So, how about the rest of my trip? It's been a week since I got back, I should probably write about it, since the longer I wait, the more I'll forget. Here is the link to all the pictures, take a look: http://picasaweb.google.com/smilingkid/NewMexico#

On Friday I went to deal with some work stuff. After getting lost, par for the course, I made it to my destination. I learned a whole bunch of interesting things being worked on. I liked the group and the work. After this work bit, I was done and got to hang out with my uncle, his wife, her kids and my cousin. Before dinner my cousin and I drove up to the base of the Tram for Sandia Peak. Here's one of the views:


For dinner we went to Garduno's, my uncle's favorite. They have guys who come around and sing, decent food also.

Saturday we took a trip to Santa Fe. Santa Fe is an artsy type of town. Lots of street vendors and cute shops. I didn't end up buying anything, but it was fun to look at. It was a really pretty day. Though I guess all the days were pretty when I was in New Mexico. Santa Fe is north, as evidence by the snow:


There was also this interesting lady, I believe she was outside of a church:


After Santa Fe, we went home and hung out. We had spaghetti and garlic bread. Watched the Notebook, which was sad. But before all of that, I got to see why Sandia, is called Sandia. Apparently, sandia means watermelon in Spanish. The mountains were named such because of the pink color they get at sunset. Everyone had mentioned it, but until you see it, it's hard to believe. So here is a picture, thought it's a smidge more orange than it actually was.

Wish I had a camera

So the Emmy girl and I went for a walk this morning. After overcoming inertia we went down to the Nature Preserve right near our house. The Nature Preserve has ponds and beavers and ducks and all sorts of nature-y type things.

It's been pretty cold lately, so the smaller ponds were frozen, and the large Duck Pond was mostly frozen. There was some snow and ice, it was a really nice temp for a walk too. On the way back I walked down to the water's edge. It turns out the ice could hold Emmy's weight. Of course I didn't let her go any further than the length of her leash. I played a little cracking the ice near the shore. We proceeded further to find two Canadian Geese standing in the middle of the pond. That was pretty cool and I really wish I had a camera. Then I saw about 10 ducks trying to find a place to land that wasn't iced over. They finally found a spot and they were all noisy talking to each other.

Overall, it was a good walk. Very nice, sometimes I appreciate this area more than other times.

PS

Don't believe the knit meter over there to the right, it lies. I've actually knit a bit since the beginning of the year (I've added to the Central Park Hoodie, Monkey Socks and the "hat"). I just need to weigh and measure to fix it.

Sleepless

I can't turn off my brain, which in turn means I can't sleep. I really hate when this happens, but at least it's Friday and I don't have to be up tomorrow.

I think that I'm not exactly in a place where I can deal with the frustration at my job. I really like my office, the work and the people. I just don't think I want to be a manager. It seems that there is wave after wave of frustration. I haven't learned to let it roll off, but I also don't know if that's what I should do.

I can definitely see how some managers stop caring, but I don't really think that's a solution. I worry if our folks are happy, what we can do to keep them happy, how not to burn them out. All this worry and I know that eventually it won't matter. It's frustrating. Lots people try to work our people into the ground, because of course they should be able to do everything, quicker and with a smile on their faces. Yeah, they love their work, but there's only so many REALLY important things. Frustrating.

So, what would I be doing instead? Who knows, laying on my couch being a lazy bum? That sounds nice. Not sure the hubby would appreciate that much.

Maybe tomorrow I will feel completely better, after some sleep.

Guilt Feelings

So, it's early Sunday morning (0543) here in Albuquerque. Today I leave, my flight is at 0830. I'm just waiting for folks to wake. I'll add more pictures and info about the trip to Santa Fe when I get back home.

I feel kind of guilty. I've decided that if I would be taking someone's room (the room in which they regularly sleep), I will just try to stay in a hotel. I spent last night at my Uncle's house and ended up kicking his step-daughter out of her room. I feel bad for this fact since the hotel I was in was really close to their house. I didn't realize that the step-son was still at home while going to college. I did know this fact yesterday, but I thought they would be sharing a room (stepson and stepdaughter), but she's sleeping on the couch instead.

Give me an air mattress, pullout couch or a hotel, but no more taking someone's room.

Two Posts in One Day?!

