Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Monday, September 8, 2008
Wow, It's True
New Mexican children really DO cut their teeth on raw Hatch Chiles.
G really liked it! I was worried when Nate passed the chile over to him, but he dove right in and followed each bite with an "Mmmmmmmm". Takes after his father, I think, since I am so wimpy about spicy food.
And since I am playing with pictures, here is a shot of my wonderful kitchen:
I have been enjoying cooking meals for my family here. There is a LOT more counter space, and the pantry is awesome. Add in our gorgeous table that easily sits all six of us, and it is a dream come true for me.
G really liked it! I was worried when Nate passed the chile over to him, but he dove right in and followed each bite with an "Mmmmmmmm". Takes after his father, I think, since I am so wimpy about spicy food.
And since I am playing with pictures, here is a shot of my wonderful kitchen:
I have been enjoying cooking meals for my family here. There is a LOT more counter space, and the pantry is awesome. Add in our gorgeous table that easily sits all six of us, and it is a dream come true for me.
Sunday, September 7, 2008
A Real Candidate for Change, Plus Ramblings
I propose a truly different sort of candidate for President, one that is so completely out of the political spectrum that change is a given:
In other news, O is getting used to his school and is enjoying it! He likes the small size, the small classes, and the involved teachers. For those of you not aware of what school he is going to, it is 21st Century Public Academy. It's a charter school and has high ratings; higher than the average Albuquerque school and much higher than the average New Mexico school. It's perfect for him. He is getting ready for his first OSI (Out of School Instruction), which is an overnight trip to Hummingbird Music Camp that starts tomorrow. It is a bonding trip for the 6th grade and their teachers, giving them all a chance to get to know one another better and enjoy their course work outside of the classroom.
M has been having a bit of trouble adjusting to school. She loves it, of course; that's not the issue. It's more that she is not following the rules all that well- yelling at the other kids, doing a bit of pushing or pulling on clothes when the kids aren't doing what she wants, that sort of thing. Luckily the teacher has been working with us to correct this behavior and get M back into the good student she normally is. She had a very good day on Friday and was commended by every member of the family.
E is doing terrific at school and is making a lot of friends. She has decided that her teacher is very nice and that she likes being in an indoor school. She has also been spending a lot of time out in the neighborhood riding her bike and playing some of the other kids.
Last but not least, G made the first mess on the carpet. He has been sick with a cold, and it went straight into his chest as usual. Yesterday morning he started coughing and began to choke, and puked his strawberry breakfast bar all over the floor upstairs. Poor kid. He's fine; we dosed him with some expectorant and put a humidifier in his room, and he is much better today. Fortunately, my carpet recovered as well after some elbow grease application.
In other news, O is getting used to his school and is enjoying it! He likes the small size, the small classes, and the involved teachers. For those of you not aware of what school he is going to, it is 21st Century Public Academy. It's a charter school and has high ratings; higher than the average Albuquerque school and much higher than the average New Mexico school. It's perfect for him. He is getting ready for his first OSI (Out of School Instruction), which is an overnight trip to Hummingbird Music Camp that starts tomorrow. It is a bonding trip for the 6th grade and their teachers, giving them all a chance to get to know one another better and enjoy their course work outside of the classroom.
M has been having a bit of trouble adjusting to school. She loves it, of course; that's not the issue. It's more that she is not following the rules all that well- yelling at the other kids, doing a bit of pushing or pulling on clothes when the kids aren't doing what she wants, that sort of thing. Luckily the teacher has been working with us to correct this behavior and get M back into the good student she normally is. She had a very good day on Friday and was commended by every member of the family.
E is doing terrific at school and is making a lot of friends. She has decided that her teacher is very nice and that she likes being in an indoor school. She has also been spending a lot of time out in the neighborhood riding her bike and playing some of the other kids.
Last but not least, G made the first mess on the carpet. He has been sick with a cold, and it went straight into his chest as usual. Yesterday morning he started coughing and began to choke, and puked his strawberry breakfast bar all over the floor upstairs. Poor kid. He's fine; we dosed him with some expectorant and put a humidifier in his room, and he is much better today. Fortunately, my carpet recovered as well after some elbow grease application.
Friday, September 5, 2008
I'm Scared
I went to the MVD Express today to finish getting my new registration on our van. Sadly, I had to go with the dorky hot air balloon license plate, since the MVD Express is a licensed outside contractor that provides motor vehicle services for the real department of motor vehicles, along with a convenience fee for people like me that go there. (I must admit, it is a brilliant idea- no long lines, no waiting weeks for appts, no rude people, it's awesome and worth every penny of additional cost!) I am now an official resident of the state, complete with driver's license and vehicle registration.
