Psychomom'S pace: Entertainment

Happy Memorial Weekend

Sun, 27 May 2007 21:41:07 GMT

The Spanish Broom in the back yard is the most fricken beautiful bloomed thing I've ever seen. I admired it as I planted a few more flowers next to my grape vines which I'm happy to say are still alive and growing. I don't remember which vine is green or which is red and two of the plants appear to be doing better than the other two, which will thrive better is yet to be seen.

We finally made the switch from dial up to broadband and everything is much faster now that it is finally installed and running. I posted a bunch of photos of the plants around my house that are in bloon or ready to bloom at Flicker. What used to take 20 minutes now takes 2, I thank Fussy and her tribute to her Dad for giving me the push to just do it already.

I also want to thank and remember on this Memorial weekend, all the people who have fought for my freedom to choose what ever I want (even if it was choosing to be a slowsky all those years). Thank you.

Get a Gig

Fri, 02 Feb 2007 19:02:26 GMT

My son Jacob and I have been hanging together a lot lately. I got him hooked on Top Chef and he has enjoyed acting as a judge when I cook. He has even tried some cooking on his own, which helps me out because he gets home way before I do and he needs to feed himself. Both the boys can fend for themselves but lately they want Mom to spoon feed them. So anyway, we watched the finale together but silly me, I laid down in my room towards the end of the show right before they announced the winner and fell asleep. Jacob came into my room when they announced Ilan as the winner and woke me up. Oops, I'm such a dork and maybe not such a great fan. We watched the finale again last night and then said good bye to a Wednesday night favorite. Afterwards we went to Best Buy to see what kind of prices they had on the micro memory card I wanted for my phone. I had checked the prices through Verizon and wanted to see if I could find a better deal. Well call me Lucky-Lucy because the had the cards, for like half price of what Verizon wanted plus a $10 rebate. I bought two, one for me and one for Jacob, he was so happy and loaded a bunch of music on it last night. He had been asking for a mp3 player and now he has one and so do I. I didn't get anything loaded on mine though, I have this weekend to do it. I also want to send my camera to get fixed and go through some of my old electronic gagets and see what can be sold or given away. I need to take inventory, get some descriptions and prices in order then post them somewhere and I need to get those rebates submitted. $20 bucks can buy me some wine, yarn, or some other toy I really need.

Mama's Got a Brand New Toy

Wed, 31 Jan 2007 19:29:41 GMT

My phone arrived yesterday and at first I didn't like it. It is actually bigger than my old phone and it kind of looked like cheap plastic. When the boys came home they told me I was nuts (like I need telling) and that it was a good phone. They pointed out the swivel camera lens and the music player so I started looking at it a little different. It came with a new home charger that looked very similar to the old one so I tried the old one on the new phone but it didn't work. 'Bummer' I thought, now my car charger won't work either. When I was reading the shitload of material that came with the phone it said something like you could only use their music on the phone. This did not make me happy and I was starting to think I should send it back.

Today I stayed home from work so I've had plenty of time to waste playing with the phone. I set up the music software on the computer and gave it a try to see if I would be able to download my songs and Yipee it worked. I have a couple of Offspring (a favorite band of mine) songs on it now. You can do it (Original Prankster)!!!! Now that I know it works, I can spend more money on a memory card and I don't have to buy a new car charger either. This morning when I took Jacob to school I tried it and with a little manipulation the connector mated. This phone is looking better and better as the day goes on and I really doubt it is going back.

I still need to figure out how to use the camera part a little better but for now I think I'm going to put aside the electronics and do some knitting and think about what I can make for dinner. Tonight is the season finale for Top Chef and it will be interesting to see what Marcel and Ilan put out for the judges. This morning they were both on the Today Show and Marcel went first. Does that mean he won and that is why he got to be on camera first? They didn't tell us who won but I thought it was interesting that he was the first one to present. Me I don't really care who wins, I like them both but I do think Marcel played a better game. He may not have intended to use his personality as a weapon but it worked perfectly and quite a few of the other contestants fell apart because they didn't know how to deal with him. Betty, Cliff, Ilan, Sam, Frank and even Elia (who I wanted until the last show) lost their cool and focus and allowed Marcel to get into their head. I know that when I play soccer I try to piss off my opponents and screw with their game, anger can make you do some real dumb things. I should know because I really am not that cool, but I fake it a lot.

