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Connie: Feliz Cinco de Mayo !

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Tuesday, December 26th 2006

1:55 PM

It Arrived!!

 Awwwww......heaven!
My christmas gift from my kids arrived today.    Yep, its a massage chair.
Now, to some this may seem retarded or insignificant...but to me...it is as close to the ultimate as things could get. I would say that a straight healthy spine would be about the only thing to outdo this (or maybe being married to a spine specialist or chiropractor)
Anyway, while in NYC this summer and staying at Fuchooman's parents house, I got to experience an amazing massage chair. They had several there and after three days of sitting in it twice a day, 15 minutes per sit, I could touch my toes once again! It is what allowed me to be able to walk all over Manhatten for three days with no pain!
I was IN LOVE with that chair!
I kept joking that the kids needed to help me load it into the car when we left. LOL

Well, I asked my daughter to find out what brand it was and I was determined to save my pennies and buy one for myself.

I mean...this is a really big deal....to have something here at home that will help to decrease my chronic pain would be a live saver. And the way this chair massages (I like it hard and deep and I have sat in many chairs that were a joke)
 is incredible!
I never expected my kids to get this for me for Christmas!!!

I am speechless really...the kids are just starting out in their lives and for them to spend this kind of money on me...well, it goes beyond thoughtful.

I truly have selfless, amazing kids!!

I am sooooooooooooooooo grateful for this gift. I hope they really do get what this means to me.
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Monday, December 25th 2006

4:52 PM

Divine Decadence

Or, could also be titled Culinary Gluttony......either way twas an unusual, but decadent Christmas.
We exchanged gifts with the girls on Friday night after the birthday outing. They left Saturday morning to go to their dad's. So, Sunday and today were quiet days of......eating!
Eman loves to cook and he got a French Bistro Cookbook. This book is huge and way more than just a cookbook. It is called  Bouchon by Thomas Keller.
Eman has been reading it for the past few days.

Last night after a wonderful dinner of shrimp scampi with a bottle of Reisling, we watched Elizabethtown - I so love that movie - and had cappuccino's and cheesecake.
Another of Emans gifts was a top quality Cappuccino machine. He has gotten very good at making latte's and cappuccino's.(and I'm not complaining about that!)

Today he spent all day making French onion soup. The real thing, take all day long to cook, french onion soup. It was the first course to our fench dinner tonight.
It was, by far, the most divine french onion soup I have ever had!
Second course is Steak Au Poivre with Potatoes and Spinach Au Gratin.
Dessert is blackberry cobbler with vanilla ice cream.
(Ok, as soon as this snowy cold spell is over, I must go walking!)
Tomorrow I will be making a cake that I loved as a child called Fruit Cocktail cake (not to be mistaken for a fruit cake...*bleck* do folks still make those??)

I also finished reading the book Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield  this morning.
I have had my eye on this book for months. It was one of those that jumped at me while crusing the books at Sam's. I put it on my christmas list and got it along with Windflower by Nick Bantock and Someplace to be Flying by Charles De Lint. (my two fav authors)
Having a daughter who is a writer/booklover who works at Barnes & Noble pays off!!
The book was indeed engaging and a page turner. The odd thing was that unlike Charles DeLint books, I realized that once I put the book down, I did not think about the characters anymore. It was a very dark, heavy book. But as I finished it this morning it made me cry. I related to it in more ways than I wished to. Maybe how I related to it was why I didn't want to think about the characters all day long. Anyway, I highly reccommend it.
I can't decide which book to read next!

The cats received their traditional sock full of catnip...they are now zonked out on the couch.
My main gift has still not arrived...should be here tomorrow!

I am looking forward to 2007.....I know it will be full of ups and downs as we make our way through the stuff we are going through right now...but, I can see a light at the end of the tunnel and I feel hopeful.
I hope you all enjoyed a magical day with family/friends and I am looking forward to catching up on your holiday posts this week.
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Friday, December 22nd 2006

10:55 AM

Happy!

I woke up so happy today! woooohooo!
One reason is that I got one of those viscose memory foam mattress toppers. Its 4 inches thick. I haven't slept well in so long and knew something had to be done. When I was in New Mexico at my cousin's house, I slept like a log each night. Her bed was so comfy and I was awake and ready at 7am each day. As soon as I got home it was back to horrible back pain (on top of the already chronic back pain I have) and all I would do is toss and turn all night or have to get up and try the couch for part of the night. I don't think I slept soundly through the night much at all.
But now.....wow...like sleeping on a cloud! It's GREAT!

