Sunday, February 10
Barbara: Just a pretty normal Sunday morning…after it warmed up a little, Jim went out to rake pecans and assorted stuff out from under the pecan trees so Wendell can start setting out the watering hoses. While he was out there, Ernie called to see if we wanted to take part in the Altrusa Club fundraiser dinner.
We went over to Edith’s around 11:15 and then Jim and Ernie went out to get our meals. The local Altrusa Club holds an annual dinner in Artesia…either turkey and all the trimmings, or roast beef and all the trimmings. We kept it simple and ordered five roast beef dinners to go. It was the first time we had eaten their food, and all agreed that it was quite good.
After eating and visiting, we all voted that it was time for a nap.
Jim: I decided this evening that a motorcycle ride tomorrow was probably going to be out of the question. After checking and rechecking the weather forecasts, we determined that the temperature would be just fine – mid-seventies, but the wind velocity was predicted to be mid-30’s to 40’s – not conducive to an enjoyable ride.
Still, while the weather was nice this evening, I decided to get the Voyager up on the slab and give it a good bath and polishing…just so we’d be ready for the next opportunity to ride. The weather around here is always “iffy” during this part of the year, but a person wants to be ready for a good riding day.
Monday, February 11
Happy 85th Birthday to Edith (Mother)!
Jim: I started the day early by getting dressed and going into town to visit with Tom Dillon, the high school band director. It had been a while since I’d seen him, and with so many things going on in the music department, I thought I’d get caught up on what’s happening there.
The first thing I found out, after going to the band room, was that Tom and the band were meeting in the auditorium to prepare for a concert tonight. In the old days, we had “Valentine Vanities,” a huge production that featured all of the music ensembles and culminated with the crowning of the Valentine Sweetheart” and her court. Evidently, that production has gone by the wayside. Now, the bands have their own “Sweetheart Concert,” a program that allows the 7th grade intermediate school band, the junior high band, and the high school band to give a preview of their contest programs.
I got to the auditorium just in time to watch Tom and the band at work, and while it was obvious that the band had a case of “Monday chops,” it was also obvious that they had worked hard on a very difficult program. It was interesting to see how Tom worked through the various situations; also to see and hear him use almost the same words and gestures that I used on the final rehearsal before a big concert.
Once the rehearsal was over and the kids were on their way to their next classes, Tom suggested that we go to the Java Hut (the local coffee shop and internet café) for a cup of coffee and some conversation. We spent about an hour just visiting and catching up on mutual friends, and then it was time for him to get back to work and me to head back to Big V to get started on today’s lunch menu.
Barbara: When asked what she wanted to do for her birthday, Edith’s constant reply was, “I don’t have birthdays anymore, just anniversaries of my last birthday; so we don’t have to do anything.” Therefore, Jim and Ernie decided that they would surprise her with a spaghetti meal fixed by Jim.
We arrived before Billee and Ernie, so Edith just thought we were coming over to fix her lunch and visit like usual. She was thoroughly surprised when Billee and Ernie showed up.
But, we really surprised her when we brought out the birthday cake! My philosophy is this…every birthday deserves a cake!
We had also picked up a small bouquet of flowers and Ernie and Billee provided the vase.
It was a wonderful celebration and you can see in the photos how happy and pleased she looked. Each day has brought her better health since the back operation. We’re very grateful to Dr. Osmani and, of course, God for that!
Jim and I needed to go to Roswell after the party to find a ballast replacement for one of our ceiling lights. We also wanted to do some other shopping and Ernie sent some pecans over to deliver to my sister Carol.
After returning home we had dinner and then Jim went to the band concert at the high school auditorium while I stayed home and generally goofed off.
Tuesday, February 12
Jim spent the morning reviewing all of our income tax documents before bundling them all together to be copied and then sent off to our tax preparer in Liberal.
There’s not much else that we did that anyone would be interested in. My sister Nancy did send me these photos and another Keylinism…
Nancy wrote that she had gone to the beauty shop to get a perm while Keylin went to have her hair relaxed. When they were finished, “PaPa (Tom) told her, “Look Keylin, you and Nanny have the same type of hair now. Isn’t that neat?”