Feliz Navidad

Mon, 25 Dec 2006 21:06:41 GMT

The wind was lightly blowing the luminarias last night and it took a couple of relights to get them going. The result was very pretty and worth the effort. Time to relax and enjoy the holidays. Taz the reindog agrees! Merry Christmas to all.

Ready to Light Tonight

Sun, 24 Dec 2006 19:56:04 GMT

The sacks have been folded, sand and candles added and placed outside with care. They are ready to light on a beautiful White Christmas Eve.

God Bless Everyone!

Christmas Wishes on a Park Bench

Tue, 12 Dec 2006 02:24:33 GMT

I opened the curtains Sunday morning and what did I see?

Two very friendly reindeer with greetings for you and me.

It might be the local young folk having some beer.

Gathering yard deco and spreading the Christmas Cheer!

I thought it was funny and went out to see.

Took a few pictures as I giggled, he he

Later someone took the reindeers and their buddies down.

Too late, the pictures are posted in psychomom town.

Christmas Tradition in the Bag

Fri, 08 Dec 2006 19:56:22 GMT

If you are in the Southwestern mood for Christmas. Luminarias are cheap and easy to make. They are a tradition here in New Mexico and the whole state lights them up on Christmas Eve.

Take a brown lunch sack and fold down top about an inch. Place a couple of inches of dirt or sand in the bottom of the sack. Place a votive candle inside and set them outside the house. Light on Christmas Eve night.

There are electric ones these days but the original ones are my favorite. The City of Espanola lights up the all the roads in town and it is just Beautiful.

Here is link to a picture of some Luminarias in Socorro, NM

Win, Loss, Tagged

Sun, 15 Oct 2006 17:12:39 GMT

The balloon fiesta ended today and it wasn't the best weekend because it rained. I watched on TV at home and didn't get any more pictures. Varsity gave Santa Fe a beating for coming into our town yesterday, 35-0. Jake got some playing time and held his own against a Big Noseguard. I had a soccer game today and sad to say we lost 1-4 but happy to say I scored our only goal. I also posted a meme(?) that Crazy Aunt Purl had on her blog to share some info about myself.

Latest scores.....

SHS '06 Varsity Schedule (6-1)

8/25 7pm @Wilson SHS 14 vs Las Cruces 20

8/31 7pm @Milne Highland 28 vs SHS 31

9/8 7pm @Wilson SHS 25 vs Eldorado 14

9/21 7pm @Wilson SHS 14 vs Los Lunas 7 (Homecoming)

9/28 7pm @Wilson Del Norte 7 vs SHS 49

10/6 7pm @Gallup Gallup 20 vs SHS 33

10/14 1:30pm @ Wilson SHS 35 vs Santa Fe 0

10/21 1:30pm @Milne Albuquerque vs SHS

10/28 1:30pm @Milne Valley vs SHS

11/3 7pm @Wilson SHS vs La Cueva

2006 Odyssey Soccer (4-2)

9/10 1pm F16 Express 1 vs Odyssey 5 (1)

9/17 3pm F3 Odyssey 1 vs TBG 0

9/24 11 am ADO1 Odyssey 2 vs Uniques 1

10/1 1pm F16 Odyssey 1 vs Rebel B's 6 (1)

10/8 3pm ADO2 Odyssey 3 vs Happy Hour 1

10/15 1pm ADO1 Odyssey 1 vs Grasshoppers 4 (1)

10/22 9am F11 Odyssey vs Shot in the Dark

10/29 1pm F2 Odyssey vs Strikers

11/5 9am ADO1 Violet Femmes vs Odyssey

______________________________________

Four jobs I've had:
-Onion,carrot,radish,cherry picker.
-Roller skating carhop at Sonic
-Electronic Assembler
-Mechanical Designer

Four movies I can watch over and over:
-Princess Bride
-Meet the Parents (Focker)
-Shawshank Redemption
-Cool Hand Luke (Paul Newman (sigh))

Four places I have lived:
-Layton, Utah
-Medanales, New Mexico
-Albuquerque, New Mexico
-How sad, I only have 3 (I spent the summer in Denver, Colorado twice if that counts)

Four television shows I love to watch:
-CNN (nerd alert)
-Jeopardy (one answer is an accomplishment)
-Project Runway
-Trading Spaces

Four places I have been on vacation:

-San Diego/LA/Escondido, California

-Grinelle, Iowa

-Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico

-Mexico City/Cuernavaca/Puebla/San Miguel de Allende, Mexico

Four of my favorite dishes:

-Beans & Chile with Sopapillas

-Spagetti or Lasagna

-Egg Rolls and Stir Fry

-Breakfast Burrito

Four websites I visit daily:

