Renovations

We’ve lived in this house for more than three years.  We’ve made a few changes here and there as time has gone by.  

In the bedrooms, we painted, ripped out nasty old carpet and put in laminate floors (yes, we touched up the trim).

We took down the ceiling “decor” in the living room.  (Yeah, I don’t know why they did that either, but then, we painted our bedrooms orange and yellow, so…)  

Just this week we finally got around to fixing the hall.  I don’t have any photos, but there was a wallpaper border (The hall border).  And the walls were taupe.  Ick.  Before they were taupe, the walls were this color, with trim this color.  Yummy, huh?  

Well, we took about six partial gallons of whitish paint that have been languishing in the garage (only one of them was ours) and mixed them together to get a lovely, buttery, eggshell color of whitishness.  And painted all of that drab taupey color.  Oh, plus the inside of the front door is now Royal Blue (per sonars, who did not want me to paint it “that sick green” as in Barf green). 

The kitchen border used to look like this, but it is no more.  

And now the brick benchey thing that used to be in front of the fireplace and living room window is gone.  (See the post from yesterday for pics.)

We figured there was some kind of 2x4 frame in there supporting a brick facade.  Turns out there were eight million bricks stacked in there, though only the outside layer was mortared.  It took a masonry chisel, a three pound hammer, three hours and a lot of banging (watch iiiit), but Partner ripped out the whole thing down to the fireplace face (good thing that went to the floor, huh?).  

Now we’re not sure what we want to do.  The window there has some rot under it and so we may reframe it.  Or we might put in a sliding glass door.  There’s a sort of double door on the other side of the fireplace that we’d like to turn into a sliding door too.  We’d have a lot of window out onto a patio.  Whuddya think?  

Oh, and here’s another picture I was trying to post last night.  Sonar X8’s desk, inspired by this.  But now it sort of reminds me of a comfy pair of blue jeans.  

And here’s the boy reading the classics.  

 He was smaller then.  

quickie

I’ll explain later.

Camera Camera !@#$%

Ok, the good news is that the digital camera has returned from its vacation in Illinois.  The nice people at the Canon Factory Resort claim to have returned it to its factory specifications.  And I believe them.  I’ve already taken a dozen pictures of things I’d been meaning to take pictures of and they’re sweetly uploaded onto the Mac here, and I’ve seen them and fiddled with them and they’re pretty.  

But I can’t show them to you because Blogger has a headache or something.  Try as I might, an “internal error” is preventing me from uploading any of these lovely new photos.  Or any lovely old photos.  

I’ll try again. 

!@#$%

One more time. 

*sigh*

I give up.  

So the fun post full of pictures that I had mapped out in my mind is sort of pointless right now, so I’ll try to distract you.  

Hey, my eight year old started reading the Aeneid tonight.  Yeah, the one by Virgil.  Only then I mentioned that the monsters in The Odyssey were way better, so he switched.  This was all prompted by these books.  We’ve been reading them out loud since we finished HP.  They are fun too.  Anyway, at a loss for what to read on his own before bedtime tonight, having finished this earlier today, I was browsing the bookshelves for something to suggest until we can get him to a library tomorrow.  The Aeneid sort of jumped out at me because of the Percy books, so I took it out and told him what it was.  “But it might be too hard, being this big, elaborate poem-thing and all,” I said.  He snatched it out of my hands before I could return it to the shelves.  Then I dug out the Odyssey and there was a discussion of Greek and monsters and prose and poetry and the prudent use of a glossary.  

They’re tough, but he likes them, and he immediately had an easier time with the Fitzgerald Odyssey than the Aeneid, whose translator I cannot remember right now and the book is in there with the sleeping child (Edit:  turns out it’s the Mandelbaum.  If you’ve ever ready Dante’s Inferno, or even the entire Commedia, there’s a decent chance you read Mandelbaum’s version.  Cream-colored covers with the black ink drawings of the torments of Hell.  Thank Barry Moser for those.)  Suffice to say it’s the one with the green cover and the pen and ink drawing of a person (also by Moser.  Dido?) bleeding to death.  I read The Odyssey for the first time in TWELFTH grade!!!  Who is this child I have spawned? 

