Endings and beginnings and in between....

Today is the Kentucky Derby. 

Tomorrow is Cinco de Mayo, a totally American holiday that parades as a Mexican one. 

Monday is my daughter and her husband's first anniversary. 

A week from tomorrow is Mother's Day. 

A great niece graduates soon from High School.   

It's a busy month.   

A year ago this weekend. 

Aren't they darling?

Also, this coming Wednesday, I leave for Florida and then to Saint Thomas. Traveling with both daughters and the son-in-law, we will water taxi to Saint John and board a catamaran that will then take us through the British Virgin Islands. I joke that the SIL is taking his "harem".   He knew when he married Belle that he was getting a "sister wife"-the little sister that comes along for everything. Bless his heart, that did not deter him and he has graciously (mostly) included her in many trips, parties, meals and more meals.  I got a text from him saying it was "my turn in the rotation" to come along for a trip. Wait! What? There's a rotation? If I had known, I would have signed up earlier.  Anyway, I'm spoiled/fortunate/lucky AF.

This will be "home" next week

But. This trip also could not come at a better time. After a lovely trip to Texas to see the eclipse (where apparently we were in the only cloud covered area of the U.S.), I made the decision to end my five year long distance relationship. Love the man dearly but we had opposing agendas and there was no way forward. We wanted different things. It was time. I knew it. But still, it leaves a void. 

Texas was beautiful but clouds everywhere. 

Then last week Mina Kitty quit eating. She started hiding in the corner of the office. The kitty box was intentionally missed. Weight was obviously lost.  

A visit to the vet gave me all sorts of options.  She will be 16 in July which is a ripe old age for any cat, even more impressive for a kitty that has been in renal failure for the last 3 years.  I went with Plan B which was treat the symptoms and see if she recovers. She spent a few hours getting antibiotics and IV fluids along with some pain meds and came home much perkier. She even ate a bit last night. This morning she isn't quite so chipper.  She licked up a bit of baby food and is doing her best bread box impression here in the corner of the office.    

Mina with a captured catnip toy

Plan C was multiple diagnostic tests and labs, not feasible for a kitty of this age. I have opted for "above and beyond" in attempting to keep animals alive before and it isn't fair to them. Never again.

Which leads me to Plan A.  Plan A is euthanasia which I'm afraid is where we are headed. This is complicated by my impending departure. Do I put her down possibly a week sooner than needed to spare the house sitter the worry? Is that fair? Am I giving her enough opportunity to recover?  Or do I leave her with the nice house/petsitter who will possibly have to make that decision?  But that isn't fair to Mina either. She deserves to have me with her in her final moments.  

Using up one of her nine lives? 

Is she in pain? Some, I think.   It's hard to tell with cats. I know she is feeling off. SHE knows something is wrong.  So does Carlos who is also getting older, himself. His eyes are clouding with cataracts and his hearing is fading. He sleeps like a dead dog and sleeps a lot. But Carlos, who has always been afraid of Mina, has been hanging close to her.  When she walks by, he sniffs her head.  I've seen him do it multiple times. What can he sense that I can't?  

Six months ago they wouldn't be in the same room, 

much less this close.

You can see how skinny she is under all that fur. 

Six pounds, down from nine.

Hard decisions. 

And Mother's Day. It's coming up and I'm realizing I no longer have a mother. Cards are everywhere. Gift lists are everywhere. As my brother says "We are orphans".  As such, I'm feeling the loss of my mom who was a steady presence for almost 68 years of my life. 

Me with JeanMom-probably on a Mother' Day

So. An exciting week coming up for sure. But I'm also feeling a lot of loss. 

Which leads us to this post.  My SIL (How fun that is to type! Trying to come up with a good nickname for him...) has requested that I blog about our trip every day. A document of our adventures, like an old fashioned diary or a travel postcard home.  I must admit he was/is probably my most ardent blog reader.

I'm starting here. I'll get through the kitty dilemma and hug Carlos goodbye and hop on a plane.

As they say, when one door closes, another opens.

Can't wait to see what is beyond that doorway...

The Next Step...

