Beauty

[aprilskies]

On 4/13/2015 geezerette said:

On 4/13/2015 aprilskies said:

On 4/12/2015 Beauty$Junkie said:

To paraphrase Peter, Paul and Mary: When will I ever learn?

LOL, geezerette. This is the problem.

[just bee]

Just checking in because we're at the midpoint of April. I've been in a terrible funk this week -- and that's a pity because I took this week off from school and work and I should be enjoying it. And I should be more productive. I'd planned to work in the yard and tackle the house. But the week started off bad: Yet another bank card has been compromised and replaced. How does this keep happening? I'm pretty conservative when it comes to using my debit card, but this is the second time in five months that it's been used by someone else to buy items I would never purchase.

And then I had to pay taxes. BIG TIME. And pay for my next class. Property taxes are due in a couple weeks.

I'd planned to have arborists come to the house to analyze my trees, but I was too late. My largest tree did not come back this spring and I am devastated. It is officially past tense and now it will have to be removed. This is depressing. I hate to see a tree expire.

I have several new trees growing in my yard but they were NOT planted by me. They are volunteers that are all growing in the wrong spots. And they are really healthy. But I can't let them grow because they will take out the house.

I should have rented.

[geezerette]

justbee: Some weeks it just doesn't pay to get out of bed. Although your card probably still would have been compromised even if you had been snoozing. Like you, I'm pretty conservative about using cards now, at least I think I am, but I've also had problems. What makes me mad is everything is being pushed to the internet--but nobody has security: not banks, not stores, not even your medical records! And they all want me to do everything online!

And if you had rented, you still would have had to pay taxes, well, not the property tax. But the landlord would have just hiked the rent so he could pay them anyway.

If your trees were in the spots you wanted, they probably would have died along with your big guy.

There, that was my attempt to cheer you up. Don't you feel better now?

Umm, in case you hadn't noticed, I was being sarcastic...

[just bee]

On 4/16/2015 geezerette said:

justbee: Some weeks it just doesn't pay to get out of bed. Although your card probably still would have been compromised even if you had been snoozing. Like you, I'm pretty conservative about using cards now, at least I think I am, but I've also had problems. What makes me mad is everything is being pushed to the internet--but nobody has security: not banks, not stores, not even your medical records! And they all want me to do everything online!

And if you had rented, you still would have had to pay taxes, well, not the property tax. But the landlord would have just hiked the rent so he could pay them anyway.

If your trees were in the spots you wanted, they probably would have died along with your big guy.

There, that was my attempt to cheer you up. Don't you feel better now?

Umm, in case you hadn't noticed, I was being sarcastic...

And another thing...

One of the five things that keeps me here in this cursed wasteland is the scent of Russian olive blossoms. But the Russian olive is an invasive species so they are being systematically removed from the Rio Grande bosque. Once they have decimated the most wonderful smelling tree in the state, there will only be four reasons to stay here.

1. The dog has no fleas. Even fleas have more sense than to live here.

2. Hot air balloons. Large, colorful and inflated -- they are like many of the state's politicians who have been in office way too long.

3. The climate. Except for the really windy spring when we can expect to be sandblasted daily. Saves on toothpaste.

4. I'm thinking, I'm thinking!

[just bee]

Geezerette -- have I posted the bird cam addresses here? I can't remember. In case I haven't, these are my current addictions.

http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt?open=514&objID=1592549&mode=2

(Mr. and Mrs. Eagle and the kids.)

http://hdontap.com/index.php/video/stream/red-tail-hawk-cam

http://hdontap.com/index.php/video/stream/albatross-live-nest-cam

There are others, but this is a good start.

[sugarftmom]

Thanks for the links, just bee. I especially enjoyed the eagles. I forwarded them and my dh will enjoy them, too.

Sounds like a baaaaad week. Thank goodness you have dogs to hug when the going gets ruff. (Lame but the best I could do...)

I purged some winter dresses yesterday and did the move from one closet to the other. My goal is to have it all in one closet except jackets because it's not a big closet. I love the light feeling I have whenever I do that.

Thanks again for this thread, Everyone!

[aprilskies]

Just Bee, what an expensive week. bummer. I hope you were able to savage some of your time off doing something fun. I can feel your love/hate with New Mexico. LOL. That makes for a hard decision in whether to go or stay.

Well, the nice weather comes out to play once in a while and then it gets gloomy. At least, the freezing weather has left the building. Bring on spring, vit d is in order.

Have a great day, everyone. I just love Fridays.

[DL2843]

TGIF. It sounds like there have been lots of ups and downs within our community. Here is wishing that this weekend will be on the upswing for us all. The weather where I am at is supposed to be nice this weekend. Maybe I will be able to get to a couple of boxes in the garage.

[geezerette]

It sounds like everybody needs a vacation, including me! I think it's hard oftentimes to just sit back and appreciate what we have--nowadays it's just hard to sit back for so many people who are busy, busy, busy. I'm so very lucky that I'm not out in that rat race anymore, but even so, times can be trying. Life in general just seems to be so accelerated now, and only promises to get worse.

justbee: Not only don't you have fleas, you don't have ticks either. It's that season again here. The cat gets treated twice monthly and because he goes outside in the woods and tall grass he still comes in with the occasional creepy-crawly. (Gotta really watch that since my husband ended up in intensive care a few years ago with Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever.) I keep telling myself when I'm missing my little pup that at least that's another thing she doesn't have to deal with now.

And you don't have humidity. We've been without air-conditioning for over a week now. Lucky because it hasn't been overly warm, but that's because it's been raining for almost that whole time so everything, and I mean EVERYTHING, is wet. Hopefully, our needed part will be installed later today.

As for spring winds, I think everybody gets those. I do remember though, when we visited northern New Mexico many years ago and commented on the winds. One older native gentleman said that everyone went crazy when the winds blew. Maybe that's what's got you down.

But we all carry on and do what we gotta do. And gripe about it in places like this thread. You think you got it bad, then read about what others are going through, and realize your life isn't so bad after all, no matter what your present situation is.

Thanks for the birdie links. I've come to the conclusion over the years that really young baby birds of any type are not particularly cute. "A face only a mother could love". Unlike puppies. But once they get their feathers, it's a different story.

Wishing everybody a wonderful weekend, however you're going to spend it. Happy compacting!

[dosey]

On 4/16/2015 just bee said:

Geezerette -- have I posted the bird cam addresses here? I can't remember. In case I haven't, these are my current addictions.

http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt?open=514&objID=1592549&mode=2

(Mr. and Mrs. Eagle and the kids.)

http://hdontap.com/index.php/video/stream/red-tail-hawk-cam

http://hdontap.com/index.php/video/stream/albatross-live-nest-cam

There are others, but this is a good start.

The eagle (mom or dad?) is having lunch with the babies right now. Looks like part of a fish. Ewwww!