It's been almost ten years since my last post.  There are times when I feel like someone clicked the fast forward button on the remote; but there are also days when I feel like I am living the same day over and over again.  Where to begin...

When I started this Blog, I was very careful to try to not say too many things about my young children at the time.  I really didn't want to open that part of my life to the great unknown that we call the "internet"...  They have since grown up and I am so proud of them both.  One went on to complete her Bachelor's Degree in Dental Hygiene; she got married and moved away.  We get to see her every now and then -- not enough, of course.  The other one is a couple of years younger; he is attending school and doing very well with grades and making life choices that work for him.  I look forward to seeing where he ends up in his career.

I am just about ready to "celebrate" my 32nd year at my job.  I feel like 32 years is a great accomplishment considering my dad couldn't hold a job and we moved around so many times in my younger days that I'm pretty sure I went to 18 different schools from start to finish...  I just turned age 55 so I'm not sure what the future will bring for me.  I know what I would like to do, but I don't think it's in the cards yet.  Honestly, I worry more about my health and if I will even be around to see how the next few years play out.  I just had surgery on my lower back (I hurt it on October 22 and had to wait five months before they could do anything about it).  I felt like it was going to be a success for the first seven days, but on day eight I started getting the muscle spasms in my leg again.  According to "Dr. Google" on the internet, it seems that this is normal and with time it might go away.  I hope so, because that big scar on my back plus the muscle spasms just might do me in.

We have made some changes for the better on the property.  My husband's grandfather had an old wooden granary on his farm; after he passed away we were able to move it to our property and my guy (with the help of friends) has been turning it into an art studio.  It is the cutest little place.  It has a little loft with a red, leather couch that I like to sit on; we talk, he does art and I read or watch a bit of TV.  We even put the little Christmas tree up in the studio this last December (because I don't like the chaos that the decorations bring into my already stressful existence in the big house).

I have been to so many great concerts -- I wish I had kept up on posting them all so I could have the memories for the rest of my days and share them with everyone else.  I've seen Journey multiple times -- April 17th might be the last time I get to see them because the news is telling us that they are retiring.  I guess there is a time and place, but dang!  I don't want the end to be near.

My brother and I still have tickets for our annual Red Rocks trek this year to see Big Head Todd and The Monsters.  I am a little nervous about the stairs -- I sure hope that I can make it work.  I would cry real tears if I can't get there.  The only time that we had to "cancel" going together was in 2020, but the venue allowed the band to put on a show in September of that year (a "social distance" show so they were only able to sell about 300 tickets per show if I remember correctly).  He couldn't go, so I drove out to Colorado by myself and had the best time.  It was an experience that I never want to forget.

One of my absolutely favorite shows over the last five years was Creed with 3 Doors Down and Finger Eleven.  Holy cow!  Those guys know how to rock.  It was so amazing.  I bought a ticket for myself after months of deliberation on whether I wanted to go alone or not; a really great seat opened up at the last minute and I am so thankful I did it.  

There are a few shows that I would like to see this year, but I've held off on getting the tickets because I don't know if my back and health will let me go alone.  I sure hope I can figure this out...

I'm Still Here

Oh my!  I haven't added anything to this blog since 2014.  Where.  Has.  The.  Time.  Gone?

I don't even know where to start.  So many exciting -- and not so exciting -- things have happened since that little Scottie dog herded the sheep in our field.