 The next step....

is sorting. And more sorting. Tossing. Paring down. Examining the flotsam and jetsam of my life. 

I truly thought I was well prepared for the move. Everything was in a box or wrapped or otherwise contained. Multiple trips were made to the dump and Goodwill. The local thrift store bought most of my furniture for pennies. Beds were given away.

But no. 

I had ordered a 15 foot moving truck from UHaul  A real live moving van could not get down my road or out of my drive. Fifteen feet seemed plenty big. I mean, I had given away or sold most of my furniture. I lined up a neighbor and a "professional" to actually move the boxes. Friend drove the UHaul down from Golden since that is where everything was going for storage.

Moving day arrived and I panicked realizing there was still the artwork to secure. A quick text to my sweet sweet neighbor meant last minute help. The van and friend arrived. At the appointed hour, neighbor showed up. And where was my "professional" mover that had stopped by, looked at all my stuff, agreed to a price and assured me he would be at my house at 3pm?  I texted him at 3:15pm and asked if he was on his way. His reply:

"Got caught up down in Canon City I can't make it sorry I just been busy"

Cañon City is an hour away. What an asshole. That is the nicest thing I could say. Not even the decency to give me a heads up. 

So. Friend and neighbors and I loaded the truck. And realized that basically the cabin had 3 levels plus a shed and a 15' truck wasn't big enough. Five hours later, the truck was filled, the excess was stored in neighbor's garage and we were all exhausted.  I can not say enough about how fabulous everyone was. No complaining, no disappearances, absolutely everyone had an attitude of "well, we need this to be done so let's do it."  Honestly you cannot buy friends like that. I am so fortunate. 

Closing was the following day and I got to meet the young couple who bought the cabin. It was a bit shocking to hear they had not SEEN the place until that morning. Their brother/realtor had looked at it and sent them pics. I'm sure they were having flashes of "why the Hell are we buying a house in the middle of nowhere?" but it's to be a second home and retreat for their extended family and small kids so it will be perfect. 

After closing, friend drove the UHaul to Golden while I followed in my car, and then we spent the day unloading. The next morning we got a trailer and drove back the 3.5 hours to the neighbor's garage and picked up the rest of the stuff. And drove back. And unloaded it.  Not one grumble. Not one dirty look. He deserves an award for patience. That was Saturday when we finally finished. We had started loading on Wednesday.

Not one photograph was taken of this process. Didn't have the energy.

And then what do you do when everything you own is in storage and you have no job? Take a trip!

I left Tuesday for Texas to see the mama and get my hair highlighted. 

Me and the mama, masked but not socially distanced. 

Hey! I have priorities! I also managed to see a couple of friends, the boy and my dermatologist. And I came back to Colorado blonde and less wrinkled! Friend joined me on Wednesday and I took him on the "Heritage Tour" of where I grew up, past my church and elementary school, and even down to the coast to see our old creek house. 

          The house that made me.

Now back in Golden, I have returned to sorting and tossing. I will be apartment camping in Asheville, NC for a few months. The only things that can go with me are what will fit in the Subaru. It will be towed behind friend's RV. The dog and cat will get to ride in comfort. What do you actually NEED for three months?  Some fold up chairs and a table? Art supplies? Dishes?  I plan on giving myself a very limited budget and see just how well I can temporarily furnish this apartment. It will be an ADVENTURE.

Every morning, the real estate porn pops into my inbox.  If Asheville is what I hope, I will look for a house. Friend and I are navigating a long distance relationship and how that will work. He is supportive of my need to get out of the snow and find someplace that is mine.

I'm writing a new chapter.

Day 470billion

Day 470billion and counting....

Well, here we are still...smack dab in the middle of the pandemic. I finally caved and bought myself a laptop because this thing doesn't seem to be going away and I need connection. 

How is everyone holding up?   My former home state of Texas is getting hammered right now and I know sooo many people who are sick and too many people who have lost loved ones.

Still unemployed although my benefits will run out before the end of the year so...yea...that's a problem. I am trying desperately to come up with a way to support myself that does not include going to a 9 to 5 job. If anyone has suggestions, I am all ears. 

