Hello and Good Day to You,
Today, I'm having one of those mentally frenetic days. I have what feels like zillions of thoughts rushing through my head. Many of them are flying by so fast that I can't even really "hear" them clearly as they rush past my attention. It's like I can only "hear" the Doppler effect dropping off as they twist, swirl and race into the dark distance. As I picture the action, all these thoughts have different colors and some have several colors! I wonder if they will come back around and give me another chance to grab them. What makes it a tad more frustrating is that I'm at work while this is happening! Sheesh! Why can this happen on my day off!? haha Sometimes it does, but not usually.
I figured that while I have a couple of minutes, I'd take a break, eat my coconut yogurt and jot a few things down. I wonder what might happen if a couple of the flying thoughts were to collide! That could be interesting! haha I'm not sure how this comes on -- gradually or suddenly. I only know that I'm suddenly aware of it. When I have the time to contemplate all the action and grab a few of them, some of my favorite ideas come from these times.
Perhaps it's left over from last night when my great-uncle asked me if I believe in reincarnation. I told him, "Oh yes. Absolutely." And we began a most interesting conversation on the subject. I only recently (last year) met my great-uncle Greg. All these years I knew he was out there somewhere, but I had never met him until last year. What a find! He is a character and a lot of fun. And now, I find out just how interesting and multi-dimensional he really is. Anyway, so uncle Greg is here on a short visit and we began a most interesting conversation. Unfortunately, it was getting late and I had to get home, get to sleep and get up early in the morning. So we had to cut it short. But I very much look forward to the next time he and I can really sit down and talk about this stuff.
On my way home, I was thinking about my spiritual path over the years and all the reading I've done about Edgar Cayce and various related subjects. I was thinking about personal responsibility, acceptance of consequences and the role it all has to play in our spiritual path. My thoughts went back to our conversation. As we had been conversing and uncle Greg had asked me questions about my beliefs and my experiences. He seemed fascinated and amazed. He asked me, "How do you know all this stuff?"
Wow! I had to think about that. Much of it... I just knew somehow... from very early on. It was stuff I just... felt,
It had been a long time since I had contemplated how I came to awaken those things within me, and move along my path. I suppose that now since someone asked me about it, I've got a lot on my mind and I'm thinking up a storm! Too much for this small space and this limited bit of time. But, perhaps I need to focus some writing time on this.
Anyway... those are some butterfly mind thoughts! It's hardly fair that life and time constraints don't allow me to explore them further right now. But then... who ever said that life was fair?
Enough for now. Back to work with me!
~~Paulena
deep inside, even when I was a kid. Life steered me in the direction where I came across various things to read. When I began to read things on Edgar Cayce... it resonated so deeply within me!! It was like something inside me recognized what I was reading and knew it to be a most basic truth. It was like it were all information I'd already had within me. It was all very familiar to me. Onward I went, reading everything I could get my hands on the subject.
Thursday, February 23, 2006
Friday, February 03, 2006
Catch it if you can
Whoooooooosh!!!!!!!!! There went January!
I took a sigh of relief that I got through the holidays and when I exhaled, it was already February. Wow! I'm not even sure what I got done in January... oh... yes, I got new blinds for
my kitchen window... finally. I think it's a very nice improvement over the icky brown curtain I had temporarily put up (two years ago... sheesh!).
I had some stucco repaired on my house... but I didn't personally do that. It looks great. I got a couple of shelving units put together and in place... in the dining room and in the study. Next big job... organize the study!! Well, after I get my taxes done, that is. Oh, and I met someone terrific! Well actually, I "met" him in December, but began really getting to know him since the first of this year. We've been out a few times... So far, so good. He's a really wonderful guy. Actually, he's pretty awesome. I'm looking forward to getting to know him better.
I suppose I don't really have much else to report right now. It's almost time to do the Spring-cleaning thing and get a garden started.
I'll post more soon
~Paulena
I took a sigh of relief that I got through the holidays and when I exhaled, it was already February. Wow! I'm not even sure what I got done in January... oh... yes, I got new blinds for
my kitchen window... finally. I think it's a very nice improvement over the icky brown curtain I had temporarily put up (two years ago... sheesh!).I had some stucco repaired on my house... but I didn't personally do that. It looks great. I got a couple of shelving units put together and in place... in the dining room and in the study. Next big job... organize the study!! Well, after I get my taxes done, that is. Oh, and I met someone terrific! Well actually, I "met" him in December, but began really getting to know him since the first of this year. We've been out a few times... So far, so good. He's a really wonderful guy. Actually, he's pretty awesome. I'm looking forward to getting to know him better.
I suppose I don't really have much else to report right now. It's almost time to do the Spring-cleaning thing and get a garden started.
I'll post more soon
~Paulena
Tuesday, January 03, 2006
Welcome to 2006!!!
Hi and Welcome to 2006!
I hope your New Years celebrations were great... and safe!
Mine was great, with a nice and mellow holiday weekend. I was able to take a couple of vacation days for an extra-long holiday weekend!
*Dec. 29th, I got most of the errand-running done that I needed to do.
*Dec. 30th, I finished painting my kitchen to prepare for a peg-board to hang coffee cups on. Then I hung up my
wine rack (holds 8 bottles of wine & 12 wine glasses) from the ceiling, over the sink. Gracious! That was hard to do all by myself... to make sure the hooks would be evenly spaced and straight and all. I'd advise at lease having a second set of hands to hold stuff while you step back and look... and to help with measuring. Yikes! This was tough, but I got impatient with waiting for assistance. Bad me! I'd had the darned thing just over a month and I wanted it UP! But it turned out great!
