is very green here too - I may just have to get the lawnmower out and get it cranked up for the season. Fortunately the moss is greening up as well so there isn't as much grass in the lawn in some place. Hell no I'm not going to kill the moss - it's green isn't it?

I got the snow tires removed from the cars...Yes! back to those good old wide gummy tires - wee one with the road. I do still love to drive especially if there is no one else on the road. and no one with a blue light on their roof either and I'm not talking K-mart here ya know.

Nothing else much new around here.....make yourself a fine week all.

The four Amigos out loose. Finding the rental car in the parking lot was the first big challenge - much laughter.

Drove 20 minutes in the wrong direction before we noticed...better scenery on that part of the journey so it certainly wasn't a wasted trip.

Made it to Old Town...ate lunch shopped - tried to distinguish real Native American stuff from Asian imports.

Dinner and good times for 400 at El Pinto Met with good margaritas which were tasty - did someone say each drink was the equivalent of 3 drinks at this altitude?? Hmmmm......... Anyway - excellent food, salsa dancing - our(conference)in-house customer from the CRU in New Haven taught the instructor a thing or two about Salsa dancing...it was awesome and HGJ was so proud! He claimed they were all from the Fred Astaire salsa dance school! Hehehehehe.........Anyway, there were more margaritas, and food and a chili cook-off and chili roasting and cigar rolling.

Today we (four amigos) are starting off the day at the spa - sure hope we don't get kicked out of the serenity room. Nature walk down by the Rio Grande which by the way we saw yesterday and it looked more like the Rio Notsogrande. Later on it will be an excursion off to Santa Fe for looking around and dinner - much smaller group this time...

Have a fine day all.

Here's the lovely view from our room's patio. The sky is beautiful but the temperature range reminds me we are in the desert....as if all the brown doesn't. It was very pleasant sitting out in the sun catching up with the once a year "friends" but alas..I've got a good farmer tan/sunburn going on...actually my arms and nose especially look rather raw. .....either that or appears I've got massive hypertension going on and someone is likely to call the paramedics.
Sunscreen is applied.

We arrived on time...got our charter ride off to the resort - of course the shuttle was filled with other conference consultants. A good time was had by all. The evening reception was started with a traditional greeting of friendship and good wishes from local tribe women and men brandishing multicolored corn strung necklaces. There was some fresh baked (outdoor oven) breads with jams and spicy butters...yum and a welcoming dance with drummers etc...the 3 year old apprentice was cute as a button. Camera was left in the room of course.

Food and drink commenced after...the sun went down, the cold set in and we moved inside to the bar area...pool tables, air hockey and dart boards...yeah well *I* only needed one more 15 to win the dart game...thank god Vicky finally got it - it was destined to be the longest dart game in history especially when the tips were bent and wouldn't stick in the dart board even if we DID get it close.

Oh yeah...wildlife; besides the human form. Seems the caution sign on our sliding glass door reminds us to keep it closed at night and while we are gone due to "the high desert environment" Hmmm...so far I have seen bunnies and a fox which I'm told really were desert hares and a coyote. Ok..I'll believe.

Guess I'll try to round up my cronies and check out the nature trail - maybe I'll apply more sunscreen.

Have a good day all

I need to pack for New Mexico...but first I have to wash my sheets because some furry black thing deposited used cat food near my pillow while I slept. Rude.....

The last week and a half of weather has been fabulous! I rode my bike and didn't hurt myself - except for post ride muscle aches. I uncovered my Hostas without hurting myself...well more of those muscle aches. I picked up sticks and other debris in the yard without hurting myself...ahem more muscle aches. I replaced some warped paneling on the porch with some screens and replaced some screening on one of the living room screens - no I didn't hurt myself then either.
I actually washed some windows on the outside and I've seen no headlines about hell freezing over either - imagine that?! Spring is good for the soul as well...breathe in - breathe out...aaahhhh.

Have a good week all.........

Spring does help get me moving again. The weather is pleasant - no coats, hats, gloves, boots, scraping the windshield or warming up the car because Lord knows you can't walk anywhere outside without being in danger of slipping on the ice. Comfort foods are carbs...need that body fat to sustain you in case of prolonged power outage. Goodness, we had a good winter, I suspect I can sustain myself for weeks, months...years even with my body fat.

