*Blush*

Thanks for the positive vibes on my picture!

Blogger has apparently done an update that makes posting one's picture easier than it used to be. The photo is a cropped version of a picture taken by DBF's sister when she and her husband visited in October during Balloon Fiesta. Here's the whole thing:

This was at Sandia Peak, near the High Finance restaurant. Yes, wildlife is on the mountain, which rises just east of the Albuquerque city limits. Mountain lions, bears, and coyotes--oh my!! Yes, I'm truly living in the Wild West! And on a sewing note, I made the fleece jacket I'm wearing in the picture.

As for me, life has been unsettled lately. My boss/mentor moved to a different department and his former boss is handling things until a new department manager is hired. Oy!!! Let's just say that he loves his reports and metrics.

I had a nice day yesterday. I took my little SUV to the dealer for a checkup and ran into a former boss in the waiting room. That was fun! I haven't seen him for years, and it was neat to catch up with him. Then I went shopping and bought some new jeans. Amazingly, I fit into a 6 now. Lest you all say it's all vanity sizing, I fit into a size 10 of the same brand back in November (and was thrilled at the time). Plus, Kohl's had incredibly low markdowns and I picked up some spring items too. I find it difficult to pass by a cute top for $3.50 and other similar deals. Retail must really be suffering these days to offer such ridiculously low prices. I got a couple pairs of capris, a pair of shorts, a couple of tank tops and a skirt in addition to 2 pair of jeans.

I also got a "look" in traffic. OK, this is petty and vain. So what, it's nice to have a youngish guy give a wink and a smile while waiting for a traffic light! Even if it's just B.S., ok?!?

We Have a Winner (or Two)!

I've had 7 replies to my first post on the fancy dress project, and the Givenchy and Guy Laroche dresses are tied for favorites. So here's what I'm thinking I'll do. The Givenchy for the wedding and reception, and the Laroche for the trip. We're bound to have something else to go to during the trip. Also, it would be a great dress for my birthday in June!

I still want to make the Issey so I'm putting it as 3rd choice. If I can fit it into my schedule, then I'll make it too. Always nice to have a fabulous dress in reserve, right?

I saw my friend Leslie at ASG on Thursday and let her know that I needed her to serve as a consultant on both dresses. The woman sews like a couturier and is obsessive about fitting. Although I'm making the dresses myself, it will be a lot simpler if she could work with me on making the fit perfect.

I Have Water Again!

The plumbers have departed and things are getting back to normal. Water is flowing and I'm a happy camper even though I could have done without spending all the money that a major plumbing job entails. Ah well--fortunately, I could make it work, although this spring's landscaping project will be a lot simpler than originally planned.

I did have a couple of extra things done. Since the guys were going to be digging up a lot of shrubs anyway, I had them go ahead and remove all the overgrowth in the side yard. This was going to happen with landscaping anyway, so why do half now and half later? I also upgraded the hot water heater from a traditional style to a tankless. More expensive up front, but it'll save energy in addition to producing a never-ending supply of hot water.

I also have another house project to do--my garage. Never particularly neat, everything got shifted around and it's truly bad now. There's a lot of stuff in there from my last house that no longer suits the new one. (which I've been in for a few years now) All of it needs to go! There are also a lot of old financial records that can be recycled out of my house. My goal is to make enough room so that DBF and I can both park in the garage.

Water Update

As I wrote last week, I came back from vacation and discovered my house had no running water. Not good.


Well, due to the weekend and the New Year holiday, I continued to be in this state until January 5. That's 10 days, folks!


Plumber #2 worked on the problem for several hours and came to the same conclusion as Plumber #1: the main line from meter to house is blocked. So he put in a temporary line on the 5th. His crew came on Saturday and dug a huge trench, and they came back today with large tools for more digging and drilling. The new line is in! Tomorrow, new copper pipes will be put into the garage, and hopefully the new hot water heater too. However, the plumber has warned me that the hot water heater might not be finished and I could only have cold water Tuesday evening. Better than no water, but still...


At any rate, I should be back in business by Wednesday evening. What an ordeal!!


And no, I don't know what caused the first line to fail. My house is only vintage 1993, and this will remain one of life's mysteries.