BeyondExquisite Blogging
3.30.2003
Wild weather across the country. My mother in Roanoke, VA, awoke to pouring snow. They accumulated several inches, and didn't get above 34 deg today.
We, here in Albuquerque, awoke to clear blue skies, some breeziness, and mild temps. It got up to around 61 here in the NE Heights. Plenty of sunshine for our afternoon hike. There's nothing like exercising in the fresh air for a couple hours to clear your head and give you a better perspective on your life.
I fired up the Weber grill this evening with some nice Kingsford Mesquite charcoal, and grilled a couple pieces of steak, and a nice piece of salmon fillet. We stopped by our local liquor store yesterday, and a nice lady named Esther was giving free samples and plenty of free information of some New Zealand wines called Lake Chalice. We ended up bringing home a bottle of their Sauvignon Blanc, and it was just perfect with our grilled food. YUM! Wayne & I want to go to New Zealand. Don't know if we'll ever make it down there, but we sure would love to go.
3.29.2003
The Crest has a fresh frosting of snow this morning. It was snowing like crazy up there when I was driving home from work last night. With these chilly temps, I don't think that snow is going anywhere this weekend. Not supposed to get real warm again until Monday or Tuesday -- then we're back into the 70s by midweek!! Woo-hoo!
3.28.2003
Wow! I can't believe it's been a whole WEEK since I blogged!!! It's just been one of those busy weeks, and it still is. No rest for the ....whatever....
Our balmy temps receded. It was 33 deg driving to work this morning. Brrr! I hope our springtime warms up again real soon.
Rumination of the day:
NO ONE ELSE IN TOWN MAKES A BURGER AS GOOD AS "THE FRONTIER RESTAURANT" !!! That's what I had for dinner last night, and it was good to the last nibble. I love The Frontier. It's good, fast, cheap, fresh, homemade, and it just doesn't get any better than that!
Well, back to setting up another new PC at work. Digging deep into Win XP Pro OS. Fun Fun. I'm starting to warm up to to it, even though it's such a pain after being so used to Win 98. I keep telling myself "Change is Good".
3.21.2003
T!! G!! I!! F!!
Another wild week on planet Earth.
I'm glad I can stand here at my laptop, and type this Blog, and sip my fine glass of Fetzer Eagle Peak Merlot. I thank God that I am FREE to enjoy my glass of wine on Friday night. Here's a toast to the "Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave", and everything that we are able to enjoy in this United States of America. Let us remember to not take it all for granted.
3.20.2003
Quote from the AP Wire:
Rollinsville, Colo., perched at 9,000 feet above sea level in the foothills northwest of Denver, got 7 feet, 3 1/2 inches.
The east Denver suburb of Aurora recorded 40 inches of snow. Boulder got 22.5 inches
Holy Mackerel! That's gonna be a heck of a runoff when it melts!!!
It sounds like the entire State of Colorado has to take a Snow Day today!
3.19.2003
Woo-Hoo!!!
It's been RAINING all day!!! We are loving every drop.
3.18.2003
HAPPY BIRTHDAY BROTHER BILL!!!!
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My sister bakes the World's Best Brownies!
I don't know when she even started baking brownies -- it hasn't been that long, because she's never been a "baker", but somehow or other she started with a recipe for good, chocolatey brownies, and has been perfecting it for quite some time, now. She gave us some last weekend -- fresh baked! She told me she uses both chocolate chips and chocolate chunks, along with cinnamon chips and almond extract. These brownies are ABSOLUTELY DELECTABLE!
YUM! Way to go, MJ!! I think you should start a cottage industry selling your awesome delicious brownies. They're better than Flying Star!
3.16.2003
Just when we were really enjoying the nice, sunny warm days.... here comes a cold front!
There is a nice little storm up on Sandia Crest as I write this -- looks like a mix of rain/sleet to me from down here. The temperature has been dropping since I got out of bed this morning. Looks like the next week will be an exact weather opposite of last week.
Hey, it's MARCH!
3.11.2003
I tend to stay away from discussing politics, since it gives me a headache even thinking about it. But, as a person who has great interest in food, I couldn't resist commenting on this article about "freedom fries". I think they should just call them FAT FRIES and be done with it.
3.09.2003
YOWZA!!!! It's like SUMMERTIME!!!
