Pagosa Springs

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I’m sitting in the Boulder Coffee Cafe in Pagosa Springs. I am suppose to be in a meeting for the CRWC, but I’m not needed until about 2pm. So, I’ve run away for a few minutes to relax.

To say that the last few months has been stressful is an Understatement. So, I’m trying to mellow out on this brief trip out of town. I walked around downtown Pagosa Springs and took some pictures that I will post later. I forgot a USB cable. Oh well.

Guess I’d better finish my chai and head out the door. 🙂 I think I’ll take a drive.

Where the ‘ell do I start?

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Okay, this is the third time I’ve tried to write this post. Sigh. My computer is having snit fits.

Last week was the Spanish Peaks International Celtic Music Festival.Take a peek at their website!

I did a lot of baking for two bake sales I had promised I’d do for Barbara Yule. Thursday after work, we headed up to the Ceilidh in Gardner. It was wonderful. Lots of good music and almost every act played. Morgan joined us after her volley ball game. Gardner won!
Friday was the picnic at Uptop which is the ghost town at the top of Old La Veta Pass. The bake sale was good and the music great!. That night, we worked the concert at the Fox Theater in Walsenburg. Ed Miller and John Taylor followed by Chris Newman and Mairi NiChathasaigh. Lovely lovely evening.

Saturday, I baked more items and we then went to the concert at the Fox. This time it was the Shamrock Kitchen Quartet. Singing and Sean Nos dancing. Once again a wonderful evening. Sunday we got up early, packed a ton of baked goods into the truck and headed to La Veta for the morning bake sale. We did really good and headed over to the concert with Colcannon Express. Fantastic music. We had a great time. The whole festival was wonderful.

Monday, I woke with a Migraine… Ugggghh… too much sun, not enough water, and stress. Wonderful combo. NOT. I crawled to the aspirin, and Dan brought me the phone so I could call off work. I was in bed most of the day. By about 6pm, I began to feel human. I read a bit and then went back to bed.

Tuesday, I was up and moving, because I had Jury Duty.

I was there by 8:15am. I didn’t expect to be chosen. I was the last juror chosen. We took a lunch break and the trial started at 2:30pm. It was a Domestic Violence type case. We heard all the evidence, saw pics, listened to witnesses. We went into deliberation around 7pm, and they got us dinner. After a lot of deliberation, discussion, agreements, disagreements, and more discussion, we finally decided that while something obviously happened, that there wasn’t enough evidence to convict. We had way too many doubts. So, about 8:45pm, we gave the judge our verdict. You could tell that the DA and the Judge thought we were nuts, but we just couldn’t choose anything other than Not Guilty on the evidence we were given. That whole thing about ‘reasonable doubt” takes on a whole new meaning when you look at the laws. I got a certificate. That was just strange. It even has the court case on it. As I waited for Dan to pick me up, the defendant came out and thanked me as he passed. I just nodded.

I got home at 9:15pm, and was asleep before I could even hit the pillow.

Today I went to work, did a bunch of errands. I met with John and told him again that I want a divorce and sent him a list of stuff I want from the house

Tomorrow I’m going to catch up on the tons of email I have to read and then I’m going to start working on the house. I have a big urge to do Fall Cleaning!!!

A Saturday in April

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The sun is shining, my homework is done, the laundry is washing and a gentle breeze is blowing through the house. Ah…. contentment.

It has been a busy week. We started out with taking my parents to Colorado Springs on Monday. Dad has his cancer check up and all was well. We did a bit of shopping and then came home. It was also Morgan’s first day back to school and Dan and I have classes again. Tuesday we taught computer class and then later on I went to bed with a headache. Wednesday I still felt like dreck, Spent most of it curled up with Dan and watched Planet 51. Gods that is a funny movie!

Thursday, we rearranged furniture. We brought the dresser out to the living room so that we could use it for an entertainment center. Then we dragged the big dresser thing out of the bathroom and we put it in the bedroom. I will paint that as soon as it gets scrapped and wood puttied.

Yesterday, I worked on my homework in spite of a headache. Yeah, one of THOSE weeks. I pinched a nerve in my neck and it has caused a referred pain headache. However, I finally got the power point presentation done and turned in. This is a ‘fundamentals of management’ class. For me it is one of those ‘sit down, shut up and pass the class’ classes. sigh….