Secondly, last night my friend Linda and I went out to dinner. She had called me and told me about this channeler that she wanted to go see. He did a group thing each Thursday night near my house and it was 10 bucks. Well, I didn't  have an extra 10 bucks to spare but felt maybe we were suppose to go for Linda to really want to do this (neither of us are the type to run out and do this sort of thing even though we both understand and agree with most metaphysical things)
Anyway.....man...he was nothing but gobbledy gook! He was nice and all but he was vague, spewed nonesense metaphysical words in ill-structured, nonesensical sentences putting our illustious Prez to shame with whacko verbage. We then asked him questions (there were only 3 of us there) and he used his psychic abilities to answer them...HA!  WHAT A JOKE!!! 
It was really, really bad...and to think...people go see him all day long!

So, afterwards we went to have coffee and talked about it and life in general.
So, this morning I was thinking...gosh why did I blow 10 bucks on that??? Kinda made me mad...then I thought....I think it helped us both see that we are both very powerful within ourselves, we have an inner knowing and  we don't need to go ask someone else.
Linda is a Reiki healer (she works with animals) and is one very wise and wonderful lady.
So, I guess it was 10 bucks to have us realize something important!
After all this musing, I suddenly felt so high and happy and knew...all would be A-OKAY!

Last but not least, today is my first born's 24th Birthday! I've been taking pics of her all morning and will post some later....I have plans for tonight to celebrate her and Eman's birthday.

Hope you all have a wonderful day today!

P.S. That super awsome Christmas gift my kids got me is to be delivered TODAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Wednesday, December 20th 2006

10:04 AM

Sky Watching

 I still have traffic coming through here and even though my world is upside down right now and I wasn't going to be posting for a while, I decided to do one anyway.

Things are strange right now. With the stuff I am going through, I have had to stop and alter my perspective on life a lot. As well, I have simplified things considerably. Not that I had a complicated life before, but I was knocked down to nothingness and that makes you see and do things differently.

Anyway...I have been hanging in there to  'do Christmas' as normally as possible. Got most of my Christmas shopping done, although this year it will be a quiet one since the kids will be with their dad.
The only other activity has been with my digital camera. She has been my constant companion and I have been diligent on capturing the sky and sunsets.
I've gotten better at taking it wherever I go and I've been  good at getting shots while a passenger in a car! (I always thought a dirty car window would affect a photo...but it doesn't!)

Taken from car window while out running errands with my daughter.

I find myself always looking skyward, so I got to thinking, why the sky? Of all the millions of objects and things around me that I could be focusing on right now, it has been the sky. Each morning I look out my bedroom window and see what the morning sky looks like. Then, I follow it throughout the day from my balcony. The movements of clouds, the types of clouds and how one moment the sky will be clear and boring and the next I'm running to grab the camera because things suddenly aren't boring anymore.


The other day, I ran out to the front parking lot and was taking pics of the unusual sky just above the trees. I took one picture, then as I removed the camera and took in the area I had just shot, I saw an eagle flying directly over me. I tried to hurry and get a pic of it, but my camera takes a while to get ready for the next shot.  I followed it in my view and did finally get a shot.


I guess looking skyward is a good thing right now. I have had many many days of feeling a lot of hopelessness, and even though I am working hard at not giving up, I sometimes feel - why bother? Looking up gives me a sense of hope and that we never know what is around the corner. This is one thing I learned from my years of depression...never give up because one never knows whats around the corner.

The sky's constant changes reflect the emotions we go through in any difficult time; from those moments of hopelessness to the moments of seeing a light at the end of the tunnel. The rising and setting sun give me a barometer, taking it day by day and seeing that within those two events, I decide how I will view each moment.

Right now a storm is moving in, I'm watching the sky as it changes. The dark clouds somehow are a comfort to me. Soon, it will be time to try and capture it all.



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Tuesday, December 5th 2006

10:50 AM

Navigating Rough Waters

There is this thing with blogging. Once you start and you have some faithful readers, you have a sort of committment to keep up regular posts. If you don't, they wonder whats going on.

Right now in my life I am navigating through some very rough waters. There are only two things going on in my life that I am focusing on and its not something I wish to post about here.
I am living each day, day by day, not knowing what the future will hold at this point.

For now, I'm not going to shut down this blog, but will not be posting for a bit.

Sorry, Jenna, guess you can't spy on me anymore.

I'll still be stopping by my fav bloggers blogs...you all keep me feeling stable and somewhat normal!