And how have I been passing the time?  Surprisingly, by traveling. 

I spent a week in Texas packing up my mom's house. 

One closet down, the rest of the house to go...

Visiting with friends was cut short by my brother's announcement that he tested positive for Covid19 about an hour after we had lunch together. Fortunately that was a false positive but still...no one (including me) was willing to interact with that possible diagnosis hanging over my head. 

My most favorite discovery amongst the millions of photos
and souvenirs of lives well lived:
My Great Aunt Louise and her sorority sisters
at the University of Texas
Circa 1919

Anyway, I got the house mostly packed up before heading back to Colorado.

Bunny graduated from Ole Miss (YAY!) and moved to Tampa.  She liked the idea of being closer to her sister but wasn't that fond of the East coast of Florida. Current boyfriend lives in Tampa and his mom was a lifesaver in finding her an apartment. Of course, the job opportunities that were everywhere in March completely dried up by her move in May and she has just now gotten a job.  Anyway, I wanted to get to Florida to see both girls before life intervened and we all were working and unable to visit. A long weekend in Tampa at the beginning of June was perfect. 

Belle, Me, Bunny
at the beach in Florida

Belle and her BF came over from Palm Beach and I got to meet Bunny's BF for the first time. 

Love love love Bunny's little apartment-walking distance to restaurants and stores- and the beach at Clearwater is gorgeous.  Her job starts this week so cross your fingers all goes well. Belle is also back to work after being laid off but she says it is impossibly slow. Florida being another hot spot for the virus makes her job a challenge. 

Home from Florida I headed to the cabin for a week to supervise a new roof installation. I'm on the fence about what to do with that cabin. 

New roof, fresh paint. 
Want to buy it? 

Love it dearly but it has its drawbacks.  I've been staying in Golden for 5 months now and enjoying being back in civilization. After my hospital stay last November I realized that living in a rural area was maybe not the best of long term plans. Add to that the need/desire to be within an hour of the airport and the cabin looks less and less inviting. Welcoming any suggestions or extravagant offers to purchase it...

For July 4th we drove to Montana (No. 65: Visit a new state!) to visit Friend's brother. We took the RV which was a fun experiment, my having only been in an RV once before. (And even then we stayed local.) So we drove for two days through Wyoming and Montana to Bigfork. I expected the Eastern side of Wyoming to be more mountainous...I guess because my only other experience with Wyoming was Yellowstone National Park.  I had volunteered to drive the RV until I realized the speed limit was 80 and that sucker was bigger than I expected. Nope, couldn't do it. 

Ok. So it doesn't seem that big here. 
But I was more comfortable driving the Smart Car....
And isn't this a magnificent Montana Sunset? 

Working on No. 99, we stopped at the Battlefield of the Little Bighorn (aka Custer's Last Stand). It's fascinating to drive through the fields (I had my own personal historian and park buff driving me) and even with other cars and people, I could imagine the horses coming over the hills, how easy it must have been for Custer to miscalculate the number of Native Americans down below, see the whole scenario play out....

Bigfork, MT is darling and the brother's house on the water was perfect for July 4 fireworks. Honestly, I've never seen so many explosives in the sky in one night. There was a professional display from the Lodge across the lake and then the neighbors were all competing against each other and it was almost overload. And that's from someone who ADORES fireworks. 

Magical

Love!

Like the Milky Way exploding!

We tried to go through Glacier National Park but, like many public areas, it was overwhelmed with visitors and many parts shut down. We ended up with a picnic by the lake and a stop on the way home for cherries. 

A particularly awful pic of me in front of 
Lake McDonald.  
Riding in a convertible will give you that lovely hairdo. 

Home from Montana for two days and then off again to Texas. JeanMom's house had sold and the deadline to be out was fast approaching. Fortunately, emptying houses is my jam. I packed, I sorted and I emptied. 

Little house ready to move on to a new owner.

We did not disclose the ghost that came with the house.

He's friendly.

The Ft Bend Women's Center was the beneficiary of some items, the rest went to storage to be sorted through when it isn't July in Texas.  