I enjoy getting to see my oldest brother and sister-in-law when we come out here. Hmmm...seems I've seen him more frequently than the brother who lives 45 minutes away. Hint Hint...;-D

Funny, as in unusual, story...we got to see Morgan at the Sea-Tac airport Sunday night for an hour...;-D He was there for work when we arrived so we got to meet some co-workers et al....fun and they made us feel quite welcomed.

Joined Twitter today...;-D Far be it from me to get old and left behind. Not sure I have it and links down quite right as yet but I'm getting there. Snort - got my all important "photo" though.

Bought some Tully's coffee to have while we are here....we don't do the charred stuff the area is famous for but I've been by the location of the first store.

I lost a pair of shoes but they aren't at this hotel..I thought I might have left them here on our last trip in February. Well gee, I just don't wear real shoes at home during the winter...slippers indoors and boots out in the snow. I couldn't find the shoes I wanted to back and I wore them out here last trip! Hhhmmmm....where could they be?

Nice to have all the tax stuff behind us for another year. I already tried to stimulate the economy when I bought the couches...;-D

Have a fine Evening all........

The woods are brown...and naked. One can see every piece of broken, snapped, rotten, decaying bit of trees and plant life that won't ever green up again.

The piles of snow are sprinkled with dirt and bits of gravel from the driveway and ..brown

The ground is still somewhat frozen and there are puddles everywhere which of course the water in them is brown.

The ground IS thawing, however; where there is dirt, there is mud...brown.

Knoel's extra big feet make extra big cat prints, on the car, on the floor, on my desk; if there was one paper on a messy desk that wouldn't be improved by cat prints, which one would he be sure to hit first?

Good-bye March, Hello April!

April is usually helped by warmer temperatures and sunshine and some greening up around the fringes of dirty piles of snow. So far not so much. Yesterday there was a mixture of rain/freezing rain/snow.

There have been a few glimmers of April's hope springing eternal...

I've seen plenty of robins bobbin' along.

The moss in my yard is beginning to green up.

I did not feel the need to don hat, winter coat and boots to make the trek out to the mailbox.

I heard geese honking this morning - presumably on their way north.

Liz has some yellow crocus in her garden.

My woodchuck is back......we saw her scampering from the neighbor's yard to ours and yes she went right under our porch. I think I will name her Geraldine.

I saw a pileated woodpecker this morning....and thank heavens for the naked woods so I could have an unobstructed view of him.

Coffee of the day: Kenya AA
Book reading: A Prisoner of Birth by Jeffery Archer

Have a fine day all.........

...and the other one looks like this one - except I took a swipe at some lint on the other one and all the photos look like someone took a swipe across the seat. The fabric isn't really fuzzy but it does show if someone takes a swipe across it....hhhmmm

o/'o/'o/' never mind o/'o/'o/'
Not only are they bigger in the living room than the showroom but they aren't broken in yet either...kind of like the SUV of couches - Hummer even.

ah - ha! The government KNOWS something about the after-life! There IS shopping in the after-life! Yea! Yippee! Oh? How is it I can say this? Well my mother-in-law got a notice about the stimulus package check she'll be getting...with the designation of deceased after her name...with her son's name as the executor of her estate...sure hope she spends it wisely. BTW - WE didn't get a notice yet.

Have a fine week all

This is what happens when you park your car near the woods...

Damn squirrels...........guess he'll have a little trouble remembering where he squirreled away his dinner for tonight, now won't he. Snort.

p.s. I told you it smelled like pipe smoke - right - a corn cob pipe.

So then I was cleaning my cook top - I should know better - nothing really good comes from cleaning. I not only popped the fan knob off the surface, I broke the stem that controls the fan - on, off, speed. Forty-Two dollars later, the manual and some nerves, my hero popped a new fan module in place. It seems to have only one speed though - tough, I hate the fan anyway.

