Merry Christmas!

Well another Christmas is almost over and Thomas and I had a great holiday. Last night we spent the evening with our friend Bruce at his parent's home with his brothers and their families. It was a really great and relaxing time. And there was some good food. We brought some crawfish etouffee and they had homemade tamales and pork with red chile. Today we relaxed at home by ourselves and did some reading and watched the Disney Christmas parade. This evening we had dinner with Thomas' aunt and one of his cousins. Again it was a very relaxing time. So there was no wild partying but we still had a great holiday. We hope everyone had a wonderful holiday as well.

Merry Christmas to all!

Dinner and a Walk in Madrid

Every year at Christmas time Thomas and I usually take an evening and go down to Madrid to see the Christmas lights and do some shopping and try to have dinner. So we made plans and did that tonight. We left home around 4:30pm and made our way to Madrid. We decided to have dinner first and then do our walking and shopping. I did a little internet search before leaving the house to see where we might get some dinner. I found a place called The Hollar Restaurant. Here is a description from their website . . .

"the hollar specializes in the fusing of southern cuisine with only the freshest local ingredients. the result is comfort food done right!"

We had a great meal and a nice relaxing time, the place is wonderful and I hope to make it there again soon. After eating and visiting Thomas and I headed out to walk around town and do a little shopping. I took a few pictures and we went into about nine shops. I bought a couple of things and really enjoyed the relaxing meal and stroll around the town. It was a really nice time and a great way to spend a cold winter evening.

Not Much to Report On

Well, it is hard to believe that one month of 2010 is already gone - and I haven't written one blog post this month. Not much has been going on this month, just getting back to a normal routine after the holidays and traveling to see the family. The first couple of days of the new year were taken up with putting all the Christmas decorations away and getting the house all clean and back to normal. I was really glad when that task was complete. Don't get me wrong, I love Christmas and all the decorations but I don't like the work of putting it away until the next year.

I have been working more this month - the hospital seems to be a little busier and they are scheduling the staff differently. I only work per diem so my schedule fluctuates greatly and the hospital sometimes uses travelers so I never know how many hours I will get each month. Back in April 2008 St. Vincent's partnered with Christus and now we are Christus St. Vincent's Regional Medical Center. There have been many changes, most involve Christus bringing in new managers from other areas of their organization. There are good and bad things about this. One, they are a Catholic organization (so was St. Vincent's) and now at each meeting they say prayers. Not too many employees are happy about it. Two, we are also now required to wear uniforms - not too big of a deal. The therapy staff will be wearing polo shirts with khaki or blue pants. I can live with that. They are also making it a priority to build up a full time staff. Now this has been a problem ever since I started working there seven years ago, so I am not sure how they plan to do this. They did mention something about raising the therapy staff's salaries - but it would have to significant to really be competitive here in Santa Fe. We are also going to computerized documentation starting tomorrow which I personally think will be good. Right now it is so hard to get the chart that we end up wasting a lot of time - with the computer we will be able to access any forms at any time, even if someone else is viewing them on another computer. Anyway, I am glad for the hours. Before the holidays I was barely getting two or three days a month so it is nice to be working more now.

The dogs are also keeping me busy. Daisy isn't too bad. She is now about a year and a half old and is pretty settled and trained. But Buddy is another story. We are still working on house training. He does well for a while but every now and then he has an accident - it is getting better but it has been a slow process. Another issue with him is chewing. He has plenty of toys and mostly chews on them but he sometimes likes to grab a shoe to chew on. It is getting better but every now and then I catch him with one of our shoes. We are really loving having the two dogs around. They get along well and spend hours playing together which is nice when we are at work. Buddy is growing fast and before long he will be Daisy's size and it will be interesting to see how their relationship develops.

