Death Toll: 1.5

So... I managed to kill two computers within two weeks (my father once told me I had an aura about me that ruined electronics...never knew exactly what he meant until now). MY laptop went on the fritz right before classes started - screen would just go blank and computer would not turn back on. I sent it in to HP for repairs and they ...........replaced the speakers. Hmmm. I don't recall there being anything wrong with the speakers, maybe it's because my computer is muted 99% of the time (I sure am glad I have new speakers). At any rate, I had to send my laptop BACK to HP to get them to fix the real problem. Good news was, that while every other part on the computer failed the diagnostic test, the hard drive was safe. However, for the first two weeks of school, I was using David's old laptop as a stand-in. It is a six-year old Dell running Linux (the IT people at school just laughed at me). Just days before my HP was supposed to come back, the Dell's hard drive crashed (with 2 weeks worth of school notes...gone). It's as dead as a doornail. David was so nice about offering me his computer and I killed it. We went down to Best Buy on Labor Day and agonized over what to do, finally deciding to buy a new laptop. The next day, my HP came in, and so far it works fine. Oh well. Just keep me away from any laptop that is not under warranty.


"What is that?"
"It’s Risk, the game of world domination. It’s being played by two guys who can barely run their own lives."
-George and Jerry in The Label Maker (referring to Kramer and Newman)


NOTE: I probably shouldn't be allowed to play Risk either...

I am literally just an hour out of my last final for the summer semester. It feels pretty good... and that has nothing to do with how well I feel like I did... just glad to have it over and done with. Now it's time to start all those projects I had planned for the summer......dang it! It's August already!

David, on the other hand, will get busier every day. School is almost in session, and those elementary kids will be eating lots of food. David is so looking forward to the season of being to work by 6:30 a.m. (severe sarcasm here).

This week, David also embarked on the adventure of obtaining a Texas Drivers' License. And boy, was it an adventure. After about 7 trips to the department of public safety (apparently, there is no DMV in Texas) and about 27 forms of ID (maybe less), he is legal. His Nevada license had expired (long story, but it happened while we were waiting for his SS card to arrive - the 27th piece of ID) he had to take the written and driving test. Hahaha....he had to parallel park in his truck...hahaha.

By the way...we need to add a city to the list. The City of the Month will be...Tucumcari, NM?!? Really, David? How did you come up with that one? It must be Ute Lake, David is a sucker for lakes. Well, the City of the Month is open to any and all suggestions...we will look into it.

"It's crowded, the grass has big brown patches in it, they don't rake the sand traps. Not to mention the caliber of people you have to play with!"
- Kramer, disdainful of public golf courses, in "The Cheever Letters"

Ok....I am blogging tonight to do a bit of "tooting my own horn." I told David he needed to write this post and tell everyone how wonderful his wife is, but he said "It's your blog."

Last night we had an early birthday dinner for David with some friends, after which, I gave David his birthday present, and I am definitely proud of myself for this one.

Just two days ago, I found the perfect truck for David. After A LOT of scheming and fibbing to my husband, I pulled off the deal the next day. Our fantastic friends drove out to Levelland, TX to pick it up for me (side note.....LEVELLAND, TX.....you know it's flat when you live near a town called Levelland). They met us as the restaurant and Raquel and I rendezvoused in the restroom to hand off the key and wrap it up. After dinner, I handed the small birthday gift to David. When he opened it, his jaw dropped and he didn't say a word. I told him he had to go find the vehicle that his key opened out in the parking lot, which was an easy task once he discovered the panic button on the remote. It was all quite exciting and I love seeing him act like a little kid on Christmas morning. Now it's time to sell the old Maxima.

As for the specs.... it is a 2002 Dodge Ram 2500 Laramie, Quad cab with a Cummins.

In all the excitement, I forgot to take pictures, even though I took our camera. I didn't remember until after we got to the Brown's house, so the pictures I have were taken after dark. Just look at the expression on David's face...and this is a couple of hours after he got it. Well, I gotta run. We are going to take the dogs on their first ride in the back of the truck.

Happy Birthday, David!!!!

"This Kruger guy is clueless. I can't wait to work for him."
- George, in "The Slicer"

Well, we are now back from Reno, and had to re-insert ourselves into everyday life in Lubbock. ::sigh:: Back to school, back to work.

However, we thoroughly enjoyed the visit to Reno...great fireworks on the 4th, got to see family and friends, and got out just in time for 105 degree weather. And flying in at 3:00 in the afternoon when it was 75 degrees in Lubbock was nice too.

Have I mentioned how much I love having dogs? We leave them by themselves for 5 days...our friends were nice enough to come by twice a day to feed them (Thanks so much Ashley and Christina), and when we get home, they are so excited they can hardly contain themselves and have big grins on their faces for several days (no really, they do smile at us). That's unconditional love right there. Unfortunately, Riley copped a major attitude with Ashley within the first couple of days of us being gone. What am I going to do with him? It's hard to anything with him when he has that grin on his face.

"That's it Farfel. Party's over! Start packing up your little squeeze toys, buddy boy. You're checking out!"
- Jerry, in "The Dog"

Check out our website!

Greetings from New Mexico....

I am back, working at the DA's office for anther week while David is at home with Riley. Ruka came with me and is thoroughly enjoying her vacation (consisting of running through the ditch a dozen times a day and rolling in manure) I think we are both looking forward to having a little break over the 4th of July loooonnnngggggg weekend in Reno.


