Prezzies!!!!

Although my birthday was last week, my presents arrived a little later. Thursday night, a big box arrived. Dan gave me the box and smiled. Opening it, I found a really cool garden tool set with seat. πŸ™‚ Of course it was snowing, but… I will use it as soon as I can. πŸ™‚

Then we went off to Denver on Sunday. We got to see my friends Mari and David. I haven’t seen them in about 6 years. They had never met Dan either. We had a great visit. Our hotel was very nice too. The best bit of course is always the long soak in the tub! Monday morning, we headed for the Federal Center to get USGS maps for my Dad. He is teaching a map course. We stopped at Isis, but the guy who buys books wasn’t in. Oh well. We had a coffee at Starbucks and headed to our computer client. Our client had gotten her new printer and digital camera. The printer is one of those all in ones that does everything except wash the windows. πŸ™‚ It is a really fantastic and we will be buying one for the business. The digital camera is very nice too.

Afterwards, we headed for Pueblo where we met with another client. Or, at least Dan did. I had an asthma attack, so I stayed in the warm car. It was snowing. Once he helped her find a computer, we went to Bingo Burger for dinner. Yum!!! Once again, I had the lamb burger.

The drive home was okay. Some light snow, a bit of ice, and not much else. Dan told me to go straight in, and that he’d unload the truck, because of the cold and my asthma. I walked in and what did I see? A box from Dell! My other prezzie had arrived. I am now the happy owner of a Dell Inspiron 1545. I opened it up and played with it for a bit. Windows 7 is okay, but I told Dan he could load Ubuntu 10.10 on it in the morning. He did. πŸ™‚

This is my old laptop. The CF 50 Panasonic Toughbook. It did pretty well, but it had major graphics card issues.

 

Here is my new computer. πŸ™‚ I’m very happy. I just about have everything set up the way I need it. Now to just find time to do some writing!

Happy Birthday to Me!!!

I’m 51 today. πŸ™‚

I slept in. Then I got a backrub. Dan brought me maple cookies and tea in bed. Yum! Once I got up and dressed, we ran a few errands and I picked up my birthday card from my parents when we fed their cat Elway. (yes, an orange tomcat…. Mom is a Broncos fan) After that we came home and Dan fixed the sidelights while I moved chives around in the garden.

Then, Dan went off to teach computer class and I enjoyed peace and quiet. I wrote on a story, cruised the internet and read my email. Oh, and enjoyed lots of birthday greetings on Facebook. Dan came home and instead of cooking dinner, we went to Pueblo. Bingo Burger!!! Oh yum. We borrowed Dad’s truck, so Dan, Morgan and I had dinner. Morgan now loves Bingo Burger. I had the lamb burger with Pueblo chilies and mushrooms with a side of sweet potato fries. Dan and Morgan had regular burgers. We were all very happy and very stuffed.

Afterwards, we waddled to Staples, got some office supplies and then went to Barnes and Nobel. Ah, books… My parents gave me $10 for my birthday, and I bought a book. The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss. Looks very good. Then we drove home and returned the truck. I’m going to make my pecan pie tomorrow as I am just a tad sleepy. It has been a great day. πŸ™‚

Thursday was wonderful, weird and sad.

Thursday was Dan’s 47th birthday. It was also the day we had to head up to Palmer Lake and have lunch with the Governor. On top of that, it was the day Ian headed for MEPS, the big physical which decides if he can enlist or not in the military. Oh, and my parents left for New Mexico and we are babysitting Elway, the cat.

So,… Up at the crack of dawn. Morgan off to school, and all three of us trying to cycle through the bathroom to get ready to go. 8am, all of us out the door. We dropped Ian off in Pueblo and headed north to Palmer Lake. It was a good thing we were early, because we got lost. The Inn at Palmer Lake might as well be the Bat Cave. It isn’t easy to find at all, even with directions and GPS. One of the women there said her Garmen’s GPS had failed. sigh…

The meeting was great. Governor Ritter signed the Colorado Workforce Development Council into law/being and then we had lunch. The food was okay, and yet not enough. One of the guys at our table asked if everyone was hungrier than they were before lunch. Most were. As it was, we ate in Pueblo on the way home.

After our ‘second lunch’, we drove to Gardner for Morgan’s volleyball game. Gardner was playing La Veta. It was a tighter game than Aguilar, but Gardner’s A and B team were both winners. As a treat, we took Morgan to A&W for a rootbeer float. πŸ™‚ We had a little bit of time with her before she had to head over to her mom’s for the weekend. sigh…

Then it was time for a bit of quiet for Dan and I. I sat down to my computer so I could write and Dan started on school work. There wasn’t any magic smoke, but my computer died. Dan thinks it is the hard drive and we will try and fix it in the next few days. Meanwhile, I am timesharing on his computer. pout… tears… sadness…

Friday Ian enlisted in the Air Force. He isn’t sure when he will ship out as he is waiting for a job opening.

