Daniel! | My Blog

La Vida Pueblo

Posted on April 4, 2009 by

What a week. I think that I spent most of it in Pueblo. Not on purpose, but every time I turned around, we were heading up the road.

Tuesday after Dan got stuff done in town, mainly resigning from the Chamber of Commerce board, we headed to Pueblo. He had people to meet dealing with Pre-paid legal. We had lunch at Ruby Buffet and I went to Hobby Lobby. I found some cool yarn. Then we had to go over to the hotel where the Pre-Paid Legal meeting was. Found out that we had a few minutes to spare, so we headed over to Barnes and Nobel instead. I bought a book on Open Office. A sort of difinitive “how to” book. Then it was off to the meeting. Lots of “feel good” sales talk and lots of “go team go” stuff. Tolerable as Dan is starting to do the whole PPL stuff. We got home around midnight and headed straight to bed because we had a 7am meeting in Pueblo West.

5am came too damn early. However, the traffic at HWY 50 at 6:45am was more than we could cope with and so we missed the meeting. Had a nice breakfast and then went to Sam’s Club for tires. My poor little car needed new wheels to go vroooomm! Started home and then turned around on a hunch that Dan had. We went to see our favourite hippes down at the 29th St. garage. It is this huge car junk yard and the men who run it look like the Greatful Dead band members. Not that we’d ever say that to their faces. However, they are so sweet and so cool at at the same time. We asked them if they had a gas tank for my neon. They said yes. So, we asked them to fix mine. We went for a walk to see what other parts were available for my car. When we got back, the taller hippy asked if we wanted the tank replaced or just fixed. He had found the real problem!!! Not that we could have seen it without the car being on a lift. Dan and I took about 30 seconds to tell him to fix it. Wheee! 45 minutes and $75 later, my gas leak was fixed. We were happy!

We got home, took a nap and woke up to SNOW!!! A good 5 inches.

Thursday, we were suppose to get lots of stuff done that we hadn’t the rest of the week. Daniel came over with Spike, the puppy and wanted us to take him to Pueblo to buy a truck. Now, we knew that he couldn’t afford a truck nor had the credit. There was no telling him that though. So, we took care of the dogs and headed to Pueblo again. Daniel fell in love with a truck that was not in the best of mechanical shape. Pretty on the outside, but that is about it. He got mad at us for pointing out the obvious. However, after looking lots of other places, we went back and let him try to finance it. He has no credit history, and therefore needed a cosigner. None of us could do it. Just not enough credit. So, he was peeved, upset etc. However, there is no way he’d have listened to us tell him this. He had to learn the hard way.

We took him to dinner at Ruby Buffet, and let him look at all the pretty Chinese waitresses. Then he went clothes shopping. My Gods that boy has expensive tastes. However, he does dress nicely. We got home late again.

Friday, up early as Dan had to leave for Colorado Springs and a job interview. I helped him get ready and cut his hair. Oh, and trimmed up the beard too. Sent him out the door and then went to Pueblo with John to do the grocery shopping. We did all the regular stuff, and I got a new pair of clunk around shoes as my tennies had died. Oh! I also found a pair of high heels that didn’t make me feel like a poodle walking on two legs or in fear of breaking my ankles!!! I bought them because I will need a pair of heels come the Library Opening. Flat heeled penny loafers just don’t cut it with an evening dress. John got a new pair of dress pants and a silk shirt too. We got home fairly early, but then again, I had to get up early to go see to the dogs at 520.

7am came really early. I showered and then headed over to 520. Let the dogs out, fed them and then started to clean house. They had shredded the sheep, so there was stuffing all over. I swept, vacuumed and mopped. Finished just in time to head out for our afternoon.

Grandpuppy came to Visit

Posted on March 5, 2009 by

In the midst of everything this week, Daniel turned 19 on the 2nd. I babysat the puppy for him. Oh, and took lots of pictures.

Next time the puppy comes to visit, I hope that Daniel would have named him. He will also get to play with Brandy and Blanca next time.

I’ve got a new Grand….

Posted on February 26, 2009 by

Puppy. I know you thought I was going to say baby, but Bryan and Katie’s baby isn’t due until June. However, Daniel got an early birthday present. An 8 week old purebreed pitbull.

