Setting Summer Sun

OK a dry well here of late but I'm back!

Actually I've had quite an exciting month or little more. At the end of August I won tickets to an ACLTV concert for one of the guys from the Eagles and then about 2 weeks ago I won tickets again to Alabama Shakes! Yeah I know right?! Well I didn't go to the first concert because my concert buddy was out of town and part of the reason I actually go to the concerts is so I get to visit her and her family. Mind you in my 20's I would have probably just gone on my own but age has made me realize that the Eiffel Tower is prettier with a friend. Yup good times :) I also got to meet her son for the first time and he is adorable! The sweetest smile you have ever seen and quite the charmer. It was a really good weekend but that was almost 3 weeks ago!

Since then it's been work, work, work, and sister, sister, sister. Yes I may have a case of sisteritis, spending all of my free time at her house because now my sister lives less than 5 minutes away. I could walk to her house - could, not will. However, I can't even complain about work because it has really been good lately, lots of good results and progress. I haven't had much time to be introspective or look for issues to solve in the personal realm. Obviously I have no dating life and Match.com was a complete bust, so I say with complete confidence romantic relationships are now off the table. Obviously it's not going to happen thus I will employ my time and mind in the pursuit of something equally entertaining. I will let you know when I figure that part out myself. Maybe I'll be better at blogging if I stop thinking about romance? Maybe.

Well other than that life has been hectic with work, family moving closer, friends, and obviously random ticket wins like the past month! Life has been good, over all a good way to close down the summer.  I hope everyone has had a good time of late. A bit of the Alabama Shakes for your enjoyment, who knows you might like their music :)

Wind, Music, and Flushing Toilets

Life is good :)

I need to say that so that I can put things in perspective.  Some times, not all of the time but some times it is necessary.  Today I found myself thinking about a very nasty woman from my near past and I decided I need to focus on something better.  What's better in my present and my nearer past? Where to begin!?

Last Friday I received an email that changed my whole weekend!  I won tickets to the taping of an Austin City Limits show, the artist Juanes!  OK, so I'm not a huge fan of his but the show was quite good.  I got to see a really good friend of mine and she accompanied me to the concert.  Much love for her :)  Thus I worked through the weekend, had a lab meeting on Monday, and jumped in my car and drove 6 hrs to San Antonio! The concert was on Tuesday night and I drove back on Wednesday. It may seem silly to drive 6 hours for an artist who I like but would not actually spend my own money on a ticket to see.  However, I am a huge fan of the Austin City Limits Music Festival and Live Tapings, how could I pass up the opportunity?  Also there are moments in life when steady and solid are really important adjectives.  Then there are moments in life that need to be described by free and wild.  Although not a "wild" moment, the chance to just take off and do something like this made me feel free.  I have to say that it was exciting and it made me quite happy!  While there I got to listen to local stations that play way better music than what we have in LBB.  This is the Kopecky Family Band with Heartbeat, I really like this song :)

When you have moments when you're weighed down by the nasty people from your past or your own nasty behavior - hey it happens we've all been there - those free and wild moments make you feel slightly better.  It's the silver lining to your bad day, even though I'm not going to hold on to that moment as the gold standard it brings a smile to my face.  The drive down there was beautiful, rain in TX equals green every where.  The weather was great.  I spent time with one of my fave people.  If the last thing I do in life is spend time with a great friend/family member, listening to good music, and having fun -  I can say I would die happy.

Work is going quite well and there are lots of things to just be glad for, the dog is alive, the plants are surviving, the ac works, the toilets flush, the wind on Wednesday night didn't blow down my house.  Oh yeah, we had really bad weather on Wednesday night.  Check it out below:

Yes, life is good.  Hope your's has flushing toilets and still standing houses and music - smile :)

Vacationing Po' Style

Hello all!  Recently I took a mini-vacation, it was OK.  More than OK, I truly enjoyed it and I think that I really needed that small break.  Where did I go?

Loretto Chapel, Santa Fe, NM.

I went to Santa Fe, New Mexico, with a side trip to Taos, New Mexico.  Loved it!  Santa Fe is one of the oldest cities in the US, it was founded by missionaries and intrepid Spanish pioneers in the 1800's.  The cathedral was beautiful.  They also have the Loretto Chapel with an awesome staircase!  Personally I love the architecture style that characterizes Santa Fe; old adobe buildings now imitated with modern materials.  I can't begin to tell you how much I love those old houses, I think because growing up my Grandparents house resembled an old adobe house.  Whatever the reason I would love to have a house like that some day :)


Obviously lots of art in Santa Fe, maybe not obvious if you aren't from the southwest.  Well, lots of galleries and history; even more museums.  There's a Georgia O'Keefe museum and her house is about an hour outside of Santa Fe, on the road to Taos.

San Francis de Asis, Taos, NM.

Taos is one of the only inhabited Native American towns left in the USA, I mean original town.  Their homes have been around for more than a century.  Pretty bad ass, they kicked out the Spanish and then let them return on their terms.  Then when the USA inherited NM, they killed the appointed governor.  Actually the consequences of that particular murder were pretty disastrous for them, their town was bombed and many
women/children died in the bombing.  Taos is supposed to have a "hum" that you hear when in town but the lady at the visitor's center said it was the dumb hippies who made that up.  I'm making up a new rumor, there are aliens in Taos.  As we drove into Taos there was a very reflective object on the side of a mountain.  When I was asked if I heard the hum, I said no but I saw a light on the mountain. I asked what building was there and the woman that made the "hippie" remark said, "How about you start a new rumor?  It was an UFO!"  I could not stop laughing!  So, yeah, there are UFO's in Taos.

Well that has been my very long weekend that started last week on Thursday and ended on Sunday.  Oh yeah, why was it poor?  The hotel wasn't a super nice hotel but more than met our needs and not a lot of cash flowing out of my purse.  I instead enjoyed the free stuff, not to say we didn't spend money just not on stupid crap or expensive items that I will throw away in a few years.