Three days ago, I went for a walk at lunchtime wearing my down parka to block the icy wind. It was in the mid-40s.
Today, it is nearly 70 degrees. The spanish broom up the street is sporting bright yellow blossoms, the lilac in my backgard has green buds as big as your thumb, there are flowering plums trees in full bloom -- just since yesterday! SPRING HAS SPRUNG! No doubt about it.
That's the way it is in Albuquerque. No moderation from winter to summer. We jump right from freezing cold into blazing heat.
Put another shrimp on the Bar-B-Que.
3.07.2003
Last night, we had the pleasure of experiencing the Eric McFadden Trio at one of Albuquerque's best little nightspots, Club Rhythm & Blues. One of our very good friends, acoustic bassist/singer/songwriter, James Whiton, was performing with guitarist extraordinaire/singer/songwriter, Eric McFadden, and a drummer whom they only referred to as The Commander. The show was simply AWESOME. It was totally HOT. They were doing what Eric refers to as "americana-gypsy blues", with a little jazz, hard rock, and whatever else they could think of thrown in. They totally rocked OUT!
They played for over 2 hrs before taking a break. By then it was almost midnight and we had to leave.
About an hour into the set, 2 ladies sat down at the table next to ours. They looked slightly perplexed as they looked around and ordered Amstel Lights, as Eric & James were trading wild, running passages on their instruments, then Eric went into a growling-shreiking vocal. Most of the crowd were old-time fans of both James and Eric, as they are both originally from Albuquerque. James & his wife moved to Seattle several years ago, and Eric has been a San Francisco resident for many years, now. They both play with several other bands. For the next few weeks, they are touring together under the current moniker.
Right after the band announced they were taking a break and left the stage, the two very conservative, perplexed looking ladies turned to me and asked:
"We thought this was a blues club. Was that music jazz, or fusion, or..... what kind of music is it?"
Those poor ladies were a vacation from "western Michigan", and from the looks on their faces, they'd never seen an awesome guitarist with wild dreads totally rocking out and improvising with an acoustic bassist who also uses his bass as a percussion instrument, and can produce sounds on his bass that no one dreamed they ever hear coming from that type of instrument. The crowd was also totally into it. We were yelling and whistling and begging for more.
Those two ladies took off as fast as they could. They were going to see the Georgia O'Keefe Museum in Santa Fe today. No doubt, it will be the quiet place of solitude they are expecting it to be. They will probably never set foot into another "blues" club without knowing something about the performers ahead of time!!
3.06.2003
"... It's beyond dangerously cheesy."
When you thought you'd already heard of everything that could be auctioned on E-bay, then THIS comes along!!! Man, you could choke on that thing!
3.04.2003
I couldn't see the mountain when I got up this morning. I thought it was fog. Then... it started snowing at our house. What a lovely way to start the morning. It's just a nice, light snow. Now I'm sippin' hot chocolate and trying to work. Today is better than yesterday, already.
3.03.2003
If 3 is your lucky number, then TODAY is your lucky day!!! 03/03/03!
.... but it still feels like a Monday....
3.02.2003
It was sunny and mild -- no more snow for us today!
We had an interesting afternoon hike in the Petroglyph National Monument, in Rinconada Canyon. We'd never been there before. I didn't know there were cliffs with huge chunks of lava rock just over there on the west side... and the trail was fine sand -- like hiking at the beach, only no water; no pounding surf. It was amazingly quiet, considering Coors Blvd was only a few miles away. Only about half dozen other hikers. The solitude was refreshing.
I will have to bug my husband for some of the petroglyph pics. I was taking pics with my Sony Mavica, and about halfway through the hike, my floppy disk went south and I forgot to bring a spare. At least Wayne got some great shots with his new digicam.
In less than an hour..... the season premier of Six Feet Under!
3.01.2003
Woo-hoo! We had a nice snow in Albuquerque last night! The roads were actually slushy! They're all nice and dry this morning. Looks like we got at least 2" in our backyard. Will have to go out cruising later today and survey the scenery. The mountain is magnificent. Will definitley have to get some pics of that.
Rented some movies to watch last night. Finally watched Moulin Rouge. It was good, but I found out once again, I am just not into musicals. Dunno why, exactly.. that just's me. At least we finally watched it and know what it is all about. It was worth viewing.
