My Husband's Birthday

My husband had an enjoyable birthday this year, and, of course, I got to enjoy it with him.  On his birthday we ate with family at a local Vietnamese restaurant called Pho Saigon.  We had some meatball Pho, spring rolls, beef rib tips, etc.  For anyone who is unfamiliar with Vietnamese food, a spring roll is similar to an egg roll, but it is wrapped with rice paper instead, and is not fried.  Pho (pronounced fuh) is a rice noodle soup with a choice of meat/shrimp in broth with rice noodles & vegetables.  The Pho is served with a plate of things to be added to the soup (cilantro, bean sprouts, jalapeno, lemon).

The day after his birthday we celebrated with friends.  My husband decided that he wanted to go out to eat and then play laser tag.  The closest place to play laser tag is about 45 minutes away in a different city, so we decided to choose a restaurant near there.  We wanted to do some sort of prank for April Fools Day.  While it may sounds lame, it actually turned out to be pretty funny for us.  We told everyone that we were eating at Olive Garden (which is just next door to the restaurant that we actually ate at).  Initially we were all going to carpool in a van, but that didn't end up happening, which allowed the prank to be funnier.  My husband, a friend, and I were the first to arrive at the restaurant that we were actually eating at.  Two more groups of friends were to arrive.  As they arrived they would text us to see if we were there, and we told them that we had a table.  Anyways... So our friends ended up looking for us in the Olive Garden, and obviously could not find us.  We didn't let them look too long, and were able to state "April Fools", and let them know that we were just next door.  They didn't appear to be too annoyed by it.  We had a very enjoyable meal.

After dinner, we went to play laser tag (although only four of us were able to stick around for that portion).  It was a lot of fun!  There were a lot of players there, which made it extra fun, and our team won. Yea!

After playing laser tag, we spotted an interesting store.  It was called Entertainmart.  The lights were so bright!

It's basically a store that sells used movies, music, and video games.  The prices weren't bad, but there wasn't really any order to the items inside.  It, actually looked very organized.

It was in order by category (movie, game, music), but there was no category or alphabetizing within those categories.  It was at least interesting to check out.

We got to celebrate his birthday a third time last night.  My mother-in-law made beef enchiladas, beans, and a special dessert for Carlos.  Cheesecake!  We also enjoyed a nice night time walk.  :)



Video footage of the weekend can be seen here.

Some Time to Myself

This past week my husband was out of town from Wednesday until 5:00 a.m. on Sunday morning (he was in Phoenix for a high school robotics competition with the team that he mentored).  I enjoyed the time to myself and got to do a lot for myself that I have been wanting to do.  I got the usual chores done (cleaning, grocery shopping, etc), but was able to have a lot of relaxing "me time".  I rented a couple of chick flicks, took a bubble bath, did my nails, finished my book, took a nap, ate a frozen dinner (I can't remember the last time I've had one of those)...  You know, things of that nature.

And yet... the best part of the weekend:  When my husband got home! :)

Ashley's Birthday

This weekend my sister, her boyfriend, my husband, and I went to visit my parents to celebrate my sister's birthday!  We left Friday and returned today.  Friday when we arrived there was green chile stew and sopapillas for us to enjoy.  Here is a picture of my dad rolling the dough.

Saturday morning Carlos and I went for a jog.  We all then had a wonderful breakfast together.  Afterwards, we all began to prepare for the day (making food etc).  That evening we had quite the smorgasbord.  My parents' friends and their 4 sons came over.  Our main course was burgers.  We had a very tasty strawberry punch and strawberry cake.  My sister was in a strawberry mood.  After all the food, we played pictionary!

She opened her gifts before the company arrived.  She was very excited to get a GPS unit.

We were all very tired and full at the end of the day (and not too pleased about the time change, but who is?).  You can see video footage of this weekend here.  I will also post more pictures on facebook. We had to hurry back on Sunday so that I could make it to my choir concert and so that my sister could get home to study.  It was a very wonderful weekend.

Goings On

Three items of note:

1. Well, if you've read my past blogs you may be familiar with the fact that we have had some issues with our refrigerator.  Unfortunately it is broken was again.  I'm sure it's the exact same problem.  It has been breaking every six months.  The latest repairman believes that the problem is a slow leak.  That definitely would make sense, because it could be taking the refrigerator 6 months to leak enough freon to where it is no longer cooling down enough.  The repairman is supposed to arrive this afternoon to take our refrigerator, and he's suppose to be bringing us a "loner fridge".  Hopefully he will, and hopefully the problem will be fixed for good.... we'll see.
2. Thursday it was announced at my office that our company is not getting enough work, and that they are going to have to have a round of layoffs.  I work at the branch office of the company.  We are a small office.  Two of the employees at the branch office were laid off.  We are now left with 8 people in our office.  Friday felt very very odd.  Being such a small office we all have grown pretty close.  One of the men laid off had been working there for 13 years, the other man had been working there for 6 years.  It's going to be different without them there, and it's going to feel very different knowing that I was not one of the people who was chosen to be laid off.  It's very interesting the thoughts and feelings that have accompanied this event.  Too much to explain in just one blog.
3. On a happier note... My husband and I finally made it out to our local farmers market today!  It was a lot bigger than I was expecting.  Being the middle of winter (well, nm winter, not really winter), there wasn't a lot of produce.  There was a lot, a lot of arts and crafts, performers, puppies to adopt, lots of foods & drinks, and lots of people.  It was very nice just to get outside in the beautiful weather, to be among a group of people just enjoying themselves, and to see so much that our local farmers, artists, and vendors have to offer.