Today we went to the Upper Huerfano to pick choke cherries. The bears had been there first, so we got more rosehips. sigh…

Tomorrow I plan to do a lot of baking for the Spanish Peaks Celtic Festival where I will be holding two bake sales. At least that will keep my mind off the lack of computer.

Home again, home again…..

We arrived home at midnight last night. Oh, and of course I had to get up and go to work this morning. Yawn…..Yawn….Yawn…. I’m just a little tired.
I am still laughing about the white thongs and the wedding dress! Plus, the fact that the Justice of the Peace was confused over who was the bride and groom cracked us up. The Chinese buffet was great, and afterwards we went home and relaxed. We had a pizza party and watched movies for dinner. Not the traditional wedding reception, but we didn’t mind.
The next day, the 28th, was Bryan’s birthday. After sleeping in, we goofed around for a while. Then Dan and I went shopping. I got prezzies for the boys… yes, all three. Talon and Gavin got these little dragons. Bryan got more ammo for his Nerf guns. We also grabbed lunch.
Then, Bryan, Katie, the grandbabies and Morgan went to Hebber Lake. They went swimming. Dan and I went with Stefan, Anabell, and some of his friends out to a ranch where he goes hiking. We had a jeep drive and then took a hike. Yes, I took lots of pictures. πŸ™‚
When we got home, we had barbecue. Pork, chicken, eggplant, squash and corn. Yummm… Then we had cake and ice cream. Oh, and lots of beer and other alcohol. Movies were watched and Stefan, Anabell and I went off to a coffee house to meet with some of his friends. It was a nice end to the evening. Funny bit was all of his friends reacting to the ‘oh my god! His mom is Just like He Said she was!!!!’
By the time I got home, Morgan was asleep, and Dan and Bryan were silly drunk. It was so funny. Funny bit was Bry and Dan wrestling. They were about matched.
Next morning, I woke up with a migraine. Dan woke up with a hangover. Tons of aspirin later, we left by 7:30am. Of course we forgot things which Bryan has promised to mail. Sigh…. my teacup… Oh well. The drive was interesting. Trying to deal with a headache in a car is not good, but I survived. It was HOT! I was so glad when the sun went down.
Oklahoma was Still under construction. So were parts of New Mexico. Most of Oklahoma, Texas and New Mexico roll up the sidewalks on Sundays. We had a heck of a time trying to find food that wasn’t fast food. Oh well.
Over all, the trip was great. It was lovely to see everyone. However, Arkansas in August is like crawling into a wet hot dryer. Uggghh….. Next time I will go in December, like I did last time.

A drippy Monday

Well, it was warm and sunny when I started out this morning. In to work at 8am, and done by 11am. Sort of short hours, but at least it is a job.

Then, ο»ΏDan and I went to the bank and the community garden to check on the squash bed. Got two squash!Β  Then it was off to lunch and a quick trip to the library. I picked up two books and Dan talked to John about the classes tomorrow. It was pouring rain by the time we got home. Brrr!!!

I have tomorrow off, and hope to get some stuff done. wheee…..

I got to talk to Stefan today too. He is 26 today. πŸ™‚ Happy Birthday Stefan!

Tuesday, Birthday, Meeting day…

It is a WARM day today, which is a really nice change from the cold and Snow of yesterday. I have the doors and windows open and I’m letting the air warm the rest of the house. I’m also glad that it is warm, because Dan is working on my car yet again. sigh…

Today is Ian’s 20th birthday. He’d planned to go to Pueblo, but with the car not working right, he just hung around the house. I’m making him a carob mayo cake and barbecued beef for dinner.

Plus, tonight is the RE-1 school board meeting which will probably be a LONG meeting. The alcohol issue, drugs at school- Peakview, and a bomb scare at the high school. Not exactly what most school districts want just before the end of school.Β  We had an irate member of the public try and tell me how bad Morgan’s school was too, because Gardner was letting students shadow at both RE-1’s high school and Re-2’s. Gee, where has he been for the last 20 years?Β  Oh well. It should be interesting.

We went to Walsenburg lumber and got glass, caulking wood putty and sandpaper so I can fix the back window and my dresser. Wheeeeee!!! I got a new story up too. I’ve managed just about a story a day on that blog. Also got a power point presentation done yesterday for college. Here’s hoping the professor reads and grades the right one this time. Yes, I’m still irritated over that.

Mother Nature has Hiccups!

