A looong day

Last night I went to bed early, because I had to get up early this morning. I was to drive my stepson to Albuquerque so he could fly to San Diego to visit his mother and sister. The unfortunate thing is that his flight was scheduled to leave at 8:50 AM. That's a good time, but remember you have to be at the airport earlier (thankfully, ABQ is a low traffic airport, so an hour is enough time to be there before flight time). AND .... we live about three hours away. AND ....  I had to drive ten miles n the wrong way to pick him up first!

I had some trouble getting to sleep. It was just not in my normal rhythm to try to sleep at 8:30. I fell asleep alright, but after a few minutes, I woke. Several times before I finally slept, somewhere around 10:30.

I was up at 3:30 this morning, just as scheduled. A quick shower to wake me, a cup of coffee, a croissant sandwich, fed the dogs and the birds and I was out the door by 4:30.

Going out to the car was an experience! There was no moon, so it was dark.  I didn't want to leave the porch light on all day, so I grabbed the rail, and eased down, feeling each of the twelve steps with my foot. Eerie feeling. No problem getting to the car, but just and odd few seconds. But I will tell you something .... as inconvenient as it was, that sky was breathtaking! The inky black which caused caution for me on the stairs provided a lush, velvety background for the fifty-million-billion-trillion stars that I could see! Unless you live somewhere as remove as I do, you can't understand this. Trust me, if you live in a city, a town, even a village, you don't see the stars I do here. Lawdy, it is gorgeous.


I don't like to drive at night, and even with the brights on, it was tough for the first hour. That kind of dark is just very hard to feel comfortable on the road. At least it is for me. Once the eastern horizon began to lighten, I was fine.

Allan and I had a great talk the whole way. This is normal for us. Always much to yak about! We were there a little before plan, so he had time to get through security and relax a while before leaving. And I headed to do a couple errands.


Getting around the city was more of a challenge than  usual because of the International Balloon Fiesta. It wasn't awful, but there were delays at some areas. The good thing is that most of the times I had to stop for a few minutes, I was treated with watching the balloons floating, often just a few dozen yards away!
One errand was to look for some new hair product. Five years ago I began using a mousse while I was in Florida. It worked wonderfully for me. The hitch is I couldn't find it anywhere in the US except at that FL salon! It's an Italian product, not widely sold here, and buying it on the internet was out because they only sell it in large amounts to salons. My daughter has been going in every few months, buying me a can or two and shipping it to me. She went in this week, and to my dismay, the salon is no longer carrying it! Over the last year, I've been trying other product, hoping to find something that would get TL and me both off the merry-go-round, but nothing else has worked well. I wasn't happy with her news. Anyway, I bought a couple things recommended by the salon, and I'll hope for the best.

While I was waiting for the beauty supply store to open, I sat on a bench in the mall. A woman asked if she could share the bench while she waited, also, for Penney's to open. We started talking (well, of course we dd!! You know me!!) and enjoyed each other so well that we sat past the opening of the stores by almost a half-hour! What a nice lady! We exchanged phone numbers as she is nearing retirement and is interested in moving out of the ABQ area, to a more relaxed, less populated area. She has been here, and she loves Lincoln County for its slower pace and elbow room. I gave her some pointers I learned in my search for a home. She plans to take some long weekends over the next couple years to explore the state (she loves it as much as I do, and wants to stay here) to see what area she might enjoy for retirement. I told her to give me a call if she comes this way, and I will show her around from an "insiders" point of view.

I started home soon after noon. That's unusual. It's usually late afternoon before I head south. I was home around 3:00, and I was really happy to be here. Being home early sounded good, but I'd already had a 12 hour day!! I've just laid around since getting home, but I didn t want to go to bed too early or my whole schedule will be jacked!I am going to be prone by 10:00, however. Period!

I;m tired. C'mon, 10:00!!!