This And That!

Hello, Everybody!
We hope this finds you well and happy. We were reminded that we had not put up pictures of Sharon's floor. This first picture is of the kitchen as it looked before the workers arrived to take up the carpet.
We know this doesn't have anything to do with the floor. It just shows one of the walls in Sharon's kitchen.

Here is a look at the floor before the baseboards were put back in place.

Here is a picture of the floor after installation.

Now there, are you happy, Miss Jenny? The following pictures were just taken at random when we were in Albuquerque last weekend. The first one is of the view we had outside our hotel.

This next pic is of our favorite place to stay.

This one is of Ellen relaxing on the couch.

This last picture shows the beautiful dessert that we had one evening. It is cheesecake with fresh fruit. It is from PF Changs. Ellen called the restaurant and ordered it. Since we were right across the street, Ellen walked over and picked it up. She is the one who cut the cheesecake in half and then prepared it. It was beautifully presented and we enjoyed it with the bottle of wine that Ellen's sister gave us for Christmas. Oh, my, it was delicious!

We had a great time in Albuquerque! Ellen's birthday is Sunday! We will take more pictures and let you know about that evening.

Until next time... . . .. ...

WHEW!!! Boy, Did We Dodge A Bullet, We Mean A Cork!!

Hello, Everybody!

We felt a little sad on Monday because we had to go home; however, we were very glad that we averted disaster. Let us explain!

Sharon's car has a place in the trunk that Ellen likes to call the basement. It has several compartments under the floor. It is great for packing things like extra pairs of shoes and wine bottles! We also use it for things that we pick up when we are shopping. We went to World Market, and bought a few bottles of wine. We were planning to bring them back home for our wine fridges. One morning, Ellen went out to the car to ready it for packing to come home. She noticed that there was a water bottle in the front seat, and it was FROZEN! She got the water bottle and started back into the hotel. Then she remembered that there were WINE bottles in the trunk!! She quickly did an about face and opened the trunk to check on the "precious cargo". She brought the water bottle upstairs to show Sharon. The look on Sharon's face was priceless! If you are laughing by now, it is because you know that when a wine bottle freezes, the cork blows out!! Ellen assured her all was well in the basement of the trunk. No popped-out corks! Some days, you just get lucky.

We really enjoyed this trip, but then, we always enjoy our trips. Until next time.... ....

When One Door Closes . . . .

Hello Everybody!
Actually, the door was LOCKED!! Much to our dismay, when we went to the Gruet Grille to have our much anticipated lunch, the doors were locked. There was a sign that said, "We are closed for two weeks. We are having a name change and new menu!" We sat in silence for a few moments because we just couldn't believe it! Since it was about 2 o'clock in the afternoon, we knew we had to eat something. We had noticed a place in ABQ Uptown called Marcello's Chophouse. We had read the menu and noticed the white tablecloths and lovely wine glasses sitting on all the tables. We also had smelled the wonderful aroma drifting down the street. So our little car took us back to ABQ Uptown. Well, now we have a NEW favorite place to eat!! We sat in the bar at a booth table that had micro suede seats and had a wonderful view of the shopping area. There was also a baby grand piano but no one was playing it at the time. We had a great waitress/bartender who had tattos all over her body! (At least the parts we could see!) She was delightful and took great care of these two hungry, weary shoppers. We had crab cake and a chicken entree. Both were served with a salad, and of course, we split everything! It was such a relaxing time, we didn't care if we stayed or went back to shopping. While we made our decision on what to do, we split another glass of Gruet Chardonnay! :o) (We are sorry we didn't have our cameras to take pictures of the food! It was beautifully presented.)

We went to several stores that we do not have in El Paso, i.e. Williams-Sonoma, Pottery Barn, Ann Taylor Loft, Borders, and Sharper Image. It is great fun to just look at what all is available. We have decided that Sharper Image is one of the neatest stores around.

Tomorrow is Santa Fe Day. Today it was only 9 degrees up there. HMMMM, maybe tomorrow will be warmer.

As a side note, Joe is in Taos snowboarding. It was 9 degrees BELOW zero up there. When we sent him a text this evening, he was having a margarita and then he and his friends were getting in the hot tub. He said they were managing to stay warm!!!! :o)

We talked to Nichole and Michael in Copenhagen and it was warmer there than it was here!

Until next time. . ... . . .

Tick, Tock, Tick, Tock!

Hello, Everybody!