We've had dinners with a few friends throughout the month and that is always enjoyable. We also visited Thomas' cousin Ruth in Albuquerque. She had surgery last month and is still going through treatments. We are hoping everything heals quickly. On our trips to Albuquerque we took some time to do a little letterboxing. There really aren't a lot of boxes in the area and the weather is also an issue. I also mangaed to take a drive to Stanley to find a box and that was a nice trip. Thomas and I have been meaning to go see Avatar but things just keep popping up and we never make it to the theater. I have heard good things about it and want to see it at the theater to get the full 3D effect - maybe this evening or sometime this week.

I have also been thinking of taking a couple of small trips soon. I am looking in to a trip to Tucson, mostly for letterboxing and a trip to Lafayette for Easter to see my family. And possibly a trip to Georgia to see my brother and his wife. We would probably do some letterboxing there as well because it seems that my brother and his wife have gotten hooked on the hobby. Not sure about any of these trips - they are only thoughts at this point.

Our winter has been pretty mild with little precipitation. That is until these last two weeks. We had small amounts of snow three days in a row last week and then this week we had a major snowfall on Thursday. I love the snow so I was happy that we have been getting some. I took quite a few walks in the snow and took pictures. We still have some snow on the ground but it is melting fast. I am hoping for another storm soon. We really need the moisture for the summer.

Well, I guess that's about it, You see, I told you there wasn't much going on except for the normal day to day. Hopefully February will present more things to blog about.

Tis the Season

Today I spent most of the day decorating the house for Christmas. I have lots of ornaments - I collect Hallmark ornaments, Radko Ornaments and Thomas and I also collect pairs of ornaments when we travel. I spent a lot of time just unpacking things. The ornaments are kept in their own boxes so I have to unwrap them. I put up two trees - one has all the Hallmarks ornaments and the other one has all the other ornaments. One tree is completely done now. That is the Hallmark tree. We also got those boxes back into the attic and out of the way. Some of the Hallmark ornaments don't go on the tree. I scatter those around the house on shelves and tabletops. I also got wreaths up on the doors and a few other decorations put up around the house. Tomorrow I hope to put up the second tree and get the rest of the decorations up as well.

I really enjoy decorating and it usually takes me two to three days. Partly because I look at each ornament and reflect on where we got it or why we got it. Putting up the ornaments really bring back memories and get the holidays off to a great start. We are planning to drive to Louisiana to see my family for Christmas so we really only have about three weeks to enjoy the decorations. So if we can finish decorating the house tomorrow we can just sit back and enjoy them and have time to do some shopping and do some other holiday things. Well here is to a great holiday season.

The Christmas Season Begns

Well, its Black Friday and I didn't step one foot into any store. Honestly, I just don't get it. Stores are open every single day. Do you really have to get up at 4:00am to go shopping? I don't care what kind of deals they are having, the idea of this is just ludicrous. And it's not just the getting up and out to the store so early, it's the crowds and the pushing and lines. I think I will leave my Christmas shopping for another day.

So instead I stayed home and worked on some things around the house. One thing I did was get the Christmas decorations out of the attic. I got the tree set up but the ornaments won't go on until tomorrow. I also got wreaths on the doors and a few other things up around the house. I am looking forward to the holidays and I love the way everything looks with all the decorations - just so festive. I am hoping to finish up tomorrow and have the boxes back up in the attic. That way I can just sit back and enjoy them.

We don't have a lot of exciting things planned for the holidays yet but we do have a few. Dinner with friends on a couple of weekends. A play and dinner with cousins in Albuquerque. And we will be traveling back to Louisiana to spend Christmas with my family. I am hoping that the holidays are relaxing and fun. Sometimes you try to do too much and it just becomes too stressful - I am going to work hard on avoiding the stress. So here is to a happy holiday season.

Christmas Eve in Santa Fe

Each year on Christmas Eve there is an area of Santa Fe that decorates their neighborhood with farolitos. Thousands of people descend upon this area and walk the streets admiring the wonderful glow coming from all the little paper bags filled with sand and a candle that line the streets and walkways. It is a perfect way to spend the evening. There are usually bonfires (luminarias) burning at different spots along the route to allow people to warm up as they enjoy their stroll. And you will hear Christmas Carols being sung all around you. It is the best reason to be in Santa Fe for the holidays.