So, I made it up to Albuquerque, the 75 mph speed limit really takes the tedium out of the drive. It's very brown out here in Albuquerque, though I did see patches of green. I took pictures, which is probably not the smartest thing to do while driving, but there weren't many cars in the areas I did it. So if something happened, it'd be between me and scrub brush. Here are some pictures:































Oh, and I saw cows, free roaming cows. I am no longer disheartened that the whole of Albuquerque cow agriculture consists of feedlots. These were probably destined to be someones steak dinner. They are the little black dots in front of the grey hills...




There was one adventure coming out of Las Cruces, I went through a Boarder Patrol check point. I'm not really sure what he was looking for. I rolled my window down and he just said "Have a good day." I totally wanted to take a picture of him, but I don't think that would've gone over well. Definitely not something you see in the Northeast. I also saw a HUGE train and the Rio Grande! Though the pics of the Rio Grande were of trees so, sorry you can't see that.

Did you know there is a town called Truth or Consequences? My uncle mentioned it during a conversation, but I thought he was using it as a euphemism or something for being careful not to stop somewhere unpopulated. I made one stop (I do regret it wasn't at Truth or Consequences) at a rest area, I figured I couldn't get in too much trouble there.

The hotel is ok, I prefer the Springhill Suites from Las Cruces. The front desk girl actually called the room about 15 min. after check-in to see if everything was ok. She also gave some good restaurant suggestions. But there was an interesting sunset view.




Speaking of food, I have a new favorite soup, Green Chili Stew! This stuff is awesome, it's slow cooked pork, potatoes, onions and green chilies. So good, I need to find me a good recipe, would probably be very awesome in my handy pressure cooker. So those living near me will be subject to Green Chili Stew experimentation (because we all know the husband is a no-go for spicy). I also discovered I have a clear preference for Green Chiles over Red, which apparently a local university student did a study on.

Hmmm, I think I need to work on the size of these images....

Mirrors

Is it just me or do my mirrors at home lie to me? The mirrors in my house definitely don't make me feel as bad as the ones in my hotel room. I think that will hold true for the hotel I'll be in up in Albuquerque. Maybe at home I'm just pretty good at ignoring the flaws.. I guess maybe if this motivates me some how to be depressed about myself every time I travel....

Anywho, so I'm currently in Las Cruces, NM. I came down here for a recruiting trip. The flight down was great, I had no one in my row from BWI to Atlanta and only one other person in the row from Atlanta to El Paso. The only snafu was the fact that we almost missed our connecting flight. We were almost to the gate at 10:40 and the leaving flight was supposed to leave at 10:50. By some grace of the travel gods, both flights had been changed from their original terminals to the SAME terminal. We only had to walk a few yards to make it. Anything else, we probably would've missed the flight.

The drive from El Paso to Las Cruces (only about 45 min.) is rather interesting. I looked to my left and there was Mexico. It's a little weird to see a different country and realize that it looks a lot different (the housing mostly). I wonder what the people who live in the houses along the border think about our side. The mountains here are very interesting looking, I'm not used to mountains without trees. When the sun hits them, sometimes they turn pink. I didn't get pictures yet, but I'm going to try on my way out of town. Unfortunately, everything is pretty brown, no green. Oh! I actually saw a cow lot. I've read about them in certain books that talk about these massive areas with tons of cows in them. We actually passed quite a few on the drive to Las Cruces. Very intriguing, and definitely not what I think of as agriculture. Growing up in PA the cows had lots of green and space (though the cows always stayed pretty close to eachother).

Today, I drive up to Albuquerque, which according to Mapquest is just over 3 hrs. I'll be lunching with my cousin and then trying to figure out what to do when she goes to class. Apparently my uncle won't be home until 9:30 pm and I'm not sure how comfy I am just hanging out with his wife and kids. I think I might go to the Botanic Garden or perhaps the Sandia Peak Arial Tram. The tram would let me view the ski place at the top. Unfortunately, I was dumb and forgot my snowpants, or else I'd be going snowboarding!

Maybe I'll do both? Of course I have no idea how far apart everything is, so....maybe not. Anywho, it's getting late and I need to pack to I can go pick up the car and start driving.

I'll put up pics when I get some! Oh and absolutely no knitting, I was too obsessed with finishing the last book of the Twilight Series (Breaking Dawn). Perhaps I'll talk about that sometime...