Desert Magnolia

We had a humdinger of a hail storm a few weeks ago. Hubby and I were sitting out on the patio enjoying a glass of wine and some oysters one Saturday evening. The sky was dark and rumbly, but it was still warm enough to sit outside and enjoy the weather. After about 20 minutes or so, the rumbling got louder, then we thought we heard a freight train headed for us. But we don't have any tracks nearby, so that was odd, to say the least. The sound got louder and louder, and then the sky opened up and hail fell. Lots of it. Big ones, the size of quarters.  We fled inside and hoped our windows and roof and truck (in the driveway) were safe. After what seemed like forever the storm blew itself out, leaving a 3" thick coating of white everywhere, making it look like it had snowed, and lots of damage. In the weeks since, we've had our roof inspected, and the insurance company totaled it. We'll be getting a new roof in the coming weeks. I took our truck in to be lo

4 letters. Big letters if you're me, and those letters are associated with how I did on the State licensing exam. I did it. I passed the test that was perhaps the single most intimidating challenge of my professional life, and for which I studied for 4 1/2 years. Solid. Hell, yes!! Big hugs, Euphoric Stevie

Over the last year and a half I have put on some weight. The daily drives to Santa Fe, the endless hours in class, the endless hours studying, the reduced exercise as a result of a compressed schedule - all added up, literally, and made me fluffier than I'd like to be. This has happened to me in the past while traveling for business, so it's not a surprise, but I am now ready to focus on leaning back down. I joined Weight Watchers again, like I have in the past. They have helped me two times so far, and as much as I hate being absolutely aware of watching and logging everything that goes into my piehole, I need to bite the bullet (0 points for bullets, yay!), and drop this extra me. Last night I familiarized myself with the newest iteration of the online Weight Watchers, and am beginning to strategize meals and snacks, moving forward. In my experience having the right foods around is key - if a healthy solution that won't blow my daily points is available I will go f

For nearly 3 decades we have been either primarily responsible for, or very supportive of the whole Thanksgiving endeavor. Countless turkeys have been stuffed, potatoes roasted, cranberries chopped and served fresh or cooked, green beans sacrificed (sometimes stir fried gently w/garlic and butter, sometimes incorporated into the famous green bean casseroles so frequently requested, pies constructed with love, and stuffing recipes perfected in this effort. This year, we went away. We opted to loop out of the annual cookfest that usually starts several days prior, and whose dishes require multiple dishwasher cycles and many piles of handwashing to get through. We went to Ruidoso, to Inn of the Mountain Gods, and acted like the guests that we were. We headed down on Wednesday, early, and hubby played golf. I went into town and got some lunch, then a manicure while he whacked little white balls across gorgeous fairways beneath scenic mountains. We relaxed, we enjoyed several restaur

Not to belabor a point, I am o.ver taking exams. Over studying. Over stressing. Over NOT having a life. Over second guessing myself. Over being reminded on a regular basis that no matter how much you study, sometimes you just can't remember something you knew yesterday.  Stress plays a role, I think...but so does fatigue. That's all for now. Hugs, Stevie

This Fall has been so not what I thought it was going to be as I imagined life after grad school, studying for and taking all of the exams in store, and just beginning to redefine myself while in the in between place of being a graduate but not yet a licensed practitioner. Some things that made the past few months so much different than I though they would be: Son adopted a dog right after I graduated, and that dog ended up needing shoulder surgery.  So Son and his very large puppy (we think Rhodesian Ridegeback, Lab and maybe Great Dane genes are at work there...) stayed with us much longer than expected. Almost 3 months. Picture if you will a 7 month old puppy, large, with a cone on his head and a sling on his right front leg which rendered him a tripod...and a clumsy one at that.  This part went on for two months...and things got a whole lot easier once they came off. But still...challenging it was.... Son was reinventing himself after life on the East Coast, then the Middl