Saturday was Logan’s 3rd Birthday. His parents had a party for him down in Aguilar.Β  Since I don’t have a car at the moment,Β  I went down with my parents. When we got there, Logan ran up to my mom and I and said, “Two NANA’S!!!” He was just a little excited. There were a handful of kids and parents there. Logan had a great time running up and down the community center. At one point, he came running to me and after plowing into my leg, he looked up and said, “I love you Nana!” Later I found out he had told my mom he loved her and ‘Nana’. So she had told him to go tell me. πŸ™‚

There was lots of cake, pizza, cookies, punch and green jello with Gummie Bears. Oh, and lots of noise. We came home around 4pm. Two hours of noise was about all I could take.

It was nice and warm. Probably about 58, and I had hung laundry out in the morning. Of course, none of it was dry, so I left it hanging up. Silly me. We woke up to snow on Sunday morning. In fact, it snowed all day and most of the evening. Then the clouds moved off and it got COLD. Brrr……. We honestly wondered if Morgan would have school today. She did. The roads are icy, but not too bad. It has warmed up to a brisk 50. Some of the laundry thawed and dried. The rest will just have to wait. Tomorrow is suppose to be warm too.

One thing this cold weather has done is finally made a dent in the woodpile on the side of the house. Dan gets to chop more wood as soon as we have a maul. Then I will have to rake all the bark and sawdust and really small twigs to where I want them. The plan is to xeriscape the front yard. There are just too many deer that walk through the area to have really “normal” gardens. We had a bear through the yard too. Found the prints complete with claws in the mud. I think it was after the berries on this one bush out front.

Autumn heading our way

We had the first snow on the peaks about a week ago. Brrrr!!!!

Snow!!!
Snow!!!

It had been rainy and cold in town, but when the clouds moved off, there was the snow. It made me a bit nervous as we were due to go up into the Upper Huerfano to pick rosehips and such the next day. Luckily for us, it was just cool. We got lots of rosehips and chokecherries. I’m making jelly out of the chokecherries.

Morgan had a birthday on the 10th. She had a volleyball game the day before and I sent cupcakes up for her birthday.

Yesterday was Dan’s birthday. He’s 46 now. LOL…. I tease him and call him Old Man. πŸ™‚

Dan and Morgan
Dan and Morgan

Morgan had a volleyball game yesterday too, and after the game we all went to Taco Bell where the whole team sang Happy Birthday to him. Oh the glow on his face!!!! It was a riot.

Today we went to do some work at the Catholic Church, ran errands around town, went to Morgan’s conferences and found out that she is doing well. Figured out some strategies for her expanding education. πŸ™‚ If she can pull it off, and turn in her work with good grades, they may skip her to the 8th grade mid year. She was very happy about that.

After that, we came home had dinner and called my Dad to wish him happy birthday.

Banks, Birthdays and by-laws

I really need to post more often. Apologies in advance for the tome!

After the joy of the elections, I got buried in work. Curtains for my parents house…. yes, I’m still working on them. Plus drivng Morgan to school most of last week ate up gobs of time.

Can’t forget either that I flubbed a date. I thought I had until November 12th to get the house taxes paid before they went up for auction. No, it was November 5th. Why did I discover this in the nick of time? (the 1st?) Because the Bank sent me a letter telling me that since I had obviously forgotten to pay my taxes, that they would pay them for me and add the amount to my loan! Talk about PANIC!!! I pulled together enough to pay off 520’s taxes and part of 203’s. The gal at the Treasurer’s office said I could pay off the rest in the next 5-6 weeks. PHEW! Talk about relief. I called the bank and told them thank you, but I didn’t need the bail out. Of course the next day, the Treasurer’s office calls to tell me that the bank sent a check over for the remaining amount, and did I want them to accept the check or stick to the payment plan we’d worked out the day before. Once I got over the shock of it all, I told them to send the check back. I called the bank and told them I was sending the check back, and they still tried to get me to accept it and the extra on our loan! nooooooooooo!!! However, we got it all straightened out. Added a few white hairs, but got it straight.

Samhain, the cross quarter day was on the 6th, which meant time to put up my ancestors altar and spending some time remembering all who had passed.

Then there was work. Getting out renewal notices, clearing up the details for the meeting on this Thursday, working on the website, and redoing the by-laws. Someone in their infinite wisdom typed them in ALL CAPS! Have you ever tried to read legalese compounded by ALL CAPS??? It’s bloody painful! Worse, it was extreme legalese! Poorly edited, poorly ammended and hadn’t been updated in over 8 years. ::::::shudder:::::: Oh, and did I mention that they were in ALL CAPS?

I kept putting them off, because the idea of trying to sort out that mess was daunting.