One more try on the pictures.  

Gr.  

Next time:  Paint and hammers.

2008 World Tour--Special events

You thought I was joking about that boring you with details thing the other day, didn’t you?  

Here’s more boring details.  A few of the more memorable occurrences during our traipse across the Southwestern United States.  In no particular order, I think.  

Swimming with old friends.  Really lovely.  Especially when joined by a swimming pug.  Who can beat that? (excuse the post-swim hair)

New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Planetarium.  Cool Fractal film in the planetarium.  The boys were completely convinced that the planetarium floor was moving up and down during the film.  (It wasn’t)  The natural history of the personal computer was a surprising bonus that we wished we’d had more time to explore.  

Family barbecue with a city full of fireworks.  With a view to die for, we ate dogs, burgers, peach cobbler.  From the porch at my folks’ house we could see the fireworks in Rio Rancho, the Balloon Fiesta Park, Isotope Stadium, Four Hills, as well as random personal displays all over the city (these unsanctioned explosions risked $10,000 fines in a heightened fire-risk year).  Completely worth the trip.  And we fell right into bed when it was over.  

Road Tarantulas.  More than 20 of them, on the highway between Pecos, Texas and Artesia, New Mexico.  I think I squished a few of them, but only because, big as they were, I couldn’t see them until they were right in front of the van.  I have to think they were driven to cross the road by the thunderstorms since, our our rain-free return home I didn’t see a single one.  

Driving through the Jemez Mountains on a rainy July afternoon, peeing in the woods, collecting Ponderosa Pine cones for souvenir gifts.  Sweet fun, especially with three curious kids.  

Meeting a “Known Associate.”  Ok, we didn’t so much “meet” him as pass him and smile and say hello in a gas station.  The front of his t-shirt declared him a known associate.  Of what, I wasn’t sure I wanted to know, but the back told me it was the Banditos.  There must have been some kind of biker theme on this trip.  Perhaps it’s the price of gas?  

Hand-crocheted Sonar covers.  We were surprised by a sneak-attack gift of handmade lap-blankets for the Sonars.  I say sneak-attack because they were left quietly, without immediate direct explanation because the maker feared the Sonars wouldn’t like them.  Little did she know that I have three of the most delicious craft-loving little people in the world.  Enthusiastically, they wrapped themselves in their wee love-creations as they watched fireworks under the cooling desert sky.  

Kilt-hose.  I might get to make some.  Maybe.  

Partner Sweater.  Cast on.  Did hood.  Started shoulders.  Two+ skeins worked so far.   

Check Engine Light.  We are assured that this is just a problem sensor, and nothing to worry about.  Unless it starts flashing, and then it’s bad.  But seriously.  No one wants to have the Check Engine light come on in the middle of a 2000 mile summer trip.  Especially when you’re as far from home as you can be.  

Albuquerque Aquarium and Botanical Gardens.  Part of the Rio Grande Biopark.  We did the zoo last year.  Go to see the mouthful of teeth on the Sand Tiger sharks and the model boats.  But seriously, do NOT miss the Children’s Fantasy Garden.  We were so pleasantly surprised by the dragon, and that would have been enough for us.  To turn and find the giant vegetables, well, that was just the best kind of icing on the delight cake.  What if we could all have a dragon and some giant carrots in our garden???  We will repeat this one next time for sure.  

Desert Sky Wind Farm outside Fort Stockton, Texas.  These gigantic wind turbines sort of appear suddenly, in the middle of a vast expanse of rolling desert nothingness.  They remind me of starched soldiers, marching across the ridgetops.  While unimposing in a way, they do help me understand how Don Quixote could mistake them for giant aggressors in need of conquest.  

