Peace Of Mind

I saw this Web Site the other day, Down For Everyone Or Just Me on one of the blogs I routinely read and I thought, "Nah, that's silly; I'll never need to use that." Well, this morning two of the sites I tried came up with a "Problem Loading Page" message. Then I remembered this handy site and tried it out. I thought something was wrong with my computer but it turns out those sites are down. Good thing I checked it out.

By the way, read the post below. I'm ridiculously excited about my new toy.

Geocaching

Wow. I just did a search within my blog (with the handy feature at the top of this page) and it turns out that I've never written about Geocaching. ODD. Very odd indeed.

Basically (and I'm not going in depth about this because I'm tired), it's a treasure hunt anybody with a GPS can go on anywhere around the world. People hide things as tiny as a film canister (and smaller) to something as big as a box. Sometimes there are 'treasures' inside with the same idea as "take a penny, leave a penny."

Anywho. I first experienced this game/adventure in Wales with a family friend and I was immediately hooked. I did a few more caches around ABQ when I wrote a Tapa about it for ATM.

So, long story short, I wanted a GPS device of my own so I could go on my own treasure hunts. After posting a couple 'ads' on Craigslist and Freecycle, someone came through. I am now the proud owner of this:



YEA!!!!! Not only do I own it, but I got it at a VERY nice price. I'm very excited about my new toy, so tomorrow my Geocaching begins :)

Ranch

So, basically, I love ranch dressing. Here are my favorite places with yummy ranch:

1. Dion's
2. Quarters BBQ
3. Pelican's
4. Bravo - but they have a garlic/Parmesan ranch, so it's not straight up ranch.

Tears of Laughter

I am literally crying right now from laughing too much.

Why?

Because of THIS ridiculously funny page.

Word For Word

I've found this new, and very addicting, website. It's called Scrabulous: An Amazing Word Game..." Basically it's Scrabble on speed. You can play four-minute games against as many as 50 people. Truth be told, I may be a writer, but I'm apparently really bad with untangling words; I always come in the bottom five.

growing up

I’m writing this while in a hospital room at Lovelace. No, I’m not the one admitted; it’s my 94-year-old great aunt, my Tia. I have a love/hate relationship with this hospital. I love it at the moment because the two nurses who have been on their rounds are dolls. They’ve been very nice and attentive. I HATE it because this marks the 10th day Tia’s been in a Lovelace hospital.

She came in to the main hospital because she wouldn’t stop bleeding and for some reason unknown to everyone, they transferred her up to the West Side Lovelace last Thursday. Why? So she could see an urologist. Turns out, there was a “miscommunication” and the urologist wouldn’t see her until Tuesday. TUESDAY! Long story short: they transferred her (AGAIN) back to the main hospital and finally gave her a diagnosis of Acquired Hemophilia. I don’t exactly understand what it is; all I know is that it’s not very good. In fact, the doctor said he’s never actually seen a case of it, and when I looked it up online it said it was a one in a million probability.

With that said, I wasn’t around when my Nana died, or the days and weeks leading up to it, and I felt really disconnected with my family because of it. I have a bug to travel and live in places besides Albuquerque, but when situations arise I feel guilty for not being home. I’m just glad that right now, as I type I am looking at Tia.

On another note, I’m facing the awkwardness and difficulties of growing up. I have a full time job that I’m in love with and a boyfriend who I’m madly in love with. My relationship with my parents is something I never want to take for granted, and even though I live the life of a hermit, I know my friends are always there for me.

Sigh. That’s another topic that’s awkward. My hermitesque life. I don’t like going out late anymore. Unless I’m out of town, know I’m walking home or have a lovely designated driver, I don’t see the purpose in going out and partying anymore. I not only don’t have the energy for it anymore, but the zeal and adventure is lost. I love my weekends. I love to sleep in even if it’s just 15 minutes later than a weekday, and when I go out and drink my day is gone. My weekends are precious. I work 9-5 everyday, and even though I know that could be a lot worse, it’s enough for me.

I enjoy staying home and having “date nights” during the week with Kenn, tooy. We talk to each other while we’re watching the same show thousands of miles and two time zones apart. It may seem as though I’m ignoring my social life, but I don’t have the option of getting in my car and driving ten minutes to see my boyfriend. If watching “How I Met Your Mother,” “Grey’s Anatomy” or “Battlestar Galactica” in my pjs in the comfort of my own home means that I’m lame, then yes; I’m Lame with a capital “L” and I’m absolutely OK with that.