I was cleaning Roomba's brushes - per his persistent requests (" Please remove and clean Roomba's brushes") Somewhere along the way I must have thrown out one of the end cap/bearings or whatever it's called on the end of one of the brushes. Cat hair get tightly wound under it. Of course you can't just buy a package of these things for like a pack of five for a buck. Nope, complete maintenance kit plus two brushes for the new Old model Roomba makes up a free shipping order to get one.

The UPS man likes us......he was surprised and pleased to actually see me the other day since I had to sign for my package from Expedia. I rarely book through any travel site but this last time it made a huge difference in price for the booking but a pain in the rear to change them. So no, the package wasn't airline tickets - we still could get e-tickets. Nope, they have to give us voucher coupons for our $60 refund on our last batch of ticket changes. Makes a little difference not traveling on Good Friday. Vultures.

This morning I knocked the cat into the toilet - it was cause for much glee on my part because I like "accidents" like that. I was washing my hands at the sink...I should have realized at least one cat was close by because, well, there is always at lest one cat close by. Anyway, Knoel took a flying leap up onto the counter just as I swiftly turned to grab a towel to dry my hands...we met mid leap resulting in his being knocked into the toilet. Snort.... Poor Knoel. (What do you mean civilized people shut the lid?)

Let's see...what other fascinating things have been going on..... Hmmmm, my birthday couches will arrive on Friday. At least that is according to a phone call that came in this morning. I suppose I ought to think about placement of said couches and old ones...and things in the way of people delivering the couches. Ice, Snow on the porch comes to mind as well as snowy wet boots on the carpet. Whew, sounds like work...maybe later.

I bought a Wii one day at Costco recently because it was a good deal and I thought someone would want it. No one did. So I thought gee, I'll put it on Craig's list and maybe even make a whole $25 profit for my "trouble" Hey, I'm not greedy, people do this all the time. Well, I got a couple of responses but no follow-ups so I returned it to Costco and got my credit. No big deal, I was going there anyway. Checking my junk email before deleting it, I see a note from someone asking about the Wii ..oppps. Upon opening it...it was a scathing denouncement of me as probably jobless welfare fraud mom with 4 kids and addicted to crack. It is people like me who are the cause for the oil shortage and war Iraq because of my greed. If I got a job and got out more, I'd know Wiis can be bought any Sun morning at Toys R Us and Circuit City etc. So I guess he told me. Teach me to try to make a buck or two. Geesh, the nerve.

Today is my Big Brother's 68th Birthday - somehow or another he doesn't sound as old as he used to. Wait until he hits 70 though.. eeewww. Happy Birthday, Lon.

Moving right along....I guess I should....have a fine day all.

Some people, with the mere mention of their name, make me smile. One such man has died this week but he will still be able to make me smile. Rest, Mason, you were one of the good ones.

Later:

Oh My...we have us an ice storm....photos to follow tomorrow.

So I went to the store for "supplies" - driving was nasty and I felt stupid for being out there.

I made apple sauce and baked beans when I got home...

Surfed the net some:

Played Kingdom of Loathing...

Read some blogs....

I got this from a Seattle blogger buddy - I like it!

Click here to create your own painting.

Played some Endless Ocean....

Read some book: The Girl who Stopped Swimming by Joshilyn Jackson

Watched some Discovery Channel....(snort I like Dirty Jobs)

hhhmmm...the lights flickered and dimmed...not sure how much longer we'll have electricity...one of our cedar bushes is definitely damaged from the weight of ice. hehehe it's a good like I like things that flame. I'm all set with candles and oil lamps.

Have a good evening all

Ahem...also available on eBay (AND refurbished!)and visible in MY kitchen. Of course I used it immediately after it arrived this morning and it's sooooo much quieter than my Waring Pro and *I* don't have to hold the orange and mold it around the reamer....Most of you know I squeeze fresh orange juice every morning - I can see maybe moving on from 2 oranges to three now.

I think I like this Refurbished notion of buying......Happy Happy Joy Joy

Happy March to all. March is not generally not the most beautiful month in Vermont but at the moment we still have lots of snow and it's white. March is generally brown - dirty brown piles of snow, dirty muddy dirt roads, dirty brown piles of driveway (if you have dirt drives as we do)plowed up onto the lawn or edges of drive; if lawn is visible, there are dirty brown leftover leaves and muddy patches - in other words - the Green Mountains have a slight brown tinge to them. Blech. I think the only thing to look forward to in March is the flower show if you can't manage to leave for a week or three. March needs flowers.