*Dec. 31st in the morning, I cooked the Christmas ham-bone down to get the meat off of it and added that meat to a pot of pinto beans I cooked up in the crock pot. In the afternoon, I went over to my mom & step-dad’s house to get some assistance with my peg-board project... I needed some miter cuts and then I finished the last of the painting on the frame. The frame paint was not yet dry when I needed to leave (after dinner) . . . I wanted to get home before all the crazies got out on the roads. So I left the project there to dry and I went home. I did a few things around the house and watched a bit of television. I stayed up 'til midnight to ring in the new year . . . I heard lots of fireworks, gunfire and I'd swear I heard a couple of machine guns and bombs!! Spooky!! I went to sleep shortly after that.
*January 1st, I finished up cooking the pinto beans and prepared some beer bread (I added some green chili, sun-dried tomato, and cheese to that). While the crock pot cooked the beans, I put together a metal-grid, shelving unit for the corner of my dining room. I was then able to reorganize some of my kitchen and dining room. Looks much nicer now! Around 2pm, my mom & step-dad came over and brought my framed peg-board. (That's when I put the bread in to bake.) My step-dad hung the board up for me (nice, then I didn't have to struggle with it by myself). I hung my cups on the new board. Looks nice! Then we had some pinto beans (with ham) and a few slices of the beer bread for dinner . . . Happy New Year! The NM version of the Black-eyed peas tradition, I suppose! Haha
Here are a couple of photos of my kitchen . . . One before and one after the cup board went up on the wall (next
to my green, herb shelves under the window) . . . You can see the new wine-rack installed above the sink. Also, you'll be able to see the pot-rack that my friend Greg helped me put up right after Thanksgiving. It's SO much easier to hang those things when you have help!! Next . . . I'll be getting some light green mini-blinds for that window so the brown curtain will be gone! 
*January 2nd, I got my new weather station up and working . . . Got the anenometer (wind meter) up on a mast above my house. Got that and the rain gauge connected to the thermo-hygrometer (thermometer & barometric pressure sensor) –which sends a radio a signal to the display unit in my house! Cool, huh? I also installed the corresponding computer software, which ties into the weather station display. Now . . . To read all the instructions on how to e-mail and post the info!! Haha
That will be a learning curve, on the software!!
Have a good one!
~Paulena
I hope your New Years celebrations were great... and safe!
Mine was great, with a nice and mellow holiday weekend. I was able to take a couple of vacation days for an extra-long holiday weekend!
*Dec. 29th, I got most of the errand-running done that I needed to do.
*Dec. 30th, I finished painting my kitchen to prepare for a peg-board to hang coffee cups on. Then I hung up my
wine rack (holds 8 bottles of wine & 12 wine glasses) from the ceiling, over the sink. Gracious! That was hard to do all by myself... to make sure the hooks would be evenly spaced and straight and all. I'd advise at lease having a second set of hands to hold stuff while you step back and look... and to help with measuring. Yikes! This was tough, but I got impatient with waiting for assistance. Bad me! I'd had the darned thing just over a month and I wanted it UP! But it turned out great!*Dec. 31st in the morning, I cooked the Christmas ham-bone down to get the meat off of it and added that meat to a pot of pinto beans I cooked up in the crock pot. In the afternoon, I went over to my mom & step-dad’s house to get some assistance with my peg-board project... I needed some miter cuts and then I finished the last of the painting on the frame. The frame paint was not yet dry when I needed to leave (after dinner) . . . I wanted to get home before all the crazies got out on the roads. So I left the project there to dry and I went home. I did a few things around the house and watched a bit of television. I stayed up 'til midnight to ring in the new year . . . I heard lots of fireworks, gunfire and I'd swear I heard a couple of machine guns and bombs!! Spooky!! I went to sleep shortly after that.
*January 1st, I finished up cooking the pinto beans and prepared some beer bread (I added some green chili, sun-dried tomato, and cheese to that). While the crock pot cooked the beans, I put together a metal-grid, shelving unit for the corner of my dining room. I was then able to reorganize some of my kitchen and dining room. Looks much nicer now! Around 2pm, my mom & step-dad came over and brought my framed peg-board. (That's when I put the bread in to bake.) My step-dad hung the board up for me (nice, then I didn't have to struggle with it by myself). I hung my cups on the new board. Looks nice! Then we had some pinto beans (with ham) and a few slices of the beer bread for dinner . . . Happy New Year! The NM version of the Black-eyed peas tradition, I suppose! Haha
Here are a couple of photos of my kitchen . . . One before and one after the cup board went up on the wall (next
to my green, herb shelves under the window) . . . You can see the new wine-rack installed above the sink. Also, you'll be able to see the pot-rack that my friend Greg helped me put up right after Thanksgiving. It's SO much easier to hang those things when you have help!! Next . . . I'll be getting some light green mini-blinds for that window so the brown curtain will be gone! 
*January 2nd, I got my new weather station up and working . . . Got the anenometer (wind meter) up on a mast above my house. Got that and the rain gauge connected to the thermo-hygrometer (thermometer & barometric pressure sensor) –which sends a radio a signal to the display unit in my house! Cool, huh? I also installed the corresponding computer software, which ties into the weather station display. Now . . . To read all the instructions on how to e-mail and post the info!! Haha
That will be a learning curve, on the software!!