*sidenote: Now I’m just getting frustrated again. At 6:45 I called for a nurse to come help her use the restroom. I heard nothing. At 7 pm I tried again. A woman said she’d be right over. Nothing. Then a nurse came by to check vitals; I told her she needed the restroom and she said she’d get someone over to help her. Nothing. I just (7:20) went out to the nurse’s desk and asked for someone. A nurse went around and said “Kris” would be coming in. It’s been five minutes. SERIOUSLY…come on now. Ten minutes later. Someone just got here. Finally.

I guess I’ll finish this blog up by saying I feel as though I’m in an awkward place. I have a desire to move out and essentially grow up – move out of Albuquerque and see what else is in store for me. But at the same time I’m very comfortable right here, very comfortable with everything.

Maybe I need to take note on a conversation Jeff and I had YEARS ago when we came up with a “quote to live by”: “Always force yourself into an uncomfortable place. Stay away from your comfort zone in order to develop a new one…go with the flow."

Kiss Me, I'm Irish

This is the reason I will not be wearing green today. But thank God we're ok (read below).

Stuck in a Rut

Last week at church Ryan (the pastor) was talking about how we are always at the exact place God wants us to be. If we're stuck in rush-hour traffic, that's exactly where we should be. If we end up getting stopped at a light, there's a reason for it. If we choose to go left, instead of right, God had it planned that way.

Keep that in mind for what I'm about to say.

My mom, dad, cousin and I were driving back from Vegas today. We left in time to have us home around 7 pm. Perfect timing. Around 12:30ish I woke up from a nap and was hungry. I told my dad to stop in the next town so we could get some food. He said that Flagstaff was only a half hour away, and that we could wait for that. I said, "awww, but I'm really hungry now!" so we stopped in Williams, AZ at a Jack in the Box. About 15 minutes later we left and continued on I-40.

We were at mile marker 185 when we saw a highway sign alerting us of a "Crash Ahead. Road Closed." We sat in traffic for about an hour before we decided to turn around and head to a nearby gas station. Turns out that THIS is what was ahead of us only by a few miles:

2 killed in collisions near Flagstaff amid whiteout conditions

And here's a video .

We've heard from people who were further up in the traffic than we were that it was a 50-car pile up and that about 11 people are dead. They're not opening the roads (East or West) till around midnight. So, we are staying in a hotel room tonight - managed to get one of the last rooms available.

The interesting thing about this is that there are hundreds of people here and most of them are from Albuquerque. They were in Vegas to watch the college basketball tournament. So if you go to the gas station or in the lobby of the hotel it's sprinkled with people wearing their cherry red shirts. Everyone's been really understanding too. I haven't heard a single upset person or anyone yelling because there aren't any rooms left. They just take it in stride.

So, even though I'm stuck here in Bellmount, AZ, at least I'm not at the hospital right now. There's a reason for everything and we all need to remember that. Hopefully the roads will be open tomorrow morning so we can go home (my dad is already worried that they're going to be iced over- it's supposed to get down to 18 tonight). But darn it, I didn't bring anything green to wear for tomorrow! SHOOT. I hope I don't get pinched!

That's my exciting news of the day - the part I'd like to share, at least. Unfortunately I was completely unlucky in Vegas and probably lost the most money I've ever lost out there. I just kept thinking, maybe this next $5 will win me something. Well, those $5 added up and nothing made it to my wallet. Darn.

Ok. Time to see what's on TV here in Bellmount.

Flip Flops and Vegas

I need flip flops and I'm going to Vegas. Oh, and it's 6:30 am and I've been awake since 5:15 - boo. I've had some thoughts as to things I want to blog about, but now my mind is just sleepy, but I can't sleep. I'm sure I'll get sleepy this afternoon, so I guess I'll just worry about that when/if it happens.

*YAWN*

I was going to mention my love for Vegas. I think I enjoy going there so much because it's an absolute vacation for me whenever I go, but yet it's comfortable and familiar and doesn't break my bank. More than anything, right now, I'd like to go visit my friends in England and travel around Europe again, but the darn airline prices won't let me. But, when I go to Vegas I can get a cheap imitation of traveling...enough to calm my travel bug for at least a couple weeks. It helps that my cousin lives there and knows his way around the city, too. I've considered living in Vegas, but seriously? It's just too damn hot there!

*YAWN*

So Kenny may, or may not, come home next weekend. I'm starting to not get my hopes up for things like that because I'm beginning to realize how the Air Force works. When it comes to just about any other job you need to give notice if you're going on vacation. Well, in the military you can give notice that you'd LIKE to take leave, but you don't find out until the prices on all the airline tickets have been jacked up. No seven-day advance savings for them. Wow. My writing kinda sucks this early in the morning...my thoughts definitely aren't as coherent as I'd like.

