Happy Holidays!

Today is the Winter Solstice, and we are celebrating our holiday this evening. We had been invited to join the family Christmas celebration at his niece's home in Colorado, but we decided to forgo the hustle-bustle of holiday travel (and the very real possibilty of CO snow) and cocoon in our cozy house.

Manic Monday

You know how things come in threes?

#1
As I was about to leave, one of my co-workers came back in the building to tell me that I had a flat tire. *sigh* I put on my damsel in distress face and asked him if he knew how to change a tire. Then I drove home on the doughnut spare with my stomach in knots the whole way. But I made it home OK. *whew*

#2
Dog was hiding in the bedroom when I came in and demanded a hug. But it seems he had a worse day. Even though he made a job how it was drawn on the work order, apparently it was done backwards. So, we BOTH needed hugs.

#3
As I went to take off my earrings, earrings that Dog had gotten me in the plaza of Santa Fe made of ocean jasper, only one was still in my ear. The other one was gone. I just about cried over that. And whatever appetite I may have had flew the coop.

Dog was so wiped emotionally by his day, that he ate the soup I heated for him while he reclined in bed. I choked down about a half a can of chicken noodle.

This too shall pass...

Still Catching my Breath

*whew*

Setting the stage ~~
Yesterday it precipitated something as I was coming home. It hit the windshield as water, but in my headlights it looked solider. Anyway, nothing noticeable was on the ground at home, but the vehicle windows needed scraping. And the temperature is just below freezing. Fortunately, the streets looked clear.

The Incident ~~
Our route for the morning commute follows NM 528 down from Rio Rancho and across the river. Some distance from the river are some railroad tracks. Just after those the street rises and in most cases you don't realize it's an overpass. I am very glad that the traffic was fairly light this morning because just as I had time to register that the road was shiny as I hit that hill / overpass, the car went into a skid. I managed to keep my foot off the brake. The Cruise Control was set for 35mph. I am glad that both hands were on the wheel. I am not certain, to this day, what they mean by turning in the direction of the skid. What I did was to turn it the other direction than where it was headed, back and forth. I hope I more or less kept it in the lane, but at least there weren't any cars coming up in the left lane. Dog was behind me as usual. However, THIS time he followed me all the way to my office (he usually does not make the turn I do, but goes a little farther before turning south on I-25's frontage road).

Aftermath~~
I was still breathing hard when I pulled into this parking lot. When I managed to get the Mustang parked (I had to back and fill twice), Dog was standing there. So the first thing I asked him was how bad did it look. He told me that he came to congratulate me on my smooth moves in pulling out of the skid -- and to ask if I was OK. I was OK, but I sure needed a hug.

Ho, Ho, Ho...

Tis the season to be jolly.

Dog & I started exchanging our holiday gifts early -- one at a time. The first one I gave him was a Bill Cosby CD with "To Russell, my Brother, Whom I Slept With" on it. Then there was the Sally the Zombie t-shirt and the dragonette emerging from the egg sculpture / figurine.

He has given me an elephant box. The elephant itself is done in carousel motif and inside the small enamel box is an elephant pendant like the one on the box. Then there was the malachite earrings set in sterling silver and the Tinkerbell purse.

Well, back to the salt mines...