Thanks for all  your wonderful comments.

Hope you all have a fabulous and joyful Christmas season with an exciting and blessed New Year!
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Tuesday, November 28th 2006

9:42 AM

Back home...once again!

Will someone please tell me who pulled November out from under me? Where did it go?
I am glad to be back home...and for good for a while. I loved all the traveling and seeing the great people I saw...but I'm a home body!
My cats were glued to me last night wondering how long it would be before I took off again!

Our drive home yesterday was great! The sky was amazing with such varied layers and colors to it. I asked Eman where my camera was and he said in the trunk. I made him pull over so I could get pics. I spent the next 2 hours in the car going crazy taking pics of the sky!
The sunset was going to be spectacular and Eman kept saying...leave a few for later...the best is yet to come...did I listen? No...and sure enough by the time I deleted a few to have room for what was a very different and gorgeous sunset, I couldn't capture it due to us driving in valleys.
But, the trip was fast and my sky pics turned out great!

Sunday, Eman's mom took us to Hunt Valley where they have this really quaint outside mall with the grocery store called Wegman's. This is a northern grocery store and was the first time I have been to one. Now, I know you are thinking...what is so great about a grocery store? If you get a chance to go shopping at a Wegman's...do it!
(I'l let the press release for it describe it)


Hunt Valley, MD – “It’s not unusual to see first-time customers stand dead still in the entry trying to take it all in,” says Wendy Webster, store manager of the new Wegmans Food Market that will open on October 2, 2005 in Hunt Valley, Maryland. “Even after a store’s been open awhile, you’ll see people just stop and their jaws drop. For someone who’s never visited before, it’s difficult to imagine.”

Start with the fact that Wegmans is large for a grocery store; in Hunt Valley’s case it’s 140,000 square feet, more than double the size of a typical supermarket. Then add that customers walk directly into a produce section that carries up to 700 varieties, all lovingly tended by a team of staffers ready with tips on how to select and serve each item. It only takes a moment to realize that Wegmans is no ordinary grocery store.

Other than that we just had a nice time catching up and of course, Eman watched another zillion football games.

Beebob checking on his first Tday bird!


Kids hanging out in the kitchen. (Beeseboss, Raja, Milos and Fuchooman) I thought this was funny because I recall all the family holidays when the adults hung out in the kitchen. I have many photos of them doing so, so I had to take this pic when realizing now it was my kids all hanging out in the kitchen waiting on their various dishes to cook!


Milos and Fuchooman bein crazy!


Milos making his twice baked potatoes


With this bunch, you can always count on music and performances. Beebob on the drums and Beeseboss singing.


Beeseboss singing and Raja dancing


Now it is Fuchooman's turn at the mic...the boy has a big mouth!


One of the sky pics...there was a prism in it all evening.


Very interesting sunset!


Is this not a cool sky?

And last but not least, I leave you with a few funnies.....
My pic of this didn't turn out, so I wil describe it instead.
We went to get gas before our trip to Old Town and as I sat in the car, I noticed across the street were apartments with a sign of the name of them. They were 'Tuckahoe' Apartments, but someone came along and very precisely added a little line to the middle of the T making it look as if it was there all along.......I won't spell it out, you get it...I burst out laughing and pointed it out to everyone...gosh we laughed all night about that!

Secondly, I got an email from my Aunt this morning and here is an excerpt from it..

  .....People are running the streets demanding bizcochitos, home made candy, and red chili by the gallon.  The kids are coming up with recipes for their favorite dishes.  Here's the recipe of the week.  6 year old Amada Jimenez came up with this goody.

Stuffed Turkey

Be sure to pull all the feathers off then soak the turkey in lard. Then put four cups of candy inside.  Put in nine raisins and four chocolate chips.  Cook at 900 degrees for three minutes then eat.

Yum Yum.  Be sure you have a fire extinguisher handy if you try this one! 
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Saturday, November 25th 2006

9:13 AM

Rip Roarin Thanksgiving!

I am still at my son's house and can't post pics, but wanted to post about this very unusual and crazy Thanksgiving!

Unusual in the sense that we broke a family tradition of Thanksgiving always being at the home of the family matriarch (which is either me or my MIL) This means the kids have to do the traveling.

Eman had to work so late on Wed that Raja, Fuchooman and Beeseboss left in a seperate car Wed eveing and came on up. Eman and I got up very early on Thursday morning for the 7 hour drive.

I don't think I have ever driven on Thanksgiving day, but traffic was calm and the weather gorgeous!