Adam and I can now say that we have been married for 26th years -- officially "together" for 27.  I can't believe it.  I certainly don't *feel* like I could have possibly been married that long...  I always tease Adam about being married to such an old man, but the sad part of that statement is that I am five-months-minus-one-day older than him.  :)

Physically speaking, I can tell that I am getting older and for me, the biggest changes have happened in the last two years.  My hair has a lot more gray; it's still mostly brown so I haven't wanted to break down and color it yet, but it is gray enough that I no longer want to pull them all out because frankly, I just can't keep up.   My eyes are getting older and I can barely read without using those "cheap" reader glasses because I'm not ready to admit that I need to go to the eye doctor yet (I see distances just fine so don't worry, I can still keep the car in the middle of the road so I'm not a danger to anyone on the sidewalks).  My body is starting to break down.  I had to have my gallbladder out last year and I *tried* to convince the surgeon to *accidentally* cut a little lower and remove another part or higher to remove my brain.  He, being the professional that he is, didn't go for it so I'm still dealing with the problems that happen when girls get older and I feel like I lack the brain power required to be a functioning human adult (haha).  I was diagnosed with that Hashimoto's Thyroid *thing* a couple of years ago and it has been a great excuse for all the little things that just don't feel right.  I got the thyroid experience from my mom and we constantly compare notes regarding our health.  It's weird to try to describe to the non-believer -- you don't really have anything that you can say is wrong, but you just feel like hell all of the time and you have no energy to do anything other than what has to be done, like work, take care of the family, etc.  The worst part about having thyroid issues is my skin.  My skin is so dang dry (and living in the desert certainly doesn't help matters).  I'm constantly dealing with flaky, cracked skin and some days the pain from the cracks in my feet and hands is more than I can mentally deal with.  Needless to say, I've been battling depression pretty heavily this year.

Depressing stuff aside...

Best thing that happened to me this summer?  August 22.  Tom (my older brother), Adam and I went to USANA to see Dave Mason, Doobie Brothers, and of course my favorite - JOURNEY.  We had front row seats on the left (north) side of the stage, directly in front of the speakers.   I don't know how I managed to score uncomfortable seats like that, but I can say that we literally lived the experience.  We resonated with every sound throughout the entire show.  I can't even tell you how happy I was to have my ear plugs.  I would have been miserable without them.

Dave Mason's band played some old songs that we all recognized.  Tom "Googled" Dave's name before the show and we were surprised to see how many (famous) people he's played/recorded with throughout the years, and how many songs he wrote for other singers.  I talked to my mom the day after the show and she raved about how much she loved his music; as a matter of fact, she told me that she was sitting in her car in a parking lot listening to one of his songs when they announced the end of the Vietnam War.

     Dave Mason's Setlist included:
          1) Only You Know and I Know  
          2) Rock and Roll Stew
          3) We Just Disagree
          4) Feelin' Alright  
          5) All Along the Watchtower

I LOVED the Doobie Brothers.  Their music is not something that I randomly listen to these days, but they have a ton of songs that I remember from my youth.

     Doobie Brother's Setlist included:
          1) Jesus is Just Alright
          2) Rockin' Down the Highway
          3) Take Me in Your Arms (Rock Me)
          4) Dark Eyed Cajun Woman
          5) Spirit
          6) Sweet Maxine
          7) Eyes of Silver
          8) Clear as the Driven Snow
          9) Billy Payne Piano Solo
          10) Takin' It to the Streets
          11) The Doctor
          12) Black Water
          13) Long Train Runnin'
          14) China Grove
          15) Encore:  Without You
          16) Encore:  Listen to the Music

Journey, of course, was the bomb!  Their drummer from the most recent years allegedly did something pretty naughty (according to the news at the time) and apparently the band parted ways with him just before the Stadium of Fire concert that we attended on the 4th of July last summer.  This tour, they brought on their former late-1970s through mid-1990s drummer, Steve Smith.  It was so exciting to see him play with the band.  That man knows how to rock!  (Of course, I probably would have enjoyed it even more if I hadn't been in front of the speakers.)  He is an exceptional drummer.  I am definitely a fan and I literally can't say that I prefer one singer or drummer more than another because honestly, I "love" them all.   All the musicians have been so awesome -- I'm just so thankful they have kept the band going and I sincerely hope that they will for many years to come...