-Hotmail/Yahoo (mail and News)

-A Scene From My Life

-Duke City Fix

-Crazy Aunt Purl

Four places I would rather be right now:

-Puerto Vallarta

-In My own House

-In Medanales drinking coffee on Selina's Deck

-Escondido, CA visiting my Bro Abe and his family

Special Shapes

Fri, 13 Oct 2006 02:48:10 GMT

This morning Luc got an early start and went to watch the special shape balloons before school. He did a great job taking pictures and let me post them here. I took Jake to school and then snapped some pictures before going into work, late. Last night the JV maded up the game that was rained out the other night. It was a tough one and they lost 6-7.

Latest scores.....

SHS '06 JV Schedule (3-4)

8/28 4pm @Wilson Manzano 0 vs SHS 21

9/6 4pm @Wilson SHS 35 vs Highland 6

9/12 4pm @Milne Valley 8 vs SHS 6

9/19 7pm @Wilson SHS 56 vs West Mesa 7

9/25 4pm @LL Los Lunas 42 vs SHS 6

10/3 7pm @Wilson La Cueva 7 vs SHS 0

10/9 4pm @Wilson SHS 6 vs Eldorado 7

10/17 7pm @Wilson SHS vs Albuquerque

Games and Balloons

Wed, 11 Oct 2006 03:42:48 GMT

The varsity football team won the game in Gallup 33-20 and arrived home safely around midnight. Saturday morning I watched the balloons from home. Sunday it rained in the morning, which canceled any balloon fun. I played soccer in the afternoon and it was hot and humid but we managed to win 3-1. We had no subs and I had to play defense. I did my best at "stopper" but didn't get a chance to go up and try to score, bummer. Monday was a holiday so I took the day off to hang with the boys and we were going to go watch the balloons in the morning. Unfortunately it rained again so all events were canceled. Jacob had a JV game at 4:00 so I dropped him off at 1:00. By the time the game was about to begin it started raining and hailing and thundering and the game was canceled. The team got soaking wet and by the time they got home it was all clear.

This morning it was a little foggy and the balloons went up a little later than usual. I went outside around 9:00 and the skies were full so I ran back inside and grabbed my camera (which I should not have at work). I snapped quite a few shots before one of the security guards noticed. He scolded me and told me I had to take it to my car. I grabbed my coffee and took it out to my car and snapped some more. Hope you can see what I saw.

Latest scores.....

SHS '06 Varsity Schedule (5-1)

8/25 7pm @Wilson SHS 14 vs Las Cruces 20

8/31 7pm @Milne Highland 28 vs SHS 31

9/8 7pm @Wilson SHS 25 vs Eldorado 14

9/21 7pm @Wilson SHS 14 vs Los Lunas 7 (Homecoming)

9/28 7pm @Wilson Del Norte 7 vs SHS 49

10/6 7pm @Gallup Gallup 20 vs SHS 33

10/14 1:30pm @ Wilson SHS vs Santa Fe

10/21 1:30pm @Milne Albuquerque vs SHS

10/28 1:30pm @Milne Valley vs SHS

11/3 7pm @Wilson SHS vs La Cueva

2006 Odyssey Soccer (4-1)

9/10 1pm F16 Express 1 vs Odyssey 5 (1)

9/17 3pm F3 Odyssey 1 vs TBG 0

9/24 11 am ADO1 Odyssey 2 vs Uniques 1

10/1 1pm F16 Odyssey 1 vs Rebel B's 6 (1)

10/8 3pm ADO2 Odyssey 3 vs Happy Hour 1

10/15 1pm ADO1 Odyssey vs Grasshoppers

10/22 9am F11 Odyssey vs Shot in the Dark

10/29 1pm F2 Odyssey vs Strikers

11/5 9am ADO1 Violet Femmes vs Odyssey

SHS '06 JV Schedule (3-3)

8/28 4pm @Wilson Manzano 0 vs SHS 21

9/6 4pm @Wilson SHS 35 vs Highland 6

9/12 4pm @Milne Valley 8 vs SHS 6

9/19 7pm @Wilson SHS 56 vs West Mesa 7

9/25 4pm @LL Los Lunas 42 vs SHS 6

10/3 7pm @Wilson La Cueva 7 vs SHS 0

10/9 4pm @Wilson SHS vs Eldorado (Postponed for Rain)

10/17 7pm @Wilson SHS vs Albuquerque

Football + Balloons = Fall Weather

Thu, 05 Oct 2006 00:28:56 GMT

The JV team lost last night 0-7 to La Cueva. It always sucks to lose to them but at least it was a close game.