Daniel called and said that he wanted to show me something. I said ok, and that I was at 520. The basement had flooded at work after the city crew put a water meter in yesterday. Not sure what failed, but the basement was FULL of water. The city crew started pumping water, San Isabel turned off the electricity and then the city turned off the water and gas as soon as they could. Meanwhile, I realized I couldn’t do any work and took a day off using up some of my comp time. Wheeee….

So, Dan and I waited. Dan said that Daniel had a new dog. I said, nah, it couldn’t be. Twenty minutes later, Daniel got to the house. He walked in with his coat all curled up and all I could think was oh gods! What now? Dan gave me that “I told you so!” look. Daniel opened his coat and set this little wrinkley 8 week old puppy on the bed. I tried so hard not to think it was cute. Really. I did! sigh…..

He doesn’t have a name yet. I’m lobbying for Buster.

Of course the minute I picked him up, he went to sleep. Dan teasing me about Nana’s magic lap…

Daniel wanted to go get him a collar. He’d already had his shots and weighs a whole 5 pounds, 1 ounce. So, cradling my new grandpuppy, we headed off to Safeway. No luck. Dan suggested that we go to Petsmart in Pueblo. None of us had to be anywhere soon, so off we went.

Divot, my car decided to have lots of issues. It took us forever to get to Pueblo. We had lunch at Taco Bell, and then headed to Petsmart. We found a collar, toys, a book and a magazine on pit bulls for Daniel and a new water bowl for our two dogs. Blanca is constantly knocking the one we have over and I am tired of wet floors.

We then went to the Mall and Daniel bought Brianna a prezzie. A necklace and matching earrings. He even got a Wedgewood box to put them in. Very pretty! After that, we headed back to Taco Bell for dinner. Daniel’s request.

We drove home and then got to deal with jealous dogs when we got home. They could smell the puppy all over us, but couldn’t figure out where I had hidden it. LOL!

Sunday, Puppy Sunday!

Posted on December 3, 2008 by

Ok, I know it is Tuesday, but the latest episode in my life that makes things go “Kersplat!” happened on Sunday.

Daniel came over to visit. He was here at 520 for a few minutes and then left. He came back with my “late birthday, early Yule prezzie”. I should have been afraid, very afraid. My prezzie was…. drumroll…. a puppy. Not a little puppy, but a 4-6th month old puppy. Not a little puppy, but a 40 pound puppy. Lab, chow, husky and goodness knows what. Feet the size of soup can bottoms. Oh, and white. Brown eyes and black nose. So, I named her Blanca.

Keep in mind that while Blanca is 4-6 months old, Brandy is as year old. Blanca is going to be a big dog! She is a very sweet natured dog which is a good thing. Oh, and clumsy too! Does not know what to do with her feet.

It is going to be a very interesting few months.

Work has been interesting this week too. We had to cancel the Christmas party as no one had bought tickets. I think that the economics are just against things like expensive parties. Plus, La Veta was having their party the same day at no cost to attendees. Ours was $20 a person. So, we are going to have our regular meeting on the 11th, with refreshments. Or, in other words, a small party that doesn’t cost $20 a head.Chris Galvan and I are going to make some savories and hopefully, someone else will bring some sweets. I am planning to make the cheese sticks that I made for Thanksgiving. If I can keep Dan out of the dough! Gads! He is addicted to them. (teeheehee)

Tomorrow I’m going shopping in Pueblo with John. Wheeee…. We are having to borrow Erin’s car to do the shopping. My poor little car still has issues. Oh well.

Election Day

Posted on November 4, 2008 by

This has been an interesting election season. Lots of stupid stuff, tons of really heartbreaking moments. Living in Colorado, it has been interesting. There has been a heavy dose of candidate attention especially from the Obama campaign. The picture in the Sunday edition of the Pueblo Chieftain was amazing.

CHIEFTAIN PHOTO/JOHN JAQUES -- Sen. Barack Obama addresses the crowd lining Pueblo's Union Avenue on Saturday. — CHIEFTAIN PHOTO/JOHN JAQUES -- Sen. Barack Obama addresses the crowd lining Pueblo

For me, this election was about the local issues as much as the Presidential election. Growing up with Martin Luther King, and in adulthood, Nelson Mandela, I have never been one to let the colour of someone’s skin be an issue. It’s the issues the candidates stand for that are important. I voted for Obama, because I feel he holds a clearer view of what this country needs in the next four years. Something that was made more clear to me as I spoke to Daniel this morning.