Someone at the Women's Center has a sense of humor.
Woody hanging on to the back of a moving truck!

WHY do I seem to end up doing my moving in the heat of the summer? No clue. I'll probably end up moving out of the cabin in the middle of January during a blizzard. 

The storage unit filled!

And now, as the Corona virus seems to be having a come back and states are grappling with masks and shut downs and the impending school year, I am back in Golden. The one project I started back in May, a baby quilt for a friend, has FINALLY been completed. Like everything else this year, this project was filled with false starts and corrections and mistakes. I completed the top once, only to trash it and start completely over. The new top was attached to the backing and  then ripped apart to be redone because I didn't like the batting. This is one project I will be happy to put in the mail. At least I can say I am happy with the results. 

In progress here, and now done. 
Into the mail today!

So. Any suggestions for gainful employment, creative (paying) endeavors and or housing solutions will be welcomed. 

Everyone stay safe, wear your masks and wash your hands.

Greetings from Isolation...

Greetings!

It has been soooo long.

Last time I posted it was right after Thanksgiving and the hospital stay and Oregon beach trip that accompanied that week.

Since then we have had Christmas and New Years and job upset (always job upset- my only constant for the last 2.5 years) and a trip and ....COVID-19.

Where to start?

I think with the job upset since that has been such a constant refrain in these posts for the last couple of years. At least when I bothered to post, it was a constant.   Mid February our doctor called an office meeting and announced he was leaving our office to work for the only competition we had in our little tiny Colorado town. He was gone after the next day.  The following week the Powers-that-Be from Colorado Springs drove in, took us out to dinner and gave us the news. The office will close in 2 weeks. No doctor, no office, no job. Effective March 2, I became unemployed. I had never been laid off before...always trying new things!

Surprisingly, I was pretty calm about this turn of events. Work had been so stressful, every time I got the hang of whatever the new normal was, something else was added to my position/office/situation. I was exhausted.  My mom in Texas was going to need some help with her house since she had moved to Assisted Living so I had been thinking I was going to need to take some time off anyway.  Truthfully I was relieved. The timing was impeccable. How perfect though, I had no idea.....

My retired friend suggested a quick trip before heading to Texas to help mom. Even though we had been hearing reports of a virus in China, it really had not hit home that it might be an issue.  We scheduled flights out on March 7 after briefly discussing the possibility of "maybe we shouldn't go". We were headed to San Miguel de Allende in Mexico and figured since the virus had not been reported there, we would be fine.

We stopped in Texas on the way and attended the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. (Previous experience at the rodeo here.) There were plenty of people in attendance although we did notice more hand washing stations and hand sanitizer.

Maren Morris at HLSR

a VERY pregnant Maren Morris

The flight attendant on our flight the next morning assured us the seats had been sanitized for our protection, although we did  do our own little wipe down with the Clorox wipes.   Just in case, you know.

Once we got to Mexico, our only exposure to the Corona virus was through our morning emails and news updates. March 11 we heard that the Houston Rodeo had been cancelled, 11 days early.  Friends were asking where was I, was I safe?

The only Corona we ran into.

Honestly we felt much safer in Mexico than we would have in the States.  The virus had not traveled that far and restaurants and the state of Guanajuato were already being pro-active BEFORE they had any cases. Most places required hand sanitizer upon entry, restaurants removed tables to distance patrons and the fact that most everything was open air added to our sense of security.  A decision was made to extend our stay. We had zero desire to return to the panic in the States.

Enjoying a margarita before all the restaurants closed down.

Our original return date had been March 17, but we moved it to March 31- the last day before the airlines were supposed to start restricting flights. As the week wore on, the news from the States was looking more and more grim while Mexico was beginning to shut things down around us. On March 22 the Mexican government closed the churches. No more Catholic Mass. The church bells in San Miguel rang all day long to spread the news. We started thinking maybe we should leave sooner as our entertainment options were becoming limited. Many restaurants had already gone to take out only.

See that rope hanging down? 

That's how all the bells get rung- by hand. 