My View of Valentine's Day

Things that I do not believe:

• Valentine's Day is not for single people.
• Valentine's Day was created by card companies.
• Some people are "above" Valentine's Day, or they don't need to be reminded that they love each other.

Things that I do believe:

• Valentine's Day can be celebrated by anyone.  Celebrate the love, not only of a significant other, but of your friends and family too.
• Valentine's Day dates back centuries before Hallmark was founded.  While the holiday is commercialized, no one is forcing you to buy cards, candy, or flowers in order to celebrate it.  Get creative and celebrate in a way that is special and/or inexpensive for you.
• People are only "above" the holiday if they choose to be.  If that's the case, why celebrate anything, or any other holiday.  Why not take the opportunity and the time to remember and celebrate the love in your life.  If more people took more time to recognize the love in their life the world would be a happier place.
• There is nothing wrong with not celebrating if a person chooses not to.

I grew up celebrating this holiday.  Even before romantic love ever entered the picture.  I will continue to celebrate it even if it's just in my own little way.  Today I am preparing a delicious roast for dinner.  I am wearing a pink sweater with heart jewelry.  My computer is even themed with Valentine's colors.  I went to Valentine's Tea at my church on Saturday, and I exchanged valentines with my parents.  My parents gave my husband and me some gift cards for Valentine's Day.   My husband is one of those people who views Valentine's Day as a "Hallmark Day".  We've never really had any big celebrations because of this.  However, he's open to the idea of celebration, but we still don't make a big deal out of the holiday.  We will use our gift cards soon, and will most likely consider that meal our "special Valentine's dinner".

So whatever your view on the holiday, I hope you have a great day!

 HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

Unlucky, yet very Lucky

Thursday morning we awoke to find that we had no hot water. The most likely cause of course: frozen water in the pipe. Luckily the frozen spot was located quickly and was thawed with a space heater. Carlos and I then insulated all of the hot water pipe and overnight we left a slow drip on the hot water faucet. We were also lucky in the fact that we did not have any leaks or breaks in the water line. When we went to Home Depot to purchase the insulation we luckily got the last few segments of pipe insulation that they had. In was kind of fun climbing around on the rafters in the attic to install the insulation.

For those of you who are unaware... New Mexico has been experiencing very unusual cold temperatures. In fact New Mexico has been declared in a state of emergency due to the energy (gas/electric) shortage caused by unusual high usage for heating. Rolling blackouts have been implemented throughout the state. Water breakages and outages are very common this week. We were lucky in that our house did not experience any blackouts.

Late yesterday afternoon Carlos noticed something that sounded like running water. We immediately thought, "Oh no! Busted pipe!" Sure enough, a fitting on the pipe in our backyard had busted. Luckily though, this would be an easy fix and did not cause any other damage to the house (lots of local homes have had leaks in their attics/walls). We were able to turn off the water, purchase the necessary fittings and tools, replace the pieces, and get the water back on, all in a matter of 45 minutes. :)
We were also able to get to the hardware store just before they were about to close.

Below is a picture of the broken elbow:

Here is a picture of the repair (well, we still need to add plumber's putty):

So, to sum up... We were unlucky in that we had a frozen hot water pipe, and a busted fitting.

We were very lucky in that:

• The hot water pipe did not break.
• The cold water pipe was an easy fix.
• We got the last few pieces of pipe insulation.
• We got to the store to purchase repair pieces just before they were about to close.
• Neither pipe incidences were in a location to cause serious damage to the home.
• We did not experience any of the rolling blackouts that were prevalent here in town.
• Carlos and I had each other to help with the repairs/preventative measures.

SNOW!

We have snow!! :) It is quite a rare event here. Especially to receive an entire 3 inches! Lol. Carlos and I went for a walk this morning in the snow (8 degrees, with wind chill of -7). It was awesome! We bundled up enough that it actually felt quite nice. Carlos' grandparents live very close, so we stopped by to say hello to them.

Here are some pics:

The schools are closed, but the office where I work is open. It actually didn't have any power, and therefore my boss said that we could come in late to allow time for the power to come back on. The roads are pretty much pure ice. I have never before driven in these conditions. However, I felt like I was prepared to give it a try for my first time. My car did not feel the same way. I drive a small rear wheel drive vehicle. There are several hills on the way to work. The first hill I came to had a line of cars trying to get up it, and it also happens to be on a blind curve. So... When it came my turn to drive up... I just didn't make it. I tried all I could think of to get my car to get up the hill... I ended up just putting the car in reverse, and headed back home. It was a bit exciting in a way.

I called my job and let them know that I wasn't going to be coming in today. My coworker who answered the phone told me that he saw a lot of stranded cars on his way to the office, and that our secretary was currently stranded on a hill. Of my 11 coworkers, 8 drive trucks. Their trip to work probably was not nearly as difficult.

I am pleased with my decision to have a self proclaimed Snow Day!