I was awoken at 8:45am by Daniel who was on his way to vote for the very first time. He was worried about choices. Obama, McCain, or no one. Should he vote, should he just vote for local issues. As he walked to the poles, we talked. I told him where I stood on local issues. What I was voting for, and who I was voting for. To me, party lines don’t mean much. It is the person who is important.

When he got nearer the poles, he said he understood which issues that hadn’t gotten national coverage were important. He was also still uncertain about who to vote for for President. He’d heard a lot of stuff from friends. Some of it good, some of it bad. Trying to explain dirty campaign tricks over a cell phone is difficult. Daniel is so “in the moment” that he doesn’t see the long view whereby people want to subvert the mind of the voter via misleading adverts and interviews. So, this made it difficult for him to understand what was truth and what was lies. I did my best to clarify some misconceptions. I told him that in the end, it is his choice. We ended the call and I called the high school to let him know that Daniel would be late because he was voting. Gee…. the secretary was fine with that!

About 30 minutes later, he called back. He’d voted for Obama. Not because I wanted him to, or that his grandma who urged him to register to vote wanted him to, but because when he thought about it, Obama was the right man. Obama and his campaign had made enough of an impact on an 18yo who normally thinks no farther than the next day. Gives me hope for a lot of things.

Now of course, we are watching the election information roll in. It’s 9:15pm, and Obama has 306 electoral college votes. What a moment in history.

Friday afternoon!

Posted on May 16, 2008 by

I am finally getting caught up! Yesterday all I had time for was a quick post just before I went to bed. However, yesterday was a very full day.

First off, it snowed again which made it very cold. Found out later that places like Cuchara got nearly 10 inches of snow. Brrrr! On the 15th of May no less!

Plus, around 5am, Stella started having kittens. By around 7am, she had four little tabbies and one black kitten. She looks to be a very good mom. :> Oh, and Beth was ill with some sort of stomach bug which caused havoc for her. I took her some gatorades and crackers while Dan headed to Aguilar for two jobs. I did some banking and then headed out to pick up Matt and Morgan who went on an all school rollerskating trip to Pueblo. They had a lot of fun in spite of the cold. I brought them back to the office because Beth was sick. They were going to spend the night here.

While we waited for Dan to get home, Erin, Morgan and Logan showed up. With a bit of convincing, they went to the store and I made steak and potato pie for dinner. Half way through cooking, Dan got home. He’d forgotten a part and had to come back here for it.

We ate and cleaned up just in time for Dan to get home. He was too tired to eat so I saved his share for lunch. Around 9:30pm, Erin and family headed home. Morgan and Matt went to bed and Dan and I finally had a little time to work out some things for today. Oh, and I wrote the first episode of Digitally Challenged.

This morning at 9am, my sister Pauline showed up. She had just come from a job interview and needed a cuppa tea to relax. We all chatted and then I went with her to her house and picked up chairs and a desk. Daniel was suppose to go with her out to Mike’s to unload the bus, but friends of his kidnapped him to buck bales of hay. Pauline left about 30 minutes before they got here. I gave them directions and out they went. With three young men, it only took an hour to move everything. I even got two more chairs out of the deal. 🙂 Wow! We now have places to sit that aren’t desk chairs.

We are suppose to have a business meeting in about 15 minutes. Erin, Karen, Carlos, Dan and I. A first! 🙂

I also took pictures of our furbaby. Brandywine came home today from training. Wheeee!

More later!

Of Prom and Pollen, Sneezes and Spasms

Posted on April 27, 2008 by

Last night was the high school prom. Daniel got all dressed up and looked so handsome. I wasn’t sure it was my son he looked so nice!

Since this is a small town, everyone is invited to the Grand March. This is where the DJ or the principal introduces all of the couples. We got there early, so I could get a good seat. While there were about 80 kids at prom, there were nearly 300 people in the audience.

It always amazing me how nice they can make that place look with a bit of fabric, flowers and lights. Daniel’s date, Angela met us at the high school. Her mom sat next to me on the bleachers and she didn’t even know what dress Angela had picked for the night as they had bought three different ones! However, Angela looked beautiful! Our first glimpse of her was when she and Daniel came down the catwalk. All of the kids were suppose to stop just past the arch. The girls got a rose from the guys, and the guys got a garter from the girls. They they are suppose to turn, stop and let everyone take pictures… Right…..