Every quarter hour.

We scheduled a flight on the 26th only to have it cancelled, twice. We managed to get to Texas on the  afternoon of the 26th. There were 15 passengers on the plane plus crew. Customs was EMPTY. Amazingly, coming into the country was a pieced of cake. No one asked if we were feeling sick, took our temp, nothing. Maybe they trusted Mexico to do that before we left- which they did. We filled out a form regarding where we had been, how we had felt and had our temp taken before boarding the plane in Queretero.  On the 27th we flew back to Denver on a slightly fuller plane. I had a moment of panic on take-off as I had to move my seat. My seat belt was stuck so I had to sit next to a complete stranger for 15 minutes.  I realized for the last 3 weeks I had basically only been that close to one other person, my traveling companion.  Thankfully, the seat belt was freed and I got to return to my seat once we were in the air.

An incredibly empty Houston Intercontinental Airport

Once in Denver a decision was made to stay there.  I made a quick trip to the cabin to get the cat and some warmer clothes and returned. Colorado had a Stay-at-Home order at that point and I was anxious about getting stopped. Fortunately the trip was uneventful and I have been here ever since. I am quite grateful to be in the city where there is food delivery. Door Dash! Uber Eats! Amazon Fresh!  Things ordered actually show up within a couple of days. I did not want to be alone in the middle of nowhere with few resources, especially if I ended up getting sick.

And the job situation? I suspect you know how that goes. As I said, the timing was perfect. I am eligible for unemployment. Unable to search for a job, I am 100% enjoying the time off, although feeling a tiny bit guilty about how happy I am about it all. The government even deposited $1200 in my account... a welcome boost for the unemployed.

I'm hoping to use this Stay-at-Home time to be creative. I've been sewing (masks, working on a quilt) and done a bit of drawing. Without my computer I was unable to write which was totally driving me crazy. I sprung for a simple laptop so I could reconnect with my blog. More posts to come. And if this goes on much longer I'll be getting the jewelry making supplies here, also.  Maybe I can even figure out a way to make money creating... wouldn't that be lovely?

Incredibly messy mask making.

Everyone stay safe, wear your masks outside, wash your hands and enjoy the enforced break.

Home

Home is where I am....


Back in March of  2017, just when the house was ready to go on the market, the nice staging lady suggested an upgrade for the master bedroom bedding. Somehow she did not feel the threadbare quilt that covered the queen bed conveyed the "upscale, cozy, homey" atmosphere that the price we had put on the house warranted. I hightailed it to the store and bought a fluffy comforter, pillow covers and in a spontaneous moment threw in a pillow that was embroidered with one word:  Home.   I was hoping for some subliminal advertising. See this bed? Doesn't it make you think of YOUR NEW HOME?

Subliminal advertising.

Bunny came in, saw the new bedding and glared at me. "Take this back. We no longer have a home."
There might have been just a little anger at her house being sold out from under her.

Never the less, the house sold, the bedding was packed up and brought to Colorado and Bunny survived the summer and eventually returned to school in Mississippi.

Loved that gray stripe. 

Carlos loved it too.

Perfect place to wipe the mud off his paws.

The bedding stayed on my bed until the comforter was ruined by Carlos. His dogged attempts at catching gophers rendered the quilt mud stained and no amount of washing would get it clean. I dug up an old down comforter, an even older duvet cover and remade the bed. The "Home" pillow was unscathed. It remained front and center.

A different duvet. 

A silly little three legged dog. 

And a pillow that says "home" 

A couple of weeks ago, while making the bed (a morning ritual that ensures I will come home to at least one clean room) I plopped the "Home" pillow in place and stopped. It hit me. That pillow IS home. So am I.

I just spent last week in Texas. It was fun to see my friends, lovely to visit with my mother, fabulous to go shopping, delightful to see some new art.  It was also overwhelming and frantic and hectic. So many cars. So many people. So many crazy drivers.

About the third day into the trip I was ready to go home. Not Texas home. Colorado home. Home where my things are and where Carlos is and where the fun neighbors live and where my work fills my weeks. Home where the mountains loom out my front door, where Mina plops into my lap as soon as I sit down, where the deer graze on the side yard.