We got here around 1 in the afternoon and I made the couple of dishes I was designated to make. Beebob and one of his roommates (whom he grew up with) had everything else under control. We sat down to eat around 6 and it was the most hilarious  and loud Thanksgiving meal I have ever had!  As we ate we went around and elaborated on what we were thankful for, but of course as is with this bunch, it turned into a comedy improv event.

The food was great and the laughter continued on with card games until 3:30am.

Yesterday we went into Old Town Alexandria. I was told there was a surprise for me. I had no clue what it could be. We walked for blocks and finally it was revealed to me. I got to 'try out' my Christmas gift to make sure it was the right thing. I am not going to expose what it is in this post but I was soooooooooooooooooooooooooooo excited and happy and was doin the Snoopy dance of joy!! What great kids I have!

After that, we continued our walk among the great shops there and had dinner at Chipolte Burritoes.

The evening ended once again at 3am after a wild, hysterical game of Apples to Apples.

I must say....lots of rip roaring laughter is a great way to burn off all that food!

I have enjoyed reading about the Thanksgivings of all my blogger friends. Peeking into the lives and traditions of others is fun. Thanks to you all for sharing!

Off to Baltimore today to visit with my MIL.

Enjoy your weekend!

 

 

 

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Wednesday, November 22nd 2006

9:43 AM

Thanksgiving

Things have been pretty hectic around here the last few days. Raja and Fuchooman moved back in. We removed everything from the second bedroom which has been used by both Raja and Beeseboss over the years either during the summer or when Raja moved back home for one semester. The room has an odd collection of lots of 'stuff' and altho I redecorated it last year to a beautiful warm morrocan love nest, it needed to be thoroughly cleaned out. We have spent the past 2 days doing that. Purging, tossing and cleaning.
Raja tends to be a pack rat and still had things in there from her elementary days. I'm glad for a few cool things she came across. One was a cassette tape their dad and I made when they were 6, 5 and 4 to send all our friends and family for Christmas. Each of the kids talked about their fav things and we played Christmas music. It was so funny to hear their personalities at that age. I'm going to play the tape for them on Thursday.

We are all gathering at my son's home for Thanksgiving. Will be a lot of fun and with Eman's mom only being an hour from my son, we can visit her as well during the weekend.
The only thing is, we are leaving late tonight and driving thru the night and early morning hours...yuck. But, at least unlike the days when the kids were little, there are now 5 adults to share in the driving!

I am thankful for a lot this year.
-My trip back west was very special
-Reconnecting with my cousun has been a huge blessing in my life
-Knowing that my dad is spending his retirement writing poetry, songs and traveling around doing 'cowboy' research and playing his fiddle puts a smile on my face.
-Finally getting to that point in my art where I have a niche and doing something unique makes me feel much better about plunging into it full time.
-As always, I am so thankful to live in Asheville!
-I am thankful for the great friends we have met.
-I am grateful that my 2 college graduates are going about their lives happy.
-I am grateful that my youngest has found her path and calling in life and is pursuing that with gusto!
-But, mostly I am grateful for my simple but fullfilling life and for my hubby who puts a smile on my face each and every day!

Happy Thanksgiving to all of my blogger friends and I hope you have a joyuous day!

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Saturday, November 18th 2006

9:40 AM

Mountainair

One of the many highlights of my trip back to New Mexico was in spending a couple days in Mountainair. This is where my dad grew up and where my grandparents ranch was located. I would have to say that this is the place of some of my favorite childhood memories and when referring to the home of my roots, this is it.
My grandparents worked their ranch until they both died. A few years after my grandmother passed in 2000, my dad and his siblings decided to sell it. I think I cried for days when I heard the news. Luckily, a wonderful lady from Texas bought it and has remodeled the old house into the most amazing spanish inspired villa. I got to take a tour while there of the house and I wish I could have taken pics, but she did an amazing job! I'm so glad that she was the one to buy the land and instead of tearing the house down, kept its beauty and energy intact. Even tho it is now a different 'look' I could still feel the years of love and family gatherings there.
The other reason that I wanted to go to Mountainair was because my aunt bought Pop Shaffer's place (Rancho Bonito) which is a historic landmark. Pop was a folk artist and a very unusual one at that. I also wanted to spend a night at the historic Shaffer Hotel  which was recently refurbished and originally built by Pop Shaffer in 1923.
As my cousin and I made plans for my time there, we both decided that it would be fun to spend the night at the hotel on Halloween night, since it is claimed to be haunted.
Even though we did not have the money to do so, I told her, book our room, we will manifest the money!
Sure enough, after an evening at the casino, we had won more than enough to  spend a night there as well as enjoy some great restuarants!
So, off to Mountainair we went!
Our first stop was to meet my dad outside of Belen, NM where Eman and I own some land. I had never seen the lot we own. It was a wedding gift from Eman's dad. Now..get this....I marry a guy from Ohio, who was raised in Baltimore and for a wedding gift we get a plot of land a few miles from where my family is from!
Its nothing but stickers at this point, but quickly the area around it is developing and it is beautiful, surrounded by mountain ranges.