Usually Thomas and I travel to Louisiana to spend Christmas with my family. I come from a large family - my dad is one of eight and when you add the spouses, grandkids, great grandkids and significant others we usually end up with close to 100 people for our annual Christmas Eve celebration. Until a few years ago one of my aunts would have this at her house, but it finally became to big of an ordeal and the eight brothers and sisters decided to take turns hosting the night. One of the changes involved renting a hall for the night so that we had the space to actually enjoy ourselves. Everyone also contributed decorations that get passed around each year so that we can decorate the hall so that it is more festive. We also do a potluck so that one person doesn't have to do all the cooking. We always have a good time and it gives me a chance to see everyone in one place instead of having to find the time to visit all of my aunts, uncles and cousins seperately. This year we decided to stay in Santa Fe for the holidays since we were in Louisiana in October for my dad's wedding.

On Monday night and Tuesday morning of this week we had as incredible snowfall. Tuesday afternoon and today was sunny but the temperatures stayed in the low 30's so we still have most of the snow on the ground - everything looks so beautiful and what a treat to have a white Christmas. Tonight Thomas and I left the house at 4:30pm so that we could make our dinner reservations at 5:00pm at Cafe Paris. We enjoyed a great dinner and dessert and just chatted about nothing in particular. It was very relaxing. Afterwards we walked through the Plaza and made our way to Canyon Road. We strolled slowly along Canyon Road stopping every now and then to enjoy a bonfire or take a picture of the farolitos. It was quite crowded but still very pleasant. Quite a few people were singing Christmas Carols as we passed - it was not always the most pleasant sound but it was fun. At some point we made our way over to Acequia Madre, which was much less crowded. We stopped to take pictures a couple of times and then finally made our way back to the Plaza and our car. We ended the night by attending an Open House at our friends, Diane & John's house. We visited for about an hour and then headed home - by this time we were tired and cold and were ready for our warm house. It is always nice to spend the holidays with your family, but Thomas and I can't always make it to Louisiana for Christmas. And besides Thomas is my family, so enjoying the holiday in Santa Fe with him is very special.

So Merry Christmas from Santa Fe. I hope your evening was as pleasant and special as mine was. I hope Santa is good to each and everyone of you.

A White Christmas?

Last night it started snowing around 8:00pm. It continued snowing through the night and morning. At about 11:00am it cleared up and the sun came out. What a beautiful sight! We had from 8 to 12 inches accumulate over the property. Everything was glistening and white - it looked just like a song. I decided to bundle up and take a walk on the property and take some pictures. Here is what I saw.

So with all this snow maybe we will have a white Christmas in Santa Fe. That would be a wonderful treat.

Holiday Enrichment at the Zoo

This morning Thomas and I drove down to Albuquerque to meet his cousins, Ruth and Chris. We met them at the Rio Grande Zoo to watch the animals open Christmas gifts. The zoo had a Holiday Enrichment for the Animals. The zookeepers spread the holiday cheer to some of the animals by decorating their areas and giving them presents. They did this for the primates, elephants and cats. It was a lot of fun watching as they sniffed the packages, ripped them open and ate the food that was hidden inside. They all seemed to really enjoy the activity. We spent the most time watching the gorillas and the orangutans. They really got into the swing of things and made us laugh. Besides watching the animals open gifts we wandered around the zoo and enjoyed all the other animals as well. It was an extremely pleasant morning since there were very few people present and we didn't have to fight to see the animals. There was a mother orangutan with her baby (Reese) - it was nice to see the mother holding the baby and still participating in the fun.

After a couple of hours we left the zoo and decided to head to Old Town to find something to eat for lunch. We parked and walked for a short time and then went to La Placita Dining Rooms for lunch. It was great food and a great place - I do recommend it if you are in Old Town. We enjoyed a leisurely lunch and talked about the morning and just relaxed. It was a great day and we enjoyed our time at the zoo and our visit with Ruth and Chris. Below are some pictures of our morning at the zoo.