This view. 

I'm still giving myself a year to fully decide "Should I stay or should I go?" That was a deal I made with myself when I moved up here full time. A year to get a job. A year to make friends. A year to put down roots.

I'm about halfway through the year.
The worst part of the winter is over. Spring is teasing, although surely there will be one more snow.
And more and more, this is looking and feeling like home.

Dining with the President

Dining with the President...

O Lord, no.  Not THAT President. I have better things to do with my time.


This President....

Thomas Jefferson, 

our third President

Ok, maybe I didn't exactly dine WITH Mr. Jefferson himself (which would have been a little creepy since he's been dead since 1826) but I did dine with his dishes.  Or maybe dishes named after him. Doing a little research now, what I always thought were reproductions of the White House dishes might just be dishes named after the Pres. O well. 

Anyway, back at Christmas time, Belle showed up and saw Mina eating off a saucer in the kitchen. 

Fluffy cat eating off the good 

Lennox Jefferson china.

Now, these are dishes that I have had for Belle's entire life. 

She exclaimed "Wow! Where did these come from? Why didn't we ever have decent dishes? We only had the crappy pottery ones."  

And then it hit me. These are the "good" dishes. The fine china. Got the set when I got married, got the set when I got divorced. And in that 31 year period, those dishes were probably used maybe ten times. Obviously Belle did not ever remember seeing them.  WHY?? 

Tonight's dinner. 

Using the china and silver.

On the gorgeous antique dining table.

(Click here to see the table refinishing project) 

These dishes are beautiful. I love them. Even after 31 years. Bone china is practically indestructible. I know. I've dropped them on the wood floor. Hand washed them in my sink which is legendary for chipping dishes. They don't break or chip.  Yet, they've been safely tucked away in their little quilted storage bags waiting for "special occasions". 

Salad from Moonlight Pizza, 

napkins from Target's Dollar Spot, 

silver from old family friends.

And at that moment, Belle opened my eyes. 

Why am I saving the things I love? Why am I not using them? 

I vowed that starting in February for President's Day, I would get out the good china and use it all month.  Now that February is almost over,  those dishes aren't going anywhere. 

Sometimes even Carlos gets to use them.

Seize the day. Spoil yourself. USE the good stuff.  Break out the crystal for that glass of wine. Put on the diamonds. Wear the silk and cashmere.

What's the point of having beautiful things if you don't enjoy them? 

Thanks, Belle. 

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

And speaking of enjoying beauty, look what I have on my windowsill. 

My own private Spring. 

The temp out right now is 20º.

It is the dead of winter in Colorado.

But back when I moved here, I brought this Aloe Vera plant from Texas. In my travels, the plant tipped and dirt spilled out.  Once I got settled, I went to the shed and grabbed a handful of dirt out of a plantless pot. 

Guess there were some petunia seeds in that dirt. At first, I thought there were weeds coming up. Then I recognized the leaves. 

Beautiful, no? 

•••••••••••••••••••••••••

I'm headed to Texas at the end of the week.

Probably won't post the first week of March. 

See you when I return with tales of rodeos 

and friends.

Wow! Whew! Way!

Wow. Whew. (A)way.


Wow!

I can't believe it's been more than 3 weeks since I've posted. Life has been barreling towards me at an unprecedented  pace. Time really does move faster as you age, doesn't it? Seems like we just started 2017 and now we are heading into fall.

Whew!

Why whew? Because I've been moving. Bigly moving. Pretty much I was given eleven days to decide how to divvy up a 3000 square foot house full of furniture and belongings. I'll go into the details later maybe, but for now, let's go with four people, moving to five different locations. Everyone's items needed sorting-fortunately I did have a head start on that.

The morning of closing on the house with 

the most ferocious real estate agent I've ever used. 

Debbie Marcell/BHGRE

The big guy went to an apartment in town so he took the most furniture.
Bunny is headed back to school and a new apartment (no more tiny dorm room for her!) so she is taking as much as she can in her little car, with her dad following along with her bed and some other belongings in his truck.
The dad wanted next to nothing but still needed all of his personal stuff sorted from the rest.