I barely got this picture. The next one shows them walking off. sigh… However, I did get some good ones at the end where everyone is trying to take pictures and it looks like a paparazzi feeding frenzy.

I slowly worked my way to the door and headed home. Downloaded all the pictures and sent them off to the various relatives. :> Then I did some laundry and decided to make an early night of it. I had a date with my book!

So, there I was, quietly reading when I sneezed. Achoo! Pain! Spasm! Achoo! More pain! Oh my gods! Somehow, I had twisted/pinched/torqued the muscles on the left side of my ribcage right at the lower edge of the ribs. I laid there trying to catch my breath, and Oscar the dog kept poking at me with that “mom! Mom! Are you ok?” look on his face. He’s a German Shepard who thinks he’s a cat. So, having an 85 pound dog trying to check on me while I curled up in a ball and tried not to sneeze again was a bit awkward. John came down to check on me and by then I was able to sit up. I figured I could breath, so I tried to read a bit more of my book. Did fine right up until I sneezed again. Pain! This time, I put the book down and curled up on my side and went to bed.

Woke up this morning, feeling fine. Right up until the point where I moved. Mistake! Whatever is pinched is still there. Sneezing hurts. Breathing, drinking, eating hurts! A hot shower helped a bit, but… Ow! Figured it didn’t matter what I did, so I went to the office, as my desk is still a disaster. Thought I could at least get some paperwork done. Of course, I sneezed and almost fell out of my chair. Dan gave me that look, the one that asks what’s wrong and says he thinks I’ve screwed up and should know better. Once he found out, he made me a hot water bottle. So, I curled up for a while with a hottie and tried to relax.

I went back to my computer a bit ago, and while sneezing/coughing/breathing still hurts, it isn’t as painful. Dan is driving the kids to school tomorrow as the thought of sneezing and spasming at 65mph just doesn’t thrill me. I’ll have enough on my plate as it is, just showering and doing the paperwork.

I hate allergies!

Come Saturday morning,

Posted on April 19, 2008 by

And I’m finally relaxing after a busy week. Oh my this has been a non-stop run from Sunday to today, and it isn’t going to get any quieter for a while. (ever?)

Yesterday was my regular ‘run to Pueblo’ shopping trip. We go up about every two weeks to get all the groceries needed for our crazy extended family. This includes the Harpers-Dan/Beth/Matt/Morgan, my eldest son and family- Erin/Morgan/Logan and us-John/Daniel & me. Oh, and you can’t forget the 3 dogs and 6 cats. I learned a long time ago that it was cheaper to shop in Pueblo for the majority of the groceries. Safeway in town is good for emergency things, milk and meat. Otherwise, they are just too expensive to buy all the day to day stuff. Yes, even with the gas prices at $3.39 a gallon. On an average trip, I go to Vitamin Cottage, Sam’s Club, Target, PetCo/Petsmart, and Walmart. I’d prefer to shop at just Target and Vitamin Cottage, but can’t afford the cost. Even Safeway, King Soopers, or City Market in Pueblo are even more expensive. Therefore, I compromise. In the summer, I hit the farmers markets and have a small garden when possible. Our high desert climate and the droughts we’ve had over the last 10 years have made that difficult at times.

This trip included a run to JCPenny’s. Last time it was Little Morgan who needed special clothing. This time it was Daniel. He told me on Thursday evening that he was taking Angela to Prom. You could have knocked me over with a stick! He and Angela have been friends since about 3rd grade. Never really dating per say, but always friends. Dan said that he had a double breasted suit jacket that Daniel could borrow. It fit like it was made for him. Therefore, all we had to get were the trews, tie and shirt.

Daniel is very muscular, and so it took 5 different styles of trews to find a pair to fit that he liked. Granted, it would have helped if he wore them around his waist instead of his hips, but….. that’s just me being old fashioned I guess! Finally found a pair to fit. Black, front pleats and satin finished with cuffs. Size 34/29’s. If he’d worn them at the waist, they’d have been 32/30’s. Oh well. On to the shirt and tie. I think we looked through 20 different shirts and half a dozen styles. To go with that waist of his, he has broad shoulders. We finally found a double back pleated shirt in sateen finish that he liked. Maroon. Size 16.5/34. We could have gone for a 17 collar, but that would have been just too much shirt around the waist. The tie he picked out was black silk with diagonal stripes in satin and matte finish. I was trying not to think what this would cost. Luckily, it was all on sale, so instead of spending nearly $200, I got out of there for $94. phew!

