Skip to main content

Visiting NM

When I left New Mexico in June 2003 I never wanted to come back. And it took me almost 3 years to come back. There are probably many reasons. Striking out on my own, I thought I was busy, yada yada but probably the biggest was my disgust for NM and its lifestyle. I had always felt like I didn't fit in. That my overly ambitious life plans weren't the norm. That being educated and smart was somehow weird. That because I didn't have a kid and baby daddy drama I wasn't normal. I loved DC from the moment I got there. There are days it's too much of a swing in the other direction and can be a little pretentious, but I have developed a good circle to keep me grounded. So when I come back to NM it makes my stomach knot. I love my family and friends, miss them terribly but this place drives me crazy. So for now I just visit, hoping everyone else moves to me.

Some of the highlights of the trip. Making my Dad take me to Sonic before we went home because surprisingly there wasn't any food in the house. As I inhaled the cheeseburger and most of the fries before we got to the house, he commented "I guess you were hungry". Apparently the training has increased my intake a little. Every morning I woke up to coffee, food and my parents asking if I was hungry. I told them I was moving back in. They think I'm joking but I'm actually kinda serious. On Friday I went with my stepmom and stepbrother, who I'll probably call my brother, to the botanical garden with my nephew. This is my favorite two pictures of him one watching fish in the pond and the other trying to touch the chicken. We hung out at my brothers for the remainder of the afternoon and then he started asking who wanted crown and coke. I declined as we were having margaritas later. About 5 minutes later his inlaws arrived and I decided it was worth risking yaking instead of dealing with his inlaws sober. Later we had "family dinner" at Casa de Benavidez. Family dinner because the 4 of us get along really well and have now been on vacation 3 times together and we actually like each other when it's over. Casa is probably one of my favorite places to eat, but the service is terrible so I appreciate my friends for indulging me. Later we went to the new it bar. I was so tired and kept laying my head down on the bar. I should have known this would make a great opener for some guy. What I didn't realize is how fast he would leave when I said I spent most of my time training for fights, I guess it has the opposite effect on men that it has on women. I'll have to use that one more often. The funniest thing I heard and remember was from my friend Maud who is also one of my sorority sisters "You still look pretty and normal in regular clothes." My cousin came out for a little while which was a lot of fun until I decided to take a shot. I was told to smell my shirt, that it makes it better. Apparently I'm even more gullible with tequila. The best is always the breakfast at Wecks the next day having papas y pollo. Though the highlight was their fresh chips and ranch dressing. Nothing has ever tasted quite that good, especially washed down with a coke. Somehow I survived pictures with the extended family which included the inlaws and a crying 1 year old. This was followed by dinner where I strategically picked my seat, learning my lesson from the wedding. The capstone of the evening was watching Swamp People. I can't even begin to explain. But their English needs subtitles and they know French words. I'll be dvr'ing that one. Got a great breakfast in at the relocated Ihop with Gaby then managed to get a sunburn driving the convertible to go pick up gifts. Ah to be pasty white and at 6,000 feet. Finally was the real reason I came. My nephew Gavin's first birthday. I have never seen soo many presents. He was adorable eating his cupcake. But I was really glad to go home to the silence. After that it was just hanging with the P's. I had one last carne adovada burrito at the airport and I can now pass out on the plane a happy camper. Glad I came back but I can never move back. Unless of course my parents feed me.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Untitled

So I have thought about this for a while.  Do I actually write this post?  Do I put my dirty laundry out there for everyone? Or the handful that read my blog.  And if I do, what do I say? Do I slam those involved?  Do I take the high road?  When is a “good” time to put it out there?  A few days under my belt and there is probably no better time. So no secret, my ex-boyfriend was my coach.  That worked out mildly well while we were together but add a breakup and somehow it just doesn’t work out as smoothly.  Add a few of the worst things a person could do to another in there and disaster doesn’t even begin to describe.  But I have this eternal belief that I can make any situation work.  That I can fix things.  It’s what makes me good at my job.  I’m an eternal optimist. But it’s what causes me to not be so good at my personal life.  Even when things are clearly not good, I still think I can fix it and make it right...

Skipped a week to savor the end of my maternity leave

So I skipped week 11.  Mostly because I was in tears about having to leave McKenna and go back to work.  Mom guilt is a real thing.  It also makes me very angry about the maternity leave policy in this country.  It wasn’t something I honestly paid attention to before.  Maybe because I wasn’t planning on being a mom for a long time. Or probably because I assumed that is just a benefit you give people.  Now I am learning, we are about as good as a third world country.  We don’t even give government employees a maternity benefit.  No surprise that private companies wouldn’t feel obligated to provide that.   My time home with McKenna has been amazing.  I know so much about her, , her likes, her preferences, her behaviors and her routine.  We have had the benefit of setting our own schedule.  I don’t have to rush out in the morning.  I didn’t have to stress about pumping right away.  I have gotten to experience so much ...

Dad's Salsa

My Dad makes the best salsa.  I grew up in New Mexico.  We are a bit picky about our salsa.  It is hands down my favorite.  And not just because he is my Dad.  Its actually brilliant in in its simplicity.  The ingredients are: Green Chiles Onions Canned diced tomatoes (petite if you ask his opinion) Cumin Salt Olive oil (for cooking the onions The important thing is to start with good roasted chile's.  The roasting is what gives them their flavor and allows the skin to blister and peel off.  I was lazy when I put up my chile the last time and just bagged everything with the skin on.  It actually tends to be a little easier to get the skin off once its been frozen.  For this batch I used 2 quart bags frozen chile's, 6 - 14.5 oz cans of diced tomatoes, 2 onions and seasonings to taste.   First step is to clean the chile's and chop them.  I could probably normally tolerate the chile's but now I have a little perso...