Category: Family

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Our Last ABQ Sight

Bow Tie o’ the Day breathed the high air with us at Sandia Peak, in the mountains on the outskirts of Albuquerque.

We live in mysteries. Things we do not understand, and will never figure out, surround us. One of the mysteries I live with is Suzanne’s strange motion sickness parameters. She gets nauseous on a jetway. She gets nauseous on some– but not all– elevators. She gets nauseous on a plane if she isn’t wearing her anti-nausea patch. She cannot sit anywhere but in the front seat of a moving vehicle– preferably as the driver, which is tricky when she’s on a bus or train. At amusement parks, she can’t go on any rides that move in circles or turn upside down. But she CAN ride most roller coasters. And she CAN apparently ride a dangling tram up the mountains for 2.7miles, to the top of Sandia Peak. Explain that. Even Suzanne is unable to solve the nonsensical mysteries of which movements make her motion-sick and which don’t. We just accept these parameters as facts of her equilibrium existence. I was simply glad she could ride the tram with me.

Aside from the afore-posted fabric store, Sandia Tramway was the only other ABQ sight Suzanne experienced. She was content with those two adventures. As tremendous as the view from the peak was, it’s a sure bet that Suzanne’s fave thing about Sandia Tramway was at the foot of the tram. It was the touristy gift shop. How do I know this? Because she found four pairs of earrings. How do I know this? Because when I made my purchases there, I discovered I was paying for four pairs of earrings that magically appeared out of nowhere in my items at check-out. What did yours truly find at the gift shop? A hat and a pair of hot air balloon-covered cufflinks. Gift shops are a cheesy, cheapy rip-offs, but they are fun rip-offs.

I, unfortunately, ran out of time and did not make it to the place that I’m positive would have been my fave: Tinkertown Museum. Tinkertown Museum is a collection of one man’s lifetime of whittling projects– thousands of miniatures, dioramas, and animated scenes. Doesn’t that sound like my kind o’ folk art? I was not impressed with Albuquerque, as a whole. If I’d been lucky enough to have had time to see Tinkertown Museum, I wouldn’t care to return. But there is no way on the planet that I won’t go back someday just to go to Tinkertown Museum.

I can envision it now: One day, after Suzanne is off to work for the day, I hop on a morning flight to ABQ; spend a few hours being enthralled by some dead guy’s whittling collection; then fly back to SLC– in time to potty Skitter and make dinner. Suzanne wouldn’t have a clue that I’d even been out of the house. C’mon, you know it’s the kind of thing I would do, if only to be able to write a post about it.

 

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Where Does Suzanne Go When She Goes?

Bow Tie o’ the Day’s paw prints and bones are letting you know that as our ABQ trip wound down, I was sooooo missing Skitter. The way I wore Bow Tie– and the fact that I was rolling my blue eyes– tells you that I stood all amazed and was trying very hard to keep my mouth shut. Why? Because we were far away from home in ABQ, and when Suzanne had a spare couple of hours to explore the surroundings, where did we end up? At a fabric store, of course.

In the hotel lobby the day before, Suzanne had been looking at the tourist pamphlets and advertisements. Wouldn’t ya know it– she found an ad for a fabric store called Hip Stitch. AND the ad had a coupon for a free quarter-piece of the fabric of your choosing. I knew resistance was futile. The fabric store ended up being the first of the two “sights” she saw in ABQ.

To be fair, I willingly drove Suzanne to the fabric store. She said we didn’t need to go, but I knew she was secretly desperate to get to it. You already know I can’t say NO to anything Suzanne wants. And I have to admit that nothing pleases me more than to watch Suzanne’s face be happy in a fabric store. There was no way on earth I wasn’t going to make sure she got there.

Suzanne got a bunch o’ fabric. I made out like the proverbial bandit I am, as well– because I found some terrific cape material. And then we had to buy another suitcase in which to haul our new fabric home from ABQ.