Today so far has been fun and productive. Dan and I got up at the crack of dawn. Okay, 7am! He went off to Lathrop Park with my Dad, and I went to breakfast with my Mom. Yummmm! Ian woke up with a migraine, so we left him sleeping. After breakfast, we went shopping at Safeway and then I dropped Mom home. A cup of tea and a fruit pie later and I started working on my next class assignment.

Dan came home and after a bit of conversation, he sat down to play ‘kill the bad guys’  on the Xbox while Morgan read her book. She is with us this weekend!!!! Ian finally got up and is doing better too. Dan fixed my washer and now I can do laundry at home!!!!! I know that sounds daft, but it makes me much happier to be able to multi task instead of sit at the laundromat for 3 hours doing nothing.

In an hour Dan and I are off to dinner at my parents. Our first one. LOL…. should be fun. Plus, I have this urggggghhhhhhh to write! hmm…..

And now for the baby pics…

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Bryan and Stefan sent me pictures!!!Talon I have a bunch, but will upload the best.

Talon sleeping on Katie’s chest.

Bryan and Talon
Bryan and Talon

It was really cool to have all the pictures when I got back this morning from paying bills. I did the happy Nana bounce as quietly as I could, because Dan woke up with a sinus headache. However, would he stay in bed? No!… silly man.

Himself, not so awake...
Himself, not so awake...

So, he worked half heartedly all day.

Around 1pm, I went out to the nursing home across from Lathrop Park and helped some of the people plant a garden. They have two areas to garden in out there. I helped Inez and Grace plant the flowers. Two 4×8 raised beds and 4 tire planters. These are made from tires left on their rims and cut then folded out to form pots. Very cool. :>

I got back around 3pm, and Dan was still trying to work. Sigh. Heading to Pueblo tomorrow should be fun…

Oh! Last but not least, I have officially started college! CTU. A bachelors in Business Management. We shall see how long I last!!! Hopefully, all the way to a Masters…

Week’s End

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Every time I thought I’d have ten minutes to sit and blog, something came up. Thursday was busy. running errands and such. Dan got home early enough that he watched Stardust with Little Morgan and me. Friday was another busy day. We went to Pueblo. We were suppose to get there early enough to find the farmer’s market, buy some fresh veg, run our errands and then see Carl. Slept a bit late, had breakfast and then were late starting out. Plus, we decided to go the back route. Good thing, as Dan was a “good Samaritan” and helped two ex-marines with their jeep that lost it’s brakes. The brakes had caught fire. Dan had an extinguisher in the back. He gave it to them in case it happened again.

We of course missed the farmer’s market and when we got to the hospital, Carl was asleep. So, we went looking for fabric. Hobby Lobby was a dead loss. Headed over to Walmart, and actually found a fabric that was nice. It’s a light green with a tan leaf print. I’ll probably sew it up this week. We did finally get to see Carl. He drifted in and out of sleep while we were there. The VA was planning to move him to Denver, but hadn’t managed it. Hopefully they got that done on Saturday.

When we got home, we watched the Presidio. It’s a good movie, but one Dan hadn’t seen. 🙂 Not sure which scene I like best. The one where Meg Ryan rips Mark Harmon’s shirt off, or where Sean Connery tells the drunk he’s only going to use his right thumb, because his left one is too dangerous. 🙂

Dan officially resigned from RBT Friday night as well. He’d finally had enough. The pressure was affecting him both mentally and physically.

Saturday was another day of oddball errands and trying to get stuff done. Finally around 2pm, we dropped Blue off with John and then took a drive. We ended up in the Upper Huerfano. Near the Singing River Ranch, we startled a Mule eared deer and her brand new fawn. Tiny little thing with spots! Oh it was cute. Didn’t get as far up as we’d have liked to, but there was a puddle across the road that would have eaten LRT. So, we grabbed our stuff and headed up to our favourite meadow. Of course, we had to go around the huge puddle. Didn’t do too bad myself, but Dan stepped right in the middle of a swampy spot up to about mid shin. And, true to experience, the moment we decided to sit down, it started raining. We could see Blanca through the rain curtains, and instead of clearing off, the rain just kept coming. We finished a bit of food and then walked back to LRT. We were soaked. Granted, it was hot enough that by the time we got home, the only bit that was wet were the backs of our shirts. We also saw about 20 deer on the way down. It was really neat.