We are anxiously waiting for Friday to come. The ice chests are out and the grocery bags are being packed. So far, this has been a FAIRLY calm week. There have been no falls, no more surgeries, no accidents. We want to thank everyone for their concern and prayers for each of us. We were actually beginning to wonder if we should take a road trip!

We are in our countdown mode now. Today after school we will get manicures. Tomorrow after school we will go to the beauty shop and then after dinner we will begin packing the car. It's exciting to get out all the warm clothes and the blanket for the car. We are heading to the colder state of New Mexico. Just to see some snow on the mountain always makes us feel that we are very far away. We can almost hear the cities of Albuquerque and Santa Fe calling to us and saying they are awaiting our arrival! Our annual Martin Luther King weekend get-a-way is always a favorite with us. This year we are especially anxious to head north.
It seems as though with each passing mile away from El Paso, the worries and concerns diminish. In fact, they just seem to fly away.

Wish us luck, as we check out ABQ Uptown. Until next time. . . . . . . . . .

No Gloom From Us--Not Today!

Hello, Everybody!
We are trying to be positive today; therefore, we thought you might like to see some of the flowers that Ellen received after her terrible fall this past week.

We know that Nichole and Michael have had nothing but cloudy days, so we hope that they will enjoy this little bit of sunshine from the Sunshine Girls in Sun City. (Okay, okay, we haven't exactly been so sunny ourselves this week!)

There, now, don't you feel better after looking at all of that beauty?

Update on Ellen--She has had new bruises surfacing everyday this week. Her poor lip still looks bad, but isn't so swollen. She was glad to be able to go to work on Thursday and Friday. The hard part was trying not to smile too big or laugh too hard because it would pull on her lip!

She went to Sharon's this morning to help put Sharon's house back together. We almost got finished. We will have pictures of that job later. The only good thing about a project like that is that everything gets cleaned. Sharon was able to talk to Lowe's installation department this morning. They are sending the tile men back on Monday morning to replace the defective tile.

This is a big football weekend. We have plenty of wine chilled and will be cheering on our favorite teams. GO COWBOYS GO!!!

Keep sending those positive good thoughts and prayers our way--PLEASE!

Until next time. . . . . . . . . .

Okay, Okay, We Give Up!

Hello, Everybody!

What can we say? This has been the pits of a week! You know that the week started off with the tile people NOT showing up. We could handle that. Then Ellen had her biopsy. We could handle that. Then she fell at Sharon's house. It was very frightening, BUT we could handle that. On Thursday, she got some wonderful news that the biopsy results were good. There wouldn't have to be more surgery. That put a smile on both of our faces. Then today, not only did we discover that the tile men left a defective tile in the middle of the kitchen, but when Sharon went back to the hand surgeon expecting a good report, she got bad news! Now we have had it! 2008 is not starting out so great for either of us.

When Sharon went back to the doctor this morning, he looked at the skin graft and was very proud of his handiwork, BUT he saw the lump at the superior end of the scar. We had noticed that, but Ellen thought it was just a little pocket of pus that had solidified. Wrong!! The doctor said that the squamous cell cancer had resurfaced. NOT NICE! He immediately took Sharon to surgery, and dug out this mass. So now she has this new set of stitches with the same admonitions as before. That is her hammering hand. She had just finished cutting new moulding for her kitchen breakfast area, painting it, and was ready to put it all back. She was just devastated. That is her hammering hand!!! We know we said that already. We are ready for some good news for a change.

On Saturday, we will put back as much as we are able. Ellen has even gotten Paul to holler at Sharon when she lifts something she shouldn't. Tonight, Ellen's son, Joe, brought us a bottle of wine and we commiserated with him for awhile. We are usually very optimistic girls, but this week has taken the wind out of our sails. Sharon has to go back to the doctor in two weeks to have the stitches removed. What more can we say?

This weekend is our annual shopping trip to Albuquerque. (We always go on Martin Luther King weekend.) May next week be a better week for us.

Until next time. . . . . . . . . . .

Oh, No, Another Disastrous Day!

Hello, Everybody!
This is Sharon writing this, so I will use more "I's" than usual! My heart is very heavy as I write this. Today was supposed to be Ellen's first day back at school with the kids. She called me really early to see if I had my ironing board up. (My ironing board is always up in the extra bedroom than really isn't a bedroom.) She brought her lab coat to iron before she went to school. After doing that, she put on her lipstick and I walked her outside. She never made it to open the door. Her foot slipped off of my driveway, and she fell face down onto the concrete! I couldn't get to her fast enough. Blood was gushing from her nose, her lip, and her hand. She also hurt her right knee. Her new left one is okay, but it does have some swelling tonight.