Have a good one!
~Paulena
Tuesday, December 27, 2005
CHECK those batteries!!!
~~Greetings to all,
Well you know how during the time change from daylight saving time to standard time, and back -- "they" are always telling you to change out your smoke detector batteries? While that is an excellent idea... there are some other batteries not to be neglected!! If you have one of those (programmable) thermostats... you might want to make a practice of changing those out every Autumn!! Why? Stay tuned. I'm about to tell you why!!!
As for me -- from now on, I'll have a check list to follow every Autumn, posted on my furnace! Winterizing the heating/cooling systems is a process for some of us in the desert. Some have converted to the centralized heating/refrigerated cooling systems, but I just can't afford that right now. My home is equiped with a regular forced-air gas furnace for heating. And for the Summer months, the evaporative cooler (also known as a "swamp-cooler") does just fine for the cooling. But it all has to be converted and switched over in the Spring and back again in the Autumn. This requires some tools & maintenance -- In the Spring, it's a reverse from the Autumn routine. In the Autumn, I climb up on the roof and I drain, clean, service, and shut (with a baffle in the ducting) the evaporative cooler. Then I come down & check the furnace, remove the baffle from that duct, replace filters with clean ones and... prepare the thermostat. But from now on, I'll double check my check-list!!! In the Autumn... CHECK all those batteries!!!
WHY? I'll tell you why...
Yesterday, Dec. 26th, I went straight home (from work). I fortunatley made it home in record time too... lack of traffic on what most people took off as a holiday. I pulled into my driveway and into my garage. I got out of my car. I heard the furnace running, but nothing terribly unusual about that on a Winter day. Although it had been a relatively warm day... got up to 62 degrees outdoors in Albuquerque that day. I unlocked and opened the door to my house. WHOOSH!!! ~~~A WAVE of hot air came rushing out of my house and into my face. My long hair wafted back in the heated breeze! I was temporarily baffled! I rushed over to my programmable thermostat to turn it down and see what the blazing temerature was. The display was blank! I quickly ran through a short mental list of possible issues that might be the trouble... and came up with, "Hummm... I think this thing has friggin' batteries! When did I last check them?" I went into my bedroom to put down my stuff and I looked at the atomic clock/thermometer on my dresser.
The temerature in my bedroom was... 106 degrees F.!!! At first, I thought that couldn't be right, but then I noticed a couple of taper-candles and pillar candles in my room were bending over & drooping over!!! I picked one of them up and it was soft and my fingers left indentations in the wax!! "Yes Virginia, It IS 106 degrees in my bedroom!!!" Holy Bat-droppings!! I wondered if the slide switch inside the thermostat would still work, or if perhaps a wire had come loose. I went to the thermostat and opened it. I moved the slide switch from "Heat" to "Off." Immediately, the sound of the forced heated air ceased. I was more than relieved! I had already looked at my two cats. They were ok, but rather sluggish! Poor babies!! They still had water in their dish and they were both hunkered down on the ceramic tile in front of my fireplace. I'm sure the tile was the coolest place they could find! I could not believe how hot it was!! I half expected to look back into my bedroom and see a mirage in there, complete with palm trees and and oasis!!
I rushed to the linen closet, where I thought the thermostat instruction booklet was... wrong! Oh Man! I asked my Angels to PLEASE show me what I had done with the stupid instructions! I heard in my head, "Laundry shelf" and I looked there. Sure enough, there they were. I looked in the troubleshooting section... no mention of: "Furnace stuck on/won't shut off/house hotter than the hinges of hell." I managed to remember how to take the thermostat apart (little phillips-head anchor screws in the bottom of the front). I took it apart and sure enough, there were three AA batteries in the back.
I had been out of batteries... until that day! I just happened to have brought home with me that evening, a 4 pack of AA batteries (for something else, but it would wait). I took out the old batteries and put in the new ones. I waited (and sweated). Nothing. No life to the thermostat. I pushed a button... nothing. I pushed another button... nothing. Thoughts of going out to Home Depot and spending $45 on another thermostat (on top of what would SURELY be an outragous gas bill for this month!) danced through my head. My heart sank. I started just pushing buttons (& praying)... it was just short of giving the darned thing CPR! Suddenly, "1:00" appeared in the dislay, along with a temerature of 99 degrees F (in the hallway). I breathed a hot sigh of relief!! I opened a couple of windows and the front door, turned on a ceiling fan. Then I went about reprogramming the silly thermostat. Once reprogrammed, I replaced the unit on it's spot on the wall. I held my breath a moment while I moved the slide switch back over to "Heat" and exhaled with relief when the forced air did NOT come on... which of course meant that the "thermostat" function was working again. With any luck, the darned thing wouldn't need to come on for a couple of days!!!
By 8pm that evening the hallway temperature was below 90 degrees... about 85 degrees and I decided to not waste the unintentionally accumulated energy and just live with the warmth & perhaps compensate the loss by not needing the furnace to come on for a long time. I closed the front door and all but one window. It was still 87 degrees in my room. I later closed the last window and tossed the blanket aside for the night and slept in a T-shirt. This morning at 6:15, the outside temperature was 35 degrees and inside the house had cooled off to 68 degrees. I doubt the heat will come on at all today... maybe later this evening, but hopefully not for a couple of days!