BTW   Suzanne has already started creating my magical ABQ-material cape. Let me assure you right now that based on what I can tell from watching her work on it, the finished cape will be a light year or two beyond cool and hip and groovy. 😲 I’m sharpening up my pester skills so she’ll want to git ‘er done tonight.

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I Wasn’t Ready, But I Did It Anyway

Tie o’ the Day and I managed to sneak in a bow tie on a t-shirt, for double amusement. While Suzanne labored at The University of New Mexico from 9-5 every day, I ferreted out ABQ wonders to see. Tie helped me keep my eye on the fuel level in our rental car. I have told you and told you before, and I will tell you again and again: A piece of neckwear can be helpful in a multitude of ways– like reminding you to fill up the gas tank after you’ve driven every road in New Mexico.

In fact, a tie is a lot like a dog in some ways. It wants to make you happy. It loves you beyond reason. You can be a complete jerk, and your tie will still think you are the cat’s meow– just like dogs do. If you can train a mutt to do tricks and tasks, you can train a tie to do the same.

I, on the other hand, am somewhat untrainable. Or maybe “unchangeable” is the right word. Okay, the right word is “stubborn.” There. I wrote it: I’m stubborn about one or two or 8,000 things. I stuck to my stubborn-inity about lifting my own luggage and keeping up with the vacay goal of seeing as many sights as possible. Unfortunately, I stubborn-ed my way into bringing home an unwanted souvenir: a cold.

SURGERY RECOVERY ALERT! Skip this if you’ve had it with my yammering on about how my recovery is coming along. I’d skip reading about it if I could, cuz I’d like to skip the whole recovery altogether.

Here it is, four months after surgery, and I still get caught by limits. The things I can’t do are certainly fewer and far-er between, but some of my shouldn’t-do’s are so simple– like putting away clean serving dishes onto a high shelf. Nope. Still can’t do that.

It’s frustrating to hold back on doing what I feel like I can do, but know I still should not do. I mean– really! How can it be that visiting one tourist spot a day is the totality of what I can do without having to couch potato the entire next day? So in Albuquerque, I just pushed my way through the exhaustion and drove where I wanted and investigated what there was to see. I knew I would pay for it. But oh, well. I know that since surgery, my immunity is low and my body is putting all its energy into repairing my innards. Thus, I easily caught a cold, which has leveled me.

I know a cold is a tiny recovery bump, but I also know I must baby it a little, so it doesn’t become something bigger, which my immunity system can’t handle. I think it was worth it to grab some vacay time though– to be somewhere that isn’t my own house, doing something besides sprawling out in my own recliner.

The week ahead is a must-recover-from-vacay week. I am, however, planning to drive to Delta to visit Mom in a few days. Her spirit is always rejuvenating. I hope my visits give her the same energizing uplift she gives me. What I do know about when we are together is that we never shut up and we never quit laughing. That’s gotta be good for us both.

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Doing Some Travelogue Catch-up

So….. A week ago today, we were in L.A., attending a Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds concert at The Forum. As I’ve mentioned before, it’s an obscure band, so don’t feel un-cool if you’ve never heard of it. But Suzanne’s life would simply not be complete if she had never seen them in concert at least once, so it was important we make Suzanne’s life complete. And by “complete” I mean complete until the next thing she needs to do to make her life feel complete.

For the duration of the event, I actually wore only the wood guitar Bow Tie o’ the Day, but I did wear my guitar bolo with it for a minute, just for this picture. I wanted to show it off.

Although I try to not match in terms of fabric designs and colors, I sometimes choose to be thematically matchy.  It’s almost etiquette to wear a guitar to a rock concert– especially if it’s a bow tie. Wearing a real guitar might create logistical problems. 🤡

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A Photo On Our Homeward-bound Flight

Bow Tie o’ the Day was spittin’ mad at the alarm clock this morning. We had to get out of bed at 4 AM to make our 6 AM flight from Albuquerque. We were back in SLC by 7:30 AM. Nap time!