We finished off the evening with a salad and a couple of Babylon 5 episodes.

Woke up this morning with a sinus/migraine headache. Felt like I’d been kicked in the face. Plus, the lights were too bright, the noises too loud and my sense of smell could pick up moldy cheese three states over. Uggggh! It’s only taken me 10 hours to feel almost human. Now I get to write my Huerfano Journal articles. Wheeee…..

Horrid, horrid week.

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The Queen had an annus horrilibus. This has been my horrid week. First the business. Then on Wednesday, Pauline came over and asked us to help her move out to the ranch. Daniel, Dan and I went out and helped pack up the pick-up truck, her car and a full sized school bus. Lots of heat, dust and hard work. By the time we finished, I had the headache from hell. I climbed in bed at 8pm, after a shower and slept for 12 hours.

Thursday morning while I was waiting for Dan to pick me up, I heard Oscar go after a cat. Didn’t know what cat, as I was too late to see that. All I saw was gray fur on the floor. That could have been Tweek, who I had brought in about 10 minutes earlier, or Bubbles. Dan picked me up and we went over to work on 520. We weren’t there even an hour when the kids called me. Tweek was ill on Matt’s bed. Dan and I went over and checked her out. She was the one that Oscar had attacked earlier. We picked her up and brought her over to 520, knowing that she would either pass or start to get better.

Tweek passed about three hours later. Still no idea of what exactly was broken. She had a long scratch and that was about it. Considering how quickly she died, nothing a vet could have done would have helped. We buried her in the back yard at 520.

Then I had to go over to 203 and let John and the rest of the family know what had happened. We also had to tell Daniel that Oscar had to go. This is the third cat he has killed. Plus, he has bitten 5 or 6 people. Nothing serious, but hard enough to draw blood. AT this point, my fear was that Logan would get bitten. So, Oscar had to go. Of course, Daniel has been very upset. I was upset.

Upset, angry, in tears,… everything. He is very angry with me and Dan. No other course of action though, but to get rid of the dog.

This morning, I went to turn my resume in at two different secretarial type jobs. One for the D.A. and one at the local chiropractor. I will have to wait until Monday to see if I get an interview. The chiropractor didn’t know what to think of this middle aged woman who wanted a job. A paying job. He kept asking me questions like I was a 20-something. Honestly didn’t know what to think of someone who didn’t want more education, just a job that paid. Oh well.

After that, Daniel came over and practically threw Oscar at me. The whole, “you get rid of him, and I’ll hate you forever” mind trip. I called all over trying to find a place for him. No luck. So, Dan and Erin took him up in the hills. I’m not happy about this, but it is better than him being dead. Of course, now Daniel wants his dog back, there is no way to get him back and I have to deal with all of that.

Of course, in the middle of this whole thing, my Dad calls. The medical tests came back positive for cancer. Two or three kinds. Bladder cancer, a tumor of some sort and one other thing. Treatable, but still. Trying not to worry. I’ll get more details from Mom tomorrow.

Dan just got back. He told Daniel and I about Oscar. From the moment he got out of the back of the truck, he was blissful. Ignored Dan and Erin, his ball, everything human. He got a drink out of the stream after playing in it and then was hunting a vole and snacking. They called to him and he just went over the hill and out of sight. They waited around for 30 minutes and while they saw him a time or two, he was happy to be out there. He went out of sight and they came home. It may not have been the best thing, but there was no one who would take him. There are no No Kill shelters in this end of the state for dogs his size. (German Shepard and Wolf) No ranchers. All in all, it is the best choice. Our only other one was a bullet in the head. Not even Dan could do that to him.

I’m going to bed.

Sat-Uurrrrrrr-day

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I should have known it would be one of those days. After the long hot day in Pueblo, I never really cooled off. Nor did I sleep very well last night. It didn’t help that at one point, that the puppy and Tosoto decided to have a fight on my side of the bed. LIterally over the top of me. I still don’t see how I got away without a zillion scratches.