Bunny's pile. 

She tried putting all of this and then some into her sedan.

Didn't work. 

I filled an entire charity truck yesterday with furniture and belongings. Goodwill and I are on first name basis now. Half Price Books is the beneficiary of books, CDs and DVDs. (And I'm the beneficiary of their piddly pay out amounts.)  An online Facebook "who wants this" post garnered new homes for much of the stuff, including our sweet Ruby chinchilla who could not go with her owner to school and could not stay with me because-achoo-I am so allergic to her hay.

Ruby Roo went to a family with five kids.

She'll get plenty of attention there. 

The rest of the stuff went to storage for the time being.

It's amazing what you can fit into a 10x10 space. 

And Way!?

Way is where I am going. As in away.

I am in Colorado now. Permanently? Semi-permanently? For two months? No idea.

Good morning from the cabin. 

It was 47º this morning. 

The garden needs a ton of work. 

Taking a month or two off after some big life changes to reboot, regroup, recharge. I am exhausted, depleted, drained. My mind is worn out.   I spend a lot of time wandering around wondering where I put stuff. The last minute packing of the house into either a storage unit or my car ended with some interesting results.
The baby teeth made it here from the safe but I assume the car title and cabin deed are in storage. Guess which items I would rather have here?  (And what do you DO with baby teeth?) The balsamic vinegar and olive oil that I meant to put in the car must be in storage. I did make it here with some wine.

It will all work itself out eventually.

No. 22: Surprise a friend in another city for lunch

No. 22: Surprised. or at least unexpected.


I mentioned last week that I managed to knock off two of my challenges while in Texas.

I'm counting No. 22: Surprise a friend in another city for lunch, even though I didn't actually make it for lunch. More like dinner. But I can assure you my showing up was a surprise. Or at least not the tiniest bit preplanned. 

Leaving Colorado, we were a little caravan of three cars. Bunny and I in her car, Bunny's friend boy drove his truck pulling a U Haul and the friend boy's mama was in her car.   We didn't 100% stay together but we did all meet up at the Texas/New Mexico State line. 

                                     

Back in Texas.

And then the really really long part of the trip began. 

Bunny and friends were determined to do the drive in one day. 

We stopped for lunch in Dumas. If you are ever in the armpit of Dumas between 11am and 2:30pm on a weekday, stop at the Alley Cafe.  To say this cafe has limited hours is an understatement but the food was so fresh and yummy. A lovely respite from drive through fast food and Stop N Rob Convenience store snacks.   

Since Carlos was with us, he got to stay in the car. The restaurant is behind the courthouse so I felt fairly comfortable leaving Carlos in the unlocked running car while we watched him from the cafe window.   This was one situation where I could not count on Carlos to be protective. I'm pretty sure if anyone got in that car, he would have gleefully welcomed them as long as they took him on a ride.

                     

Let's go! I love riding in the car. 

(What a goof!)

And then we continued to drive across Texas. 

And we drove.

And we drove.

And we drove. 

Texas is a big ass state. 

When the sun started to go down, my allergies started to kick up. So I was not only tired, but sneezing and my eyes were fifty shades of red. 

Bunny and friends were all "Let's keep driving. We'll get in at 1:am! We can do it." Remember the friend boy was pulling a big Uhaul. I was skeptical. 

About 9:30pm I was done. Just done. Tired of the car. Tired of driving. Tired of trying to make it across Texas. 

Fortunately I had been texting off and on with friend Sue who has a house here in Colorado. That's how I met her. I saw a huge Cadillac with Texas plates go up my Colorado road and had to investigate.  Carlos and I took a walk and met Sue and her husband, Mike, and their three dogs, Sophie, Skip and Molly. We all hit it off right away. Well, everyone except Carlos and Molly. Those two still aren't the best of friends.

Mike with Molly, Skip, Sophie and Carlos.