I am double tired today because– not only did we have a mere few hours sleep at the hotel last night– Suzanne snored every minute of those few hours, which meant I did not catch a wink.

She doesn’t do that normally. I think she did it on purpose, just to amuse herself. Every once in a blue moon she does something like that just to act like she controls our lives. I don’t know why she has to flex her boss muscles. It’s not like she needs to prove anything. We both know she really is the boss of us. And that fact is not fake news. Even Skitter knows who wears the” big girl panties” in the family. 🤠

 

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An Unexpected Joy Of This Trip To ABQ

Smiley faces Bow Tie o’ the Night tops off this ensemble– which was made possible by the fact that I forgot to pack my pajamas for this trip. Consequently, I have HAD to wear my fancy, old timey swimming suit to sleep in. I’m so happy about the whole thing that I just might accidentally-on-purpose forget to put my pj’s in my suitcase for every trip.

My swimming attire is comfy and amusing. It’s difficult for me, or anyone in my presence, to take things too seriously when I’m wearing it. I’m wearing the button-down shirt because I was heading to the vending machine for a Diet Coke, and I was trying to disguise the fact that I wasn’t wearing a bra. The shoes are my cool animal print Sloggers. And yes, I had to wear Bow Tie. I can’t be seen without some kind of tie– even by hotel guests I don’t even know. It’s a trademark at this point. I’m like the sharks that will die if they stop swimming. If I stop wearing neckwear, I will most likely disappear.

I remember that as a wee kid I occasionally wanted to sleep in my swimming suit– especially when I got a new one. I doubt I was the only kid who wanted to catch some z’s in pool attire. I have no idea why it seemed like such a fun thing to do, but I also did not understand why adults had such a hard time allowing children to do this innocuous thing. In my circle of pals, I was the only kid whose parents had no problem with the idea. I was always allowed to sleep in it. Whenever I asked Mom or Dad if I could do it, I got an answer along the lines of, “I don’t care if you sleep in your holster and cowboy boots. Just go to bed.” Ah, the joys of being the afterthought baby of the family!

My parents were exhausted pros by the time I made my appearance on the planet, so they were loose-goosey with me about inconsequential things. Their previous parenting had taught them which battles mattered and which battles were much ado about nothing. The “nothing” battles  needed to not be fought, and sometimes not even commented on. Apparently, sleeping in a swimming suit was a “nothing” battle.

Mom told me flat-out once that she and Dad would spoil me, but that I was not allowed to be a spoiled brat. She said she and Dad were done doing all the vacations, etc. they did with the other kids, so I shouldn’t expect any of that. She said, “We’ll give you stuff and let you do what you want. But you’re not allowed to be a snot.” She wasn’t completely serious, but she sorta was. I got the message. If I was respectful of others and kind to them, I was a-ok with my parents. I didn’t go without material kid things. But mostly, I did not go without constant love and care and security. I was spoiled with those things every minute of my childhood. And of my adulthood. And of my middle-age-hood. And of whatever age-hood I’m in now.

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How Do You Explain These Things To A Mutt?

Look at me! Bow Tie o’ the Day and Hat o’ the Day match. I can make that happen sometimes, but it’s usually by accident. Not this time though. I meant to do this. I’m trying to distract Skitter from what’s about to happen.

I’m trying desperately to jolly up the Skit, because in a couple of hours, Suzanne and I are off to the airport to leap on a jet which will land in L.A.. Skitter knows somethin’s up. Her face in this photo is about to break my bow-tied heart. Her eyes look sadly bereft, despite the sombrero she let me put atop her doggie noggin. I was certain that a fun hat would bring her out of her doldrums. It always has that effect on me. But sporting this sombrero only ALMOST made her smile.

It’s hard on us to leave Skitter– with all her fears, her phobias, her fruit loopiness, and her vibrating. But the minute Suzanne’s angel of a sister, Marjorie, comes over this morning to stay with Skitter for an entire week o’ sleepovers, Skitter will perk up. In fact, Skitter will shed a lot of her skittishness, at the very sight of Marjorie. Marjorie has captured Skitter’s shaking, long-legged heart.