It almost feels "sacrilegious" for me to say that something seemed a little off at this show.  I couldn't quite tell what it was -- whether it was the dry air doing a number on Arnel's voice, or if it was the fact that the music just seemed a little slower, or if it was my expectation of the experience (back to that earlier comment about being directly in front of the speakers).  I did get to experience the fan-girl moment by touching hands with Arnel when he got down from the stage and ran across the front row of concert attendees (haha).

     Journey's Setlist included:
          1) Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)
          2) Be Good to Yourself
          3) Only the Young
          4) The Star-Spangled Banner
          5) Stone in Love
          6) Any Way You Want It
          7) Lights
          8) Jonathan Cain Piano Solo
          9) Open Arms
          10) Who's Crying Now
          11) Escape
          12) La Do Da
          13) Steven Smith Drum Solo
          14) Wheel in the Sky
          15) Faithfully
          16) Don't Stop Believin'
          17) Encore:  Lovin' Touchin' Squeezin'
          18) End Music over the sound system:  Arnel's version of The Place in Your Heart

My second favorite day of the summer happened the day before the Journey concert.  We were supposed to go to Idaho to see The Steve Augeri Band perform at Lava Hot Springs, but it turned out to be an elaborate Internet hoax because a couple of days before the show when I was trying to figure out directions to the venue I noticed that the website had been taken down.  I did eventually get in touch with someone on Facebook who told me that the show had been cancelled.  (We saw Steve Augeri perform last year and he was AWESOME!)  Needless to say, I was pretty sad that the show had been cancelled because we had been planning and counting on it for so long...  When we talked about it as a family, Adian suggested that we go to the Grand Canyon.  So, we looked it up on Google Maps and found out that the North Rim is only about 4 1/2 hours from our house.  The next day we packed up the car and left at 9:00 in the morning.  We made one big pit stop for a snack run and we also stopped for lunch in Circleville.

(As a side note:  My family took a trip to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon just after Mom & Bill were married in 1983.  Bill had a job interview in Arizona during the hottest part of the summer and we rode in a car with no air-conditioning.  It was a memorable trip, for sure!  I think we were all very thankful that he got the job in Dallas instead of Arizona because the weather in Dallas was so much better...)

This time around, my little family had the luxury of being in an air-conditioned car.  The kids behaved themselves, unlike most of the other family outings that we've had in the past.  There was very little fighting this time so maybe we can handle taking a few more trips before they are all grown and out of the house.

The North Rim of the Grand Canyon is an absolutely gorgeous place.  It is so magical -- the colors, the scenery, the view.  We followed a little trail near the log cabin to a lookout point, spent a lot of time admiring the view and taking a ton of pictures...  I thought it was interesting that Adam and Abby (who resemble each other) were more daring than Adian and I (I often refer to him as my "mini-me" because he is so much like me), we both preferred to stay in the center of the trail where the other two liked to venture over to the edge.

Other points of interest this past summer included the Indigenous show with my mom and the Brand New/Modest Mouse concert at The Saltaire with Adam (horrible venue, great show).  Adam wasn't thrilled about attending that one but he went because he loves me.  Next time I think I will take my mom or Adian to that one.  Adam and I also attended the Dennis DeYoung/Boston concert at USANA (8th row, center stage seats were absolutely awesome!).  I took my daughter to see her dream-beau, Shawn Mendez with James TW as the opening act at The Saltaire.  (The performances rocked, but the "show" was horrible -- there were what seemed like a million pre-pubescent girls with an occasional teenage boy inside the venue instead of outside where they would have been able to comfortably accommodate that many people.  There was no way in hell I was going to be close to the stage for that show so I let Abby go up while I went to the back row.  I was close enough to keep an eye on her and bring $5.00 bottles of water to keep her hydrated.)  Adam and I got to experience Black Sabbath's "The End" tour this month, too, with Tom and his friend.  Funny thing about that show is that despite the fact that it was sold out we ran into one of Adam's friends in the center of the crowd.