Christmas was terrific!
I recieved a number of great gifts. One being a weather station and another being a set of cordless phones (the base has an answering machine built-in and both handsets have digital phonebooks in them). But I love to watch everyone else open their gifts. That is more than half of the fun. My mom is a blast to watch open gifts. She gets so excited and giddy! One friend of mine I didn't get to watch him open his gift (from me or anyone), since he is out of town visiting family. I called him on Christmas day to wish him a merry one and find out if he like what I gave him. It sounded to me like he did. He'll be back in a couple of days... it's his snakes & gecko I'm pet-sitting in his absence.
Enough from me for one day.
I should sign off for now.
Happy New year!!
~Paulena
Well you know how during the time change from daylight saving time to standard time, and back -- "they" are always telling you to change out your smoke detector batteries? While that is an excellent idea... there are some other batteries not to be neglected!! If you have one of those (programmable) thermostats... you might want to make a practice of changing those out every Autumn!! Why? Stay tuned. I'm about to tell you why!!!
As for me -- from now on, I'll have a check list to follow every Autumn, posted on my furnace! Winterizing the heating/cooling systems is a process for some of us in the desert. Some have converted to the centralized heating/refrigerated cooling systems, but I just can't afford that right now. My home is equiped with a regular forced-air gas furnace for heating. And for the Summer months, the evaporative cooler (also known as a "swamp-cooler") does just fine for the cooling. But it all has to be converted and switched over in the Spring and back again in the Autumn. This requires some tools & maintenance -- In the Spring, it's a reverse from the Autumn routine. In the Autumn, I climb up on the roof and I drain, clean, service, and shut (with a baffle in the ducting) the evaporative cooler. Then I come down & check the furnace, remove the baffle from that duct, replace filters with clean ones and... prepare the thermostat. But from now on, I'll double check my check-list!!! In the Autumn... CHECK all those batteries!!!
WHY? I'll tell you why...
Yesterday, Dec. 26th, I went straight home (from work). I fortunatley made it home in record time too... lack of traffic on what most people took off as a holiday. I pulled into my driveway and into my garage. I got out of my car. I heard the furnace running, but nothing terribly unusual about that on a Winter day. Although it had been a relatively warm day... got up to 62 degrees outdoors in Albuquerque that day. I unlocked and opened the door to my house. WHOOSH!!! ~~~A WAVE of hot air came rushing out of my house and into my face. My long hair wafted back in the heated breeze! I was temporarily baffled! I rushed over to my programmable thermostat to turn it down and see what the blazing temerature was. The display was blank! I quickly ran through a short mental list of possible issues that might be the trouble... and came up with, "Hummm... I think this thing has friggin' batteries! When did I last check them?" I went into my bedroom to put down my stuff and I looked at the atomic clock/thermometer on my dresser.
The temerature in my bedroom was... 106 degrees F.!!! At first, I thought that couldn't be right, but then I noticed a couple of taper-candles and pillar candles in my room were bending over & drooping over!!! I picked one of them up and it was soft and my fingers left indentations in the wax!! "Yes Virginia, It IS 106 degrees in my bedroom!!!" Holy Bat-droppings!! I wondered if the slide switch inside the thermostat would still work, or if perhaps a wire had come loose. I went to the thermostat and opened it. I moved the slide switch from "Heat" to "Off." Immediately, the sound of the forced heated air ceased. I was more than relieved! I had already looked at my two cats. They were ok, but rather sluggish! Poor babies!! They still had water in their dish and they were both hunkered down on the ceramic tile in front of my fireplace. I'm sure the tile was the coolest place they could find! I could not believe how hot it was!! I half expected to look back into my bedroom and see a mirage in there, complete with palm trees and and oasis!!
I rushed to the linen closet, where I thought the thermostat instruction booklet was... wrong! Oh Man! I asked my Angels to PLEASE show me what I had done with the stupid instructions! I heard in my head, "Laundry shelf" and I looked there. Sure enough, there they were. I looked in the troubleshooting section... no mention of: "Furnace stuck on/won't shut off/house hotter than the hinges of hell." I managed to remember how to take the thermostat apart (little phillips-head anchor screws in the bottom of the front). I took it apart and sure enough, there were three AA batteries in the back.
I had been out of batteries... until that day! I just happened to have brought home with me that evening, a 4 pack of AA batteries (for something else, but it would wait). I took out the old batteries and put in the new ones. I waited (and sweated). Nothing. No life to the thermostat. I pushed a button... nothing. I pushed another button... nothing. Thoughts of going out to Home Depot and spending $45 on another thermostat (on top of what would SURELY be an outragous gas bill for this month!) danced through my head. My heart sank. I started just pushing buttons (& praying)... it was just short of giving the darned thing CPR! Suddenly, "1:00" appeared in the dislay, along with a temerature of 99 degrees F (in the hallway). I breathed a hot sigh of relief!! I opened a couple of windows and the front door, turned on a ceiling fan. Then I went about reprogramming the silly thermostat. Once reprogrammed, I replaced the unit on it's spot on the wall. I held my breath a moment while I moved the slide switch back over to "Heat" and exhaled with relief when the forced air did NOT come on... which of course meant that the "thermostat" function was working again. With any luck, the darned thing wouldn't need to come on for a couple of days!!!