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Books You Can Hold, Crafts You Can Create, And Head Hairs You Can’t Tame

Bow Tie o’ the Day has a really, really, really double-tough challenge for you. Try to guess which store listed on the sign is the reason I drove to this block in Layton. As much as Suzanne likes BARNES & NOBLE, she is even more mesmerized by MICHAELS. I, however, am here solely for the books. Yes, this was an un-tough, un-challenging challenge. I gave you a rest from thinking too hard.

Check out the gang o’ hairs sticking out from over my left ear. I can’t wait until what used to be the shaved area of my crown is long enough for me to put it behind my ears. Now, my daily hairs rant is over.

And at this moment I’m headed to The Tie Room to pack neckwear into one suitcase for my L.A. trip and into another suitcase for my Albuquerque trip. Prepare for a week’s worth of posts from your friendly, clashing foreign correspondent.

BTW  I’m taking my funky swimming suit on BOTH trips, and I kinda want to wear it all week. With my cape. And with hats. And with bandanas. I’m thinking Suzanne might put her foot down about the cape. It’s bound to happen once. 👙

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I’m Being Sly

Bow Tie o’ the Day is assisting me in doing some subliminal pestering. In the two weeks since Suzanne created my eye-catching cape, this is the third post in which it appears. I’m hoping Suzanne will take this subtle hint that I want another cool cape ASAP. Oh, this cloak is snazzy enough to be in every post, but you know that is not at all how I roll. I don’t do singles of ritzy attire. I do bigly collections.

Right after Suzanne finished making this Cape o’ the Day, she said she’d get right to the job of making me another one. And then….. Well, she got distracted by making quilt tops, so I am selfishly trying to nudge her back toward making me capes –by wearing it whenever I get the chance and by posting it publicly. I would rather be manipulative about pulling her back into the cape-making biz than come off as nagging and pestering. Yes, I am attempting to subliminally maneuver Suzanne out of piecing together quilt tops and back into caping for yours truly.

Suzanne is not stoopid. She will see the cape over and over again in my post photos, and she will know exactly what I am hinting for her to do. She knows my tricks. She sees through every move I make. She sees through every move I will EVER make. But… when we return home from our week o’ adventure next Saturday, I won’t be surprised one bit to find Suzanne will suddenly feel the urge to make me another fancy-shmancy cape.

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Fear, Songs, And Foot-stompin’

Bow Tie o’ the Day is brand spankin’ fresh. It appeared in the mailbox just a few days ago. The only problem I personally have when wearing spider designs around my neck, is that I get the No Doubt song, “Spiderwebs” stuck in my head for a couple of days. I like the song, but there is no song in the universe wonderful enough that I can stand it to be repeated in my brain constantly for two days. Between the repetitions of “Spiderwebs,” sometimes my head throws in a few repetitions of No Doubt’s “Don’t Speak” and “I’m Just A Girl,” which are absolutely remarkable songs.

Suzanne has an issue with spiders, so she hasn’t seen Bow Tie in person yet. And I’ll make sure she doesn’t. This picture will be probably all she can tolerate. I guess she could just not look at me while I’m wearing any of my spider neckwear, but that would be almost impossible for her to do, since we actually live in the same house. And it’s not easy to not look at me, because of the hypnotic effect my blinding fashion choices create.

Now I’m not saying I have a love affair with spiders, but I must admit that I do like smashing the damn things when they cross my path. There’s something about the sound of that tiny spider-crunch under my shoe that puts a bigly smile on my face. That crunch makes me feel like a slayer o’ dragons, which makes me feel mighty tough.

And, of course, I always brag to Suzanne about my spider killings. It earns me points with her that I would do something she considers dangerous, in order to save her from what scares her. I rack up the goodwill points with each trophy spider I slay.  I hope it doesn’t make me an unethical spider hunter that we don’t eat what I kill. 🕸 👟 🕷