Other than track calories (fun for me) while figuring out what I can cook with a two-burner cooktop and a microwave, that my husband will eat and buying organic as much as possible now, there's not a lot to do here without a car. This blog has become blah! On a positive note, I've lost 3 pounds, which is a little faster than the goal I set. I'm sure it won't go perfectly at one pound per week, but if I average that, I'll reach my ideal weight in just over a year. However, a couple or three more pounds will put me back in last year's cool/cold weather clothes, which is perfect timing. Hopefully I won't have to buy new clothes until next fall, as I have wardrobes with at least two smaller sizes in storage. And the NewDressADay blog for inspiration if I have to take some in.
Last Wednesday I had a nice surprise as I checked my Facebook newsfeed. My friend Kathy had updated her city to Denver the previous night, so I quickly looked her up in the chat window, and sure enough she was online and still here, with no plans until evening. We made plans to have lunch, and ended up back here at the hotel for a nice long visit, just the two of us, which is a real luxury. Kathy is my ex-husband's wife, but our friendship has long surpassed that connection. We laugh about his quirks together when he isn't here--not in a mean way of course. Budd and I have been married almost 32 years, so hearing news of Jim is like hearing about an old friend, all bitterness water under the bridge. Jim recently had eye surgery to correct a macular hole, and won't be able to travel anywhere that requires him to be above 7000 feet until it is fully healed. Since the passes between their home in SW Colorado and here sometimes exceed 10,000 ft, he wasn't along for this trip, which she made to pick up her son and his girlfriend at the airport. It was great catching up.
Sunday found us at Budd's cousin's house again for hamburgers, though this time I insisted that Budd be able to drive home and that we leave before dark. The last trip home from there, with me driving on an unfamiliar network of highways after dark, was hair-raising. While we were visiting, for some reason I mentioned seeing Kathy, and Co followed up with a question about how I knew someone from Delaware (Kathy's home). I discovered, or maybe re-discovered, that she and Troy had lived with Jim during our divorce and right afterward (this is a side effect of having lived in a small town--this all occurred in Moab, UT where Budd, Troy and I all grew up). They hadn't heard about him in years, and were interested in his doings. Then Troy told me it was Jim who had set him on the path that became his 30-year engineering career. Troy, like my grandfather, is a self-educated engineer, which is very unusual in these days. Based on Budd's recent job-hunting experience, 30 years of experience isn't as valued as a college degree. Anyway, I must remember to tell Kathy to pass that on to Jim. I'm sure it will please him.
I finally have my Wii Fit back on duty. This was the result of having to move within the hotel. We had someone above us in the first room who dropped things on the floor every night from about 6 p.m. to 1 a.m. The first night, we thought it was kids jumping off the furniture, except that it went on awfully late. Then we were told it was a single occupant. He must have been dribbling his bowling ball! After a couple of days and several complaints, a room on the top (third) floor was found for us. Unfortunately, the third floor is mostly smoking rooms, so the halls are smoky, but this room is fine. Here we found a VCR/DVD combination with inputs for another device. After Budd researched the universal remote and reprogrammed it correctly, Wii worked! That gives me the ability to get some movement in during the day after my walks. With normal housework, I do fine, but in this tiny space, all I do is load the dishwasher once a day and sit the rest of the day either cross-stitching or reading. By the evening, I feel like I've been on a plane or in a car all day.
Budd got his next assignment pinned down and travel orders cut. We are here through the 28th of August, then go to Canyon de Chelly again for the whole month of September. I'm lobbying to go get the trailer with household goods so we can at least have tv, but that hasn't been decided yet. The AO has kept our old place empty, so we'll be back in the same place we started, and if we don't go get our own stuff they will make bedding and kitchenware available. She asked Budd what we'd require, and he gave her a list that included a hot tub and swimming pool. She said she didn't think the hot tub would be possible. Wonder if that means the swimming pool will? ;)
Must remember to stock up on more used paperback books before we go.
I'm looking forward to a different route to walk for a while and maybe being able to get into the canyon, although if the rains continue as they have been going , it may still be flooded. They had flash floods that filled the entire wash last week, along with tornadoes! I never heard of a tornado touching down in Arizona before. I'm certainly enjoying the rapidly-cycling weather here, as we're in a pattern where most mornings and early afternoons are sunny, with clouds building up during the afternoon. Most of the rain passes east of us, from south to north, though we can see dark clouds to the west also. I think we may be in the rain shadow of the mountains just to the west. But watching it in the distance is fun. Tornadoes, though, are a different matter. We didn't experience very many close touchdowns during my Texas childhood, and what we did experience was enough to last me a lifetime. Though I'm fascinated by the mechanism and somewhat by the people who chase them for a hobby or for scientific research, I'd just as soon stay miles away from any of them and just watch on tv.
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