Taos

Taos is a beautiful area of New Mexico. In fact it was near Taos in the Cimarron Mountains where my husband first fell in love with New Mexico. He was much younger and had gone to the Cimarron's for a boyscout hiking trip.

This past weekend, we took my mother in law to see the pueblos which are 1,000 years old. Not many of the tribe lives in the village, the population inside only consists of 18 residents, mostly elderly.

It was nice to do something different than our normal grocery shopping trip in Albuquerque. Logan had a great time as well and of course found the only mud puddle in the whole area!

Making Friends

A couple weekends back I did something I normally do not do. I struck up a conversation with a perfect stranger while waiting for my husband to get his hair cut.

The woman looked to be in her 20's and her stomach was bulging with new life. Her husband seemed to be a spirited young man who filled the place with laughter. I watched her walk in with two Baskin and Robbins cups, handed him one, sat down and proceeded to have a quiet but apparently funny conversation with him as he immediatley began to laugh at the words she was saying. Logan, the curious little boy that he is, walked over to her smiled and said hi. She smiled down at him and whispered something to her husband who immediately got up and ran out the door. A minute later he was back with a smaller cup and spoon which he handed to his wife. She scooped a couple of spoonfuls of her ice cream into the smaller cup and handed it to Logan. I thanked her for her generosity and proceeded to strike up a conversation with both her and her husband.

Minutes later my husband's haircut was complete. He came over and jumped into our conversation as if we were all old friends instead of just meeting for the first time. Needing to head out and continue on with our filled day of running errands we smiled and said goodbye and goodluck on their new baby to this wonderful couple.

I have lived out here for three years now. In those three years, we have not made one single friend. We have met other couples in restaurants, at the fair, and while running errands. My husband is usually the one who strikes up a conversation with them talking about their kids, their careers, etc. Before we part he says how lovely they are and how it would be great to get together, luring them in with riding horses at the ranch and so forth. The other couples usually get excited looks on their faces and say how much their kids would love to do that. My husband exchanges business cards, usually with the husband, and we leave; never to hear from or see that couple again.

I, in a few desperate acts, have overcome my shyness and called a few of the couples up to discuss meeting for dinner sometime and get our kids together. However, in each of these attempts I have been shot down with how busy they are right now and maybe in a few months or so when things slow down they will give us a call.

And so this vicious cycle continues. My heart sinks each time I hear the words "too busy" and "we'll call you"; knowing from too many experiences that these couples will never pick up the phone to dial our number.

Making friends for me has never been easy. I was always the queit shy one who sat in the back of the class; even my teachers would forget I was there! And this life that my husband and I chose does not make the situation any easier. Luckily we still keep in contact with a few friends from college, though we are not able to see them regularly it is still nice to hear that familiar voice on the other end of the phone.

Fond Memories

We received a good rain last night. How do I know? I awoke to the sound of drip....drip...dripdrip. Yes, we have a leaky roof and it doesn't matter how many times we have gone up to fix this leak; whenever a good rain falls, it drips.

To some, probably most, this is annoying. But I always find myself laying there in bed, listening to the drips hitting the pan underneath it, and smiling to myself. Why? Because this dripping sound that irritates most brings fond memories for me. Memories of the best summer I can remember...

It was the summer of 1989 and my mom, siblings, and I were all living in our log cabin outside of Salcha, Alaska. We had no tv and no running water. We fished for our meat, grew two gardens for our fruits and vegetables, and had a couple of chickens for eggs.

We didn't have any video game devices. We told stories, played pick up sticks, jacks, cards, or made up games outside. We kids would race across the Tanana river, me with my youngest brother on my back. I lost my favorite pair of boots in that river.

I caught my first fish, a rainbow trout, in a little yellow rubber raft; learned how to gut it, and barbeque it.

In the back of the cabin we had a dense birch tree forest. One day a man dressed in skins appeared and introduced himself to my brothers, sister, and I as "Stan, the mountain mule man." He hung around and played our games with us for several days, one day he had simply disappeared and we never saw him again.

Another one of the many memories from that summer was how it rained nonstop for three days. The roof of the cabin leaked; everywhere. There were pots, pans, bowls, anything and everything we could find sprawled throughout the small space. Just as we were all settling down to sleep in our one room that the five of us shared, a leak sprouted right on my older brother's forehead. I can still hear the laugh we all shared echoing in my head.

A Compliment

Last night, the manager took us out to eat at the new Italian place down the street. As the three of us (manager, my husband, and I) were immersed in conversation, I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned around to the woman sitting at the table behind me who proceeded to say, "I don't know what you did or do to keep your son so well behaved! Whatever it is you should patent it." I smiled and thanked her.