Maybe I'll write more later. Since I'm awake, I think I'll give myself a very amateur pedicure for the flip flops I need to buy. Basically I'm gonna try to 'stay in side the lines' with my red polish. Yeah. No more rambling for me.

Tourists

As a native New Mexican, I'm pretty protective about my state. Ok, I'm very protective. I don't like the way things are changing. It's hard seeing Florida and California license plates on cars. I understand people move and jobs take you to different places, but what's with people literally migrating to the Land of Enchantment?

Take, for example, my experience last night. My mom and I went out for dinner to Tomato Cafe, and while she was getting her food I noticed a family of four sit down in front of us. There was the tall, blond mom, her husband and their two little blond girls. The family, I'm presuming, was from California. I'm only guessing California because it seems as though everyone's moving in from California. ANYWAY, that's not even the exciting thing about this family.

I first noticed the mom (THIS is when owning a camera phone would be handy). She looked like any other normal mom, except for the brand new cowboy hat she was wearing. Oh, and her big belt buckle she had on that was almost covered up by her rose jean jacket. I almost missed this next part though because her blond hair was almost covering it up. She was wearing....ready for this? A blue bandanna around her neck. Seriously.

I pointed this, (along with the cowboy boots she and her two daughters were wearing) out to my mom and she literally laughed out loud. She then pointed out that the dad was wearing a bright silver and turquoise cuff on his left hand - they've been to Santa Fe, or possibly Taos. Even by giving them the benefit of the doubt that maybe, MAYBE, they have a ranch/farm/attraction along the Rio Grande and just needed a night out for dinner, they still should have changed. I mean, really? Nobody actually wears that stuff unless they're doing a photo shoot for the Southwest. Hmmm...maybe they've seen one too many pictures.

Shoot. I really need to get a camera phone to take pictures of all the stuff I see around town. Then I can blog like this guy over at Albuquerque Drivers. Goodness. Now there's something I can rant about. I think at least every other day I've have a rant about the drivers in this city.

Well, now that my rant is over I can move on with my day. I'm getting my hair cut today. YEA!!!! This is what I'm going for, but I have to keep in mind that my hair is straight, and she's definitely had it curled. Anywho, here are some of my potential haircuts:






Yup. So we'll see how that goes. Now if I could only look like Mandy Moore!

Making Healthy Choices

For lunch today I had my new favorite frozen meal. It was nothing like this one. Nope. This frozen meal today was actually delicious. Yup, I just said "frozen meal" and "delicious" in the same sentence. If you're looking for a tasty meal you can heat up this one from Healthy Choice in less than five minutes. I've had the Chicken Tuscany twice and there's a Chicken Margherita sitting in the freezer, waiting for me to devout it at lunch. MMMMmm... Not only that, but I have 10 other Healthy Choice Steamers waiting for me in the freezer section of the store. MMMMMMmmmmmmm (again)!!!!!

Wow. I know I had more on my mind that I wanted to talk about, but I can't remember it right now for the life of me. Darn.

Oh, Oprah.

Oprah's done it again. And this time it's a reality show. This isn't just any reality show though, this is a show with my name written all over it. It's called Oprah's Big Give and boy do they give.

Basically the show has 10 contestants who receive a challenge. Every week they get a 'person's life to change,' and can only do this by raising money in the community to get things their person needs. For example. There was a single mother of two who became homeless after she left a domestic abuse situation. The two people who got this woman ended up finding her a home, a car, appliances, etc., all within five days. There are eight more, one hour shows left.

I just love the idea behind this show. It's about paying it forward. How cool is that? There are so many people who need just a little bit. One woman said it nicely tonight. She said, "I don't need another handout to get back on my feet. I need a stepping stone."

I would really like to be a stepping stone. I know I mentioned this before, but I need to volunteer somewhere and help make a difference. Running the half marathon and raising money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Sociecty was very rewarding in so many ways. I would love to do that again too. Really, just doing little things every day can help someone, so I may make that a goal of mine.

Oprah is such a powerful person; I'm glad she's using her power in a productive way. My mom was wondering how these people are able to get companies to donate homes, cars and scholarships on such short notice, and it's because of Oprah. Well, Oprah and the fact that they're being generous. But seriously, being able to drop the name "Oprah" opens so many doors.

...The whole time I've been writing this the Make a Wish Foundation keeps popping up in my head. I think I need to give them a call tomorrow.