By 8pm that evening the hallway temperature was below 90 degrees... about 85 degrees and I decided to not waste the unintentionally accumulated energy and just live with the warmth & perhaps compensate the loss by not needing the furnace to come on for a long time. I closed the front door and all but one window. It was still 87 degrees in my room. I later closed the last window and tossed the blanket aside for the night and slept in a T-shirt. This morning at 6:15, the outside temperature was 35 degrees and inside the house had cooled off to 68 degrees. I doubt the heat will come on at all today... maybe later this evening, but hopefully not for a couple of days!
Christmas was terrific!
I recieved a number of great gifts. One being a weather station and another being a set of cordless phones (the base has an answering machine built-in and both handsets have digital phonebooks in them). But I love to watch everyone else open their gifts. That is more than half of the fun. My mom is a blast to watch open gifts. She gets so excited and giddy! One friend of mine I didn't get to watch him open his gift (from me or anyone), since he is out of town visiting family. I called him on Christmas day to wish him a merry one and find out if he like what I gave him. It sounded to me like he did. He'll be back in a couple of days... it's his snakes & gecko I'm pet-sitting in his absence.
Over the holidays, I found a cute site to check out:
http://mfrost.typepad.com/cute_overload/2005/12/index.html
It's too cute for words!
Enjoy!
Enough from me for one day.
I should sign off for now.
Happy New year!!
~Paulena
Wednesday, December 21, 2005
And a Partridge in a Pear Tree...
Well Hello there. Merry Christmas and Happy New year season!
I seem to be finished with all my shopping. Thank goodness I finished a week or so ago. So now I can safely avoid being malled at the malls!! haha And only one snafu through it all and that had to do with an item getting lost in shipping. But the place I purchased from (Amazon.com) was right on top of it as soon as I brought it to their attention and they have already replaced the item & it is on it's way (via a different ship method!).
I'm pet-sitting for one family household and also for a friend. The family pet-sitting is fairly routine... 2 cats & 2 dogs, one dog with elderly needs. The friend pet-sitting is a more unusual bunch -- a 12 foot boa constrictor (Kokie), a bull snake (Sandia), a leopard-spotted gecko (Lady), and a Madagascar hissing roach (Herbie). Fortunately, I don't have to take Herbie for a walk or anything like that! I just don't think that I could quite handle having to put a little collar and leash on him! hahahaha (No! He doesn't actually have a collar or a leash! I'm kidding!) Everyone has been fed for the time, so I won't need to do much but just check on them & make sure that their heat lamps are working and that they are warm enough. But I certainly don't mind handling the snakes or the gecko. I think they are awesome!! I know, color me weird. haha
Most of my family is in town for the holiday and we will get together on Christmas Eve and do our traditional celebration that evening. Then Christmas morning, I'll go to my mother's and we will do our traditional sweet rolls and hot cocoa for breakfast -- and see if any stockings were hung by the chimney with care -- and if there might be anything in them!! Some years are more organized than others!! haha Christmas day is frequently the day where we play with any new electronic gadgets we received, or watch any DVD movies we received!
I'm a tad late on most of my holiday cards this year, but I'll get them out. I just haven't been as organized as I'd like to be. Oh well. I did get all the chocolate rum balls made and distributed. The second batch came out better -- I think. It's a bit slow at work this week. I can tell that people are gearing-up for holiday time and leaving town, and generally busy.
Well that's about it for this entry. It's looking to be a busy holiday week -- or two. Everyone have a terrific holiday of choice! And I'll say Merry Christmas and have a very happy and prosperous New Year!!! If you travel, then please travel safe!!
Love-n-Light to all,
~Paulena
I seem to be finished with all my shopping. Thank goodness I finished a week or so ago. So now I can safely avoid being malled at the malls!! haha And only one snafu through it all and that had to do with an item getting lost in shipping. But the place I purchased from (Amazon.com) was right on top of it as soon as I brought it to their attention and they have already replaced the item & it is on it's way (via a different ship method!).
I'm pet-sitting for one family household and also for a friend. The family pet-sitting is fairly routine... 2 cats & 2 dogs, one dog with elderly needs. The friend pet-sitting is a more unusual bunch -- a 12 foot boa constrictor (Kokie), a bull snake (Sandia), a leopard-spotted gecko (Lady), and a Madagascar hissing roach (Herbie). Fortunately, I don't have to take Herbie for a walk or anything like that! I just don't think that I could quite handle having to put a little collar and leash on him! hahahaha (No! He doesn't actually have a collar or a leash! I'm kidding!) Everyone has been fed for the time, so I won't need to do much but just check on them & make sure that their heat lamps are working and that they are warm enough. But I certainly don't mind handling the snakes or the gecko. I think they are awesome!! I know, color me weird. haha
Most of my family is in town for the holiday and we will get together on Christmas Eve and do our traditional celebration that evening. Then Christmas morning, I'll go to my mother's and we will do our traditional sweet rolls and hot cocoa for breakfast -- and see if any stockings were hung by the chimney with care -- and if there might be anything in them!! Some years are more organized than others!! haha Christmas day is frequently the day where we play with any new electronic gadgets we received, or watch any DVD movies we received!
I'm a tad late on most of my holiday cards this year, but I'll get them out. I just haven't been as organized as I'd like to be. Oh well. I did get all the chocolate rum balls made and distributed. The second batch came out better -- I think. It's a bit slow at work this week. I can tell that people are gearing-up for holiday time and leaving town, and generally busy.