So, instead, I had a birthday. I am now 7squared. I got cards from my mom and dad and my sister. John and Beth gave me the graphic novel Guilty Pleasures by LKH. I liked the book, and will see how the GN goes. I got kisses and phone calls too.

Last thing I did was write the Locavore article for the Huerfano Journal and slogged through the by-laws. Uggghhhhh!!!! Finally finished at 10:30pm.

Yesterday was hell. Woke up umpteen times in the night and was dozing between alarms when I hear the sound of an aerosol being used in the bathroom. Being an asthmatic, aerosols are tops on the verboten list. The only one allowed is Spray & Wash, and it is used sparingly. Usually when I am not around. The only one up at that time was Morgan. She had bought hair spray a month or so ago, and had been told not to use it when I was in the house or going to be around her. Better yet, throw it away and get a pump spray hair spray. Even better, don’t use the stuff, cause you’re only 12! She promised not to use it around me.

Now, I won’t say she forgot. I figure she didn’t take it seriously. I figure she thought she could get away with it. Teens know everything don’t they? sigh….

Less than 3 minutes after I heard the noise, I felt the first tickle in my throat. Determined not to have an attack, I put my head under the covers. Willed myself not to cough, because she couldn’t be that stupid and use hairspray on an ice cold morning less than 5ft. from my bedroom door!

Didn’t work. Bad attack. Really bad. John grabbed my inhaler for me and I used it twice to start to calm things down. Meanwhile, he closed the bathroom door and opened the window to air out the house. (remember it is about 25 outside!!!) I coughed/wheezed and whooped loud enough to wake up Daniel. He’d worked graveyard shift and was really tired. Used the inhaler again and finally got things under a bit of control. Sounded like a wheezy bellows. Of course, the lingering hairspray and the cold air from outside were not helping. Of course, a hot shower would have helped, but that was the frozen sprayed zone… I lasted 25 minutes before I said to hell with it. Closed the window and showered. Ah…… hot steamy air… Things relaxed a bit, but there was no way for me to stay at the house. So, I left early. Ended up at 520 at 8am. Dan gave me that whatthehellhappened? look. I explained, and talked my way out of being put to bed. My chest was still so tight that laying down would have been bad.

I went into work early. Thank goodness it was a quiet day. I had one lost soul looking for Cost-tilli-a county. He got a traffic ticket and had to go to court in San Luis. I lent him the phone and had him call the courts. It was a cold snowy sort of day and I knew he wouldn’t make it over La Veta pass in time.

After he left, I printed out the agendas and by-laws for the meeting and then delivered them to the board members. Got home just in time for Dan to turn me around and head off to Pueblo to do a print run on the flier we are doing for the chamber. I had planned to got to bed, but he said since no one else was home, that I wasn’t staying by myself. Considering how I felt, I agreed.

We got the prints, grabbed some cd labels and then a quick bit of dinner. We were home by about 9pm and I got stuffed straight in bed.

Today I feel better, but still have this feeling that I got hit by the #9 bus. I worked on a bunch of fast public service announcements for Chris at KSPK and Gretchen at the Journal. I also edited copy for Dan. We finished up the brochure before dinner.

Erin dropped by for a few minutes and then Dan headed off to bed early. He has to be up at 3am to take Beth to Pueblo. At least my car can make it that far most days. She is catching the bus to Denver and an interview for her MLS degree.

Gads!

Hippo Birdies two Ewe!

Today is Little Morgan’s 12th birthday. She took a lovely sticky candy covered cake to school and shared the sugar high with all of her friends. For supper, she had yet another piece of cake and then home made pizza that Beth made. I had a piece of cake sans frosting and candy. Very chocolaty!

I gave her a pentacle necklace with a lapiz lazuli pendant on it, a small medicine bag, a tin with a cat on it and a turquoise/agate necklace and bracelet set. Her dad gave her a box, a deerskin leather bag with hearts, coins and stones in it and lots of love.

She is getting so big! Taller than I am and still growing.

Morgan (l) at her first volleyball game
Morgan (l) at her first volleyball game

She is having so much fun in school this year. Not sure if it is just the age, lack of Matt or what. However, she is so happy.

I had fun at work today too. Got the office tidy, worked on the computer files and have most things running up to speed. Tomorrow I meet the other volunteer. I get to see just how shocked she is at the changes. teeheehee…. Dan and I are headed to Pueblo too, to see Carl. It’s been a while and I feel bad about it, but there wasn’t much else we could do. It has been so busy.

Tomorrow is also the day that Larry Patrick is suppose to talk to me about the website and email. Hopefully, we will get that all fixed. I am going to do my utmost to keep the email out of AOL. (which one of the members thinks is the best way to go)

Well, off to bed!