Earlier in the year Adam and I, along with Tom and his friend, got to see Big Head Todd and The Monsters at the Depot.  I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE that band!  Tom took me to see them the summer before at Red Rocks in Morrison, Colorado, so I was so thrilled when I found out that they would be in Utah.   Funny thing about that particular show is when Tom pointed out a guy across the audience and asked me if I thought it was one of our old friends from Mesquite, Texas.  Sure enough, it was.  We loved having the opportunity to talk to him again after all these years.

Dedicated to all who get to live their dreams...

I saw the funniest thing the other day and I am going to do my best to describe the events based on my interpretation…  As a little precursor to the story, it is important to explain that every Spring we allow a local farmer use of the field for his herd of sheep.  You should also know that I know absolutely nothing about sheep other than the fact that they drink a lot of water, eat my favorite plants when they sneak into the yard which happens numerous times per day, and they poop; not just a little, they poop a lot.  The sheep are not all bad, though, they are very entertaining and most of the time the little babies are down-right cute so I look forward to spending time with them every year...

On Friday I decided to spend a rare, quiet evening with the TV and a DVD so I was in the dark room with the volume turned up watching one of the exciting parts of the movie “Deep Impact” when my dogs started barking like c-r-a-z-y.  I immediately went outside and saw that the little husky-mix was pointing toward the back field and barking frantically.  She *rarely* exudes this type of behavior so I got a little worried.  I ran to the back yard and noticed a guy running around the field chasing the sheep.  I thought it was a little weird, and to be honest, I don’t really know what all of the farmer’s family members look like so I thought that maybe they were rounding up the sheep for something unknown to the non-farmer in me.  I watched him for a little bit of time and noticed that the sheep were running around in a tight circle in the middle of the field.  It seemed a little strange so I went to the front yard to see if I could gain a better perspective of what was happening.  I noticed the cutest little “Scottie” (Scottish Terrier) herding the sheep by chasing them around in a circle.  The little dog looked like it was having the time of his life – prancing around with ease and barking its head off – and giving the appearance of a well-practiced herder. 

I still thought it was a little strange because I didn’t see the farmer’s trailer so I went into the back yard just in time to see the little dog get caught and reprimanded by the guy that had been chasing him.  I yelled out, “HEY!  WHAT’S GOING ON HERE?!?”  To my surprise the guy said that they were sitting in his car when the little dog jumped out and started chasing the sheep.  I could tell the guy was extremely embarrassed (and now that I know what happened, I don’t blame him for being embarrassed) so I tried to ease the situation by telling him that watching his pampered house pet herding those sheep (that were five times the little dog's size) like a pro had to be one of the most spectacular and funniest things that I have ever seen…  Too bad it was all just because the little dog was being naughty.

So… here is to the people (of all shapes, numbers of legs, and sizes) who get to live their dreams.  I bet that little dog will be chasing (not counting) sheep for months in his dreams.   

Beauty

This was one of the best days of my life. 

Seriously.

We got a call last night from an aunt who said that her husband wanted to take the ATVs for a ride.  So, he packed them up, stopped to pick us up this morning, and off we went for a day of adventure. 

I have only had the opportunity to drive a few places in a 4WD truck on our mountain because so many trails are limited to hikers, small ATVs, etc., so I haven't had a chance to really explore the country until today.

And boy!  HAVE I MISSED OUT!  Less than 20 miles from my back yard consists of some of the most beautiful country that I have ever seen.  The beauty goes on, and on, and on.  I so wish that I could tell you where we were, but that would give too much away (regarding where I live).  The day was perfect.  The weather was warm (except at the top with cutting wind that felt like winter).  And the company was fun.

The first place that we drove to was one of my favorite spots -- a clear, fresh water lake.  The last time I went to this little spot in Heaven was when we had our 1991 Toyota 4WD with a lift kit -- that baby could go any place.  The road these days is much worse that it was back then.

We saw some gorgeous deer on the way to the lake.  I think we saw a total of six...  I sure hope they can outsmart the humans when the deer hunt starts later this month.

