Dinner at Outback with Friends - April 25, 2009

Word of the Day

Preambulator - One who makes a living by writing introductions or forewords to other documents.


We're


Home!


AND......


Happy


Anniversary to


HTP and Me!



HTP already got me a wonderful anniversary gift. He vacuumed up the ladybugs for me this morning...before breakfast! Best anniversary gift EVER!


Our travels were uneventful. We stopped in Albuquerque and decided that neither of us really liked eating at El Pinto, a New Mexico-style Mexican restaurant. We'll have to find a new favorite restaurant for Albuquerque. The food wasn't was it used to be and the ambiance of the restaurant didn't make up for it.

Our second night was spent in Denver. HTP and I met up with friends for dinner. It was great to get together with them...even though we'd just seen them for Easter. I was able to deliver some Arizona wines to them that they couldn't bring back with them on the plane. And...my friend gave me some wine glasses that she couldn't bring to me on the plane.

The only bad day, driving-wise was encountered on our third day when we hit a patch of heavy rain as we were driving toward Omaha. I was glad that HTP was driving. I hate driving in heavy rain while surrounded by trucks and heavy traffic. I’ve driven in almost every type of weather. I can do it. I just don’t have to like it.


Ms. En is Getting Tall!

We spent night three and four at DD Daughter’s place. It was great to have a chance to visit with her, GI Joe, and our grand-daughter Ms. En. They went to a lot of work to get a guest room ready for our stay. It was beautiful! Ms. En is getting so tall. I’m glad I held off buying her any clothes because she’s lots bigger than my imagination allowed. 2T and growing. DD Daughter and I went out shopping and I got Ms. En a cute little Radio Flyer trike to grow into. HTP got her to say “Grand Pa!” She’s not talking much right now…at least not much that her Mom and Dad or we can understand as yet. However, she speaks fluently and in long sentences in the language of the toddler. We’re looking forward to having them all visit us here later this summer. My guest room isn’t nearly as nice as DD Daughter and GI Joe’s but…we do have a crib.

We finally arrived at our lake home last night at around 8 PM. Fibber McGee’s closet was unloaded. It was bursting at the seams because we stopped to pick up groceries. “Just the basics to last us a couple of days” morphed and grew. Oh well…HTP and I are pretty good with Tetris-style packing. Only the onions fell out of the car when we finally opened the car doors to unload.

HTP and I are a bit obsessive when it comes to unloading and unpacking after a long trip. Some people would have just unloaded the basics. Heck! Some people really would have just bought the milk, eggs, bread, and coffee that was on my shopping list. However, we hauled EVERYTHING inside. HTP got the water pump switched back on and the computers up and running while I called the DirecTV people to get our TV’s up and running, unpacked and put away the groceries, unpacked the cooler, and unpacked my suitcases. By this time, HTP got our computers all hooked up and good to go and he unpacked his suitcases. All done! Except…I’ll unpack the boxes later today. It took a couple of weeks to pack. I shouldn’t expect to get everything unpacked in one night. I’m always amazed how long it takes to pack and how fast HTP and I can manage unpacking.

HTP started vacuuming up all the dead ladybugs that wintered over inside our relatively warm house while we were gone. Piles of them! Some of them are crawling on the ceiling and walls. One landed on my cheek last night, startling me awake. The ladybugs HAD to go! They were even on the kitchen table! At least it’s just ladybugs and not scorpions or spiders. And…no mice (corpses or other…at least none that we could see or…smell.) HTP got as many ladybugs vacuumed up as he could find before we even sat down to breakfast. I'll work on the ones that are littering the basement later. There will be more coming in...probably from the attic. I'll still be finding them when it comes to vacuuming the house on the day we head back to Arizona. That's just a part of life here at The Lake.

I’m drank my first cup of coffee…made with rusty water…and it tasted wonderful. The rusty water will clear out as soon as we've run enough water through the pipes but I wasn't going to wait for it. The trees are bare. My tulips and daffodils are just sending up their first shoots. It’s 47 degrees outside and a bit overcast. I expect we’ll be seeing a bit of rain today. Gypsy and I took our first hike this morning to check out my gardens. I’ve got garlic poking up in my vegetable garden. I planted it last fall…an experiment. I’m going to pull some today to mince and enjoy with the steaks that I bought for tonight’s anniversary dinner. In the meantime, I've got boxes to unpack and the laundry has been started.

Murphyism of the Day

The Airplane Law

When the plane you are on is late, the plane you want to transfer to is on time.

Noteworthy Quote of the Day

Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars... Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.

- Martin Luther King Jr. (1929 - 1968)