Desert Magnolia

It has come to my attention that my ends are a little frayed. Little things, mostly. But enough of them to make me alert to detail, detail that usually falls into the intuitive. This is pissing me off. Because I pride myself in being conscientious. In being a responsible, focused professional. But at some point, given the volume of crap piled on, inevitably something fragile hits the ground and shatters. My week is full of excitement. I'm headed for NY for a media event. That we're hosting. And LOTS of key media have RSVPd. I'm stoked, I really am. This part of my job, I LOVE LOVE LOVE. The next day I get back on plane. Head back to ABQ. Unpack my bag and repack. Have a dinner with my family. Try to get some sleep. Then get my happy butt on a plane the next morning.  With my sweet and dedicated colleagues who are all bearing more weight than usual in terms of handling stuff since I'm going to be in NYC immediately prior and simply will.not.be.there to attend to th...

Today is salad for lunch day. Chinese Crunch salad w/tofu, from Flying Star. The salad is delicious and, as salads go, filling but not full of the bad stuff like Ranch dressing and salty deli meats. So it's a lunch that makes me feel virtuous for an hour or so. Unless I eat all of the crunchy fried noodles they give you to sprinkle on top, but I seldom do that. Unless I'm really hungry and not caring about nutrition virtue right at that very moment, then I go ahead and crunch em down. Today my crispy noodle virtue was untested, though, as they forgot to include said crunchies with our takeout salads. So, I just realized the Chinese Crunch has both tofu cubes (on top), then soybeans tossed into the greens. Which makes is a soy squared salad, right? Or is that a 2soy salad? The day, well, honestly, if I hadn't been toting my friend JL's salad too, I might have veered off in the direction of the nearest park, found a nice tree and camped out beneath it to eat this C...

My friend JL and I decided that this weekend was two days too short. We're greedy, it turns out. For more..sunshine, yard time, relaxation time non-work time. I looked at my To Do list..and accomplished many, but not all of the items I'd listed. But that's pretty typical for a To Do list. I feel ok about the weekend. Got one run in. The new shoes rock. Love them. Almost meditated once, but then my cell phone rang when Hubby called in to report on how the tax return had finalized. (It was good news, but then my mind kind of wandered so getting back to the centered place was harder than I'd anticipated so I gave up for then.) Went shopping with Daughter, searched for the perfect shoes to go with Prom dress, but didn't find anything..but found some athletic wear on sale that we can use, so that was good..and had a good time just shopping and talking about whatever surfaced. It was nice..I love hanging out with her. I'm going to miss her, I just know it...

I thought I'd try to give myself some framework for this weekend, in lieu of awaking Saturday morning, rushing about like a nutjob, then suddenly finding myself facing Monday morning without accomplishing anything FUN.... I always manage to get the laundry done, and any cleaning that has to be done done, but..I'm older now, and I want to enjoy my free time as well as tend to domestic responsibilities. Said the princess.... To Do: Clean bathrooms. Do laundry. Go for a run. Make cookies. Fold laundry. Call Grandma. Call Auntie. Do my toes. Switch out my winter clothes for my summer clothes in my closet. Take inventory and really get RID of stuff I don't wear. I know what it is, but tend to keep things much longer than I should.. Work in the garden. Read on the patio..while working on browning the legs a little.... Take a nap with the cat. Have lunch with the Daughter. Shop for a graduation picture outfit with Daughter. Also shop for a gra...

Another year has rolled round for me. I'm now officially much closer to the next decade than I was two years ago. Much. So much so that the decade is peeking its little nose around a corner in the future, occasionally taunting me and making tick tocking noises. This year's celebration was sedate, as the bday itself fell on Easter. There was family time, and there was time later in the day for a nice run. And there was a most amazing dinner that night orchestrated and prepared and presented by Hubby, who outdid himself. Again. Crab legs. Crispy sourdough bread. Steamed artichokes. Silverado Chardonnay. Old fashioned chocolate cake. Yum. And, as I'm wont to do, I took a day for myself. To contemplate my life, my blessings. And to shop a little. For new running shoes. Which I found, and tested out. And they're awesome. Also for a pair of Keen sandals, which I've been wanting for....ever, but hadn't wanted to pony up for til now. They're sagey green, super...