That, however, is not what I am scared of. Here's what got me going today- while getting my papers processed, a woman next to me was getting her driver's license renewed. Part of the procedure is a general eye exam to make sure you can read road signs and not kill the crazy people crossing the street in front of oncoming traffic. So this lady is taking the eye exam, and she keeps getting a lot of the letters wrong. The clerk asks her if she wears glasses, and the woman says yes but only for reading, otherwise her vision is fine. The clerk asks her to try again with a new batch of letters, and again, and again, until finally she says, "Close enough, I think you'll be fine."
WTH?
And THEN, as if this weren't enough, she gives the lady the option of a 4 year license or an 8 year, and the lady takes the 8 year! I wonder how bad her vision will be by the time those 8 years are halfway over? And to think she is out there sharing the road with thousands, and trying to navigate the psycho frontage road system and dodge insane pedestrians. My heart has palpitations just thinking about it.
Come on, people, it should be mandatory to Think and Drive!!!!
That, however, is not what I am scared of. Here's what got me going today- while getting my papers processed, a woman next to me was getting her driver's license renewed. Part of the procedure is a general eye exam to make sure you can read road signs and not kill the crazy people crossing the street in front of oncoming traffic. So this lady is taking the eye exam, and she keeps getting a lot of the letters wrong. The clerk asks her if she wears glasses, and the woman says yes but only for reading, otherwise her vision is fine. The clerk asks her to try again with a new batch of letters, and again, and again, until finally she says, "Close enough, I think you'll be fine."
WTH?
And THEN, as if this weren't enough, she gives the lady the option of a 4 year license or an 8 year, and the lady takes the 8 year! I wonder how bad her vision will be by the time those 8 years are halfway over? And to think she is out there sharing the road with thousands, and trying to navigate the psycho frontage road system and dodge insane pedestrians. My heart has palpitations just thinking about it.
Come on, people, it should be mandatory to Think and Drive!!!!
The Weather
Lately I have gotten several questions on what our weather has been like, so I figured I would take a moment to cover it here on the blog. First off, yes we live in the desert. Yes it does get hot. But it is high desert (we are over 5000ft in altitude here) so it's not like the Sahara or even Palm Springs. The Summer months of June-July-August are warm to hot, with the average high in the low 90's. Some days are hotter, some days are cooler. Nights are in the upper 60's to low 70's, which is nice after a hot day.
Now that we are moving towards Fall, the temperatures are going down. Highs are now in the 80's, with a day of low 70's and rain every so often. Nights are getting cooler too- last night our low was 50F. Today it will warm up to 88, and by next week we'll be back down in the 70's.
As for Winter, we have already been warned to buy a snow shovel before we need it. HOORAY! I do love me some snow, which I think means I will be the lucky one who gets to do the shoveling. ABQ does not get a lot of snow, and it usually only hangs around for a day at most. Every so often, though, they get a nice storm that can close schools for the day and require driveway clearing before we can leave the house. I can't wait!
Now that we are moving towards Fall, the temperatures are going down. Highs are now in the 80's, with a day of low 70's and rain every so often. Nights are getting cooler too- last night our low was 50F. Today it will warm up to 88, and by next week we'll be back down in the 70's.
As for Winter, we have already been warned to buy a snow shovel before we need it. HOORAY! I do love me some snow, which I think means I will be the lucky one who gets to do the shoveling. ABQ does not get a lot of snow, and it usually only hangs around for a day at most. Every so often, though, they get a nice storm that can close schools for the day and require driveway clearing before we can leave the house. I can't wait!
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Lightning Striking
"Mom, maybe having a bath during a thunderstorm isn't the best idea you have ever had..."
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
First Day Of School, and a New Family Member
Today is O's first day of Middle School. When did my baby get so old? Oh, that's right- he turned 12 a couple of weeks ago. Nate and I joke that he is entering the transitional period, and that was definitely in evidence yesterday at an introductory ice cream social at his new school. A smile would not appear on his normally sunny face, and there was a lot of foot-shuffling going on. Never was a pre-teen so happy to go home as that kid was! He spent most of the rest of the day in a sullen silence, evidently dreading going to his new school in the morning. However, he was full of sunshine on his way out the door (maybe because Nate is taking him to school and they get uninterrupted time together?). Who knows, but I was happy to see my son back to his usual happy self.
In other news, we have a new family member! I was perusing the ABQ Craigslist and saw a listing for a ten week old Holland Lop bunny. As a teenager I had more than my fair share of lop bunnies, and could not resist the idea of getting one now. So on a whim I adopted her, and hit Petsmart for a new hutch and supplies. After a night of debating names, I settled on Inle (accent over the 'e', maybe I'll figure out how to do that one day). It comes from the book Watership Down, like all my bunnies' names, and it means moon or darkness. Very fitting for a dark gray bunny with the shiniest fur ever. She is a doll, and all the kids are in love with her, especially E. Here's Inle in all her tiny-bunny glory-
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