7am, the alarm went off. I had a meeting to go to. Stratigic Planning Committee. The only thing that stood between me and being at that meeting by 9am was the beginnings of the headache from hell. The alarm was too loud. The room to bright. Oh, and standing up to get any aspirin was just so out of the question. Luckily, pitty was taken on me. Aspirin and water appeared and I went back to sleep till 8:15am. At that point, I had the headache down to a dull roar.

Normally, I would have just blown off the meeting. However, we have been trying to get this District Strategic Plan done since February. So, off I went. Dan had to bring me my glasses that I forgot. Headache head =’s no brain. We got some stuff done, but by 2pm, it was clear that we were all ready to just call it a day. We will tackle this monster on June 23rd.

Came home and took a nap. By 6pm the headache was better, but still not gone. I’ve just taken it easy. I think I’ll take my cup of tea and head off to bed.

School carnivals, drives in the country and Snow….

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Friday night was the Gardner school carnival. Morgan had spent the night with a girlfriend and so Dan and I picked up Matt and headed up to the school. Now imagine 75 of your closest friends, their families and all the siblings that ever graduated coming to a huge dinner and then playing games for 3 hours. Everyone knows each other, inspects the latest boy/girlfriend, new baby(ies), new tattoos, etc. They catch up on all the gossip, tell all the latest grandbaby/kid stories and pet/livestock stories. This is Gardner school carnival.

Dinner was pizza, salad and cheesecake. Dan was happy. I’m allergic to milk, so I didn’t eat. Then it was off to the gym and the games. Ball toss basket ball, airzooka blasts with teacher targets, basket ball shoots, face painting, car racing, darts, bean bag toss, and the pistol range shoot. We walked around, chatted with friends and watched Matt and Morgan do their thing. Then I gave the kids and Dan more tickets and went to chat with my friend Jolene. She was running the table sale. Lots of junk for a donation. Meanwhile, Dan went to the pistol shoot. He took his turn, then took over the booth while the teacher took a break. Fun bit was that he stood behind the smaller kids with another pistol and was hitting the targets when they couldn’t! What a riot! Then he went over to talk to Bruce, who is also the local sheriff and Jolene’s hubby. We finally headed home around 8pm.

I got about 8 miles down the road when the headlights from another car clipped me just wrong and zapped me. I get migraines almost instantly when this happens. Luckily, I could see enough to drive to a safe place to stop. The road is very narrow at that point. Dan drove home, and I went to bed. Awwwggghh…… Of course ten minutes after I got home, I tried to go to sleep. Not that anyone could keep quiet. Just what I needed with a headache that was light, scent and sound sensitive! I nearly threw up. So, while I went to bed by 9pm and didn’t get up till nearly 7:45am, I think I only really slept about 6 hours.

Got up Saturday morning and felt a bit better. Sort of wrapped in cotton wool. After I took Daniel out to Pauline’s so that he could house sit, I planned to take a nap. Reason being that in the afternoon, I was suppose to play friendly native guide to our business partner Carlos. Wheee…. However, the work on the Aguilar NOC took longer than we thought. Plus, the phone kept ringing! So, I got no nap and the drive got postponed until Sunday.

Sunday we got rolling about 11am. We drove up HWY 12 from La Veta to Trinidad. Then out to Hoehne, up to Gardner, Redwing and past up the Huerfano Valley. Then out to Wolf Springs Ranch. It was about a 200+ mile drive. I had fun, and Carlos got to see where we want to put in WISP service. After we got back, I picked up Daniel from Pauline’s, did a bit of laundry and then went to bed after watching HellBoy. Odd movie, but funny too.

Today, we woke to about 4 inches of snow. It was still snowing hard at school time and I decided that it was better to not drive in the snow. We probably would have been fine, but I decided to play safe. The kids aren’t going to keel over for missing one day of school. Dan, Karen and Carlos headed off to Colorado Springs and Pueblo for the day. They are going to the big gun store up in the Springs. I’d have gone too, but I have two meetings tonight and don’t want to miss them. If I had gone, there is no way I’d have been home in time. I’ll get to hear all of their adventures when they get back. Wheee……

Meanwhile, I’m catching up on paperwork, writing things for the meeting and taking it easy for a bit. Oh, and it is still snowing… Gads!