Well that's about it for this entry. It's looking to be a busy holiday week -- or two. Everyone have a terrific holiday of choice! And I'll say Merry Christmas and have a very happy and prosperous New Year!!! If you travel, then please travel safe!!
Love-n-Light to all,
~Paulena
Monday, December 12, 2005
December Flies By...
Wow, December is flying by!!! It's almost half gone and I'm getting behind. Hopefully this week, I'll get a few Christmas cards out. I finally made the 2nd batch of rum balls, & I think they turned out even better this time. I went to a holiday party/luncheon on Sunday. It was great. I got part of my Christmas shopping done... just a little left to go. And I still need to get that wine rack hung up... but I'll need some help with it. The place I'll be hanging it is rather awkward to work in. Great for accessing the glasses and wine, just awkward to get up to the ceiling and work to get it hung-up. Oh well, eventually.
I had my first go at helping with an ARES/RACES simulated emergency communication exercise on amateur radio this past weekend at the city Emergency Operation Center. I learned a lot. But I still have much more to learn. Next one of those simulated emergency tests will be in the Spring.
I just haven't had as much time to write here as I thought I might. I suppose after the holidays, time might ease up a bit. Although then, I'll need to start really working on learning my Morse code so I can get that test out of the way. Next thing you know, it will be time to start the garden again! haha
Enough for now. More later. Happy Holidays, if I don't get a chance to write before then!
~Paulena
I had my first go at helping with an ARES/RACES simulated emergency communication exercise on amateur radio this past weekend at the city Emergency Operation Center. I learned a lot. But I still have much more to learn. Next one of those simulated emergency tests will be in the Spring.
I just haven't had as much time to write here as I thought I might. I suppose after the holidays, time might ease up a bit. Although then, I'll need to start really working on learning my Morse code so I can get that test out of the way. Next thing you know, it will be time to start the garden again! haha
Enough for now. More later. Happy Holidays, if I don't get a chance to write before then!
~Paulena
Thursday, December 01, 2005
Wow! It's December 2005!!
Good morning, afternoon & evening!!
I just stumbled upon a cool holiday link at http://media.putfile.com/WizardsofWinter-SM
You'll need speakers (for the music) to appreciate it. I believe the music is by a group called The TransSiberian Orchesta, and I think the song is "Wizards of Winter" - thus the name of the video I suppose. Anyway, I don't know where the house is located, but it boggles my mind at how much work it must have been to get it set up. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
Wow, can you believe it's December already!?? At the end of this month, I've been in my house 2 years. I closed on it in time to spend my New Year's Eve in my new house in 2003. I didn't have any real furniture moved in yet... just a couple of deck chairs, a couple of sturdy boxes for tables, a couple of lamps, my airbed and a couple of cats beds. It was my first night in the new house and I watched movies in front of the fireplace and rang in the new year. Hard to believe that's almost 2 years ago!! Now... there's always a project to do. haha That's home ownership for ya. But I mostly enjoy it.
I think I'll need to make another batch ( or two) of chocolate rum balls. Demand is high this year! haha So this weekend, I hope to get my new wine rack hung up, and make more rum balls. I also have two Saturday morning meetings to attend and I'll be hosting a Pampered Chef party on Sunday... just a small get-together. Whew! Busy weekend.
Gotta dash~~ Adios!
~Paulena
I just stumbled upon a cool holiday link at http://media.putfile.com/WizardsofWinter-SM
You'll need speakers (for the music) to appreciate it. I believe the music is by a group called The TransSiberian Orchesta, and I think the song is "Wizards of Winter" - thus the name of the video I suppose. Anyway, I don't know where the house is located, but it boggles my mind at how much work it must have been to get it set up. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
Wow, can you believe it's December already!?? At the end of this month, I've been in my house 2 years. I closed on it in time to spend my New Year's Eve in my new house in 2003. I didn't have any real furniture moved in yet... just a couple of deck chairs, a couple of sturdy boxes for tables, a couple of lamps, my airbed and a couple of cats beds. It was my first night in the new house and I watched movies in front of the fireplace and rang in the new year. Hard to believe that's almost 2 years ago!! Now... there's always a project to do. haha That's home ownership for ya. But I mostly enjoy it.
I think I'll need to make another batch ( or two) of chocolate rum balls. Demand is high this year! haha So this weekend, I hope to get my new wine rack hung up, and make more rum balls. I also have two Saturday morning meetings to attend and I'll be hosting a Pampered Chef party on Sunday... just a small get-together. Whew! Busy weekend.
Gotta dash~~ Adios!
~Paulena
Tuesday, November 29, 2005
Terrific weekend...
Hello,
I hope everyone's T-day weekend was good. Over here, it was mostly terrific, although my step-dad was in a car accident on Saturday. He's fine... Just banged-up a bit. Some gal ran her red-light! His car is now rearranged (possibly totaled). We shall see what transpires with that... a fix or a replacement... We'll see how it all shakes out. (It was later determined to be a total loss. He got a "new" vehicle -- new to him) But otherwise, it was a great Thanksgiving holiday... Or as my dad sometimes calls them "Hollerdays." haha
We had a couple of very windy days, but it was sunny and pretty otherwise. The wind chill was more that we're usually used to, in sunny NM. Thursday was the big T-day dinner at my grandmother's house (yes, over the river, but not through the woods). My mom & step-dad were there, as were my dad & step-mom. We had... Greek food -- so it was a tad non-traditional. I was my usual, quietly defiant self and I presented one of my sweet potato recipe dishes. {mischievous grin} Don't get me wrong, I love Greek food!! It's just that... I mean, come on... Thanksgiving! A good time was had by all. I didn't over-indulge and I got home early enough to watch a movie.