The Balloon Fiesta starts Friday and today the weather started to change. It has been so beautiful and perfect the last week or so. For the wind and clouds to show up now is not really nice. There were no balloons to greet me this morning either so I had to take a picture of the trees out front. They are a fabulous shades of red.

Latest Football stats

SHS '06 JV Schedule (3-3)

8/28 4pm @Wilson Manzano 0 vs SHS 21

9/6 4pm @Wilson SHS 35 vs Highland 6

9/12 4pm @Milne Valley 8 vs SHS 6

9/19 7pm @Wilson SHS 56 vs West Mesa 7

9/25 4pm @LL Los Lunas 42 vs SHS 6

10/3 7pm @Wilson La Cueva 7 vs SHS 0

10/9 4pm @Wilson SHS vs Eldorado

10/17 7pm @Wilson SHS vs Albuquerque

Nice, but not easy

Mon, 03 Jul 2006 01:51:11 GMT

So I drove across town and parked at the Alameda lot for my bike tour of the Rio Grande bosque. It was hot but there were other riders and walkers so I couldn't use that as an excuse to turn around and go home where the AC was on. The trail was level so I thought level would be easier than my regular route of which is up hill, then hilly and level areas, then down hill back home. But level was hard, I was in constant pedal mode and had a head wind in my face and everyone was passing me. They were all wearing their spandex biking shorts and flying past me like I wasn't moving. Sons-a-bitches. I did wear my helmet which made it even hotter and the ice in my water bottle melted before the bike hit the trail. Nothing like hot water to drink when you're thirsty.

I rode from Alameda to Tingley Beach where I managed to find the strength to take maybe three pictures of the ducks. Tingley looks great with all the improvements. A train, fishing ponds, remote control and paddle boats and nice landscaping. The bike trail is right behind the Botanic garden so I enjoyed looking at all those plants. The ride back was rough on my ass and the head wind was gone so it felt even hotter. I put my head down and wished for a cold drink and something to eat. I made it back a little tired and very thirsty so I stopped at Sonic and ordered a burger, tots and a diet cherry limeade. That hit the spot. I should have taken more pictures of the views in the bosque of river, mountains and beautiful houses (of the rich who are lucky enough to live down there) because I don't know if I will ride that trail again. It kicked my ass, literally.

July arrives, Brazil leaves

Sun, 02 Jul 2006 04:41:15 GMT

I sat around watching soccer all morning and then fell asleep during the Brazil game (great fan huh?) and they LOST. To France no less. I can't belive all my teams are out. It was like waking up to a nightmare. I suppose I will keep watching but it will tough without my boy Ronaldo. I had to go to Target and forget my sorrows in the clearance racks. I found a couple of deals (a skirt $10 and a vest $13 that can be worn in Mexico, and a couple of rugs) and a six-pack on the way home. So I am feeling better. All the dudes are out of town at a baseball tournament so I'm home alone and enjoying it. Tomorrow I want to take a bike ride down by the river. It is hot here so maybe the bike will go in the car with me and I won't have to ride so far. At the Balloon Park on Tuesday there will be music (Linda Ronstat!) and other stuff and fireworks too all for $1! Here is a link with the schedule.

http://www.cabq.gov/crs/july4th2006.html

Rain is good and so is Ronaldo

Wed, 28 Jun 2006 01:38:06 GMT

Yea! It finally rained last night! A good down-pour for an hour or so. I don't care that we were winning and our softball game got rained out. It finally rained! Then, two rainbows, a beautiful sunset and a cool night. Today was humid and I didn't mind sweating at the lunchtime walk.

I'm lucky to work close to the Balloon Fiesta Park and be able to enjoy the open space with great views. I usually walk alone, keeping beat and singing along with the radio. I used to do the racewalk type walking to get a free work out. Now I walk more for my mental health than the physical. The physical benifits are a bonus. Oh and I can have a beer or other alcoholic reward if I get off my butt and do something besides sit at my desk and exercise my right arm only.

Sad to say, Mexico and Spain are out of the world cup. Seems like everytime I cheer for a team they lose. I hope I don't jinx Brazil too. Ronaldo is awesome and wonderful to watch (silly commentators called him fat). He broke the scoring record! I think he is unjinxable and even my "error screen" aura (that has taken out all the registers at grocery stores) is not powerful enough to make him play bad. I heart Ronaldo.