After that little adventure, we did the regular grocery run and had lunch at the Panda Buffet. It had been a while since I’d been in there and it was a nice change. I get tired of fast food, and there are only 3 or 4 nice sit down restaurants to go to nearby that I like. Being diabetic has made me a tad picky.

We got home at 5:30pm, unloaded groceries at 203 and then 520. Daniel couldn’t wait any longer and tried on the clothes we’d bought. When he came out to have me tie the tie, I wasn’t sure that it was my Daniel! Oh my! Then he put on the jacket and “struck a pose”. WoW! GQ watch out! Even Daniel was impressed with how he looked. When Dan got back to the office an hour or so later, Daniel dressed up again. Dan was gob smacked. When we showed John, Morgan and Erin after that, John and Morgan were also impressed. Erin just looked at his brother and asked when they were going to get back to the show we’d interrupted! LOL…..

I have promised to get pictures at Prom. It’s next Saturday, and true to form in a small town, everyone who is even slightly related to some kid at prom shows up for the grand march. It cracked me up the first time I got an invitation to Prom when I was on the local school board. I didn’t know that the invitation was to attend the grand march. Totally confused me! We never did that in Littleton. My graduating class was bigger than the entire school district here. It is fun though to see the kids all dressed up. You can tell the girls who haven’t worn a dress since 8th grade graduation or their Quinceaños. They walk so awkwardly in dresses and heels. And the boys…. most of them haven’t worn a suit since they were about 3 or 4. They clean up so nicely!

Today was catch-up day. I’m trying to do all the paperwork I should have gotten done on Friday. Dan and Karen are installing parts for the Aguilar wifi system. They did a run to Denver yesterday for parts. Catch-up day for all of us. I even caught up on a bit of sleep. I got up late today, and yet was falling asleep over my keyboard. Not wanting to wake up with QWERTY on my forehead, I laid down for a nap. I ended up with Tosoto and Princess Butterbutt curled up behind my legs. They were warm and comfy, and not happy that I got up. Oh well. Once Karen and Dan get back, I’ll be off to 203. Wheee…… More laundry and housework. I think I need a vacation!

Snow!

Posted on March 3, 2008 by

Yesterday we finally got to have a bit of a day off. Main reason being that it started snowing at 9am! Yes, while Saturday had been sunny and nearly 75 degrees, sunday turned into a snowy 25 degree day. We ended up with about 6 inches of snow, and today it is melting as fast as the sun can melt it.

It was really nice to sleep in! In fact, I didn’t get out of bed until nearly 10am! Wheeee!

Before the storm got too bad yesterday, Dan and I ran a few errands and then sat down with a movie while we ate. Beowulf. Fairly good. We also got Stardust, which we might watch tonight.

Yesterday was also Daniel’s 18th birthday. I got him to come over to the office and we ordered him a keyboard, mouse and a flash drive.

Today is one of those sort of messed up days. Since my car isn’t working right, I have someone else taking the kids to school. I don’t have a lot of work to do, nor do I have much desire to actually do anything. Sort of in a funk. Oh well…

Awwwwghh…..

Posted on February 25, 2008 by

Now I know how my dear friend Laume felt when her children brought her home a puppy for her birthday.

I was asleep when I heard the door open. I figured it was Dan back with the kids. No, it was Daniel with a puppy. The same puppy he has been trying to get me to take for the last month. The same puppy I’ve been saying NO about for the last month. sigh…

So, here I am, half asleep and next thing I know, there is this fuzz ball licking my fingers. Oh, and Daniel smiling down on me talking 90 miles an hour about how he’ll take care of it and how it is staying here, etc… I kept saying NO.

Not that this was working. sigh… We even made jokes about the whole bullshit level rising high enough to need a snorkle. Of course, I finally gave in and cuddled the puppy. She is a German Shepard mix. Mostly golden brown with black highlights. Even black eyeliner. Gads… She is very pretty and very sweet.

Dan even said that the owner wouldn’t let Daniel have the puppy. So, Daniel called Stefan and Stefan said yes. So much for that ploy. Oh well…

So, Karen has taken the puppy to housebreak her. We should get her back in a week or so. sigh…