Friday was mellow. My step-mom decided to embark upon making a traditional turkey (with fixings) dinner. I had an invitation for dinner there that evening. In the meantime, my mom & I ran a few errands and then started to make chocolate rum balls... but my dad called to tell me the turkey was ready early... get my butt over there. haha So the Rum balls were put on hold for a few hours. Once at Dad's we put in a movie (Polar Express) and sat down to a delicious dinner. When dinner and the movie were done, I went back over to mom's and we made the chocolate rum balls. Ummmmmmmm! They have to "cure" for a week. So they will really be ready next weekend.
Saturday was quite... well for me anyway. My step-day had the auto accident so it was anything but quiet for them. But my Saturday was quiet and I was able to get a number of things done around the house. Sunday, a good friend of mine came over and helped me with a project at home... hanging a pot rack in my kitchen. It looks great! And it clears out a little bit of much needed space in my storage-challenged kitchen. I was suppose to have my new hanging wine rack by then too... but it's late... it's on the way. We would have hung that up too. Should have that by this evening! It will clear out some wine glasses out of the cramped cabinet quarters. More space! The final frontier!! hehe It's looking good. Anyway... we at least got the pot rack hung up and it looks great.
After that, he took me to see the progress on his house in the east mountains. It's coming along nicely. I love watching the building progress on his house. I'm so excited for him. Before ya know... it will be finished & he'll be moving in! Wahoo! That's exciting! Anyway, it was very windy and chilly over on that side of the mountains, but it was a great day. He took me all around the two area development phases to see the various lots that he likes and might want to buy if he won the lottery! haha There are some awfully gorgeous views out there!! They are spectacular! (Wouldn't you know - my camera batteries died as soon as we got there!) One large lot in particular, had a sharp drop-off (about 150 feet) into a creek ravine with red, caleche clay soil amongst the short pinion trees... Oh my gosh it was fabulous. Of course the wind was howling through that drop-off edge at about 45 or 50 mph at that time, almost pushing me backwards. But I suppose that made it even more... amazing, daunting, and breath-taking! There was a power there... like something you'd see out of a movie -- one of those sweeping aerial shots. If it hadn't been so cold (thank you wind chill!) I would have wanted to stay a while! It was spectacular. We left there and he showed me a few other of the nice lots. We went back to the community club house and he showed me on the 3-D map, where we had just been. Someday, someone will own that property and maybe a house will be there. It may have been the only time I could stand there and take in that amazing view . . . a view I will never forget, as long as I live!
From there, we went back to my house and I made us a couple of gourmet pizzas... the little, 10 or 12 inch, individual-sizes. I had made a fresh batch of home-made pizza sauce and some whole-wheat pizza dough the day before. And of course, I had 10 or 11 pizza toppings available. So we had fun chatting while I made the pizzas and while they baked on the pizza stones. They turned out great. I got a terrific review. haha
And here we are... back to the work-week. {sigh} Enough for now. Now we ring in the Holiday Season and now it's time to gather up the address book and send out what X-mas cards I can. And the shopping... arrrgh! The shopping itself... that's ok, but the traffic & the crowds are what deter me!! Maybe I'll do some of it online this year.
Well happy holidays folks!! Stay safe and enjoy!
TTFN,
~Paulena
I hope everyone's T-day weekend was good. Over here, it was mostly terrific, although my step-dad was in a car accident on Saturday. He's fine... Just banged-up a bit. Some gal ran her red-light! His car is now rearranged (possibly totaled). We shall see what transpires with that... a fix or a replacement... We'll see how it all shakes out. (It was later determined to be a total loss. He got a "new" vehicle -- new to him) But otherwise, it was a great Thanksgiving holiday... Or as my dad sometimes calls them "Hollerdays." haha
We had a couple of very windy days, but it was sunny and pretty otherwise. The wind chill was more that we're usually used to, in sunny NM. Thursday was the big T-day dinner at my grandmother's house (yes, over the river, but not through the woods). My mom & step-dad were there, as were my dad & step-mom. We had... Greek food -- so it was a tad non-traditional. I was my usual, quietly defiant self and I presented one of my sweet potato recipe dishes. {mischievous grin} Don't get me wrong, I love Greek food!! It's just that... I mean, come on... Thanksgiving! A good time was had by all. I didn't over-indulge and I got home early enough to watch a movie.
Friday was mellow. My step-mom decided to embark upon making a traditional turkey (with fixings) dinner. I had an invitation for dinner there that evening. In the meantime, my mom & I ran a few errands and then started to make chocolate rum balls... but my dad called to tell me the turkey was ready early... get my butt over there. haha So the Rum balls were put on hold for a few hours. Once at Dad's we put in a movie (Polar Express) and sat down to a delicious dinner. When dinner and the movie were done, I went back over to mom's and we made the chocolate rum balls. Ummmmmmmm! They have to "cure" for a week. So they will really be ready next weekend.