After visiting the lake, we drove out to a spot that my father-in-law and uncle kept referring to as "Point."  It's hard to imagine that this place was once under water, but the evidence is written in the fossilized shells in the rock.  The picture above was taken from this location.  The aspens are so yellow and bright; and I just love how they mix with the beautiful pines.

After visiting "Point" and feasting on a picnic of sandwiches and chips, we drove a lot of miles and saw a lot of countryside.  We visited another lake (that has a road that we can take in our SUV so we might be able to visit it again someday) and then to a spot that felt like we were on top of the world looking down on creation (The Carpenters come to mind).

Sitting behind my man (hugging him all day to keep from falling off the ATV) had it's perks, too!    :)

Always On My Mind

When my little sister and brother were younger, they had the opportunity to earn money (or something like that) and shop for Christmas presents at a school "store."  They always came up with the cutest stuff.  One year my brother gave me an egg timer in the shape of a rooster.  Another year they gave me a little toothpick holder with a picture of a cow.  The one that I have been thinking about today was a little plastic picture frame with a cartoon elephant sitting on top of another elephant; the little quote reads, "You're always on my mind." 

I just want to say, that my little sister and brother had such a special place in my heart back in those days -- and the feeling hasn't changed one bit.  And truthfully, they are ALWAYS on my mind.

That being said, I had the absolute worst nightmare about these two little kids last night.  I don't want to go into the drama of the dream, but let's say that someone was trying to take them from me and I was in a hole and could not get out to save either one of them.  It was an absolute, horrible feeling and I have not been able to shake it all day.  Thank God that they are both adults now; not sure how it would feel to have to worry that it would happen to either one of them today... 

Kind of makes me want to grab them both in a tight hug and never let go.

Potatoes!

You say potato, I say "Potatoes Au Gratin" tonight... 

My in-laws sent me home with some fresh produce from their garden the other day, which included some very pretty red-skinned potatoes.  I have been thinking about these potatoes all day long and CRAVING Au gratin style, so guess what I am cooking tonight?!?

I don't have a secret family recipe, and to tell the truth, I had to pull out my trusty smart phone while shopping at the store to remember how to make them.  I found what is panning out to be the very best Au gratin recipe that I have ever attempted.

-----------------------------------------

1.  A BUNCH of potatoes -- I don't know how many, but it was enough to slice and fill a casserole dish.
2.  1 Red Onion -- I really like the flavor and color of red onions.
3.  A touch of salt & pepper

After cutting the potatoes and onions into "thinnish" pieces, I layered them in a random way in the greased casserole dish. In a separate pan, I cooked

4.  4 tablespoons butter, melted and hot
6.  4 tablespoons flour
6.  A tiny bit of salt
7.  1/2 teaspoon powdered garlic

I constantly stirred the butter & flour mixture until it boiled for one full minute, then I added

8.  2 cups milk

I cooked & stirred until this mixture thickened, then I added

9.  2 cups grated, smoke flavored cheese -- the recipe itself seemed a little bland so I splurged on the cost of the smoked cheese (yum!)

I cooked & stirred this mixture until all the cheese melted. Then I poured the mixture over the layers of sliced potatoes & onions.  Covered the dish with foil, then baked at 400-degrees for 1 1/2 hours.

I'm sure that I could somehow figure out the fat and calorie content, but to be honest... they are so good that I don't really care.  

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I plan to serve these yummy potatoes with chicken that I boiled in the pressure cooker.  (My favorite kitchen pan is my pressure cooker!) 

:)

Red, Red Wine

I started writing this one on October 30, 2010 and decided to publish it in case I lose the Blogger account:


"Twenty-two years later -- I saw UB40 for the second time in my life. We had a GREAT time moving and grooving at the concert this week. They put on a GREAT show! We went to my favorite venue and this time around I actually got close enough to the stage to see what the guys look like in person. It was SO MUCH FUN -- that pretty much sums up my concert experience.

They played a lot of the songs that I remember and quite a few that I don't. My favorite, of course, is "Red, Red Wine"."