So I had a fine birthday this past week - I got beautiful flowers (sorry I didn't take pictures while they were fresh)- they certainly brighten a room! We'll be moving the furniture around again since we bought two new semi-disposable couches for the living room. Why buy a love seat or chairs when the room can handle a second couch? These leather boys can go back into the den where they belong and one den couch will finally head off to the dump. the poor thing has seen at least 20 years around here - cats and dogs and rabbits and pigs (guinea as well as pot-bellied) and probably if full of stuff we can be thankful we can't see with the naked eye. Besides, who the hell would be stupid enough to look at it any closer - Go Away Dateline, I'm just not interested. (you know I can't even think about using the glasses in the hotel rooms anymore without seeing them get a personal washing from me)

So 59 years old....I have entered my 60th year, as someone who is still in his 59th year keeps pointing out to me. I don't mind one bit. Nope not me. It's better than the alternative, ya know. Yeah, my hair is grayer than it was but I found some shampoo that makes the gray hairs softer - I'm rounder than I was but I figure who wants to sit on a bony Grandmother, my knees and ankles creak sometimes but they still get me where I need to go so I guess I have very little to complain about physically. Mentally? Ha...I can't believe I'm 59 so I must be delusional along with being somewhat easily detracted (see earlier post) Go ahead, tell me a joke, yeah, I've probably heard it before but I won't remember the punchline until you get to it again and I'll laugh just as hard the second third and fourth time...probably the 59th as well - ;-D

So what else is new...hhhmmmm...Knoel barfed up a hairball yesterday. Yeah well, it's not something HE does very often or else at least not in the house - That's ~Elmo's trick. The bad news is there was a gross round worm in it - the good news is I was able to get topical medication to put on the back of his neck instead of trying to squirt liquid into his mouth. Knoel is a very loving cat emphasis on cat; loving is on his terms. He can and will turn into the Tasmanian devil if one tries to pick up hold him against his wishes topical meds works for me. ~Elmo get the pleasure of receiving the medication too...eeeww, worms. No, I did not take a photo - it's gross enough I am telling you all about it.

Moving right along....my Costco had Wii bundles for sale yesterday and Easter Candy.

Have a good weekend all........

1. Go get paper towel in kitchen
2. Notice paper towel dispenser is empty
3. go to laundry room to get new package of paper towels.
4. Feed cat a few morsels since he followed you in there.
5. Grab laundry basket
6. go to bedroom and load dirty clothes from suitcases...
7. return to laundry room with basket of dirty clothes...
8. return to kitchen; sort through nonessential snail mail on counter
9. find "trash" on counter along with airline stubs and credit cards.
10. place things in safe places and mail pile in den
11. remember ear piece adapter was put in shirt pocket on the flight from Seattle
12. return to laundry room to look in dirty shirt pocket
13. check travel bags for adapter
14. attempt to remove traveling clutter from den
15. remove book from travel bag
16. return to living room with book
17. sit down with laptop and check email
18. decide to get coffee
19. again shift stuff around on coffee table
20. notice water spilled while refreshing cat water(another story)
21. go to kitchen for paper towel
22. notice paper towel rack is empty
23. go to laundry room for new package of paper towels
24. place new paper towel roll on rack in kitchen
25. return to living room with paper towel and clean up spilled water!

sit down to Blog about it

...need coffee......

sigh.

Our 8:20am flight was canceled...

Stand-by on the 1:20pm flight....

Confirmed seats on the 3:40pm flight.......

Has made for a long day's night.

Update:

All seems right at the moment...Have a good weekend all.

I'm not so sure about this new couch in the room at the hotel...somebody has an strange idea of fashionable renovations. Quite the conversation piece.

Let's all keep our fingers crossed that our flight home tonight isn't canceled or delayed. The flights coming west are pretty messed up at the moment - mostly non-existent - our flight home originates in Anchorage - Thank goodness AND it's still on schedule.