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.

Up Up and No Way

I need to gripe real quick about airlines. Kenny lives in Georgia, so the only way we get to see each other is to commute...by air. I love flying, and since he's in the AIR Force, he doesn't have a huge problem with it either. The difficulty we have is finding decent fares. This is where my rant comes in.

I'm a Southwest girl. It's pretty much all we ever flew when I was younger, and even today I rack up enough Reward points to get free flights. That's all dandy, except my loyal airline doesn't fly into Georgia.

There are a few other airlines I have the same problem with. Take AirTran, JetBlue, and ExpressJet. I would gladly give my money to these three airlines. In fact, they're all having pretty great sales today, but unfortunately they don't fly where I need them to go. The first two aren't in New Mexico yet (maybe they don't know that we're in the states and they wouldn't have to charge an outrageous fee) and the last one doesn't fly to Atlanta.

SO FRUSTRATING.

In the meantime, before another low-cost airline can get their tale in gear and create a flight from Albuquerque to Atlanta, I get to travel on Frontier. It's not a bad airline, it's just that twice now I've almost missed my flight, I have to fly into Denver and literally run across the airport to catch my flight (outside for part of it in Denver because the plane's so tiny it can't park at a regular gate), no carry-ons are allowed (to Denver) and their prices aren't all that impressive. But, I am racking in the frequent flier miles and it's cheaper than Delta.

This rant all came about because I can't find a flight cheaper than $250 to go to Las Vegas (go figure) in about three weeks on my lovely Southwest...and I've been checking prices for over a month now.

I just want to travel, gamble and drink a little and see my boyfriend. Come on airlines, help a girl out!

mmmm. Coffee.

Jenna is requesting a new post from me, but I would really like to point out (to her, because I think she's the only one who reads this) that she hasn't posted anything new since the 22nd either. Just saying :)

So to give Jenna, and whoever else may stumble upon my blog, some "words," here you are. I'm addicted to Dunkin Donuts coffee. Addicted like, have to drink it every day. I have the French Vanilla flavor, and it's by far the best ground, flavored coffee I've had. As a second runner up, I'd give credit to New Mexico Pinon Coffee. Coming in last place (but I'd really drink it anytime because it's so delicious and about two minutes away from me now) is TJ Cinnamons. They have a cinnamon/hazelnut flavor that is ridiculously yummy. I discovered the last one when I was still down in Cruces and needed new places to study, and since Arbys, yes, the roast beef sandwich fast food joint, had wireless internet, I made frequent stops.

Mmmmmmm coffee. I think I need some now.

I recently spent quite a lot of time redoing the layout on here, and now I don't think I like it, but I don't have the time to change it again for awhile. Oh well, you all will be stuck with it until I have a few extra minutes.

With that said, I think I'm done with this entry. I'll try to write more later.

Red Light, Green Light

"Aw, dammit," I said as the light turned red and I was in the middle of the intersection.

Thanks, Marty, for turning the red light cameras back on and making me wonder if I'll receive my first ticket in the mail sometime in the next three to five weeks.

Great.

American Idol

Oh man. I'm addicted.

I could leave this blog just at those two statements and be completely content. I've never actually followed a season of American Idol. I thought it was a silly show. To be completely honest, I saw the very first show - first as in, one of Kelly Clarkson's first auditions, and I said outloud, "Wow. She's gonna win this thing." Low and behold, the only other show I saw that season was the finale...when she won. Fast forward a few years to when I lived in the house with Natalie, Em and Laura. They all watched it, so I'd catch a few episodes here and there, but it was nothing special.

For some reason, my mom and I caught the very beginning of this season and got hooked right away. How can you not love a show where people who are tone deaf honestly think they sound like Frank Sinatra or Whitney Houston. It was hilarious. I laughed, I cried (seriously...there were tears for more than a couple of the auditions) and I already fell in love with several and picked my favorites.

Right now I'm watching the Top 12 boys and I'm blown away. I missed the first several, but my mom said that David Archuleta was awesome; I was floored by Jason (the one with dreadlocks) and I could barely control myself with the last guy, Michael. Damn. These guys are good! They've got the charisma, they've got the look and boy, oh boy, do they have the voice.

Tomorrow the girls go on, and I can't wait to see them.

You better believe I'm going to follow this to the end, and most likely pick up some new songs on iTunes along the way.

LET THE COMPETITION BEGIN :)

If I die.

In case I get sick, or die, tonight, I know the reason why. It's because I left my frozen tv dinner meal in my car this morning. It says clearly on the box to "keep frozen." But I didn't. It was almost all thawed by the time I stuck it in the microwave. I must say though, that this is one of the best frozen TV lunch I've had. It's a Smart Ones Chicken Parmesan. MMmmmm.