Dad standing in the stickers that is our lot

Next we headed into Mountainair to meet up with my dad's sisters for lunch. My Aunt invited us to her place (Rancho Bonito) and we enjoyed a most scrumptious brisket, pinto beans and raisin slaw while catching up on our lives.

(left to right) Dad, Sharla, Aunt Doe and Aunt Barb

We decided to save the tour of Rancho Bonito for the next day, so my cousin and I could get checked into the Hotel and have a fun night there.
I can't believe I didn't get a pic of the hotel, we seemed to be rushing around the whole time we were there.

The desk lady was so great and we invited her and her sister in law (who was staying with her that night since it was halloween) to join us for  my made from scratch margaritas later that night.
We only had a few choices for dinner as the hotel restuarant is closed at the moment. We chose to drive to Willard to eat at the Willard Cantina.
We had the worst fajitas I have ever had, but we talked and laughed and had a great time anyway!
Once back to the motel, we got to see all of the rooms (they keep the doors open to the unoccupied rooms) Gosh, the wedding suite was so gorgeous!
I made my pitcher of margaritas and we went downstairs to the lobby to join the other ladies. We drank and told ghost stories. It was fun hearing about the encounters the staff has had working there! (If the hotel owners/mangers are reading this...your staff was the best! Always professional and joining us was I think the most gracious thing to do...and it made our visit even more memorable...give her a pat on the back!)
Although we were hoping for a spooky encounter ourselves, I guess Pop decided to be quiet that night....we had a peaceful and great nights sleep in our very beautiful and comfy room!
We slept in then went to Ancient Cities for breakfast. Shortly after arriving, my aunt found us and joined in, then a few more of her friends. We sat and listened to their stories and laughed. My cousin's father grew up there as well, but has never shared anything with my cousin, so she got to ask the ladies all kinds of questions about his family and life there. I love hearing old family stories and I guess I probably appreciate them more now than when I was younger.
Time flew by and we then went on over to my aunts at Rancho Bonito for the official tour.

One of the buildings Pop built. Was a little cabin he used as a studio. He embellished every inch of his creations, buildings or 'critters' with his style. More pics in forth coming posts.

It was such a perfect day and I am still enthralled with the work Pop did.
After a dinner of chicken enchiladas, we took a drive through an  area where acre lots are being sold, but each lot has 20 acres surrounding it, so you can build your dream home and know that you will never have to look out at your neighbors place. It was gorgeous to look out and see for miles and miles...the one thing I miss about living in the east.

To be continued.....I'm off to check out the Asheville  Holiday Parade today!
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Friday, November 17th 2006

3:15 PM

Backing Up

I am so behind. I was catching up on Deanna's blog and she had a pic posted of a Christmas tree.....I gasped! I'm still thinking about fall colors! EGADS!
Before my trip I was trying to take some pics of the incredible fall colors we had here. One Saturday, Eman and I took a drive that was spectacular!. It was right after a big storm, so there was no haze, a bright blue sky and so crystal clear. I was in awe the whole drive. But, I didn't have my camera....my batteries and charger had melted the day before.
I did get this pic one late afternoon. I loved the way the light was illuminating the fall leaves and although the mountains were hazy in the distance, it was a gorgeous sight. This is the view from our balcony.


This is the view of the mountains from my cousins front yard in Rio Rancho, NM.


The evening we got back home from Atlanta, we had a gorgeous sunset. I tried to capture it but I'm still not good at setting my camera right. As you can see, the leaves are pretty much gone on the trees.

I felt so lucky that the whole time I was in NM, the weather was gorgeous! High 60's with a light breeze and sunshine!

Sunday snow is in the forecast.
Next week is Thanksgiving.
This Saturday, my oldest and her BF are moving back here to Asheville! They will live here till they find a place and secure jobs.
Where has the time gone?
At least bravenet has the picture loading feature back...so now I can post trip pics!
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