Sunshine!

Our first day of sunshine in what seems like forever...cool, clear, gosh, it was a gorgeous day and I was in desperate need of one. After being housebound for two days with a daughter that had thick green gunk oozing from her nose and a chest cough that would rival most asthmatics and a husband that threw his back out...well, I felt like I had been set free!

I took Gracie to school for the first time in a week and once we got her out of bed, she was excited to go play with all her friends and, I'm sure, have a brag fest on what everyone got for Christmas. After I fed horses, I waited in line at the post office for 33 minutes to pick up some business mail for Jack. My heavens, I wish I could get those minutes of my life back. Someone is trying to teach me patience. After that, a brief run to Target for the Tarpley Zoo staples...dog food, cat food, litter.

I came home to Jack meeting with the private insurance adjuster he hired about our damages from Ike. Our insurance company isn't cooperating, so we thought hopefully this guy could help us in arbitration. We'll see...

When he finished with that, we took some things we cleaned out from Grace's closet (to make room for her new loot - I did this a month or so ago, but we discovered more while putting her stuff away) to a local donation place here in Santa Fe.

From there, we went to our favorite Italian spot, Frenchies, by NASA. We split their Tortellini, which for both of us is like Heaven on a plate. Mercy me! That'll be at least an extra 105 miles on the treadmill, but how worth it!

Then, as far as my cowboy is concerned, we entered the Insanity Zone. I had given him a new watch for Christmas and it was nice, but I knew he wouldn't be crazy about it. The one I picked out for him the day I bought it was broke, so of course, they wouldn't sell it to me. This was the day after Thanksgiving, so they had already been picked over, as Mom and I didn't show up at 4 am or whatever crazy time they opened! So, I bought him one so that I would have something under the tree and I knew it would force him to come with me to pick out what he really wanted after Christmas. I was so wrong in thinking that it would be better today than this weekend and maybe it was - but it was still crazy. The nearest parking space might have as well been across the highway and it seemed like everybody in the store was at the watch counter. BUT, we were successful. After a half hour of waiting, he picked a watch out that we both liked and that hopefully, he will enjoy for a long time. In the part that you can see the mechanism, there is a red dot at the center - it's a ruby...my birthstone. It was just meant to be!



Then, I drug him to The Body Shop (my favorite cranberry bubble bath that they only sell at this time of year was half price and, unfortunately, all gone - but there was no way I was fighting the crowds this weekend) and to Bath and Body Works (my second favorite bubble bath - wild honeysuckle...I bought three bottles and felt like I just scored a pot of gold!) and then, I thought I better not push my luck and got him outta there as fast as I could - so that maybe he'll visit the mall with me at least once more in the next decade!

We picked Grace up, fed horses, and picked up a truck that Jack was having work done on so that he could sell it. After all that, you'd think I would be more than ready to call it a day, but nope! I went and trimmed all of the dead stuff from my plants that either Lexie had eaten or the snow from earlier this month had burnt to a black crispy mess. I watered, cleaned Lady's stall, and watched my daughter frolic in the sunshine. Apparently, I wasn't the only one in need of some rays!

The photo on the sidebar is also from this afternoon - she loves feeding Lexie...even when Lex all but knocks her over. All in all, a great day if I may say so myself!