We just knew that she had knocked her two front teeth out. We called Scott who is a dentist, and married to her stepdaughter. He took her in when I could get her there. He x-rayed her mouth, and kept patting her. He was so sweet. (Of course, he is always so sweet.) What a wonderful man he is. He thinks that she may have trouble in the future. He cautioned her to watch for abcesses. He also said that there might be some microfractures. This first picture you can see that both of her eyes are actually open. "That is a first," she said laughing.

This is what her poor lip looked like around noon. Since then her bruises have been showing up, and she has a ring of bruises above her upper lip. She is funny. She said that she would tell everybody that this was a picture of botox gone bad.

So say a little prayer for her. Needless to say, she did NOT make it into work today. She is so sore and will probably be more sore in the morning. We are supposed to take care of each other, and I felt so helpless today. I am so sorry that I couldn't take care of her to keep her from falling.

In the meantime, the tile men were due at my house to begin laying the new tile. My husband just had to be there for that. What a mess! We both feel like that little comic picture of the lady that walks around with a rain cloud hanging over her.

Maybe tomorrow will be a better day. Until next time. . . . . . . .

Snowy Nevada!

Hello, Everybody!
This first picture shows Paula and Jason's driveway after Sharon's son-in-law shoveled the snow from Paula's side of the driveway. He is the best son-in-law anyone could ever hope for. He named this picture, "His and Hers." This was actually taken before they got a whole bunch more of snow in the Tahoe area.

This picture shows their backyard. Look at that silly boy, Jaxon, just laying down in the snow. Paula told us that the puppies just loved playing in the snow.

Sharon's sister, Janice, and her husband are scheduled to visit Paula and Jason this next weekend. We will post pictures if they send us some.

Back to school tomorrow for Ellen. The kids come on Wednesday. We went to Lowe's to get another box of tile after church today. (We needed to go to church especially after yesterday's escapades.) Tomorrow the fun begins for Sharon as work will commence in the kitchen.

Until next time. . . . . . . . ....

Disastrous Day!

Hello, Everybody!
What can we say? Can you spell DISASTER? Today started off calmly enough, but then took a turn for the worse. We went to Lowe's to pick up the tile that is to be installed on Monday in Sharon's kitchen. It seemed like it took them an awfully long time to get it out to the front where we were waiting. They put it into the bed of Paul's truck. We also picked up new molding for her kitchen breakfast area. We were going home the back way, when Paul took the corner a little too fast, and the load shifted. One entire box of 17 X 17 tile ended up in the middle of the street. Oh, joy! Now, get this picture. Sharon and Ellen were in the Lincoln with a fourteen foot piece of molding sticking out the windows of the car. Sharon was driving. Ellen was holding on to the molding. All of a sudden we hear this CRASH! We said, "Oh, _______!" (You can fill in your own adjective or expletive.) We backed up very carefully. Sharon got out to help clean up the street. Ellen is in the car with the molding. A lady appeared who lived in the house. She had heard the crash. She asked if we could use a broom. She went to get one and a dust pan.
She came out with the broom and handed it to Sharon. She then asked, "Aren't you Mrs. Peeps?" It turned out that she was the mother of one of our Kindergarteners. She talked to Nursie Pooh, while Mrs. Peeps swept up the _____ street! We lost a whole box of tile. We bought 14 boxes, so I guess we will go back and get another one tomorrow.

Now, can you stand another disaster????? Here we are going down the freeway, and all of a sudden, Sharon says, " Where's my purse?" You guessed it. It was still at Ellen's house. Oh, double joy!! We were halfway to the far east side of town. Well, we turned around and went back for the _ _ _ _ purse. How can a girl go shopping without her purse?? (Especially, since we planned to go to lunch first.) Please know that Sharon was talking to her sister on the phone when Ellen was hurrying her out of the house.

We ended up watching UTEP play Texas Tech on the big screen at BJ"s. It is a really cool place on the east side. After UTEP lost and Tech won, we went shopping! We found many bargains at World Market, Bed Bath and Beyond, and Pier 1. So we hope you had a better day. Ellen goes back to work on Monday. "Too bad," Sharon said sadly. On the brighter side--maybe she will get a nap on Monday, since Ellen takes great delight in keeping her from her afternoon slumber. (Hee, hee!)

Until next time. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
PS- We are sorry about using bad words. We know that our blog is read by several former students. And now, back to Lowe's.

Happy New Year!!!

Happy New Year to all who take the time to read this. May you have a wonderful year ahead of you!