Anywho, I hope I don't get sick because I'm going to see Kenny tomorrow and that would kinda ruin things. I also hope the weather holds out tomorrow - it's supposed to snow all day here and in Denver (where I'm flying into), and that would really put a damper on things if my flight is delayed.

Woot woot for Valentine's Day :) He sent me a gigantic bouquet of flowers in a margarita glass on Monday - does this guy know me, or what?! It's freaking awesome. I'll get a pic up here as soon as possible.

Ok. I have to go finish eating my yummy, no frozen lunch.

Stereotyping - A rant

***** I'm about to rant AND stereotype. Consider this your warning****



Last night after work my mom called in a pizza to Peter Piper. We used to go there for every birthday as a child, and I personally like their pizza, so we occasionally get it for dinner.

So. I drive to PP and after circling the parking lot once, I finally find a spot. I walk through the doors and the first thing I notice is a picture very similar to this one off their web site:


Interesting. Three white kids.

I continue into the restaurant towards the register to pick up my pies, but get stuck in a line. In front of me I smell cigarettes (the kind of smell that sticks to clothes after awhile) and behind me I smell pot. I can smell marijuana in a children's amusement restaurant.

If that's not bad enough, the woman in front of me is with her two kids. Now there is absolutely nothing wrong with this except that she was born in 1989. I know this because she was taking FOREVER trying to decide what to order and left her ID on the counter. The oldest child looked to be at least four - they were both calling her "Mommy," which is how I'm assuming they're hers. Ah! It was just crazy to see someone so young with two kids.

So with the cigarette-smelling, young mother and pot smelling guy behind the situation, there were still more things upsetting with my Peter Piper adventure. It turned out that I was the whitest person in there. Seriously.

EVERYONE else (with the exception of looking in the "game" area) were more Hispanic looking than I am. A lot of the guys in there were the type that scared me when I was younger (I was a scaredy cat a lot) - they wore the three-sizes too big for them jeans with equally as large shirts, three guys I saw had hair nets on (and I doubt they just came from working at a cafeteria) and tattoos covered their arms (nothing against tattoos, it just would have scared me when I was younger...and maybe last night a little bit too.).

Anyway. The point of this whole thing is that the demographic there last night surprised me. A lot. The experience was almost like the time I went to to the WalMart in El Paso, it was a little bit of a culture shock in a way. So that's my 'rant' or stereotyping, or whatever. I don't mean this to be offensive to anyone; it's more of an observation.

...... In other news! Yesterday was Raphael's birthday. Not only is he one of my favorite artists, but I found out that he was left handed. This is interesting because thanks to my new "Left-hander's callendar." This is my favorite by him:

I have this picture hanging above my bed - it's traveled with me everywhere and I absolutely love it!

That's all for today :)

blast from the past

Since we moved locations at work I now have to drive past my old elementary school. This morning I noticed the crossing guards helping children cross the street and it took me back to the old days of Homer. No, I'm not talking about watching the Simpsons, I'm talking about Homer the crossing guard! Homer was awesome. I remember he would always stand in the median area and wait for the little munchkins to walk by. We would go by single file while Homer would raise his stop sign for us to 'hit' as we went by - kinda like "high fiving" the sign. Sometimes he'd put it so high we'd (ok, just me) would have to jump to reach it! He was always such a joy to see before and after school.

Homer died several years ago, but his memory still lives within me just about every time I see a crossing guard.

not up to par

I've been on a blogging writer's block lately. I always think of things I want to write about, but none of them seem all that great. They turn out to be things I would ramble about to anyone listening instead of the type of topics that get a consistent readership. Eh. I'll come up with something decent to write about sooner or later.

I think I need something else to focus my time on. Last year I had the half marathon, which I loved, so I think I need something like that again. I'm going to the gym on a regular basis, and once the weather starts getting warmer I'll pick up my running again. But, I really want to volunteer for Make a Wish or maybe Big Brother/Big Sister. Eh. We'll see.

Do you ever wonder what it'd be like to be Martha Stewart? WOW. Ok. I just confirmed exactly how lame I am. It's Friday night at 10:45 and I just switched over to the Martha Stewart show (for the record, I was watching a movie just before this and I'm about to watch some silly wedding show at 11 - and no...there is no upcoming wedding, I just like the shows!). Seriously though, she's making a "heart scarf." Now, I love scarves, I'd even say I have a scarf fetish, but this one she's making (out of felt, mind you) is hideous. I think she's running out of things to talk about.

Maybe I'll have more to talk about next week. Monday is our first day in the new office (REALLY EXCITED)and I'm going to start working on stories for April. It's really a crazy profession to work months in advance.

I promise good and entertaining blogs to come...