Saturday was quite... well for me anyway. My step-day had the auto accident so it was anything but quiet for them. But my Saturday was quiet and I was able to get a number of things done around the house. Sunday, a good friend of mine came over and helped me with a project at home... hanging a pot rack in my kitchen. It looks great! And it clears out a little bit of much needed space in my storage-challenged kitchen. I was suppose to have my new hanging wine rack by then too... but it's late... it's on the way. We would have hung that up too. Should have that by this evening! It will clear out some wine glasses out of the cramped cabinet quarters. More space! The final frontier!! hehe It's looking good. Anyway... we at least got the pot rack hung up and it looks great.
After that, he took me to see the progress on his house in the east mountains. It's coming along nicely. I love watching the building progress on his house. I'm so excited for him. Before ya know... it will be finished & he'll be moving in! Wahoo! That's exciting! Anyway, it was very windy and chilly over on that side of the mountains, but it was a great day. He took me all around the two area development phases to see the various lots that he likes and might want to buy if he won the lottery! haha There are some awfully gorgeous views out there!! They are spectacular! (Wouldn't you know - my camera batteries died as soon as we got there!) One large lot in particular, had a sharp drop-off (about 150 feet) into a creek ravine with red, caleche clay soil amongst the short pinion trees... Oh my gosh it was fabulous. Of course the wind was howling through that drop-off edge at about 45 or 50 mph at that time, almost pushing me backwards. But I suppose that made it even more... amazing, daunting, and breath-taking! There was a power there... like something you'd see out of a movie -- one of those sweeping aerial shots. If it hadn't been so cold (thank you wind chill!) I would have wanted to stay a while! It was spectacular. We left there and he showed me a few other of the nice lots. We went back to the community club house and he showed me on the 3-D map, where we had just been. Someday, someone will own that property and maybe a house will be there. It may have been the only time I could stand there and take in that amazing view . . . a view I will never forget, as long as I live!
From there, we went back to my house and I made us a couple of gourmet pizzas... the little, 10 or 12 inch, individual-sizes. I had made a fresh batch of home-made pizza sauce and some whole-wheat pizza dough the day before. And of course, I had 10 or 11 pizza toppings available. So we had fun chatting while I made the pizzas and while they baked on the pizza stones. They turned out great. I got a terrific review. haha
And here we are... back to the work-week. {sigh} Enough for now. Now we ring in the Holiday Season and now it's time to gather up the address book and send out what X-mas cards I can. And the shopping... arrrgh! The shopping itself... that's ok, but the traffic & the crowds are what deter me!! Maybe I'll do some of it online this year.
Well happy holidays folks!! Stay safe and enjoy!
TTFN,
~Paulena
Ginger-cat
This is the younger of my two cats. I thought I'd try this Flickr upload option. Cool.
~Paulena
~Paulena
Wednesday, November 23, 2005
Trying again...
Wow! It sounded like getting the photo into the profile would be a tad more simple... not as easy as it seems it should be! But I think I finally mastered all the requirements and sizing and hocus-pocus. Poof!! It should be in there now.~Paulena
Brand New Day
Take a deep breath . . . Ok, here it goes. The first day of my first blog.
It's a bright, new, shiny, crisp, November day in Albuquerque. The sky is a beautiful brilliant turquoise-blue, that I've really only seen in the Southwest USA. Thanksgiving is around the corner (tomorrow) and life is good.
I've been wanting to try my hand at a blog. I didn't know exactly what I'd say, but then I looked at a bunch of others . . . And guess what? Neither do a lot of people who post blogs! haha So I figured, "What the heck!" Like many people, I do have a lot of thoughts that flash through my mind. Sometimes they are seemingly pointless meanderings and other times, they are down right interesting (even if I do say so myself!). Some days, I have days that border on philosophical and then other days that the silliest of thoughts slide in. I'm certainly no Plato or Aristotle, but I thought it might be fun to keep track of some of the things that make their way through my thoughts. I also have days (like so many other people out there, I'm sure) where I hear of something that really fires me up (good & bad).
Sometimes my thoughts seem to follow a spiral or zig-zagging pattern, much like the flight path of the average butterfly. Therefore, the name I chose for this blog. There ya have it.
So enough for now. We shall see where this goes from here.
~Paulena
It's a bright, new, shiny, crisp, November day in Albuquerque. The sky is a beautiful brilliant turquoise-blue, that I've really only seen in the Southwest USA. Thanksgiving is around the corner (tomorrow) and life is good.
I've been wanting to try my hand at a blog. I didn't know exactly what I'd say, but then I looked at a bunch of others . . . And guess what? Neither do a lot of people who post blogs! haha So I figured, "What the heck!" Like many people, I do have a lot of thoughts that flash through my mind. Sometimes they are seemingly pointless meanderings and other times, they are down right interesting (even if I do say so myself!). Some days, I have days that border on philosophical and then other days that the silliest of thoughts slide in. I'm certainly no Plato or Aristotle, but I thought it might be fun to keep track of some of the things that make their way through my thoughts. I also have days (like so many other people out there, I'm sure) where I hear of something that really fires me up (good & bad).
Sometimes my thoughts seem to follow a spiral or zig-zagging pattern, much like the flight path of the average butterfly. Therefore, the name I chose for this blog. There ya have it.
So enough for now. We shall see where this goes from here.
~Paulena
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)