My 12th Birthday!

        I celebrated my 12th birthday today!  Mostly, it was met with incredulity.  Twelve years seems like a lot, and once again, the biggest feeling is of thankfulness.  I am thankful I can even compose these sentences.

What did I do today?  First, I forgot it was my birthday again until I remembered that the tee time I set was for June 28th.  I didn’t mean to do that, but there it was.  I chose to postpone it one extra day, because it has been so blistering hot here.  Not as hot as Phoenix, but very uncomfortable and possible unsafe as well.  I put it off until today, because I couldn’t get an early tee time for yesterday, and my goal was to play in the AM before it reached the higher temperatures.  I honestly didn’t know it would land on my second birthday, but it seems appropriate to play golf again on my special day.

I played with two new friends and one old friend, and I am reminded of the song I learned at Notre Dame Elementary: Make new friends and keep the old; one is silver and the other gold.  I am so thankful to have made two new friends in the past few years, and happy to keep the gold one, too.

Belinda and I are still camping with our Alto…a lot.  We went to the Black Canyon of the Gunnison on our most recent trip with the Edgertons, and we head to Jemez Falls Campground to spend some time with James and his fiancé Casey tomorrow.

Once again, life is good.  Mom and Dad are together again in their new place after Dad was in the hospital (27 looooonnnnng days of which seven were in ICU) and two more excruciating months in rehab facilities.  He made it through all of that to get back to Mom to celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary together.  Just WOW!  I did some extra bonding this past year with my sister and brother, Bev and Guy, while getting our childhood home ready for sale.    

It went on the market yesterday, and it had eight showings and five offers immediately.  We met as a family on FaceTime tonight to choose the best option (they were all great offers), and we chose one with the least amount of strings attached.  All of this just added to my little celebration.

I got to hear of Danielle’s job upgrade of a permanent position on her fire crew.  This is her sixth season, and we have recently learned that our little Becca (my niece) is pregnant, too.  Finally, I can share that news with the general public.  Congratulations to Matt and Becca and the rest of the Swopertons.  Hooray! 

Here’s to the next twelve years.  Imagine the incredulous and grateful feelings after that happens.

Scorched Earth

Written on 6-3-23.

    I am in the same dining room today, and it’s 11:33.  A and B are busy behind me choosing locations to put up pictures.  Now, they are finished and getting ready for a well-deserved afternoon nap.  They are “bouncing” on the couch in the sunroom, and they wouldn’t want me to write about that, but nobody reads this anyway.  Last night was my first night at the new cabin home, and I love it.  The river/brook is really gushing since it’s the beginning of June as I look out both of the big windows.  Kody and I took a short walk around the perimeter of the property when I first went outside to greet the twins, and it’s just beautiful here.  

This house is eclectic, and it’s been added onto many times.  The style of the furniture and the decor is early 90’s, and it reminds me of our home when we first had it built.  I know Amanda and Eric got rid of a chandelier in here that was pretty atrocious.  Who cares?  I don’t.  Give me a bedroom with...

Fox Hollow Golf Course and Special Memories

Written on 6-2-23.

        I am up at the new Edgerton cabin home with A and B.  We came up for two nights, because we could.  B is done with her work, and we had no other plans this weekend.  I am sitting in the dining room with the stone fireplace on a little circular chair as I type this.  The girls and Kody just came back from a drive and a walk.  They sent back a picturesque picture of the reservoir.  We are just past the Vallecito Reservoir here.  

While they were gone, I held a conference call with the family to decide about the clean-up now that the estate sale is done at 1542.  Victoria did an excellent job with the sale, and ours was her last one.  Her partners, who are taking over the business, even had a cake for her when it was done.  She recommended Ed for all the removal of the stuff that was left over, so I gave him a call.  I was impressed, and I wanted to hire him right away.  A real selling point was that he answered his phone.  Everywhere else, I was leaving messages.  He will...

Topgolf in Centennial

Written on 5-27-23.

        B and I are killing time in Santa Fe.  We just attended Rich and Aurora’s wedding, and James was a groomsman.  Casey is here, but she chose to go eat somewhere else with her friends Brandon, Rich L., his girl Ashton, Adrian and some others.  We chose to stick it out and wait for a table at Tomasita’s.  The food was soooo good, so we made a great choice.  

Coach Lewis did come that night to Topgolf, and it was great to visit with him.  I paid for his dinner, and he texted to thank me.  I just texted him back, but I should have done it a while ago.  I plan to go back on the 9th of June.

The rest of the evening was fine, but a little bit anti-climactic.  Dan left after we were at Pindustry for a bit, because he had the drive to Windsor, and it was a loud, crowded bar.  I couldn’t blame him.  Guy noticed that the crowd was a mix of our generation and...