I decided not to tell her how just an hour ago Logan was screaming bloody murder. How everyone on the ranch could hear him hollering and shouting. How we were in the office and he had had enough so his little attitude and temper flaired up. How I sat there ignoring him while entering data on my computer for forty-five minutes before finally deciding to pick him up, only to have him arch back from me and scream louder. Therefore, I put him back down and continued to ignore him until his dad came in from work to get him.

No, I did not tell her any of this. I have found that it is best to accept a compliment with a thank you and a smile rather than go into the details.

Away from Home

It has been two years since I became a certified beef cattle ultrasound field technician, and two years is how long the certification lasts. So from June 18-June 25, I will be in Ames, Iowa recertifying. This will also be the first time (besides a few hours here and there) that I will be away from my little boy.

Since I will be gone for such a period of time, I have been making up lists and going over them with my husband and myself. My husband is out with cattle all day long which Logan is still a little small for; so he does not know how Logan and my "typical" day goes or what we do. He will not be alone though, Grandma is coming to help out while my hubby is at work.

There are small things that I keep harping at like the fact that bath time is supposed to be my husband and Logan time, this gives me a small window of opportunity for me to unwind. However, my husband gets going on his unwinding time after work and before you know it, nine o'clock rolls around and Logan still has not had his bath. Or when I tell him that Logan needs a bath and he says, "I just gave him one last night;" when actually it was two days ago. So lately I have been going over and over with him, "make sure you give Logan his bath!!"

I know, I know. I sound like an overbearing, doubting mother who believes that she is the only one who can take care of her son properly. However, this is not the case. In my heart I am certain that everything will be fine; that my husband, Grandma, and Logan will all have a great time. That I am the one who will be the wreck while away.

I haven't even left yet and I am already anxious to come back home.

The Things You Find

The other night we all went out to dinner with the manager here at the ranch. We started discussing the strange things you find in different places when you have little ones around. I have compiled a list below of things I have found. What are some of the things you have found?

1. Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches shoved in the poster tubes at work.
2. The brush attachment to the vaccuum cleaner in the heater.
3. Shelled pecans in the heater.
4. Shelled pecans in your shoes.
5. Shelled pecans in your guests' suitcase (they found these after they got home).
6. Shelled pecans in the computer.
7. Sippy cups in your file drawers (at work).
8. Cell phone in your files.
9. Cell phone in your shoes.
10. A bottle of milk in the woodstove.
11. Dog food in the dryer.
12. Toothbrush in the dog food.

A Night At the Movies

We decided to be daring last night. My husband and I took Logan to see a movie in a movie theatre. On our way I tried discussing with my husband the what if's. What if he doesn't sit still and wants to terrorize the place? What if he starts screaming and yelling like he does when he gets excited? Or when he doesn't want to sit there unmobile? And after all of these what if's; the question. Which one of us is going to leave the theatre with him?

These were not the only questions rambling from my mind. There were also positive notes such as, "a theatre is quite different from tv at home, maybe he'll be awed and entranced by it all!"

So, after we purchased $20 worth of tickets and $15.50 worth of drinks and snacks (in the hopes that if he does start yelling and screaming a raisinet might keep him quiet for as long as the treat will last) we headed into our theatre room. Logan curled up on my lap, checked out the others in the theatre with us, and wide eyed watched the previews...

And that's as far as he got. The squirming started, followed by fussing and yelling because I wouldn't let him down to run and invade the others. With some staring eyes, and a few knowing looks from the older crowd, I left the theatre with Logan.

While my husband sat blissfully in his seat with the diaper bag, my purse, and all the snacks; I chased Logan up and down the halls of the theatre, through the bathrooms (even the men's), around the lobby where he tried climbing on those giant 3-D poster boards advertising new movies, away from tearing up everyone's doantion "stars", and away from the plants.

Luckily, the staff at this particular theatre was very understanding. In fact, with little going on with all the movies playing, they all found my little monster quite entertaining. They laughed as Logan walked up to the concession stand and looked at the candy, then after seeing one of them walk through the employees side door, laughed as Logan quickly followed. While one of the staffers was sweeping up the fallen popcorn from people's bags, Logan followed her around, picking up pieces he found and disposing of them in his mouth. I told him no, that's yucky; but hey at least he was helping right?

After an hour and a half of this the manager of the theatre walked over to us, knelt down and told Logan, "I hear you don't like my movie." The manager laughed as he stood back up and handed me a free movie ticket and told me "to come back and see us." I thanked him as another staff member walked up to me and smiling said, "First movie huh?"

Two and a half hours after Logan and I walked out of our movie, I saw my husband come out of the theatre. He quickly began to tell me how wonderful it was and how I "have to see it!" After he finished explaining the story line and what character clashed with who and why, he asked me how things went with Logan. I told him how patient everyone was and what the manager said and did.

My husband exclaimed, "Wow, that's great! You deserve to watch a movie while I take care of Logan after tonight."

You bet I do.