He's Gonna Leave, He's Gonna Leave, He's Gonna Leave

Something that not many people know about me is that I secretly love TV commercials. Don't get me wrong there are plenty commercials out there that are stupid and some really horrible ones. But I have found one that I just love - it is funny and wonderful. I could see myself reacting in much the same manner as this little kid when I was his age. Anyway, I thought I would share my favorite TV commercial of the holiday season.

2nd Annual Cookie Night

Tonight Thomas and I had Diane, John and Chris over for dinner and Cookie Night. Cookie Night started with Chris wanting to make cookies last Christmas - just for the fun of it. Well it turned out to be a lot of fun. Very messy, but a lot of fun. A sugar high, but a lot of fun. Some strange cookies, but a lot of fun. So Chris and Diane talked and decided they wanted to do it again this year. So tonight was the night. Thomas cooked us a great dinner. He made chicken breast stuffed with broccoli and cheese, spinach and strawberry salad, roasted green beans and bread. For dessert (I know we were making cookies but we decided we wanted something else for dessert) he made a cheesecake with raspberry topping. It was a fantastic dinner.

Once everyone was done eating we began work on the cookies. Diane brought the cookie dough mixed and ready for rolling out and cutting. Chris brought all the ingredients for the icing as well as a large assortment of cookie cutters and things to decorate the cookies with (such as colored sprinkles, little snowflake candies, red hots, colored sugar, etc.). They also brought extra cookie sheets and other things to help with the cookie making process. As Chris put it - "I brought my whole kitchen". So while Chris mixed up the icing, John and Diane started rolling out the dough and cutting the cookies. After cutting as many cookies as we could from the rolled out dough we put them on cookie sheets and then picked up the extra dough, re-formed it into a ball and put it back into the refrigerator to chill. We took some other dough that had already been chilled and rolled it out and cut more cookies. This continued with John, Diane and I rotating through the process. At the same time Chris, Diane and John took turns watching the cookies in the oven. We continued with this until all the cookie dough had been rolled out and cut or it was eaten ( I won't mention names but you know who you are) and all the cookies had been cooked. At this point most of the kitchen was covered in cookie dough or flour and the table was covered in boring cookies and cups of different colored icing and other things to decorate the cookies with.

Now it was time to decorate the cookies. Diane, John, Chris and I sat at the table and started decorating. We passed icing back and forth, tried to do our artistic best to create stunning Christmas Cookies and in the end actually made some neat cookies and a big mess. There were snowflakes, angels, christmas trees, reindeer, stars, and other shapes we couldn't identify. It was loads of fun. And in case you haven't noticed but I haven't mentioned Thomas' name in the cookie making process. He managed to not get involved with any of the cookie stuff but he did clean up our big mess - thankfully. By the time we finished there was icing all over the table and sprinkles everywhere but who cares when you are having fun.

When we were planning the night Diane wanted to know how many cookies we made last year and how much dough to bring. I couldn't remember how many we made (I estimated about 4 dozen) or how many the recipe yielded so Diane decided to just double the recipe and we thought that would be fine. After we talked I went back and looked at pictures from last year (go to 1st Annual Cookie Night to see pictures from last year) and it looked like we made quite a few more that 4 dozen. I didn't get an exact count tonight but I am estimating that we made between 80 and 100 cookies. Thankfully we can give most of them away - can you imagine us having to eat all of them - not a pretty picture. But here some pretty pictures of tonight's fun.

It's Christmas Time

Well I finally got the house all decorated for Christmas and all the boxes back into storage. I gave the house a good cleaning and then decided I wanted to take some pictures. I have a lot of decorations and I didn't even put everything out. I also have a lot of ornaments - I collect Radko and Hallmark Ornaments. This year I decided to only take out what I needed to decorate the trees and leave the extras in storage. Just because I have all of these decorations doesn't mean I have to use all of them each year. I decided I could change things a little each year and it would be something new without buying new stuff. Anyway, I digress, here are some pictures of some of the decorations.