After a long pause, Keylin leaned up toward the front seat and said (with her hand waving all over the front of her head), “Yeah, except I don’t have that white thing going on in my hair. I’m sure I’ll have some of that white stuff going on when I’m a grandmother, but by then you and Nanny will already be in heaven and you won’t get to see it.” Then she sat back in her seat and went back to writing on her tablet…Oops! Out of the mouths of babes, Nancy!
Wednesday, February 13
Another Chaos Wednesday! However, it just wasn’t an ordinary one since Susie announced that Paul and Stephanie are expecting a baby sometime in September!
We weren’t able to find a replacement ballast or light fixture in Roswell Monday, but Jim did find out that the burned one is under warranty, so he took the fixture out of the ceiling, boxed it up, and got it mailed off to the company in California that manufactured it. Maybe one of these days we’ll be brighter (and maybe the inside of Big V will be, too)
Thursday, February 14
HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY EVERYONE!
Today Jim took Edith to the eye doctor where she got a really good report!
I took the time to clean out another cabinet. This seems to be the week to get that done. Now, all cabinets except the bedroom ones have been overhauled this week. It is just amazing to me how much useless junk two people can accumulate! Go figure.
We did get a picture from our friend Charlene at LHS. Charlene is the media specialist at the school and she and her assistants were dressed up to show everyone that they “had heart” today.Pictured here are Heide (left), Charlene (center), and Tyna (right). Way to go ladies!!!
Jim: Earlier today Nancy called to tell about a concert that was being held at the high school tonight and wanted to know if we were interested in attending with Jerry and her.
Of course, we said we wanted to go, so when the time came, we got out of our “work around the house” clothes and even dressed up for the occasion. 
The Artesia Arts Council sponsors several programs throughout the year; tonight’s presentation was by Robin Spielberg, one of today’s most popular contemporary pianists/composers. We weren’t sure what to expect, since the term “contemporary” can have so many connotations, but it didn’t take long for us to become totally mesmerized by the keyboard skills of this talented young woman.
With a program of old piano standards and a healthy dose of her own compositions and stylings, Robin kept the audience members on the edge of their seats as she told stories of her life and how she came to write the various pieces. It was obvious that the piano is an extension of her very heart and soul! If you ever get a chance to see one of her performances, jump at the opportunity…you will not be disappointed.
Friday, February 15
It was a relatively quiet day around our place…not a whole lot to talk about, except that we had a visit from Nancy and Benji this morning, something that’s always a pleasant surprise. They were out riding around on Nancy’s 4-wheeler and dropped by to chat. When Nancy takes the 4-wheeler out, she puts Benji in a little basket on the front…looks somewhat like a modern-day Dorothy and Toto out for a ride on the New Mexico plains.
I ended up getting a touch of some kind of sickness during the morning…don’t know what happened, but all of a sudden I had a long sneezing spell and then my sinuses went crazy; there went my plans to get anything done outside. I got started on Benadryl tablets and that eventually helped some. I guess the change in the weather was just messing up my head more than usual.
We did make a couple of trips over to see Mother during the day and made a Wal-Mart run late in the evening in anticipation of a winter storm that is supposed to hit in the early morning hours tomorrow’ predictions of ice and freezing rain helped us decide that going out tonight might be the lesser of two evils.
Saturday, February 16
After a crazy night, we finally got going this morning. I woke up at 12:30 a.m. and couldn’t get to sleep because my legs were jumping around (a side effect of the Benadryl), so I finally got up and went to the living room to read…finally got back to sleep around 4:30, but by then Barbara was awake, so she left me in bed and came to the front of the house.
I finally got up around 8:30 a.m. and was feeling much better than before. Barbara said that she’d like French toast and eggs, so I got started whipping that up. We then ate a late breakfast and watched another episode of M*A*S*H.
