Lost: My Waverunner?

I woke up this morning to find out that 45mph winds and 5 foot waves took out the break wall at the marina, and subsequently, the marina was hit. Several boats floated away and some sank even. It occurs to me that I didn't tie up the Waverunner when I was there last (I thought I was going to go back out on the water Sunday but was vetod).

No one has called to tell me my pwc is gone yet, so I guess that's good news. I'm not too hopeful, though. This Video shows some pretty good damage :(

Dan & Fam

2008 was the year that my little brother and his family visited NM. Since it will probably be another ten years before they come back, I figured I should post a few pictures for posterity.

I think the thing we did most while they were here was eat. Green chili cheeseburgers, green chili breakfast burritos, Garduno's, grillables... from the time they got off the plane, and for the next six days, I blew my diet so far out of the water it's not even funny - and I didn't even go out with them every time!

Thursday, their first full day in town, we got up very slowly and headed to Old Town, where we walked around for about 10 minutes, did a little shopping, got all gussied up for our Old Time Photo, and ate mom's favorite cheeseburgers in the Plaza. Pretty mellow day, and I even got Teri to pose in this sombrero while we were out an about.

A couple hours later we were home, where half us got ready for dinner at the Rancher's Club, and the other half (my half) continued to digest lunch.

Friday we were off to Elephant Butte Lake.

I know, most people don't think to go boating in the New Mexican desert, but if you can stand the 100 degree shade-free weather, you can do it!

Most of the day was spent driving, settling in, and you guessed it, eating. More Mexican food at the top of the hill in TorC. It wasn't very good, nor was it particularly spicy. But it was filling and we all slept like rocks afterwards.

Saturday was to be our day-O-fun.

We got up, again slowly, and eventually found our way to water. Danny took to the wave-runner (until his wittle ahms stahted huwrting) and the gals stayed in the boat. We found a little cove, went swimming to beat the heat, and goofed around.

Next thing we new Danny's friend from Texas got to town so we got to hang out with them for the day and evening. Brit and his family were wonderful guests, and even played guitar and sang by the campfire (after we grilled out and ate dinner of course).

Come Sunday we had all had our fill of the lake so we headed back to Albuquerque, showered, and while Paige and I got make-overs at the mall, everyone else rested.

But then (drum roll please) ...

We went to Garduno's for dinner.

I was actually hungry this time, and drank probably the best margarita I've ever had (their Premium Marg - Yum!)

The next day we just hung out, played cards, played with Shaggy, packed, and ate left-overs.

Tuesday Danny & Teri headed home to enjoy their last day of vacation together, and left Paige to hang out with us for a couple of weeks.

Poor kid has no idea what she's gotten herself into.

Hasta la vista, Brother (and Sista)! If you miss us too much, you can always relive your visit via Youtube ...

And Justice Is Served

I don't know if you read my post about the blogger who took the money and ran, but I *finally* got a response from American Express:

We are pleased to inform you that a credit in the amount of $2500 has been posted to your account which can be seen on an upcoming statement.

So thank God that the cost of tuition for this lesson was only a few books on prenatal development.

Drinks are on me!

You should see the other guy ...

Today started out like any other crappy Monday. I woke to 2500 emails, and before my first cup of coffee had so much as a dent in it, my gtalk was blinking and beeping like there was no tomorrow.

Then I had the pleasure of dragging my daughter out of bed so she could make tennis lessons at 10. I got her there, miraculously on time, and afterwards headed to Target to buy furnishings for the rental home hall bath. $200 later I realized I had lost my shopping list, which was written on the backside of a business proposal. Yes, I know, not my smartest move. So I set out, with two tweens in tow, and retraced our steps to find my missing paperwork. After I walked the entire store, I found myself back at customer service without not only my list, but also two tweens.

Five minutes after the announcement for Casey and Mercedes to please meet their party at the front of the store, we were headed to Lowes to buy yet more parts for the rental house we are now affectionately calling the Money Pit. Of course Lowes didn't have the parts we needed, and the contractor was charging me to sit and wait, so we raced off to Ace Hardware for bits and pieces of plumbing parts.

$100 later I proudly handed my contractor the items he'd been waiting for all morning, just to find that most of them were not going to work.

FRICK

Samons must have them, so this time we headed to the warehouse store, when my foot slipped off the brake and I found myself ass-deep in a Nissan Sentra. We pulled into the Jiffy Lube on the corner and I inspected my car ...

Not bad. A couple of scratches that I may or may not have repaired.

But you should see the other guy ...

If I ever wondered if it was worth it to drive an SUV, I have my answer now!

I wanted to be mad at the idiot two cars up who made an illegal U-turn instead of going left with the arrow and caused the car in front of me to suddenly stop two seconds after we all started to go. I also want to be mad at the Birkenstock company who made the shoes that slipped off the brake pedal when I tried to avoid colliding with the car in front of me. Thankfully, I have a medicine cabinet full of anti-madness, and a fridge that's been calling me out for my nervous eating all day. (In other words, there won't be a weigh-in this week :-)

At the end of the day I'm just glad we were only going 5mph, that no one was hurt, and that the other driver's boyfriend had a fake gun for a belt-buckle instead of the real thing.

Gosh I hope Tuesday ends up better.