Anyway, Sue graciously offered me a room for the night. We were coming up on Ft. Worth at that point, Bunny was driving and I was toast. Everyone else felt like going on. We all stopped, Bunny got in the truck with her friend. I put Sue's address into the GPS. Ten minutes later Carlos and I were being welcomed into my sweet friend's  home, dinner still on the stove for me, treats and a backyard to play in for Carlos. 

And did the rest of them make it all the way to Sugar Land? 

No. On the other side of Ft Worth, they caved in also. Found a hotel. 

But I'm counting my unexpected arrival at Sue's house as "surprise a friend for lunch". (Dinner). 

Because you know what? Surprising someone out of town is not as easy as you'd think. I almost accomplished it once, then weather came into play (snow I think that day). But really...if you are going to the trouble of leaving town, usually you make plans to meet people so that you know you will get to see them. Spontaneity is harder to pull off than you might think! At least in this case.

So. This counts. 

Back again

Back..again!

Back from two weeks in Texas.

It was a whirlwind trip. I managed to complete two challenges on my list which was a huge plus. Nice to get moving on that again. 

Let's break the stay down by numbers. 

ONE Main sewer line back up, inconveniently the night before we drove back. (Although, when is a sewer line backing up into the house EVER convenient?). Our departure was delayed a few hours while I hunted down the  city contractors who had been cleaning sewer lines on our street the day before. Somehow I figured the two things were related and fortunately, they agreed. Line was cleared at no cost to us and we were on the road by 9am.

The shower drain- happy again.

Never think about those babies until they back up.

TWO Emergency room visits with my dad. Unfortunately being 92 and in pain is not considered an emergency. I promise, this getting older is not for sissies. 

THREE scheduled meals with good friends. I miss so many of my Texas friends and any time I get to see one, that's a good day. Thanks Martha, Libby, Dee, Diane and Lucy for making/taking time to meet me. I also managed to run into a few people randomly which is always fun.

And no, I did not get any pics. 

Boo hoo.

FOUR vet visits for the assorted animals. One of the cats bit Bunny while aiming for the vet. Carlos had to be drugged and muzzled just to get shots. And the poor horse, well. That's another post. A very sad post.

 Me and Carlos headed to the vet.

One of us is heavily sedated.

This is the nice cat, Minah. 

She did not bite anyone. 

The bad cat doesn't get his picture on the internet. 

FIVE medical tests including Yay! No.43: Get that Colonoscopy. I am happy to report that my bones are strong, I am basically healthy and I have the colon of a 30 year old. 

The nice doctor gave me pictures of my insides. 

I won't share them with you.

SIX bags off to Goodwill. My side of the closet is pretty much empty. All those "maybe" clothes are gone. If I don't wear it now, then I probably won't next year. The exceptions are denim. Old worn out jeans go but the vests and denim jackets and shirts stay. The hubs did come in and say "Are you moving out?" Um, hon, don't know if you noticed but I did that 2 years ago. Gone also are kids clothes, some books, stuff, stuff and more stuff. The old towels went to the vets office. The overflow of pet bowls and dog Elizabethan collars went to the Humane Society.  I feel 100 pounds lighter.

A car load of stuff we no longer need. 

I love cleaning out closets.

There was a lot more packed into that two weeks. Bunny and her friend boy found him an apartment for his year long stay/school in Texas. His mama  bravely stayed at our house those first few nights even though I could not vouch for the condition of the room she was to stay in or the condition of the house in general. Kudos to the hubs for pulling things together and getting the place presentable. 

There were lots of visits with the parents and a brief chat with my brother out in the front yard one morning. He was in town for 24 hours and staying at the peep's house so I got to see him before work. 

Also there was heat. And humidity. And snakes. Texas did not necessarily put her best foot forward for me this trip. Lots of highs and lows. Not much sleep.

One of the three snakes I pulled out of the pool one morning 

before I gave up and decided to not swim.

They were all small, but still. 

It's a pool. Not a pond. I don't swim in their creek. 

They shouldn't swim in my pool.

Happy to be back in the cool. Happy to be back at work with my crazies. Happy to be back. 

Yep. 101º

So much fun.