The winter storm that was predicted for last night and early this morning never materialized, so it turned out to be a pretty nice morning, just a little cool. I ventured out to the highway to check the mail and then came back to Big V. We both felt that a nap was in order, and with nothing else on the dance card, we decided that was the thing to do.
We went over to Mother’s house for a few minutes late this afternoon and then back to Big V to fix supper. I went over to Jean’s house during the evening to watch the VCO/ODU basketball game while Barbara stayed in Big V and experimented with a new cookie recipe – homemade thin mints…yum-yum!
Tonight…watch some TV and generally take it easy in Big V.
“Life is a coin. You can spend it anyway you wish, but you can only spend it once.” – Benjamin Franklin
Just another week in Artesia,
Jim & Barbara
While we were at Grand Canyon a couple of weeks ago, we found some really fun gifts for the grandkids. Andy and Heather shared this picture of Alexander in his new Park Ranger outfit, complete with binoculars and sunglasses.
The Artesia Arts Council sponsors several programs throughout the year; tonight’s presentation was by Robin Spielberg, one of today’s most popular contemporary pianists/composers. We weren’t sure what to expect, since the term “contemporary” can have so many connotations, but it didn’t take long for us to become totally mesmerized by the keyboard skills of this talented young woman.
With a program of old piano standards and a healthy dose of her own compositions and stylings, Robin kept the audience members on the edge of their seats as she told stories of her life and how she came to write the various pieces. It was obvious that the piano is an extension of her very heart and soul! If you ever get a chance to see one of her performances, jump at the opportunity…you will not be disappointed.
Friday, February 15
It was a relatively quiet day around our place…not a whole lot to talk about, except that we had a visit from Nancy and Benji this morning, something that’s always a pleasant surprise. They were out riding around on Nancy’s 4-wheeler and dropped by to chat. When Nancy takes the 4-wheeler out, she puts Benji in a little basket on the front…looks somewhat like a modern-day Dorothy and Toto out for a ride on the New Mexico plains.
I ended up getting a touch of some kind of sickness during the morning…don’t know what happened, but all of a sudden I had a long sneezing spell and then my sinuses went crazy; there went my plans to get anything done outside. I got started on Benadryl tablets and that eventually helped some. I guess the change in the weather was just messing up my head more than usual.
We did make a couple of trips over to see Mother during the day and made a Wal-Mart run late in the evening in anticipation of a winter storm that is supposed to hit in the early morning hours tomorrow’ predictions of ice and freezing rain helped us decide that going out tonight might be the lesser of two evils.
Saturday, February 16
After a crazy night, we finally got going this morning. I woke up at 12:30 a.m. and couldn’t get to sleep because my legs were jumping around (a side effect of the Benadryl), so I finally got up and went to the living room to read…finally got back to sleep around 4:30, but by then Barbara was awake, so she left me in bed and came to the front of the house.
I finally got up around 8:30 a.m. and was feeling much better than before. Barbara said that she’d like French toast and eggs, so I got started whipping that up. We then ate a late breakfast and watched another episode of M*A*S*H.
The winter storm that was predicted for last night and early this morning never materialized, so it turned out to be a pretty nice morning, just a little cool. I ventured out to the highway to check the mail and then came back to Big V. We both felt that a nap was in order, and with nothing else on the dance card, we decided that was the thing to do.
We went over to Mother’s house for a few minutes late this afternoon and then back to Big V to fix supper. I went over to Jean’s house during the evening to watch the VCO/ODU basketball game while Barbara stayed in Big V and experimented with a new cookie recipe – homemade thin mints…yum-yum!
Tonight…watch some TV and generally take it easy in Big V.
“Life is a coin. You can spend it anyway you wish, but you can only spend it once.” – Benjamin Franklin
Just another week in Artesia,
Jim & Barbara
While we were at Grand Canyon a couple of weeks ago, we found some really fun gifts for the grandkids. Andy and Heather shared this picture of Alexander in his new Park Ranger outfit, complete with binoculars and sunglasses.