And there was so much more.  We had such a grand and wonderful time and we can’t wait to do it all again next time.  

Culinary Escapades

Besides eating some very good food cooked right in the family homestead (Partner’s peach cobbler on the Fourth of July was very memorable and yummy), we also ate at several restaurants on our New Mexico voyage.  A note about method: when we travel, we try very hard to avoid places we can eat at home (i.e. chains and franchises), unless we just need to use the bathroom.  

I’ll alphabetize them—for no good reason other than it suits me just now.

Blake’s Lotaburger, Albuquerque.  So yes, ok, this is a chain but it’s not a chain we get at home.  This was pure fast-food nostalgia for us.  I had the Itsaburger, their mid-sized burger, with onion rings.  Really good stuff.  Just the right amount of greasy, raw onion, sharp mustard, crisp rings experience.  For those with an absurd appetite, you could get a triple Lotaburger.  Sonar X8 surprised us by ordering a chili dog, and eating the WHOLE THING!

Farley’s, Roswell, New Mexico.  Strikes me as a place that’s been around for a while, but recently got a facelift, a boob job, and liposuction.  It was shiny, and slick, and I bet they have live music regularly.  They had a great green chile cheeseburger.  The children’s menu disappointed—chicken fingers, burger, mac and cheese, pizza.  The food was good, and the children’s portions were huge for the chicken and pizza (and Sonar X8 again ate the WHOLE THING), but absurdly small for the mac and cheese (what’s up with that).  But we all went away happy.  

Isaaks, Junction, Texas.  This was our attempt to get off the highway on our way home.  Not easy with a tiny town very near to the middle of nowhere.  But we found this smoky little diner a mile or so off of I-10.  A solid place, with a fine selection of typical diner fare.  It could have been a little cleaner, and the teen waitress was clearly terrified of the wrinkled woman behind the grill, but the grilled ham and cheese sandwich with chips and the bottomless cup of coffee seemed somehow perfect on our weary trek home.  The ambiance was fascinating.  A wide array of dead animal heads supervises the dining room, and the front entrance has a display of knife and hunting gear in a glass case.  Good stuff.  

Little Anita’s Grill at Corrales Rd, Albuquerque.  Little Anita’s in Old Town Albuquerque is an institution.  This outlet out on the north side did not disappoint.  I had a shredded beef stuffed sopaipilla that was, so, so yummy.  The children’s menu was much more satisfying and challenging than we get in (too) many restaurants.  The children’s chicken enchilada was easily the best thing I tasted on the trip.  When we go back, we will save room for the cherry empanadas in the case next to the cash register.  

Los Ojos Bar, Jemez Springs, New Mexico.  I think we were the only people in this great little bar who did not arrive there on a hog.  And by that I mean a motorcycle of course.  Nestled up in the mountains, this little bar is a great surprise.  It was lunchtime and the bar was full.  We meandered through to a table in the back, where I was treated to super-good chicken enchiladas.  The vegetarian tamale consumed by Partner almost made me like tamales.  Almost.  The kids’ menu left a little to be desired, but the kids did get a little jello shot (alcohol free) with whipped cream at the end of the meal.  It rained in the middle of the meal (we were inside), which filled the restaurant with that truly delicious ozoney smell of rain that I associate with rain in the desert in the summer.  Awesome.  A great complement to the lazy mountain drive in the rain.

La Salitas West, Albuquerque.  This place had great salsa.  Great service too.   Another really good children’s menu.  Child-sized portions of the good, rich, and interesting food on the adult menu.  Gotta love it.  And the chili rellenos were very very good.  Oh, and great sopaipillas at the end of the meal.  With the thickest and tastiest New Mexico honey.  In fact, the sopaipillas at all of the restaurants were great.  I love sopaipillas.  I miss sopaipillas.  There are  no sopaipillas at the Mexican food restaurants in Texas.  I want more of them. 

Maybe I can make my own sopaipillas.  Maybe.