I really just wanted to post a quick update on the RANCH HOUSE TRADITIONS website. For all of you who have visited in the past, please visit again. Mom and I have spent the last 3 days updating it with more "professional" looking photography of all the jewelry. Those of you who have not seen it should swing by and take a look too.

http://www.ranchhousetraditions.com/



Also, please keep visiting. We have about 50 more pieces of jewelry to list (it might take us a few more days) and I we will be making a BUNCH more stuff to list as well. We are going to try to get ourselves organized and attend some "western collections" type shows. We are having a blast and hope we can get the word spread about our website!



NOTE TO DAVID: I think I want to add a town for City of the Month...Los Alamos, NM. Time for you to do some research.

***


"Who's gonna turn down a Junior Mint? It's chocolate, it's peppermint -- it's delicious!"
- Kramer, in "The Junior Mints"

We have a new fence!

Thanks for the City of the Month suggestions so far. Keep them coming!
I would just like to note that Reno is always on the list of places might might go back to, it just doesn't make it onto David's "research" list since we have lived there before, we are somewhat familiar with it.

Anyway, I cannot believe that I forgot to add in my last post that we have finally finished rebuilding our fence. As I said before, this was, by far, my least favorite house project. However...we are now done (well, David is still working on spraying it with linseed oil) and the doggies are SO happy to have their yard back and not have to stay in the house all day and be tied up while outside. I think over the 3 weekends we were working on the fence, either David or I had to run through the neighborhood looking for our dogs about 20 times (at least). This was due to David's unwaivering "trust" in our dogs not to run away, and therefore thinking it was unnecessary to tie them up while we were working. Let me tell ya, it doesn't take long to get so ingrossed in what you are doing, that you quit paying attention to the little snots. They know exactly when this moment is, and off they go.

On a positive note, I now know that they generally run off to one of two places (nearby parks with ponds) so they are a little easier to find than they used to be.

Anyway, now everytime the wind blows here in Lubbock, I take a sign of relief knowing that our fence is no longer in danger of blowing down and my dogs will not escape while we are gone and get themselves into all kinds of trouble.

"After he heckled Toby, she got so upset she ran out of the building and a street sweeper ran over her foot and severed her pinky-toe."
"That's unbelievable!"
"Yeah, then after the ambulance left, I found the toe. So, I put it in a Cracker Jack box, filled it with ice and took off for the hospital."
"You ran?"
"No, I jumped on the bus. I told the driver, 'I got a toe here buddy. Step on it!'"
"Holy cow!"
"Yeah yeah, then all of a sudden this guy pulls out a gun. Well, I knew any delay's gonna cost her her pinky-toe, so I got out of the seat and I started walking towards him. He says, 'Where do you think you're going, Cracker Jack?' I says, 'Well, I got a little prize for you, buddy.' Pwaa! Pwaa! Keeyah! Knocked him out cold!"
"How could you do that?"
"Yeah, then everybody is screaming because the driver, he's passed out because of all the commotion. The bus is out of control! So I grab him by the collar, I take him out of the seat, I get behind the wheel... Now I'm driving the bus!"
"You're Batman."
"Yeah, I am Batman. Then the mugger, he comes to and he starts choking me. So, I'm fighting him off with one hand and I kept driving the bus with the other. Then I managed to open up the door and I kicked him out the door with my foot at the next stop."
"You kept making all the stops?"
"Well, people kept ringing the bell!"
"What about the toe? What happened to the toe?"
"Well, I am happy to say that the little guy is back in place at the end of the line."
"You did all this for a pinky-toe?"
"Well, it's a valuable appendage."
- Kramer, George and Jerry, in "The Fire"

City of the Month Club, anyone?

Just thought I would share a little on-going joke that David and I have (or actually, it's more like me making fun of David...sorry Bud). Since we have been in Lubbock, David is always considering where ELSE he would like to live once we get done in Lubbock (who knows when that will be). I started to make fun of him becuase for a while, he would find the "perfect" city or town to live in, do a bunch a research about the town, and send me links to real estate. However, in about a month, he would move on to the next city. So far, the City of the Month Candidates have been:

Albuquerque, New Mexico

Evanston, Wyoming

Canyon, Colorado

Colorago Springs, Colorado

Park City, Utah

Denver area

And some others that I can't remember...

This week he mentioned Oregon, so I am anxiously waiting for which city he will land on. Who knows, we might just end up staying in Lubbock. However, if anyone has a suggestion for the next installment of City of the Month, let us know, David will conduct research, probably discover all of it's best features, send me links to real estate for sale, specifically horse property, and we will add it to the list.

P.S. for any of you who are interested in finding your perfect city, check out this website:

http://www.findyourspot.com/

"So where's my sneakers?"
"That's what I want to know."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, I saw mom and pop this morning, but when I went by the store on my way home the place was empty. Everything is gone. Mom and pop vanished!"
"So all my sneakers are gone?"
"I'm afraid so, and that's just the tip of the iceberg. I've been asking around. They didn't even have any kids."
"Mom and pop aren't even a mom and pop?
"It was all an act, Jerry. They conned us, and they scored big-time!"
"So, mom and pop's plan was to move into the neighborhood, establish trust - for 48 years - and then run off with Jerry's sneakers?"
"Apparently."
- Jerry, Kramer and Elaine, in "The Mom and Pop Store"